St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Newsletter

Transcription

1 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Newsletter Diocese of Toledo-Orthodox Church in America 2143 S. Center Road Burton, Michigan Served by: Fr. Matthew-Peter Butrie Deacon Kerry Luke Gonser Website: Church Office: Services: Sunday 9:30 am Hours Wednesday- 9:30 am Divine Liturgy replaced by 10 am Lenten Hours during Lent Adult Class 11 am Saturday 5 pm Vespers followed by Confessions Holydays: Vespers & Liturgy as announced But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. St. Jude 1:20 APRIL 2018 St. Paisios the Aghiorite Suppose two men are sitting at the table to eat. In front of them, there is a plate with ten peaches. If one of them greedily eats seven peaches leaving three for his friend, he is being unfair to him, this is injustice. Instead, if he says: Well, we are two and the peaches are ten. So, each one of us is entitled to eat five peaches. If he eats the five peaches and leaves the other five for his friend, then he applies human justice; that is why, many times, we go to court to find human justice. However, if he understands that his friend likes peaches very much, he can pretend that he is not very fond of them and eat only one, and then says to him: Please eat the rest of the peaches, as I don t really like them; besides, my stomach aches and I should not eat any more. This person has divine justice; he prefers to be unfair to himself by human standards and be rewarded for his sacrifice by God s grace, which he will abundantly receive. The true Christian must never condemn, or press charges against his fellow men, even if someone takes by force his clothes. There is a difference between those people who believe in Christ and those who do not. Christians abide by the law of divine justice whereas the unfaithful ones by the law of human justice.

2 FROM FATHER S DESK Beloved in Christ: Christ is risen! Christos voskrese! Christos anesti! This is that chosen and holy day, first of Sabbaths, the King and Lord of days, Feast of feasts, holy day of holy days. On this day we bless Christ forevermore! We rejoice on this day at the Resurrection of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. He has triumphed over death by enduring death. He has delivered us from the fear of death by His own death and resurrection. Having been rescued from the fear of death, we should no longer be slaves to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus who is our Passover. We gather at the very first of any of our Paschal banquets on Pascha night We stand about the altar of the Lord where bread and wine will become for us the rich banquet of faith that is the Body and Blood of Christ. In place of the Passover lamb our Lord gives Himself to us as our Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He gives to us His most pure Body and His precious Blood under the appearance of bread and wine, mystically transformed by the Holy Spirit. The first food we eat on this day of Resurrection is the Body and Blood of our Savior, given to us for the forgiveness of our sins and for life everlasting. Let us rejoice this day in that we have so gracious a Savior who spares nothing for us. Enduring death that He may destroy the power of death. Let us come to receive the riches of His goodness that is His very self in Holy Communion. Let us rejoice with one another as we, even in the middle of the night, welcome the Resurrection of our Lord. As we gather for our paschal meals with family on Pascha, wherever we are, whether at home or dining out, let us pray the hymn of the feast, Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. It is Christ who makes this day sacred. It is His resurrection that gives meaning to our celebrations with family and friends, with food and with drink. Let us celebrate the feast with awareness that not only our celebrations but our faith has as its foundation this singular day of Christ s Resurrection. Let us proclaim to one another again and again with joy throughout these forty days of rejoicing, Christ is risen! Christos anesti Christos voskrese! With love in the risen Christ,

