Post date: Feb 28, 2015 9:38:00 PM

On Sunday, March 1, 2015, we celebrate Sunday of Orthodoxy, and as is our custom every year, towards the end of the Divine Liturgy, all Church School students will participate in a special procession that brings icons back into the Church.

Church School students in Grades 1-12 will bring an icon from home to carry during the procession.

As in previous years, our Church School will supply our younger students in Preschool and Kindergarten with paper icons to prevent possible accidents. The Church School office has extra paper icons for this purpose.

PROCEDURE

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After Holy Communion our Church School students should go to their classrooms as we do every Sunday.

Teachers will describe the procession and get the students ready. It is important that students hold icons up at chest level with both hands and with proper respect.

Timing:

• • Church School students will enter the church and start the procession immediately after the passing of the tray.

  • We will let each classroom know when to line up in the hallway in preparation to enter the Church.

  • We will also let the procession know when to enter the Church depending on when Fr. Nick is ready.

Order:

• (Front) Leader (Louis or Dani), followed by Church School (oldest to youngest students), followed by Altar Boys, followed by Fr. Nick (back).

• VERY IMPORTANT: Students should line up and walk *in pairs*, side-by-side. Otherwise, the procession becomes so long that it does not fit inside the church. This can be a problem.

Procession:

• • Church School students will enter the church through the right door (on the social hall side).

  • They will walk down the right middle-aisle (on the social hall side).

  • They will make a left turn and walk in front of the solea.

  • They will make another left turn and walk up the middle-aisle (on the parking lot side).

• They will make a third left turn behind the pews to complete a great circle.

  • They will make a fourth left turn and enter the right middle-aisle (again) and continue walking so as to allow room behind their tail-end for the altar boys to join the procession.

  • At that point the altar boys will exit through the left altar door and join the procession *behind* the Church School students.

  • Fr. Nick will join the procession last.

  • The whole procession will continue walking until Fr. Nick is half-way down the middle-aisle (on the parking lot side) where he will stop for the first petition.

  • Fr. Nick will stop four times for petitions:

    • (a) halfway down the middle-aisle (on the parking lot side),

    • (b) in front of the center doors (from the narthex to the church) (*),

    • (c) halfway up the middle-aisle (on the social hall side), and then

    • (d) on the solea.

  • (*) IMPORTANT: After Fr. Nick says the petitions at the second stop in front of the center doors from the narthex to the church, *all* Church School students should proceed *directly* onto the solea. Teachers should help organize the students by height so they will face the congregation and be ready for the fourth petitions on the solea.

  • Students will stay on the solea until the service is complete.

At the end of the service Fr. Nick will direct the students to return to their classrooms to resume classes.

There should be 30-40 minutes of class time available.