December 25, 2022

Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

Galatians 4:4-7: Brethren, when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Matthew 2:1-12: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are by no means least among the rulers of Judea; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern My people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found Him bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.” When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Troparion of the Nativity: Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath given rise to the light of knowledge in the world; for they that worshiped the stars did learn therefrom to worship thee, O Sun of justice, and to know that from the east of the Highest thou didst come; O Lord, glory to thee.

Kontakion of Nativity: On this day the Virgin beareth the Transcendent in Essence; to the Unapproachable, the earth doth offer a small cave; Angels join in choir with shepherds in giving glory; with a star the Magi travel upon their journey; for our sakes is born a young Child, He Who existed before the ages as God.

CALENDAR

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast.

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

[NO FASTING UNTIL THROUGH JANUARY 4^TH]

NO Services

Monday, December 26 (Synaxis of the Theotokos)

Father Herman off

Tuesday, December 27 (Protomartyr Stephen)

NO Services

1:00 p.m. — Ladies Lunch

Wednesday, December 28

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

Thursday, December 29

NO Services

Friday, December 30

NO Services

Saturday, December 31

6:00 p.m. — Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia

Sunday, January 1 (Circumcision of our Lord; Feastday of St. Basil the Great)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)

11:30 a.m. — Special Parish Meeting to select candidate for Metropolitan

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

December 24 (Sat. p.m.) Morris Meadows/Pacurari/Cooper

Pigott/Stewart

December 31(Sat. p.m.) R. Root (Artos) No Coffee Hour

January 1 Jones Algood/Schelver

January 5 (Thurs. p.m.) Meadows Lasseter/Miller

(Feast of Theophany)

January 8 Davis D. Root/Baker

January 15 D. Root POT LUCK MEAL

(Chains of St. Peter) Henderson/Jones

January 22 Karam Dansereau/Alaeetawi

January 29 Brock Lockhart/Karam/Snell

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#

December 24 (Sat. p.m.) Sam Habeeb Gal. 4:4-7 351

January 1 Walt Wood Col. 2:8-1 356

January 5 (Thurs. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7 361

January 8 Ian Jones Eph. 4:7-13 364

January 15 Brenda Baker Acts12:1-11 50-51

January 22 Walt Wood I Tim. 4:9-15 252

January 29 Sam Habeeb II Cor. 6:16-7:1 173

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 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; Maria Costas (currently at St. Catherine’s Village); Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Buddy Cooper; Georgia and Bob Buchanan.

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

Congratulations to Andy and Rachel Anderton on the baptism if their son Drew on Friday, December 3rd at St. George Orthodox Church in Vicksburg. May God grant them all Many Years!

The Special Convention for the election of the New Metropolitan is scheduled to take place in Dallas, TX, on January 13, 2023. We will hold a special meeting at St. Peter’s NEXT Sunday (January 1st) to make our selection. Father Herman has sent out information on the candidates by email. If you have any questions about the process or the candidates, please reach out to Father Herman. There will also be time set aside at our special parish meeting to answer any questions that you may have.

Sunnybrook Children’s Home is beginning a Transitional Home for children aging out of foster care. Their goal is to make sure these children complete high school, and help them pursue further education and develop life skills to allow them to function well in their lives as adults. If you wish to make a donation to this worthwhile endeavor, please make your check out to St. Peter and be sure to mark “Sunnybrook” on the memo line. (This is separate from our annual St. Nicholas Offering.)

The Clergy and Winter Retreat that was scheduled for the end of January has been cancelled due to the increased travel and “busyness” for our clergy with the Special Convention in Dallas.

Calendar Items:

* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:30 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 on the last Tuesday of the month.

* Our festal meal for the Feast of the Nativity will once again be provided by Newk’s. A basket for donations will be placed on the serving table to cover the cost of the meal. We request that everyone please help with clean-up afterwards, just as we do with our monthly pot luck meals on Sundays.

Winter Camp will be held at Camp St. Thekla on February 17-20, 2023 for ages 12-17.

Fasting Discipline for December

The Fast of the Nativity began on November 15th. During this time the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on each day of the week. Note, however, through December 19th 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. There is no fasting of any kind from December 25th through January 4th.

