April 5, 2020

Fifth Sunday of Great Lent

Commemoration of Mary of Egypt

The facts of the life of St. Mary of Egypt are vague and clouded by time and separation, but the spirit of her story is a clear call to repentance and devotion. According to tradition, Mary was from Alexandria, where she was an actress and courtesan, living a life of sin and infamy. When spiritual intervention forbade her entry to Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, she spent the night in penitent prayer. The following morning she was able to enter, whereupon she venerated the cross and immediately removed herself to the life of a penitent and solitary in the Palestinian desert. She remained in isolation for forty-seven years, aided only by monks of the region and God’s grace. Only at her death was she found and given communion by the priest Zosimus. On this last Sunday of Lent, as we prepare for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and the Great Feast of the eighth and eternal day, we call to mind this holy woman, her fear of the all-powerful God, her recognition of her sin, her repentance, her humility, her faith, and her unwavering intent to seek righteousness and the courts of her King.

Hebrews 9:11-14: In our reading from Hebrews, we hear the Apostle tell us that when Christ entered the heavenly Holy of Holies through His own blood, He obtained for us eternal redemption for our sins.

Mark 10:32-45: We again hear our Lord prophesy concerning His coming death and resurrection, but, His disciples do not understand, displaying concern for personal gain as a reward. The Lord then explains to them that greatness in the kingdom of God is attained through service to others.

Troparion of the Resurrection: The stone being sealed by the Jews, and thy pure body being guarded by the soldiers, thou didst arise on the third day, O Saviour, granting life to the world. Wherefore, the heavenly powers acclaimed thee, O Giver of life, crying, Glory to thy Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to thy kingdom! Glory to thy gracious providence, O only Lover of mankind.

Troparion of St. Mary of Egypt: Through thee the divine likeness was securely preserved, O Mother Mary; for thou didst carry the cross and followed Christ. By example and precept thou didst teach us to ignore the body because it is perishable, and to attend to the concerns of the undying soul. Therefore, doth thy soul rejoice with the angels.

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 Theotokos: O undisputed intercessor of Christians, O mediatrix, who is unrejected by the Creator, turn not away from the voice of our petitions though we be sinners; come to us in time, who cry to thee in faith, for thou art good. Hasten to us with intercessions, O Theotokos, who didst ever intercede for those who honor thee.

CALENDAR

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: Per the direction of the Metropolitan, the ONLY services we will be doing will be the Akathist on Friday evening and Orthros and the Divine Liturgy on Sunday mornings (which will be streamed). We expect direction very soon on what we will be allowed to do concerning the services for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Pascha.

Sunday, April 5 (Commemoration of Mary of Egypt)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros & Divine Liturgy available through webcast ONLY

Monday, April 6

Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, April 7

NO Daily Orthros

Wednesday, April 8

NO Presanctified followed by Soup Supper

Thursday, April 9

NO Daily Orthros

Friday, April 10

Saturday, April 11 (Lazarus Saturday)

NO Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers

Sunday, April 12 (Palm Sunday)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros & Divine Liturgy available through webcast ONLY

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Eucharist Bread Schedule (NO Coffee Hour):

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

April 5 Brock

April 11 (Sat. a.m.) Baker

(Lazarus Saturday)

April 12 Henderson

April 16 (Thur. a.m.) Algood

(Great and Holy Thursday)

April 18 (Sat. a.m.) Katool

(Great and Holy Saturday)

April 18 (Sat. p.m.) Schelver

April 26 Morris

May 3 Jones

May 10 Meadows

May 17 Davis

May 24 D. Root

May 27 (Wed. p.m.) Karam

(Feast of Ascension)

May 31 Brock

June 6 (Sat. a.m.) Baker

(Saturday of the Souls)

June 7 Henderson

June 14 Algood

June 21 Katool

June 28 Schelver

June 29 (Mon. a.m.) Morris

(Sts. Peter and Paul)

Please remember that the schedule for prosphora is still in place as we will continue to serve the Divine Liturgy. Also, please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which should be sent to: St. Peter Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 2084, Madison, MS 39130-2084. If you need Father John for anything, do not hesitate to get in touch with him. If you become ill, please let him know.

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.

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

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

Nicholas Zouboukos and his family. Nicholas continues to undergo evaluation for a GI disorder.

Aidan Milnor and his family.

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

All those affected by the Corona-virus Pandemic.

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

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.

Fasting Discipline for March/April

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). There is no fasting of any kind during Bright Week (April 20th – 25th).

Major Commemorations for April

April 5 5th Sunday of Lent; Mary of Egypt

April 11 Lazarus Saturday

April 12-18 Holy Week

April 19 PASHCA

April 20-25 Bright Week

April 23 Great-martyr George

April 25 Holy Apostle Mark

April 26 Thomas Sunday

During the current COVID-19 outbreak, St. Peter’s will be using YouTube to stream services. We will post announcements about the streams to stpeterorthodox.org “Announcements” section and to our Facebook page. You should be able to go directly to the St Peter Orthodox Church YouTube channel from most mobile phones, desktops, and connected TVs. In case you need more instructions, below are details about how to watch from a variety of devices.

Apple iPhone or iPad

· Be sure you have the YouTube app from the Apple App Store.

· Sign up or login in the YouTube app if needed.

· Tap here to go to the St. Peter Orthodox Church YouTube Channel

· Tap ‘Subscribe’

· If a service is streaming, it will appear here. Tap it to watch.

· If a service is not streaming, past services will appear in the list. Tap the one you would like to watch.

Android Phone or Tablet

· Be sure you have the YouTube app from the Google Play Store

· Sign up or login in the YouTube app if needed.

· Tap here to go to the St. Peter Orthodox Church YouTube Channel

· Tap ‘Subscribe’

· If a service is streaming, it will appear here. Tap it to watch.

· If a service is not streaming, past services will appear in the list. Tap the one you would like to watch.

Desktop or Laptop computer

· Click here to go to the St. Peter Orthodox Church YouTube Channel

· Sign up or login if needed.

· Click ‘Subscribe’

· If a service is streaming, it will appear here. Click it to watch.

· If a service is not streaming, past services will appear in the list. Click the one you would like to watch.

Roku or “Smart TV”

· Be sure you have the YouTube app and have set it up on the Roku

· Saint Peter may not show up in YouTube Search yet. Instead, follow the steps above to subscribe from another device, logged in with the same username and password as you use on YouTube on your Roku.

· Open YouTube on your Roku

· Click “Subscriptions”

· Find “Saint Peter Orthodox Church”

· Select the most recent live video or a past one to watch.

ead of ManHead of Maonasteries

Quotable: “The proud person awakens, by imitation or reaction, pride in others; and the relations of pride which are thus created between people are contrary to normal harmonious ones; the human community is fragmented. Its members devour each other as reptiles, as St. Maximus puts it. All passions are opposed to true love, which alone can reestablish normal harmony between men.”

Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox Spirituality

Worship: Sunday, April 12, 2020 (Palm Sunday)

Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 10:32-45

Celebrant: Father John

Prosphora: Henderson