Parish Life
Welcome to the Parish Life section of Saint Peter Orthodox Church website. This is where we post news, events, photographs and more.
Welcome to the Parish Life section of Saint Peter Orthodox Church website. This is where we post news, events, photographs and more.
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Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church
Madison, Mississippi
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
12/15 announcments
December 15, 2013
Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday of the Holy Forefathers
Colossians 3:4-11: As we read in Colossians, we see St Paul encouraging the Church to practice the virtues of compassion, kindness, and humility. He reminds us that love is the bond which holds us together and calls us to let the peace of Christ to rule us.
Luke 14:16-24: In the parable of the man who gave a dinner we see that not all who are called to dine will come and that the consequences of refusing the invitation are great.
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 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 Hieromartyr Eleutherius: Being comely adorned in thy sacred priestly robes and newly drenched with the streams of thy pure and sanctified blood, thou didst soar aloft to stand before thy Master, Christ; hence never cease to intercede for those honouring with faith thy mighty and blessed contest, thou overthrower of Satan, O wise and blessed Eleutherius.
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
Sunday, December 15 (Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
5:00 p.m. -- Young Adults
Monday, December 16
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, December 17
6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros
Wednesday, December 18
6:30 p.m. -- Advent Paraklesis
Thursday, December 19
NO Daily Orthros
Friday, December 20 (Ignatios of Antioch, the God-bearer)
NO Daily Orthros
Saturday, December 21
7:30 a.m. -- Bible Study with Breakfast
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, December 22 (Sunday before the Nativity)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
12:00 p.m. -- Children's Play
5:30 p.m. -- Youth Group
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Yeatts 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 15 Yeatts Schelver/Lavric/Turner
December 22 Abraham Henderson/Baker/Lockhart
December 24 (Tue pm) Fahmy POT LUCK MEAL
(Feast of the Nativity of our Lord)
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)
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 15 Sh. Charlotte Algood Col. 3:4-11 233
December 22 Warren Strain Heb. 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40 348
December 24 (Tue pm) Kh. Sharon Meadows Gal. 4:4-7 351
December 29 Mildred Morris Gal. 1:11-19 188
December 31 NO Reading
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.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
Terrorists have abducted 12 Orthodox nuns from the Convent of St. Thekla in Syria. Please keep them in your prayers.
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.
Congratulations to Jordan Henderson on his graduation from Asbury Seminary with a M.A. in Biblical Studies!
Please schedule time your Confession during the Fast of the Nativity as soon as possible with your priest.
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, December 22nd, January 8th and 26th, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
* The Young Adults will meet at the church Sunday, TONIGHT from 5:00-6:30 p.m.
* During the Fast of the Nativity we will have the Advent Paraklesis in place of Daily Vespers on Wednesday evening beginning on November 27th at 6:30 p.m.
* The Ladies of St. Peter will not meet for lunch and fellowship on the fourth Tuesday of December, due to the holiday season. More information will be available once the date has been set.
* The Christian Education classes will present a play during Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 22nd.
Nativity Feast: This year we will be doing something new for our meal following the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Nativity. It will be a true Pot Luck Meal. Every family is asked to bring a dish. If your dish requires cooking, that should be done at home BEFORE you come. The warmer will be turned on to keep casseroles warm during the service. Please be sure to TAKE YOUR DISH home with you when you leave (even if you have to leave a little early). No one will be staying late to wash dishes after the meal.
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 December 15th. 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.
Canned food drive: The Christian Education classes are collecting canned good s for the needy.
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).
Happy Birthdays in December:
December 1 -- Christina Katool
December 2 -- Jim Roehner
December 3 -- Stephanie Baker
-- Athena Zouboukos
December 4 -- Brenda Baker
December 8 -- Ben Brock
-- Sam Habeeb
-- Michael Surratt
December 11 -- Sh. Charlotte Algood
December 12 -- Jenna Skirtech
December 20 -- Steve Chamblee
December 21 -- Caroline Halley
December 27 -- Ben Skirtech
-- Warren Strain
-- Nicholas Zouboukos (#14!)
December 28 -- Sheryl Chamblee
Happy Anniversaries in December:
December 21 -- Fr. John and Kh. Janet Henderson (#39!)
Fasting Discipline for December
During the Nativity Fast, which began November 15th, the traditional fasting (no meat, dairy, fish, wine or oil) is observed 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 from December 25th through January 4th.
Major Commemorations for December
December 15 Hieromartyr Eleutherios
December 20 God-bearer Ignatius of Antioch
December 25 Nativity of our Lord
December 26 Synaxis of the Theotokos
December 27 Protomartyr Stephen
Quotable: "In our daily devotions we should also invoke the intercession of the Blessed Theotokos, the Holy Angels and Holy Saints. They are God's special friends and as such enjoy not only great power with Almighty God, but are deeply interested in our welfare: There is 'joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repents' (Luke 15:10). All of these are closer to God than we. They are perfect and can sin no more. Their work, therefore, is perfect and their assistance to us here on earth is consequently more powerful than the prayers and help of our brethren here below. If we ask our friends who are imperfect and sinful creatures to pray for us, common sense tells us that it is much more important for us to imp[lore the perfect Saints in Heaven for their prayers and assistance."
Rev. Fr. David F. Abramtsov, The Orthodox Companion
Worship: Sunday, December 22, 2013 (Sunday before the Nativity of Christ;
Sunday of the Genealogy)
Scripture: Hebrews 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-25
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Warren Strain
Prosphora: Abraham
Coffee Hour: Henderson/Baker/Lockhart
