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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Homily for September 14, 2014
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Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church
Madison, Mississippi
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
12/7 announcements
December 7, 2014
Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Ephesians 5:8-19: St Paul exhorts us to walk as wise men by doing the will of God and avoiding the deeds of darkness.
Luke 13:10-17: By healing a woman held in bondage to an illness for eighteen years, our Lord demonstrates that the Law does not prohibit righteous action on the Sabbath.
Troparion of the Resurrection: The stone being sealed by the Jews, and thy pure body being guarded by the soldiers, thou didst arise on the third day, O Saviour, granting life to the world. Wherefore, the heavenly powers acclaimed thee, O Giver of life, crying, Glory to thy Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to thy kingdom! Glory to thy gracious providence, O only Lover of mankind.
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 7 (Twenty-sixth 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 8
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, December 9 (Conception of the Theotokos)
NO Daily Orthros
11:30 a.m. -- Ladies' Lunch
Wednesday, December 10
6:30 p.m. -- Advent Paraklesis
Thursday, December 11
Friday, December 12 (St. Spyridon the Wonder-worker)
Saturday, December 13
10:00 a.m. -- Ladies meet for Akathist
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, December 14 (Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost; Holy Forefathers)
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 Hendersons for the Feast of St. Nicholas yesterday morning and by the Algoods for the Divine Liturgy today.
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.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
December 7 Algood Ellis/Zouboukos/Fahmy
December 14 Katool Pigott/Bock/Strain
December 21 Schelver Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker
December 24 (Wed pm) Morris Cheryl Pigott/Kh. Sharon Meadows
(Feast of the Nativity of our Lord)
December 28 Jones D. Root/Dansereau
December 31 (Wed pm) Meadows (Artoklasia Bread for Great Vespers with Litia & Artoklasia)
(Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord and the Feastday 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 7 Mildred Morris Eph. 5:8-19 217
December 14 Phillip Lasseter Col. 3:4-11 233
December 21 Kh. Be'Be' Schelver Heb. 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40 348
December 24 Tom Skirtech Gal. 4:4-7 351
December 28 David Turner Gal. 1:11-19 188
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.
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 continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
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.
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.
* As is our parish custom, we will celebrate the Advent Paraklesis service to the Theotokos in place of Daily Vespers on Wednesday evenings, beginning November 19th, at 6:30 p.m.
* The Christian Education classes will present a special program during Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 14th.
* Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon Seminary will be speaking at St. Peter's February 1-4, 2015.
Young Adults Study Group: The Young Adults agreed to begin meeting twice a month. One of these meetings will feature a teaching by Fr. John on various aspects of the Orthodox Christian faith. Topics will include education, ethics and parenting children. The next meetings will be Sunday, December 7th and 21st.
Lower Mississippi Valley Teen Retreat: The Teen Retreat will be February 13-15, 2015 at Roosevelt State Park. The speaker for the retreat will be Heiromonk Benedict (Josuah Armitage). His topic will be "Dealing with Doubts about God." We are very excited to have Fr. Benedict come to address this important topic with our teens! Be sure to mark your calendars now.
Fasting Discipline for December
Beginning November 15th, the first day of the Nativity Fast, the traditional fasting (no meat, dairy, eggs, 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 9 Conception of the Theotokos
December 12 Spyridon the Wonder-worker
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
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 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 (#15!)
-- Eli Milnor (#2!)
December 28 -- Sheryl Chamblee
Happy Anniversaries in December:
December 21 -- Fr. John and Kh. Janet Henderson (#40!)
Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, will visit St. Peter's February 1-4, 2015. He will speak at our church on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. His topic will be "The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation." We are priviledged to have a man of Dr. Veniamin's stature with us. This promises to be a most edifying and instructive time for our church. Please put these dates on your calendar and plan to be here.
Thermostats in the Fellowship Hall: There are two thermostats in the Fellowship Hall—one in the main room to control the air in the main room, and a second one in the Nursery room that controls the air in all four of the Sunday School rooms. Please be sure when you leave the building that both thermostats are set to 80 degrees in warm weather or 60 degrees in cold weather.
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.
Quotable: "'Which is better: to pray with the lips or with the mind?' The answer is that we must use both forms: pray sometimes in words, sometimes with the mind. But it is necessary to explain here that mental prayer also involves the use of words which in this case are not heard, but are only pronounced within the heart. It is better put in this way: Pray sometimes with sounding words, and sometimes inaudibly with words that are soundless. But it is necessary to take care that both sounding and soundless prayer should come from the heart."
St. Theophan the Recluse
from The Art of Prayer compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo
Worship: Sunday, December 14, 2014 (Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost; Sunday
of the Holy Forefathers)
Scripture: Colossians 3:4-11; Luke 14:16-24
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Phillip Lasseter
Prosphora: Katool
Coffee Hour: Pigott/Brock/Strain
