All funds will help defray Devon’s mounting personal, household and travel expenses, all stemming from her not being able to work since relapsing earlier this year. With conventional treatment forms exhausted, including extensive chemotherapy, her most likely final treatment phase will be a stem cell transplant through a promising National Clinical Trial at City of Hope Hospital in California.

Both riders and sponsors are being sought. Checks can be made payable director to Devon C. Jabobs and mailed to Jay & Adam Jacobs, 405 Meadow Grove Road, in Newport, PA (17074). For more information, please contact info@holytrinity-oca.org.

In addition to on-street parking on North and South Sparks Street, other suggested places to park include Patterson and Gill Streets, Nittany Beverage (139 N. Patterson St.) and the former Montessori School (300 S. Sparks St.).

Tonight’s Divine Services for Great and Holy Pascha begin at 11:30 p.m. with the chanting of Nocturns. Following the rush procession, the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection continues with Matins, Hours, and the Divine Liturgy sung in quick succession. The blessing of baskets and a festal meal follow in the Parish Hall.

All are invited.

As we draw near to Pascha, our journey becomes more intense and our anticipation of the Great and Saving Night grows. The anticipation is particularly acute in children and parents should be prepared to take advantage of their curiosity. Below are some notes and tips to assist parents in guiding their children during the Paschal weekend (April 12-15).

Matins of Holy Friday (Thursday, 7 p.m.)
This service features the reading of the 12 Passion Gospels. The first gospel relates Christ’s discourse with His disciples at the Last Supper, the next ten gospels relate the Lord’s sufferings, and the last gospel describes His burial and the sealing of the tomb. These readings provide the narrative for the events that take place while the accompanying hymns sung throughout the service clarify and give deeper meaning to the text. Between the fifth and sixth gospels there is a solemn procession with the large wooden cross from the sanctuary into the center of the nave. We find additional clarity when visible actions are added to the gospels and hymns.

Parent Tips

• This is a lengthy service so give your children advance notice (so you can limit the number of times the question of “how much longer?” is asked.)
• Focus your children on how the text advances the events or provides additional detail in each subsequent lesson. If possible, read these gospels with your children prior to the service.
• As always, everyone should stand or kneel during the gospel readings.
• Explain to your children that although Matins is a morning service, this service is “anticipated” and is celebrated on Thursday evening.

Royal Hours (Friday, 10 a.m.)
There is no liturgy on Holy Friday since the Divine Liturgy is always a celebration of communion with the Risen Lord. We do however read the Royal Hours on Friday morning. This service takes its name from the fact that it used to be officially attended by the Emperor and his court in Constantinople.

Parent Tips

• If you cannot attend, you can teach your children the significance of each of the hours: First—when Christ was led into the Praetorium (i.e., the palace of the governor) before Pilate (~7 a.m.). Third—when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles on Pentecost and Christ was condemned by Pilate (~9 a.m.). Sixth—when Christ was released to the Jews, condemned, and nailed to the Cross (~12 noon). Ninth—when He died on the Cross (~3 p.m.).
• This is the strictest fast day of the year. Help your child as much as possible to refrain from eating other than minimally.

Unnailing Vespers (Friday, 4 p.m.)
At Vespers on Holy Friday, the shroud (a large icon depicting Christ lying in the tomb) is lifted by the priest from the altar table and then carried in procession out of the altar to the specially prepared tomb in the middle of the church.

Parent Tips

• The service’s structure is like Saturday Vespers so children should be able to recognize most parts.
• The Gospel reading tells the story of the Christ dying on the cross. Don’t be afraid to discuss with your children (of all ages) that Christ really died and this is the story of how He died.
• The most moving and solemn part is the carrying of the shroud to the special tomb. Children quickly understand this movement just as the children understood Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
• You can show your child that the same words (“The Noble Joseph…“) sung during the carrying of the shroud are embroidered on the edge of shroud.
• Ask your child what Joseph of Arimathea (i.e., the “Noble Joseph”) may have been thinking as he carried the lifeless Body of our Lord to the tomb.

Lamentations (Friday, 7 p.m.)
During Matins of Holy Saturday, the tone and theme gradually changes from lamentation to victory over death. We stand before the tomb—but it is revealed to us as the life-giving tomb. The shroud is carried in a procession around the church while all the people (including children) carry lighted candles and sing “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us…” Upon returning to the entrance of the church we walk under the shroud reminding us that we must pass through death to the Resurrection. While the church is softly illuminated with the faithful’s candles, we hear the Ezekiel’s dry bones prophecy and words of Pascha: “Let God arise…” As the day ends, we are left with a sense of anticipation.

