May 19, 2024

Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers

About the beginning of His thirty-second year, when our Lord was going throughout Galilee, preaching and working miracles, many women who had received of His beneficence left their homeland and from then on followed after Him. They ministered unto Him out of their own possessions, even until His crucifixion and entombment; and afterwards, neither losing faith in Him after His death, nor fearing the wrath of the Jewish rulers, they came to His sepulcher, bearing the myrrh-oils they had prepared to anoint His body. It is because of the myrrh-oils that these God-loving women brought to the tomb that they are called the Myrrh-bearers. Of those whose names are known are the following: first of all the most holy Virgin Mary, who in Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 is called the mother of James and Joses (these are the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was therefore their step-mother); Mary Magdalene; Mary, the wife of Cleopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; and Susanna. As for the names of the rest of them, the evangelists have kept silence.

On this day we also make commemoration of Joseph of Arimathea, who was a secret disciple, and also of Nicodemus, who was a disciple by night. Joseph went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and together with Nicodemus, he gave Him burial out of reverence and love.

Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7: In those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministry. And the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said: “It is not right that we should forsake the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. And we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Próchoros, and Nikánor, and Tímon, and Parmenás, and Nikólaos a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Mark 15:43-16:8: At that time, Joseph of Arimathaea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if He were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether Jesus was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that He was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud, and laid Him in a tomb, which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where He was laid. And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back – it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He is risen; He is not here; see the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him, as He told you.” And they went out quickly and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Troparion of the Resurrection: When thou, O immortal Life, didst humble thyself unto death, then didst thou destroy death by the brightness of thy Godhead; and when thou didst raise the bowels of the earth, then all the heavenly powers exclaimed, O Christ, thou art the Giver of life! Glory to thee, O our God!

Troparia of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers: The pious Joseph, having brought down thy pure body from the Tree, wrapped it in fine linen, embalmed it with ointment, provided for it, and laid it in a new tomb. But thou didst truly rise, after three days, O Lord, granting the world the Great Mercy.

Verily, the angel came to the tomb and said to the ointment-bearing women, The ointment is meet for the dead, but Christ is shown to be remote from corruption. But cry ye, The Lord is risen, granting the world the Great Mercy.

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 Pascha: When Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of Hades. In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God, proclaiming Rejoice! to the myrrh-bearing women, granting peace to Thine apostles and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.

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, May 19 (Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, May 20

Father Herman off

Tuesday, May 21 (Sts. Constatine and Helen)

NO Services

Wednesday, May 22

5:20 p.m. – Catechism Class

6:30 p.m. – Daily Vespers

Thursday, May 23

NO Services

Friday, May 24

NO Services

Saturday, May 25 (The Forerunner – 3rd Discovery)

4:30 p.m. – Choir Practice

6:00 p.m. – Great Vespers

Sunday, May 26 (Sunday of the Paralytic)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

May 19 Karam Dansereau/Alaeetawi

May 26 Brock Lasseter/Miller

June 2 R. Root D. Root/Baker

June 9 Pacurari Lockhart/Karam/Snell

June 12 (Wed. p.m.) Lasseter Meadows/Pacurari

(Feast of the Ascension)

June 16 Baker Ellis/Zouboukos/Waites

June 22 (Sat. a.m.) Henderson Algood/Schelver/I. Jones

(Saturday of the Souls) Koliva: Anastasia Jones

June 23 Algood PICNIC POT LUCK

(Feast of Pentecost) Pigott/Stewart

June 29 (Sat. a.m.) Schelver Lasseter/Miller

(Feastday of Sts. Peter and Paul)

June 30 Jones D. Root/Baker

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.

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#

May 19 Katie Miller Acts 6:1-7 38

May 26 Sam Habeeb Acts 9:32-42 45

June 2 Kh. Sharon Meadows Acts 11:19-30 52

June 9 Ian Jones Acts 16:16-34 58

June 12 (Wed. p.m.) Brenda Baker Acts 1-12 63

June 16 Walt Wood Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 66

June 22 (Sat. a.m.) Reader Basil Baker I Thess. 4:13-17 412

June 23 Reader Chad Miller Acts 2:1-11 77

June 29 (Sat. a.m.) Brandon Strain II Cor. 11:21-33; 12:6-9 389

June 30 Katie Miller Heb. 11:33-12:2 84

Updating the Parish Directory: We will in the very near future, begin another update on our parish directory. If you have any changes since the last directory was updated, or think you have not been added to the directory, please see Kh. Sharon or Fr. Herman within the next two weeks to have this done.

