December 22, 2024

Forefeast of and the

Sunday before the Nativity of Christ

Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40: Brethren, by faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect

Matthew 1:1-25: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, Who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ were fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called His Name Jesus.

Troparion of the Resurrection: The stone being sealed by the Jews, and thy pure body being guarded by the soldiers, thou didst arise on the third day, O Saviour, granting life to the world. Wherefore, the heavenly powers acclaimed thee, O Giver of life, crying, Glory to thy Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to thy kingdom! Glory to thy gracious providence, O only Lover of mankind.

Troparion of the Forefeast: Be thou ready, Bethlehem, Eden hath opened unto all. Ephratha, prepare thyself, for now, behold, the Tree of life hath blossomed forth in the cave of the holy Virgin. Her womb hath proved a true spiritual Paradise, wherein the divine and saving Tree is found, and as we eat thereof we shall all live, and shall not die as did Adam. Verily, Christ shall be born, raising the likeness that fell of old.

Troparion of Sunday before the Nativity: Great are the accomplishments of faith; for the three holy youths rejoiced in the fountain of flames as though at waters of rest. And the Prophet Daniel appeared a shepherd to the lions as though they were sheep. Wherefore, by their pleadings, O Christ God, have mercy upon us.

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 Preparatory for Nativity: Today the Virgin comes unto the cave to give birth in an ineffable manner to the Word before the ages. Rejoice, therefore, O universe, when you hear, and glorify with the angels and the shepherds him who shall appear by his own will as a new babe, being God before the ages.

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, December 22 (Sunday before the Nativity)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, December 23

Father Herman off

Tuesday, December 24

7:00 a.m. – Royal Hours

5:30 p.m. – Festal Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy

Wednesday, December 25 (Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)

NO Services

Thursday, December 26 (Synaxis of the Theotokos)

NO Services

Friday, December 27 (Protomartyr Stephen)

NO Services

Saturday, December 28

4:30 p.m. – Choir Practice

5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class

6:00 p.m. – Great Vespers

Sunday, December 29 (Sunday after the Nativity)

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

December 22 Karam Lavric/Jimmy Jones

December 24 (Tues. p.m.) Brock Pigott/Ian Jones

(Nativity of our Lord) Ken Jones/Stewart

Meadows/Brock

December 29 Davis Dansereau/Alaeetawi

December 31 (Tues. p.m.) Baker (Artos) No Meal

(Circumcision of Christ & Feast-day of St. Basil the Great – GV with Litia & Artoklasia)

January 4 (Sat. p.m.) D. Root (Artos) No Meal

January 5 Pacurari POT LUCK MEAL

(Feast of Theophany) Dansereau/Alaeetawi

January 12 Lasseter Ellis/Zouboukos/Waites

January 15 (Wed. p.m.) Milnor D. Root/Lively

(Chains of St. Peter)

January 19 Henderson Miller/Weatherly

January 26 Algood Lasseter/Pacurari/Lavric

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#

December 22 Mary Martha Ellis Heb. 11:9-10, 32-40 348

December 24 (Tues. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Gal. 4:4-7 351

December 29 Ian Jones Gal. 1:11-19 188

January 5 Walt Wood Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7 361

January 12 Grady Fisher Eph. 4:7-13 364

January 15 (Wed. p.m.) Reader Chad Miller Acts 12:1-11 50-51

January 19 Brandon Strain Col. 3:4-11 233

January 26 Katie Miller I Tim. 4:9-15 252

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.

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; Marilyn (Kyriake) Snell; Jack and Jill Weatherly; Dn. Terry Algood and their family; Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Fr. Joseph Bittle; Rick Carlton; Very Rev. Fr. Nicholas and Kh. Jan Speier; 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.

We will again celebrate the Festal Orthros/Divine Liturgy of our Lord’s Nativity on December 24th , beginning at 5:30 p.m. Please make sure to mark this time on your calendars.

As we have done in the past, our Nativity feast will be catered by Newk’s again this year. There will be a donation basket set up to help offset the cost of the sandwich platters.

Seating spaces in the Nave: As a gentle reminder, please be mindful of seating spaces in the Nave during Sunday Divine Liturgy. Due to our growth over the past few years seating has become a little more limited and there has been an overflow toward the back of the Nave near the Narthex, which makes it “tight” for the clergy to make the Great Entrance. While this is a good problem to have, and until we can begin work on the new Temple, please make sure there are enough spaces available in the “seating” area of the Nave for as many people as possible. This means we may have “squtch in” on the rows. Thank you for your help in this.

Registration for the DOMSE Winter Retreat at St. Elias’ in Atlanta, GA on January 31-February 1 is now open. The registration link was emailed out a few weeks ago but if you did not receive it please see Fr. Herman. Registration ends on January 7.

We are now taking up donations for Sunnybrook Children’s Home and the St. Nicholas Fund. These donations will go directly to Sunnybrook to help with their ministry there and donations taken up for the St. Nicholas fund will go toward a need from within the parish our outside the parish. Please mark your donation as either Sunnybrook or St. Nicholas. Please prayerfully consider giving toward these charities. We will take up donations until December 31 for both.

On January 4, 2025, Lucy Skirtech and Aaron Franklin will be baptized into the “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” beginning at 9:30am. Please mark this date and time on your calendars and join us for this most blessed occasion. Please keep them and their Godparents, Ian Jones and Jennifer Skirtech, in your prayers.

Congratulations to Katherine Habeeb on completing her Make a Difference (MAD) Project, where she made 100 pillows to bring comfort to cancer patients at Women’s Hospital. Glory to God for all things.

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.

* The Fast of the Nativity began on Friday, November 15th.

* Royal Hours for the Feast of the Nativity will be prayed Tuesday morning, December 24th, beginning at 7:00 a.m.

* Festal Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ will be celebrated on Tuesday evening, December 24th, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

* We will celebrate the Circumcision of Christ and the Feast-day of St. Basil the Great on Tuesday evening, December 31st with Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

In 2025 the Feast of Theophany will fall on a Monday. We have been given permission to transfer the celebration of the Feastday to Sunday, January 5th instead. We will also have our monthly Pot Luck Meal in conjunction with the Feast that month. We will pray Royal Hours for the Feast on Friday, January 3rd, beginning at 7:00 a.m.

Fasting Discipline for December

The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month. The Fast of the Nativity began on Friday, November 15th.

During this fast there is a katlysis allowing fish, wine and oil (except on Wednesdays and Fridays) through December 10th and wine and oil on December 12, 14-15, and 20-22. The traditional fasting discipline will be observed on December 23-24. There will be no fasting whatsoever

From December 25 through January 5.

Major Commemorations for December

December 22 Sunday before the Nativity of Christ

December 25 Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

December 26 Synaxis of the Theotokos

December 27 Protomartyr Stephen

December 29 Sunday after the Nativity of Christ

Quotable: “The person who from the start forced himself to do the word of God (for ‘from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force’), and who would gladly lose himself for the love of God, and therefore saved his soul and received God’s grace in his soul and the oil of gladness in his heart, which is the pledge of the heavenly kingdom, that is, his souls received by the Holy Spirit-such a person is eager to do the word of God.”

The Watchful Mind; Teachings on the Prayer of the Heart, A monk of Mount Athos

Worship: Sunday, December 29, 2024 (Sunday after the Nativity of Christ)

Scripture: Galatians 1:11-19; Matthew 2:13-23

Epistle Reader: Ian Jones

Prosphora: Davis

Coffee Hour: Dansereau/Alaeetawi