March 20, 2022
Second Sunday of Great Lent
Commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas

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.
In the earlier period, there was on this day a commemoration of the Great Martyr Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 155). St. Gregory replaced St. Polycarp on the Second Sunday of Lent in the fourteenth century.

Hebrews 1:10-2:3: Thou, “O Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands; they will perish; but Thou remainest; and they will all grow old like a garment, and like a mantle Thou wilt roll them up, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years will not fail.” But to which of the angels did He say at any time, “Sit on My right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet?” Are they not all spirits for liturgical ministry, sent forth to minister for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest at any time we drift away from them. For if the word spoken through angels was confirmed, and every transgression and disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which having at first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard?

Mark 2:1-12: At that time, when Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and He was preaching the Word to them. And they came, bringing to Jesus a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now, some of the scribes were sitting there, reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in His spirit that they thus reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic – “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all. So that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

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

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, March 20 (Commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
12:00 p.m. — Pot Luck Meal

Monday, March 21
Father Herman off

Tuesday, March 22
NO Services

Wednesday, March 23
6:30 p.m. — Pre-sanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper

Thursday, March 24
6:00 p.m. — Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy

Friday, March 25 (Feast of the Annunciation)
THE SCRIPTURE (Luke 1:26-38): The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee (the northernmost district of Palestine) named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house (family) of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Rejoice, you who are full of grace, the Lord is with you! Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father (ancestor) David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob (the father of all the tribes of Israel) for ever; and of His kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid (servant) of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the Angel departed from her.
THE SIGNIFICANCE: This feast commemorates the day when the Archangel Gabriel announced to a young virgin named Mary that she, among all women, had found favor with the Father. She was invited to cooperate with Him for the Incarnation of His pre-eternal Son through the operation of the Holy Spirit. This, “the beginning of our salvation,” was conditioned not only by God’s will and His election of Mary, but also by Mary’s own “YES” to do God’s will – “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

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

Saturday, March 26 (Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel)
4:45 p.m. — Choir Practice
6:00 p.m. — Great Vespers

Sunday, March 27 (Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross)
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 Algoods for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
March 20 Algood POT LUCK MEAL
Henderson/Jones
March 24 (Thurs. p.m.) Katool Dansereau/Alaeetawi
(Feast of the Annunciation)
March 27 Schelver Meadows/Pigott
April 3 Morris Algood/Schelver
April 10 Jones Lasseter/Pacurari/Miller
April 16 (Sat. a.m.) Meadows Henderson/Jones
(Lazarus Saturday)
April 17 (Palm Sunday) Davis D. Root/Baker

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 20 Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 1:10-2:3 283
March 24 (Thurs. p.m.) Brenda Baker Heb. 2:11-18 376
March 27 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 4:14-5:6 285

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.

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); Fr. James and all their family.

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

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.

Calendar Items:
* On Saturday, April 9th, instead of praying the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children as we usually do, we will participate in a Virtual Lenten Retreat with the other Ladies in our Diocese. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall around 8:30 a.m. for coffee and bagels and attend the retreat via Zoom, beginning at 9:00 a.m. More details in the announcement about upcoming Lenten Retreats.
* The Ladies will meet for lunch on the last Tuesday of the month.
* As is our parish custom during Great Lent, we will celebrate the Pre-sanctified Liturgy on Wednesday evenings and pray the Akathist to the Theotokos on Friday evenings. Both services begin at 6:30 p.m.
* We will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation with Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy on Thursday evening, March 24th, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
* On Wednesday, April 6th, instead of the Presanctified Liturgy we will pray Small Compline with the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
* The dates for Stewpot for 2022 are Saturday, May 7th and Saturday, September 3rd.

Camp St. Thekla dates: The dates for Camp St. Thekla are: Session 1 is June 26 – July 2 and Session 2 is July 3 – 9. If you have a child registered for Camp, please see Daniel for information on scholarships available from the Order of St. Ignatius. If there is still a financial need, some additional funds may be available.

Instructions for streaming our services can be found on the parish website.

Upcoming DOMSE 2022 Lenten Retreats: The following Diocesan Lenten Virtual Retreats are scheduled:

Saturday, March 26 AMEN Lenten Virtual Retreat 2022
9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CDT
Guest Speaker: Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Saturday, April 2 Teen SOYO Cyber Retreat 2022
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. CDT
Theme: Keeping a Routine Prayer Rule
Speaker: Fr. Gabriel Tannous

Saturday, April 9 Antiochian Women Lenten Retreat 2022
9:00-11:00 a.m. CDT
Theme: Your Current Status is Salvific
Led by: His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS and
Sh. Shell Keim

Fasting Discipline for March
Beginning with Clean Monday on March 7th, the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except for the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 17th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

Major Commemorations for March
March 20 2nd Sunday of Lent; Gregory Palamas
March 25 Feast of the Annunciation
March 26 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
March 27 3rd Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Holy Cross

Diocese of Miami and the Southeast Parish Life Conference: Registration is now open for the Parish Life Conference to be hosted June 15-18 by St. John Orthodox Church in Memphis. More information may be found on the Diocesan website at DOMSE.org.

Quotable: “The person who truly wishes to be healed is he who does not refuse treatment. This treatment consists of the pain and distress brought on by various misfortunes. He who refuses them does not realize what they accomplish in this world or what he will gain from them when he departs this life.”
St Maximus the Confessor

Worship: Sunday, March 27, 2022 (Third Sunday of Lent; Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross)

Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Mark 8:34-9:1
Celebrant: Father Herman
Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver
Prosphora: Schelver
Coffee Hour: Meadows/Pigott