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Mary of Egypt

The Life of Our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt

As read in church during Great Lent:

READER: The Life of our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt. Master, bless.

PRIEST: Blessed is our God, always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

READER: Amen.

"It is good to hide the secret of a king, but it is glorious to reveal and preach the works of God." ^{(Tobit 12:7)} So said the Archangel Raphael to Tobit when he performed the wonderful healing of his blindness. Actually, not to keep the secret of a king is perilous and a terrible risk, but to be silent about the works of God is a great loss for the soul. And I (says St. Sophronios), in writing the life of St. Mary of Egypt, am afraid to hide the works of God by silence. Remembering the misfortune threatened to the servant who hid his God-given talent in the earth ^{(Mat. 25:18-25)}, I am bound to pass on the holy account that has reached me. And let no one think (continues St. Sophronios) that I have had the audacity to write untruth or doubt this great marvel --may I never lie about holy things! If there do happen to be people who, after reading this record, do not believe it, may the Lord have mercy on them because, reflecting on the weakness of human nature, they consider impossible these wonderful things accomplished by holy people.

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Great Lent, Holy Week, Pascha Services 2023

Services of Great Lent 2023

• March 1 (Wednesday) 6:30PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
  
• March 5 - 10AM Divine Liturgy,  Orthodoxy Sunday
• March 8 (Wednesday) 6:30PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
  
• March 12 (Sunday) Divine Liturgy Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, 10AM
  
• March 15 (Wednesday) 6:30PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts 
  
• March 19  (Sunday) 10AM Divine Liturgy Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross,
• March 22 (Wednesday) 6:30PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts  
  
• March 24 (Friday) 6:30PM  Evening Liturgy Holy Day of the Annunciation
• March 26  (Sunday) Divine Liturgy  Sunday of St. St. John Climacus,10AM,
• March 29  (Wednesday) 6:30PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts 
  
• April 2 (Sunday) Divine Liturgy Sunday, St. Mary of Egypt  
• April 5 (Wednesday) 6:30PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts 
  

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Great Lent - Its Meaning For Orthodox Christians

GREAT LENT Its Meaning For Orthodox Christians

^{by THE RT. REV. ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN (1970)}

GREAT LENT The Time of Repentance

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Holy Week

Holy Week

^{By Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann}
"Having fulfilled the Forty Days we ask to see the Holy Week of Thy passion."  With these words sung at Vespers of Palm Friday, Lent comes to its end and we enter into the annual commemoration of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection. It begins on the Saturday of Lazarus. The double feast of Lazarus' Resurrection and the Entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem is described in liturgical texts as the 'beginning of the Cross' and is to be understood, therefore, within the context of the Holy Week. The common troparion of these days explicitly affirms that 'by raising Lazarus from the dead Christ confirmed the truth of general resurrection.' It is highly significant that we are led into the darkness of the Cross by one of the twelve major feasts of the Church. Light and joy shine not only at the end of Holy Week but also at its beginning; they illumine darkness itself, reveal its ultimate meaning.

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About the Patron of our Parish

(the Icon of the Mother of God "the Joy of All the Sorrowful"  is Commemorated on July 23, October 24, and November 19)

About the Patron of our Parish

^{By Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos}

Deep within the heart of the Church, in the place where sorrow and joy meet and where our bitter tears are kissed away by a mother's love, we encounter the Most Holy Mother of God. The Church in its devotion to the Ever-Virgin Mary has always known that she is a mystery and a gift given to us by God. The Theotokos is a mystery that can be experienced and encountered, and yet never explained or described in words of logic and science, and she is a gift that brings radiant joy and comfort in the midst of darkness and need. Through the centuries the Church has expressed its love for her through countless hymns, has praised her in its most exquisite poetry and song, and has portrayed her in its most beautiful and beloved icons. No other saint is the subject of so much devotion, and no other saint has so many miracles attributed him or her.

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Purpose

Purpose

As the local community of the Church of the Mother of God, this parish, exists for the purpose of worshiping God according to the Holy Scriptures and Tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church, to encourage union with God among the members of the parish, to seek out the lost, the searching, and the un-churched and to strive to bring them into union with the Church, to provide religious education to its members and potential members, provide charitable aid, and to defend, promote, and witness to theOrthodox Christian Faith in southern New Jersey.

This website is a tool to help in this purpose. Primarily to publicize our existence in southern New Jersey, and hopefully, encourage people to "come and see".  

The many pages on this website contain information we hope is helpful. 

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Our Church Building

Our Church Building

Our church building, and the services celebrated within it, are from the tradition of the Church, from the vision of St John the Apostle, as well as the Old Testament Temple. The interior of the Orthodox Church buildings are particularly styled to give the experience of the unity of all things in God. They are not constructed to reproduce the upper room of the Last Supper, nor to be simply a meeting hall for people whose life exists solely within the bounds of this earth. The church building itself, is an image of the world.

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