The Third Sunday of Lent is called "The Veneration of the Cross." At the Virgil of that day, after the Great Doxology, the Cross is brought in a solemn procession to the center of the church and remains there for the entire week--with a special rite of veneration following each service. It is noteworthy that the theme of the Cross which dominates the hymnology of that Sunday is developed in terms not of suffering but of victory and joy. More than that, the theme-songs (hirmoi) of the Sunday Canon are taken from the Paschal Service--"The Day of the Resurrection" --and the Canon is a paraphrase of the Paschal Canon.

The major function of a Greek orthodox parish is to guide and nurture the spiritual growth of its faithful through worship, education, and to maintain undefiled the Orthodox Christian Faith. In fulfilling this demanding role some of the basic functions for which the priest and parish council are largely responsible are:

The church of Saint Andrew was built by God's grace and the love and sacrifice of the Greek Orthodox Christians of our parish, was established for the worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the preaching of the Gospel, the sacred administration of the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) and for the cultivation of the Orthodox Christian way of life for ourselves and for our children. The Orthodox Christians of Saint Andrew continue to make sacrifices and do so with the children and grandchildren in mind, and with a deep concern for the salvation of our neighbors.

Clearly, then asceticism of the Orthodox Church does not seek to punish, to deprive, to torment; it does not seek to reject or diminish human nature. Rather it seeks its therapy and purification, its unfettering and liberation from every sinful bond and passion that hinders and frustrates true and eternal life in God. It is a ceaseless effort of the whole person, body, and soul, seeking to abolish and destroy the roots of evil, to do battle against Satan and his primeval deceptions and influences. It is the necessary orientation of life, requiring constant denial and renewal and ceaseless effort, toward transcendence, toward the evangelical way of transfiguration and restoration of human nature to its original beauty, glory, and honor, and to its being truly in the image and likeness of God.

When the Most Holy Ever-Virgin Mary had lived and served in the Temple at Jerusalem for eleven years, and was by then fourteen old--when, that is, she was entering on her fifteenth year--the priests (rabbies) informed her that, according to the Hebrew Law, she could no longer remain in the Temple but must be betrothed and marry.

The theological principle of synergy provides the justification for fasting in the Orthodox Christian Church. God has done His work of salvation, but man must now activate the spiritual life in himself by responding, cooperating and co-suffering through a spiritual life of faith, hope and love, together with prayer and fasting in body and soul.