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
Saturday, April 26, 2014
4/27 announcements
April 27, 2014
Thomas Sunday
On the Sunday following Easter, we hear the story of Thomas and are reminded of the all-permeating presence of Christ and the faith of those who followed the disciples. Even as walls and doors proved no obstacle to His coming to His followers, so nothing can prevent His presence with us. Even as He commissioned them to be peaceful of themselves and to bear His peace and life to those about them, so He grants us peace for ourselves and those we touch. Even as Thomas turned from his doubt to faith, so let us bow before our Lord and God in acknowledgment and praise. With Thomas and all the faithful who sing in heavenly worship, let us raise our hymn of adoration and life to our risen Saviour.
Acts 5:12-20: Through healing of the sick and the addition of new believers to the Church in Jerusalem we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work with the Apostles.
John 20:19-31: In our gospel reading we hear of the Apostle Thomas' doubt regarding Jesus' resurrection. When our Lord appears to Him he immediately believes; yet, the Lord pronounces a blessing upon those who believe without having seen Him.
Troparion of Thomas Sunday: While the tomb was sealed, thou didst shine forth from it, O Light. While the doors were closed, thou didst come in to thy Disciples, O Christ God, Resurrection of all, renewing in us through them an upright spirit, according to the greatness of thy mercy.
Kontakion of Thomas Sunday: With his anxiously searching right hand, O Christ God, Thomas did probe your life-giving side; for when you did enter, the doors being shut, he shouted with the rest of the Disciples, crying, You are my Lord and my God.
CALENDAR
Sunday, April 27 (Thomas Sunday)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
5:30 p.m. -- Youth Group
Monday, April 28
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, April 29
6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros
Wednesday, April 30
6:30 p.m. -- Daily Vespers
7:30 p.m. -- Parish Council
Thursday, May 1
11:30 a.m. -- Men's Lunch
Friday, May 2 (Athanasios the Great)
Saturday, May 3
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, May 4 (Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Daniel Roots for the Divine Liturgy today.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
April 27 D. Root Lockhart/Habeeb/Lasseter
May 4 Yeatts R. Root/Abraham/Algood
May 11 Abraham POT LUCK MEAL
set-up: Schelver/Lavric/Turner
May 18 Karam Henderson/Baker/Yeatts
May 25 Fahmy Karam/Stewart/Meadows
May 28 (Wed. p.m.) Baker Christian Katool
(Feast of the Ascension)
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#
April 27 Mildred Morris Acts 5:12-20 32
May 4 Phillip Lasseter Acts 6:1-7 38
May 11 Kh. Be'Be' Schelver Acts 9:32-42 45
May 18 Brenda Baker Acts 11:19-30 52
May 25 Tom Willingham II Cor. 4:6-15 163
May 28 (Wed. p.m.) Walt Wood Acts 1:1-12 63
(Feast of the Ascension)
Continue to pray for Metropolitan Paul (who is also the brother of our Patriarch) and the Syriac Archbishop John of Aleppo who were abducted while on a humanitarian mission in Syria.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
His Eminence Metropolitan SILOUAN of Buenos Aires and Argentina (who is the Patriarchal Vicar of New York and all North America) has announced that the 40 Day Memorial for His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP will be celebrated in all the parishes of our Archdiocese on Sunday, May 4th. Plans are being made for His Eminence, Metropolitan SILOUAN to visit all of the dioceses in our Archdiocese in the next several weeks. At this time we do not know where or when his visit to our diocese will occur. We will continue to commemorate His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP through the 40 days until May 4th, after which he will be commemorated on the anniversary of his repose.
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;
Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Tom and Jennifer Skirtech and their family; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Athena and Anthony Zouboukos and their family.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
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.
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.
Archdiocese Special Assembly: The date of June 5, 2014 has been set for the special assembly to nominate 3 candidates for Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. These will be forwarded to His Beatitude, Patriarch John X and the Holy Synod where the final decision will be made as to who succeeds His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP of Thrice Blessed Memory. Father John will represent St. Peter's at this assembly which will be held in Chicago from 9-5 at an, as yet, undisclosed hotel. Please pray for the guidance of the Holy Trinity in these proceedings.
