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Holy Assumption Orthodox Church

OCA Diocese of the Midwest

114 E. Main Street, Marblehead, Ohio 43440

Welcome to the Parish!

Holy Assumption Orthodox Church is a parish of the Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest, of the Orthodox Church in America. We are in Communion with the universal Eastern Orthodox Christian Church; which abides by the teachings and traditions handed down from Christ through the Apostles, Holy Fathers, Ecumenical Councils, the Saints and the Hierarchy to this day since 33 AD without change or reform.

"The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is Orthodox, but not Jewish. It is catholic, but not Roman. It isn't non-denominational; it is pre-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago." Steven Robinson

S'prazdnikom! Blessed Feast of Holy Penetcost!

Holy Pentecost

Blessed are You O Christ Our God. You have revealed the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, through them You drew the world into Your net, O Lover of Man, Glory to You! -Troparion Tone 8

When the most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the nations; but when he distributed the tongues of fire He called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-holy Spirit! -Kontakion Tone 8

Read the Archpastoral greeting of the Most Reverend Daniel, Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest on the Feast of Pentecost HERE.

In the Church’s annual liturgical cycle, Pentecost is “the last and great day.” It is the celebration by the Church of the coming of the Holy Spirit as the end—the achievement and fulfillment—of the entire history of salvation. For the same reason, however, it is also the celebration of the beginning: it is the “birthday” of the Church as the presence among us of the Holy Spirit, of the new life in Christ, of grace, knowledge, adoption to God and holiness.

This double meaning and double joy is revealed to us, first of all, in the very name of the feast. Pentecost in Greek means fifty, and in the sacred biblical symbolism of numbers, the number fifty symbolizes both the fulness of time and that which is beyond time: the Kingdom of God itself. It symbolizes the fulness of time by its first component: 49, which is the fulness of seven (7 x 7): the number of time. And, it symbolizes that which is beyond time by its second component: 49 + 1, this one being the new day, the “day without evening” of God’s eternal Kingdom. With the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ’s disciples, the time of salvation, the Divine work of redemption has been completed, the fulness revealed, all gifts bestowed: it belongs to us now to “appropriate” these gifts, to be that which we have become in Christ: participants and citizens of His Kingdom.

THE VIGIL OF PENTECOST

The all-night Vigil service begins with a solemn invitation:

“Let us celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit,
The appointed day of promise, and the fulfillment of hope,
The mystery which is as great as it is precious.”

In the coming of the Spirit, the very essence of the Church is revealed:

“The Holy Spirit provides all,
Overflows with prophecy, fulfills the priesthood,
Has taught wisdom to illiterates, has revealed fishermen as theologians,
He brings together the whole council of the Church.”

In the three readings of the Old Testament (Numbers 11:16-17, 24-29; Joel 2:23-32; Ezekiel 36:24-28) we hear the prophecies concerning the Holy Spirit. We are taught that the entire history of mankind was directed towards the day on which God “would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh.” This day has come! All hope, all promises, all expectations have been fulfilled. At the end of the Aposticha hymns, for the first time since Easter, we sing the hymn: “O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth...,” the one with which we inaugurate all our services, all prayers, which is, as it were, the life-breath of the Church, and whose coming to us, whose “descent” upon us in this festal Vigil, is indeed the very experience of the Holy Spirit “coming and abiding in us.”

Having reached its climax, the Vigil continues as an explosion of joy and light for “verily the light of the Comforter has come and illumined the world.” In the Gospel reading (John 20:19-23) the feast is interpreted to us as the feast of the Church, of her divine nature, power and authority. The Lord sends His disciples into the world, as He Himself was sent by His Father. Later, in the antiphons of the Liturgy, we proclaim the universality of the apostles’ preaching, the cosmical significance of the feast, the sanctification of the whole world, the true manifestation of God’s Kingdom.

