St . John Chrysostom ChurchA Mission of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

www.stjohngoldenco.org

17716 S Golden RdGolden, CO 80401

Church Phone: 303.278.8101

Fr. Seraphim Gisetti, Pastor Phone: 720.938.1302 email: vrevsg@comcast.net

April 2012 SJCC NewsMy Joy in the Lord,

In two weeks we will be greeting each other with the Paschal Greeting: Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

But before we get to that celebration we must pass through the events of His death. I encourage you to come to as many services during Holy Week that you can. It is truly said – you cannot truly celebrate the Resurrection unless you have made the journey to the Cross and beyond. I look forward to worshiping and praying with you in our journey.

With love, in Christ,Fr. Seraphim

Lazarus Saturday: Liturgy, major church cleaning and VespersPlease come on Lazarus Saturday to help clean the church for Pascha. Everything needs to be dusted, many things need polishing, the rugs need adjusting (hopefully the last time for a long time – we have velcro to immobilize them), and lots of places need organizing.....

Thank you – to all who have called and offered support during the past few weeks. Masha and I appreciate your prayers and kindness.

In place of an Open House on Bright Monday, we would like to invite everyone who joins with us in the Bright Monday Liturgy for a Paschal Brunch at the Anna and Alexandra's home following the service. Their address is: 624 Ammons Way Lakewood CO 80214 You can call Anna at 702.217.9227 or Alexandra at 619.254.8183 if you get lost or want more information. See the directions at the end of the newsletter.

YAL Schedule: Please contact Kara Yakubik for details.

Day of Service signups: Please continue to sign up for Coffee Hour and cleanup – this is an important aspect of what is meant by being one of the People of God- to help serve each other.

Readings for Discussions after Presanctifieds

All readings are taken from “The Apostolic Fathers” ed. Jack SparksApr 4 The Teaching of the 12 Apostles (pg. 308 - 319)

Parishioner Celebrations in April & MayNOTE: If you don't see your day listed OR see your day listed on the wrong day

PLEASE let Fr. Seraphim know – as soon as possible

April04/01 Birthday Alexandra Gisetti04/01 Namesday Masha Gisetti04/23 Namesday Alexandra Gisetti04/23 Namesday Serena Jerome

May05/03 Birthday Anna Gisetti05/08 Anniversary Bert & Margo Waisanen05/08 Birthday Paul Saieg05/09 Birthday Sean Weddingfeld05/14 Birthday Ahnna Rom05/14 Birthday Kylee Gisetti05/15 Birthday Alexander Watson (Higgins)05/15 Birthday Ed Leshinski05/17 Birthday Hannah Fox05/31 Anniversary Andrei & Jacque Gisetti

PROSPHORA Baking SchedulePLEASE make sure that you bring ONE (and only one) prosphora with names for commemoration to church at least the night before the date on which it is due. You can bring it up to three weeks before and we'll freeze it until the date, but don't try to bring it that morning. I usually start the Proskmedia early and need the prosphora to be there. If it's not there by the night before, I will defrost a spare to use. Thank you for your consideration. I don't need more than one. If you bake two or more, keep the rest and use them as you would any other home-made bread. Despite having a seal, they are not blessed and can be eaten just like regular bread.

Apr1 Masha Gisetti8 Parish provided15 PASCHA22 Alexandra Gisetti29 Anna Gisetti

May6 Bert & Margo Waisanen13 Sean Weddingfeld20 Miriam & Josh Fox (for Hannah)27 Andrei & Jacque Gisetti

Thank you for your help and providing generously of food for the Brunch after the Teaching Liturgy and the meals during Fr. Chad's retreat. They were truly feasts and much appreciated by all who partook of them!

THE PASCHAL SERVICEThe V. Rev. Paul Lazor

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.

(Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. St. Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain (I Cor. 15: 14). Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut (John 20:19). Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4): " ... for a ghost has not flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39).

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... the holy city, new Jerusalem. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people ... He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:1-4).

In His death and resurrection, Christ defeats the last enemy, death, and thereby fulfills the mandate of His Father to subject all things under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-26).

Worthy is the Lamb who. was slain, to receive power and wealth and Wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Rev. 5: 12)

THE FEAST OF FEASTS

The Christian faith is celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. True celebration is always a living participation. It is not a mere attendance at services. It is communion in the power of the event being celebrated. It is God's free gift of joy given to spiritual men as a reward. It is the fulfillment of spiritual and physical effort and preparation. The resurrection of Christ, being the center of the Christian faith, is the basis of the Church's liturgical life and the true model for all celebration.

This is the chosen and holy day, first of sabbaths, king and lord of days, the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days. On this day we bless Christ forevermore (Irmos 8, Paschal Canon).

