Parish Bulletin – August 5th, 2012

9TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

TONE 8

FOREFEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD

I Corinthians 3:9-17
Matthew 14:22-34

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 of the Forefeast – Tone IV

Let us go forth to meet the transfiguration of Christ, splendidly celebrating the forefeast thereof, O ye faithful; and let us cry aloud: The day of divine gladness hath arrived! The Master ascendeth Mount Tabor to shine forth the beauty of His divinity!

Kontakion of the Forefeast – Tone IV

Human nature is made divinely luminous today by the transfiguration of God, and crieth out in gladness: Christ is transfigured, saving us all!

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.

Announcements:

• Please sign up for coffee fellowship/kitchen cleanup.
• Adult Education Classes will start on Wednesday, following Vespers.
• Choir practice on Saturday, 4.30 pm.
• The Dormition Fast is going on; please consult the calendar for daily fasting directions.
• Feel free to bring fruit to the Divine Liturgy tomorrow (Holy Transfiguration) to be blessed following the service.
• The Yogurt Hut event will take place Sunday, August 19^th, 12-4 pm. Plan to be there, to eat delicious frozen yoghurt, and invite your friends as well!

Service Schedule this Week:

Monday – 6.40 am, Hours, Divine Liturgy, Transfiguration of our Lord (followed by Blessing of Fruit)

Wednesday – 6.00 pm, Vespers

Thursday – 6.40 am, Hours, Divine Liturgy

Saturday – 5.30 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, 9 AM –  Sts. Peter and Paul Men’s Fellowship
• Saturday, 4.30 PM – Choir practice

Bulletin Insert (OCA Department of Education):

On August 5 the Church remembers Saint Nonna, who is often chiefly identified as the mother of Saint Gregory the Theologian. She was indeed his mother, but there is much more to know about her.

Raised in a Christian family, Nonna learned early to love Christ. She was also a dutiful daughter. So when her family arranged an “advantageous” marriage to a wealthy landowner, Gregory of Arianzus, she obediently accepted him as her husband.

But the marriage was a source of pain to her, because she loved Gregory and worried about his salvation. He was a member of a pagan sect, and a fire worshipper.

Nonna prayed fervently that her husband would come to the true faith. Her son Gregory, in his writings, describes the way in which her prayers were answered. His father, he writes, had a dream in which he was singing the first verse of Psalm 122 (121): “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ ” The dream was so vivid that it made the elder Gregory actually want to go to church. This was the beginning of his conversion to Christianity.

In the early years of their marriage, Saint Nonna concentrated on raising her children as strong Christians, while also seeing to their education. The brilliance of her son Gregory, both as a theologian and as a philosopher, is the best evidence of her success. His written words about her also show his love and admiration for her: “What time and place of prayer ever eluded her? She was drawn to this each day before anything else, and she had complete faith that her prayers would be answered.”

The elder Gregory attended the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and was baptized there. He was ordained to the priesthood, and later was made Bishop of Nazianzus. Nonna was made a deaconess. Both of them gave tireless and loving service to the people around them. Their nephew Amphilocius became Bishop of Iconium, joining them in faithful service.

In her later years, Nonna experienced the greatest loss a mother can have, not once but twice. In the space of two years, her youngest son died, and then her daughter. Though she bore these deaths as God’s will, her distress affected her once-vigorous health so that she became weak and had little appetite for food.

Her son Gregory describes a dream which restored his mother’s health: “It seemed to her that I…had appeared to her suddenly by night with a basket of the whitest bread. Then I blessed these loaves with the Sign of the Cross, as is my custom, and I gave her to eat, and with this her strength increased.” Saint Nonna lived for several more years, spending most of her time praying in church after her husband’s death.

In a reading for today, Saint Paul writes (I Corinthians 3: 9) that “we are God’s fellow workers.” Saint Nonna, in her many roles, fulfilled that one as well.