St. Nicholas Orthodox Church

An Orthodox community where people find transformation in Jesus Christ.

  • Home
  • Directions
  • Calendar
  • First Time Visitor
    • Visitor Guide for Non-Orthodox Christians
    • Visitor Guide for Orthodox Christians
  • About Orthodoxy
    • What is the Orthodox Church? [VIDEO]
    • Orthodoxy: The Church of the Martyrs and Confessors
    • Orthodoxy 101: Questions and Answers [VIDEO]
    • What is the Jesus Prayer? [VIDEO]
    • An Overview of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy [VIDEO]
    • Why Orthodox Men Love Church
    • Daily Orthodox Prayers
  • About Our Parish
    • Clergy
      • Fr. Paul Fuller – Pastor
      • His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS
      • ​His Eminence Metropolitan SABA
      • His Beatitude, Patriarch JOHN X
    • Our Patron: Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
    • Our Father Among the Saints: St. Raphael of Brooklyn
    • Our Patriarch’s Vision
    • Architecture & Awards
  • Ministries
    • Antiochian Men (AMEN)
    • Antiochian Women
    • Christian Education
    • Church Library
    • Community Garden
    • Community Groups
    • Cradle Care
    • Liturgical Choir
    • Orthodox Christians For Life
    • Parish Council
    • St. Nicholas Bookstore
    • St. Nicholas Bookstore Online
  • Weekly Bulletin
  • Email Sign Up
  • Parish Newsletters
  • St. Nicholas Videos
  • Support St. Nicholas
    • How to Donate
    • 2024 Stewardship & Membership Form
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook

Holy Week? Pascha? 😷

April 11, 2020

2020 Holy Week & Pascha Schedule

The season of Great Lent (Spring) has been very different this year. We are isolated, lonely, and depressed. We long to gather together to sing praise and supplications to our God and to partake of the Holy gifts of His Body and His Blood.

We are committed to following the guidelines set out by the pandemic experts and our lawful civil authorities for the safety and security of all life. Stay home. All Lenten services have been canceled and we are live-streaming the Sunday morning Orthros and Divine Liturgies on our Facebook page, fb.com/StNicholasAR/live/ @ 9 & 10 am so that the faithful can participate from their homes. Also, see the Holy Week schedule below. Please take advantage of these “virtual” services to participate in the worship. The Church of the boundless God is not contained within buildings built by humans anymore that God Himself. The Kingdom of God is within us. We have become the dwelling place of the uncontainable Creator of All.


Schedule

Father John has provided a working schedule for Great and Holy Week and Blessed Pascha. These will all be live-streamed on fb.com/StNicholasAR/Live/
This schedule is subject to change or significant modification, so please be patient and understanding.

Holy Week
  • April 7-11
    • No Public Services During Week
  • April 12 Palm Sunday
    • 9:00 Am Orthros
    • 10:00 Am Liturgy
    • 6:00 Pm Bridegroom Orthros
  • April 13 – Holy Monday
    • 6:00 Pm Bridegroom Orthros
  • April 14 – Holy Tuesday
    • 6:00 Pm Bridegroom Orthros
  • April 15 – Holy Wednesday
    • 6:00 Pm Orthros
  • April 16 – Holy Thursday
    • 6:00 Pm 12 Passion Gospels
  • April 17 – Holy Friday
    • 4:00 Pm Great Vespers
    • 5:00 Pm Taking Down From Cross & Lamentations
  • April 18 – Holy Saturday
    • 10:00 am Divine Liturgy
    • 10:30 Pm Rush Procession
    • 11:00 Pm Orthros
  • April 19 – Great & Holy Pascha
    • 12:01 am Paschal Divine Liturgy
    • 4:00 pm Agape Vespers
    • No Afternoon Lamb Dinner

Here are some practical ways to participate from your own “little Churches.” →

Services can also be found on the St Nicholas Church Public Google Calendar. See it on the website StNicholasAR.org/Resources/Schedule-and-Calendar/ or subscribe to the Church Calendar to have it on all your devices!
Father John Atchison is reachable @ (479) 871-0559 & FatherJohn@StNicholasAR.org


You may also be interested in reading and listening to some of the many terrific online resources available about the Lenten Season.

