St. Gregory Palamas (c. 1296-1359) – St. Gregory was a Greek monk and theologian and the chief exponent of Hesychasm.  He was ordained a priest in the year 1326 and became Bishop of Thessalonica in 1347.  The political conditions made it impossible for him to take possession of the see until 1350.  He died on November 14, 1359, which is his feast day.  He was canonized in 1368.  St. Gregory stressed the biblical notion of man as a single and united whole, body and soul together.  In virtue of this, he argued that the physical exercises used by the Hesychasts in prayer, as well as their claim to see the Divine Light with their bodily eyes, could be defended as legitimate.  He distinguished between the essence and the energies of God:  God’s essence remains unknowable, but his uncreated energies, which are God Himself, permeate all things and can be directly experienced by man in the form of deifying grace.
    In the earlier period, there was on this day a commemoration of the Great Martyr Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 155).  St. Gregory replaced St. Polycarp on the Second Sunday of Lent in the fourteenth century.

 

Hebrews 1:10-2:3:  Writing to the Hebrews, the Apostle quotes from Scripture to proclaim the greatness of Jesus Christ as compared with the angels;  for this reason we must be careful not to neglect our salvation.

 

Mark 2:1-12:  Reading in the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus demonstrate His authority to forgive sins by healing a paralytic.

Troparion of the Resurrection:  When Mary stood at thy grave looking for thy sacred body, angelic powers shone above thy revered tomb, and the soldiers who were to keep guard became as dead men.  Thou led hades captive and wast not tempted thereby.  Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst give life to the world;  O thou who art risen from the dead!  O Lord, glory to thee.
 
Troparion of St. Gregory:  O star of Orthodoxy, support of the Church and its teacher, O comeliness of ascetics, and incontestable champion of those who speak in theology, Gregory the wonder-worker, the pride of Thessalonica and preacher of grace, implore constantly for the salvation of our souls.

 

Troparion of the Chains of St. Peter: O Holy Apostle, Peter, thou dost preside over the Apostles by the precious chains which thou didst bear.  We venerate them with faith and beseech thee that by thine intercessions we be granted the great mercy.

 

Kontakion of the Sundays of Lent:  To thee the champion leader, I thy servant offer thanks for victory, O Theotokos, thou who hast delivered me form terror.  As thou hast power invincible, free me from every danger that I may cry unto thee: Rejoice, O bride without bridegroom.

 

 

Sunday, March 15 (Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 6:00 p.m. – Young Adults  

 

Monday, March 16 (Christodoulos, Wonder-worker of Patmos)
 Office Closed – Father John’s Day Off

 

Tuesday, March 17
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Choir Practice
  
Wednesday, March 18
 5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class
 6:30 p.m. – Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts, followed by Soup Supper

 

Thursday, March 19
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 12:00 Noon – Ladies Fellowship
 7:00 p.m. – Parish Life Conference Planning Committee 

  
Friday, March 20
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Akathist to the Theotokos
        
Saturday, March 21
 6:30 p.m. – Great Vespers

 

Sunday, March 22 (Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:30 p.m. – Youth Group

 

 

 

Eucharist Bread: …was offered today by the Katools.

 

Please remember the following in your prayers: Karen Cooper (recovering from knee surgery), Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family, Penny and Dean Bruner and their family, Deborah and Paul Finley, Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman’s mother) and the Cushman family (St. John’s in Memphis)

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
                         Eucharist Bread          Coffee Hour
March 15                 Katools                      D. Roots
March 22                 Algoods                     Morrises
March 24 (Tuesday evening) Morrises         Katools
 Feast of the Annunciation
March 29                 Joneses                    Schelvers

 

Schedule for Epistle Readers   –  Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the front pew.  Please be sure to use this book when you read.
                             Reader                       Reading             Page #
March 15             Mildred Morris               Heb. 1:10-2:3         283
March 22             Kh. Sharon Meadows     Heb. 4:14-5:6         285
March 24 (Tues. eve.) Brenda Baker          Heb. 2:11-18          376
March 29             Kh. Be’Be’Schelver        Heb. 6:13-20          287

 

March is Ladies’ Month in our Archdiocese in appreciation of the many things that are done by the ladies of our parishes.  They will be reading the Epistle during the Divine Liturgy during this month.  Also, please allow them to take communion first.

 

Congratulations and Many Years!!   …to Tony and Amira Smith on the happy news of the arrival of Tony II*, on Monday, March 9th, weighing in at 8 ½ pounds! …and to the proud grandparents, Nimr and Mona Fahmy!!

