St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Parish Bulletin

Transcription

1 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Parish Bulletin Orthodox Church in America 2143 S. Center Road Burton, Michigan Served by: Fr. Matthew-Peter Butrie Rector Deacon Kerry Luke Gonser Website: Fr. Matthew s lanscoal@sbcglobal.net Home: Church: Fax: Services: Sunday - 9:30 a.m. Third Hour 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy Holydays, Vigil and Vespers as announced Confessions are heard before all morning services and after all evening services. 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 MARCH 1-31, 2013 The Father receives his Prodigal Son

2 FROM FATHER S DESK Dear faithful and friends of St. Nicholas Church, This month we will begin our forty day spiritual journey that is Great Lent. The number forty is significant in the Scriptures. The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years before they could enter the Promised Land. It was a time of testing and formation. Again and again the Israelites were tempted to be unfaithful to God s covenant. And in their wanderings they were being formed as the People of God. For forty days the rains fell in the time of Noah. And our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, immediately after His baptism, was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to remain in total fasting for forty days and there to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1ff) The desert is a place of privation, of solitude where the important things in life come into focus. For the Lord the first temptation the devil presented was to ask Jesus to turn stone into bread because He (Jesus) was hungry, having fasted from all food for so long. The devil wanted Jesus to use His power for Himself. Jesus responded that we humans live on more than bread but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The devil next tempted Jesus asking Him to throw Himself from the top of the temple to see the angels bear Him up so that not even His foot would be cut by a stone. This was a temptation for Jesus to show off His power and authority, a kind of look what I can do stunt. Jesus silenced the devil saying that no one should test God. He is God, we do not place demands on Him. Finally the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and promised them to Him if He would worship the devil. This was a temptation to surrender Who He is as God and instead to worship a creature, the devil, in exchange for earthly glory that passes away. Jesus replied with the words of the Law: You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve (Matthew 4:10) and He sent the devil away. The essence of these temptations is for Jesus to use His power for Himself. The devil is tempting Jesus to make Himself God the Father. Jesus refused the devil s entreaties at every turn. But this temptation: do I choose myself or God? is one that we face in our lives, too. Whether to follow our selfish desires that ultimately lead to death or to follow the will of God which leads to life. Crucifying our pride and self-absorption is necessary for us to follow God. As Jesus tells us elsewhere, no one can serve two masters for he will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Matthew 6:24) We cannot serve our pride and selfishness and at the same time serve God. Our Lenten journey of prayer, fasting and almsgiving opens us up to follow God in our lives more and more. We take up the cross of fasting to tame our unruly passions, to break the hard earth in our hearts so that God s word will take root and blossom more in us. We give alms to the poor because our salvation is tied up with that of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And in those most in need we see our Lord Jesus Himself. We pray more frequently and for a longer time as we realize that we are not the Lord and Master of our lives but God is and praying to Him conforms us more and more to His likeness. In doing all this, as our ego decreases, Christ increases in us. Yet we do not suffer any harm in this nor are we the poorer, rather we are entering into the fullness of our humanity, a life lived in communion with God, which is the goal of our very existence. And let us remember that this Lenten journey is not one that we take alone. We are not isolated from one another. We are a people in communion with God and therefore in communion with one another. The path of repentance, of turning our hearts to God, is one that we take together with our brothers and sisters in the Church. We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:5) Let us be spurred on in our Lenten journey by knowing we travel the path of repentance together which is a path that leads us into the fullness of life in Him Who is the Resurrection and the Life, our Lord Jesus Christ. With love in Christ,

