Friday-Sunday, March 20th-22nd: Sunday of Holy Cross.
Beloved brothers and sisters!
Being isolated to our homes, it's time for praying and reconsideration of our understanding of the values of life. In this difficult time, we stay at home and considering our isolation as a very good opportunity to deepen our spiritual lives reading Holy Scriptures and other spiritual books and letting Jesus Christ get in our hearts because He said that kingdom of heaven is inside us. Keep in mind the words of St. Basil the Great that we read in every Divine Liturgy on the Sundays of Great Lent and it is appropriate especially for this difficult period:
Remember oh Lord, the people here present and those who are absent with good cause. Have mercy on them and on us according to the multitude of Your mercy.
Please send me all the names of living and resting in peace acquaintances, so I will commemorate them during the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of Holy Cross.
With pastoral care and prayers.
Fr. Gregory Stamkopoulos
Directives to be followed by the Clergy dealing with Covid-19 (Coronavirus), until further notice, based on the instructions of the US Center for Disease Control (CDC)
1) All parishes will provide stations in the Narthex and/or Nave for the Faithful to disinfect their hands as they enter the Church.
2) Signs will be posted at the entrance that recommend sick persons not attend the Services but participate via television or the Internet (URL should be posted as well)
3) The clergy will not offer their hands to be reverenced and will refrain from touching the faithful either through handshakes or an embrace.
4) Signs will be posted recommending that honor be shown to Icons and the blessing cross by only bowing.
5) No books – Liturgical or Scriptural, will be kept in the pews. Parishioners will be instructed to bring their own books from home.
6) The Faithful will not receive the Antidoron from the Clergy, but on their own, as they leave the church.
7) In the case of the use of flowers (Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, Palm Sunday, Holy Friday), the Faithful will take them on their own as they leave the church. On Holy Wednesday (Holy Unction), each priest will anoint each Faithful using separate cotton-tipped swabs.
8) The Eucharist will be distributed as per usual.
9) In concelebrations, the clerical “Kiss of Peace” will be through bowing to one another. In parishes where the laity exchange the “Kiss of Peace,” they will avoid contact through bowing to one another.
10) After every service, all liturgical objects and surfaces to be thoroughly cleaned.
On Facebook do a search for: "Saint Basil Greek Orthodox Church." You will find lots of information about parish activities, photos, and updates. Thanks to Athena Nomikos for her work posting photos and information on our parish Facebook site.