Services for the Feast of Saint Basil will be celebrated at St. Silouan Church:
- Great Vespers: 6:30pm, Wednesday, January 13
- Divine Liturgy: 6:30am, Thursday, January 14
Immediately after the Liturgy, we will have a blessing and share St. Basil’s bread.
Vasilópita (St. Basil’s bread) is a traditional New Year’s Day bread or cake in Greece and many other areas in eastern Europe and the Balkans which contains a hidden coin. This tradition is also known to the Ukrainians and Romanians; Bulgarians (Svity Vasileva bogatcha), Serbs (chesnitza, eaten on Christmas); Albanians (pita, eaten by both Christians and Muslims), etc. Similar traditions are known in the West, such as the French gâteau des rois, the Louisiana king cake, and the Mexican rosca de reyes.
On New Year’s Day families cut and share the Vassilopita to bless the house and family. A coin is wrapped and hidden in the bread by slipping it into the dough before baking. A piece of cake is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time. There is good-natured competition to see who will get the slice containing the coin, which is said to being good luck 