Please remember Simon, Rola and Antonina Karam in your prayers as they are in Lebanon for the next few weeks visiting Simon's father who is ill.
Fasting Discipline for April/May
The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) will again be observed on the last Wednesday of April and on all the Wednesdays and Fridays of the month of May..
Major Commemorations for April/May
April 27 Thomas Sunday
May 2 Athanasios the Great
May 4 Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers
May 8 Apostle John the Theologian
May 10 Apostle Simon the Zealot
May 11 Sunday of the Paralytic
May 14 Mid-Pentecost
May 18 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
May 21 Constantine and Helen
May 25 Sunday of the Blindman/The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)
May 29 Feast of the Ascension
A Very Big Thank You to all who worked so hard to make Pascha and Agape Vespers a success!
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 TONIGHT beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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 date for next meeting will be set sometime soon. Please let Father John know by text or e-mail if you will be there, so that plans may be made for the meal.
Canned food drive: The Christian Education classes are collecting canned goods for the needy.
Suggestions on use of the Cry Room:
-- Please remember you're in liturgy when you're in the cry room.
-- Its main purpose should be a place for parents to take their children if they're being disruptive during liturgy, staying for 5-10 minutes (or until the child is calmed down) and then returning to liturgy.
-- It should not be used as a main sitting area during the liturgy.
-- Children should not be eating snacks or watching electronic devices while in the cry room.
Happy Birthdays in May:
May 5 -- Dale Cooper
-- Joanna Davis
May 7 -- Tiffany Strain (#17!)
May 8 -- Kh. Janet Henderson
May 10 -- Fr. Leo Schelver
May 11 -- Meghan Brock
May 15 -- Tom Skirtech
May 21 -- Jacob Skirtech (#7!)
May 24 -- Paul Katool
-- Daniel Root
May 26 -- David Turner
May 27 -- Luke Habeeb (#9!)
May 30 -- Dn. Terry Algood
May 31 -- Stephen Chamblee
Happy Anniversaries in April/May:
April 28 -- Anthony and Athena Zouboukos (#24!)
May 12 -- Cliff and Anna Kathryn Stewart (#7!)
May 19 -- Jay and Joanna Davis (#2!)
May 30 -- Tom and Jennifer Skirtech (#37!)
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).
Vacation Church School: We will be holding our Vacation Church School on Thursday-Saturday, June 26-28. The focus of this year's school will be on educating our children about the lives of their Name-Saints and of Sts. Peter and Paul. After Pascha, Sam Habeeb will be looking for volunteers to help with this wonderful program.
Quotable: "Still more deserving of censure are those Christians who indeed make the Sign of the Cross, but make it carelessly. It is true there is a tendency to do mechanically what a person does often, but for that very reason, if no other, particular attention should be bestowed upon such things. It is seriously to be doubted whether persons who make the Sign of the Cross carelessly receive the same graces attached to the proper use of the sacred Sign. To those who make the Sign of the Cross hurriedly, without due deliberation, with the whole hand, or simply wave their hand in the air fanning their breast, St. John Chrysostom says: 'The demons rejoice in this frantic waving.' On the other hand the Cross traced correctly, with faith and reverence, dispels demons, calms sinful passions, attracts Divine Grace, and gives us the strength to do good and expel that which is evil."
Rev. Fr. David F. Abramtsov, The Orthodox Companion
Worship: Sunday, May 4, 2014 (Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers)
Scripture: Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15:43-16:8
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Phillip Lasseter
Prosphora: Yeatts
Coffee Hour: R. Root/Abraham/Habeeb
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
4/20 announcements
April 20, 2014
PASCHA
"Unique and holy day, King and lord of days, feast of feasts, solemnity of solemnities. . . " Thus we celebrate the Great Feast because of the resurrection of our Lord and begin the season of celebration which lasts through Pentecost. The paschal solemnities (of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday) are joined to the feast of the resurrection to endow the mystery of Christmas and the Incarnation with the fulness of its meaning and are the prerequisite condition for Pentecost. Easter, therefore, is the center, the heart of the Christian Year.
"Come, take light from the Light that has no evening, and glorify Christ, risen from the dead." The Church again represents the Christian mystery in terms of light; this Light, whose birth was marked by the star of Bethlehem, is shining among us with growing intensity; the darkness of Golgotha could not extinguish it. The physical Resurrection of Jesus would be without value to us if the divine light did not shine at the same time among us, within us. But the good news of the Resurrection is that the light brought by the Saviour now completely overcomes the darkness of our sins!
"Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down Death by death, and to those in the tomb He has given life!"
Acts 1:1-8: From our reading in Acts we are reminded that following the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, the Church would receive the Holy Spirit to empower Her in spreading the eternal gospel to all parts of the Earth.
John 1:1-17: Reading in the Gospel of John we see Jesus Christ as the eternally Begotten Son of The Father with Whom He has always existed. We also see John the Baptist coming to prepare the way for our Lord's ministry.
Paschal Troparion: Christ is risen from the dead; by Death has he trodden death, and upon those in the tombs, hath he bestowed life.
Hypakoe of Easter: They who were with Mary came before the dawn, found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and heard the angels say unto them, Why seek ye him as man with the dead, who dwelleth in light eternal? Behold the grave wrappings; make haste and declare to the world that the Lord is risen, and hath caused death to die; for he is the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind.
Kontakion of Pascha: When Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of Hades. In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God, proclaiming ARejoice@ to the myrrh-bearing women, granting peace to Thine apostles and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.
CALENDAR
Sunday, April 20 (PASCHA)
4:00 p.m. -- Agape Vespers
Monday, April 21 (Bright Monday)
[NO FASTING DURING BRIGHT WEEK]
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, April 22
6:00 a.m. -- Bright Week Orthros
Wednesday, April 23 (Great-martyr George)
6:30 p.m. -- Paschal Vespers
Thursday, April 24
Friday, April 25 (Apostle Mark)
Saturday, April 26
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, April 27 (Thomas Sunday)
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 Meadows this morning for Great and Holy Saturday and by the Davises for the Paschal Liturgy tonight.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
April 19 (Sat. p.m.) Davis POT LUCK MEAL
set-up: Cheryl Pigott/Charlotte Wood
April 27 D. Root Algood/Yeatts/Lasseter
May 4 Yeatts R. Root/Abraham/Habeeb
May 11 Abraham POT LUCK MEAL
set-up: Schelver/Lavric/Turner
May 18 Karam Henderson/Baker/Lockhart
May 25 Fahmy Karam/Stewart/Meadows
May 28 (Wed. p.m.) Baker Christian Katool
(Feast of the Ascension)
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#
April 19 (Sat. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Acts 1:1-8 25
April 27 Mildred Morris Acts 5:12-20 32
May 4 Phillip Lasseter Acts 6:1-7 38
May 11 Kh. Be'Be' Schelver Acts 9:32-42 45
May 18 Brenda Baker Acts 11:19-30 52
May 25 Tom Willingham II Cor. 4:6-15 163
May 28 (Wed. p.m.) Walt Wood Acts 1:1-12 63
(Feast of the Asension)
Continue to pray for Metropolitan Paul (who is also the brother of our Patriarch) and the Syriac Archbishop John of Aleppo who were abducted while on a humanitarian mission in Syria.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
His Eminence Metropolitan SILOUAN of Buenos Aires and Argentina (who is the Patriarchal Vicar of New York and all North America) has announced that the 40 Day Memorial for His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP will be celebrated in all the parishes of our Archdiocese on Sunday, May 4th. Plans are being made for His Eminence, Metropolitan SILOUAN to visit all of the dioceses in our Archdiocese in the next several weeks. At this time we do not know where or when his visit to our diocese will occur. We will continue to commemorate His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP through the 40 days until May 4th, after which he will be commemorated on the anniversary of his repose.
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;
Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Tom and Jennifer Skirtech and their family; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Athena and Anthony Zouboukos and their family.
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.
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.
Archdiocese Special Assembly: The date of June 5, 2014 has been set for the special assembly to nominate 3 candidates for Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. These will be forwarded to His Beatitude, Patriarch John X and the Holy Synod where the final decision will be made as to who succeeds His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP of Thrice Blessed Memory. Father John will represent St. Peter's at this assembly which will be held in Chicago from 9-5 at an, as yet, undisclosed hotel. Please pray for the guidance of the Holy Trinity in these proceedings.
Welcome and Many Years to Nikki Lasseter who was chrismated this morning!! Kh. Janet is her sponsor.
