Cedars Society President: MARYLOU LAZOS N.A.M.Y. Advisor: ROBIN ANDERSON

Transcription

1 our lady OF THE CEDARS CHURCH A MELKITE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 140 MITCHELL STREET, MANCHESTER, NH TEL # (603) FAX # (603) oloc.church@comcast.net Website: REV. THOMAS P. STEINMETZ, Pastor RT. REV. ANDRE ST. GERMAIN (retired) REV. ROGER BOUCHER - Weekend Ministry REV. THEOPHAN LEONARCZYK, Eparchial Chancellor "Enter the Church and repent... for here is the physician, not the judge. Here one is not investigated, one receives remission of sins." (St. John Chrysostom) Sept. 11, 2016 The Fourth Festive Day of the Nativity of the Theotokos The Commemoration of our Holy Mother Theodora of Alexandria THE SUNDAY BEFORE THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS Parish Advisory& Finance Council: KEN MONTY (PRESIDENT), RICHARD ASHOOH, ROBERT ANDERSON, ROBIN ANDERSON, MARY CULLEN, MARTHA DAGHER, MARYLOU LAZOS, TERRI LEONARCZYK, MATTHEW LOMANNO, PAUL MANSUR, NAJWA MOUSSOBA, PAUL ST. GERMAIN, AND CHRISTELLE SLAYBE Parish Secretary: ROBIN ANDERSON Sunday School Coordinator: MARTHA DAGHER Cedars Society President: MARYLOU LAZOS N.A.M.Y. Advisor: ROBIN ANDERSON HOLY MYSTERY OF CONFESSION: Before or after any service, or by appointment; HOLY MYSTERY OF CHRISTIAN ILLUMINATION: Please contact the clergy in advance to arrange for the required baptismal instructions; HOLY MYSTERY OF CROWNING: At least six months prior to the proposed wedding, please contact the clergy to arrange for the required interview and instructions; HOLY MYSTERY OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Please contact the pastor at any time when this sacrament is needed; HOLY COMMUNION FOR THE SICK: Anyone too infirm to attend our services may receive Communion in the home. Please advise the clergy whenever this sacrament is needed.

2 THE ORDER OF TODAY S LITURGY The Troparion of the Resurrection (8 th Tone): Page 54 The Troparion of the Nativity of the Theotokos (4 th Tone): Your nativity, O Mother of God, heralded joy to the whole universe, for from you rose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God. Taking away the curse, He imparted the blessings, and by abolishing Death, He gave us everlasting life. The Troparion of the Dormition of the Theotokos (1 st Tone): Page 16 Kondakion of the Nativity of the Theotokos (4 th Tone): Through your holy birth, O Immaculate One, Joachim and Anne were delivered from the shame of childlessness, and Adam and Eve from the corruption of death. Your people redeemed from the debt of their sins celebrate your birth crying out to you: The barren one gives birth to the Mother of God, the sustainer of our life. THE PROKIMENON: O LORD, SAVE YOUR PEOPLE AND BLESS YOUR INHERITANCE! To You, O Lord, I have called! O my Rock, be not deaf to me! Today s Readings: Galatians 6: and John 3: LITURGY INTENTIONS Saturday 4:30 PM: For the repose of Matthew Wnuk, by Matthew Holland For the repose of Philip George (5 th ), Carmine Abookalil (41 st ) and Joseph Stephen(38 th ) Sunday, 11:00 AM: For the repose of Bernice King (1 yr anniversary), by her son Jim Morin For the repose of Salwa Sleiman, who departed this life on Aug. 31 For the repose of the deceased members of the Nehme Family, by Joe and Sherry Nehme For the health of Joe Boyle and Elona Lucas, by Bob and Robin Anderson Next Saturday (Sept. 17), 4:30 PM: For the repose of Zahia Fawaz (32 nd ), Queenie Ashooh (53 rd ), Matilda Bachaalani (35 th ), Josephine Najin (73 rd ), Farida Telage (37 th ), Malvina Azzi (14 th ), Mitchell Burkush (42 nd ), Queenie Duffy (29 th ), and Wilfred Macaulay (42 nd ) Next Sunday (Sept. 18), 11:00 AM: For the repose of Louise Ashooh, by Roger and Sandra Paradis

