Parish Bulletin – September 2, 2012

13TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

TONE 4

HOLY MARTYR MAMMAS AND ST. JOHN THE FASTER

I Corinthians 16:13-24
Matthew 21:33-42

Choir Director: Veronika

Welcome

We welcome you to the Orthodox Church. Please feel at ease and free to participate in the singing. As a visitor you are welcome to come forward at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy and venerate the Cross offered by the priest. Additionally you may receive the blessed bread (Antidoron) that is offered at that time. If you have questions or would like further information, the priest or one of the members of the parish will be pleased to help.

A word to our visitors on Holy Communion

The Orthodox Church does not practice open Communion. Therefore, only members of Canonical Orthodox Churches exercising jurisdiction in America may approach the Chalice for Holy Communion. The Orthodox do not regard Holy Communion solely as an act of personal piety, but also as an expression of union with the Orthodox Church’s faith, doctrine, and discipline. Orthodox visitors wishing to receive Holy Communion should make their intention known to the priest in advance — ask any member of the parish for help in relaying your intention to the priest. Orthodox Christians should prepare themselves to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion through recent Confession, prayers of preparation for Holy Communion, and fasting (at minimum, from midnight before receiving).

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.” – I Corinthians 11:27

TROPARIA AND KONTAKIA

Troparion, St. Mammas – Tone 4

Thy Holy Martyr Mammas, O Lord, through his sufferings didst receive an incorruptible crown from Thee, our God. For having Thy strength he didst lay low his adversaries, and didst shatter the powerless boldness of the demons. Though his intercession, save Thou our souls!

Troparion, St. John the Faster – Tone 4

In truth thou wast revealed to thy flock as a rule of faith, an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; thy humility didst exalt thee; thy poverty didst enrich thee. Hierarch Father John, entreat thou Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion – Tone 4

O Holy Mammas, do thou lead thy people as a flock to life-giving pastures with the staff which God gavest thee; crush the invincible and fierce enemies beneath the feet of those who doth honor thee: for all of those who art in danger receives thee as their fervent intercessor!

Opportunities to give:

➢ Food donations to the Ashland Food Project

➢ The parish is looking to purchase new vestments for altar servers. Please give designated donation if you would like to contribute. We are still about $300 short.

➢ Check with Stavroula regarding current material needs of the mission (olive oil, stamps, napkins, printing paper, etc.)

Announcements:

• Please continue to sign up for coffee fellowship/kitchen cleanup.
• Ss. Mary and Martha Women’s Fellowship on Thursday (7 pm), Ss. Peter and Paul Men’s Fellowship on Saturday (following Liturgy, approximately 9 am)
• Adult Education Classes will continue on Wednesday, following Vespers.
• Choir practice on Saturday, 5.00 pm.

Service Schedule this Week:

Wednesday – 6.00 pm, Vespers

Thursday – 6.40 am, Hours, Divine Liturgy

Saturday – 6.40 am, Divine Liturgy (Nativity of the Theotokos), 6.00 pm, Great Vespers

Sunday – 8.40 am, Hours, Divine Liturgy

Confession after Vespers or by appointment!

Other Activities Next Week:

• Wednesday, following Vespers – Adult Education Class
• Saturday, 5.00 PM – Choir practice
• Ss. Mary and Martha Women’s Fellowship on Thursday (7 pm), Ss. Peter and Paul Men’s Fellowship on Saturday (following Liturgy, approximately 9 am)

Bulletin Insert (OCA Department of Education):

On September 6 we read Mark 5:1-20, which recounts one of the most dramatic of Jesus’ healing miracles. Also on this day, we remember the miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae.

The story of the Archangel’s miracle begins with the gratitude of a pagan father. This man’s daughter, previously mute, was enabled to speak when she drank waters from a healing spring located near the city of Hierapolis. The father, desperate to find a cure for his daughter, had taken her to the spring after being told to do so by the Archangel Michael in a dream.

Overwhelmed with thankfulness, the father and his family members were all baptized. Then the father oversaw the building of a church dedicated to the Archangel. As the miracle became widely known, people with illnesses and disabilities began coming to the spring for healing. Some were Christians, some were pagans and idol worshippers, and it made no difference—the spring’s waters were effective for everyone.

Many pagans who found healing at the spring followed the example of the mute girl’s father, accepting baptism into the Christian faith. They were encouraged by the example of a believer named Archippus, who lived at the church and served as its sacristan for decades. His unassuming manner, combined with sincere faith, made Christianity attractive to people who met him.

But some pagans feared the growing influence of the church that so strongly symbolized Christ’s healing power, and decided to destroy it. They diverted a powerful mountain stream so that it would begin rushing toward the church and inundate it.

Saint Michael intervened by opening a fissure in the mountain, so that the stream’s water plunged into it, bypassing the church. Since that time the place of the miracle has been called “Chonae” which means “plunging.”

The account of the healing miracle in Mark’s Gospel presents us with a man most people would hope to avoid. He lives “among the tombs” and is so violent that “he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him.” He is clearly miserable, for he “was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones.”

Such a man panics people; the only way they can think of to deal with him is with more and more chains. Jesus, by contrast, deals with him calmly, fearlessly and lovingly. Instead of binding the man, Jesus frees him; He drives the demons out of him, and before long the people see that he is “clothed and in his right mind.”

Might we, confronted with God in person, also hope He would just go away?The healing doesn’t make people happy; in fact they are “afraid” and ask Jesus to go away. Perhaps even something as terrible as demon possession had become familiar, and frightened them less than having to see God’s love and power right before them in the Person of Christ.