Sunday Bulletin - February 1/14, 2010: Sunday of Forgiveness / Meeting of the Lord
Tone: III
Saints: The Casting out of Adam; Bridget of Ireland
Epistle: Romans 13:11-14:4; Hebrews 7:7-17
Gospel: Matthew 6:14-21; Luke 2:22-40
Sunday Hymnography: http://www.saintjonah.org/lit/lit_triod4_presentation.htm
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DATES TO REMEMBER:
Next Weekend:
*Triumph of Orthodoxy*
Saturday, Feb 20:
6:30pm - Vigil
Sunday, Feb 21:
9:40am – Hours
10:00am – Liturgy
6:00pm – Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers (@ St Barnabas Antiochian Orthodox Church)
*First Week of Great Lent*
Monday, Feb 15:
6:30pm: Great Compline & Canon of St Andrew
Tuesday, Feb 16:
6:30pm: Great Compline & Canon of St Andrew
Wednesday, Feb 17:
6:30pm: Liturgy of Pre-sanctified Gifts
9:00pm: Canon of St Andrew
Thursday, Feb 18:
6:30pm: Great Compline & Canon of St Andrew
Friday, Feb 19:
7:00am: Liturgy of Pre-sanctified Gifts
Choir Practices: Preparation for Bishop George – Feb 21, 28, March 7 (with other practices on Saturdays and during the week as needed)
Coffee Hour Rota: Feb 14 – Shaw/Cheesefare; Feb 21 - Tsyganok; Feb 28 – Wilson; March 7 – Baird; March 14 – Potluck (Bishop George’s visit); March 21 – Bursac; March 28 – Potluck Fish Meal (for Palm Sunday)
Adult Sunday School: Sunday, February 28th at 12:30pm (after Liturgy). The topic will be Hierarchical divine services.
Children’s Sunday School: Feb 21; March 7, 21
Next Parish Council Meeting: Sunday, March 7th at 12:30pm (after Liturgy)
Upcoming Dates:
March 13-14: Visitation of Bishop George
March 28: Palm Sunday
March 27 – April 4: Holy Week
April 2: Great & Holy Friday
April 4: PASCHA
Church Calendar: http://www.stelizabeth.net/?q=node/423
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CHURCH NEEDS:
Special Collection: The collection at the veneration of the Cross after Liturgy is for Bishop George’s visit to our parish March 13th and 14th. Our goal is to collect $450.00 by February 28th ($132.00 has been collected, $318.00 left to go). Please be generous.
Haiti Collection: For those wishing to continue donating to our churches in Haiti, please contact Fr Mark (600-0001 or frmark@stelizabeth.net).
Liturgical Needs: Large and small candles from the Unexpected Joy as well as charcoal and incense
Household Needs: Sugar packets (and sugar substitute packets), non-dairy creamer, stirring straws, paper or Styrofoam bowls
Lenten Meals after Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts: Please sign up to bring a Lenten meal after a Wednesday evening Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The dates are February 17, 24, March 3, 10, 16 (a Tuesday), 24. The sign-up sheet is on the refrigerator.
Coffee Hour Rota Responsibilities: If you are on the Rota, please remember that the responsibilities include cleaning up. The clean up check list is on the refrigerator in the Coffee Hour area.
Your Tithes: Please remember to keep your tithes and donations to the church consistent.
Building Fund: Please remember to contribute the Building Fund on a regular basis.
Tax Returns: Please consider contributing a portion of your tax return to the Building Fund.
