The Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts: A Lenten Climax
In the early Church, when Christians were very few and well “tested,” there existed the practice of distributing the consecrated Gifts to the faithful at the end of the Sunday Eucharist for their daily individual Communion at home; the corporate and joyful Eucharist of the Lord’s Day was thus “extended” to the totality of time and life.  This practice, however, was discontinued when the growth in Church membership, the transformation of Christianity into a mass religion, inevitably lowered the spiritual intensity characteristic of the first Christian generations and forced the Church authorities to take measures against a possible misuse of the Holy Gifts.  In the West, this led to the appearance of the daily Eucharist – one of the characteristic features of the Western liturgical tradition and piety but also the source of a significant change in the very understanding of the Eucharist.  Once the Eucharist was deprived of its “festal” character and ceased to be the feast of the Church, becoming an integral part of the daily cycle, the door was opened for the so-called “private” masses, which in turn altered more and more all other elements of worship.  In the East, however, the initial eschatological, Kingdom-centered, joyful understanding of the Eucharist was never given up and, in theory at least, the Divine Liturgy even today is not a mere part of the daily cycle.  Its celebration is always a feast, and the day of its celebration always acquires a spiritual connotation of the Lord’s Day.  As we have stressed time and again, it is incompatible with the fast and is not served on weekdays of Lent.  Thus, once the daily Communion at home was discontinued, it was not replaced in the East with the daily celebration of the Eucharist, but gave birth to a new form of Communion with the Gifts reserved from the Sunday or “festal” celebration.  It is very likely that at first this “Presanctified” service was not limited to Great Lent but was common to all fasting seasons of the Church.  But then, as the number of feasts – major and minor – increased and made the celebration of the Eucharist much more frequent, the Presanctified Liturgy became a characteristic liturgical feature of Great Lent, and little by little under the influence of the Lenten liturgical spirit, of that “bright sadness” of which we spoke, it acquired that unique beauty and solemnity which make it the spiritual climax of Lenten worship.

                 --Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent: Journey to Pascha

Services This Month
+ The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts will be celebrated each Wednesday at 5:15 pm.  In order to receive Holy Communion, abstinence from food and drink is expected from noon onward.  This service is followed by a Lenten potluck and fellowship.
+ A Memorial Saturday Divine Liturgy will be offered each of the first three Saturdays of the month.  There is a signup sheet in the narthex for those who would like to prepare the kolivo for a Saturday.
+ Pan-Orthodox (Mission) Vespers take place on each Sunday of Lent, involving the clergy and faithful of our southern Colorado parishes gathering at a single church for Vespers and fellowship.  Fr. Barnabas will have space in his car for most trips.  The schedule for Pan-Orthodox Vespers is:
*St. Gregory Palamas (Mar. 3): Archangel Michael GOC, 2215 Paseo Rd. in Colorado Springs.  Homilist: Fr. Barnabas Powell.
*Veneration of the Cross (Mar. 11): Sts. Constantine and Helen Church, 2770 N. Chestnut St. in Colorado Springs.  Homilist: Fr. Lawrence Gaudreau.
*St. John Klimakos (Mar. 18): Our turn to host.  Please be generous in bringing food as we can expect many guests.  Homilist: Fr. Joseph Hirsch.
*St. Mary of Egypt (Mar. 25): St. Mary’s Holy Dormition Church, 19485 N. Calhan Hwy. in Calhan.  Homilist: Fr. Dennis Schutte.
+ We will pray the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete on the evening of March 22nd at 6:45.  This service, which we will celebrate with Compline, contains a series of the most self-abasing and penitential prayers known to the Orthodox Tradition.
+ The Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos will be offered the following evening at 6:45.  Though called for as interspersed with Matins, we will celebrate the Akathist alone.
+ The Great Feast of the Annunciation falls on a Sunday this year and gives us our first opportunity for a Saturday evening Vigil.  Vigil services will now be moved up slightly to 6:45 pm and abbreviated for the time being so as to last no more than an hour and forty-five minutes or so.  The Sunday coffee hour will be a Lenten potluck with fish, wine and oil allowed.  Let us have a joyous potluck for a joyful feast.
+ We will add a Vespers to our Lazarus Saturday celebrations this year, taking the Vesperal portions of the Presanctified Liturgy that is called for Friday evening.  After the Liturgy we will put together the palms and willows for Palm Sunday.  In a rather unique dispensation, wine, oil and caviar are allowed, so if anyone feels like springing, go right ahead.
+ The palms/willows for Palm Sunday will be blessed and distributed at the Vespers of the Feast, with the remainder available on Sunday morning.  Though OCA/Russian rubrics do not call for a procession, we will have one as they do in many Byzantine churches.  This will follow the same order as our Sunday of Orthodoxy procession (1x around at “Blessed be the Name”).