Parent Tips

• Children love processions and they like to hold candles—here they can do both. Tell them they are a very important part of the service.
• Ask them (especially older children) to listen to the music for “changes” (tone, rhythm, etc.), what they were, when they happened, and what was being sung at the time. Teens and preteens listen to a lot of music with their iPods: get them “into” the music and how the Church uses it to help us.
• As you drive home, discuss how we are dependent on light (car lights, street lights, etc.) and how we could not function without it. Use this as a transition to discussing the light of Christ.

Vesperal Divine Liturgy (Saturday, 10 a.m.)
Saturday is called the “Blessed Sabbath.” For the Jews, this was a day of rest, but for us it is when Christ worked and our sorrow is transformed into joy. During Vespers, there are 15 Old Testament readings! After these readings, and during “Arise, O Lord” (which is sung in place of the “Alleluia” verses), the dark (purple) clerical vestments are exchanged for bright (white) ones. The votives and coverings and are also changed at this time—this is an exciting moment for kids. The “light” of Resurrection is really made visible to us as the Liturgy of St. Basil continues in this joyful light.

Parent Tips

• On your way to church talk with your child about what they have experienced in the Church during the past few days. Certainly, they will remind you how long the services have been but you may be surprised by other things they may have noticed.
• Perhaps you can dress your child in white/light colored clothes and have them wear a dark sweater or jacket as a top layer. During the changing of the vestments, have them remove the top layer.
• Tell your children that catechumens were originally baptized and received into the Church during the Old Testament readings. (Later in the day, some of our Holy Trinity catechumens will be received into the Church as well.)

Great and Holy Pascha (Sunday, 12 a.m.)
Finally, we arrive at the Paschal night: the most joyous celebration in the Orthodox Church. After the shroud is carried into the altar and placed on the altar table, the Church is dark. As midnight approaches, the clergy begin to sing, “Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior, the angels in heaven sing…” Suddenly, the priest exits the Sanctuary with a lighted candle and by this candle all the people light theirs—one by one. We go in procession around the church until we arrive at the closed doors of entrance to the church. It is now that we hear for the first time “Christ is Risen!” After the doors are opened, everyone enters into a fully lit church where there is no darkness and we celebrate Matins and the Divine Liturgy in the middle of the night.

Parent Tips

• Although it may be difficult, try to get your child to rest or take a nap on Saturday. Every kid wants to stay up late…this is their big chance!
• Dress your child warmly and perhaps bring a blanket to wrap them in to keep the chill away.
• Younger children will probably fall asleep at some point—this is to be expected. They will still probably remember many things about the night.
• “Gently” rouse your child for communion several minutes before they will receive the Body and Blood.
• Teach your children the Paschal greeting (Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!) in different languages. They will like to respond out loud to these greetings—especially in church.

Although the services are somewhat longer than usual, you can/should bring your children and prepare them to participate. Please be considerate and aware of your children’s whereabouts, actions, movements, etc., at all times during the services so those around you can also fully experience the joy of the Feast.

“A tough week.”

This is how President Obama described the week of April 14—a week that saw acts of terrorism in Boston and a tragic fire and explosion in Texas compounding the other challenges with which life is often filled. Boston also experienced the emotional roller-coaster of lockdown, manhunt, shoot-out, and arrest. A tough week indeed.

These words, however, could also be used to describe another week, long ago, that also was filled with emotion, fear, and death. I refer, of course, to the last week of our Lord’s earthly life.

The week was filled with danger, since it was well known that Jesus’ foes had recently tried to stone Him, a fate which He narrowly escaped (John 11:8). For this reason, His entry into the city had to be secretly pre-arranged, as did the place in the city where He would eat the Passover meal (Mark 11:1f, 14:12f), for if He left the safety of the public crowds, He risked arrest and execution (Mark 14:1-2).

That Passover meal, eaten with the Twelve in secrecy, was marked by fear. He predicted that one of them would betray Him, that He would have to leave them, that they would all deny Him and leave Him alone. As they ate the bread at the beginning of the meal, and as they drank the cup of wine afterward, He declared the bread and wine to be His body and His blood, broken and poured out. They did not know what it all could mean, but they knew talk of death when they heard it.

Then came the catastrophic night of betrayal and arrest, when one of their own inner circle acted as guide to His enemies, and when they all forsook Him and fled. Peter, initially trying to prove himself brave, tagged along later at a distance, only to find himself denying Christ over and over again, as the Lord had predicted. While the disciples scattered and cowered, their Lord was being tried and mocked and beaten by His own people at an illegal all-night trial. When daybreak came, He was handed over to Pilate.