Major Commemorations for December

December 25 The Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

December 26 Synaxis of the Theotokos

December 27 Protomartyr Stephen

PARENTS, a problem has arisen due to the nursery room being left messy after Coffee Hour. No food of any kind should be taken into that room. Also, it is necessary for a parent to be in the room whenever their children are in there playing. Thank you for your assistance with this.

Quotable: “The Fifth Beatitude that was spoken in the Sermon on the Mount is, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Matt. 5:7). It is possible that no other commandment of Christ is needed more in our epoch than this commandment of mercy, of charity.
We live in the era of ideologies which in their attempt to be all-encompassing exist in continuous strife, and this strife fills the world with fear and hatred. We live in a world where mercy and charity are exiled, and that is perhaps the most frightening thing about it, the sign of its dehumanization.

How often it is told about Christ in the Gospels that He had compassion on them, that He was merciful to them!”

+ Fr. Alexander Schmemann

Worship: Sunday, January 1, 2023 (Circumcision of Christ; Feastday of St. Basil the Great)

Scripture: Colossians 2:8-12; Luke 2:20-21, 40-52

Celebrant: Father Herman

Epistle Reader: Walt Wood

Prosphora: Jones

Coffee Hour: Algood/Schelver

Great Vespers will not be streaming this evening due to schedules.

The Paraklesis Service will not be streaming this evening due to internet service being down.

December 11, 2022

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: 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!

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.

Sunday, December 18 (Sunday before the Nativity)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, December 19

Father Herman off

Tuesday, December 20 (Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch)

NO Services

Wednesday, December 21

6:30 p.m. — Advent Paraklesis

Thursday, December 22

NO Services

Friday, December 23

7:00 a.m. — Royal Hours for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ

Saturday, December 24

5:30 p.m. — Festal Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy and Festal Meal

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

NO Services

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

December 18 Schelver Lavric/Skirtech/Dabit

December 24 (Sat. p.m.) Morris Meadows/Pacurari/Cooper

Pigott/Stewart

December 31(Sat. p.m.) R. Root (Artos) No Coffee Hour

January 1 Jones Algood/Schelver

January 5 (Thurs. p.m.) Meadows Lasseter/Miller

(Feast of Theophany)

January 8 Davis D. Root/Baker

January 15 D. Root POT LUCK MEAL

(Chains of St. Peter) Henderson/Jones

January 22 Karam Dansereau/Alaeetawi

January 29 Brock Lockhart/Karam/Snell

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#

December 18 Walt Wood Heb. 11:9-10, 32-40 348

December 24 (Sat. p.m.) Sam Habeeb Gal. 4:4-7 351

January 1 Sh. Charlotte Algood Col. 2:8-1 356

January 5 (Thurs. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7 361

January 8 Ian Jones Eph. 4:7-13 364

January 15 Brenda Baker Acts12:1-11 50-51

January 22 Walt Wood I Tim. 4:9-15 252

January 29 Sam Habeeb II Cor. 6:16-7:1 173

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; Maria Costas (currently at St. Catherine’s Village); Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Buddy Cooper; Georgia and Bob Buchanan.

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.

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

The Special Convention for the election of the New Metropolitan is scheduled to take place in Dallas, TX, on January 13, 2023. We will hold a special meeting at St. Peter’s once the candidates have been announced to make our selection. Father Herman will be sending out information on the candidates by email, once he has received it. If you have any questions about the process or the candidates, please reach out to Father Herman. There will also be time set aside at our special parish meeting to answer any questions that you may have.

Calendar Items:

* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:30 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 on the last Tuesday of the month.

* The Fast of the Nativity began on November 15th and runs through December 24th. As is our custom in the parish during this fast, we will celebrate the Advent Paraklesis service on Wednesday evenings instead of Daily Vespers.

* The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be celebrated with Royal Hours on Friday morning, December 23rd, beginning at 7:00 a.m. and Festal Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy and our festal meal, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, December 24th.

* Our festal meal for the Feast of the Nativity will once again be provided by Newk’s. A basket for donations will be placed on the serving table to cover the cost of the meal. We request that everyone please help with clean-up afterwards, just as we do with our monthly pot luck meals on Sundays.