3 THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS In the early Fourth Century, St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, was seeking the holy sites in Jerusalem when the True Cross of Christ was discovered. It is said that miraculous signs helped identify the Cross, including the restoration to health of a dying woman. This feast commemorates the recovery of the True Cross and has great importance in both the East and the West. It is a celebration of the glory of Christ and Christianity, and of the Lord s victory over sin and death. This great feast will commemorated with a celebration of Divine Liturgy on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM. At the end of the Liturgy we will celebrate the victory of the Cross by carrying a relic of the True Cross in a procession. This will be followed by distribution of flowers and an invitation to come forward and venerate this precious and sacred relic. St. Theodora was a young woman and wife from Alexandria. She committed adultery with another man and immediately felt the bitter pangs of conscience. She cut her hair, dressed in men s clothing and entered the Monastery of Octodecatos, under the male name of Theodore. Her labor, fasting, vigilance, humbleness and tearful repentance amazed the entire brotherhood. A young woman slandered her, saying that Theodore had made her pregnant, Theodora remained silent. Banished from the monastery, she spent seven years living in the wilderness, caring for the child of that girl, and overcoming diabolical temptations by making the sign of the Cross. After seven years, the abbot received her back into the monastery, where she lived for two more years, and reposed in the Lord. Only then did the monks learn that she was a woman; an angel appeared to the abbot and explained everything to him. Her husband came to the burial, and then remained in the cell of his former wife until his repose. Thus, God glorified a true penitent, who with heroic patience repented nine years for just one sin. She reposed in the year 490. Sunday School will begin on Sunday, Oct. 2. If your child is new to the Sunday School program, please register him/her by calling Martha Dagher at Attendance - Last Saturday 4:30 PM: 26 Sunday 11:00 AM: 88 Last Weekend s Collection: $ The average Sunday envelope donation: $ The balance remaining on our mortgage is: $ 83, SERVICES FOR THE WEEK Tues., Sept 13 7:00 PM Divine Liturgy: The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross Sat., Sept. 17 4:30 PM Divine Liturgy: The Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross Sun., Sept :15 AM Sunday Orthros Sun., Sept :00 AM Divine Liturgy: The Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross

4 .on the power of the Holy Cross: Many indeed are the wondrous happenings of that time: God hanging from a Cross, the sun made dark, and again flaming out; for it was fitting that creation should mourn with its Creator. The Temple veil rent, blood and water flowing from His side: the one as from a man, the other as from What was above man; the earth was shaken, the rocks shattered because of the Rock; the dead risen to bear witness of the final and universal resurrection of the dead. The happenings at the Sepulcher, and after the Sepulcher, who can fittingly recount them? Yet not one of them can be compared to the miracle of my salvation. A few drops of Blood renew the whole world, and do for all men what the rennet does for milk: joining us and binding us together. -St. Gregory the Theologian Of course, it would be easier to get to paradise with a full stomach, all snuggled up in a soft feather-bed, but what is required is to carry one's cross along the way, for the kingdom of God is not attained by enduring one or two troubles, but many! -Elder Anthony of Optina The cross is the door to mysteries. Through this door the intellect makes entrance in to the knowledge of heavenly mysteries. The knowledge of the cross is concealed in the sufferings of the cross. And the more our participation in its sufferings, the greater the perception we gain through the cross. For, as the Apostle says, `As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. -The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac of Syria Far be it for me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). So too is the Cross our boast. He does not say, `I boast not,' nor, `I will not boast,' but, `Far be it from me that I should,' as if he abominated it as absurd, and invoked the aid of God in order to his success therein. And what is the boast of the Cross? That Christ for my sake took on Him the form of a slave, and bore His sufferings for me the slave, the enemy, the unfeeling one; yea, He so loved me as to give Himself up to a curse for me. What can be comparable to this? -St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Galations The Lord accomplished our salvation by His death on the Cross: on the Cross He tore up the handwriting of our sins; through the Cross He reconciled us with our God and Father; and through the Cross He brought down upon us grace-filled gifts and all heavenly blessings. But this is the Lord s Cross itself. Each of us becomes a partaker of its salvific power in no other way than through our personal cross. When the personal cross of each of us is united with Christ s Cross, the power and effect of the latter is transferred to us and becomes, as it were, a conduit through which every good gift and every perfect grace (James 1:17) is poured forth upon us from the Cross of Christ. From this it is evident that the personal cross of each of us is as essential to the work of salvation as the Cross of Christ. -St Theophan the Recluse

