Romans 8:28-39: St. Paul reminds us that it is not ultimately for men nor for anything in this life that we endure suffering, but for the sake of the King of Glory.  For those who love God, the Scriptures and experience bear witness: all things work together for good.

 

Matthew 15:21-28:  In the passage from Matthew we see our Lord demonstrate His mercy by healing the daughter of a Canaanite woman.

 

Troparion of the Resurrection:  O compassionate One, thou didst descend from the heights; thou didst submit to the three-day burial, that thou might deliver us from passion.  Thou art our Life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to thee.

 

Troparion of the Martyr Tryphon:  Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crown of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God.  For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption.  O Christ our God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

 

Troparion of the Forefeast of the Presentation: The Heavens' choir looked down from the vaults of the Heavens and gazing on the earth, they beheld with amazement the First-born of all creation brought forth as a suckling babe to the Temple by a pure and virginal mother; and with us, they now do sing a hymn for the Forefeast, astonished and full of awe.

 

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 the Presentation: Thou, O Christ God, who by your Birth, didst sanctify the Virgin's womb, and as is meet, didst bless Simeon's arms, and didst also come to save us, preserve thy fold in wars, and confirm them whom thou didst love; for thou alone art the Lover of mankind.

 

 

 

Sunday, February 1
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:30 p.m. – Youth Group 

 

Monday, February 2 (Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple)
    Many years before the coming of Christ there lived a very pious and saintly man called Simeon.  He was one of the most intelligent Jewish scholars of his day.  Simeon prayed for the day that the Saviour would come and deliver all Israel (and the world) from sin.  One evening while kneeling in prayer, Simeon heard the voice of God saying to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Holy Tradition tells us that Simeon waited many long years.  Some Holy Fathers inform us that Simeon was over 150 years old when the Promise of God was fulfilled. The Holy Scriptures tell us that 40 days after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ  the Virgin Mary brought the Christ Child to the Temple for Presentation.  It was a law that the first born son of a family should be offered to God and His service, as soon as a period of purification was past.  It was here that Simeon waited patiently that day, as he had done for so many years.  The Spirit of the Lord brought him to the baby Jesus.  Simeon took the infant Child in his trembling hands and recited the following beautiful prayer which is recited in the Orthodox Church every evening during Vesper services:
 "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. 
 For mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation which thou hast prepared before the
 face of all peoples.  A Light to enlighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of
 thy people Israel."
    Thus the promise to the aged Simeon was finally fulfilled.  The next day Simeon died in peace, thankful to Almighty God that he was honored to see the coming of Christ.
    This custom has continued down to our own day for both male and female children, and every mother who brings her new-born child to Church on the fortieth day is remembering the Great Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple.   

 

 CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED – FATHER JOHN'S DAY OFF
 6:00 a.m. – Festal Orthros (Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple)

 

Tuesday, February 3
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Choir Practice
  
Wednesday, February 4
 5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class
 6:30 p.m. – Daily Vespers

 

Thursday, February 5
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
  
Friday, February 6
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
        
Saturday, February 7
 Pigott/Brock Wedding – 4:00 p.m.
 NO Great Vespers

 

Sunday, February 8
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 6:00 p.m. – Young Adults

 

 

 

Please remember the following in your prayers: Mona Fahmy, Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family, Deborah and Paul Finley, Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman's mother) and the Cushman family (St. John's in Memphis)

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
             Eucharist Bread      Coffee Hour
February 1      Meadows         Meadows
February 8      Bakers             Freundts
February 15    Woods             Schelvers
February 22     R. Roots          Fahmys

 

Schedule for Epistle Readers   –  Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the front pew.  Please be sure to use this book when you read.
                           Reader           Reading            Page #
February 1  Kh. Sharon Meadows    Rom.8:28-39     304
February 8  Brenda Baker               II Tim. 3:10-15   258
February 15  Tom Willingham          I Cor. 6:12-20    265
February 22  Walt Wood                 I Cor. 8:8-9:2     273

 

Help needed for PLC 2009 Souvenir Journal!!   The PLC committee is starting to sell ads for the souvenir journal for the Parish Life Conference and we need your help! Our goal is to sell $20,000 of ads by May 1. Please consider talking to your employer about donating for a corporate ad, and if you have any suggestions of businesses to go to or people to talk to, please let Anna Kathryn know.

