March 4, 2018

Second Sunday of Lent

Commemoration of Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica

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.

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 4 (Second Sunday of Lent; St. Gregory Palamas)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

12:00 p.m. — Pot Luck Meal

Monday, March 5

6:30 p.m. — Great Compline

Tuesday, March 6

6:00 a.m. — Lenten Orthros

Wednesday, March 7

6:30 p.m. — Presanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper

Thursday, March 8

6:00 a.m. — Lenten Orthros

Friday, March 9

6:30 p.m. — Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Saturday, March 10

10:00 a.m. — Ladies meet for Akathist

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

Sunday, March 11 (Adoration of the Holy 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 Morrises for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

March 4 Morris POT LUCK MEAL

(set-up: Schelver/Meadows/Karam)

March 11 Jones Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

March 17 (Sat. a.m.) Henderson Brenda Baker

(Saturday of the Souls) Koliva: Karen Cooper

March 18 Meadows Stewart/Turner/Waites

March 25 Davis POT LUCK MEAL

(Feast of the Annunciation) (set-up: Pigott/Lavric/Alaeetawi)

March 31 (Sat. a.m.) D. Root Kh. Sharon Meadows

(Lazarus Saturday)

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 4 Mildred Morris Heb. 1:10-2:3 283

March 11 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 4:14-5:6 285

March 17 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows I Cor. 10:23-26 271

March 18 Brenda Baker Heb. 6:13-20 287

March 25 Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 2:11-18 376

March 31 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 12:28-13:8 291

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 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 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.

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; Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; Peggy (David Turner’s paternal aunt) who is suffering from cancer and related complications; and David Morris and his family; Vernie Meadows, Fr. James and Kh. Sharon and their family; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Dr. Herman (Tristan) Englehardt.

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

We welcome His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS on his first Archpastoral visit to St. Peter! Many Years, Master!

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.

FOCUS Offering: The Ladies of St. Peter recently took donations to be sent to FOCUS North America to help feed hungry children in our country. We raised $853! Thank you for your support of this worthwhile endeavor.

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.

* The dates for serving meals at the Stewpot are March 24th and November 10th.

* We will celebrate the Feast of the Annuciation with a Pot Luck Meal following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning, March 25th.

Fasting Discipline for March

Monday, February 19th was 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 Pascha (except the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 1st, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

Major Commemorations for March

March 4 Second Sunday of Lent; Gregory Palamas

March 9 Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

March 11 Third Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Holy Cross

March 16 Christodoulos, Wonder-worker of Patmos

March 17 Saturday of Souls

March 18 Fourth Sunday of Lent; John Climacus

March 25 Feast of the Annunciation

Fifth Sunday of Lent; Mary of Egypt

March 31 Lazarus Saturday

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.

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.

Quotable: “If an earthly king, or son of the king, visits a city or village and stays at one of its houses, a great number of people will gather near the house because all want to see his clear kingly eyes, carefully turned toward the entire realm and toward all its subjects, and all want to listen to the king’s gracious speech. The dignity of a king is so lofty, so important is his service to God and the people here on earth, that all feel toward him a peculiar involuntary reverence, and often a simple look from him is enough to enthrall someone.”

Father John of Kronstadt, Season of Repentance

Worship: Sunday, March 11, 2018 (Third Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Holy Cross)

Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Mark 8:34-9:1

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver

Prosphora: Jones

Coffee Hour: Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

February 18, 2018

Sunday of Cheese Fare

Yes, it is that time again. Lent begins on Monday, February 19th, but we begin the preparations for the journey of “bright-sadness” by especially dealing with our hearts and our spiritual condition. In her wisdom the Church is a great aid to us, for the four Sundays before Lent carry special themes that enable us to examine ourselves.

The theme of the Sunday before Lent is FORGIVENESS (cheese fare) and the Gospel lesson is Matthew 6:14-21 which teaches us both of forgiveness and of fasting. “To forgive is to put between me and my enemy the radiant forgiveness of God Himself. To forgive is to reject the hopeless dead-ends of human relations and to refer them to Christ. Forgiveness is truly a breakthrough of the Kingdom into this sinful and fallen world” (Great Lent, Page 28). And to fast is to first fast before God and not men so as to curb the desires and cravings of our fallen nature. This effort can help free us from the dictatorship of the flesh over our spirit, so we can more fully love and forgive.