PREPARATION

Twelve weeks of preparation precede the "feast of feasts." A long journey which includes five pre-lenten Sundays, six weeks of Great Lent and finally Holy Week is made. The journey moves from the self-willed exile of the prodigal son to the grace filled entrance into the new Jerusalem coming down as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband. (Rev. 21:2) Repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and study are the means by which this long journey is made.

Focusing on the veneration of the Cross at its mid point, the lenten voyage itself reveals that the joy of the resurrection is achieved only through the Cross. "Through the cross joy has come into all the world," we sing in one paschal hymn. And in the paschal troparion, we repeat again and again that Christ has trampled down death by death! St. Paul writes that the name of Jesus is exalted above every name because He first emptied Himself, taking on the lowly form of a servant and being obedient even to death on the Cross (Phil. 2:5-11). The road to the celebration of the resurrection is the self-emptying crucifixion of Lent. Pascha is the passover from death to life.

Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ. Today I arise with Thee in Thy resurrection. Yesterday I was crucified with Thee: Glorify Me with Thee, O Savior, in Thy kingdom (Ode 3, Paschal Canon).

THE PROCESSION

The divine services of the night of Pascha commence near midnight of Holy Saturday. The faithful stand in darkness. Then, one by one, they light their candles from the candle held by the priest and form a great procession out of the church. Choir, servers, priest and people, led by the bearers of the cross, banners, icons and Gospel-book,

circle the church. The bells are rung incessantly and the angelic hymn of the resurrection is chanted.

The procession comes to a stop before the principal doors of the church. Before the closed doors the priest and the people sing the troparion of Pascha, "Christ is risen from the dead ... ", many times. Even before entering the church the priest and people exchange the paschal greeting: "Christ is Risen! Indeed He is risen!" This segment of the paschal services is extremely important. It preserves, in the experience of the Church, the primitive accounts of the resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Gospels. The angel rolled away the stone from the tomb not to let a biologically revived but physically entrapped Christ walk out but to reveal that "He is not here; for He has risen, as He said" (Matt. 28:6).

In the paschal canon we sing: Thou didst arise, O Christ, and yet the tomb remained sealed, as at Thy birth the Virgin's womb remained unharmed; and Thou has opened for us the gates of paradise (Ode 6).

Finally, the procession of light and song in the darkness of night, and the thunderous proclamation that, indeed, Christ is risen, fulfill the words of the Evangelist John: "The light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

The doors are opened and the faithful re-enter. The church is bathed in light and adorned with flowers. It is the heavenly bride and the symbol of the empty tomb:

Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise Brighter than any royal chamber: Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain or our resurrection (Troparion of the Paschal Hours).

MATINS

The ending of the Procession and the beginning of Matins coincide. The risen Christ is glorified in the singing of the beautiful canon of St. John of Damascus. The paschal greeting is repeatedly exchanged. Near the end of Matins the paschal verses are sung. They relate the entire narrative of the Lord's resurrection. They conclude with the words calling us to actualize among each other the forgiveness freely given to all by God:

This is the day of resurrection. Let us be illumined by the feast. Let us embrace each other. Let us call "brothers" even those who hate us, And forgive all by the resurrection ...

The sermon of St. John Chrysostom is then read by the celebrant. The sermon was originally composed as a baptismal instruction. It is retained by the Church in the paschal services because every thing about the night of Pascha recalls the Sacrament of Baptism: the language and general terminology of the liturgical texts, the specific hymns, the vestment color, the use of candles and the great procession itself. Now the sermon invites us to a great re-affirmation of our baptism: to union with Christ in the receiving of Holy Communion.

If any man is devout and loves God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast the table is fully laden; feast you all sumptuously the calf is fatted, let no. one go hungry away

THE DIVINE LITURGY

The sermon announces the imminent beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The altar table is fully laden with the divine food: the Body and Blood of the risen and glorified Christ. No one is to go away hungry. The service books are very specific in saying that only he who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ eats the true Pascha. The Divine Liturgy, therefore, normally follows immediately after paschal Matins. Foods from which the faithful have been called to abstain during the lenten journey are blessed and eaten only after the Divine Liturgy.

THE DAY WITHOUT EVENING

Pascha is the inauguration of a new age. It reveals the mystery of the eighth day. It is our taste, in this age, of the new and unending day of the Kingdom of God. Something of this new and unending day is conveyed to us in the length of the paschal services, in the repetition of the paschal order for all the services of bright week, and in the special paschal features retained in the services for the forty days until Ascension. Forty days are, as it were, treated as one day. Together they comprise the symbol of the new time in which the Church lives and toward which she ever draws the faithful, from one degree of glory to another.

O Christ, great and most holy Pascha. O Wisdom, Word and Power of God, grant that we may more perfectly partake of Thee in the never-ending day of Thy kingdom. (Ninth Ode, Paschal Canon).