  • Great Lent: The Journey to the Empty Tomb (Antiochian.org)
    • http://ww1.antiochian.org/lent
  • Excerpts from Great Lent (Alexander Schmemann)
    • http://ww1.antiochian.org/great-lent-excerpts
  • Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha (Greek Archdiocese)
    • http://lent.goarch.org/
  • Great Lent and Holy Pascha Articles (Antiochian.org) Some broken links here, but the ones that work are worth reading.
    • http://ww1.antiochian.org/1140624929

†St Nicholas Parish Council

As Lent Approaches…

February 19, 2020

Good afternoon […] ,

As you may know, the four Sundays before Great and Holy Lent are called the Triodion. Before this important period, the Church gives us a gentle warning when the Gospel reading about Zacchaios is read. The Church basically nudges us to say that Great and Holy Lent is around the corner when we discuss Zacchaios. The Church Fathers, in their infinite wisdom, as they assigned the Gospel readings to the Triodion are alerting us to focus our minds, hearts, and even stomachs on Christ, as we will see.

The progression of themes is very important, as follows:

The Sunday of Zacchaios tells us how Zacchaios had a burning desire for Christ. So should we have such a burning desire for Christ. In doing so, the Church alerts us that Great a Holy Lent is around the corner.

The next Sunday this year interrupts the progression of themes (this depends on when Pacha falls) to introduce the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple, 40 days after His Nativity.

Last Sunday, the progression of themes continues as the period of the Triodion begins. The first Sunday of the Triodion is always the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. This Sunday introduces the humility of the Publican as he realizes his sinfulness and requests God’s mercy (vs. the arrogance of the Pharisee and the lack of realizing his dependance on God’s mercy)

The progression of themes here is that if we don’t have a burning desire for Christ like Zacchaios, we can’t have humility like the Publican.

This coming Sunday, we will read the Gospel reading about the Prodigal Son, which reminds us of the repentence of the Prodigal Son, after realizing his sinfulness.

The progression of themes is that: if we don’t have a burning desire for Christ (like Zacchaios), we can’t have humility (like the Publican). If we don’t have humility, we can never be reprennent (Like the Prodigal Son)

Next Sunday, we will read the Gospel reading about the Last Judgment and how Christ, at His second coming, will have the sheep at His right hand side (i.e. those who did good deeds by feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, visiting the imprisoned,…) and the goats on His left hand side (i.e. those who didn’t do good deeds, imagine what would happen to those who did evil deeds). Jesus sent those who did good deeds to Heaven (as He told them: ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’) and those who didn’t to Hell (as He told them: ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’).

Notice that both groups on the right and left hand sides were ignorant of what they did! The ones on the right hand side had ‘holy ignorance’, as the Church Fathers say, since they did good deeds without expecting anything in return.

The progression of themes is that: if we don’t have a burning desire for Christ (like Zacchaios), we can’t have humility (like the Publican). If we don’t have humility, we can never be reprennent (Like the Prodigal Son). If we can’t repent, then our judgment (on the Last Judgment day as presented by the Last Judgment Gospel reading) will be harsh!

The next Sunday, the last Sunday of the Triodion, is Forgiveness Sunday. The Church is letting us know that if we don’t forgive each other, God will not forgive us.

The progression of themes is that: if we don’t have a burning desire for Christ (like Zacchaios), we can’t have humility (like the Publican). If we don’t have humility, we can never be reprennent (Like the Prodigal Son). If we can’t repent, then our judgment (on the Last Judgment day as presented by the Last Judgment Gospel reading) will be harsh. Furthermore, if we don’t forgive each other, then our fasting and prayers during Great and Holy Lent will be in vain.

The Church Fathers have assigned another theme to The Sunday of the Last Judgment. It is Meatfare Sunday as well, which means it is the last day we eat meat until Holy Pacha (fish is allowed on the feast of the Annunciation and Palm Sunday). Thus, the Church is focusing gradually even our stomachs on Christ.

The Church Fathers have assigned two more themes to Forgiveness Sunday. It is Cheesefare Sunday as well, which means it is the last day we eat dairy products until Holy Pacha. Thus, the Church is focusing further our stomachs on Christ.