Romans 13:11-14:4: As we read from his letter to the Romans, St. Paul encourages us to walk in the light and put aside the deeds of darkness, knowing that the time of salvation is near at hand. He also encourages us to accept those who are weak in faith and not to make personal judgments.

Matthew 6:14-21: The Lord Jesus in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount gives us instructions on forgiving others, on fasting, and on laying up treasures in our hearts.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Having learned the joyful message of the Resurrection from the angel, the women Disciples cast from them their parental condemnation, and proudly broke the news to the Disciples, saying, Death has been spoiled. Christ God is risen, 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 Cheese Fare Sunday: O thou who guidest to wisdom, and givest understanding and intelligence, the Instructor of the ignorant and Helper of the poor, strengthen my heart and grant it understanding, O Master. Give me word, O Word of the Father; for behold, I shall not refrain my lips from crying to thee, O merciful One, have mercy upon me who am fallen.

CALENDAR

Sunday, February 18 (Sunday of Cheesefare)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

6:30 p.m. — Forgiveness Vespers

Monday, February 19 (Clean Monday)

[GREAT LENT BEGINS]

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

6:30 p.m. — Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

Tuesday, February 20

6:00 a.m. — Lenten Orthros

6:30 p.m. — Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

Wednesday, February 21

6:30 p.m. — Presanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper

Thursday, February 22

6:00 a.m. — Lenten Orthros

6:30 p.m. — Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

Friday, February 23

6:30 p.m. — Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Saturday, February 24 (The Forerunner, 1st and 2nd Discoveries)

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

Sunday, February 25 (Sunday of Orthodoxy)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

5:00 p.m. — Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers at Holy Trinity/St. John the Divine

Greek Orthodox Church

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Katools for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

February 18 Katool Algood/Jones/Strain/Dabit)

February 25 Schelver R. Root/Habeeb/Pacurari

March 4 Morris POT LUCK MEAL

(set-up: Schelver/Meadows/Karam)

March 11 Jones Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

March 17 (Sat. a.m.) Henderson Brenda Baker

(Saturday of the Souls) Koliva: Karen Cooper

March 18 Meadows Stewart/Turner/Waites

March 25 Davis POT LUCK MEAL

(Feast of the Annunciation) (set-up: Pigott/Lavric/Alaeetawi)

March 31 (Sat. a.m.) D. Root Kh. Sharon Meadows

(Lazarus Saturday)

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#

February 18 Sam Habeeb Rom. 13:11-14:4 279

February 25 David Turner Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40 281

March 4 Mildred Morris Heb. 1:10-2:3 283

March 11 Brenda Baker Heb. 4:14-5:6 285

March 17 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows I Cor. 10:23-26 271

March 18 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 6:13-20 287

March 25 Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 2:11-18 376

March 31 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 12:28-13:8 291

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 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.

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; Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; Peggy (David Turner’s paternal aunt) who is suffering from cancer and related complications; and David Morris and his family; Vernie Meadows, Fr. James and Kh. Sharon and their family; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family.

Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.

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

Please keep Tatyana Rukhlina in your prayers as she is nearing the end of her life. When the event occurs, her funeral and mercy meal will be held here at St. Peter with her burial at Natchez Trace Cemetery.

Dr. Herman (Tristan) Englehardt, who spoke here several years ago, has been diagnosed with throat cancer and is not doing well. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

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.

His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS will be making his first Arch-pastoral visit to St. Peter the week-end of March 2-6, 2018. We look forward to spending this time with His Grace! More will be forthcoming in the future about his specific schedule and meetings he would like to schedule while he is here.

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.

* The Schedule of Services for the first week of Great Lent is as follows:

Sunday, February 18 — Forgiveness Vespers at 6:30 p.m.

Monday, February 19 — Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 20 — Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 21 — Presanctified Liurgy with Soup Supper at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 22 — Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, February 23 — Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Sunday, February 25 — Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers at Greek Orthodox Church in Jackson, at 5:00 p.m.

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

* The dates for serving meals at the Stewpot are March 24th and November 10th.

