Pasha:The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord & God & Savior Jesus Christ
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
The Resurrection of Christ
April 20, 2025
Sat 4/19/25 7:00pm Ressurection Matins
Sat 4/19/25: 8:00pm Divine Liturgy +John R Prokopchak by Prokopchak
Sun 4/20/25 9:30am Divine Liturgy For Our Parishioners
Mon 4/21/25 9:30am Divine Liturgy +Joseph Pocchiari by Pocchiari Family
Tue 4/22/25 7:00pm Divine Liturgy +Irene Simko by Mary Ann and Judy Kassic
Wed 4/23/25 10:00am Funeral Liturgy for Beverly Zavacky
Fri 4/25/25 7:00pm Resurrection Matins
Sat 4/26/25 4:00pm Vigil Divine Liturgy +Paul and Helen Mack° Michalco by Rebecca Michalco
Sun 4/27/25 9:30am Divine Liturgy Jessica Stack by Matt and Darlene Callihan
Variable Parts Resurrection - Festal Tone Pages 164 - 171
Epistle Acts 1:1-8
Gospel John 1:1-17
Memorial Candle Request - +Irene Simko by Family
Epistle Readers: 19-Apr Mary Troyan 20-Apr Amanda Stavish 26-Apr John Baycura/Mary Motko 27-Apr Hans Bergh
Please Pray for: Ole J. Bergh, Erik Bergh, Liz Moyta, Fr. Michael Huszti, Fr. Laska, Susie Curcio, Teresa Milkovich, Robert Saper, Anna Habil, Martha Sapar, Mike Dancisin, Karen Smaretsky Vavro, Diane Sotak, Anna Pocchiari, Larry Hamill, Beverly Jones, Marilyn Book, Maryann Russin Schyvers, Nick Russin and Ken Konchan
Attendance: 4/9 — 27 4/12 — 25 4/13 — 106 Collection: 4/12 & 4/13 $3,078.00
Gibsonia Schedule
Sun 4/20/25 11:30am Divine Liturgy The Resurrection of Christ Divine Liturgy
Mon 4/21/25 7:00pm Divine Liturgy
Thu 4/24/25 7:00pm Divine Liturgy
Sun 4/27/25 11:30am Divine Liturgy Thomas Sunday
Beverly Zavacky RIP: Please keep in prayer the family of Beverly Zavacky who passed away on Good Friday. May her memory be eternal.
Salad Bingo Donations: We are kindly requesting every family donate a salad and a prize for the Salad Bingo. There are signup sheets on the bulletin board. Salads and prizes may be dropped off all day Friday, April 25th until 8:00pm or Saturday morning, April 26th 9:00am — 11:00am. Please put salads in the refrigerator on the stage. Thank you for supporting one of our biggest fundraisers for the upkeep of our church!
Salad Bingo: Please save the date on April 26th for Salad Bingo.
In the liturgical symbolism of our Church, Holy Saturday recalls the time Christ's body lay in the tomb while His spirit was among the dead in what the Greeks called Hades. In singing the Psalm 80, the Church is calling on Christ to rise from the dead and destroy the power of death, freeing people of every race and nation from its control. As we sing in one of the hymns at this service: "Today Hades sighs and cries aloud: 'My power is destroyed! I received a mortal as if He were merely one of the dead, but I was powerless to hold Him; and, along with Him I shall lose those over whom I ruled, I held the dead from all ages; but behold, He is raising them all!'"
In the Greek tradition the priest strews bay laurel leaves and flower petals throughout the church during this Psalm. In the ancient world laurel was a symbol of victory or achievement. Wreaths of laurel were awarded to the victors in athletic games; that practice continues at the Grand Prix races to this day. In our liturgy the laurel leaves represent Christ's victory over death, the fruit of His death and resurrection. It is a custom in Cyprus that, while the chanters are singing and the priest is strewing the leaves, people stamp their feet, bang on the pews with sticks, even clang pots and pans as a sign of the "harrowing of hell." The noise graphically portrays the shaking of the foundations of the earth which preceded the Resurrection (see Matthew 28:2) as Christ smashes the locks and gates of Hades and destroys death. In the silence that speaks volumes when the psalm is finished, we see the church floor covered with the "shattered gates and broken chains of Hades." Then the Gospel of the Resurrection is proclaimed: "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said" (Matthew 28:6).
"Have You Any Food?": At the end of the Paschal Liturgy, the priest blesses a special commemorative bread called the Artos. Unlike the bread offered for the Divine Liturgy, this festive bread is baked with herbs and spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, mahleb, fennel, grains of paradise and anise. Depending on local custom, lemon zest, almond extract, honey, olive oil, eggs, or rose water and even red wine may be added to the dough as well. The loaf may be stamped with a cross or an icon of the Resurrection. In many places an actual icon is placed on top of the loaf for the people to venerate at the end of the service.
The Artos is carried in procession and venerated at every service during Bright Week. It is consumed only after this week of Paschal celebration is concluded. How can we explain the unique role this bread plays in our liturgy?
When Christ rose from the dead, the first reaction of those who saw Him was disbelief. As St Luke describes it, "...they were terrified andfrightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit" (Luke 24:37). The risen Lord's response was "Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Luke 24:37). Even that was not enough to convince them all. Luke continues: "But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, 'Have you any food here? 'So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb and He took it and ate in their presence" (Luke 24:41-43). The disciples believed in the reality of the Resurrection when they saw Christ eating. In St John's Gospel, we see that the disciples were out fishing when "Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any food?" (John 21:5) Similarly, when the Risen Christ appeared to the disciples traveling to Emmaus, He ate with them and "He was known to them in the breaking of bread' (Luke 24:35).
The Artos, then, represents the true, physical nature of the risen Christ, demonstrated when He ate and drank with His disciples, although He had no need of food. Eating what was offered to Him showed that He had not abandoned His humanity when He rose from the dead. As St Ignatius of Antioch wrote in his Epistle to the Smyrneans, 3:3, "After the Resurrection He ate and drank with them as a being of flesh, although spiritually united with the Father." His body that rose from among the dead is the same one that suffered and died. Now this body shares in the life of glory."