By three o’clock in the afternoon it was all over.

Jesus hung dead on the cross, beaten, disgraced, abandoned by almost all. His adversaries were triumphant. For them it was the most satisfying Passover in a long time. But not for the disciples of the Lord. For them, it was a tough week.

This review of the first Holy Week can help us through our own tough weeks, for it teaches us that God does not save us from fearful suffering and death, but reveals His salvation in the midst of it. The fear-suffused and dark Passover supper would be later revealed as the eternal and joyful Mystic Supper, as the meal of death became the meal of life. The moment of supreme defeat and disgrace on Golgotha would become the cosmic victory of God, when He worked salvation in the midst of the earth.

This shows that all our suffering can be transmuted into joy, if we wait on God. Dark days may tempt us, calling us to despair, to give up on God. Judas gave up: he took a rope and hanged himself. We must not give up.

Despair called to Peter too, for after he denied his Lord time and again, he went out and wept bitterly (Mark 14:72). But, in the end, he did not heed the call to despair. Despite his almost unbearable pain, he persevered, and waited and did not give up.

With God it is always worth the wait. Christ came to Peter and restored him, accepting his repentance and calling him to once again take up his apostolic calling and leadership. He came to all the disciples, forgiving them, gathering them, healing their hearts and breathing His Spirit into them.

Holy Week may have ended with the Cross on Friday and the Tomb on Saturday. But it gave way to the Resurrection on Sunday, the first day of the week and a sign of the timeless eighth day of eternity.

As we go through our lives and endure tough weeks, let us continue to wait on God. When day dawned that first Resurrection morn, all the pain of the past week faded with the passing darkness.

So it will prove for us.

Editor’s Note: Fr. Lawrence Farley is the priest in Langley, B.C., and is the author of many books and Ancient Faith Radio podcasts. This article originally appeared on oca.org.

A few weeks ago for Western Easter, Marianne Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC, opined that if someone were to discover a tomb with Jesus’ remains in it, “the entire enterprise would not come crashing down.” (virtueonline.org) This isn’t a new notion. In fact, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe it as doctrine. But it’s been around a lot longer than that.

The belief that Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead is part of the Gnostic family of heresies, this one in particular being called “docetism”, (from Greek, δοχειν, to appear). In other words, Jesus would only have appeared as man. This would make Him a divine spirit masquerading in human form; His death was only an appearance, as well as his Resurrection. If that is the case, the Resurrection would be superfluous.

Such errant preaching and teaching led me from the Episcopal Church to Orthodoxy almost forty years ago. It is sad to see how the denials of the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the Miracles, and oh yes, the Resurrection, have been multiplied over the past five decades.

Either Christ rose from the dead, or death is not conquered. If death is not conquered, we are still in our sins, to borrow from St. Athanasius (cf. On the Incarnation). Either Christ was and remains God in the flesh, before, during, and after his Passion and Resurrection, or all that we are about to celebrate is simply play-acting, a myth, a drama without much to compel it.

In writing to the Church in Corinth, this is St. Paul’s point: our faith, our life, and our eternal salvation are all based upon the Resurrection of Christ. If the Resurrection is not true, in what then do we place our hope? St. Paul says that his preaching, and our faith, would then be vain, pointless. He does not talk about the moral teaching of Jesus. He does not exhort the Corinthians merely to live ethical lives. He is blunt: Christ’s resurrection is our hope of resurrection. Without His victory over sin and death, we are all losers.

The story is told of a young man arrested during Soviet days for shouting “Christ is risen!” in front of Lenin’s tomb. Upon being interrogated, he was asked why he was “disturbing the peace.”

He asked his questioners simply, “Is there a body in Lenin’s tomb?”

“Of course, young man! Everyone knows that!” was the brusque reply.

“Christ’s tomb is empty! Christ is risen!”

On Pascha night, at Orthodox churches around the world, bishops, priests, deacons, and laymen will wait for the “Light of Christ” to pierce the darkness, in anticipation of the Resurrection. We know Christ’s tomb is empty. We fill the night skies with the cry which makes devils tremble: “Christ is risen!”

And we will say it, not merely because it is our tradition, but because it is the truth, a truth we believe down to the core of our being, down to the marrow in our bones. That in a nutshell is Orthodoxy: the Truth about God, the Truth about Man, and the Truth about Christ—God’s rising from the dead to save Man from sin and death. Otherwise, why bother?