3 Third Hour Schedule April May June 1 Calvin 6 Lucy 3 Calvin 8 No Hours 13 Calvin 10 Angelo 15 Lucy 20 Angelo 17 Lucy 22 Calvin 27 Lucy 24 Calvin 29 Angelo If you are unable to make your assigned reading date, you must find a replacement. Reader Schedule April May June 1 Angelo 6 Angelo 3 Angelo 8 Amir 13 Johnny 10 Johnny 15 Johnny 20 Taras 17 Taras 22 Taras 27 Amir 24 Amir 29 Amir If you are unable to make your assigned reading date, you must find a replacement. BOOK CLUB will resume meeting on Tuesday, April 24 th at 6 pm. The topic has yet to be decided. You can Father Deacon Michael at frdnmike@gmail.com. COIN BOXES Each Lent, we collect coins to help support the OCA Missions here in the US and around the world. Boxes are found on the tables in the church hall. Please be generous. THOMAS SUNDAY Father Matthew will be blessing graves at St. Nicholas Cemetery on Sunday, April 15. The Trisagion Service will be served at the Cross, starting at 2 pm. Individual grave blessings will follow. April May June HOPE IN A BOX Deodorant Bar & Hand Soap Laundry Soap VIGIL AT THE TOMB OF THE LORD It is traditional to keep a vigil at the Tomb of our Lord from Great Friday evening until the Great Saturday s Liturgy and then until the midnight service. The Vigil is from Friday, April 6 at 10 pm until Saturday, April 7 at 10 am and then from 1 pm until 10:30 pm. If you are interested, please stnicholasburtonmi@gmail.com, call the office at or sign your name to the sign-up sheet in the hall. HOLY WEEK & BRIGHT WEEK There is a schedule of all of the services for Holy Week and Bright Week included in this month s newsletter. Please plan to attend as many services as possible during this time. ALL PARISHIONERS Your help will be needed as we get closer to Pascha. Your help will also be needed twice on Great and Holy Friday. First, after the morning Royal Hours your help will be needed to set up and decorate the Tomb of our Lord for Vespers. Second, after the Lamentations that evening your help will be needed to change over all the candles from purple to white. The red eggs for Pascha will also be prepared this day. Please stay and lend a hand! GOOD FRIDAY We look to the children and young adults to assist Father during the Vespers Service (3 pm) and at the Lamentations Service (6:30 pm). As Father removes the image of the body of Christ from the Crucifix at Vespers, they help by holding the winding sheet and covering the icon for Father. And, at the evening service, the young ladies of the parish (as well as family and friends), are invited to join in by sprinkling the Tomb with Rose water during the Lamentations. After, the girls help lead the Procession by scattering flower petals before the Tomb and our other young people are invited to join in by bearing various instruments of the Passion. PASCHAL VESPERS It is customary at this service to read the Gospel in various languages. If anyone would like to read the Gospel in a language other than English at this service, please contact the office as soon as possible.

4 PASCHAL GREETING When we greet on another we usually say Hello or How are you. For the celebration of the Lord s Resurrection we have a special greeting to offer on another: Christ is Risen! and we respond with Indeed, He is Risen! When we come to venerate the Cross after the Divine Services Father Matthew will offer this greeting and we respond: Indeed, He is Risen! PASCHA EGG HUNT Monetary donations are being accepted this year to help defray the expenses involved for this event. We are also in need of someone to coordinate the event, which takes place on Thomas Sunday (April 15). Please see Matushka Lisa for details. QUARTERLY STATEMENTS will be sent out this month. In order to save on the cost of printing & postage you can receive your statement via . If you would like to receive it this way please Marcia at stnicholasburtonmi@gmail.com. You will only receive quarterly statements if you marked weekly or monthly giving on your pledge card, otherwise you ll get a yearend statement. BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES BIRTHDAYS 7 Danni Burns Kristal George David Houser Nancy Krigner Aretoula Nedanis 9 Athena Adkisson Julius Kristopher-David Chevalier 11 Majd Helal Jennifer Borkovich Katherine Economou 12 Helen Popoff 13 Popadia Amanda Vázquez 14 Irina Sivergina 16 Mia Jonascu Dimitrios Nedanis Anastasia Pirkovic Bob Steiner 22 Jenna Paul 24 Sharon George 26 George Jonascu 28 George Brown Timothy Seeley 29 Tammy Sapardanis 30 Vickie Borkovich Les Ford Fred Paul WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES 21 Germanos & Lena Bakousidis NAMESDAYS 10 Alexander Ahejew Alexander Gonser Alexander Grossi Alex Karayanis Alex Nedanis 13 Zoe Grace Batzos (Bright Friday) Zoe Karayanis Zoe Koski Zoe Stavridis Zoe Conover 14 Tammy Adkisson Tammy Sapardanis 16 Shari Marie Nicoloff 22 Nathan Nicevski 23 Alexa Isabelle Stevens Carli Alexa Nicoloff Fred (George) Paul George Brown Richard George Elieff George Jonascu George Popoff Georgiana Adkisson Roseanne (Alexandra) Bagale Sandra Ahejew Sandra Grossi Sandy Spankie 24 Brian (Branko) Mitevski 25 Marc Ethington Mark Houser 30 Jacob Abu-Aita James Allen James Binelli James Grossi James Hart

