February 30, 2022
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
After-feast of the Presentation (Meeting) of the Lord in the Temple
Corinthians 6:16-7:1: Brethren, you are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from them, and be separate from them,” says the Lord, “and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.
Matthew 15:21-28: At that time, Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.” But He did not answer her one word. And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
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 Presentation: Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, full of grace; for from thee arose the Sun of justice, Christ our God, lighting those who are in darkness. Rejoice and be glad, O righteous old man, carrying in thine arms the Deliverer of our souls, who granteth us resurrection.
Troparion of St. Julian of Homs: O holy passion-bearer and healing physician Julian, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of sins.
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: Thou, O Christ God, who by your Birth, didst sanctify the Virgin’s womb, and as is meet, didst bless Simeon’s arms, and didst also come to save us, preserve thy fold in wars, and confirm them whom thou didst love; for thou alone art the Lover of mankind.
CALENDAR
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast.
Please continue to follow the CDC Guidelines to limit contagion and the spread of the COVID virus.
Sunday, February 6 (Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
Monday, February 7
Father Herman off
Tuesday, February 8
NO Services
Wednesday, February 9
6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers
Thursday, February 10 (Hieromartyr Haralampos)
Friday, February 11 (Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste)
NO Services
Saturday, February 12
10:00 a.m. — Ladies meet for Akathist and Reading Group
6:00 p.m. — Great Vespers
Sunday, February 13 (Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Pacuraris for the Divine Liturgy this morning.
Eucharist Bread Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
No Coffee Hour for the remainder of the month
February 6 Pacurari
February 13 Davis
February 20 Karam
February 23 (Wed. p.m.) Meadows (Artoklasia Bread)
(Feast of The Forerunner)
February 26 (Sat. a.m.) Brock
(Saturday of the Souls)
February 27 R. Root
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#
February 6 Walt Wood II Cor. 6:16-7:1 173
February 13 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver II Tim. 3:10-15 258
February 20 Sam Habeeb I Cor. 6:12-20 265
February 26 (Sat. a.m. Ian Jones I Thess. 4:13-17 412
February 27 Walt Wood I Cor. 8:8-9:2 273
There will be no Coffee Hour this next two weeks due to the rise in Co-vid cases. In the coming week we will re-evaluate the resumption of Coffee Hour on February 20th.
Also, please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which may be placed in the tithe box at the back of the nave or be mailed to: St. Peter Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 2084, Madison, MS 39130-2084.
We will pray the Trisagion Prayers for the Departed for the Forty Day Memorial for Tom Willingham on Sunday, February 13th and for Saliba Dabit on Sunday, February 27th.
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: Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Lamia Dabit and her family; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Jay and Joanna; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ and their family; Kathy Willingham; Marilyn (Kyriake) Snell; Jack and Jill Weatherly; Lottie Dabbs (Sh. Charlotte Algood’s mother), Sh. Charlotte and their family; Maria Costas (currently at St. Catherine’s Village); Vernie Meadows (Fr. James’ mother) and all their family.
Calendar Items:
* The Ladies will meet at the church at 10:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children on behalf of our children. They will also enjoy a book study afterwards.
* The Ladies will meet for lunch on the last Tuesday of the month.
* There will be a workday at the Church on Saturday morning, February 19th, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
* His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS will be at St. Peter the weekend of March 5-6, 2022 to help us celebrate Fr. John’s retirement and our 35th anniversary as a parish. Please mark your calendars now.
* Great Lent begins on Clean Monday (March 7th). As is our parish custom, we will celebrate Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday evening, March 6th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. We will pray the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday that week March 7-11) and celebrate the Pre-sanctified Liturgy on Wednesday and the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God on Friday. All services will begin at 6:30 p.m.
* The dates for Stewpot for 2022 are Saturday, May 7th and Saturday, September 3rd.
Pledge Letters have been mailed. Please return them to the church as soon as possible.
House Blessings: Fr. Herman will be blessing homes January 7 – February 25 (except for February 23-37 when he will be out for the Winter Retreat). A sign-up sheet is located on the bureau in the hallway. Please indicate 3 dates that would work for your family and he will get back with you to schedule your house blessing. Everyone should their house blessed, but the responsibility for scheduling this lies with individuals and not Fr. Herman.
The letters acknowledging tithes and offerings for 2021 were mailed earlier this week. Please check your letter carefully to be sure that it matches your records. If you do not get your letter, or if there is a discrepancy with it, please let Kh. Sharon know as soon as possible.
If you are not feeling well, PLEASE do not attempt to come to the services. This also includes anyone who may have been exposed to you during this time. Also, please let Fr. Herman know if you are not feeling well and have COVID like symptoms.
DOMSE Winter Retreat! The Diocese of Miami and the Southeast has rescheduled the annual Winter Retreat to the week-end of February 25-27, at St. Elias Orthodox Church in Atlanta. Registration is now open. Please go to the Diocesan website, DOMSE.org for information on registration, hotels, etc.
A movie has been released about St. Nectarius of Aegina. It’s called Man of God. It is scheduled to play at the theaters in Pearl and Madison one showing only, March 21, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. Here is the link: https://www.imdb.com/showtimes/title/tt6060964/?date=2022-03-21
Camp St. Thekla dates and registration: The dates for Camp St. Thekla are: Session 1 is June 26 – July 2 and Session 2 is July 3 – 9. Registration will begin Sunday, February 13 at 4:00 p.m.
Dn. Richard is in charge of showing photos from St. Peter’s last 35 years for the celebration on March 5th. Please look through your photos and submit good selections to him within the next couple of weeks. They may be physical prints or digital clips. Be sure to put your name on them if you want them returned. The deadline for submitting your photos to Dn. Richard is the end of January. Suggested Categories:
Weddings, Baptisms, Chrismations Bible Studies
Fishing Trips Men’s and Women’s lunches
Retreats Angel Tree
Fall Festival Sunday School and Garden work
Stew Pot Work Days
Any other things involving the life of our parish
Instructions for streaming our services can be found on the parish website.
Fasting Discipline for February
In February the fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays except February 2nd (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple when fish, wine and oil are permitted) and the week following the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican (February 14-18) when there is no fasting at all. Following Meatfare Sunday on February 27th, meat will no longer be eaten until Pascha.
Major Commemorations for February
February 10 Hieromartyr Haralampos
February 11 Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste
February 13 Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican
February 20 Sunday of the Prodigal Son
February 24 The Forerunner (1st and 2nd Discoveries)
February 26 Saturday of the Souls
February 27 Sunday of Meatfare
Quotable: “Firmly purpose in your soul to hate every sin of thought, word, and deed, and when you are tempted to sin resist it valiantly and with a feeling of hatred for it; only beware lest your hatred should turn against the person of your brother who gave occasion for the sin. Hate the sin with all your heart, but pity your brother; instruct him, and pray for him to the Almighty, Who sees all of us and tries our hearts and innermost parts. ‘Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.’ It is impossible not to often fall into sin unless you have a hatred of it implanted in your heart. Self-love must be eradicated. Every sin comes from the love of self. Sin always appears, or feigns to be, to wish us well, promising us plenteousness and ease. ‘The tree was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.’ This is how sin always appears to us.”
St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ
Worship: Sunday, February 13, 2022 (Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican)
Scripture: II Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14
Celebrant: Father Herman
Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver
Prosphora: Davis
Coffee Hour: NO Coffee Hour
Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church 