While most American Christians celebrated the Resurrection on March 31 this year, Orthodox Christians around the world have continued their lenten journey to the Lord’s Resurrection for a bit longer. We are arriving at Lazarus Saturday & Palm Sunday on April 27 & 28, then we enter the darkness and majesty of Holy Week, April 29-March 4. Finally we will arrive at the bright Feast of Feasts, the Pascha of our Lord just before midnight on May 5! We are glad you have found us and we invite you to visit our parish particularly during these holy days! You can learn more about making an actual visit to St. Athanasius here. You can also take a peek inside our church by checking our our parish YouTube channel. Watching a service is no substitute for actually being present, but we invite you into our “virtual space” if that helps you get a sense of what we do in our services. Our Holy Week & Pascha Calendar for late April and early May 2024 is below (and our full online calendar–updated through June–can be found here.)
We also welcome those who are in (or close to) Madison County to consider a visit our St. Nina Mission, which helps extend the reach of the Orthodox Faith along the I-75 corridor and Wilderness Trail. We are drawing people from Somerset, London, Corbin, and beyond. (In March, St. Nina acquired a new space–our first location that is entirely our own–at 213 Pauline Drive # 5, Berea, KY. We are now serving weekly Tuesday night services at 630pm and plan to add more regular services in the near future.)
Below is a collection of photos from April 2024 (up until Holy Week,) showing the full range of liturgical, educational, missional, and social life in our parish, including our welcoming of His Eminence Archbishop Alexander, who presided over the Ordination of Priest Giorgi Lomsadze, who will come alongside our rector Fr. Justin and our associate in ministry Fr. David. We hope these photos and the depth of our Faith inspire you to visit St. Athanasius Orthodox Church or our St. Nina Mission during this upcoming, glorious season of church life! If you have questions about our calendar or any aspect of our Faith or parish life, please reach out to our rector and senior pastor Fr. Justin at fr.justin@bluegrassorthodox.org.