Sunday, May 17, 2026
Sunday of the Blind Man
SUNDAY OF THE BLINDMAN:
Today is the Sunday of the Blind Man. Though the Gospel account of the healing of the blind
man touches many subjects, there is but one theme: Christ is the divine Light which illuminates
the hearts of those who behold Him in faith. Despite the intimidation of the authorities, despite
the confusion of the people who know him, despite the fear of his parents, the blind man given
sight refuses to deny what he knows is the truth: Jesus has given him sight, has healed the
affliction he has born from birth, and one who does such good is from God. To deny his healer is
to deny the truth, and he prefers persecution and rejection to that denial. More than his eyes have
been opened; his heart has been opened to true and eternal Light. As were the Israelites cast into
the dark despair of his fear, as are we all blinded by the frustration of sin and of our weakness, so
this man was trapped by his closed eyes; and, as may all be, he was freed by the coming of the
Messiah. In faith we open our eyes to the radiant glory of our Lord and King.
Acts (16:16-34) In those days, while we the apostles were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, and cried out saying: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And she did this for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit: “I charge you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers; and when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said: “These men are disturbing our city, and they, being Jews, are setting forth customs which are not lawful for us to receive or observe, since we are Romans.” The multitude then rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Having received such a charge, he cast them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one’s fetters were unfastened. And the jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice saying: “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And he called for lights and rushed in, and fell down before Paul and Silas trembling with fear, and brought them out and said: “Masters, what must I do to be saved?” And they said: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and his entire household. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with his entire house, in that he had believed in God.
John (9:1-38) At that time, when Jesus was passing, he saw a man blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” which means “Sent.” So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he;” others said, “No, but he is like him.” He said, “I am the man.” They said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, “What do you say about Him, since He has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, “He is of age, ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become His disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him He said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered, “And who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him, and it is He who speaks to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
Troparion of the Resurrection: Let us believers praise and worship the Word; coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation. For, He took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh to suffer death; and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.
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: Though Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal One, yet didst Thou destroy the power of Hades, and didst arise as victor, O Christ God, calling to the myrrh-bearing women, Rejoice, and giving peace unto Thine Apostles, O Thou Who dost grant resurrection to the fallen.
Calendar
Sunday, May 17, 2026 (Sunday of the Blind Man)
8:50 AM – Orthros
10:00 AM – Divine Liturgy
12:00 PM – Coffee Hour in honor of High School Graduates
Monday, May 18, 2026
Fr. Herman off
5:45 PM – YAF Book Study
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
6:30 PM – Paschal Vespers for the Leave-taking of Pascha
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
6:00 PM – Orthros and Divine Liturgy for Ascension
8:30 PM – Potluck
Thursday, May 21, 2026 (The Ascension of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ)
NO Services
Friday, May 22, 2026
No Services
Saturday, May 23, 2026
8:30 AM – Men’s Breakfast
4:45 PM – Catechesis
6:00 PM – Great Vespers
Sunday, May 24, 2026 (The Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council)
8:50 AM – Orthros
10:00 AM – Divine Liturgy
Special Announcements
The Eucharist Bread was provided by the Joneses for the Divine Liturgy this morning.
Eucharist Bread Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
May 17 Jones Lasseter/Pacurari/Lavric
May 20 (Wed p.m.) Meadows Lockhart/Karam/Snell
Ascension Potluck
May 24 Davis Algood/Rodriguez/Kumar
May 30 (Sat a.m.) D. Root Baker/Jimmy Jones
Saturday of the Souls
May 31 Karam Miller/D. Root
Pentecost Potluck
Schedule for Epistle Readers – Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of Epistles) located on the chanters’ stand at the front of the nave. Please be sure to use book when you read.
Reader Reading Page#
May 17 Amanda Kumar Acts 16:16-34 58
May 20 (Wed pm) Kh. Sharon Meadows Acts 1:1-12 63
May 24 Katie Miller Acts 20:16-18,28-36 66
May 30 (Sat am) Reader Basil Baker Acts 28:1-31 72
May 31 Reader Chad Miller Acts 2:1-11 77
Congratulations and many years to our high school graduates; Mary Elizabeth Milnor, Katie Miller, and Katherine Habeeb. Please keep them in your prayers!
Greeter Ministry: If you are still interested, in joining the Greeter ministry please place your name on the sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer. We ask that only baptized/chrismated Orthodox members of the parish become members of this ministry. Please see Andrew Spiehler for questions.