Please remember Simon, Rola and Antonina Karam in your prayers as they are in Lebanon for the next few weeks visiting Simon's father who is ill.
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.
* This Afternoon -- Agape Vespers at St. Peter at 4:00 p.m.
* The Youth Group will meet for a meal and Christian Education with Father John on Sunday, April 27th beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Clean-up following the Paschal Meal: Charlotte and Cheryl will only be doing set-up for the meal so we are also asking for volunteers to clean up afterwards. Gentlemen, this is a wonderful opportunity for you to help! Clean up will be important because we will be hosting the Agape Vespers the following afternoon.
Agape Vespers: St. Peter will be the host church for the Agape feast this year. The feast will be at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. We'll be buying all the food and renting a tent and tables and chairs for this. We'd ask that everyone contribute as you can to help us out with expenses. There will be some baskets out for this. Costas Pavlou has graciously offered to do the cooking, and Nikki Lasseter and Emily Parker will be in charge of the egg hunt. Charlotte Algood and Be'Be' Schelver will be in charge of the feast. Thanks goes out in advance to all of you who are helping with this occasion!
Fasting Discipline for April
During Bright Week (the week following Pascha) there is no fasting of any kind. The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) will again be observed on the last Wednesday of the month.
Major Commemorations for April
April 20 PASCHA
April 23 Great-martyr George
April 27 Thomas Sunday
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 date for next meeting will be set sometime soon. Please let Father John know by text or e-mail if you will be there, so that plans may be made for the meal.
Canned food drive: The Christian Education classes are collecting canned good s for the needy.
Suggestions on use of the Cry Room:
-- Please remember you're in liturgy when you're in the cry room.
-- Its main purpose should be a place for parents to take their children if they're being disruptive during liturgy, staying for 5-10 minutes (or until the child is calmed down) and then returning to liturgy.
-- It should not be used as a main sitting area during the liturgy.
-- Children should not be eating snacks or watching electronic devices while in the cry room.
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).
Vacation Church School: We will be holding our Vacation Church School on Thursday-Saturday, June 26-28. The focus of this year's school will be on educating our children about the lives of their Name-Saints and of Sts. Peter and Paul. After Pascha, Sam Habeeb will be looking for volunteers to help with this wonderful program.
Happy Birthdays in April:
April 4 -- Denis Lavric
April 6 -- John Wood (#21!)
April 11 -- Brandon Strain (#12!)
April 12 -- Lily Dabit
April 15 -- Anna Grace Dansereau (#1!)
April 26 -- Alexander Andrei (#2!)
Happy Anniversaries in April:
April 11 -- Simon and Rola Karam (#4!)
April 12 -- Mike and Cheryl Pigott (#33!)
April 28 -- Anthony and Athena Zouboukos (#24!)
Quotable: "The Sign of the Cross is likewise a prayer. It is an appeal to Heaven made in the Name of Him Who in submission to the Will of His Father, 'humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross' (Phil. 2:8); of Him Who declared, 'If you ask the Father anything in My Name He will give it to you' (John 16:23). Hence we begin and end our devotions with the Sign of the Cross in order that our petitions may be more acceptable at the Throne of Grace."
"When we are assured by Christians of all ages, but especially by those of the first centuries, that we have at our command so powerful a weapon in the Sign of the Cross, it is much to be regretted that we do not make better use of it in our times. Never did the world array before the child of God enemies so numerous or so insidious as at the present time. They assail him on every side, not only with sword and fire, but with false philosophies, with pride of intellect, with religious indifference, with, materialism, with denial of God. It is more difficult to combat a lifetime against these enemies than it would be to gain the Martyr's crown in a momentary struggle in the amphitheater. If for the first Christians, trained in the school of the Apostles and their immediate successors, the frequent use of the Sign of the Cross was so necessary, is it not also indispensable to us? Let us then follow the pious custom of our Fathers in the Faith and make the Sign of the Cross more frequently."
Rev. Fr. David F. Abramtsov, The Orthodox Companion
Worship: Sunday, April 27, 2014 (Thomas Sunday)
Scripture: Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Mildred Morris
Prosphora: D. Root
Coffee Hour: Algood/Yeatts/Lasseter