St. Nicholas Offering: The Parish Council has decided that the money raised in December for our St. Nicholas Offering will go to the Little Lighthouse, an organization that ministers to children with Special Needs.

Fasting Discipline for February

Monday, February 19th 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 Pascha (except the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 1st, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

Major Commemorations for February

February 19 Clean Monday

February 24 The Forerunner (1st and 2nd Discoveries)

February 25 Sunday of Orthodoxy

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.

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.

ead of ManHead of Maonasteries

Quotable: “The revelation of God as I AM THAT I AM proclaims the personal character of the Absolute God which is the core of His life. To interpret this revelation the Fathers adopted the philosophical term hypostasis, which first and foremost conveys actuality and can be applied to things, to man or to God. In many instances it was used as a synonym for essence. (Substance is the exact Latin translation.) In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11.7) hypostasis denotes sober reality and is translated into English as confidence or assurance. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the term describes the Person of the Father: ‘Who being . . . the express image of his person’ (Heb. 1.3). Other renderings to be found in the same Epistle are substance—‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for’ (Heb. 2.1)—and very being—‘the stamp of God’s very being’ (N.E.B. Heb. 1.3). So then, these three words, Person, substance, very being, taken together impart the content of the Greek theological expression hypostasis, to be understood as comprising, on the one hand, the notion of Countenance, Person, while on the other, stressing the cardinal importance of the personal dimension in Being. In the present text the terms Hypostasis and Person(a) are identical in meaning .”

Archimandrite Sophrony, His Life Is Mine

Worship: Sunday, February 25, 2018 (Sunday of Orthodoxy)

Scripture: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40; John 1:43-51

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: David Turner

Prosphora: Schelver

Coffee Hour: R. Root/Habeeb/Pacurari

February 11, 2018

Sunday of Meatfare

Yes, it is that time again. Lent begins on Monday, February 19th, but we begin the preparations for the journey of “bright-sadness” by especially dealing with our hearts and our spiritual condition. In her wisdom the Church is a great aid to us, for the four Sundays before Lent carry special themes that enable us to examine ourselves.

The theme of the second Sunday before Lent is THE LAST JUDGEMENT (meat fare) and the Gospel lesson is Matthew 25:31-46 in which Christ describes the last judgement. It is a lesson about Christian love. For we all need love and each have been given the gift and grace of Christ’s love. Thus, on whether or not we have accepted this responsibility (of Christ’s gift), and on whether we have loved or refused to love, shall we be judged. For “inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me….”

I Corinthians 8:8-9:2: St Paul, writing to the Corinthians, uses the situation about eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols to encourage them and us that we should be aware of our actions and how they affect others in their quest for holiness.

Matthew 25:31-46: In describing the judgment of the nations, the Lord Jesus tells us that the righ­teous will receive eternal blessings, while the unrighteous shall receive eternal punishment.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; for the Lord hath done a mighty act with his own arm. He hath trampled down death and become the First-born from the dead. He hath delivered us from the depths of hades, granting the world the 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 Meat Fare Sunday: When thou comest, O God, to earth with glory, and all creatures tremble before thee, and the river of fire floweth before the Altar, and the books are opened and sins revealed, deliver me then from that unquenchable fire, and make me worthy to stand at thy right hand, O righteous Judge.

CALENDAR

Sunday, February 11 (Sunday of Meatfare)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

12:00 p.m. — Pot Luck Meal

Monday, February 12

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, February 13

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Wednesday, February 14

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

7:15 p.m. — Choir Practice

Thursday, February 15

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Friday, February 16

Saturday, February 17 (Saturday of the Souls)

10:00 a.m. — Ladies meet for Akathist and Pre-Lenten meal

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

Sunday, February 18 (Sunday of Cheesefare)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

6:30 p.m. — Forgiveness Vespers

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Algoods for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

February 11 Algood POT LUCK MEAL
(set-up: D. Root/Dansereau/Davis)

February 18 Katool Algood/Jones/Strain/Dabit)

February 25 Schelver R. Root/Habeeb/Pacurari

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#

February 11 Warren Strain I Cor. 8:8-9:2 273

February 18 Sam Habeeb Rom. 13:11-14:4 279

February 25 David Turner Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40 281

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 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.

