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July 22, 2018 +Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

July 22, 2018

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Tone 7 / Eothinon 8; 8th Sunday after Pentecost & 8th Sunday of Matthew

Today we Commemorate: Mary Magdalene, myrrh-bearer and equal-to-the-Apostles; Virgin-martyr Markella of Chios; Cyril I, Patriarch of Antioch; Cyprian, fool-for-Christ of Suzdal; Cornelius of Pereyaslavl; Wandregisilus of Caux


Today’s Hymns and Readings:

Ordinary Entrance Hymn:

O Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, Who art risen from the dead; who sing to Thee. Alleluia.

Resurrectional Apolytikion, Tone 7:

Thou didst shatter death by Thy Cross, Thou didst open paradise to the thief; Thou didst turn the sadness of the ointment-bearing women into joy. And didst bid Thine Apostles proclaim a warning, that Thou hast risen O Christ, granting to the world the Great Mercy.

Apolytikion of St Mary Magdalene, Tone 1:

When Christ God had been born for our sakes from the Virgin, * thou faithfully didst follow Him, keeping His statutes * and heeding His sacred laws, O august Mary Magdalene. * Hence, as we today observe thy holy remembrance, * we receive the loosing of our sins and transgressions * through thy holy prayers for us.

Apolytikion of our Patron St Nicholas, Tone 3:

In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, a model of meekness, and a teacher of self-control. Therefore you have won the heights by humility, riches by poverty, Holy Father, Bishop Nicholas, intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

Ordinary Kontakion, Tone 2:

O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant, O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be thou quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplication, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

Trisagion

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3x)

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, Have mercy on us.


The Epistle

(For the 8th Sunday after Pentecost)

The Lord will give strength to His people.
Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of God, ascribe to the Lord honor and glory.

The Reading from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (1:10-17)

Brethren, I appeal to you, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissension among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispos and Gaius; lest anyone should say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

The Gospel

(For the 8th Sunday of Matthew)

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (14:14-22)

At that time, when Jesus went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to Him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish He looked up to Heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Then Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.


ANNOUNCEMENTS

Thoughts For the Day

Who indeed was This Virgin and from what sort of parents did She come? Mary, the glory of all, was born of the tribe of David, and from the seed of Joachim. She was descended from Eve, and was the child of Anna. Joachim was a gentle man, pious, raised in God’s law. Living prudently and walking before God he grew old without child: the years of his prime provided no continuation of his lineage. Anna was likewise God-loving, prudent, but barren; she lived in harmony with her husband, but was childless. As much concerned about this, as about the observance of the law of the Lord, she indeed was daily stung by the grief of childlessness and suffered that which is the usual lot of the childless — she grieved, she sorrowed, she was distressed, and impatient at being childless.
Thus, Joachim and his spouse lamented that they had no successor to continue their line; yet the spark of hope was not extinguished in them completely: both intensified their prayer about the granting to them of a child to continue their line. In imitation of the prayer heard of Hannah (1 Kings 1: 10), both without leaving the temple fervently beseeched God that He would undo her sterility and make fruitful her childlessness. And they did not give up on their efforts, until their wish be fulfilled. The Bestower of gifts did not contemn the gift of their hope. The unceasing power came quickly in help to those praying and beseeching God, and it made capable both the one and the other to produce and bear a child. In such manner, from sterile and barren parents, as it were from irrigated trees, was borne for us a most glorious fruition — the all-pure Virgin.
The constraints of infertility were destroyed — prayer, upright manner of life, these rendered them fruitful; the childless begat a Child, and the childless woman was made a happy mother.
+ St. Andrew of Crete, Excerpt from the Sermon on the Nativity of the Virgin Mary

“‘And my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’ [John 14.23]. My friends, consider the greatness of this solemn feast that commemorates God’s coming as a guest into our hearts! If some rich and influential friend were to come to your home, you would promptly put it all in order for fear something there might offend your friend’s eyes when he came in. Let all of us then who are preparing our inner homes for God cleanse them of anything our wrongdoing has brought into them.”
+ St. Gregory Dialogos, on Pentecost in Be Friends of God

Ladies Meeting Today Following Liturgy

June 17, 2018 +Third Sunday after Pentecost

June 17, 2018

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Tone 2 / Eothinon 3; 3rd Sunday after Pentecost & 3rd Sunday of Matthew

Today we Commemorate: Martyrs Isauros and those with him of Athens; Martyrs Manuel, Sabel and Ishmael of Persia; Venerable Joseph and Pior, disciples of Anthony the Great; Martyr Nectan of Hartland; St. Shalva of Akhaltsikhe


Today’s Hymns and Readings:

Ordinary Entrance Hymn:

O Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, Who art risen from the dead; who sing to Thee. Alleluia.

Resurrectional Apolytikion, Tone 2:

When Thou didst submit Thyself unto death, O Thou deathless and immortal One, then Thou didst destroy hell with Thy Godly power. And when Thou didst raise the dead from beneath the earth, all the powers of Heaven did cry aloud unto Thee: O Christ, Thou giver of life, glory to Thee.

Apolytikion of our Patron St Nicholas, Tone 3:

In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, a model of meekness, and a teacher of self-control. Therefore you have won the heights by humility, riches by poverty, Holy Father, Bishop Nicholas, intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved

Ordinary Kontakion, Tone 2:

O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant, O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be thou quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplication, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

Trisagion

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3x)

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, Have mercy on us.


The Epistle

(For 3rd Sunday after Pentecost)

The Lord is my strength and my song. The Lord has chastened me sorely.

The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. (5:1-10)

Brethren, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

 

The Gospel

(For 3rd Sunday of Matthew)

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (6:22-33)

The Lord said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of heaven: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon himself in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”


ANNOUNCEMENTS

St Nectan (June 17)

Saint Nectan was born in Wales and lived in the sixth century. He is the son of Saint Brychan of Brecknock (April 6). While he was still living in Wales he decided to embrace the monastic life. Sseeking greater solitude, Saint Nectan and his companions left Wales, intending to settle wherever their boat happened to land. Divine providence brought them to the northern coast of Devonshire at Hartland, where they lived for several years in a dense forest. Later, he relocated to a remote valley with a spring. Once, Saint Nectan found a stray pig and returned it to its owner. In gratitude, the swineherd gave Saint Nectan two cows. The saint accepted the gift, but the cows were soon stolen by two robbers. Saint Nectan found the thieves who took the animals, and tried to preach to them about Christ. They became angry and cut off his head. Then the saint picked up his head and carried it for half a mile, laying it down near the spring by his cell. Seeing this, the man who killed Saint Nectan went out of his mind, but the other thief buried St Nectan. From that time, miracles began to take place at Saint Nectan’s tomb.

In 937 on the eve of the Battle of Brunanburgh Saint Nectan appeared to a young man from Hartland aflicted with the plague which was then destroying the English army. Hearing the young mans prayers St Nectan appeared and healed him. The Next morning the young man told King Athelstan how he was healed, then told the king about the life and martyrdom of St Nectan. The king promised to honor God and Saint Nectan, and so his faith was rewarded. Not only did King Athelstan win the battle, but the plague disappeared and his soldiers recovered. The first time that King Athelstan visited Hartland in Devonshire, he donated property to the saint’s church. For the rest of his life, the king placed great confidence in the intercession of Saint Nectan.

Thought For the Day

If we make every effort to avoid death of the body, still more should it be our endeavor to avoid death of the soul. There is no obstacle for a man who wants to be saved other than negligence and laziness of soul.
+ St. Anthony the Great, “On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and Seventy Texts,” Text 45, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 1)

Happy Fathers Day

To all fathers!

 

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