October 22, 2023

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Galatians 1:11-19: Brethren, I would have you know that the Gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people; so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when He Who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other Apostles except James the Lord’s brother.

Luke 8:26-39: At that time, Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And as He stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What hast Thou to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech Thee, do not torment me.” For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. [For many a time it had seized him; he was kept
under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was
driven by the demon into the desert.] Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. And they begged Jesus not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged Jesus to let them enter these. So He gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so He got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with Jesus; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare all that God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city all that Jesus had done for him.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; for the Lord hath done a mighty act with his own arm. He hath trampled down death and become the First-born from the dead. He hath delivered us from the depths of hades, granting the world the Great Mercy.

Troparion of Averkios the Wonder-worker: Thy works of justice did reveal thee to thy community as a canon of faith, the likeness of humility, and teacher of abstinence, O Father Bishop Averkios. Wherefore, by humility thou hast achieved exaltation, and by thy meekness wealth. Intercede, therefore, with Christ God to save our souls.

Troparion of the Seven Ephesian Youths: Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

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: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast. (Instructions can be found on the parish website.)

Sunday, October 22 (Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, October 23 (Apostle James, Brother of the Lord)

Father Herman off

Tuesday, October 24

NO Services

Wednesday, October 25

6:30 p.m. – Daily Vespers

7:30 p.m. – Parish Council Meeting

Thursday, October 26 (Great Martyr Demetrios)

NO Services

Friday, October 27

NO Services

Saturday, October 28

3:00 p.m. – Choir Practice

4:00 p.m. – FALL FESTIVAL

NO Great Vespers

Sunday, October 29 (Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost))

8:50 a.m. – Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education resumes

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

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 Davis; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver and their family; Kathy Willingham; Marilyn (Kyriake) Snell; Jack and Jill Weatherly; Lottie Dabbs (Sh. Charlotte Algood’s mother), Sh. Charlotte and their family; Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Buddy Cooper; Georgia and Bob Buchanan; Fr. Joseph Bittle; Steve and Sheryl Chamblee; Rick Carlton; Very Rev. Fr. Nicholas and Kh. Jan Speier; Dora Lambert (Dimitri Zouboukos’ fiancée).

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

October 22 Davis D. Root/Baker

October 29 Meadows Henderson/K. Jones

November 3 (Fri. p.m.) (Dr. Jeannie’s talk) Dansereau/Alaeetawi

November 4 (Sat. a.m.) D. Root Meadows

November 5 Karam Lockhart/Karam/Snell

November 12 Brock POT LUCK MEAL

Ellis/Zouboukos/Waites

November 19 Pacurai Meadows/Pacurari/Cooper

November 20 (Mon. p.m.) R. Root (Artos Bread)

Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple)

November 26 Lasseter Pigott/Stewart

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#

October 22 Katie Miller Gal. 1:11-19 188

October 29 Sophie Dansereau Gal. 2:16-20 193

November 4 (Sat. a.m.) Walt Wood Heb. 7:26-8:2 334

November 5 Reader Basil Baker Gal. 6:11-18 198

November 12 Reader Chad Miller II Cor. 9:6-11 178

November 19 Sam Habeeb Eph. 2:14-22 207

November 26 Sh. Charlotte Algood Eph. 5:8-19 217

Also, please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which may be placed in the tray that is passed during the Divine Liturgy, 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.

October is Teen Month in our Archdiocese. The Teens will be reading the Epistle during the Divine Liturgy for the month.

Save the Date! Dr. Jeannie Constantinou will be here for a talk on November 3rd, beginning in the Fellowship Hall at 6:30 p.m.

At last, we are able to resume (after all the disruption of Co-vid) our annual women’s retreat with our sisters of the Jackson area! Dr. Constantinou will be the speaker for the retreat, hosted this year by the women of Holy Trinity/St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church on Saturday, November 4th from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Registration for the retreat is available online at HolyTrinityPhiloptochos.com.

Calendar Items:

* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:00 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month.

* The Ladies 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.

* The Ladies meet for lunch at 1:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month.

* Fall Festival – Saturday, October 28th, beginning at 4:00 p.m. (No Great Vespers that day.)

* Dr. Jeannie Constantinou will be speaking at St. Peter Friday evening, November 3rd, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

* The Pan-Orthodox Women’s Retreat, hosted this year by Holy Trinity/St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church, will be held Saturday, November 4th from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Dr. Constantinou will be the featured speaker this year.

* The Feast-day of St. Raphael will be celebrated with Divine Liturgy (only) on Saturday, November 4th, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Fasting Discipline for October/November

In October the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month. In November the traditional fasting discipline is observed on Wednesdays and Fridays until the 15th of the month, when the Fast of the Nativity begins. During this fast the traditional fasting is observed on each day of the week. Note, however, through December 19thth there is a katlysis on Tuesdays and Thursdays when wine and oil are permitted, and on Saturdays and Sundays when fish, wine and oil are permitted.

Major Commemorations for October/November

October 23 Apostle James, Brother of the Lord

October 26 Great-martyr Demetrios

November 1 Cosmas and Damian of Asia

November 3 Dedication of the Church of St. George

November 4 Raphael, Bishop of Brooklyn

November 8 Archangels Michael and Gabriel

November 9 Nektarios of Pentapolis

November 13 John Chrysostom (repose)

November 14 Apostle Philip

November 16 Apostle Matthew

November 21 Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

November 25 Great-martyrs Catherine and Mercurios

November 30 Apostle Andrew, the First-called

Quotable: “Besides blessing and praising God for the world, man is also to reshape and alter the word; and so endue it with fresh meaning. In the words of Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, ‘Man puts the seal of his understanding and of his intelligent work onto creation…the world is not only a gift, but a task for man’. It is our calling to cooperate with God; we are, in St. Paul’s phrase, ‘’fellow workers with God’ (1 Cor. 3:9). Man is not just logical, but he is also creative. The fact that man is in God’s image means that man is a creator after the image of God the Creator. This creative role he fulfills, not by brute force, but though the clarity of his spiritual vision; his vocation is not to dominate and exploit nature, but to transfigure and hallow it.”

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way

Worship: Sunday, October 29, 2023 (Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost)

Scripture: Galatians 2:16-20; Luke 8:41-56

Celebrant: Father Herman

Epistle Reader: Sophie Dansereau

Prosphora: Meadows

Coffee Hour: Henderson/K. Jones