5 An explanation of the icon of the Nativity of Mary Together, the Great Feasts serve to tell us the story of the Incarnation, which has its climax in the center of the year with the celebration of the Feast of Feasts Pascha. It is therefore fitting that the first Great Feast of the Church year, which begins in September, is that of the Nativity of the Theotokos. The Mother of God s birth was miraculous, not because she was born of a virgin, but instead because she was born of a man and his barren wife in their later years: Joachim and Anna. The icon of the Nativity of the Thetokos presents to us the central figures of Saints Joachim and Anna, Mary's parents, and the Mother of our Lord as an infant. Saint Anna is in the middle left of the icon gazing toward her daughter. Likewise, Saint Joachim, Mary's father, is gazing upon the young child, with his hand extended toward her. Anna is surrounded by attendants who have assisted with the birth. The actions of Joachim and Anna direct our attention to Mary as the central figure in this feast. As we look at the image of Mary we can see that even as a baby she is being identified to us as the Mother of God. The Greek letters above her head are an abbreviation for Mother of God, And although she is a newborn, she has a halo, reminding us that she was sanctified from birth to be the Mother of God. She wrapped in a red mantle, signifying that she will be the one to carry the Divine in her womb, and on the mantle, three stars signify her perpetual virginity. The cradle that she is lying in has windows, like a church. It represents the temple, and reminds us that Mary herself will become the living temple The icon also acknowledges the joy that was felt by Joachim and Anna as new parents with a child received through a promise from God. The liturgical texts of the feast remind us of this joy and confirm the special role of Mary as the Mother of the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ. At her birth, another step is made in sacred history in preparation for the entrance of Christ into the world. FISH FRY at Northeast Catholic College Fish Fry at Northeast Catholic College on Friday, September 16 from 5:00 7:00 p.m., 511 Kearsarge Mountain Road, Warner, NH. $10 per adult; $5 per child 6-12; 5 and under Free. Call for more information. Also, please visit our website

6 The Bridal Chamber of Christ OF ALL THE SHRINES and cathedrals throughout the Christian world there is nothing to equal the Anastasis, the Church of the Resurrection, in Jerusalem, known in the West as the Holy Sepulchre. The church complex includes the hill of Calvary, the place of Christ s death, and the tomb in which He was buried and from which He rose on the third day. Its dedication on September 13, 335 is remembered every year on this date on the Byzantine calendar. While the present form of the Anastasis dates from the mid-nineteenth century, its origins may be found at the beginning of the Christian Roman Empire, with the Equals to the Apostles, Sts Constantine and Helen. During the Roman persecution of Christians a pagan temple had been built on the site to bury the memory of Christ s tomb. The first Christian emperor, St Constantine, mounted an expedition, led by his mother St Helena, to restore and adorn the places associated with Christ s life. The pagan temple was demolished, and the Anastasis built on the site of Calvary and the tomb. The Anastasis is actually a complex of chapels and churches with the tomb of Christ at its center. According to the Gospel, Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb hewn out of the rock (Jn 19:41; Mt 27:60). The rock and earth around the tomb was removed and a kouvouklion or shrine built around it. Over the centuries it has been adorned with marble, hanging lamps, icons and other ornaments so that it bears little resemblance to the garden tomb in which Jesus was laid. The site, however, had been cherished by local Christians long before Constantine as the actual places where the Lord suffered His Passion. A rotunda, or circular enclosure, was build around the tomb to accommodate worshippers. At first it was open to the sky, but by the end of the fourth century a dome was constructed, enclosing the entire area. Besides the tomb of Christ, the Anastasis also contained a great basilica, called the martyrion, and a covered atrium over the rock of Calvary. These three separate structures were joined together in later years and several more chapels added, giving us the form we know today. Surviving the Centuries The Anastasis survived centuries of natural disasters as well as invasion and occupation by hostile forces. The church was almost destroyed by a fire in 614 during the Persian occupation of Jerusalem but restored after the Persians were driven out in 630. During Arab rule the church was damaged and then completely destroyed in AD 1009 by the so-called Mad Caliph, al-hakim. The shrine enclosing the tomb was buried in rubble which protected it from further damage. Rebuilding the Anastasis was negotiated in a peace treaty between the Arabs and the Byzantine Empire. It took twenty years of work to rebuild the church. Several small chapels

