Turn off the TV, phones and computer screens throughout Holy Week and set aside time to pray together and engage in the live-stream services! Bring the gift of stillness and the beauty of Holy Week and Pascha to your family.
Do your best to connect with your kids and help them navigate their through their feelings. Get outside, take walks, engaging in family dinners, recognize and speak to the grief and loss as many feel being isolated from friends and community.
We have an opportunity to make Holy Week and Pascha memorable for our families by doing small things with great love.
Our Metropolis of San Francisco has a resource page available with links to countless resources for Orthodox Christians!
https://sanfran.goarch.org/pages/coronavirus-resource-page
Family Wellness Ministry: Family Dinner Questions during Holy Week:
Holy Week Family Dinner Questions
Every Day: Family Dinner Questions:
Family Dinner Questions
Check out these wonderful GUIDES to Holy Week and Pascha at Home:
From St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church (Loveland, CO):
TWO AMAZING RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES:
PaschafromHomeReaderGuide
Holy Week Kid Activities
Other wonderful Holy Week Guides:
HOLY WEEK FROM HOME Guide
https://charlotteriggle.com/holy-week-pascha-at-home/
Holy-Week-and-Pascha-Resource-Guide
Fr. Patrick O’Rourke from Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Ogden, Utah created a beautiful Holy Week Passport that your family might enjoy.
passport-to-pascha
Things to See and Do in Holy Week:
things-to-see-and-do-in-holy-week
Put together a Holy Week Time Capsule to remember this unique Holy Week at home
celebrating-holy-week-at-home-2020-time-capsule
Let us remain rooted in the Scriptures throughout Holy Week.
Read the Scripture readings for each day of Holy Week, beginning on Lazarus Saturday. If you have a Holy Week book, look through the Scripture readings of each service in advance. If you don’t have a Holy Week book, here’s a brief list of just a few of the Scripture readings during Holy Week that you could read each day individually or as a family:
The Saturday of Lazarus: John 11:1-45
Palm Sunday: Philippians 4:4-9; Matthew 21:1-17
The 1st Bridegroom Service (Sunday night): Matthew 21:12-17
The 2nd Bridegroom Service (Monday night): Matthew 22:34-40
The 3rd Bridegroom Service (Tuesday night): John 12:44-50
The Anointing Service (Wednesday): James 5:13-16; Mark 6:7-13
Great and Holy Thursday: Matthew 26:1 – 27:46
Great and Holy Friday: Mark 15:1-47
Great and Holy Saturday: Luke 23:50 – 24:12
Pascha: John 20:1-31
Music Chant Along Videos with Pres. Pat:
Informational Videos (Shared by Fr. Steven Tsichlis of St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine, CA)
The Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CArGXSfjd4ADo we know where Jesus was crucified?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfgPzImtTxAThe Risen Lord Jesus appears to the women at the Tomb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7m9ZiYnj_c&t=51sThis year, for the first time in nearly 700 years – since 1349, when the world was ravaged by the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) – the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will be closed to the public for worship during Holy Week and Pascha.
Links to several short videos of celebrations of Holy Week and Pascha from around the world:
Greek Orthodox Easter from Nafplion, Greece with Rick Steves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZNM4X4lmD4&list=PLY5cPkFWwO-_oJMka3M4m90BsiQL3Npo2&index=4&t=53sOrthodox Christians in Ghana, Africa singing Christ is Risen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYyfN89yuWcA flash mob in Beirut, Lebanon sings Christ is Risen! in Arabic and Greek:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=zHCTRWbMgBo&feature=emb_logo“Christ is Risen”
https://youtu.be/Yo838iDCunsHere are links just to a couple of short children’s videos that tell the story of Easter:
The Beginners Bible: The Easter Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkNTU_Vv5EwSuperbook, Episode 11: He is Risen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F0rt2AiqJY
