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Russian Orthodox
News
Starting on March 13, the Russian
Orthodox Lent will be held for 40 days. "Lent is supposed to
be strict because we only eat fish," said Sophie Tiffert, a
member of the Russian Orthodox Church. She adds that, "Any
meat from the land is not supposed to be eaten, but out
here, it's really hard to stay with a strict fast, and if we
really have to eat meat, we'll just have to eat it." We not
only should fast from meat, she said. It could also be from
certain things we do, like gambling, drinking, smoking or
chewing.
Sophie also reported that they are still
trying to find funds for our new church. "If anybody wants
to donate money, we'll accept it. Since our big need is our
church bell, we will also accept donations for the bell," she said.
It is hard to say when the new Russian
Orthodox church is going to be built, but according to
Sophie, the bishop said that we should start building it
before the Russian Orthodox conference is held. We could get
grants for the church, she said, if the icons were recorded
someplace. Back in the late 1800's, the icons were at St.
Michael, but they were brought here after Marshall became a
city in the 1960's.
Russian Orthodox Easter will be a week
after the Roman Catholic Easter, on April 30. "Easter's
always a special holiday to celebrate because it is the most
exciting holiday I like to celebrate", said
Sophie.
Jolene
Soolook
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Catholic Church Celebrates
New
Millennium Jubilee
Clara Shorty, the administrator of the Catholic
Church, says that the church is celebrating their new millennium
jubilee. They do this by having a group of young adults
receive their confirmation. They are also trying to get more
couples to get married, or have their marriage blessed
because some are only married by the civil court. "So far
this year, five adults have been confirmed, so we have
reached one of our goals," she reports.
They also celebrated Alvin Owletuck's 25th anniversary as
Deacon for Marshall. The bishop, Mike Kaniecki, came over
from Fairbanks and said special masses for Alvin and the
confirmation group. There was a potluck and Eskimo dancing
for them afterwards.
Another of their goals was to have their first communion
group. Angeline Coffee is their only teacher. They have
tried to have more catechism teachers, but parents never
volunteer, Clara says. The communion class will receive
their first communion on Mother's Day. All kids who go to
communion are expected to know their prayers.
Sometime this summer or fall, the Catholic Church is
going to do a fund raiser with the Russian Orthodox Church.
They didn't raise funds during the Marshall races because
they would have had to give them 20% of the profit.
Every month the Catholic Church has a workshop in St.
Mary's for their deacon, Eucharist ministers, catechism
teachers, parish council and the parish administrators.
During the workshops they learn about their duties and what
is expected of them.
The Church is trying to incorporate special Yupik
customs into the mass ritual, Clara reports. "We do this by using
tundra tea for incense instead of frankincense. We also sing
our native songs in the Yupik language, and we are trying to
translate most of the English songs into Yupik. Our Yupik
rules for good living parallel the Ten Commandments. They
are part of us."
Clara said more people need to come to mass, and
to understand how important it is to take communion and go to
confession. "This is what we are trying to teach in the
confirmation classes, and what we are trying to get more
parents to teach their children," she says.
Jolene Soolook
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Marshall
Cultural Atlas
Church
News
