Finally, after eighteen months of endeavoring to fulfill the requirements of Montgomery County on work inside and outside at our new property, were were issued a “Use and Occupancy” permit on February 22, the Feast of the Chair (or Throne) of St. Peter at Antioch, an appropriate feast day for a Western Rite parish of the Antiochian Archdiocese. We give thanks to God for allowing us to reach this point and we now look forward to a full liturgical life in our new home. Some landscaping work, along with removal of sediment control measures must wait until the Spring. Bishop JOHN has agreed to be with us on Sunday, May 21, to dedicate the building; with good weather, this will include an outdoor procession and a banquet will follow the service.
We begin the month of March with Ash Wednesday, when the solemn ceremony of blessing ashes made from the palms of the previous year and the imposition of those ashes in the sign of the Cross on our foreheads will take place. Vespers will be sung at 7PM and the Ash Wednesday rituals and Liturgy will follow at 7:30. Please bring a Lenten dish to share at a pot-luck supper after the service.
The annual pan-Orthodox service in celebration of the Sunday of Orthodoxy – the First Sunday in Lent – will be hosted by St. Peter & Paul parish in Potomac, Maryland on March 5. The service will begin at 5PM, and the preacher will be our own Bishop Nicholas (the Antiochian Bishop of Brooklyn).
On Fridays during Lent, beginning on March 10, we will have a lenten potluck supper, Bible study and Stations of the Cross and Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, beginning at 6:30PM.
As The feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, March 25, falls on a Saturday this year, the Mass will be at 10AM (preceded by Matins at 9:30) and followed by a pot-luck brunch.
Read the full March Newsletter here.