Having obtained updated guidance from our diocesan archbishop Alexander, we are now blessed to serve an updated service schedule. Check the upcoming services feed or click on "Calendar" above for details. We are still restricted to myself, one deacon, one server, and one chanter, our faithful are not blessed to attend in person. Father Andrew and Popadia Joan will offer the services, live streamed on our Facebook page "Sts Cyril and Methody Orthodox Church".

Having obtained a clarification from the state of Illinois in regard to the stay at home order, and subsequently receiving the blessing of our diocesan archbishop Alexander, we are now blessed to serve all the services which we would normally have on our schedule, at church. However, we are still restricted to myself, one deacon, one server, and one chanter, our faithful are not blessed to attend in person. Father Andrew and Popadia Joan will offer the services, live streamed on our Facebook page "Sts Cyril and Methody Orthodox Church".

Due to the current healthcare crisis, our temple is closed. Father Andrew and Popadia Joan will offer the services from their home, live streamed on our Facebook page "Sts Cyril and Methody Orthodox Church".

In Christ, Fr Andrew Moulton

Our jurisdiction, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) has just published (March 17, 5PM CDT) a new statement on coronavirus. See it at www.oca.org. There is also a page with resources for Orthodox Christian staying at home:

https://www.oca.org/resources-coronavirus

Prot. 03162020
16 March 2020
Martyr Sabinus of Egypt
To the clergy and faithful of our God-protected Diocese:
Our divine services, chief among them the Holy Liturgy, are an offering made to God "on behalf of all and for all." During this global health crisis, we must continue to pray and, as long as possible, to gather for prayer in church and to offer to God his "due worship and praise" (Prayer of the Trisagion). "It is proper and right" (Eucharistic prayer of St. John Chrysostom). As a result, I am not yet prepared to cancel church services in our parishes.
However, in light of new information and recommendations released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) today, some revisions to my initial directives are necessary. I bless the celebration of Vespers on Saturday evenings, the Divine Liturgy on Sunday mornings, the Lenten Presanctified Liturgies, and the Vesperal Liturgy of the Annunciation under the following condition: the only people that are required to be present are the priest (and deacon), an altar server, and chanter or small group of singers. As far as one can plan attendance, the complete gathering should total no more than ten (10) people.
Yet, anyone else who comes to services cannot and will not be turned away at the door. They along with the singers and the servers are to be advised of the risk. However, I advise that everyone other than the people mentioned above pray at home during the time of the divine services.
These revised guidelines are in effect up to, and including, Palm Sunday, April 12, 2020.
I do not make this decision lightly. However, we must do what is necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19.
With love in Christ,
+Alexander
Archbishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese – Orthodox Church in America

In conformity with the guidance received from our archbishop Alexander, effective Monday March 16 and continuing through at least Sunday April 5th, the only services which will be celebrated at our parish are the Saturday evening Vespers (5PM), the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great (10AM), and the Wednesday evening Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (6PM).

During this period Akathists, Memorial Liturgies, Church School, Adult Study, Prayer Group, and after Liturgy luncheon/coffee hours are cancelled.

The calendar on this web site has been updated to reflect changes through Sunday, April 5th (St. Mary of Egypt Sunday). When we receive guidance on how to proceed beyond that date, we will update the calendar as needed and post announcements here.

Further information will be provided as necessary.

With love in Christ,

Fr Andrew Moulton

10 March 2020
The Second Week of Great Lent
Dear in Christ,
As we enter the second week of the Great Fast, it is my sincere hope that this season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and worship will be a profitable time of focus on that “one thing needful,” so that we may encounter Christ on the Holy Pascha with a renewed hope in His resurrection!
While our focus is foremost on this holy season of Lent, none of us can escape the news surrounding the emerging COVID-19 epidemic.
While hysteria is unwarranted, there is indeed just cause for concern. The significant measures that some geographical hot-spots of COVID-19 are implementing, such as canceling crowded events and implementing work-from-home standards, are not simply driven by panic, but by a desire to contain and prevent what could, as authorities have noted, lead to millions of unnecessary deaths.
These precautionary measures serve a two-fold purpose – to prevent individual infections and to avoid the unnecessary propagation of a potential pandemic. The latter addresses something less concrete, but perhaps more important. While one’s “odds” of becoming very ill or dying from COVID-19 might be minimal on a personal level, a cavalier approach to disease prevention and control could lead to great suffering and even death worldwide. If we could help prevent such a scenario, why would we not? To exercise appropriate caution here demonstrates our “love of neighbor” in a significant way.
What does this mean for us in the Diocese of the South, especially during this season of increased focus on gathering in worship?
I offer the following guidelines as a starting point for each community in our diocese during this season of heightened concern:
• It is an article of faith that the Holy Eucharist is received for the “healing of soul and body,” therefore nothing should change in regards to its reception.
• A common sense, and perhaps more aggressive, approach should be employed to cleanse parish facilities and objects with which parishioners come into regular contact throughout the week. I leave it to each rector or priest-in-charge to work with their parish councils to devise an approach that works best.

