Newsletter February 21, 2026

With the beginning of Great Lent, we pray to Christ, bowing to Him the knee of both our soul and body. We open to Him the doors of our souls and address Him thus: O Heavenly Bridegroom, come and be with us as we sail in life as our ship is battered by the waves of this troubled world. Be with us, O Lord, and secure the sail of our souls, that it may not be torn away by the winds of this world, nor confused by the falsehood of its might. Be with us, O God, grant peace to us and to Your world, and by the power of Your silence still the deceitful noises of this world, entangled in its selfishness and passions. Be with us and grant peace to our souls, to our homes, and to our countries.

Anoint with the oil of Your divine consolation all who are in distress, hardship, or illness. Bless and protect our children and our families. Have mercy on us and on Your world, and receive into Your mercy the souls of those who have gone before us to the place of Your holy light. For You are blessed and glorified unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2737

Fasting, my beloved, is the provision for the journey toward the glorious Pascha, where the mystery of redemption becomes a living reality within us, and the Resurrection of Christ is transformed into an inner resurrection that renews our lives. Let us live this holy season not as a negative act of deprivation, but as a positive journey toward God—filled with His presence, renewed in spirit, and growing in love.

I ask the Lord, on your behalf, to grant us all an acceptable fast, sincere repentance, and a humble heart, so that we may together attain the joy of the Resurrection.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2736

Denver area Lenten Sunday evening pan-Orthodox Vespers will be held again this year. All services begin at 5:00 P.M.

Sunday of Orthodoxy (March 1): Assumption Cathedral, Denver
St. Gregory Palamas (March 8): Transfiguration Cathedral, Denver
Sunday of Cross (March 15): St. Elias, Arvada
St. John of the Ladder (March 22): St. Catherine, Greenwood Village
St. Mary of Egypt (March 29): Ss. Peter & Paul, Boulder

(These are also listed on the parish calendar, with map pins and addresses)

Let’s continue our recent tradition of celebrating Cheese-fare Sunday with a parish feast after the Liturgy (February 22). Everyone bring some of your favorite cheese, dairy, egg, (yes, ice cream too) dish to share together.

Silouani has startedp a new women’s book study group. She has offered her home as the gathering place. The gatherings will be on the 3rd Tuesdays of the month.

The first book will be “On the Mystical Life, The Ethical Discourses: St. Symeon the New Theologian, Volume I: The Church and The Last Things”. Here is a link to the publisher:
https://svspress.com/on-the-mystical-life-the-ethical-discourses-st-symeon-the-new-theologian-volume-i-the-church-and-the-last-things/

Please remember that our full calendar continues to be available at our parish web site. Here is a link:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Calendar/calendar.php

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Prosphora/Docs/prosphora sched 2026 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2026.pdf

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE ROMANS 13:11-14; 14:1-4

Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.

Gospel: MATTHEW 6:14-21

The Lord said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Adam’s Sin and the Sin of All

Fr. Stephen Freeman

The season of Great Lent is a call to true repentance. It is not an entanglement in our private wrong-doings and failures – it is a movement towards the truth of our existence, the fullness of the “whole Adam” (as St. Silouan often called it). Our fragmentation and disintegration into our private worlds is a contradiction of God’s intention for human well-being. Just as the Trinity is One God in Three Persons, so we are One humanity in a multiplicity of persons. The fullness of our existence is never found within ourselves, but within the mutual indwelling of each in all and all in each. St. Silouan said, “My brother is my life.”

Read the entire article: https://glory2godforallthings.com/2026/02/17/adams-sin-and-the-sin-of-all/