Supper club ministry has been started again after a long while for those who are interested in participating. Please see Grady Fisher for further information.
DOMSE 2026 Parish Life Conference, June 10-13, 2026: Registration is now open. Please refer to the email sent by Fr. Herman. You may also go online to www.DOMSE.org to register.
The Parish Council has authorized the church to sign up with Clearstream to provide group SMS text messaging directly to phones that opt in for the service. Due to phone carrier regulations it is required that folks opt in to the service if you would like to receive group text messages from the church to your phone. There is no charge to the recipient. Most phone carriers now include incoming SMS messaging – but check with your carrier if you have any questions. The purpose of this is to give us the capability to get word out quickly to everyone who has opted in as we have needed in the past to re-schedule services due to power outages, inclement weather and for other important and timely notifications. This is in addition to the normal e-mail that will be sent out via our e-mail services. Depending on how your phone is configured – the text message would display a message alert and message on your phone home screen from Saint Peter Orthodox Church.Name, phone number and e-mail address will be kept on our account at Clearstream. If you would like to opt in to this service please reply “Yes" to the email sent out by Dn. Richard, or see him directly. The phone text messages will be sent from our number at Clearstream (601) 873-6749. If not opted in you won’t receive group SMS messages. If you opt in and later decide you do not want SMS messages you can always opt out.
Catechumens and Inquirers: An email was sent by the church secretary, Jenny Rodriguez requesting information for the Clearstream system. Please respond to the email or see her personally to provide your phone number and mailing address if you would like to opt in.
Please make sure to check and subscribe to the Google calendar for all updated services and events at the parish
Please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which may be placed in the tray that is passed during 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
Potluck Meals: Everyone who attends the potluck meals during the month is encouraged to bring a dish to share with everyone. This is to ensure that there is enough food for all to partake. Over the past several months we have been running out of food before everyone has an opportunity to go through the line. This also applies to the Festal Liturgies that may be served during the week and the Soup Suppers after Presanctified Liturgies during Lent. Parents, please accompany your children through the line. Thank you all for your help with this.
As a friendly reminder, in regards to coffee hour, the church will provide beef sticks, cheese cubes, crackers, cookies, and orange juice. For sponsors of baptisms/chrismations a reception may be held after the service and may have whatever food the sponsors would like to provide in celebration of this occasion. If you wish to bring a snack for your children, please be responsible for the clean up of those items. Coffee hour is not meant to be a meal, but a means to break the fast with a snack and visit with each other. Also, as a friendly reminder, please make sure kids are not getting ice in the kitchen without adult supervision.
Please remember the following in your prayers: Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Jay and Joanna Davis; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver and their family; Jack and Jill Weatherly; Dn.Terry Algood and their family; Fr. John and Kh. Janet Henderson and their family
Calendar Items
* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:00 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month.
* The men will also meet for every fourth Saturday of the month at 8:30 at Primos in Ridgeland.
* The Ladies meet for dining once a month.
* YAF meets every other Monday @ 5:45 p.m. for Book Study.
* Saturday of the Souls: May 30th at 9:00 a.m.
* Pentecost is on May 31 starting at 8:50 for Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy. There will
be a potluck meal afterwards.
* Stewpot November 7 @ 11:30 a.m.
Fasting Discipline for May
NO FASTING through May 21. Traditional fasting (No meat, dairy, eggs, fish, olive oil, or wine) will resume on Wednesdays and Fridays for the remainder of the month.
Major Commemorations for April/May
May 17 Sunday of the Blind Man
May 21 Feast of the Ascension
Sts Constantine and Helen
May 24 Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council
May 25 The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)
May 31 Holy Pentecost
Quote: "He who wishes to inherit the kingdom of heaven, yet does not patiently endure what befalls him, shows himself…ungrateful… For he was created by God’s grace, has received all things in this world, awaits what is to come, and has been called to reign eternally with Christ, who has honored him, in spite of his nothingness, with such great gifts, visible and invisible, to the extent even of shedding His most precious blood for him, not asking anything from him at all except that he should choose to receive His blessings."
+ St. Peter of Damascus
Sunday, May 24, 2026 (The Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council)
Scripture: Acts 20:16-18, 28-36; John 17:1-13
Epistle Reader: Amanda Kumar
Prosphora: Jones
Coffee Hour: Lasseter/Pacurari/Lavric