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); Lee Greene; Joseph, Amanda and Hunter Hines; Fr. John and Kh. Janet Henderson and their family; Galina Singletary; Emily and Cole Parker; Dane and Stephanie Skirtech.

There has arisen an issue with the large amount of trash being left in the back area of the church around and inside the playground area over the past several weeks. If everyone would please monitor this situation by making sure no trash is left around the area. Thank you for your help in this matter.

On a related note: Several of the older children have begun to drink coffee on Sunday mornings. Due to the amount of creamer they use, our supply of coffeemate pods are being used up quickly. So, we will be providing a small container of almond milk for them to use in their coffee and the coffeemate pods will be for adults only. Parents, please monitor this situation with your children who are allowed to drink coffee. Thank you.

Vacation Church School: This year we will be having Vacation Church School in conjunction with Holy Resurrection and Holy Trinity/St. John the Theologian Orthodox Churches May 30-June 1. VCS will be held at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton and will begin Thursday, May 30th, starting at 8:45 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m. Please bring your child into the Fellowship Hall at Holy Resurrection. Please do not drop off any child. You will pick up your child from the same location. Snacks and a light lunch will be served. Your child will need an old shirt or t-shirt to wear during craft time. They will also be donating to the food pantry at the Four C’s in Clinton, so please send some boxed or canned goods each day for the food box. Please complete and send in the registration forms to Kari East, Elizabeth Root, Daniel Root, Elise Graham, Maddy Dietrich or Susan Ainsworth.

Registration is now open for this year’s Parish Life Conference which will be held June 12-15th in Atlanta at the Hilton Peachtree City Atlanta Hotel and Conference Center and hosted by St. Stephen in Hiram. Please go to the Diocesan website (DOMSE.org) to register for the conference and for the hotel.

There will be an icon writing workshop at Holy Resurrection July 8-13. The iconographer who will be teaching this class is Theodoros Papadopoulos. Tuition for this class is $780. For further information and enrollment, please visit the website http://www.theodoreicons.com/clinton. Holy Resurrection is only providing space for this class.

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.

* Wednesday Catechumen Class resumes on May 22nd, beginning at 5:20 p.m.

* Vacation Church School May 30 – June 1 at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton.

* Remaining Stewpot date for 2024 will be November 30th.

Fasting Discipline for May

There is no fasting of any kind during Bright Week which follows Pascha (May 6-11).

The Holy Synod of Antioch has given instruction that there will be no fasting during the entirety of the Paschal Season.

Major Commemorations for May

May 19 Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers

May 21 Sts. Constantine and Helen

May 25 The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)

May 26 Sunday of the Paralytic

Happy Birthdays in May:

May 5 — Joanna Davis

May 8 — Kh. Janet Henderson

— Chad Miller

May 10 — Fr. Leo Schelver

May 11 — Meghan Brock

May 14 — Sarah Miller

May 24 — Daniel Root

May 27 — Luke Habeeb (#19!)

May 30 — Dn. Terry Algood

Happy Anniversaries in May:

May 12 — Cliff and Anna Kathryn Stewart (#14!)

May 19 — Jay and Joanna Davis (#12!)

May 25 — Nicholas and Carrie Henderson (#10!)

Quotable: “Everyone is made in God’s image; but to be in His likeness is granted only to those who through great love have brought their own freedom into subjection to God. For only when we do not belong to ourselves do we become like Him who through love has reconciled us to Himself. No one achieves this unless he persuades his soul not to be distracted by the false glitter of this life.”

St. Diadochos of Photiki

Worship: Sunday, May 26, 2024 (Sunday of the Paralytic)

Scripture: Acts 9:32-42; John 5:1-15

Celebrant: Father Herman

Epistle Reader: Sam Habeeb

Prosphora: Brock

Coffee Hour: Lasseter/Miller