7 surrounding the principal shrines were added at that time. The Anastasis was often damaged and restored in centuries that followed. The most extensive damage resulted from a fire in The great dome collapsed, damaging the kouvouklion somewhat. Two earthquakes in the 1830s caused further damage. The reconstruction that followed was completed in Further restoration was needed after an earthquake in 1927 and extensive repairs were begun in 1958 and are still continuing. The Anastasis Today The number of Christian groups seeking use of the church caused frequent squabbles until 1852, when the Ottomans decreed an arrangement called the status quo which is still in force. It placed the administration of the church in the hands of the three oldest and largest Christian groups in Jerusalem, the Armenian, Greek and Latin Churches. The Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Churches also have certain sections allotted to their use. The Greek Catholic patriarchate is nearby, but not part of the Anastasis complex. Entrance to the Anastasis is through an open courtyard flanked by a Roman Catholic chapel to Our Lady of Sorrows and a Greek Orthodox chapel of St Mary the Egyptian who experienced her conversion at the door of the Anastasis. A Greek Orthodox monastery, the Gethsemane Metochion, is also accessed from this courtyard. The rotunda enclosing the Lord s tomb occupies approximately one-third of the church s main floor. Each day three Liturgies (Armenian, Greek and Latin) are offered in the tomb. The rotunda also contains a Coptic Orthodox chapel and a Syriac Orthodox. Five smaller chapels face the kouvouklion from the north and south. Opposite the rotunda is the catholicon or cathedral of the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Greek and Armenian chapels line the aisle in the apse of the catholicon. Descending a staircase brings us to three more chapels, Armenian, Greek, and Latin respectively. Ascending another staircase leads us to the Golgotha, shrine of the crucifixion. The Greek and Latin chapels here recall the death of Christ. The Garden Tomb American and European Protestants began coming to Jerusalem in the nineteenth century but did not feel comfortable with Eastern liturgy or the ornamentation of the holy sites. The ornamentation of the tomb, however, had begun as soon as the Anastasis was constructed. The pilgrim-nun Egeria saw it this way: You see there nothing but gold and gems and silk. For if you look at the veils, they are wholly made of silk striped with gold, and if you look at the curtains they too are made wholly of silk striped with gold And what shall I say of the decoration of the building itself which Constantine at his mother s instigation decorated with gold, mosaic and costly marbles, as far as the resources of his kingdom allowed him Some Protestant writers, believing that Jerusalem in the first century was the same size as the present city, derided the Anastasis as mere delusion, a monkish juggle (Edward Clarke, 1812). British theorists proposed another site, Gordon s Calvary as the place of Christ s death and burial. The unadorned Garden Tomb developed there is the favored location for Protestant worship, although it is now realized that the site of the Anastasis was outside the city walls in Christ s day.

8 Please remember to pray for the health and protection of Genevieve Allen, Olivia Aragon, Elizabeth Ashooh, Elsie Ashooh, Al Auclair, Alice Auclair, Erin Baroody, Michael Baroody, Anthony Blando, Helena Burkush, Fr. Michael Carl, Danielle Caron, Michael Cavanaugh, Meghan Connors, Sarah Cullen, Theresa Cullen, Jamileh Dagher, Sher Farrow, Declan Finn, Janet Drake, Julie Fregeau, Mary Fregeau, Peter Fregeau, Christine Freitas, John Gallagher, Loretto Gauvin, Bonnie Gomez, Gail Fisher, Nick Haddad, Jean Hannoush, Lucille Harper, Laura Jorba, Virginia Kearney, Shirley Lanoue, Susan Latvis, Roger Lawrence, Diana Lebel, Peggy Leclear, Sadie Grace McCallum, Miriam McCallum, Susan Merrill, Alfred Nasr, Afef Nasr, Blaise Notter, Steven O Leary, Denis O Keefe, Ellen Osgood, Josephine Paquette, Sheila Quinn, Deborah Roberts, Adam Rubin, Fr. Andre St. Germain, Deniese Sherburne, Tarrant Smith, Mary Stephen, Catherine Waldron, Laura Weingast, and Iris Angelina Velasquez. If you are visiting our church, our parish family is delighted to welcome you here! Please give us the chance to get to know you by joining us for some coffee, pastry, and conversation in the church hall following the Divine Liturgy. If you would like to know more about the Melkite Catholic Church, check out the brochure entitled Welcome to this Holy House, located on the table in the back of the church. NORTH HILLS REALTY GROUP, LLC Residential Real Estate Brokers Abraham Dagher, Realtor 814 Elm St., Suite # 302 Manchester, NH (603) Your Ad Here $300 per Year Check out the Mahrajan Website: Your Ad Here: $300/year!! Check out -new educational material is posted regularly!