9
Mir Boziji! Hristos se rodi!
Over fifty years ago, our beloved Gracanica Church started a Church school.
This would be a place to teach our youth about their Orthodox religion, Serbian
language and traditions. Along with cultivating relationships that would bind our
community for generations to come, from lifelong friendships to marriages and
new Kumstvo. Our founding members worked tirelessly at laying the ground
work for our youth. They hoped to bring everyone together, to create lasting
memories within our community. They hoped that the school would provide a
safe loving environment for generations to come. They hoped to show our
community what they, when working together, were capable of.
They got what they hoped for. Today our school is flourishing without
boundaries. In fact, we are absolutely overwhelmed by families’ responding to
each new event. We wish to express our most heartfelt gratitude to each and
every one of you... From the start of our planning, the phone calls came pouring
in with offers of time, help, and financial support. Because of this generosity, we
were able to continue to create traditions for our children today. From our
successful family fun day, apple picking field trip, sponsoring a family in need
over the holidays, teaching customs such as zito planting, and feeding the
homeless, we are sure we made a positive impact already. One of our proudest
moments was preparing our children for confession and Holy Communion. To
hear and see the joy in our children’s faces was priceless. Planting this seed is
one that they will carry with them throughout their lives, as without our faith we
are nothing. This day was one among many that we will forever cherish.
We sincerely hope that each and every one of you feels what we do each Sunday:
love for our community, delight in watching the joy in our children's faces as they
take part during Holy Liturgy; from singing apostol and being altar boys to
praying peacefully with friends and family.
We feel truly blessed to have taken on this awesome responsibility of cultivating
our youth and feel genuine excitement for what is ahead! To all of our families, a
thousand thank you's, for without you; our children would not be experiencing
what is theirs. Our Church, our school and our community as a whole. Our never
ending gratitude to all of those who laid the ground work for us so many years
ago…
We look forward to MANY more events and invite all to have their children be a
part of our church school year. We would like to thank our Gracanica Church
Board for their tireless support and continued help in creating a lasting
impression on our youth. Our Church Board has set the tone for our entire
community, and we couldn’t be more grateful…. SAMO NAPRED!
We wish all of our students, families, and parishioners a healthy, peaceful and
wonderful Christmas, may we all remember the reason for the season, and
continue to practice our Orthodox faith in our homes as well as in our Church.
Lepo nam je rekao Sveti Sava, Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava ...
Yours in faith, Mara Jelich along with your Education Committee