5 MANY YEARS! Kelly and Philip Bakousidis welcomed their babies on Wednesday, March 7, Anastasios Germanos and Isabella Todora. Grandparents are Gerry & Lena Bakousidis. Stephanie and Kraig Houser welcomed their daughter, Brooke Elizabeth on Thursday, March 8. Grandparents are Dave and Marla Houser and great-grandmother Allison Borkovich. May God grant to them all many and blessed years! MEMORY ETERNAL CHRIST IS RISEN! Nicholas Maxim, husband of Constance Maxim, fell asleep in the Lord on Monday, March 12 and was buried from church on March 14. May God grant him rest among the saints! VISITATION TO THE SICK Fr. Matthew brings Holy Communion to the shut-ins on Mondays. If you would like to be added to this list, please contact the office. Presently, those receiving weekly visits are: Gloria Zelenko, Betty Dimich, Fred Oginsky, and Helen Ashmun. Monthly Fr. Matthew visits Larry Bladecki (Bay City) and Peter and Olga Samaras (Caro). Rememeber these persons in prayer: Larry Bladecki Deacon John Bocek Anna Branoff Linda Branoff Gladys Edwards Paul Ellis Susan Goodman Jo Ann Havens Bill Haw Goldie Johnson Mary Karayanis Nick Karayanis Macy Lemmen Fred Oginsky Ron Salhany Peter Samaras Olga Samaras Bill Tadrick Wendy Tadrick Gloria Zelenko To aid in your outreach, here is a listing of the addresses and phone numbers of our Homebound: Helen Ashmun 4436 Beecher Rd. Flint, MI Larry Bladecki th Street Bay City, MI Nick & Marge Butrie 30 E. Bertsch St. #12 Lansford, PA Betty Dimich Heartland-Briarwood 3011 Center Rd Flint, MI Gladys Edwards 2 Harbor Dr. St. Clair, MO Paul Ellis 2360 Stonebridge Dr. Flint, MI Goldie Johnson 3215 W. Mount Hope Ave. Apt. 142 Lansing, MI Pete & Olga Samaras 1285 Cleaver Rd. Caro, MI Gloria Zelenko 5370 E. Baldwin Rd. #503 Grand Blanc, MI Janice Jackson 2315 Costa Verde Blvd. Jacksonville, FL ST. CATHERINE LEAGUE UPDATE: Thank you to St. John the Baptist Serbian lodge for providing such a generous donation of $5, to our Kitchen project. We greatly appreciated your kindness and support. Thank you again. Our next meeting: April 17, 2018, St. Nicholas Church Hall at 5:00 p.m.. GRADUATIONS It s that time of year again. If you have anyone in your family that will be graduating from High School or College please let us know so that we may put their name in our June bulletin. We will need the following information no later than May, 15 th. 1) Name of Graduate 2) School they are graduating from 3) If they are graduating with honors 4) Name of the parents and grandparents and 5) Where they will be attending in the fall if they are a high school graduate.

6 Special Donations for Lent, Holy Week & Pascha I wish to donate: Palm Strips ($70.00) 2 available Palm Fans ($60.00) 1 available Donated Wreath for the Cross - Third Sunday of Lent ($115.00) 1 available Wreath for the Cross Good Friday ($125.00) Donated Flowers for the Priest s Cross - Pascha ($30.00) Donated Flower Blanket for the Holy Tomb ($170) 1 available Candles for the Altar ($90) Donated Candle for the Priest ($90) Donated Candles for the Holy Grave ($15) 1 available ½ lb. Incense ($30.00) 2 available Rose Water ($25) 1 available Eggs for Pascha ($30) 14 doz. available Red Dye for Eggs ($50) 30 pkts. available In honor of (for the living) Or, in memory of (departed) Your Name: Amount: $ The names of those honored or memorialized will be published on a later date

