Saturday, April. 25 – Mark, Apostle & Evangelist
5:00 PM Mission Divine Liturgy at St. Raphael’s
Sunday, April. 26 – Sunday of the Paralytic Man
8:00 AM Matins
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
Monday, April. 27 – Simeon, Bishop & Martyr
8:30 AM Morning Prayer
Tuesday, April. 28 – Jason & Sosipater, Apostles
6 :30 PM Akathist* for Addictions and Mental Illness
Wednesday, April. 29 – Mid-Pentecost
8:30 AM Morning Prayer
6:30 PM Divine Liturgy
7:30 PM Firepit Social
Saturday, May. 2 – Athanasius the Great Patriarch
5:00 PM Mission Divine Liturgy at St. Raphael’s
Sunday, May. 3 – Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
8:00 AM Matins
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
*Add first names to this prayer service by emailing niemirick@gmail.com
St. Mary’s: Sundays 8:45 AM or by appointment St. Raphael’s: Saturdays 4:15 PM or by appointment
(Please resubmit or submit names to admin@ByzantineLA.com)
The Carlin Family, Michael Hefferon, Shirley Kunze, Diana Mina, Michael Mina, Peter Mina, Fr. John Mina, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Shannon O’Neill, Fern Bonowicz, Stephen Petach, Jenny Roman, Nicolese Salazar, and All the sick and suffering of St. Mary’s
Collection: $572.00; Online: $690.00; Santa Paula: $1,229.80; Candles: $30.00; Holydays: $35.00; Parish Social: $28.00;
Total: $2,584.80/ Attendance – PSM: 86 SRM: 91
On the Sunday of the Paralytic and for the rest of the Paschal season, Sundays deal with the theme of water. At these Divine Liturgies, the newly baptized adults who had been catechumens were given further instruction in the Christian faith, and so the Sundays all deal with the symbolism of water used in Baptism. These are: the Sunday of the Paralytic, Samaritan Woman, and the dramatic text of the Man Born Blind. In all of these Jesus uses water either in the cure (Paralytic, Man Born Blind) or for teaching (Samaritan Woman).
For the previously baptized Christians, these teachings also served as a reaffirmation of their faith in Jesus and His Church. For them, these Sundays and Mid-Pentecost fortified them and renewed them in their preparation for the great feast of Pentecost. Note that the mid-point of the Easter season is itself called Mid-Pentecost, not Mid-Pascha. The Church is getting ready, through the power of the new life in the Risen Lord, to receive the Holy Spirit and be lifted up in the Gifts of the Spirit to go forth into the world, as the Apostles, Our Lady, and the disciples did after that first, awesome Descent of the Holy Spirit.
The pool of Bethesda did not have the power to heal the man paralyzed for thirty-eight years, but the pool of the waters of baptism, touched by Christ, risen from the dead and by the power of the Holy Spirit, have the power to heal our souls of sin and bring us to eternal life.
Read more in this week’s email or at EPHX.org
“Take up your mat and walk.” Our Lord can make us well, and it is always His will that we are able to walk, spiritually speaking. When we unite ourselves to His will we can bring healing to this world. Is He calling you or someone you know to do so by a vocation to the monastic life, the diaconate in Christ or the priesthood? Contact the Vocations Office at 602-861-9778 or email: vocations@ephx.org
We’ve donated $17,423.70 toward our goal of $24,500. The Bishop’s appeal ends in a little over one month, May 31, 2026. You can give to the appeal online by going to the “Donation” page at www.ephx.org. Please make sure you identify the parish or the mission as the recipient of your generosity.
Thank you to the following parishioners who have given this year: Alig, Ariss, Brunet, Clemens, Cook, Healy, Herrera, Kieselhorst, Klein, Kopcho, Martini, Michnya, Mina, Nelson, O’Loughlin, Parrot, Reichert, Varga, Weitzel, Zimmerman
During the Great Fast and Paschal Season, we will be reading “Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives” by Elder Thaddeus. We will discuss the book on Sundays during Adult Ed (following the Sunday Social). You do not need to read the book to participate.
April 26: Chapters 13,14 May 3: Chapters 15, 16
Sunday, April 26 –
