March 24th, 2022

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Below are a number of important announcements regarding up coming events at St. Basil’s.

May God bless your Lenten journey towards Holy Week and Pascha!

Fr. Elias

Friday is the feast of the Annunciation to the Theotokos. Vespers with Divine Liturgy will be served at 7pm and live streamed through Facebook.  Our celebration of this feast will continue with a potluck dinner afterwards. On this feast we eat traditionally fish and wine and olive oil. We continue to fast from meat, egg and dairy products on this day. We will celebrate this feast with the participation of the Melkite Community and Fr. Marc.

This Sunday, March 27, after the Divine Liturgy Toni Tritchka will demonstrate the beautiful folk art of pysanky, answering questions and explaining the tradition and theology of this ancient folk art. In two weeks on Palm Sunday, April 10, at 1pm Grandma Toni will teach a “Pysanky class” at St. Basil’s. You can register with Grandma Toni this Sunday. A 5$ donation is asked to offset the cost of supplies. Please speak with Grandma Toni for more information this Sunday or contact her at [email protected]

Sunday Children’s Faith Education will take place on Sunday, April 3 from 12:30pm to 2:30pm focused on the theme of “Holy Week and Pascha”. Lunch is included for kids and adults, and parents are welcomed to participate or just watch! 

Holy Confession, especially for our children, will take place on Sunday, April 3 immediately after the Divine Liturgy. One can come to confession at any time around Liturgical Services or upon request. At this time of year, the Great Fast and Pascha, the Church asks us to participate in the Mystery of Confession and Reconciliation.

On Tuesday, March 29, Fr. Elias will participate at St. Sophia Ukrainian Catholic Church, (5600 North Colony Blvd., The Colony, TX  75056) in a Moleben (prayer service) for peace in Ukraine and a Panachida  (memorial service) for the war dead at 7pm. All parishioners of St. Basil’s are warmly invited by Fr. Pavló and his parish to pray with them at this particularly difficult time for many of their parishioners and Fr. Pavló, who have family in Ukraine. If you are unable to participate in this Moleben, please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine in solidarity with our Mother Church in Mukachevo, Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The All Texas Byzantine Catholic Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Dubina, Texas, will take place on Bright Saturday, April 23 with the Vigil Divine Liturgy (for Thomas Sunday) served at 1pm and concelebrated by our priests and deacons from all over Texas. More specific information will follow next week. Mark your calendars and make your plans! Note that participation in the Divine Liturgy fulfills your Sunday obligation.

Once again the “lost & found” bins are getting full. We ask that if you have lost something please reclaim it before Holy Week. After Palm Sunday, we will collect all the items that are unclaimed and donate them to the St. Vincent de Paul resale shop. 

Next week you will receive an updated Liturgical Schedule. The current one posted on the website and sent out in the email update has the entire Holy Week and Pascha Schedule in it. Please take a look at it so that you may plan your attendance and participation in the rich liturgical services during that holiest of periods, Holy Week and Pascha.