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; Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; Peggy (David Turner’s paternal aunt) who is suffering from cancer and related complications; and David Morris and his family; Vernie Meadows, Fr. James and Kh. Sharon and their family; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family.

Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.

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

Please keep Tatyana Rukhlina in your prayers as she is nearing the end of her life. When the event occurs, her funeral and mercy meal will be held here at St. Peter with her burial at Natchez Trace Cemetery.

Memory Eternal! Please remember Mr. Luther Meadows (Fr. James’ father) and Mrs. Sue Thayer (Charlotte Wood’s mother) in your prayers both of whom fell asleep in the Lord this past week. May their Memory be Eternal! Please keep their families in your prayers as well.

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.

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. However, they will meet on the third Saturday in February due to the Saturday of the Souls liturgy on the 10th.

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

* The Schedule of Services for the first week of Great Lent is as follows:

Sunday, February 18 — Forgiveness Vespers at 6:30 p.m.

Monday, February 19 — Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 20 — Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 21 — Presanctified Liurgy with Soup Supper at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 22 — Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, February 23 — Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Sunday, February 25 — Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers at Holy Trnity/St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church in Jackson,
time TBA

* The Ladies of St. Peter will pray the Akathist on Saturday morning, February 17th beginning at 10:00 a.m. (instead of the usual second Saturday). They will also have a lunch afterwards and Father John will give a Pre-Lenten talk. Please mark your calendars now and make plans to be there.

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

* The dates for serving meals at the Stewpot are March 24th and November 10th.

2018 Church Calendars are in the foyer. Please take only one per family.

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.

House Blessings! A sign-up sheet is available in the Fellowship Hall to sign up for your house blessing. You may also e-mail Father John at frjohnc with 3 dates for your house blessing. Please schedule these as soon as possible. Everyone should have their home blessed. However, the responsibility for scheduling lies with individuals and not with Father John. No house blessings will be done once Great Lent starts (February 19th this year).

St. Nicholas Offering: The Parish Council has decided that the money raised in December for our St. Nicholas Offering will go to the Little Lighthouse, an organization that ministers to children with Special Needs.

Father Patrick Reardon will be speaking on the Psalms at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton on Tuesday, February 13th at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. These two talks are open to the public.

His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS will be making his first Arch-pastoral visit to St. Peter the week-end of March 2-5, 2018. We look forward to spending this time with His Grace! More will be forthcoming in the future about his specific schedule and meetings he would like to schedule while he is here.

Ladies of St. Peter Pre-Lenten Luncheon: On Saturday morning, February 17th, the Ladies will meet to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children at 10:00 a.m. Afterwards, we will have a Pre-Lenten Luncheon and Father John will give a teaching. There will also be a brief business meeting. This has always been a wonderful means of fellowship and of preparing our hearts for the journey through Great Lent together. Please make plans to attend.

Fasting Discipline for February

After today meat will no longer be eaten until Pascha. During the week following Meatfare Sunday dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday. February 18th is Cheesefare Sunday, the last day that dairy and wine are permitted. Monday, February 19th 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 Pascha (except the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 1st, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

Major Commemorations for February

February 11 Sunday of Meatfare

Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste

February 18 Sunday of Cheesefare

February 19 Clean Monday

February 24 The Forerunner (1st and 2nd Discoveries)

February 25 Sunday of Orthodoxy

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: “In Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit God gave us the full and final revelation of Himself. His Being now for us is the First Reality, incomparably more evident than all the transient phenomena of this world. We sense His divine presence both within us and without: in the supreme majesty of the universe, in the human face, in the lightning flash of thought. He opens our eyes that we may behold and delight in the beauty of His creation. He fills our souls with love towards all mankind. His indescribably gentle touch pierces our heart. And in the hours when His imperishable Light illumines our heart we know that we shall not die. We know this with a knowledge impossible to prove in the ordinary way but which for us requires no proof, since the Spirit Himself bears witness within us.”

Archimandrite Sophrony, His Life Is Mine

Worship: Sunday, February 18, 2018 (Sunday of Cheesefare)

Scripture: Romans 13:11-14:4; Matthew 6:14-21

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Sam Habeeb

Prosphora: Katool

Coffee Hour: Algood/Jones/Strain/Dabit