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
Friday, January 09, 2015
1/11 announcements
January 11, 2015
Sunday after Theophany
Theodosius the Great, Head of Monasteries
Hebrews 13:7-16: St Paul encourages us in his letter to the Hebrews, reminding us of the unchanging nature of Jesus Christ, Who has sanctified us through His own blood.
Matthew 4:12-17: Jesus settles in Capernaum after the imprisonment of John the Baptist and there began His public ministry, preaching a gospel of repentance.
Troparion of the Resurrection: When Mary stood at thy grave looking for thy sacred body, angelic powers shone above thy revered tomb, and the soldiers who were to keep guard became as dead men. Thou led hades captive and wast not tempted thereby. Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst give life to the world; O thou who art risen from the dead! O Lord, glory to thee.
Troparion of Theophany: By thy baptism, O Lord, in the River Jordan, worship to the Trinity has made its appearance; for the voice of the Lord didst come forth to thee with the testimony, naming thee beloved Son; and the Spirit in the likeness of a dove, confirming the truth of the word. Wherefore, O thou who didst appear and light the world, glory to thee.
Troparion of St. Theodosius: The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles a hundred-fold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Father Theodosius, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
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 Theophany: Today thou hast appeared to the universe, O Lord, and thy light hast been shed upon us, who praise thee with knowledge, saying, Thou hast come and appeared, O unapproachable Light.
CALENDAR
Sunday, January 11 (Sunday after Theophany)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
4:00 p.m. -- Blessing of the Waters at the Reservoir
Monday, January 12
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, January 13
6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros
Wednesday, January 14
6:30 p.m. -- Daily Vespers
7:30 p.m. -- Choir Practice
Thursday, January 15
6:00 p.m. -- Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy
Friday, January 16 (Veneration of the Chains of St. Peter)
Saturday, January 17
8:30 a.m. -- Workday at the Church
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, January 4 (Sts. Athanasius & Cyril of Alexandria)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
5:00 p.m. -- Young Adults
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Davises for the Feast of Theophany this past Monday evening and by the Daniel Roots for the Divine Liturgy today.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
January 11 D. Root R. Root/Abraham/Habeeb
January 15 (Thurs pm) Abraham Anastasia Jones
(Feast of the Chains of St. Peter)
January 18 Karam Schelver/Lavric/Turner
January 25 Brock Henderson/Baker/Lockhart
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.
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#
January 11 Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 13:7-16 365
January 15 (Thurs pm) Kh. Sharon Meadows Acts 12:1-11 50-51
January 18 Warren Strain Heb. 13:7-16 365
January 25 Mildred Morris Heb. 7:26-8:2 334
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.
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.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, 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;
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.
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 custom, we will hold the Annual Blessing of the Water at Old Trace Park at the Ross Barnett Reservoir with the other Orthodox Churches in the area TODAY, 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 Thursday evening, January 15th with Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
* Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon Seminary will be speaking at St. Peter's February 1-4, 2015.
House Blessings! A sign-up sheet is available in the Fellowship Hall to sign up for your house blessing. You may also e-mail Father John at frjohnc@bellsouth.net with 3 dates for your blessing. Please schedule these as soon as possible. Everyone should have their home blessed. However, the responsibility for scheduling lies with individuals and not with Father John. No house blessings will be done once Great Lent starts (February 23rd this year).
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, January 25th and February 8th.
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.
Fasting Discipline for January
The traditional fasting (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on the remaining Wednesdays and Fridays of the month.
Major Commemorations for January
January11 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
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.
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 Anniversaries in January:
January 10 -- Bob and Georgia Buchanan (#28!)
January 17 -- Chris and Rebecca Dansereau (#6!)
January 19 -- Ramzi and Jean Kafoury (#12!)
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
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: "We may distinguish three stages:
1. The habit of ordinary oral prayer in church and at home.
2. The union of prayerful thoughts and feelings with the mind and heart.
3. Unceasing prayer.
The Jesus Prayer may go with both of the first two, but its real place is with unceasing prayer. The principal condition for success in prayer is the purification of the heart from passions and from every attachment to things sensual. Without this, prayer will remain all the time in the first or oral degree. The more the heart is purified, the more oral prayer will become of the mind in the heart, and when the heart becomes quite pure, then unceasing prayer will be established. How can this be done? In church, follow the service and retain the thoughts and feelings which you experience there. At home, awake in yourself the thought and feeling of prayer, and maintain them in your soul with the help of the Jesus Prayer."
St. Theophan the Recluse
from The Art of Prayer compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo
Worship: Sunday, January 18, 2015 (Sts. Athanasius & Cyril of Alexandria)
Scripture: Hebrews 13:7-16; Luke 17:12-19
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Warren Strain
Prosphora: Karam
Coffee Hour: Schelver/Lavric/Turner