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PRAYER LIST:
Metropolitan Hilarion & bishops of ROCOR; Bishop George & the brotherhood of Holy Cross Monastery; Archimandrite Maximos & brotherhood of Holy Cross Monastery; Archimandrite Nazarios & brotherhood of Ascension Monastery; Archimandrite Joachim & the brotherhood of St Mary of Egypt Monastery; Fr Christopher & faithful in Uganda; Fr Jean & Fr Gregoire & the faithful in Haiti; Fr Demetrius & family; Igor; Svetlana; Dusan; Rdr. Quartus; Jovanka; Maximos; Martha; Jonathan; Amelia & family; Katherine & family; Nicholas; Gabriel; Tatiana; Cyril & Natalia & the child Elizabeth; Michael & Elizabeth; Soja; Galyna; Olga; Apolinaria; Matushka Anastasia; Andrey & family; Perpetua; Nicholas & Olga & the child Anna; Methodius & Faith; Valentina; Joshua & family; Svetozar & family; Mother Andrea; Soterios; Maria; Jonah; Frevronia; Nikola; Adrian & Catherine; Marina; Najla; Raja
Special Requests: For the health of Nikola (brother of Milos Bursac); Frevronia (mother of Dan Popoff); Jonah (the brother of Rdr. Quartus)
Newly Departed: Gregory
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The Meeting (Presentation) of our Lord in the Temple
The fortieth day after His birth, the All-Holy Virgin brought her Divine Son into the Temple of Jerusalem, in accordance with the Law, to dedicate Him to God and to purify herself. "Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites both of man and beast, for it belongs to me" (Exodus 13:2). "Tell the Israelites: when a woman has conceived and gives birth to a boy, she shall be unclean for seven days, with the same uncleanness as at her menstrual period. On the eighth day, the flesh of the boy's foreskin shall be circumcised, and then she shall spend thirty-three days more in becoming purified of her blood; she shall not touch anything sacred nor enter the sanctuary till the days of her purification are fulfilled. If she gives birth to a girl, for fourteen days she shall be as unclean as at her menstruation, after which she shall spend sixty-six days in becoming purified of her blood. When the days of her purification for a son or for a daughter are fulfilled, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the meeting tent a yearling lamb for a holocaust and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. The priest shall offer them up before the Lord to make atonement for her, and thus she will be clean again after her flow of blood. Such is the law for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl child" (Leviticus 12:2-7). Even though neither the one nor the other was necessary, nevertheless the Lawgiver did not, in anyway, want to transgress His own Law whom He had given through Moses, His servant and prophet. At that time, the high-priest Zaccharias, the father of John the Forerunner [Precursor], was on duty in the Temple ["serving as a priest before God in the order of his division" St. Luke 1:8]. Zaccharias placed the Virgin, not in the temple area reserved for women but rather in the area reserved for virgins. On this occasion, two unusual persons appeared in the Temple: the Elder Simeon and Anna, the daughter of Phanuel. The righteous Simeon took the Messiah in his arms and said: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation" (St. Luke 2: 29-30). Simeon also spoke the following words about the Christ-child: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel" (St. Luke 2:34). Then Anna, who from her youth served God in the Temple by fasting and prayers, recognized the Messiah and glorified God and proclaimed to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the coming of the long-awaited One. The Pharisees present in the Temple, who having seen and heard all, became angry with Zacharias because he placed the Virgin Mary in the area reserved for virgins and reported this to King Herod. Convinced that this is the new king about whom the Magi from the east spoke, Herod immediately sent his soldiers to kill Jesus. In the meantime the Holy Family had already left the city and set out for Egypt under the guidance of an angel of God. The Feast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple was celebrated from earliest times but the solemn celebration of this day was established in the year 544 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Justinian.
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Forgiveness Sunday
by Rev Fr Rostislav Sheniloff
With God’s help we have now reached the beginning of Great Lent, dear brethren. Whenever we embark upon something in our lives, we first prepare a plan of action, a program of what we must do and in what order. But in this case we do not need to do anything. Today’s Gospel presents us with such a program. The preceding three Sundays the Church simply instructed us, but now it requires us to take action. If we listen attentively to today’s Gospel reading, we will see how simple and easily accessible the guidelines which the Church presents to us are.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Thus, what is the purpose of the Great Lent? The purpose is to gain our Heavenly Father’s forgiveness of our trespasses. And how do we attain such a goal? By forgiving others their trespasses. Let us begin with that, for that is the first step.
Secondly: “Moreover, when you fast, be not like the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may appear fasting before people. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, in order to appear fasting not before men, but before your Father…” And so, dear brethren, let us not be hypocritical. Let us fast not for the sake of showing off before other people, but for the sake of pleasing God. Let us fast not sadly, but with spiritual joy.
And thirdly: “Do not amass treasures upon earth… but amass treasures in heaven…” This point of our Lenten program defines our entire course of action, guides our entire life. Let us make use of the time of the Great Lent, in order to distract ourselves not only from earthly concerns, but primarily from earthly desires, from the desire for and the acquisition of earthly material goods. Let us rather concern ourselves with the spiritual, with the acquisition of spiritual treasures: love, charity, repentance, cleansing of the soul, communion with God.
And lastly: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Such is the aim of our life: for our heart to be in God, to be filled with God, for God to be our treasure! And this last is so important, that it is an incentive for us to work harder, to keep stricter fast, to stay in church longer, to pray more at home. For only then, having God in our purified and enlightened hearts, will we be able to cry out joyously:
“Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!”
