March 8, 2020

Sunday of Forgiveness

First Sunday of Lent

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. This is an historical feast commemorating the restoration of the icons, which had been banned for several decades, to their rightful liturgical use in the year 843 A.D.

The major emphasis of this feast is the victory of the true faith, the victory which always ultimately triumphs. Having completed the first week of our lenten efforts, we are reminded that Christ, the perfect image of God the Father, calls us to personal victory by restoring within ourselves “the image and likeness of God” in which we were first created (Genesis 1:26).

The icons of Our Lord, the Theotokos, and all the saints are images of true humanity, signs of what our eternal calling and vocation really is. They tell us that we are all called to be living icons and imitators of Christ, bearing the likeness of God as gracious vessels of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:24-26;32-40: The writer of Hebrews calls us to consider the faith of those Old Testa­ment saints who endured hardships and death and yet still did great things because of their faith. The Apos­tle encourages us to lay aside the encumbrances of sin and run with endurance the race that is set be­fore us.

John 1:43-51: From our reading in the Gospel of John we see Jesus call Philip and Nathaniel to be His disciples.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Let us believers praise and worship the Word, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation; for he took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh, to suffer death, and to raise the dead by his glorious Resurrection.

Troparion of the Sunday of Orthodoxy: Thy pure image do we venerate, O good One, asking forgiveness of our sins, O Christ our God; for by thine own will thou didst ascend the Cross in thy body, to save thy creatures from the bondage of the enemy. Thou hast truly filled all with joy, since thou didst come, O our Saviour, to save the world.

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 8 (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 St. Peter

Monday, March 9 (Forty Martyrs of Sebaste)

Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, March 10

6:30 a.m. — Lenten Orthros

Wednesday, March 11

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

Thursday, March 12

6:30 a.m. — Lenten Orthros

Friday, March 13

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

Saturday, March 14

10:30 a.m. — Baptism of Arianna Lavric

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

Sunday, March 15 (Second Sunday of Lent; Gregory Palamas)

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 Joneses for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

March 8 Jones Katool/Davis/Algood/Baba

March 15 Meadows Schelver/Karam/Pacurari

March 22 Davis Habeeb/Jones/Turner

March 25 (Mon. a.m.) D. Root Christina Katool

(Feast of the Annunciation)

March 29 Karam Ellis/Zouboukos/Waites

Schedule for Epistle Readers – Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the chanters stand at the front of the nave. Please be sure to use this book when you read.

Reader Reading Page#

March 8 Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40 281

March 15 Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 1:10-2:3 283

March 22 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 4:14-5:6 285

March 24 (Tues. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 2:11-18 376

March 29 Mildred Morris Heb. 6:13-20 287

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.

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 Chamblee; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; David Morris and his family; Vernie Meadows, Fr. James and Kh. Sharon and their family; Dn. Noah and Sh. Beth Ann (Baker) Pappas, the Reader Basil and Brenda and all of the Baker family; Chris and Rebecca Dansereau and their daughters; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ and their family; Emad and Natalia Alaeetawi and their family; Tom and Kathy Willingham.

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

Please continue to pray for the following members of St. Peter:

Warren Strain and their family. Warren is hospitalized at Baptist Hospital following a stroke on December 23rd.

Nicholas Zouboukos and his family. Nicholas is back in classes at Ole Miss but continues to undergo evaluation for a GI disorder.

Aidan Milnor and his family. Aidan is continuing to recover from his illness at home.

All those in our parish affected by the recent floods.

Charlotte Wood and their family. Charlotte is recovering at home from spinal surgery.

A Benevolence account has been established at St. Peter to help the Strain family deal with Warren’s medical bills and other needs. If you would like to make a donation to this fund, please note on your check that it is for the Warren Strain Benevolence Fund. 100% of these funds will go to the Strain family.