Seating
Pursuant to the consensus of opinion expressed at our Annual Parish Meeting, the choir has moved (returned after many years) to the back of the church and a couple of pews were removed to make this possible.  This relocation, combined with the steady growth in attendance at divine services, has led to a slight shortage of available seating.  Please, reserve seating for those who physically need it.  Able-bodied young people are strongly urged to stand up front on the rugs.  Those who are able should also sit on the rugs rather than the pews during the homily and announcements.  This message will be repeated as often as is necessary.  And remember that we should all stand, at the very least, during the distribution of Holy Communion, the Great and Little Entrances, the Gospel reading and when we are being censed.

Catechumens
Glory to God that some nine persons will have been enrolled as catechumens this month!  God-willing, Lisa Budisavljevic will be chrismated at the Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday.  If God further so wills, then Judy Morley, Cathy, Amy and Annie Hoosier and Jerad, Casey, Alexis and Haley Libhart will be baptized and/or chrismated on Pentecost.
 
Church Cleaning
The Saturday morning before Holy Annunciation will be a time for cleaning the church.  Projects will include dusting the chandeliers and replacing burned-out bulbs, moving cleaning supplies from the narthex closet to the narthex cupboard to make way for a future “tract rack,” and cleaning/polishing some liturgical implements.  We will begin at 9:30 and work for an hour or two, so please come join us!

Putting Out Candles
Again, please use the candlesnuffers to put out beeswax candles rather than blowing them out.  This will keep sand from getting blown onto the floors.  When extinguishing the lampada that hangs over the Royal Doors, be careful not to pull it down to fast or hard as the counterweight is beginning to mar the iconostasis by being repeatedly pounded into it.

For Sale
There are a few unwanted items from the church and rectory for sale.  Proceeds will go toward maintenance.  Speak with Fr. if interested:

• Two adjustable, metal bed frames on rollers: make an offer.
• Four wooden, interior doors, one with handle included: make and offer.
• We also have a couple of old church windows left: $35 each.

Recommended Reading
Perhaps the best known of Fr. Schmemann’s works, For the Life of the World is an Orthodox classic that ought to be read again and again.  In it, Schmemann lays out the fundamental principles of Orthodox sacramental and liturgical theology, chief among which is that a sacrament is not something “sacred” that is to be juxtaposed to the “profane” or “secular” world.  Rather, it is precisely the nature of the sacraments to reveal the original, God-intended vocation of all “secular” reality: to give glory to God.  Thus, we bless water on Holy Theophany not so that we can juxtapose “Holy Water” with “regular water,” treating the former as magical and the latter as spiritually irrelevant.  On the contrary, we bless water in order to reveal or show its God given purpose, which is to be a means of communicating Grace precisely as water.  Sacraments are not outside of or over and against the fallen world.  They are means of restoring bread and wine or even marriage to what they are intended to be for: the life of the world.

Food Pantry
Donations will now be accepted for a food pantry to assist those who come to the rectory for aid.  Non-perishable food items may be left on or in the cabinet located beside the bookstore entrance.  Fr. is looking for a volunteer who is willing to keep the pantry clean and organized.

Child Safety
Thanks be to God that there are many more children at St. Michael’s now than in previous years.  Looking forward to next fall we can even begin to anticipate a modest Sunday School.  With a growing number of children we also need to increase our consciousness of safety on the church grounds.  Parents (and others), please keep an eye on young children, particularly during coffee hour.  They mustn’t be allowed to wander and play unattended among the cars or on the sidewalk out front.  Children also should not play on the porch, carport or far (eastern) side of the rectory.  While it is natural to want to explore, the church has a spacious backyard with playground toys and lots of room for enjoyment.  Finally, Fr. and Popadija personally request children and adults to be mindful of the flowerbeds.  As parents let’s all agree to take primary responsibility for our own children, and as a community let’s all keep a secondary eye on our common progeny.

Coffee Hour Donations
The basket on the main table during coffee hour is for donations to the Fellowship Fund, which is used to pay for coffee hour supplies.  While there is no “charge” for coffee hour, consider making a donation from time to time.

Support St. Michael’s Choir

Join us in hosting the 1st annual festival of the

American Orthodox Choral Association 

Saturday 19th May

Free Concert 11 am
Hoag Theatre, PCC
(Corner of Orman Ave. & Arthur Ave.)

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With guest choir
Ë Konevets Quartet - St. Petersburg, Russia Ë

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Banquet 1:30 pm
Rosario’s Restaurant
($12 adults, $6 children)

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Ask any choir member for your ticket today!

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