3 MEMORIAL (SOUL) SATURDAYS From the early times, our Church dedicated Saturday to the souls. It is primarily the day of those who have fallen asleep. And Christians always took care, with memorial services and charitable acts done especially on Saturdays, to stay close to their dead and ask God for their repose and salvation. The first Memorial (Soul) Saturday (Zadusnica) is Saturday, March 9. This coincides with our Pan-Orthodox Lenten Retreat. A pan-orthodox Divine Liturgy will be served at Assumption at 10 am on that date. For the other Memorial Saturdays, Vespers with Trisagion will be served on Friday evenings. Please fill out the enclosed sheet with the names of your departed (first names only) and return them to Father Matthew as soon as possible. Choir Rehearsal Schedule Readers Schedule March April May 3 Kathy 7 Johnny 5 Reggie 10 Johnny 14 Kathy 12 Johnny 17 Reggie 21 Angelo 19 Esteban 24 Esteban 28 Esteban 26 Angelo 31 Angelo If you are unable to make your assigned reading date, you must find a replacement. March 2 March 9 March 16 March 23 All Rehearsals are at 5:30pm or following the 4:30 Vespers All rehearsals are subject to change if needed. Please call me on my cell phone if you cannot attend at Thanks! Joe LENTEN PRAYER PARTNER We will have our Lenten Prayer Partners again this year. If you are out of town for Lent or are homebound and would like to participate, please call the office: Here s how the Lenten Prayer Partner works: prayer cards are printed with a blank for your name. It is then folded in half and returned to the office. On Cheesefare Sunday (March 17), everyone participating will draw a prayer card. Then, everyone will pray daily for the person on the card they drew. Remember to keep it secret! At Pascha, you can let your prayer partner know you remembered them in prayer during Lent by giving them a card or a red egg or sending them a card. The Orthodox Book Club will meet on Monday, March 11 at 6:00 at St. George. The subject for this session will be Great Lent and Pascha. The Parish Council will meet on Monday, March 6:45pm. Please call the parish office if you are unable to attend this meeting. ST. CATHERINES S WOMEN S LEAGUE The league will meet on Wednesday, March 6 at 6:30pm. New members are welcome. CONFESSIONS During Lent we should make every effort to make a good Confession before Pascha. The time of repentance necessarily involves our confessing our sins to receive God s forgiveness. And God receives us graciously, as the father received back his prodigal son. Lent lasts for forty days so there is plenty of time to fit Confession into your schedule. The last day that Confessions will be heard before Pascha will be after the Holy Unction Service on Wednesday, May 1. Please do not wait until the last moment to come to Confession! Make the time now, whether by coming on Saturdays after Vespers, before or after Presanctified Liturgies on Wednesday, or before or after the Lenten services on Mondays or Fridays. You can also call the office to make an appointment with Fr. Matthew.

4 VIGIL AT THE TOMB OF OUR 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 would be from Friday, May 3 at 10:00 pm until Saturday, May 4 at 10:00 am and then from 1:00 pm until 10:30 pm. If you are interested, please stnicholas1916@att.net, call the office at or sign your name to the sign-up sheet in the hall. TEEN RETREAT AT DORMITION MONASTERY April 6. The flier will be ed to all of our Teens and will be available at the candle stand. For more information the church at stnicholas1916@att.net or call the office at if you are interested. VISITATIONS TO THE SICK Please inform Fr. Matthew about any sick members of our parish. Please remember that most hospitals do not inform parishes about the sick. Father Matthew brings Holy Communion every week. If you would like to be added to his scheduled visits, please call the office. Remember that we pray for all the sick at every Divine Liturgy. COMING EVENTS Meatfare Luncheon: St. Juliana s annual Meatfare Luncheon will be held on Sunday, March 10 following the Divine Liturgy. Cheesefare Luncheon: Our traditional Cheesefare Luncheon will be held on Sunday, March 17, following the Divine Liturgy. All are invited to attend. We are looking for volunteers to help with donations, prep, and clean-up for the dinner. March Birthdays March Wedding Anniversaries 1 Chari Paul 5 John & Fannie Popoff 3 Petro Ahejew 10 Stojan & Mira Prusac 7 Johnny Kantor 26 Gregory & Danni Burns Amir Abu-Aita 14 Megan Krigner 15 Ryan Broadfoot John Popoff 18 Allison Borkovich Lili Brown Jim Grossi Lena Vassiliou 19 Joseph Oginsky 20 Sandra Ahejew 22 Mike Dimich Rosemary Vuckovich 24 Marie Todorovsky 29 Joe Goodman Coffee Hour Volunteers March 3: March10: Meatfare Luncheon March17: Cheesefare Luncheon March 24: March 31: Popoff Family/1yr Peter Popoff MEMORY ETERNAL +Julius Rambat, brother of Jo Sredich, fell asleep in the Lord on Friday, February 8. Services were held at St. Andrews Orthodox Church in East Lansing, MI. May God grant His newly-departed servant +Julius blessed repose and eternal memory. +Pamela (Baker) Caszatt, daughter of Josephine Baker, cousin of Reggie Jehnsen and aunt of Fr. John (Kurt) Baker, fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, February 17. Viewing and Parastas were held at St. Mary Magdalene on Wednesday, February 20. Funeral Services were held at St. Mary Magdalene on Thursday, February 21, with interment at St. Nicholas Cemetery. May God grant His handmaiden +Pamela blessed repose and eternal memory.