Schedule of Services and EventsApril1 Sun 9:00 am Baptism of Evan Weddingfeld

5:00 pm Lenten Vespers – St. Augustine Church4 Wed 6:30 pm Presanctified Liturgy, Lenten Potluck & Discussion7 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers8 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Entrance of Our Lord to Jerusalem11 Wed 4:00 pm Presanctified Liturgy Holy Wednesday

7:00 pm Matins of Holy Thursday and Unction Service12 Thu 4:00 pm Vesperal Liturgy Holy Thursday

7:00 pm Matins of Holy Friday (12 Gospels)13 Fri 9:00 am Royal hours Holy Friday

3:00 pm Vespers (Burial of our Lord)7:00 pm Matins of Holy Saturday (Lamentations)

14 Sat 9:30 am Vesperal Liturgy Holy Saturday SERVICES OF PASCHA

11:30 pm NocturneMidnight Procession and Paschal Matins PASCHA

15 Sun Paschal LiturgyPaschal Breakfast

noon Agape Vespers16 Mon 9:00 am Paschal Liturgy Bright Monday21 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers22 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Thomas Sunday28 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers29 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Sunday of the Myrrhbearers

May5 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers6 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Sunday of the Paralytic12 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers13 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Sunday of the Samaritan Woman17 Thu 7:00 pm Inquirer's Discussion19 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers & Open Discussion20 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Sunday of the Blind Man24 Thu 6:30 pm Liturgy & Potluck Ascension of our Lord26 Sat 5:00 pm Vespers27 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Fathers of the 1st Ecum. Council

Looking ahead - 2012 General Schedule of Services (see monthly newsletter for changes)

2012May24 Thu 6:30 pm Liturgy Ascension of our LordJune3 Sun 9:00 am Liturgy Pentecost11 Mon SS. Peter & Paul Fast begins29 Fri 6:30 pm Liturgy SS. Peter & PaulAugust1 Wed Dormition fast begins6 Mon 6:30 pm Liturgy Transfiguration of Our Lord15 Wed 6:30 pm Liturgy Dormition of the TheotokosSeptember8 Sat 9:00 am Liturgy Nativity of the Theotokos14 Fri 6:30 pm Liturgy Elevation of the CrossNovember13 Tue 6:30 pm Liturgy St. John Chrysostom (Patronal Feast)15 Thu Nativity Fast begins21 Wed 6:30 pm Liturgy Entrance into the Temple of the TheotokosDecember24 Mon 9:00 am Royal Hours Nativity Eve

Vesperal Liturgy7:00 pm Vigil

25 Tue 9:00 am Liturgy Nativity of our Lord

Breakfast after Liturgy on Bright MondayDirections from church to Anna & Alexandra Gisetti's home:Exit out onto Johnson Rd. and turn left. Take Johnson Rd. to 6th Ave. Turn Left onto 6th Ave. Take 6th to Wadsworth Blvd North. Take Wadsworth to 9th (the street across from the Subway). Turn left onto 9th. Take 9th to the Stop Sign (Allison). Turn Left onto Allison. Take Allison south to 7th (Allison curves around to the right like a U). Take a Left onto 7th. Take the 1st Left onto Ammons Way. Take Ammons Way to the back of the Cul de Sac.

624 Ammons Way

APRIL 2012Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 79 am Liturgy 9 am Liturgy

CHURCH CLEANING

6:30 pm Presanctified 5 pm VespersDiscussion

8 9 10 11 12 13 149 am Liturgy 9:00 am Royal hours

PALM SUNDAY 4:00 pm Presanctified 3:00 pm Vespers of Burial7:00 pm Matins & Unction 7:00 pm 12 Gospels 7:00 pm Matins 11:30 pm Nocturne

15 16 17 18 19 20 21Midnight Matins 9:00 am Paschal

Liturgy LiturgyPASCHA

noon Agape Vespers BRIGHT WEEK 5 pm Vespers

22 23 24 25 26 27 289 am Liturgy

Thomas Sunday5 pm Vespers

29 309 am Liturgy

Notes:

Denotes a fasting day

Denotes a strict fasting day

Denotes a total fast day

© 2011 Vertex42 LLC

10:00 am Vesp. Liturgy

4:00 pm Vesp. Liturgy

Calendars by Vertex42.com

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May 2012

MAY 2012Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5

5 pm Vespers

6 7 8 9 10 11 129 am Liturgy

5 pm Vespers

13 Mother's Day 14 15 16 17 18 199 am Liturgy

5 pm Vespers

20 21 22 23 24 25 269 am Liturgy

ASCENSION of our Lord

6:30 pm Liturgy 5 pm Vespers

27 28 Memorial Day 29 30 319 am Liturgy

Notes:

Denotes a fasting day

Denotes a strict fasting day

Denotes a total fast day

© 2011 Vertex42 LLC

Calendars by Vertex42.com

S M T W Th F Sa1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 1415 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30

April 2012S M T W Th F Sa

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June 2012