May 1, 2021
My beloved Children in Christ,
I greet you in the name of the Risen Christ.
It has been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to make many changes to our daily lives. Some of these have been very painful, especially those concerning our religious practices. During these many long months I have not been able to pray with you in your homes, visit you in the hospital or nursing home or to share with you days of joy and sorrow.
As we slowly move back toward normalcy, however, I am happy to inform you that according to a recent directive from our Primate Bishop Daniel, pastors who have been fully vaccinated may now freely visit the homes of those that have also been fully vaccinated! And even for households where not all family members have been vaccinated, fully-vaccinated priests may still, by invitation, make brief, pastoral visits!
I received the second dose of my vaccine in March and am fully vaccinated, and according to this directive, I can now visit your homes. As you know, in previous years I might have surprised you with an expected home visit, especially during Eastertide (the forty-days after Easter) to deliver the good news of Christ’s Resurrection, but this year I will not do that. Instead I will wait for your invitation.
I also would like to remind you that as of last Sunday, we are no longer asking parishioners to sign up in advance to attend worship services at St. James, though we are still adhering to State of Illinois capacity restrictions and maintaining other safety precautions including mask wearing and social distancing. I am looking forward to see you here in the Holy Sanctuary of St. James or in your homes!
ՔՐԻՍՏՈՍ ՅԱՐԵԱՒ Ի ՄԵՌԵԼՈՑ
CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!
Your Pastor,
Der Hovhan