7 Schedule for Holy Week, Pascha & Bright Week LAZARUS SATURDAY, MARCH 31 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy at St. Mary Magdalene 5:00 PM Great Vespers w/litiya PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 1 8:00 AM Matins 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy w/procession 6:30 PM Bridegroom Matins Last day for Confessions before Pascha GREAT & HOLY MONDAY, APRIL 2 9:00 AM Presanctified 6:30 PM Bridegroom Matins GREAT & HOLY TUESDAY, APRIL 3 9:00 AM Presanctified 6:30 PM Bridegroom Matins GREAT & HOLY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 9:00 AM Presanctified 6:30 PM Holy Unction / Matins of Holy Thursday GREAT & HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 5 9:00 AM Vesperal Liturgy 6:30 PM Passion Matins GREAT & HOLY FRIDAY, APRIL 6 9:00 AM Royal Hours 3:00 PM Vespers 6:30 PM Jerusalem Matins with Lamentations GREAT & HOLY SATURDAY, APRIL 7 10:00 AM Vesperal Liturgy 12:00 PM Simple Blessing of Paschal Foods 10:30 PM Nocturnes 11:00 PM Myrrhbearers Rush Procession Matins of the Resurrection 12:00 AM Divine Liturgy followed by the blessing of Paschal eggs, food and fellowship HOLY PASCHA, APRIL 8 10:30 AM Paschal Hours 11:00 AM Paschal Vespers BRIGHT MONDAY, APRIL 9 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy with procession and Gospels Paschal brunch by Fr. Matthew & Matushka Lisa 10:00 AM Liturgy at St. Mary Magdalene Church BRIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 10 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy (Slavonic) Communion Calls Bay City & Caro BRIGHT WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11 6:00 PM Divine Liturgy BRIGHT FRIDAY, APRIL 13 10:30 AM Divine Liturgy at Assumption BRIGHT SATURDAY, APRIL 14 6:00 PM Vespers (note the time, for this Sat. only) THOMAS SUNDAY, APRIL 15 9:30 AM Third Hour 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy 2:00 PM Paschal Commemoration of the Fallen Asleep at St. Nicholas Cemetery

8 ORDER OF PROCESSION FOR GREAT FRIDAY AND PASCHA Matins on Great Friday Processional Cross Processional Fan Torches Instruments of the Passion Wooden Clappers Girls with flower petals Incense Censer Holy Tomb of our Lord Gospel Procession Wardens Subdeacon 2 Altar Servers Altar Servers Church School Students Subdeacon Church School Students Altar Servers Deacon 8 men- Tom Batzos, Bob Steiner, Amir Abu-Aita, Nicholas Nicoloff, Paul Brayan, Jordan Abu-Aita, Jacob Abu- Aita, Calvin Conrad Priest Bob Russell, Dave Houser, Bob Steiner Resurrection Procession on Pascha Processional Cross Processional Fans Torches Icons Holy Theotokos Icon Myrrhbearers Icon St. Catherine Icon St. Juliana Icon Resurrection Icon Gospel Assistants to Priest Censer Resurrection Candle Choir and People follow Procession Wardens Church Set-Up Subdeacon 2 Altar Servers Altar Servers Kathy Gonser Shari Nicoloff Christine Panoff Debbie Neely Susie Ford Sharon Jernigan Subdeacon Deacon Priest Bob Russell, Bob Steiner, Tim Seeley Dave Houser, Dennis Jernigan & Dennis Goodman, Charlie Jernigan PLEASE inform the office if you are unable to participate in the processions

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10 $36.00 Single Space for 6 months $50.00 Double Space for 6 months $65.00 Triple Space for 6 months

11 Flowers for Great Friday & Pascha The offering for Lilies (3 plants per pot) will be $30, Hyacinths (3 bulbs per pot) $20, Hydrangeas (Medium) $25, Daffodils (4 bulbs per pot) $15 & Large Boston Ferns (10 ) will be $30. Please fill out the form below as soon as possible. There are a limited number of plants available. We will be ordering 12 Lilies, 4 Daffodils, 4 Hyacinths, 4 Hydrangeas and 4 ferns. Donations will be taken on a first come, first served basis. Please return the form to the office or put it in the collection basket on Sunday. The names of those honored or memorialized will be published on a later date. I wish to donate: Triple Lilies ($30.00) 3 available Large Hyacinth arrangement ($20.00) Donated Medium Hydrangeas ($25.00) Donated Large Daffodils ($15.00) Donated Large Boston Ferns ($30.00) 3 available In honor of (for the living) Or, in memory of (departed) Your Name: Amount: $

