Dear Parishioners, Friends, 

When was the last time you attended the Holy Week and Easter services? I am sure some of you have attempted to be part of one or more of our soul-stirring services. It is indeed a very dramatic week ahead of us. We shall celebrate Palm Sunday with the Young Adults of our church, the ACYOA; we will remember the Parable of Wise and Foolish Women on Tuesday; Order of Foot- washing (Gark Vodnlvai) and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated on Great Thursday; The burial of Christ after His crucifixion will be remembered on Great Friday; Holy Week services will culminate with the Saturday Candlelight (Jrakalooyts) Liturgy and Sunday Liturgy when we celebrate the GLORIOUS RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! 

The whole drama of the Holy Week and The Easter Sunday will be more meaningful and rewarding with your participation. Make an effort to be a part of this spiritual experience.

May God reward you accordingly and bless all!

On this day Jesus and His disciples came into Jerusalem, the main city of the land. It was a holy city, and on this particular day crowds of people were gathering. It was the first day of the week in which the Jewish people held the Passover. Because of His teaching and healing ministry in the towns and villages of the land, Jesus was known to many people. There was a growing feeling that He might be truly the Messiah who would free the Jews from Roman tyranny and establish the earthly reign of God. A crowd of enthusiastic and hopeful people met Jesus and He entered the city and they laid branches of palm and olive trees before Him shouting HOSANNA! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Schedule of Services and Events: 

Morning Service     9:00 am

The parable of the Wise and Foolish Maidens (Matthew 25:1-13) is the focus of Holy Tuesday. Ten maidens waited for their bridegroom.  (In the custom of that time and place, the bridegroom would fetch the bride from her parents' home to bring her to his own.) Five of the women foolishly took their lamps with no extra oil and when the bridegroom was delayed, could not go out and meet him. The wise maidens went prepared and joined him in the marriage feast. Similarly, we must pray and wait, in a state of perpetual preparation to receive Christ. 

Schedule of Services and Events:

Evening Service (Remembrance of the Ten Maiden)     7:30 pm 

This is the day of Passover. It is one of the three major feasts dating from early times. It commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from over 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Maundy Thursday is the day when Jesus held the Last Supper in an upper room. The word "Maundy" means literally "command", and so it signifies the New Commandment. The symbol for this command was the foot washing ceremony which Jesus did just before the supper.

The supper was the Passover meal for the disciples, and there Jesus told them that His hour was at hand, and that one of them would betray Him. By sharing of the bread and wine as His body and blood, He instituted the Holy Liturgy (Soorp Badarak). That was the first celebration of Badarak before the real one which was offered on the cross.

The betrayal happened in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has gone to pray after the supper was over. Judas' betrayal and Jesus' arrest took place quickly that evening of Maundy Thursday. The church commemorates this with the Service of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (Khavaroum).

Schedule of Services and Events:

Canon for Penitence and Absolution     5:00 pm

Divine Liturgy (Soorp Badarak)     6:00 pm

Order of Footwashing (Gark Vodnlvai)     7:30 pm

Commemoration of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (Khavaroom)   8:30 pm

His body was taken by Joseph of Aremathea, the rich ruler, who was influenced by Christ, to be buried in the garden tomb nearby. Joseph, Nicodemus, and Maries prepared him for burial. The church, in anticipation of the Feast of all Feasts, begins the celebration with a Candlelight Service (Jrakalooyts).

Schedule of Services and Events:

Midday Service     3:00 pm

Easter Eve Holy Scriptures Readings     6:00 pm

Lucernarium (Jrakalooyts) of Easter - Divine Liturgy     7:00 pm

        The Youth Choir will join in singing the Divine Liturgy under the direction         of  Dn. Kavork Hagopian

Home Blessing, Fellowship and Refreshments in Nishan Hall     8:30 pm

How wonderful that the blackness of Friday was followed by the unmatched brightness of Sunday morning. The story begins quietly... "On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb... and it was empty." What follows has totally changed man's understanding of life.

Easter Sunday celebrates the joy of the Resurrection and the promise of salvation for all humanity. Armenian Christians around the world exchange the Easter greeting: Krisdos haryav ee merelotz! Orhnyal eh harootiunun Krisdosee! Christ is risen from the dead! Blessed is the resurrection of Christ! 

Schedule of Services and Events:

Morning Service     9:00 am

Divine Liturgy (Soorp Badarak)     10:00 am

Easter  season is the time when homes are blessed by the Pastor. All parishioners who wish to have their homes blessed on the occasion of Easter should call Der Hovhan (847) 644-7389 to make arrangements.

Have a piece of bread, dish of salt and glass of water available for the blessing.

Saturday, MARCH 19, 2014

3:00 PM

Traditional Armenian egg-coloring

and games (havgetakhagh), 

movies and fun with friends 

before evening services.

Join us for coloring and fun!

 Anyone wishing to donate items for the bake sale please try to drop them off at church on Saturday packaged and ready to sell. Absolutely no items will be sold before the end of Badarak.

We appreciate all the support our parishioners give us throughout the year. We look forward to seeing you on Easter Sunday in the Nishan Hall.