Here is the calendar of all Holy Week services for SS George and Alexandra Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas. If you have any questions about the services, please reach out to Father Alexis.
What blessed Lazarus Saturday it was at SS George and Alexandra Church in Fort Smith. We welcomed several catechumens into the church today.
Father Alexis had the honor of baptizing baby Simeon Huff (son of Ben and Edie Huff), Moe and Nicole, and the Emmitt Family (David, Erica, Naomi, and Amare).
May God grant each of them many years. Welcome home to all the newly baptized members!
Palm Sunday is the celebration of the triumphant entrance of Christ into the royal city of Jerusalem. He rode on a colt for which He Himself had sent, and He permitted the people to hail Him publicly as a king. A large crowd met Him in a manner befitting royalty, waving palm branches and placing their garments in His path. They greeted Him with these words: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! (John 12:13).
This day, together with the raising of Lazarus, is a sign pointing beyond themselves to the mighty deeds and events which consummate Christ’s earthly ministry. The time of fulfillment was at hand. Christ’s raising of Lazarus points to the destruction of death and the joy of resurrection, which will be accessible to all through His own death and resurrection. His entrance into Jerusalem is a fulfillment of the messianic prophecies about the king who will enter his holy city to establish a final kingdom. “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass” (Zech 9:9).
Finally, the events of these triumphant two days are but the passage to Holy Week: the “hour” of suffering and death for which Christ came. Thus, the triumph in an earthly sense is extremely short-lived. Jesus enters openly into the midst of His enemies, publicly saying and doing those things which mostly enrage them. The people themselves will soon reject Him. They misread His brief earthly triumph as a sign of something else: His emergence as a political messiah who will lead them to the glories of an earthly kingdom.
Palm Sunday is considered a Feast Day, and in most traditions, fish, wine, and oil are eaten. Our coffee hour at SS George and Alexandra is usually celebrated with shared fish dishes.
For more information on Palm Sunday or the Orthodox Church in general, please contact Fr. Alexis at SS. George and Alexandra Church in Fort Smith, AR, or your local parish priest.
Thanks to Susan Kurth for our weekly bulletin. Be sure to read over all the information included in the bulletin, and if you have any questions, please see Susan or Father Alexis.
One of the biggest misunderstandings people have about the Eastern Orthodox Church is that we treat “Tradition” like some extra layer of man made rules on top of Scripture. But the truth is much simpler.
Before the New Testament was finished, the Church was already alive. The apostles didn’t just write letters, they preached, baptized, broke bread, ordained bishops, and taught people how to live and pray as Christians. Most of that wasn’t written down at first. It was LIVED. That’s what we mean by “Holy Tradition.” The lived, Spirit guided memory and practice of the Church that comes from the apostles.
The early Christians didn’t need a verse to tell them to make the Sign of the Cross 
They didn’t need chapter and verse to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They fasted. They prayed to the saints. They used the threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon. They baptized by triple immersion. They celebrated the Liturgy. They believed Mary was the Theotokos. Not because they read it in a Bible, but because they were taught it by those who were taught by the apostles.
The very Bible we all now have came from that same Church. The Church didn’t appear because there was a New Testament. The New Testament exists because there was already a Church, the one Christ founded, and that Church preserved the apostolic teaching, both written and unwritten.
So when we talk about “oral tradition,” we’re not talking about whispers in the dark or secret teachings hidden from the people. We’re talking about the way the Faith was actually lived and handed down. And it’s still being lived today. The same exact Divine Liturgy. The same exact Creed. The same exact prayers. The same exact theology. Faithfully preserved, like a fire passed from torch to torch.
Tradition isn’t a rival to Scripture. It’s the context of Scripture. It’s the reason Scripture was recognized, protected, and interpreted rightly. It’s not Scripture or Tradition. It’s Scripture within Tradition.
Glory to God
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