December 14, 2014
Sunday of the Forefathers
Colossians 3:4-11: As we read in Colossians, we see St Paul encouraging the Church to practice the virtues of compassion, kindness, and humility. He reminds us that love is the bond which holds us together and calls us to let the peace of Christ to rule us.
Luke 14:16-24: In the parable of the man who gave a dinner we see that not all who are called to dine will come and that the consequences of refusing the invitation are great.
Troparion of the Resurrection: When thou, O immortal Life, didst humble thyself unto death, then didst thou destroy death by the brightness of thy Godhead; and when thou didst raise the bowels of the earth, then all the heavenly powers exclaimed, O Christ, thou art the Giver of life! Glory to thee, O our God!
Troparion of the Forefathers: Thou hast justified by faith the ancient forefathers and through them thou hast gone before and betrothed unto thyself the Church of the Gentiles. Let the saints, therefore, take pride in glory; for from their seed sprouted forth a noble fruit, and she it was who gavest birth to thee without seed. Wherefore, by their pleadings, O Christ God, save 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 Preparatory for Nativity: Today the Virgin comes unto the cave to give birth in an ineffable manner to the Word before the ages. Rejoice, therefore, O universe, when you hear, and glorify with the angels and the shepherds him who shall appear by his own will as a new babe, being God before the ages.
CALENDAR
Sunday, December 14 (Sunday of the Forefathers)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy
5:30 p.m. — Youth Group
Monday, December 15 (Hieromartyr Eleftherios)
Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off
Tuesday, December 16
6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros
Wednesday, December 17
6:30 p.m. — Advent Paraklesis
Thursday, December 18
Friday, December 19
Saturday, December 20 (Ignatios of Antioch, the God-bearer)
5:45 p.m. — Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, December 21 (Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy
5:00 p.m. — Young Adults
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Katools for the Divine Liturgy today.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
December 14 Katool Pigott/Bock/Strain
December 21 Schelver Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker
December 24 (Wed pm) Morris Cheryl Pigott/Kh. Sharon Meadows
(Feast of the Nativity of our Lord)
December 28 Jones D. Root/Dansereau
December 31 (Wed pm) Meadows (Artoklasia Bread for Great Vespers with Litia & Artoklasia)
(Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord and the Feastday of St. Basil the Great)
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#
December 14 Phillip Lasseter Col. 3:4-11 233
December 21 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40 348
December 24 Tom Skirtech Gal. 4:4-7 351
December 28 David Turner Gal. 1:11-19 188
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.
Please remember the following in your prayers: Steve, Sheryl and Stephen Chamblee; Amy and Brantley Oliver; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and Sammie; Georgia Buchanan, George Johns (Georgia’s grandson) and his family; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Fr. Stephen Tewfik; Sh. Gail Shannon; Dn. Sidney and Sh. Mary Elliot;
Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Tom and Jennifer Skirtech and their family; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Athena and Anthony Zouboukos and their family.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
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.
Continue to pray for Metropolitan Paul (who is also the brother of our Patriarch) and the Syriac Archbishop John of Aleppo who were abducted while on a humanitarian mission in Syria.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
This is Choir and Chanter Appreciation Day in our Archdiocese. Today we honor those who sing and chant at St. Peter’s. Without their faithful and diligent service, our worship of the Holy Trinity would be severely hindered. We do appreciate their labors of love for God and His people. May God grant them Many Years!
Calendar Items:
* The Men of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the first Thursday of the month.
* The Ladies of St. Peter will meet at 10:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children. Those who are able will go out for lunch and fellowship afterwards.
* As is our parish custom, we will celebrate the Advent Paraklesis service to the Theotokos in place of Daily Vespers on Wednesday evenings, beginning November 19th, at 6:30 p.m.
* The Christian Education classes will present a special program during Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 14th.
* The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord will be celebrated with Royal Hours on Wednesday, December 24th, beginning at 7:00 a.m. Orthros and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated that night, beginning at 10:00 p.m.
* Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon Seminary will be speaking at St. Peter’s February 1-4, 2015.
Young Adults Study Group: The Young Adults agreed to begin meeting twice a month. One of these meetings will feature a teaching by Fr. John on various aspects of the Orthodox Christian faith. Topics will include education, ethics and parenting children. The next meetings will be Sunday, December 21st and January 4th and 25th.
Fasting Discipline for December
Beginning November 15th, the first day of the Nativity Fast, the traditional fasting (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed each day of the week. Note, however, through December 19th there is a katlysis on Tuesdays and Thursdays when wine and oil are permitted, and on Saturdays and Sundays when fish, wine and oil are permitted. There is no fasting from December 25th through January 4th.
Major Commemorations for December
December 15 Hieromartyr Eleutherios
December 20 God-bearer Ignatius of Antioch
December 25 Nativity of our Lord
December 26 Synaxis of the Theotokos
December 27 Protomartyr Stephen
Lower Mississippi Valley Teen Retreat: The Teen Retreat will be February 13-15, 2015 at Roosevelt State Park. The speaker for the retreat will be Heiromonk Benedict (Josuah Armitage). His topic will be “Dealing with Doubts about God.” We are very excited to have Fr. Benedict come to address this important topic with our teens! Be sure to mark your calendars now.
Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, will visit St. Peter’s February 1-4, 2015. He will speak at our church on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. His topic will be “The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation.” We are priviledged to have a man of Dr. Veniamin’s stature with us. This promises to be a most edifying and instructive time for our church. Please put these dates on your calendar and plan to be here.
Parents, please supervise your children with food in the Fellowship Hall. We are getting stains on the new carpet (and also the chairs in the nave).
Happy Birthdays in December:
December 1 — Christina Katool
December 3 — Stephanie Baker
— Athena Zouboukos
December 4 — Brenda Baker
December 8 — Ben Brock
— Sam Habeeb
— Michael Surratt
December 11 — Sh. Charlotte Algood
December 12 — Jenna Skirtech
December 13 — Carrie Henderson
December 20 — Steve Chamblee
December 21 — Caroline Halley
December 27 — Ben Skirtech
— Warren Strain
— Nicholas Zouboukos (#15!)
— Eli Milnor (#2!)
December 28 — Sheryl Chamblee
Happy Anniversaries in December:
December 21 — Fr. John and Kh. Janet Henderson (#40!)
Suggestions on use of the Cry Room:
— Please remember you’re in liturgy when you’re in the cry room.
— Its main purpose should be a place for parents to take their children if they’re being disruptive during liturgy, staying for 5-10 minutes (or until the child is calmed down) and then returning to liturgy.
— It should not be used as a main sitting area during the liturgy.
— Children should not be eating snacks or watching electronic devices while in the cry room.
Thermostats in the Fellowship Hall: There are two thermostats in the Fellowship Hall—one in the main room to control the air in the main room, and a second one in the Nursery room that controls the air in all four of the Sunday School rooms. Please be sure when you leave the building that both thermostats are set to 80 degrees in warm weather or 60 degrees in cold weather.
Quotable: “To pray is quite straightforward. Stand with the mind in the heart before the face of the Lord and cry: ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me,’ or just: ‘Lord have mercy,’ ‘Most merciful Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner’ – or with any other words. The power is not in the words, but in the thoughts and feelings.”
St. Theophan the Recluse
from The Art of Prayer compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo
Worship: Sunday, December 21, 2014 (Sunday before the Nativty of our Lord)
Scripture: Hebrews 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-25
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver
Prosphora: Schelver
Coffee Hour: Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker
Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church 