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

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