December  29, 2013
        Sunday  after the Nativity of Christ
         
         Galatians 1:11-19:  St. Paul defends his ministry in his letter  to the Galatians, telling them of how his former way of life was changed by a  direct revelation from the Lord, and of his actions immediately afterwards.
         
        Matthew  2:13-23:  From the Gospel of Matthew we hear the  fulfillment of several prophecies    concerning the incarnation of our Lord.
         
        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 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.
         
        Troparion of the Sunday after Nativity:   Proclaim, O Joseph, to David, the grandparent of God, the amazing  wonders; for thou hast seen a Virgin great with child; for with the shepherds  thou didst give glory, with the Magi thou didst worship, and by the angel it  was revealed to thee.  Wherefore, plead  thou with Christ God to 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  of Nativity:  Today the Virgin giveth birth to the  Transcendent in essence; the earth offereth a cave to the unapproachable One;  the angels with the shepherds glorify him; and the Magi with the star travel on  their way; for a new child hath been born for our sakes, God before the ages.
         
         
        CALENDAR
         
        Sunday, December  29   (Sunday  after the Nativity)
                    8:50 a.m.         -- Orthros
                    10:00 a.m.       -- Divine Liturgy
         
        Monday, December   30   
                    Office Closed  --  Father John's Day Off
                    
        Tuesday, December  31   
                    6:00 a.m.         -- Daily Orthros
                    6:30 p.m.         -- Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia
                                
        Wednesday, January  1    (Circumcision of our Lord; St. Basil the  Great)
                    NO Services
                    
        Thursday, January  2   
                    NO Daily Orthros
                    11:30 a.m.       -- Men's Lunch
         
        Friday, January  3    
                    6:00 a.m.         -- Royal Hours
         
        Saturday, January  4   
                    10:30 a.m.       -- Baptism of Adrian Lavric
                    5:45 p.m.         -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
         
        Sunday, January  5   (Sunday  before Theophany)
                    8:50 a.m.         -- Orthros
                    9:00 a.m.         -- Christian Education
                    10:00 a.m.       -- Divine Liturgy
                    5:30 p.m.         -- Youth group
        SPECIAL  ANNOUNCEMENTS
         
        Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Fahmys for the  Feast of the Nativity this past Tuesday night and by the Woods for the Divine  Liturgy this morning.
         
        Please  be reminded of the following:
        Be very careful with the Blessed  Bread when you take it after communion.   Because this bread has been blessed, we should take care not to let  crumbs fall on the floor.  Parents,  especially, please help your children to choose a small piece and treat it  carefully.
                 Also,  at the end of the liturgy, maintain a prayerful disposition during the  veneration of the cross as the prayers of thanksgiving after communion are  still underway.  Please exchange your  greetings with each other in the Fellowship Hall during Coffee Hour.
         
        Eucharist Bread and  Coffee Hour Schedule:
                                                   Eucharist  Bread                     Coffee  Hour
        December 29                     Wood                                       Jones/Stewart/Meadows
        December 31 (Tue pm)      Baker  (Artoklasia Bread)       No Meal
                 (Feast  of the Circumcision of our Lord; Feast of St. Basil the Great)
        January 5                           R. Root                                    Ellis/Zouboukos/Fahmy
        January 6 (Mon. a.m.)      Henderson                             Christina  Katool
        January 12                         Algood                                    POT  LUCK MEAL      
                                                                                                    set-up:  Pigott/Brock/Strain
        January 15 (Wed. p.m.)     Schelver                            Anastasia Jones
                 (Feast  of the Veneration of the Chains of St. Peter)
        January 19                         Morris                                      Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker
        January 26                         Jones                                       D.  Root/Dansereau/Dale Cooper
         
        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#
        December 29                     Mildred Morris                    Gal. 1:11-19                     188
        December 31                     NO Reading
        January 5                           Phillip Lasseter                    II Tim. 4:5-8                     354
        January 6 (Mon. a.m.)      Kh. Be'Be' Schelver           Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7         361            
        January 12                         Brenda Baker                        Eph.  4:7-13                      364
        January 15 (Wed. p.m.)   Sh. Charlotte Algood          Acts 12:1-11                    50-51
        January 19                         Warren Strain                       Col. 3:4-11                       233
        January 26                         Kh. Sharon Meadows          I Tim. 4:9-15                   252
         
        Please remember Fr.  Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle,  and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.   
         