Please be sure to schedule a time for confession with your priest at least once during the Great Fast.  We should make every effort to not leave this important task until the last minute.

 

If you are the last to leave the building, please make sure that the heating and cooling unit in the Fellowship Hall is set to the optimum temperature for the building when unoccupied.  If you have overridden the programmed setting, please be sure to restore it to the original setting.  We are trying to keep our utility costs down.  If you do not know how to operate the thermostat, please consult with either Father James or Deacon Richard for instruction. 

 

Registration for the Parish Life Conference has begun!!  Be sure to register to attend the conference.  Registration forms are available on the table in the foyer and online at our website (thanks to Daniel Root!!).  On the website you can also find the schedule of events for the conference.  If you cannot afford to attend all the meals and events, be sure to register for as many as you can, especially the Grand Banquet on Saturday evening.  Come, also, for the services.  The Very Rev. Fr. Michael Dahulich, Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary will be the speaker this year.  You will also hear many wonderful homilies by the visiting priests.  The Bible Bowl is lots of fun (as anyone who has ever seen one will tell you) and the Oratorical Contest is a chance to hear the thoughts of some of our young people on spiritual issues.  This conference will be attended by those from our sister parishes throughout the diocese and is an opportunity to showcase our parish.  So make plans now to attend.

 

 
 * Great Lent has begun.  The schedule of daily evening services during Lent are as follows:
     Wednesday evening (6:30 p.m.) – Presanctified Liturgy, followed by a
   Soup Supper and a brief teaching by Father John on the
   subject of “Confronting Our Thoughts”;
      Friday evening (6:30 p.m.) – Akathist.

 
 * The next meeting for the PLC 2009 Planning Committee will Thursday, March 19th at 7:00 p.m.

 
 * The Feast of the Annunciation will be celebrated with Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy on Tuesday evening, March 24th at 6:00 p.m.  There will be a meal following the Liturgy.

 
 * On April 12th we will have a catfish fry following the Divine Liturgy.  Catfish Haven will be providing the food again this year.  More information will be available later.

 
 * Pascha falls on April 19th this year.

 
 * St. Peter’s will be hosting the Parish Life Conference next year.  The dates for the conference will be June 10-14.  This will a wonderful opportunity to showcase our parish.  More information will be available in the future.

 

Those hosting Coffee Hour or feasts MUST be sure to place fresh trash bags in the trash cans when cleaning up afterwards.  If this is not done, items get thrown into the empty trash cans and then dumped as is into the cans outside.  The trash people will NOT pick up loose trash from the cans and have even dumped it out in the past.  This means that Father John has to pick these items up by hand and bag them!  Please help us with this!!

 

Help needed for PLC 2009 Souvenir Journal!!   The PLC committee is starting to sell ads for the souvenir journal for the Parish Life Conference and we need your help! Our goal is to sell $20,000 of ads by May 1. Please consider talking to your employer about donating for a corporate ad, and if you have any suggestions of businesses to go to or people to talk to, please let Anna Kathryn know.

 

Fasting Discipline for March:
March 1st is Forgiveness Sunday (Sunday of Cheese Fare), the last day until Pascha that cheese, dairy and wine (some also include oil) are permitted.  Monday, March 2nd, is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent when the traditional fasting discipline is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 12th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

 

On days when the Holy Eucharist will be received at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, no food or drink should be taken until after the Liturgy.

 

Major Commemorations During March
 March 15  Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas (Second Sunday of Great Lent)
 March 22  Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross (Third Sunday of Great Lent)
 March 25  Feast of the Annunciation
 March 29  Sunday of St. John Climacus (Fourth Sunday of Great Lent)

 

Please supervise your children to avoid spills, ink stains or marks from their writing and drawing on our new chairs.  We also ask that you not allow them to stand on the kneelers.  Thank you for your help with this.

 

Quotable: “We who formerly hated and murdered one another and did not even share our hearth with those of a different tribe because of their customs, now, after Christ’s appearance, live together and share the same table.  Now we pray for our enemies and try to win those who hate us unjustly so that they too may live in accordance with Christ’s wonderful teachings.”
    – St. Justin Martyr

 

 Scripture:  From Website
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father Leo
 Deacon:  Deacon Terry
 Epistle Reader  Kh. Sharon Meadows
 Acolytes:  TBA    
 Prosphora:  Algoods
 Coffee Hour:  Morrises
 Teen Hosts:  TBA