Time Change for Liturgy for the Feast of the Nativity: We have been given permission to celebrate the liturgy for the Feast at an earlier time instead of the late-night service we have had in the past. This year Orthros will begin at 5:30 p.m. on December 24th followed by the Divine Liturgy around 6:30 p.m. We will have our festal meal afterwards and hope to be finished around 9:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Sunnybrook Children’s Home is beginning a Transitional Home for children aging out of foster care. Their goal is to make sure these children complete high school, and help them pursue further education and develop life skills to allow them to function well in their lives as adults. If you wish to make a donation to this worthwhile endeavor, please make your check out to St. Peter and be sure to mark “Sunnybrook” on the memo line. (This is separate from our annual St. Nicholas Offering.)

Winter Camp will be held at Camp St. Thekla on February 17-20, 2023 for ages 12-17. Registration for campers is available November 1 – December 15, 2022.

The DOMSE Annual Clergy and Winter Retreat will be held once more at St. Elias Church in Atlanta. The dates are as follows:

Clergy Retreat January 25-26, 2023

Winter Retreat January 27-28, 2023

Fasting Discipline for December

The Fast of the Nativity began on November 15th. During this time the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on each day of the week. Note, however, through December 19th 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. There is no fasting of any kind from December 25th through January 4th.

Major Commemorations for December

December 20 Ignatios the God-bearer of Antioch

December 25 The Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

December 26 Synaxis of the Theotokos

December 27 Protomartyr Stephen

PARENTS, a problem has arisen due to the nursery room being left messy after Coffee Hour. No food of any kind should be taken into that room. Also, it is necessary for a parent to be in the room whenever their children are in there playing. Thank you for your assistance with this.

Quotable: “The soul leaves all surface appearances, not only those that can be grasped by the senses but also those which the mind itself seems to see, and it keeps going deeper until by the operation of the spirit it penetrates the invisible and incomprehensible, and it is there that it sees God. The true vision and the true knowledge of what we seek consists precisely in not seeing, in an awareness that our goal transcends all knowledge.”

+ St. Gregory of Nyssa

Worship: Sunday, December 25, 2022 (Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)

Scripture: Galatians 4:4-7; Matthew 2:1-12

Celebrant: Father Herman

Epistle Reader: Sam Habeeb

Prosphora: Morris

Coffee Hour: Meadows/Pacurari/Cooper

Pigott/Stewart

December 11, 2022

Sunday of the Forefathers (Ancestors) of Christ

Colossians. (3:4-11) Brethren, when Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

Luke. (14:16-24) The Lord spoke this parable: “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’ But, one by one, they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

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 Forefathers: Thou hast justified by faith the ancient forefathers and through them thou hast gone before and betrothed unto thyself the Church of the Gentiles. Let the saints, therefore, take pride in glory; for from their seed sprouted forth a noble fruit, and she it was who gavest birth to thee without seed. Wherefore, by their pleadings, O Christ God, save 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 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.

Sunday, December 11 (Forefathers of Christ)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)

12:00 p.m. — Santa Lucia Celebration at Coffee Hour

Monday, December 12 (Spyridon the Wonder-worker)

Father Herman off

Tuesday, December 13 (Herman of Alaska)

NO Services

Wednesday, December 14

6:30 p.m. — Advent Paraklesis

Thursday, December 15 (Hieromartyr Eleftherios)

NO Services

6:30 p.m. — Chanting Practice

Friday, December 16

NO Services

Saturday, December 17

8:30 a.m. — Workday at the Church

10:30 a.m. — Choir Practice

6:00 p.m. — Great Vespers

Sunday, December 18 (Sunday before the Nativity)

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. The Artos bread for the Feast of St. Nicholas this past Monday evening was offered by the Hendersons.

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

December 11 Algood Lockhart/Karam/Snell

December 18 Schelver Lavric/Skirtech/Dabit

December 24 (Sat. p.m.) Morris Meadows/Pacurari/Cooper

Pigott/Stewart

December 31(Sat. p.m.) R. Root (Artos) No Coffee Hour

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#

December 11 Brenda Baker Col. 3:4-11 233

December 18 Walt Wood Heb. 11:9-10, 32-40 348

December 24 (Sat. p.m.) Sam Habeeb Gal. 4:4-7 351

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; Maria Costas (currently at St. Catherine’s Village); Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Buddy Cooper; Georgia and Bob Buchanan.