Arianna Lavric will be baptized next Saturday, March 14th, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Dorin and Carolina Lavric will be her godparents. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Tax letters for 2019 Donations were mailed recently. Please let Kh. Sharon know if you did not receive yours, or if there were any discrepancies in the amount listed.

March is Ladies’ Month in our Archdiocese when we give special attention to the role of women in our parish. Ladies will be reading the Epistle this month. Also, please allow the women to go first for communion during this time.

Due to Arianna’s baptism on March 14th, the Ladies will meet for their monthly Akathist to the Theotokos on behalf of our children on Saturday, March 21st instead.

Pledge Letters were mailed recently. Please fill these out and return them as soon as possible.

We will NOT celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation with services on the evening of Tuesday, March 24th as listed on the March calendar and the Quarterly Schedule. Instead, at the instruction of the Archdiocese, we will celebrate Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy on the morning of March 25th, beginning at 7:00 a.m. This change also means that we will NOT have a Pre-sanctified Liturgy the evening of the 25th (as also listed on the March calendar). Please make a note of these changes.

Fasting Discipline for March

Beginning with Clean Monday on March 2nd, 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 12th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

Major Commemorations for March

March 8 Sunday of Orthodoxy

March 9 Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

March 15 2nd Sunday of Lent; Gregory Palamas

March 16 Christodoulos, the Wonder-worker of Patmos
March 22 3rd Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Holy Cross
March 25 Feast of the Annunciation
March 26 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
March 29 4th Sunday of Lent; John Climacus

Calendar Items:

* The Men of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the first Thursday of the month. However, they will meet on the third Thursday in July (only).

* The Ladies of St. Peter 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, in March they will meet on the 21st due to the baptism on the 14th.

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

* Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers will take place at St. Peter this evening, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Please be sure to bring your icons for the procession during vespers.

* Arianna Lavric will be baptized next Saturday morning, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

* The Sunday School classes will make a visit to The Home Place on Sunday, March 22nd, at 1:00 p.m.

* Sunday May 17th will be the last day of Church School until the fall.

* Vacation Church School will be July 9-11. More information will be available later.

* Stewpot Date: August 22nd.

Unsupervised children in the Kitchen: For health and safety concerns children are not to be allowed in the kitchen unless accompanied by a parent. Please get ice for your children and do NOT allow them to use the icemaker themselves.

If severe weather is in the area please check our website or facebook page for information on services. If it is ever necessary to cancel any of our services due to severe weather conditions, this will be posted on those sites.

For Parents: Children in the nursery during Coffee Hour MUST be supervised just as they are on the playground. This room is used for Sunday School each week. Children who are unsupervised create disarray and use materials set aside for the teaching of Christian Education. This creates extra work for the Sunday School teachers who have to come in and set the room in order before class or who find supplies depleted unexpectedly. A parent must be in the room with their children at all times. Please help us with this! — Fr. John

ead of ManHead of Maonasteries

Quotable: “Some of the passions are of the soul, others of the spirit. But the close unity of body and soul cause the bodily passions to be interwoven with those of the soul, or to have an inter-influence. The ascetical writers tell us that among the young, gluttony produces all the others, because it leads to unchastity—both of them need money to satisfy them, while he who finds himself lacking objects to satisfy these three passions, that is gluttony, unchastity and avarice, becomes dejected; and if someone wants to take things away from him or put their hand on them before he does, he becomes angry. For older people, however, the main passion is pride. So vainglory and pride could also be an effect of gluttony and accumulated wealth. But just the opposite could happen too: By love of glory and by pride man could seek wealth to live in luxury, which would bring him the praise of men and cause him to look down on others; or he would be dejected and angry when he isn’t honored enough.”

Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox Spirtuality

Worship: Sunday, March 15, 2020 (Second Sunday of Lent; Commemoration of Gregory Palamas)

Scripture: Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Mark 2:1-12

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Sh. Charlotte Algood

Prosphora: Meadows

Coffee Hour: Schelver/Karam/Pacurari