Sunday School News - April 2026

Hello Sunday School Students and Families,

As we continue our Lenten devotions and the Great Feast of Pascha approaches, we are sharing, for your convenience, the Sunday School class and worship schedule for April 2026:

APRIL

• April 4: Saturday of Lazarus, Palm folding by all Sunday School students in Education Building; Mandatory practice for Myrrh-bearers at 11:30 AM.

• April 5: Worship and Classes, Palm Sunday

• April 10: Holy Friday Retreat: Helpers 11 AM; Mandatory practice for Myrrh-bearers at 11:30 AM and immediately after the 3 PM service; Myrrh- bearers report at 2:30 PM  for 3 PM Apokathelosis Service and 6:30 PM for 7 PM Lamentations Service.

• April 12: EASTER SUNDAY: FAMILY WORSHIP SUNDAY. AGAPE SERVICE

  11 AM. Easter Egg Hunt immediately following the service

• April 19: Worship and Classes, St. Thomas Sunday

• April 26: Worship and Classes, Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers

St John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival

Congratulations to Stavros Kalisperis, Victoria Kaltsidis, and Paisios Moran, who participated in our Parish Oratorical Festival on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.  Stavros and Victoria participated in the Junior Division, while Paisios spoke on a topic from the Senior Division. Each of them moved on to represent St. Luke on Saturday, March 7, 2026 at the District Oratorical Festival at St. Thomas in Cherry Hill. We are truly blessed to have such inspiring young people in our parish who have the dedication, faith, talent, and courage to profess their faith publicly. May God bless them abundantly- always! We would also like to acknowledge our esteemed judges for the parish Festival, Corina and Nikos Schwarz, and Alex Arcidiacono, who offered their time and thoughtful feedback to our speakers about their efforts. We couldn't have done this without you, Corina, Nikos, and Alex! God bless you for your guidance, your commitment, and your sacrifice of time on behalf of our young people.

Psalm Readers for Salutation Services

We are very proud and grateful to the following Sunday School students who volunteered to read 1 or more of the 3 Psalms at the beginning of each of the Lenten Salutation services: Mary O’Donnell, Evva Kanellopoulos, Eleni Kalisperis, Markella Kevgas, Vasilis Delimitros, Evan Kopitas, Marina Kopitas, Coleman Harris, and Stephen Harris. Hearing the beautiful words of King David through your young, earnest voices was uplifting and inspiring for all those in attendance. May God bless you all for leading us in prayer on the Fridays throughout our Lenten journey.

Trip to Venerate the Kardiotissa and visit Holy Protection Monastery

Over 50 parishioners from Saint Luke participated in a beautiful and spiritually enriching field trip On Saturday, March 14, 2026, to venerate the miraculous Kardiotissa icon and visit Holy Protection Monastery. For details about the day, please see the April Epistle. The day began with our departure from Saint Luke at 9:00 a.m., arriving at St. George Church in Taylor, PA around 11:00 a.m. There, we spent time with Father Marc, who shared inspiring stories of the miracles associated with the Kardiotissa. Parishioners had the opportunity to venerate the icon and experience a deep sense of reverence and grace.

We then traveled to Holy Protection Monastery in White Haven, PA, where we were warmly welcomed by the sisters. The group enjoyed a delicious lunch, fellowship, and a peaceful tour of the monastery grounds, along with time to visit the bookshop.

The day concluded with Vespers at 4:00 p.m., offering a prayerful end to a meaningful pilgrimage. We returned to Saint Luke around 6:30 p.m., grateful for a day filled with faith, community, and spiritual renewal.

Grands Stepping Up

We were once again pleased to help Philoptochos, and its charity ambassador for Grands Stepping Up, Alexa Angelakos, on Sunday, March 15, as our 5th-8th graders bagged and labelled Easter baskets to add to those already donated by our St. Luke community. Alexa organized this project for our students who enjoyed being Easter bunnies for children being raised by their grandparents under difficult financial circumstances. Thank you so much, Alexa, for allowing our Sunday School students to collaborate with Philoptochos once again for a very worthy cause. May God bless you, and the devoted grandparents whom you have supported, abundantly!

National Orthodox Baby Shower

Our Church is joining with Orthodox Parishes across the country this month to hold a "baby shower" to support mothers who choose life for their unborn children.

Join us in collecting the following items: Diapers, Pull-ups, Baby wipes, Formula, Baby lotion, shampoo, & wash, Boy and girl clothing, Infant toys and baby gear, and Gift cards. Please bring donations to the ground floor of the Education Building at St. Luke during the month of March 2026. All items will be given to Chester County ConnectCare in West Chester. For any questions, please contact Helen Kopitas at helenkopitas@gmail.com. 

Readers for Divine Liturgy

Please encourage your children to volunteer to read the Epistle or the Communion Prayer during Divine Liturgy. Eleni Kalisperis, Victoria Kaltsidis, and Alexia Brennan led us in reciting the Communion prayer during the month of March, and they did so with great poise and sincerity. We hope that these young ladies will inspire your child to become more involved in the worship of our faith. We will send you the reading(s) ahead of time so that your child can practice and become comfortable with the texts beforehand. Please be sure that your child is dressed appropriately for church on the day when he or she is scheduled to read- modestly and respectfully, as is common for all weekly services, a special Feast Day, or when celebrating a Holy Sacrament of the church. For example, athletic or workout clothes would not be appropriate for a reader to wear while leading the congregation in prayer or a reading from the Holy Bible. To volunteer your child, or to ask a question, please contact our Sunday School Directors at stlukesundayschool@gmail.com.

Readers for Agape Service on Pascha

We are seeking volunteers to read the Gospel in different languages at 11 am on Easter morning during the Agape Vespers of Pascha. We are also excited to say that readers have already volunteered for Greek, English, and Spanish, but  we also have copies of the Gospel in the following languages: Latin, French, Italian and Albanian. Any other language that you can offer would be most welcome. The reading in the appropriate language will be given to volunteers prior to the service. To volunteer to read the Agape Gospel in one of these, or any other, language(s), please contact our Sunday School Directors at stlukesundayschool@gmail.com.

Questions about Sunday School?

Please contact our Sunday School Directors at stlukesundayschool@gmail.com or visit https://www.ss.st-luke.org, which will be updated throughout the year with additional information and resources for families.