        Continue to pray  for Metropolitan Paul (who  is also the brother of our Patriarch) and the Syriac Archbishop John of Aleppo  who were abducted recently while on a humanitarian mission in Syria.
         
        Terrorists have  abducted 12 Orthodox nuns  from the Convent of St. Thekla in Syria.   Please keep them in your prayers.
         
        Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace,  Bishop ANTOUN.
         
        Please remember the  following in your prayers:  Steve, Sheryl and Stephen Chamblee; Amy and  Brantley Oliver; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and  Sammie; Georgia Buchanan, George Johns (Georgia's grandson) and his family;  Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon's sister); Fr. Stephen Tewfik; Sh. Gail Shannon;  Dn. Sidney and Sh. Mary Elliot; 
        Fr.  Alexander Atty, the Dean of St. Thikon's who is battling cancer; Walt and  Charlotte Wood and their family; Tom and Jennifer Skirtech and their family;  Tom and Kathy Willingham.
         
        Please  be reminded that  the Sacristy/Vestry which is adjacent to and behind the altar in our church is  considered by the Orthodox Church to be part of the Sanctuary (Altar area) and  should not be entered without the blessing of the priest for a specific  purpose.  If you need to speak with a  member of the clergy while they are in the Sanctuary, please ask them to come  to you in the nave.
         
        Mary Guy is still at home recovering from  back surgery.  Please keep her in your  prayers.
         
        Calendar Items:
        *    The Men of the parish meet for lunch and  fellowship on the first Thursday of the month.
        *    The Ladies of St. Peter will meet at 10:00  a.m. on the second Saturday of each month to pray the Akathist to the Mother of  God, Nurturer of Children.  Those who are  able will go out for lunch and fellowship afterwards.
        *    The Youth Group will meet for a meal and  Christian Education with Father John on Sunday evenings, January 5th  and 26th, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
        *    Royal Hours for the Feast of Theophany will  be held on Friday, January 3rd, beginning at 6:00 a.m.
        *    We will celebrate the Feast of Theophany  with Divine Liturgy (only) on Monday morning, January 6th, beginning  at 6:00 a.m.
        *    As is our custom, we hold the Annual  Blessing of the Water at the Ross Barnett Reservoir with the other Orthodox  Churches in the area on Sunday, January 12th, beginning at 4:00  p.m.  Those who are interested will go to  Cock of the Walk for supper afterwards.
        *    We will celebrate our patronal feast of the  Veneration of the Chains of St. Peter on Wednesday evening, January 15th  with Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy beginning at 6:00 p.m.
        *    The Young Adults will meet at the church Sunday,  January 19th from 5:00-6:30 p.m.
        *    Deanery Youth Retreat with Sister Magdalene  – February 14-16th.
         
        Adrian Lavric will  be baptized next  Saturday morning, January 4th, at 10:30 a.m.!  Please keep him, his parents and his  godparents in your prayers.
         
        Young Adults Study  Group:  The Young Adults will meet once a month on  Sunday evening from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. (time will be strictly adhered to) for a  meal, fellowship and teaching.  The next  meeting will be January 19th.   Please let Father John know by text or e-mail if you will be there, so  that plans may be made for the meal.
         
        Metropolitan Philip has given the Antiochian Women  the project of raising money for the orphans of the war in Syria.  He has asked them to raise $200,000 towards  this project.  All monies raised are to  be distributed directly to the affected areas.   Please read information regarding "Help the Orphans of War in Syria"  posted on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall.  If you wish to contribute to this project,  please make your donation to the Ladies of St. Peter noting it is for "Help the  Orphans of War in Syria."  They will be  collecting money for this project through the coming months.
         
