Saint Luke Orthodox Church - Events - Events Archives - 2002

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Sunday Of The Cross

The third Sunday of Lent is the half way point of Great Lent. On this Sunday a flower decorated cross is displayed in the center of the sanctuary during the Liturgy. At the point in the Liturgy when normally "Holy God" is sung it is replaced with "Before Your Cross we bow down and worship You." During this hymn three prostrations are made. They signify our devotion to God and that we have accepted His cross. It is also given as a help to fight off the attacks of the Devil who during Lent wants us to fail in our fast and it helps us to keep our heart pointed toward the Cross and Christ's victory over death at Pascha.

We invite all to join us at St. Luke's on our lenten journey to Pascha. If you are unable to attend in person please visit "Journey To Pascha" on our website to follow along and for more information on the faith and services. Each year we try to update this part of our site with new pictures so you can look ahead or follow along as we progress towards Pascha.

Presantified Liturgy

Parishioners prostrate before the Light Of Christ.

On Wednesdays during Lent the Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated. The word Presanctified refers to Holy Communion which has been consecrated on the Sunday before and distributed at the Presanctified Liturgy. One of the special features of this liturgy is the solemn blessing with a single lighted candle by the Priest who announces "The Light of Christ illumines all!" The faithful make a prostration. The scriptural readings are from Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah and Proverbs signifying the preparatory nature of this service.

Following the service all are invited to join in a pot luck lenten meal.

Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers

The Vesper service was held at our sister parish Sts. Constantine and Helen located in Palos Hills. There were 5 Hierarchs, 40 Priests, 20 deacons, and over 1000 faithful who attended the service. The Pan Orthodox Choir sung the responses mostly in English with some hymns in Greek, Arabic, Slavonic, and Romanian.

This is the beginning of the procession into the Church by the attending clergy. During the service there is also a procession of Holy Icons held by all the Priests and led by the deacons. At the end of the procession the Synodicon of Orthodox Sunday is read.

During the procession Fr. Andrew held a new icon of St. Herman of Alaska which was donated in memory of his departed parents. The Icon has a relic of St. Herman.

Bishop Mark of Toledo, Diocese of the Antiochian Orthodox Church gave the homily about what it means to be Orthodox and all jurisdictions have to get over making petty liturgical practices into issues of disunity because we are united in our Orthodox Faith.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

On the first Sunday of Lent, Orthodox Christians celebrate the official declaration of the 7th Ecumenical Council 787AD that the veneration of Icons is not the worship of images as the 2nd commandment describes. To celebrate the event, the parishioners of St. Luke held a procession of Icons, ( See Iconography) which circled the interior of the sanctuary while the choir sang the hymn of the event.

At the conclusion of the procession everyone gathered at the front of the church and the proclamation of Orthodoxy was recited.

Proclamation of Orthodoxy:

As the Prophets beheld, as the Apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the Teachers have dogmatized, as the Universe has agreed, as grace has shown forth, as Truth has revealed, as Falsehood has been dissolved, as Wisdom has presented, as Christ awarded; Thus we declare, thus we assert, thus we preach Christ Our True God, and honor His Saints in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in Churches, in Holy Icons; On the one hand worshipping and reverencing Christ as God and Lord, and on the other, honoring the Saints as true servants of the same Lord of All, and offering them proper veneration.

This is the Faith of the Apostles,
This is the Faith of the Fathers,
This is the Faith of the Orthodox,
This is the Faith which has established the Universe.

The Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

A canon is a liturgical poem divided into verses with a refrain. The Canon of St. Andrew, written in the 7th century, is divided into four sections, which are read on Monday through Thursday during Compline of the first week of Lent. St. Andrew, in composing the canon, traces the lives of people in the Bible who lived according to God's commandments with those who failed. By doing this, St. Andrew reminds us of our failings and need of repentance. Here we see Father Andrew reading verses from the canon.

A Visit To The Garden Center

For the past 9 years St. Luke has had a ministry to the Garden School. Each month Father Andrew celebrates a Typica service and members of St. Luke enjoy fellowship with the clients. Since this was the beginning Lent, the clients were treated to home cooked Lenten food.

Father Andrew is enjoying the good food with the clients while Caye is serving. We invite our parishioners to participate in this inspiring ministry. If Interested please tell Christine or Mary.

St. Lukes Welcomes New Members

Our new members were officially welcomed with the New Members Prayers Service. This is a prayer asking God to bless them and guide them so they will fully involve themselves in the life of the parish. After the prayer they were presented with Icons of St. Luke.

The names of our new members from left to right are: Katrina, Jill, Mark, David, Paulette, Olivia, Nastassia, Gabriella, Else, Phillip, Katie, Will, Tom, Benny, Christina, Manos, Cody. We place them in the care of our parishioners as they grow in the Holy Spirit.

Our new members were invited, as our guests, to partake in the annual Pre-Lenten dinner. The fellowship ministry provided a delicious dinner even though some members were absent sick with the flu. We pray for their quick recovery.

Children's Sermon For March

The Children's sermon was about the Last Judgement and how we need to prepare by learning what we will be Judged on by God.

Father Andrew described the difficulty we have learning about using certain electric devices. He showed the children a book which helps us learn.

He said the children need to read the bible and learn about God. He then read from the New Orthodox Study Bible about the last judgement and why it is necessary to help the poor, and visit the sick and prisoners.

The church school children were given a project to make and decorate model cardboard churches which Father brought back from Romania last October. Fr. Andrew was on a mission with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center.

On this Sunday Father Andrew selected the one he though was made the best. An Icon from Romania was presented to Alex who is one of our Altar servers.

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