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Cor. 15:14)

Fr. John Diamantis (Psychology ’02) lives in New York City with his wife, Mka. Andrea, and their son Stavros, born November 2012. As Chairman of the Department of College Ministry for His Grace Bishop Michael, Fr. John ministers to students throughout the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, and also serves as a district chaplain for the same area with the North American Orthodox Christian Fellowship.

Currently, Fr. John is attached to Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in East Meadow, New York. There he is involved with a variety of ministries, both in the parish and in the New York City community, where he works to train and recruit foster parents. He expects to be officially assigned to St. Vladimir Orthodox Church in Trenton, New Jersey by Summer 2013 where he will be able to fully commit himself to the work of the Church.

Thinking back to his time at Holy Trinity and the Penn State Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), St. John’s gospel, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (3:30) encompasses the spirit of everything he learned and experienced here.

Priest Hector and Presbytera Katerina Firoglanis

Missions and church service always have been a part of the Firoglanis family. Shortly after leaving Penn State, Fr. Hector (Biobehavioral Health ’99) and Pres. Katerina (Art Education ’02), served together on a Summer 2002 mission trip to Kenya. Immediately after the Paschal Liturgy the following year, Fr. Hector proposed to Pres. Katerina and they were married four months later.

Fr. Hector attended Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston while Pres. Katerina taught at Theophany Preschool. After he graduated in 2004, Fr. Hector and Pres. Katerina studied Byzantine music and iconography, respectively, in Thessaloniki for a year before serving as long-term missionaries in Albania. After completing their term, Fr. Hector became the Assistant Priest of Annunciation Church in Lancaster, the same parish he and Pres. Katerina attended in their youth.

They now have three children, Christo, Evdoxia, and Vasili. Fr. Hector always thanks God for leading him to Holy Trinity where he discovered God’s calling during one of the most critical stages of his life.

Priest Gheevarghese John

Fr. Gheevarghese John (Marketing, ’02), graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2002 and was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on March 26, 2011 at St. Thomas (Malankara Orthodox Syrian) Church, where he currently serves.

A prolific speaker and youth leader, and director of Way of the Cross Ministries, Fr. Gheevarghese is very active in campus ministry throughout the Philadelphia area, having been both the Secretary and Treasurer of the North American Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM). Since 2005, he has taught Science and Math in the School District of Philadelphia.

Fr. Gheevarghese married Linju Jacob on July 5, 2009. They have a daughter together, Bethenny, born November 27, 2011.

Nun Helene (Krenitsky)

After diligently serving the St. Nicholas Church Choir (McKees Rocks, PA) Sister Helene (Mechanical Engineering, ’05) entered the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Elwood City on July 26, 2009.

Using experience she gained while singing at St. Nicholas and Holy Trinity, she has taken on responsibility for the monastery choir for all chapel services. She is teaching the community how to breathe, blend, enunciate, and sing as a genuine choir.

Deacon Alexandros Petrides

For Dn. Alexey, his time in State College will forever be remembered as the place where his call to serve Christ was revealed. After his undergraduate studies (Civil Engineering/Water Resources, ’09), Dn. Alexey discerned a call to switch to “living water” (John 7:38) instead, and off to Holy Cross he went.

Now in his final semester at the Seminary, he is a husband (married to his wife, Stephanie, whom he met at a Penn State OCF retreat), a father (Niko, born on Pascha 2011), and was just ordained to the Holy Diaconate in January. Dn. Alexey and family will be returning to Pennsylvania after graduating in May to serve somewhere in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh.

With regards to the future, he looks forward to sending as many youth to Penn State as possible, to supply an ample Orthodox student population for the ministries of Holy Trinity and the Penn State Orthodox Christian Fellowship.

Nun Margarete (Roeber)

Sister Margarete (Liberal Arts, ’05) is now a member of Holy Assumption Monastery (OCA) in Calistoga, California. This monastery, the oldest for Orthodox women in the United States, was renovated over a period of twelve years, and Sister Margarete was part of an unexpected “transplant” of nuns to the property in 2009.

The community is still developing means of supporting itself, including mounting icons, baking, and producing fine chalice wine in conjunct-ion with a local Napa Valley Orthodox parish.

Missionary Maria Roeber

Maria Roeber (Nursing, ’04) is currently finishing a two-year term as an OCMC long-term medical missionary, providing health care to the people of Bukoba, Tanzania.

