St. Athanasius Orthodox Church • Nicholasville/Lexington Kentucky
A Pastoral Word from Fr. Justin Patterson: With the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19, our churches have had to make excruciatingly difficult decisions about what faithfulness looks like. After much prayer and careful consideration, our Archbishop Alexander has instructed his diocesan communities …
The Great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord approaches and we ready ourselves for this splendid festival! A number of feasts have marked our journey through the Nativity Fast, thus far–including St. Nicholas Day and St. Herman Day. This past weekend, we welcomed Fr. Silviu Bunta, who led a …
Each year, from November 15 until December 24, the Orthodox Church observes the Nativity Fast. This fasting season has been established by our Church since ancient times for the purpose of preparing our hearts to welcome the Light of Christ at Christmas. Fasting seasons are not only times of …
While September does not feel like fall this year (too hot!) fall is nonethless here. In our parish, September and October are generally months of refocusing, especially in regard to picking up the work of Christian Education and Christian Service. Christian Education Sunday School has resumed (9am …
As we feel the heat of summertime abate every late August, Orthodox Christians look forward to September 1, when we mark the new ecclesiastical year. In 2019, this new church year falls on a Sunday and we will sing together as a community: O Creator of the Universe, Thou didst appoint times by Thine …
Having welcomed our Archbishop Alexander here for Lazarus Saturday & Palm Sunday–and celebrated the Baptisms and Chrismations of our catechumens–our parish community is now marking the awesome days of Holy Week that lead us from the Passion of Christ to his Glorious Resurrection! We …
Our Journey to Pascha 2019 We are now deep into Great Lent, the ancient 40-day season specially appointed for renewed spiritual focus in anticipation of Holy Week and Pascha (Easter.) During the Lenten season (known as also as The Great Fast or The 40-Days,) Orthodox Christians give great care not …
In the month of January, the Orthodox Church observes the Great Feast of Theophany, or Epiphany. One of the special features of Epiphany is the blessing of homes. Because our parishioners in America are often scattered across many counties (rather than residing in one village,) the season often …
Christmas on Dec. 25 gives way to the Great Feast of Epiphany–also known as Theophany–on Jan. 6. (Some Orthodox keep “Old Calendar Christmas” on Jan. 7… Read here for an explanation about why certain Orthodox keep Christmas and Epiphany on different days.) In addition …
On Wednesday, August 15, the Feast of the Dormition, Fr. Justin began a new multi-week Christian Education series, entitled “Orthodox Reflections on Mere Christianity.” The general plan of the series is to track with Mere Christianity itself, using Lewis’ own division of the …