        Sister Magdalene  from the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England will be the speaker at the  Deanery Youth Retreat, February 14-16th.  The topic of the Retreat will be "Our Faith,  My Life."  Following the Retreat, she  will be at St. Peter's Sunday evening and Monday and will fly home to England  on Tuesday, the 18th.  Father  John will be arranging times for speaking engagements and meetings during her  stay.  More information will be available  at a later date.
         
        Parents, please  supervise your children with food in  the Fellowship Hall.  We are getting stains  on the new carpet (and also the chairs in the nave).
         
        Fasting  Discipline for January 
        From  December 25th through January 4th there is no abstinence  of any sort and all typed of food are permitted.  The forefeast of Theophany (January 5th)  is observed as a strict fast day (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy wine or  oil).  The traditional fasting is  observed on the remaining Wednesdays and Fridays of the month.
         
        Major  Commemorations for January 
        January 1               Feast of the Circumcision of our  lord and feastday of St. Basil the Great
        January 6               Theophany
        January 7               Synaxis of the Forerunner
        January 11             Theodosios the Head of Monasteries
        January 18             Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria
        January 20             Euthymios the Great
        January 25             Gregory the Theologian
        January 27             John Chrysostom
        January 31             Cyros and John the Unmercenary  Healers
         
        Canned food drive:   The Christian Education classes are collecting canned good s for the  needy.  
         
        Last Tuesday morning a$10 bill was found on the floor of the Narthex.  If you lost this bill, please see Kh.  Sharon.  If no one claims the money, it  will be placed in the Tithe Box.
         
        Happy Birthdays in January:
                 January 1               --    Dn. Richard  Root
                 January 5               --    Sarah Anne  Milnor
                 January 10             --    Georgia  Buchanan
                 January 11             --    Nicholas  Henderson
                 January 12             --    Cheryl Pigott
                 January 13             --    Nader Dabit
                 January 19             --    Saliba (Sam)  Dabit
                 January 20             --    Alfred Katool
                 January 22             --    Tatiana  Lavric
                 January 24             --    Oliver Yeatts
                 January 26             --    Jay Davis
                 January 29             --    Michelle  Pigott
                 January 30             --    Chris  Dansereau
         
        Happy Anniversaries in January:
                 January 10             --    Bob and  Georgia Buchanan (#27!)
                 January 17             --    Chris and  Rebecca Dansereau (#5!)
                 January 19             --    Ramzi and  Jean Kafoury (#11!)
        
  
        Quotable:  "The  Theotokos is higher than all of the Holy Angels and Holy Persons.  She is completely aware of what we require  spiritually; of all the joys and sorrows we have here on earth.  She herself passed through all the trials of  earthly life.  The Virgin Mary's  intercession has immense power with God.   If the prayers of the Saints, His servants, have so much power with God,  what must those of His Mother have!  The  Holy Angels are the ministers and messengers of God; they are the guardians of  our souls and bodies.  We ask them to lay  our prayers at the Throne of God.  The  Saints served God while they lived on earth.   They fulfilled God's Laws better than anyone.  They taught people the good life; suffered  for God's Truth; knew how to bear the very lack of life's necessities;  patiently bore misfortune and unhappiness in life.  We turn to them in prayer as to our  protectors and helpers in our various undertakings.  We pray for health, for success in our  work.  In times of happiness we turn to  them with thanksgiving; others who sorrow, cry out to them in their grief.  The Saints knew all of this and experienced it  themselves in their earthly life.  In all  of these things they intercede with God for us.   And are not the Saints in glory our beloved brothers and sisters in the  Communion of Saints?   Are not they like  we members of Christ's Mystical Body, the Church?  We may not know them, but they know us and  love us and pray for us!"
                                                        Rev.  Fr. David F. Abramtsov, The Orthodox Companion 
         
         
        Worship:         Sunday, January 4, 2014 (Sunday before  Theophany)
                 
                 Scripture:                               II Timothy  4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8
                 Celebrant:                              Father John
                 Epistle  Reader:                      Phillip  Lasseter
                 Prosphora:                             R. Root
                 Coffee  Hour:                          Ellis/Zouboukos/Fahmy