12 APRIL 2018 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church 2143 S. Center Rd. Burton, MI Website: Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat PALM SUNDAY 2 9:30 am Hours Last Confessions before Pascha 6:30 pm Bridegroom HOLY MONDAY 9 am St. George 6:30 pm Bridegroom Matins 3 HOLY TUESDAY 9 am St. George 6:30 pm Bridegroom Matins 4 HOLY WEDNESDAY 9 am St. George 6:30 pm Holy Unction 5 HOLY THURSDAY 9 am Vesperal Liturgy 6:30 pm Passion Matins 6 HOLY FRIDAY 9 am Royal Hours 3 pm Vespers 6:30 pm Jerusalem Matins 7 HOLY SATURDAY 10 am Vesperal Liturgy 12 pm Simple Blessing 10:30 pm Nocturnes 11 pm Procession/ Matins/Divine Liturgy 8 Fast Free PASCHA 10:30 am Paschal Hours 11 am Paschal Vespers 9 Fast Free BRIGHT MONDAY 9:30 am Divine Liturgy Paschal Brunch 10 am Liturgy at St. Mary Magdalene 10 Fast Free BRIGHT TUESDAY Communion calls in Bay City & Caro 9:30 am Liturgy (Slavonic) 11 Fast Free BRIGHT WEDNESDAY Father in Toledo 6 pm Vesperal Liturgy 12 Fast Free BRIGHT THURSDAY 13 Fast Free BRIGHT FRIDAY 10:30 am Liturgy at Assumption 14 Fast Free BRIGHT SATURDAY 6 pm Vespers (note time) 15 St. Thomas Sunday 9:30 am Hours Egg Hunt 2 pm St. Nicholas Cemetery 16 Submission deadline for May newsletter 17 5 pm St Catherine s League 6:30 pm Parish Council meeting 18 9:30 am Liturgy 11 am Adult Ed pm Vespers 22 Myrrhbearing Women :30 am Hours 6 pm Book Club 9:30 am Liturgy 11 am Adult Ed 5 pm Vespers 29 Sunday of the Paralytic 9:30 am Hours 30 Fast Dairy Permitted (no meat) Wine & Oil Permitted (no meat) Fish Permitted (no other meat)

13 MAY 2018 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church 2143 S. Center Rd. Burton, MI Website: Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Father in Toledo 6 pm Book Club 2 Midfeast of Pentecost 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 11 am Adult Ed. 3 9:am to 12:30 pm North End Soup Kitchen pm Vespers 6 Samaritan Woman 9:30 Third Hour Church School Bingo 7 Father in Toledo 8 St. John the Theologian 6 pm Book Club 6:30 pm Parish Council 9 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 11 am Adult Ed Ss Cyril & Methodius 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 12 5 pm Vespers 13 Man Born Blind 9:30 Third Hour Church School Father in Toledo 6 pm Book Club Submission deadline for June newsletter 16 Leave-taking of Pascha No morning Liturgy No Adult Ed. 6 pm Combined Liturgy at St George 17 ASCENSION OF OUR LORD Wedding of Teddy Stavridis & Jessica Newberry No Vespers 20 Fathers 1 st Council 9:30 Third Hour Church School pm Book Club 23 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 11 am Adult Ed Third Finding of the Head of St John the Baptist 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 26 Memorial (Souls ) Saturday 9 am Evergreen (inside the chapel) Trisagion 12:30 pm Crestwood 1:30 pm Sunset Hills 2:30 pm New Calvary 5 pm Vespers 27 PENTECOST 9:30 Third Hour Church School 2 pm St. Nicholas Cemetery 28 PENTECOST MONDAY MEMORIAL DAY No Fast 29 No Fast 6 pm Book Club 30 No Fast 9:30 am Divine Liturgy 11 am Adult Ed. 31 No Fast Fast Dairy Permitted (no meat) Wine & Oil Permitted (no meat) Fish Permitted (no other meat) PENTECOST WEEK - FAST-FREE WEEK