July 19, 2020
Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council
Titus 3:8-15: On this Sunday we read from St. Paul’s letter to Titus, whom he warns to avoid delving into unprofitable and foolish questions about doctrine, and to reject heretics after two admonitions.
Matthew 5:14-19: In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches that we are to be Light in the darkness of this world, not hiding the glory of God from others, but rather, putting it where it can be seen.
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 Holy Fathers: Thou, O Christ, art our God of exceeding praise who didst establish our holy Fathers as luminous stars upon earth, and through them didst guide us unto the true Faith, O most merciful One, 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 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.
From Father John: In His Eminence, Metropolitan JOSEPH’s last communique regarding the restrictions for participation in the services at our churches, he stated that, we should follow the guidelines based on our local numbers with the virus. As our numbers locally are rising, we will be dropping back to 25 participants at liturgies (which includes the priest and chanters). I will continue to try my best to rotate, as fairly as possible, our members who are healthy and wish to come to the services.
Please continue to follow the CDC Guidelines to limit contagion and the spread of the COVID virus.
We have been given permission to resume baptisms and chrismations. In the near future we will be scheduling these sacraments for those who would have been baptized and/or chrismated at Pascha this year. More details will be available at a later date.
CALENDAR
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast.
Sunday, July 19 (Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council)
9:00 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
Monday, July 20 (Prophet Elias)
Father John’s Day Off
Wednesday, July 22
6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers
Thursday, July 23
NO services
NO services
Saturday, July 25(Dormition of Righteous Anna)
6:00 p.m. — Great Vespers (No Ninth Hour Prayers)
Sunday, July 26 (Fifth Sunday after Pentecost)
9:00 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you are ready to return to the services of our church, please let Fr. John know so that he can add you to the list of attendees. It is up to individuals to request attendance at the services. Fr. John attempts to be fair in allotting slots, but he does not make assignments or phone calls.
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Davises for the Divine Liturgy this morning.
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.
Eucharist Bread Schedule (NO Coffee Hour):
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
July 26 D. Root
August 2 Karam
August 5 (Wed. p.m.) Brock
(Feast of the Transfiguration)
August 9 Baker
August 15 (Sat. a.m.) Henderson
(Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos)
August 16 Algood
August 23 Katool
August 30 Schelver
September 6 Morris
September 13 Jones
September 14 (Mon. a.m.) Meadows
(Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross)
September 20 Davis
September 27 D. Root
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; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; David Morris and his family; Jay and Joanna; 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.
Our Condolences go to the Costas family (Maria and Lynda) on the repose of Maria’s husband, Mr. Peter Costas, this past Monday.
Please continue to pray for the following members of St. Peter:
Warren Strain and their family. Warren is hospitalized following a stroke on December 23rd.
Maria Costas, who is still ill with the corona virus and has been moved to a swing-bed facility in Morton.
All those affected by the Corona-virus Pandemic.
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.
Kh. Ruth Bibeaux, wife of Fr. David Bibeaux, from St. Paul Mission in Tupelo, MS will be here in June and part of July while she is working on her clinicals. She will be staying with the Woods during that time.
We will NOT have a service this year for the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos as is our usual parish custom.
Fasting Discipline for July
The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on the all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month
Major Commemorations for July
July 25 Dormition of Righteous Anna
July 27 Great-martyr Panteleimon
Instructions for streaming our services can be found on the parish website.
Happy Anniversaries in July:
July 3 — Emad and Suzi Fino (#32!)
July 25 — Reader Basil and Brenda Baker (#39!)
July 30 — Clyde and Mary Ellis (#26!)
Happy Birthdays in July:
July 3 — Evan Root (#4!)
July 10 — Ramzi Kafoury
July 11 — Titus Lasseter (#8!)
July 14 — Emil Ellis
July 15 — Emad Fino
July 22 — Walt Wood
July 29 — Maricica Pacurari
July 31 — Ana Maria Lavric (#3!)
ead of ManHead of Maonasteries
Quotable: “The Church is Christ as fullness of revelation, having its continuous effectiveness from him. From him it continues to give light and warmth through the Holy Spirit to those who believe, and it does this not only until the end of time but to all eternity, in and through the Church on earth and in heaven, drawing light and warmth from Christ’s Body as the form of their communion with him and among themselves. If revelation, which has become fully real in Christ, possesses in itself a prophetic dynamism, a kind of prophecy in motion, the action of revelation to the time of its final goal is entailed in that prophetic dynamism which finds expression in and through the Churcholy Spirit, goiven and sent by both the FFaa.”
Dumitru Staniloae, The Experience of God
Worship: Sunday, July 26, 2020 (Seventh Sunday after Pentecost; Paraskeva of Rome)
Scripture: Galatians 3:23-4:5; Matthew 9:27-35
Celebrant: Father John
Prosphora: D. Root
Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church 