November 26, 2017

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Ephesians 4:1-7: Reading in Ephesians, we hear St. Paul exhort us to maintain the unity of the spirit and to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.

Luke 18:18-27: In the Gospel according to St Luke we hear our Lord tell us via an encounter with a rich, young ruler that to obtain eternal life we must be willing to give up everything that we possess in service to the Kingdom of God.

Troparion of the Resurrection: O compassionate One, thou didst descend from the heights; thou didst submit to the three-day burial, that thou might deliver us from passion. Thou art our Life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to thee.

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, November 26 (Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

Monday, November 27

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, November 28

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

11:30 a.m. — Ladies’ Lunch

Wednesday, November 29

6:30 p.m. — Advent Paraklesis

7:30 p.m. — Parish Council Meeting

Thursday, November 30 (Apostle Andrew the First-called)

6:00 a.m. — Festal Orthros

Friday, December 1

Saturday, December 2

5:45p.m. — Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers

Sunday, December 3 (Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

12:00 p.m. — Presentation by the Nuns from the Convent of St. Elizabeth

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Brocks for the Divine Liturgy this morning. The Artoklasia Bread for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple last Monday evening was offered by the Daniel Roots.

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

November 26 Brock Ellis/Zouboukos

December 3 R. Root Skirtech/Parker

December 5 (Tue. p.m.) Henderson (Artoklasia Bread)

December 10 Algood D. Root/Dansereau/Davis

December 17 Katool Algood/Jones/Strain/Dabit

December 24 (Sun. a.m.) Schelver R. Root/Habeeb/Pacurari

December 24 (Sun. p.m.) Morris Ellis/Zouboukos

December 31 (Sun. a.m.) Jones Schelver/Meadows

December 31 (Sun. p.m.) Meadows (Artoklasia Bread)

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#

November 26 Sam Habeeb Eph. 4:1-7 212

December 3 Brenda Baker Eph. 5:8-19 217

December 10 David Turner Eph. 6:10-17 223

December 17 Walt Wood Col. 3:4-11 233

December 24 (Sun. a.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 11:9-10, 32-40 348

December 24 (Sun. p.m.) Warren Strain Gal. 4:4-7 351

December 31 Kh. Sharon Meadows II Tim. 4:5-8 354

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.

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.

Please remember the following in your prayers: Steve, Sheryl Chamblee; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and Sammie; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Fr. Stephen Tewfik; Sue Thayer (Charlotte Wood’s mother), Walt and Charlotte and their family; Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; Peggy (David Turner’s paternal aunt) who is suffering from cancer and related complications; and George (Dorothea and Daniel Staursky’s uncle) who sustained injuries in a bad fall; David Morris and his family.

Please keep Kh. Lynn Wilson, her husband Fr. Wayne and their family in your prayers. Kh. Lynn is suffering from cancer and has become critically weak and ill.

Please keep Fr. John Morris and Kh. Cheryl in your prayers. They have both been ill recently.

We have established a Seminary Fund for Phillip Lasseter. If you would like to make a contribution, please make a note on your check that it is for the Seminary Fund.

If you are the last to leave, please make sure that the doors in the Fellowship Hall, the kitchen and the hallway are all locked.

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.

* The Ladies of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the last Tuesday of the month, beginning in September.

* The Nativity Fast began on Wednesday, November 15th and continues through December 24th. During this time, as is our parish custom, we will pray the Advent Paraklesis Service on Wednesday evenings in place of Daily Vespers, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

* The nuns from the Convent of St. Elizabeth in Minsk, Belarus will be doing a presentation during Coffee Hour at St. Peter’s on Sunday, December 3rd.

* Bishop NICHOLAS will be making his first visit to St. Peter the weekend of March 2nd-5th. Please mark your calendars now.

Sisters from the Convent of St. Elizabeth in Minsk, Belarus will be visiting us on Sunday, December 3rd and will be doing a presentation on their ministries during Coffee Hour. The sisters have an extensive ministry to those in need, including several hospitals, boarding homes for children and for adults with special needs, rehabilitation centers for men and for women that minister to the homeless, ex-prisoners, addicts and the less able. In the rehabilitation centers individuals are given work to do and the opportunity to change their lives. The convent is also associated with the Convents of Martha and Mary in Russia, founded by Grand Duchess Elizabeth (St. Elizabeth the New Martyr) and the Convent of St. John the Baptist in Essex, UK, founded by Archimandrite Sophrony. More information on the sisters and their ministries is available at http://obitel-minsk.by/en/convent/#social-ministry.