• There is every reason to believe that this virus can be transmitted by regular, human-to-human contact such as a fraternal greeting, veneration of holy objects, kissing the priest’s hand and partaking in a shared “zapifka” cup. Therefore, I encourage communities to modify their practices as appropriate based on news related to the spread of the virus in their cities and towns. If a state or municipality in our diocese is on heightened alert because of an increase in the number of
recorded cases of the virus, it is imperative that we take note and swiftly implement measures to inhibit the spread of the virus.
• If a situation is deemed “critical” by the CDC or other health authority in a state or municipality in our diocese, it might be necessary to temporarily adjust service schedules – diocesan leadership should be consulted in such cases (beginning with your dean).
• During this period of heightened awareness, parishioners who exhibit symptoms of the virus such as a fever, cough or shortness of breath should seek medical attention (please, beloved, err on the side of caution), and remain home until these symptoms have been treated and subside.
• During this period of heightened awareness, clergy who exhibit symptoms of the virus should make arrangements for a supply priest or (in cases of necessity) arrange for lay-led services.
• Recognize there are many in our parishes and missions (and indeed in our neighborhoods and among our friends) who may be impacted in tangible ways even if not sickened by the virus. Work disruption and the resulting loss of income, isolation at home due to any quarantine that might come, and/or simply the general anxiety many are feeling can have significant impact, particularly among single people and the elderly. I ask that clergy and faithful be particularly
mindful of these impacts (viz. James 2.14-16), and to act concretely to render aid.
Finally, I commend each of you to act rationally in every scenario. This is not a season of trial in which to test one’s piety through unreasonable faith, but to focus on the greater good of our neighbors, acting with a heightened awareness that our behaviors might impact others. Please work through your dean and diocesan leadership to address any particular concerns not covered here, and I will let you know if there are further directives.
Wishing you strength for the fast, I am
Yours, in Christ,
+ALEXANDER

In the early Church, the second Sunday of Great Lent was dedicated to the memory of the famous bishop and martyr Polycarp of Smyrna. In later times a second commemoration was added, of St. Gregory Palamas. St. Gregory was a great monk and Archbishop of Thessalonica, who defended Orthodox Spirituality in the 14th century. You can read more about St. Gregory and his importance to the Orthodox Church at : www.oca.org/saints/lives/2020/03/15/12-2nd-sunday-of-great-lent-st-gregory-palamas

Our highly regarded monthly Fish Fry will be held for the last time on Friday, March 13th, from 4-7PM. Don't miss it!

This Sunday, March 8th, is the first Sunday of Great Lent, on which the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated: The victory of the iconodules (those who venerate icons) over the iconoclasts (those who oppose this veneration) by the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Therefore, the service is to commemorate the restoration of icons for use in services and private devotional life of Christians. 

At the Divine Liturgy this Sunday, our children join in the small entrance, processing around the church, holding icons of their patron or parish saints. Later in the day, we will join Orthodox faithful from all the parishes in the St. Louis area at St. Nicholas parish in St. Louis to celebrate Orthodoxy Sunday Vespers.

This first Sunday of Great Lent originally (until 843AD) commemorated the Prophets such as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. The Liturgy's alleluia verses and scripture readings appointed for the Sunday of Orthodoxy reflect this older usage. The Epistle reading is a completion of Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2.  The yet-to-be-baptized catechumens of the early church heard the Epistle about the Old Testament men who lived by their faith in a promise whose fulfillment they did not see.  After the righteous of the Old Testament are mentioned, the Epistle says: And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.