Having established and achieved its initial mission
to bring the Gospel and services of the Russian Orthodox Church
to the people of America in the English language,
the parish now broadens its mission
to that of providing in-depth
education and formation in living the Gospel,
fostering a lived experience of God
through the inner life
of prayer and Christian service.
We welcome you to our church community!
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THIS WEEK FOR OUR PARISHIONERS
Thursday, May 28 – Ascension of the Lord
Sunday, May 31
We’ll meet virtually at noon
through Google Meet
(you can also connect by phone for audio connection)
Parishioners will receive easy explanations
on Saturday
through our usual mailing list,
on how to connect
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NO services at Saint Innocent
until further notice
in light of our Archbishop’s mandatory directives,
and the specific needs of our parish.
We have put together some livestreaming options for you
***
So ignore the following for now – I’m leaving it here, in case we reopen, but still have to take extra-precautions
3/14/2020 1st UPDATE
Dear Faithful of St. Innocent’s Parish,
Fr. John and I have been reviewing guidelines from other Orthodox jurisdictions and parishes in an attempt to put forth what we feel to be pastorally sensitive and reasonable considerations for our parish in functioning in the midst of the current novel corona virus (COVID-19) health crisis.
The following considerations are in conjunction with abiding by the recommendations of disease authorities and include not coming to Church if you are feeling ill and/or have a fever.
1. Saturday evening Vespers, Wednesday Pre-sanctified liturgies, and contemplative prayer evenings are cancelled until further notice.
2. The Divine Liturgy would be the last service to be cancelled.
3. Coffee hour is cancelled until further notice.
4. Due to the shortages of hand sanitizer please carry any small bottles you may have with you for your use.
5. Greet one another with a bow. Refrain from hugging and kissing as is our custom.
6. When asking for a blessing from a priest we will bless you with the sign of the cross but ask that you refrain from kissing the priest’s hand.
7. Reverence icons with a bow rather than a kiss.
8. Individual plastic or paper cups will be used for zapifka.
9. At the end of the Divine Liturgy the priest will bless you with the cross as you come by. The cross will not be reverenced with a kiss.
10. Regarding receiving Holy Communion:
A. Babies and children who are receiving should receive Holy Communion first.
B. When receiving Holy Communion PLEASE tilt your head way back and open your mouth wide so that the priest is able to turn the communion spoon inside your mouth to drop the Precious Body and Blood onto your tongue. This cannot be done if your head is bent down or if your mouth is not open wide. Do not close your mouth on the spoon.
From everything that I have researched there have been no known highly suspicious cases of the transmission of disease from a common Holy Communion Cup.
Thanks to everyone for helping us implement these measures which we hope will be very short term. In the meantime let us fulfill our responsibility as citizens and look forward to returning to our usual parish life just as soon as it seems prudent.
With Love in Christ our God,
Fr. Jeremiah
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1N075 Woods Ave, Carol Stream, IL 60188
(630) 784-1400
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Our GoFundMe page
THIS WEEK AT SAINT INNOCENT’S
Great Lent
NO services at Saint Innocent
until further notice
***
Maybe you couldn’t make it to Church last Sunday?
Why not listen to the homilies given by our priests and deacon?
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