Fasting Discipline for November/December

During the Fast of the Nativity the traditional fasting discipline (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 of any kind from December 25th through January 4th.

Major Commemorations for November/December

November 30 Apostle Andrew the First-called

December 4 Great-martyr Barbara and Venerable Father John of Damascus

December 5 Sava the Sanctified

December 6 Nicholas the Wonder-worker of Myra

December 9 Conception of the Theotokos

December 12 Spyridon the Wonder-worker

December 13 Herman of Alaska

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

Parents of Young Children: Please make sure that your children are supervised if they are in the Nursery during Coffee Hour, just as they are supervised if out on the Playground. The Nursery is being left in a mess on Sunday mornings following Coffee Hour and the clean-up is falling on the same people (i.e. those who teach Sunday School classes in that room). If you leave and there are still children using the room, please make sure that your children pick up the things with which they have been playing.

Quotable: “Moses, possessed of the supreme culture of Egypt, did not question the revelation that he was so miraculously given came from Him Who had indeed created the whole universe. In the Name of this God, I AM, he persuaded the Jewish people to follow him. Invested with extraordinary power from Above, he performed many wonders. To Moses belongs the undying glory of having brought mankind nearer to Eternal Truth. Convinced of the authenticity of his vision, he issued injunctions as prescripts from on High. All things were effected in the Name and by the Name of the I AM Who had revealed Himself. Mighty is this Name in its strength and holiness—it is action proceeding from God. This Name was the first ingress into the living eternity; the dayspring of knowledge of the unoriginate Absolute as I AM.”

Archimandrite Sophrony, His Life Is Mine

Worship: Sunday, December 3, 2017 (Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost)

Scripture: Ephesians 5:8-19; Luke 18:35-43

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Brenda Baker

Prosphora: R. Root

Coffee Hour: Skirtech/Parker

November 19, 2017

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Ephesians 2:14-19: In our reading from Ephesians, we are reminded that Christ not only brought us into union with Himself, but also into union with each other and the faithful saints who have gone before us to be with the Lord.

Luke 12:16-21: In the parable of the rich landowner the Lord teaches us that material possessions are worthless when valued more than knowing God.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Thou didst shatter death by thy Cross; thou didst open paradise to the thief; thou didst turn the mourning of the ointment-bearing women into joy, and didst bid thine Apostles proclaim warning that thou hast risen, O Christ, granting the world Great Mercy.

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 Presentation of the Theotokos: The all-pure temple of the Saviour, the most precious bridal-chamber and Virgin, the treasure-house of the glory of God, today enters the Temple of the Lord, bringing with her the grace which is in the divine Spirit; whom also the angels of God do celebrate in song; for she is the heavenly tabernacle.

CALENDAR

Sunday, November 19 (Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

Monday, November 20 (St. John Chrysostom, repose)

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

6:30 p.m. — Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia

Tuesday, November 21 (Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple)

6:00 a.m. — Festal Orthros

Wednesday, November 22

NO Advent Paraklesis

Thursday, November 23

NO Daily Orthros

Friday, November 24

Saturday, November 25 (Great-martyrs Catherine and Mercurios)

5:45p.m. — Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers

Sunday, November 26 (Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost)

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 Davises 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

November 19 Davis Ellis/Zouboukos

November 20 (Mon. p.m.) D. Roots (Artoklasia Bread)

(Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple)

November 26 Brock Stewart/Alaeetawi

December 3 R. Root Skirtech/Parker

December 5 (Tue. p.m.) Henderson (Artoklasia Bread)

December 10 Algood D. Root/Dansereau/Davis

December 17 Katool Algood/Jones/Strain/Dabit

December 24 (Sun. a.m.) Schelver R. Root/Habeeb/Pacurari

December 24 (Sun. p.m.) Morris Ellis/Zouboukos

December 31 (Sun. a.m.) Jones Schelver/Meadows

December 31 (Sun. p.m.) Meadows (Artoklasia Bread)

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#

November 19 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Eph. 2:14-22 207

November 26 Sam Habeeb Eph. 4:1-7 212

December 3 Brenda Baker Eph. 5:8-19 217

December 10 David Turner Eph. 6:10-17 223

December 17 Walt Wood Col. 3:4-11 233

December 24 (Sun. a.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 11:9-10, 32-40 348

December 24 (Sun. p.m.) Warren Strain Gal. 4:4-7 351

December 31 Kh. Sharon Meadows II Tim. 4:5-8 354

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.

