Christ is Risen!
We had a wonderful celebration of Pascha at Holy Cross parish. Our new St. Joseph's Guild has been doing some remodeling and the work so far looks great. Our altar has been raised to the regulation 39 inches, and we now have a beautiful new tabernacle on the altar with a gold leaf Celtic Cross on the door. A new Icon of the Mother of God is also up in the sanctuary. We had flowers everywhere, traditional Easter Hymns, Gregorian chant for all the Propers, our vested choir sang "O Lord I am not Worthy" at communion time, and we nearly raised the roof with cries of "Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!"
We had people away, which unfortunately happens during holidays, but we still had a full house. Looking out from the pulpit, the congregation was a Catholic mosaic of white, black and asian. The sermon was recorded on our new state-of-the-art audio/video recording equipment and will be part of our new electronic media outreach that is about to be launched. As is our tradition at Holy Cross parish, red Easter Eggs were distributed at the end of the Liturgy with the Paschal greeting, “Christ is Risen!” Fellowship time after the Liturgy was shorter than usual as people had to leave to be with family and friends, but not before they clicked their eggs. It was a blessed time.
Unfortunately, the sign company did not get our new signs up last week, but promises to have them up this week. We are having two new signs put up, including a large 3x8 foot sign that will be visible from a long way away. The signs will have a Celtic Cross in emerald green, with black text on a white background. The signs are expensive, but they will be worth it.
The Paschal celebration is not limited to Easter Sunday, and continues on. There is no fasting or abstinence during Easter Week, and the celebration of the Resurrection goes on for the forty days leading up the feast of the Ascension of our Lord.
St. Joseph’s Guild will continue to remodel and refurbish our sanctuary and chapel over the next few weeks. Last December we moved into our new and much larger parish hall, and now we are renovating our chapel. Holy Cross is a parish on the move!
We are a traditional church, fully Orthodox in Faith, Order and Moral teaching, and maintaining our ancient Western liturgical and spiritual heritage. You won’t find anything new here. No new theology. No new morality. No trendy worship. We even observe the Old Calendar! What you will find is a faithful, friendly and active congregation committed to Christ, to one another, and to growing in holiness. The Christian life is the good life at Holy Cross parish and we have a place for you. Come and see us grow!
