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2005 SCHEDULE OF LENTEN SERVICES

Click Here to print a PDF version of the 2005 Lenten Schedule, 

Day             Date           Time         Service                          Discussion Topic

1^st Week:
Monday           March 14        6:30 pm        Great Compline                      What’s an icon? Why their importance?

Wednesday     March 16       6:30 pm        Pre-sanctified Liturgy         What is the Sunday of Orthodoxy?

Friday             March 18         7:30 pm        1^st Salutations                         Iconic imagery in the Old Testament.

Saturday         March 19       10:00 am         3rd Saturday of Souls

Sunday          March 20                             SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY

2^nd Week:

Wednesday    March 23        5:30 pm       Pre-sanctified Liturgy          No topic – dinner for students

Friday             March 25         7:30 pm       2^nd Salutations                        Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew.

Sunday          March 27                            SUNDAY OF ST. GREGORY PALAMAS

3^rd Week:

Monday          March 28         7:30 pm       Great Compline                      The Cross – crux of our faith.

Wednesday     March 30       6:30 pm       Pre-sanctified Liturgy         Why the Adoration of the Cross now?

Friday             April 1              7:30 pm       3^rd Salutations                        The Cross in the Epistle to the Galatians.

Sunday          April 3                                 SUNDAY OF THE HOLY CROSS

4^th Week:

Monday          April 4              7:30 pm        Great Compline                      What is salvation in our Church?

Wednesday    April 6             6:30 pm       Pre-sanctified Liturgy         Who is St. John Climacus?

Friday             April 8              7:30 pm        4^th Salutations                        Salvation in the Epistle to the Romans.

Sunday          April 10                               SUNDAY OF ST. JOHN CLIMACUS

5^th Week:

Monday          April 11            7:30 pm        Great Compline                      Orthodoxy and human sexuality.

Wednesday    April 13          5:30 pm        Pre-sanctified Liturgy         Who is St. Mary of Egypt?

Friday             April 15            7:30              Akathist Hymn                       Sexuality in 1 Corinthians.

Sunday          April 17                                SUNDAY OF ST. MARY OF EGYPT

Services:  The Compline is a service traditionally celebrated after a meal and takes on special significance during Lent.  The service is composed mainly of psalms and versus thereof.  Copies of the Great Compline will be available for all in attendance.  Since not a lot of chanting is done, everyone who comes will help with the readings – the hymns we chant we will all do together.  Also, as you will notice, there will be a change in the color of the altar cloth and vestments during the Compline to signify a change in mood and tone for the weekdays (the weekdays during lent are somber and force us into personal reflection and repentance - Sundays are resurrectional in essence, so the colors are bright).

The Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts is a special liturgy done only during Lent.  Because the weekdays of Lent are of a somber and solemn nature, the glory and joy of the Divine Liturgy juxtaposes against them.  Therefore, we do not celebrate Divine Liturgies during the week during Lent, but celebrate instead the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified gifts.  It is called “pre-sanctified” because the offering – the Lamb – has already been consecrated (made holy) by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ on the Sunday before this service.  If you notice, on Sundays during Lent, the priest takes a little extra time during the preparation of communion because he prepares one lamb for the Pre-sanctified Liturgy and the other for that Sunday’s Divine Liturgy.  Therefore, the communion you receive during a Pre-sanctified Liturgy has already been consecrated a few days before, and the service is different from a Divine Liturgy because of that reason.  We will discuss that more during the service itself.

The Salutations, of course, are hymns in praise of the Theotokos, the mother of God.  Each Friday Salutation is basically a quarter of the Akathist Hymn.  The Akathist hymn, which is celebrated on the fifth Friday of Lent, contains twenty-four stanzas of verse – each stanza beginning with a letter of the Greek alphabet in order (A-W).  On the first four Fridays, we sing six verses from the hymn, and on the last Friday, we sing all of them together.

As you may see, the topics have an order to them:

Mon. =  Intro to Orthodoxy subject matter related to the Sun. commemoration  (St. John Climacus, St. Mary of Egypt, etc.)

Wed. =  Discussion of the Sunday commemoration

Fri.    =  Bible study related to the Sunday commemoration

Part of this effort is to get us more involved with the spiritual nature of Lent.
Another part is to find out what people are interested in learning so we can set up more seminars during the year.

Click Here to print a PDF version of the 2005 Lenten Schedule, 

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