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Pearls from The Lenten Triodion – Sunday Evening Vespers (Forgiveness Sunday)
“Let us make haste to humble the flesh by abstinence, as we set out upon the God-given course of the holy Fast; and with prayers and tears let us seek our Lord and Savior. Laying aside all memories of evil, let us cry aloud: We have sinned against Thee, Christ our King; save us as the men of Nineveh in the days of old, and in Thy compassion make us sharers in Thy heavenly Kingdom.”
“Let us set out with joy upon the season of the Fast, and prepare ourselves for spiritual combat. Let us purify our soul and cleanse our flesh; and as we fast from food, let us abstain also from every passion. Rejoicing in the virtues of the Spirit may we persevere with love, and so be counted worthy to see the solemn Passion of Christ our God, and with great spiritual gladness to behold His holy Passover.”
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Прощенное воскресенье.
Вот мы стоим, дорогие братья и сестры, у предверья Великого Поста. Этот пост называется духовной весной. Как природа сейчас пробуждается от зимней спячки, всё оживает, согревается, расцветает - так и наша душа должна пробудиться от спячки греховной, ожить, согреться лучами покаяния, расцвести добродетельми, приготовиться к встрече светлого и радостного Христова Воскресения. Но в природе, прежде чем произойдет весеннее обновление, сперва должен растаять снег, должен тронуться лед на реках и озерах. То же самое мы должны сделать и с душой - растопить сковывающий ее лед вражды, обиды, злобы, раздражения. Именно для этого на пороге Великого Поста Церковь и предлагает нам умилительный чин прощения.
В это так называемое Прощенное Воскресенье служится первая краткая великопостная служба (вечерня), в конце которой мы должны искренно попросить у всех прощенье, должны со всеми примириться.
Почему так важно и необходимо вступить в Великий Пост примиренными? Святой Апостол Иоанн Богослов объясняет нам в одном из своих посланий, что если кто-либо из нас говорит, что любит Бога, а ближнего своего ненавидит - такой человек является лжецом. Почему?
Потому-что тот, кто не любит своего ближнего, которого он видит, как же может любить Бога, Которого не видит? И поэтому всякий, кто действительно любит Бога, будет любить и людей, Божие творение.
Но как же нам все-таки любить этих людей, которые нас обижают, раздражают, которые бывают такими грубыми, неприятными, противными? Этот вопрос мы можем практически разрешить двумя этапами. Первый этап - нужно внимательно и совершенно объективно посмотреть на самих себя, проверить свое собственное душевное состояние.
Сам Господь говорит нам: «что ты смотришь на сучок в глазу брата твоего, а бревна в своем собственном глазу не видишь? Сперва вынь бревно из своего глаза, а тогда будешь знать как вынимать сучок из глаза брата своего». Это значит, что вражды и ссоры в первую очередь возникают от наших собственных грехов, главным образом от гордыни, самолюбия и зависти. Может быть наш ближний не посчитался с нами, не похвалил нас, не признал наши таланты? И вот мы уже с ним враждуем, потому-что ущемлена наша гордыня, оскорблено наше самолюбие, возбуждена наша зависть. Но тут мы должны честно признать, что вина-то в нас самих. И если мы очистим себя от превозношения, наполним сердце смирением, то и враждебный нам человек вдруг покажется нам более приятным, добрым, дружеским.
Но допустим мы честно себя проверили и очистили, а ближний наш все-же остается для нас неприятным и враждебным? Тогда мы переходим ко второму этапу, который состоит из умения отличать самого человека от его грехов. В таком случае мы должны стараться любить человека, а нелюбить его грехи.
Это подобно тому, как мы смотрим на розу - прекраснейший цветок, но имеющий колючие шипы. Мы осторожно держимся от шипов подальше, а самой розой наслаждаемся. У нас должно быть такое же отношение и к людям - видеть хорошие стороны человека, а от плохих удаляться, и даже больше того - плохие стороны покрывать жалостью, состраданием. Нужно именно жалеть всякого человека, находящегося в озлоблении, зависти и т.п.; ведь этот человек в духовной беде, нужно ему помочь своей любовью и пониманием, а не ссориться с ним.
В конце первой великопостной вечерни мы слышим замечательную покаянную молитву святого Ефрема Сирина - «Господи и Владыко живота моего», в которой мы как раз и просим у Бога: Господи, дай мне видеть мои согрешенья и не осуждать брата моего. Аминь.
Иерей Ростислав Женилов.