Although only spending a year-and-a-half at University Park (she was studying in Greece, Danville, or Hershey from the second semester of sophomore year until graduating), Holy Trinity and Penn State OCF  had a profound impact on her life. She fondly remembers going on an OCF trip to Holy Transfiguration Monastery with her sister (now) Sr. Margarete Roeber and (now) Sr. Helene Krenitsky.

They laughed at the time about the “alternative” choice of a student celebrating her 21st birthday at a monastery instead of at a bar, and it remains one of her favorite memories from her college years. Friendships formed at retreats, service projects, and Real Break Spring Break trips more than ten years ago have lasted to this day, and she continues to be so grateful to God for them.

Priest James Weremedic

Fr. James and Mka. Lisa attended Holy Trinity while he worked as the administrative director of radiology at Centre Community Hospital (now Mount Nittany Medical Center). After leaving Holy Trinity to pursue a life of church service, Fr. James graduated from St. Tikhon’s Seminary in 2001. Throughout his priesthood, Fr. James has been connected with campus ministry, serving as the OCF chaplain at Bloomsburg University while acting as rector of Holy Annunciation Church in Berwick.

In 2010, Fr. James and Mka. Lisa moved to Wilmington, home of the University of Delaware, to become rector of St. Michael’s Church. There he oversaw the completion of a half-million dollar Parish Hall construction project.

He and Mka. Lisa have been married for 27 years. They have 2 children, James Jr., who is now 23 years old, and a daughter, Victoria (age 15).

by Fr. John Reeves

Many words can have more than one meaning. As I began to write this article the word “bore” came to mind, as in full bore. It’s a mechanical term referring to the maximum effort expended to get the most power out of a cylinder, or bore. Just as I was prepared to exhort everyone to put full effort into the remainder of the Fast, I thought of the other meaning of bore, as in to be bored! It made me think that for some, Lent might be approached more as a big bore, something to be endured, designed to take all the fun out of living and dining for forty days, and little else.

Let’s look at the two approaches. One presumes that there is indeed something to “get out” of Lent, that spiritual effort is required, but that in the end maximum benefits are the results. The Church certainly has this understanding. Manifold services are to be accompanied by fasting and additional personal prayer. It is a period which brings “great profit to the soul,” to quote from Lenten hymns.

The other approach, that Lent is a bore, views this time as the following rules and regulations, noting how strictly, or not, one fasts. Little emphasis is placed on prayer, the natural end of fasting. Therefore, attempting to fast can not only be a challenge but a “downer,” a meaningless exercise trying to stay on a semblance of an ecclesiastical diet, but nothing more. It becomes an end, in and of itself, and hence a spiritually insignificant practice.

Of course, the purpose of Orthodoxy is not to fast. It is to draw us into an ever closer relationship with God. During Lent, we have a dedicated, seasonal opportunity to do that, to be drawn ever closer to God by spending more time in prayer and worship and limiting the distractions of food and entertainment. The latter are not bad in and of themselves, but often become the focus of much of our lives.

The many opportunities for “extra” prayer and worship—Presanctified Liturgies, Memorial Saturdays, Mission Vespers—become a natural end of our fasting, if we are fasting to draw nearer to God. Without availing ourselves of them, without going “full bore”, however, limits Lent’s outcome, like underutilizing the potential power of an engine. We might fire on some cylinders, but not all. That’s when Lent becomes a big bore, something to endure at best, until “it’s over” at Pascha.

Clean Week was when we drained the crankcase and changed the oil at Forgiveness Vespers. Perhaps, we accompanied this by changing the timing on our spiritual engines. Or we might have adjusted our carburetors to accommodate a new spiritual regimen, a richer mixture of “fuel” and “air.” But unless we engage the disciplines of Lent fully, we are merely tinkering around in the garage, with an engine that might be idling nicely, but in a car that’s not going anywhere.

We don’t admire a car merely because it idles well, however. What we are really interested in is the ride. That takes more effort but it will demonstrate what the car was actually made for. Souls are like that, too. They aren’t made to idle, any more than cars are. Souls are made for action and movement. A Lenten discipline is a test track, a proving ground for the soul to reach its capacity.

For the rest of Lent, let the brake off and ease into drive. Don’t race the engine, but gradually increase the speed, the intensity of the spiritual effort. Lent won’t seem so boring, and we can make it to a fuller capacity, if not a wide open throttle, by Pascha.

Ultimately the biggest difference between “big bore” and “full bore” in Lent simply depends on the effort we put into it.

Email info@holytrinity-oca.org for more information or to request free transportation.