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.

Please keep Kh. Lynn Wilson, her husband Fr. Wayne and their family in your prayers. Kh. Lynn is suffering from cancer and has become critically weak and ill.

Please remember the following in your prayers: Steve, Sheryl Chamblee; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and Sammie; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Fr. Stephen Tewfik; Sue Thayer (Charlotte Wood’s mother), Walt and Charlotte and their family; Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; Peggy (David Turner’s paternal aunt) who is suffering from cancer and related complications; and George (Dorothea and Daniel Staursky’s uncle) who sustained injuries in a bad fall; David Morris and his family.

Please keep Fr. John Morris and Kh. Cheryl in your prayers. They have both been ill recently.

We have established a Seminary Fund for Phillip Lasseter. If you would like to make a contribution, please make a note on your check that it is for the Seminary Fund.

Beginning soon, Father John will meet with the Teens on a regular basis. More information on dates and times are still to be determined.

If you are the last to leave, please make sure that the doors in the Fellowship Hall, the kitchen and the hallway are all locked.

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.

* The Ladies of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the last Tuesday of the month, beginning in September.

* The Nativity Fast began on Wednesday, November 15th and continues through December 24th. During this time, as is our parish custom, we will pray the Advent Paraklesis Service on Wednesday evenings in place of Daily Vespers, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

* We will celebrate the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple with Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia on TOMORROW evening, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

* The nuns from the Convent of St. Elizabeth in Minsk, Belarus will be doing a presentation during Coffee Hour at St. Peter’s on Sunday, December 3rd.

Parents of Young Children: Please make sure that your children are supervised if they are in the Nursery during Coffee Hour, just as they are supervised if out on the Playground. The Nursery is being left in a mess on Sunday mornings following Coffee Hour and the clean-up is falling on the same people (i.e. those who teach Sunday School classes in that room). If you leave and there are still children using the room, please make sure that your children pick up the things with which they have been playing.

There will be no services Wednesday evening, November 22nd or Thursday morning, November 23rd, due to Thanksgiving Day.

Sisters from the Convent of St. Elizabeth in Minsk, Belarus will be visiting us on Sunday, December 3rd and will be doing a presentation on their ministries during Coffee Hour. The sisters have an extensive ministry to those in need, including several hospitals, boarding homes for children and for adults with special needs, rehabilitation centers for men and for women that minister to the homeless, ex-prisoners, addicts and the less able. In the rehabilitation centers individuals are given work to do and the opportunity to change their lives. The convent is also associated with the Convents of Martha and Mary in Russia, founded by Grand Duchess Elizabeth (St. Elizabeth the New Martyr) and the Convent of St. John the Baptist in Essex, UK, founded by Archimandrite Sophrony. More information on the sisters and their ministries is available at http://obitel-minsk.by/en/convent/#social-ministry.

Fasting Discipline for November

The Fast of the Nativity begins on November 15th. During this fast the traditional fasting discipline (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.

Major Commemorations for November

November 21 Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

November 25 Great-martyrs Catherine and Mercurios

November 30 Apostle Andrew the First-called

October 23 Apostle James, Brother-of-the-Lord

October 26 Great-martyr Demetrios

Quotable: “The problem of knowledge of God sends the mind searching back through the centuries for instances of God appearing to man through one or other of the prophets. There can be no doubt that for us, for the whole Christian world, one of the most important happenings recorded in the chronicles of time was God’s manifestation on Mount Sinai where Moses received new knowledge of Divine Being: ‘IAM THAT I AM’ (Exos. 3.14)—Jehovah. From that moment vast horizons opened out before mankind, and history took a new turn. A people’s spiritual condition is the real cause of historical events: it is not the visible that is of primary importance but the invisible, the spiritual. Perceptions and ideas concerning being, and the meaning of life generally, seek expression and in so doing instigate the historical event.”

Archimandrite Sophrony, His Life Is Mine

Worship: Sunday, November 26, 2017 (Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost)

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-7; Luke 18:18-27

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Sam Habeeb

Prosphora: Brock

Coffee Hour: Stewart/Alaeetawi