March 11, 2012
Second Sunday of Lent
Commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas
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 Palamas: O Gregory the Wonderworker, light of Orthodoxy, support and teacher of the Church, glory of monks and invincible protector of theologians, pride of Thessalonica and preacher of grace, pray without ceasing 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.
CALENDAR
Sunday, March 11 (St. Gregory Palamas; 2nd Sunday of Lent)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy
5:30 p.m. — Youth Group
Monday, March 12
Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off
Tuesday, March 13
NO Lenten Orthros
Wednesday, March 14
NO Catechism Class
6:30 p.m. — Presanctified Liturgy followed by Lenten Meal
Thursday, March 15
NO Lenten Orthros
Friday, March 16 (Christodoulos, Wonder-worker of Patmos)
NO Lenten Orthros
6:30 p.m. — Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos
Saturday, March 17
8:30 a.m. — Workday at the Church
5:45 p.m. — Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, March 18 (Adoration of the Cross; 3rd Sunday of Lent)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy
1:00 p.m. — Young Adults
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Bakers for the Divine Liturgy today.
Please be reminded of the following:
Be very careful with the Blessed Bread when you take it after communion. Because this bread has been blessed, we should take care not to let crumbs fall on the floor. Parents, especially, please help your children to choose a small piece and treat it carefully.
Also, at the end of the liturgy, maintain a prayerful disposition during the veneration of the cross as the prayers of thanksgiving after communion are still underway. Please exchange your greetings with each other in the Fellowship Hall during Coffee Hour.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
March 11 Baker Meadows/Lasseter
March 18 Wood Ellis/Zouboukos
March 25 R. Root POT LUCK MEAL
(Set-up: R. Root/Jones/Pigott/Basinger)
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 11 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 1:10-2:3 283
March 18 Brenda Baker Heb. 4:14-5:6 285
March 25 Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 2:11-18 376
Please be reminded that the Sacristy/Vestry which is adjacent to and behind the altar in our church is considered by the Orthodox Church to be part of the Sanctuary (Altar area) and should not be entered without the blessing of the priest for a specific purpose. If you need to speak with a member of the clergy while they are in the Sanctuary, please ask them to come to you in the nave.
March is Ladies Month. This is a time set aside to honor the women in our Archdiocese for their work for the good of others. During the month, our ladies will be reading the Epistle and partaking of communion first at the Divine Liturgy.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle and their daughter Abigail in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
Please remember the following in your prayers: Maria Costas; Amy and Michael Surratt and Amy’s family; Tom and Jennifer Skirtech and Jennifer’s mother, Jessamine Hinkson; Warren and Sandi Strain and their family; Fr. Leo, Kh. Be’Be’, Stephen and Amy, Justyn and Jeffrey; Steve, Sheryl and Stephen Chamblee; Amy and Brantley Oliver; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit; David Turner’s mother Mary Jean; Georgia Buchanan, George Johns (Georgia’s grandson) and his family; Dorin and Carolina Lavric and Victor (Carolina’s brother); Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Joanna Meadows and Jay Davis (as they prepare for their wedding).
Fr. John and Kh. Janet will be in Wilmore, Kentucky March 14-19 for the baptism of their grandson, Lucas Henderson. Please keep them all in your prayers. If you need a priest during this time, please contact Fr. Leo or Fr. James.
Calendar Items:
* The Men of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the first Thursday of the month.
* As is our parish custom, we will celebrate the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday evenings and the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos on Friday evenings during the time of the fast.
* The Ladies of St. Peter will hold their annual fund-raising lunch and auction on Sunday morning, March 25th.
* His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN will be here the weekend of May 6, 2012 to help us celebrate our 25th anniversary as a parish. The planning committee is working very hard to make our celebration a memorable one. There will be an evening event at the MS Museum of Art on Saturday, May 6th. Other events are being planned and more information will be available in the coming months.
When you host Coffee Hour or the meal for a Feast please make sure that the oven, warmer, and coffee maker are turned off afterwards. On several occasions in the past, the cleaning ladies have found the oven still on when they came in to clean later during the week.
Breakfast and Bible Study: we are continuing to meet every 2-3 weeks for Bible Study on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast. This is open to all who are interested. Be sure to come and enjoy the fellowship.
Fasting Discipline for March
The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil) is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 8th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).
Major Commemorations for March
March 11 2nd Sunday of Lent; St. Gregory Palamas
March 16 St. Christodoulos, Wonder-worker of Patmos
March 18 3rd Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Cross
March 25 Feast of the Annunciation
4th Sunday of Lent; St. John Climacus
March 26 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
Please be sure to turn in your pledge letters as soon as possible. If you did not receive one in the recent weeks, please let Kh. Sharon know.
If you are the last to leave the building, please make sure that the heating and cooling unit in the Fellowship Hall is turned off.
Happy Anniversaries in March:
March 10 — Fr. James and Kh. Sharon Meadows (#39!)
March 13 — Warren and Sandra Strain (#18!)
March 15 — Dn. Richard and Sh. Margaret Root (#37!)
March 27 — Sam and Anne Habeeb (#8!)
Happy Birthdays in March:
March 3 — Kay Carlton
March 6 — Amy Surratt
March 9 — Ian Jones
March 12 — Alexa Zouboukos (#17!)
March 15 — Emma Freundt
March 17 — Cliff Stewart
March 20 — Charlotte Wood
March 24 — Brenden Skirtech (#8!)
March 26 — Katherine Habeeb (#4!)
March 29 — Sophie Dansereau (#1!)
March 30 — Aidan Milnor (#6!)
Quotable: “The patristic scheme of thoughts and passions outlined above, together with its progression, is logical and works well as a model for much of human behavior, whether we are looking at other persons, entire groups of people, or ourselves. However, it has little in common with methods employed in modern psychotherapy, for which sinful action is less important than feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, or depression, even if those conditions have come into being as a result of sinful action.
Where the two systems overlap, however, and provide us with a heightened awareness is in recognizing the following: The passions, moods, and emotional states that most often dominate the human personality have their origin in thought, that is to say, in the mind.”
Archimandrite. Meletios Webber, Bread and Water, Wine and Oil: an Orthodox Christian Experience of God
Worship: Sunday, March 18, 2012 (Adoration of the Cross; 3rd Sunday of Lent)
Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Mark 8:34 to end; 9:1
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Brenda Baker
Prosphora: Wood
Coffee Hour: Ellis/Zouboukos
Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church 