The third theme is the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise and, by extension, we are expelled from Paradise as a consequence of the Original sin (although we aren’t guilty of the Original sin). However, the Church doesn’t keep us hanging for long! On Great and Holy Friday, as we pass under the Bier as we enter the nave, we symbolically entrr Paradise, having labored throughout Great Lent in fasting and intensified prayers during the extra services and our personal prayers.

Every Sunday of Great and Holy Lent has at least two themes. I invite you to discover them as you journey to Holy Pacha

Our third and final preparation period (the first one being the Triodion and the second being Great and Holy Lent) is Holy Week. Everyday of Holy Week has at least one theme that is intended to prepare us further for Holy Pacha. I invite you as well to discover those themes as you journey to the empty Tomb.

I pray that you will have a spiritually edifying Triodion, Great and Holy Lent, Holy Week, and a glorious Holy Pacha!

†Bishop NICHOLAS, Diocese of Miami and the Southeast

Theophany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ + January 6

January 5, 2019

Theophany is the Feast which reveals the Most Holy Trinity to the world through the Baptism of the Lord (Mt.3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). God the Father spoke from Heaven about the Son, the Son was baptized by the St John the Forerunner, and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a dove. From ancient times this Feast was called the Day of Illumination and the Feast of Lights, since God is Light and has appeared to illumine “those who sat in darkness,” and “in the region of the shadow of death” (Mt.4:16), and to save the fallen race of mankind by grace.

Theophany
Theophany, Revelation of the Holy Trinity at the Baptism of Jesus Christ

In the ancient Church it was the custom to baptize catechumens at the Vespers of Theophany, so that Baptism also is revealed as the spiritual illumination of mankind.

The origin of the Feast of Theophany goes back to Apostolic times, and it is mentioned in The Apostolic Constitutions (Book V:13). From the second century we have the testimony of St Clement of Alexandria concerning the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, and the night vigil before this Feast.

There is a third century dialogue about the services for Theophany between the holy martyr Hippolytus and St Gregory the Wonderworker. In the following centuries, from the fourth to ninth century, all the great Fathers of the Church (i.e. Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Ambrose of Milan, John of Damascus) commented on the Feast of Theophany.

Discourse On the Day of the Baptism of Christ
– Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople

The monks Joseph the Studite, Theophanes and Byzantios composed much liturgical music for this Feast, which is sung at Orthodox services even today. St John of Damascus said that the Lord was baptized, not because He Himself had need for cleansing, but “to bury human sin by water,” to fulfill the Law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to sanctify “the nature of water” and to offer us the form and example of Baptism.

On the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, the Holy Church proclaims our faith in the most sublime mystery, incomprehensible to human intellect, of one God in three Persons. It teaches us to confess and glorify the Holy Trinity, one in Essence and Indivisible. It exposes and overthrows the errors of ancient teachings which attempted to explain the Creator of the world by reason, and in human terms.

The Church shows the necessity of Baptism for believers in Christ, and it inspires us with a sense of deep gratitude for the illumination and purification of our sinful nature. The Church teaches that our salvation and cleansing from sin is possible only by the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit, therefore it is necessary to preserve worthily these gifts of the grace of holy Baptism, keeping clean this priceless garb, for “As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27).

On the day of Theophany, all foods are permitted, even if the Feast falls on a Wednesday or Friday.

When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan
The worship of the Trinity was made manifest
For the voice of the Father bore witness to You
And called You His beloved Son.
And the Spirit, in the form of a dove,
Confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself
And have enlightened the world, glory to You!

Troparion – Tone 1

Today You have shown forth to the world, O Lord,
and the light of Your countenance has been marked on us.
Knowing You, we sing Your praises.
You have come and revealed Yourself,
O unapproachable Light.

Kontakion – Tone 4

Originally posted on http://www.facebook.com/OrthodoxSaints

The Entrance of the Theotokos + November 21

November 13, 2018

On November 21st in the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. Leading the procession into the Temple were virgins with lighted tapers in their hands, then the three-year-old Most-holy Virgin, led by her father and mother. The virgin was clad in vesture of royal magnificence and adornments as was befitting the “King’s daughter, the Bride of God” (Psalm 44:13-15).