 

House Blessings!  A sign-up sheet is available to sign up for your house blessing.  Please schedule these as soon as possible.  Everyone should have their house blessed.  However, the responsibility for scheduling lies with individuals and not Father John.  No house blessings will be done once Great Lent starts (March 1st this year).

 

The forms for camping scholarships (to the Village and Camp St. Thekla) have arrived.  We have $700 to be divided among as many as 7 campers.  The deadline for scholarship application is March 1st, and this is a strict deadline.  If you are interested in camping scholarships, please see Father John ASAP.  We have also received the applications for this year's camp.  They are located in the foyer.

 

Valentine's Fund-raiser: The Ladies of St. Peter are having a valentine's fund-raiser to raise money our AOCWNA project.  The Ladies will be raffling off a bracelet and earring set designed by Jaqui Katool of J. Paige Design.  The raffle will last February 1-8 and tickets will be $5.

 

Those hosting Coffee Hour or feasts MUST be sure to place fresh trash bags in the trash cans when cleaning up afterwards.  If this is not done, items get thrown into the empty trash cans and then dumped as is into the cans outside.  The trash people will NOT pick up loose trash from the cans and have even dumped it out in the past.  This means that Father John has to pick these items up by hand and bag them!  Please help us with this!!

 

Pledge letters have been mailed.  Please fill these out and return them in the self-addressed envelope as soon as possible.  This information will help the Parish Council to establish a working budget for the fiscal year 2009.

 

Please supervise your children to avoid spills, ink stains or marks from their writing and drawing on our new chairs.  We also ask that you not allow them to stand on the kneelers.  Thank you for your help with this.

 

The Lower MS Valley Deanery's annual teen retreat will be held the week-end of February 20-22, 2009 at John W. Kyle State Park.  Joel Finley, the Youth Director at St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Franklin, will handling registration.  More details will be available at a later date.

 

 
 * The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple will be celebrated with Festal Orthros tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m.  We will NOT celebrate Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia on this evening as previously announced.

 
 * The next meeting for the PLC 2009 Planning Committee will Thursday, February 19th at 7:00 p.m.

 
 * Annual Teen Retreat for the Lower MS Valley Deanery – February 20-22, 2009 at John W. Kyle State Park.

 
 * St. Peter's will be hosting the Parish Life Conference next year.  The dates for the conference will be June 10-14.  This will a wonderful opportunity to showcase our parish.  More information will be available in the future.

 

Fasting Discipline for February:
   The traditional fasting (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month until Monday, February 9th.  The week following the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee (February 8th) is a fast-free week.  Sunday, February 22nd is Judgment Sunday (Meat Fare Sunday), the last day until Pascha that meat poultry, and fish are permitted.  But during the following week, beginning Monday, February 23rd, dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday.  March 1st is Forgiveness Sunday (Sunday of Cheese Fare), the last day until Pascha that cheese, dairy and wine (some also include oil) are permitted.  Monday, March 2nd, is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent when the traditional fasting discipline is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 12th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).
   On days when the Holy Eucharist will be received at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, no food or drink should be taken until after the Liturgy.

 

    Major Commemorations During February
 February 2  Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple
 February 3  Righteous Simeon the God-Receiver
 February 8  Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
 February 10  Hieromartyr Haralampos
 February 15  Sunday of the Prodigal Son
 February 21  Saturday of the Souls
 February 22  Sunday of Meat Fare
 February 24  1st and 2nd Discoveries of the Head of the Forerunner
 March 1  Sunday of Cheese Fare (Forgiveness Sunday)
 March 2  Clean Monday (First Date of Great Lent)

 

Quotable: "Now that the virgin has conceived in the womb and borne to us a child ... not the chine of the curse is broken.  Death came through Eve, but life has come to us through Mary.  And thus the gift of virginity has been bestowed most richly upon women, seeing that it has had its beginning from a woman."

    - St. Jerome

 

Weekly Quote:  "The person who listens to Christ fills himself with light; and if he imitates Christ, he reclaims himself."

    - St. Thalassios the Libyan

 

 Scripture:  II Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14 (both readings are for the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican)
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father John
 Deacon:  Deacon Richard
 Epistle Reader  Brenda Baker
 Acolytes:  TBA
 Prosphora:  Bakers
 Coffee Hour:  Freundts
 Teen Hosts:  TBA