Looking Ahead at St Mary (March 2 – 10)
Beloved in Christ,
Below you will find this week’s schedule, as well as some important notes about upcoming events.
THIS WEEK: March 2 – 10, 2025
This Week: No meat/dairy/wine on any day of the week; wine allowed on Sat/Sun.
Sun, Mar 2 at 5:00 pm – Vespers w/Rite of Mutual Forgiveness (“Forgiveness Vespers”)
Sun, Mar 2 at 6:00 pm – Ice Cream Social @ Braum’s (201 N Seneca St)
Mon, Mar 3 – Great Lent Begins
Mon, Mar 3 at 6:00 pm – Great Compline w/Canon of Repentance
Tues, Mar 4 at 6:00 pm – Great Compline w/Canon of Repentance
Wed, Mar 5 at 6:00 pm – Pre-Sanctified Liturgy w/Potluck Following
Thurs, Mar 6 at 6:00 pm – Great Compline w/Canon of Repentance
Fri, Mar 7 at 6:00 pm – Little Compline w/Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God
Sat, Mar 8 at 4:00 pm – Men’s Prayer Group
Sat, Mar 8 at 4:30 pm – Confession
Sat, Mar 8 at 5:00 pm – Great Vespers
Sun, Mar 9 – Daylight Saving Time
Sun, Mar 9 at 9:00 am – Matins
Sun, Mar 9 at 10:00 am – Divine Liturgy
Sun, Mar 9 at 11:00 am – Church School
Sun, Mar 9 at 12:00 pm – MF Prep: Cook/Prepare Meat for Kibbee
Sun, Mar 9 at 12:00 pm – Teen SOYO Meeting & Bowling
Mon, Mar 10 at 6:00 pm – Great Compline
Other Notes
(1) FESTIVAL PREP: Our annual Mediterranean Festival is coming up on Saturday, May 3. We have several prep days to ensure we are ready to open our doors and welcome our visitors on May 3. In addition to being a major help for this fundraiser, volunteering at these prep days is a wonderful way to get to know your fellow parishioners. Please see the current sign-up sheet for upcoming prep days and sign up for slots when you can make yourself available. You can sign up here: St Mary/Wichita, KS: Mediterranean Festival Prep Dates – 2025
2) GREAT LENT RESOURCES: Great Lent begins on Monday, March 3. You can find a number of resources on the Archdiocese website’s Great Lent page: an overview of this holy season, explanations of its Sundays and other important days, opportunities for almsgiving, and podcasts.
(3) GREAT LENT SERVICES: Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha is by far the most important time on the church calendar. This is why Pascha is called “The Feast of Feasts” and stands even above the other “Twelve Great Feasts.” With that in mind, I highly encourage our parishioners to prioritize attending the Divine Services during Great Lent. This season is a time for us to re-center ourselves and our lives around God, so please make every effort to arrange your schedules to be in church. You can find the March schedule of services on our parish website homepage by clicking on the “Calendar” link.
(4) SPEED FRIENDING: On Sunday, March 23, during Coffee Hour, we are going to have a “Speed Friending” event. Similar to “Speed Dating,” parishioners will have five minutes to talk with the person across the table from them. We will have questions to guide the conversation. After five minutes, everyone will move down the table to speak with someone else. We hope this will be a fun way to help people get to know each other. Lunch and childcare will be provided. Adults (age 18 and over) are encouraged to participate. See the flyer linked below for more details.
(5) LENTEN RETREAT: Our annual Lenten Retreat is scheduled for Friday, March 28, and Saturday, March 29. Fr Calinic Berger will be our retreat speaker. Further details can be found on a forthcoming flyer, but save the dates now. Fr Cal will be speaking with us about the Psalms and how they lead us to Christ.
(6) METROPOLITAN SABA’S WEEKLY TEACHING: This week His Eminence shares his message “Reflections on Forgiveness” See the link below to read it.
(7) TEXT MESSAGE UPDATE REMINDERS: If you would like to join the St Mary text message group to receive important updates/reminders, you may do so at any time by texting @stmaryict to 81010. Please note you must include the @ sign to be able to join the group. No one in the group will see your phone number or be able to send you a message except through the parish office. You also will not be able to text others in the group, but will receive messages from the office and can respond to the office.
(8) TEACH ME THY STATUTES PODCAST: If you would like to listen to this week’s Teach Me Thy Statutes podcast (with Fr Aaron & Jason Ewertt), you can find it here: Teach Me Thy Statutes.
(9) PASTORAL VISITS: If you would like a pastoral visit for any reason, or if you know of a family member/parishioner who needs a visit, please feel free to contact me via cell phone at 204-6725.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Aaron