Come and Celebrate with us!

    • Great Feast for the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple
    • Vesperal (Evening) Divine Liturgy
    • Tuesday, November 20th
    • 6:00 – 7:30pm
    • Event details here…

Entrance of the Theotokos Into the TempleFollowing them were many kinsmen and friends, all with lighted tapers. Fifteen steps led up to the Temple. Joachim and Anna lifted the Virgin onto the first step, then she ran quickly to the top herself, where she was met by the High Priest Zachariah, who was to be the father of St. John the Forerunner. Taking her by the hand, he led her not only into the Temple, but into the “Holy of Holies,” the holiest of holy places, into which no one but the high priest ever entered, and only once each year, at that. Zachariah “was outside himself and possessed by God” when he led the Virgin into the holiest place in the Temple, beyond the second curtain—otherwise, his action could not be explained.

The Most-holy Virgin remained in the Temple and dwelt there for nine full years. While her parents were alive, they visited her often. When God called her parents from this world, the Most-holy Virgin was left an orphan and did not wish to leave the Temple until death or to enter into marriage. The Most-holy Virgin Mary was the first of such life-vowed virgins, of the thousands and thousands of virgin men and women who would follow her in the Church of Christ.

Through her intercessions, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy upon us, and save us. Amen.

+Synaxarion of the Feast

  • Resources for parents on the Entrance of the Theotokos
  • Listen to a homily on the Presentation of the Theotokos
  • Read a reflection about the Feast

Originally published in Antiochian.org


Troparion, Tone 4

Today is the prelude of the good will of God, of the preaching of the salvation of mankind. The Virgin appears in the temple of God, in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all. Let us rejoice and sing to her: Rejoice, O Divine Fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation!

Kontakion, Tone 4

The most pure Temple of the Savior, the precious Chamber and Virgin, the sacred Treasure of the glory of God, is presented today to the House of the Lord. She brings with her the grace of the Spirit, which the angels of God do praise. Truly this woman is the abode of Heaven!

Nativity Fast Begins on November 15

November 13, 2018

The Nativity SeasonNovember 15 is the beginning of the Nativity Fast, one of the four Canonical Fasting Seasons in the Church year. Many Orthodox Christian families will begin this journey to the Feast of the Nativity which is celebrated as ‘Christmas’ in the US and Canada, on December 25. This is a joyous Fast in anticipation of the Nativity of Christ. While not as strict as Lent, it is observed as a kind of winter lenten season in preparation for the coming of Christ at His birth.

In the weeks between now and December 25, Orthodox Christians prepare themselves to celebrate the birth in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we begin the fast, we encourage both believing Orthodox and inquirers to review the reflections and resources in this special Nativity section.

Nativity Resources for Orthodox Christian Families
These resources are intended to help families enter into the Orthodox spirit of fasting and preparation for the joyful Feast of the Nativity on December 25. Christ is born!


Nativity Icon

Make a 40-Day Orthodox Advent Calendar

Christians who grew up celebrating Nativity (Christmas) in a western Christian tradition observed four Sundays of Advent, a period of preparation for the celebration on December 25, but Orthodox Christians commemorate the six Sundays of the Nativity Fast (Advent) which fall in the forty days of preparation.

The Orthodox Nativity calendar is a helpful teaching tool; homemade calendars or ones ordered online can aid parents as they assist their children in preparing for the Feast of the Nativity. Doors opening each day highlight art, saints or scriptures that tell the story of the season, and kids often look forward to seeing what is behind the next door as the countdown to Christmas continues.

Creative parents can make their own calendars by following these instructions: Making a Family Orthodox Advent Calendar or for younger children, The Orthodox Advent Calendar.


For additional general resources on the Orthodox Christian tradition of feasting and fasting, visit the Feasts and Fasts section of Discover Orthodox Christianity.

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Click to visit the Antiochian Archdiocese website
Click to visit the DOMSE website
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Springdale, Arkansas

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
3171 South 48th Street · Springdale, AR 72762 · (479) 379-6220
Copyright © 2025 · St. Nicholas Orthodox Church · Log in