March 27, 2016
Second Sunday of Great 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 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 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 27 (Gregory of Palamas)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy
Monday, March 28
Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off
Tuesday, March 29
6:00 a.m. — Lenten Orthros
Wednesday, March 30
6:30 p.m. — Presanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper
Thursday, March 31
6:00 a.m. –Lenten Orthros
Friday, April 1 (Venerable Mary of Egypt)
6:30 p.m. — Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos
Saturday, April 2
7:00 a.m. — Ladies of St. Peter Garage Sale
5:45 p.m. — Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, April 3 (Adoration of the Cross)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Katools for the Feast of the Annnunciation this past Thursday evening and by the Schelvers for the Divine Liturgy this morning.
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.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
March 27 Schelver R. Root/Habeeb
April 3 Morris Schelver/Lavric/Turner
April 10 Jones Henderson/Baker/Lockhart
April 17 Meadows Stewart/Karam/Meadows
April 23 (Sat. a.m.) Davis Sh. Margaret
April 24 D. Root Charlotte Wood/Anna Kathryn Stewart
April 28 (Thurs. a.m.) Karam Kh. Sharon
April 30 (Sat. a.m.) Brock Joanna Davis/Kh. Sharon Meadows
April 30 (Sat. p.m.) Fahmy Kh. Janet /Kh. Be’Be’
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.
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 20 Mildred Morris Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40 281
March 24 (Thurs. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 2:11-18 376
March 27 Phillip Lasseter Heb. 1:10-2:3 283
April 3 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 4:14-5:6 285
April 10 Brenda Baker Heb. 6:13-20 287
April 17 David Turner Heb. 9:11-14 290
April 23 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 12:28-13:8 291
April 24 Walt Wood Phil. 4:4-9 294
April 28 (Thurs. a.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood I Cor. 11:23-32 295
April 30 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Rom. 6:3-11 300
April 30 (Sat. p.m.) Warren Strain Acts 1:1-8 25
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 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; Elias and Olga Karam (Simon’s parents) as well as Simon and Rola Karam; Lynda Costas.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
Lenten Almsgiving Project: Sunnybrook Children’s Home is a residential group home for children who have been abused and neglected and, thereby, taken from their parents through the court system as well as those children whose guardians choose to place them there voluntarily. They have requested donations for their annual food drive and the Parish Council has decided to support their efforts. We will approach this in a manner similar to the Angel Tree with those wishing to participate providing items on the list they have supplied. The list and cover letter are located on the Bulletin Board in the Fellowship Hall and also may be found on our website. Donations should be brought to the church by next week-end.
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 the 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.
* The men of the parish will meet at the church once each quarter for a Saturday morning Father-Son Prayer Breakfast.
* On the first Saturday of April (2nd), the Ladies will hold a garage sale to raise money for their charitable projects. More information will be available in the near future.
* His Grace, Bishop THOMAS will be with us August 12-15th. Be sure to mark your calendars now.
Fasting Discipline for March/April
Monday, March 14th is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all days of the week until Pashca (except the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 24th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).
Major Commemorations for March/April
March 27 2nd Sunday of Lent; Gregory of Palamas
April 1 Mary of Egypt
April 3 3rd Sunday of Lent;Adoration of the Cross
April 10 4th Sunday of Lent; John Climacus
April 17 5th Sunday of Lent; Mary of Egypt
April 23 Lazarus Saturday; Great-martyr George
April 24-30 Holy Week
April 25 Apostle Mark
April 29 Apostle James of Zebedee
Quotable: “When man falls into sin his mind moves in an outward direction and loses itself in created things, but when, conscious of his perdition, he comes to himself seeking salvation, he then moves inward as he searches for the way back to the heart. Finally, when all his being is gathered in the unity of his mind and heart, there is a third kind of movement in which he turns his whole being over to God the Father. Man’s spirit must pass through this threefold circular motion in order to reach perfection.”
The Hidden Man of the Heart
by Archimandrite Zacharias
Worship: Sunday, April 3, 2016 (Third Sunday of Great Lent; Adoration of the Cross)
Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Mark 8:34-9:1
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be; Schelver
Prosphora: Morris
Coffee Hour: Schelver/Lavric/Turner