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.

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

The Special Convention for the election of the New Metropolitan is scheduled to take place in Dallas, TX, on January 13, 2023. We will hold a special meeting at St. Peter’s once the candidates have been announced to make our selection. Father Herman will be sending out information on the candidates by email, once he has received it. If you have any questions about the process or the candidates, please reach out to Father Herman. There will also be time set aside at our special parish meeting to answer any questions that you may have.

Calendar Items:

* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:30 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 on the last Tuesday of the month.

* The Fast of the Nativity began on November 15th and runs through December 24th. As is our custom in the parish during this fast, we will celebrate the Advent Paraklesis service on Wednesday evenings instead of Daily Vespers.

* Workday at the Church on Saturday, December 17th, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

* The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be celebrated with Royal Hours on Friday morning, December 23rd, beginning at 7:00 a.m. and Festal Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy and our festal meal, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, December 24th.

* Our festal meal for the Feast of the Nativity will once again be provided by Newk’s. A basket for donations will be placed on the serving table to cover the cost of the meal. We request that everyone please help with clean-up afterwards, just as we do with our monthly pot luck meals on Sundays.

* As is our parish custom, we will celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord and the Feastday of St. Basil the Great with Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia on Saturday evening, December 31st, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Time Change for Liturgy for the Feast of the Nativity: We have been given permission to celebrate the liturgy for the Feast at an earlier time instead of the late-night service we have had in the past. This year Orthros will begin at 5:30 p.m. on December 24th followed by the Divine Liturgy around 6:30 p.m. We will have our festal meal afterwards and hope to be finished around 9:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Sunnybrook Children’s Home is beginning a Transitional Home for children aging out of foster care. Their goal is to make sure these children complete high school, and help them pursue further education and develop life skills to allow them to function well in their lives as adults. If you wish to make a donation to this worthwhile endeavor, please make your check out to St. Peter and be sure to mark “Sunnybrook” on the memo line. (This is separate from our annual St. Nicholas Offering.)

Winter Camp will be held at Camp St. Thekla on February 17-20, 2023 for ages 12-17. Registration for campers is available November 1 – December 15, 2022.

The DOMSE Annual Clergy and Winter Retreat will be held once more at St. Elias Church in Atlanta. The dates are as follows:

Clergy Retreat January 25-26, 2023

Winter Retreat January 27-28, 2023

Fasting Discipline for December

The Fast of the Nativity began on November 15th. During this time the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on each day of the week. Note, however, through December 19th 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. There is no fasting of any kind from December 25th through January 4th.

Major Commemorations for December

December 12 Spyridon the Wonder-worker

December 13 Herman of Alaska

December 15 Hieromartyr Eleutherops

December 20 Ignatios the God-bearer of Antioch

December 25 The Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

December 26 Synaxis of the Theotokos

December 27 Protomartyr Stephen

PARENTS, a problem has arisen due to the nursery room being left messy after Coffee Hour. No food of any kind should be taken into that room. Also, it is necessary for a parent to be in the room whenever their children are in there playing. Thank you for your assistance with this.

Quotable: “The secret essence of the soul that knows the truth is calling out to God: Beloved, strip me of the consolations of my complacent spirituality. Plunge me into the darkness where I cannot rely on any of my old tricks for maintaining my separation. Let me give up on trying to convince myself that my own spiritual deeds are bound to be pleasing to you. Take all my juicy spiritual feelings, Beloved, and dry them up, and then please light them on fire. Take my lofty spiritual concepts and plunge them into darkness, and then burn them. Let me only love you, Beloved. Let me quietly and with unutterable simplicity just love you.”

+ St. John of the Cross

Worship: Sunday, December 18, 2022 (Sunday before the Nativity; Sunday of the Genealogy)

Scripture: Hebrews 11:9-10,32-40; Matthew 1:1-25

Celebrant: Father Herman

Epistle Reader: Walt Wood

Prosphora: Schelver

Coffee Hour: Lavric/Skirtech/Dabit