THE VESPERS OF PENTECOST

The liturgical peculiarity of Pentecost is a very special Vespers of the day itself. Usually this service follows immediately the Divine Liturgy, is “added” to it as its own fulfillment. The service begins as a solemn “summing up” of the entire celebration, as its liturgical synthesis. We hold flowers in our hands symbolizing the joy of the eternal spring, inaugurated by the coming of the Holy Spirit. After the festal Entrance, this joy reaches its climax in the singing of the Great Prokeimenon:

“Who is so great a God as our God?”

Then, having reached this climax, we are invited to kneel. This is our first kneeling since Easter. It signifies that after these fifty days of Paschal joy and fulness, of experiencing the Kingdom of God, the Church now is about to begin her pilgrimage through time and history. It is evening again, and the night approaches, during which temptations and failures await us, when, more than anything else, we need Divine help, that presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who has already revealed to us the joyful End, who now will help us in our effort towards fulfillment and salvation.

All this is revealed in the three prayers which the celebrant reads now as we all kneel and listen to him. In the first prayer, we bring to God our repentance, our increased appeal for forgiveness of sins, the first condition for entering into the Kingdom of God.

In the second prayer, we ask the Holy Spirit to help us, to teach us to pray and to follow the true path in the dark and difficult night of our earthly existence. Finally, in the third prayer, we remember all those who have achieved their earthly journey, but who are united with us in the eternal God of Love.

The joy of Easter has been completed and we again have to wait for the dawn of the Eternal Day. Yet, knowing our weakness, humbling ourselves by kneeling, we also know the joy and the power of the Holy Spirit who has come. We know that God is with us, that in Him is our victory.

Thus is completed the feast of Pentecost and we enter “the ordinary time” of the year. Yet, every Sunday now will be called “after Pentecost”—and this means that it is from the power and light of these fifty days that we shall receive our own power, the Divine help in our daily struggle. At Pentecost we decorate our churches with flowers and green branches—for the Church “never grows old, but is always young.” It is an evergreen, ever-living Tree of grace and life, of joy and comfort. For the Holy Spirit—“the Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life—comes and abides in us, and cleanses us from all impurity,” and fills our life with meaning, love, faith and hope.

Father Alexander Schmemann (1974)

St. Tikhon's Seminary Choir visits Marblehead!

Christ is Risen!

On Saturday, April 25, 2026, we were blessed to welcome the St. Tikhon's Seminary Choir, who traveled the long distance from South Canaan, Pennsylvania, to sing the Divine Liturgy for us.

It is always a tremendous pleasure and gift to welcome these future priests to Marblehead. This is the second year that they have made the journey to sing the Divine Praises for us and we, in turn, try our best to help and support our beloved seminarians.

We were blessed that our The St. Tikhon's Seminary Choir brought Holy Relics and Icons of various Saints, including St. Tikhon's relics, for the faithful to venerate.

Thank you, and we ask God's abundant blessings on you as you journey towards the Holy Priesthood.

Your beloved servants in the Risen Christ,

Fr. Peter and the Parish Family of Holy Assumption OCA

Today's Scripture Readings

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Today's Commemoration of Feasts and Saints

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St Tikhon’s Seminary and the OCA Diocese of the Midwest Announce Creative Partnership to Train Unique Cohort of Seminarians

The Orthodox Church in America's Diocese of the Midwest and St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary have inaugurated a partnership program designed to train much-needed clergy locally in the diocese. Details are in the link.

Orthodox churches in America are going to need programs like this -- expansions of the conventional residential seminary model -- not only to serve the tens of thousands of new Orthodox Christians being converted but even just to address the shortfall in existing replacement pipelines.

Even if our seminaries were all at full capacity (which they aren't), they wouldn't be producing enough clergy for our existing parishes -- to say nothing of the many missions we now need. It's time to remove some of the barriers to theological education while lowering none of the standards for quality.

May God grant this kind of responsible creativity to expand and proliferate!

Uniting the faithful of the Diocese of the Midwest to discover, live, and share the life in Christ.

Click here to read about our Diocese.

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The life of our parish ministry depends on the stewardship of parishioners as well as the generous contributions of those benefactors who support our parish and have been blessed by our ministry. To make donating easier we have created a safe method of online donation through a secure portal. Thank you for your love and generosity!