Elevation of the Cross

O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance, granting to Thy people victory over all their enemies, and by the power of Thy Cross preserving Thy commonwealth.

(sung on the Adoration of the Holy Cross Sunday, and on every Wednesday and Friday)

We had a very nice Sunday. We had liturgy in the morning and, surprise - our Bishop Anthony was serving the liturgy! In the evening our parish hosted pan-Orthodox vespers together with the Greek and Bulgarian/OCA parishes. The kids did really well going to church for so much of the day yesterday, especially given that it was also their last day of Spring Break. There were refreshments after Vespers and everyone but one family stayed for it. I'm starting to recognize people from the other parishes, which is quite nice. Dominic saw a girl there that was in his class last year - we never knew her and her family were Orthodox so it was surprising and fun to see someone you know and then to find that out. So that was another surprise...

We had another surprise, less pleasant, that morning. My Nana had to be taken to the hospital and I'm told it was touch and go for a while but she's doing better now. Still, please keep Emma in your prayers for health and recovery.