5 HSPECIAL DONATIONS FOR LENT, HOLY WEEK & PASCHA 1. Flowers for the Cross Third Sunday of Lent - $ Palms Palm Strips - $ Palms Fan Palms - $ Flowers for the Cross Good Friday - $ Flowers for Priest s Cross Pascha - $ Priest Ornamented Paschal Candle $ large candles for the Holy Grave $30.00 each 8. 4 large ornamented Paschal Candles for the Altar & tetrapod - $90 each 9. Incense 1 lb Rose & 1 lb White Lilac- $ each 10. Rose Water - $ Eggs for Pascha (14 dozen) Market Value Please contact the parish office ( ) as soon as possible if you would like to donate one of these items for Holy week and Pascha. STEWARDSHIP MONTHLY GUIDELINES FOR TITHING If you are going to tithe, or even if you have tithed for years, a few practical tips will come in handy: 1) Pay the tithe first. When you sit down to pay the bills, the first check you should write is a check to the Church. Don t look to see if you can afford it. You probably can t. Writing this check is an act of faith. Either Malachi 3:8-12 is true or it isn t. 2) Figure the tithe on your gross income. Take your total gross income and multiply by ten percent. Taxes are an expense like any other expense. In the Old Testament, the tithe was to be paid on the first fruits of the harvest, before the deduction of expenses. Applying this truth to the modern situation, we should figure our tithe on the gross, not the net. 3) Pay the tithe to the Church. In the Old Covenant, the people were to pay their tithe to the Levitical priests, who represented the ecclesiastical order. In the New Covenant, the people brought their gifts to the Apostles (see Acts 5:1, 2). In a similar way, we pay our tithe to Christ by paying it to His Church. 4) Bring the tithe with you to the Divine Liturgy. Obviously, you could just drop a check in the mail and be done with it. In doing so, however, you miss the vital connection between tithing and worship. Tithing is the response we offer to God because of His rich bounty toward us. It is thus truly Eucharistic in nature. When the connection between tithing and worship is lost, the practice quickly degenerates into a kind of deathly legalism, something that is stifling to true spirituality. Therefore, bring the tithe to Church and offer it to God as part of your heartfelt worship. 5) Don t give to other causes until you have first established a habit of faithful tithing. Tithing is a prerequisite to (or a beginning of) giving. All kinds of good causes and some bad ones come begging for support, but we should not consider giving to them until we have first become faithful in paying the tithe. Excerpt from On Tithing: Put God First in Your Financial Plans by Deacon Michael Hyatt, from AGAIN, Vol. 11, No. 3

6 DAILY INTERCESSION FOR OUR SICK AND HOMEBOUND The following are our brothers and sisters of St. Nicholas who are currently homebound, suffering from chronic illness, in recovery or in need of special prayers. Please remember them in your prayers and reach out to them with a card, a phone call or a visit! Holy Communion is available upon request. Anna Allen Mickey Gonser Alfred Keeler Evdokia Ponomarenko Helen Bibilikow Bill Haw Lydia Keeler Anne Smith Larry Bladecki Helen Iwanoff Athena Kosman Aspasia Stathopoulos Linda Branoff Goldie Johnson Daisy Marvosh Bill Tadrick Gladys Edwards Nick Karayanis Evdokia Naumoff Wendy Tadrick Evanka Elieff Mary Karayanis Pauline Nenoff Gloria Zelenko Kosta Georgopoulos Daisy Karkoski Fred Oginsky John Zelenko To aid in your outreach, here is a listing of the addresses and phone numbers of our Homebound: Anna Allen 4444 Court St. # 4113 Flint, MI Helen Bibilikow 2190 Ann Arbor Saline Rd #206 Ann Arbor, MI Larry Bladecki th Street Bay City, MI Gladys Edwards 2 Harbor Dr. St. Clair, MO Evanka Elieff 3221 E. Baldwin Rd #104 Grand Blanc, MI Goldie Johnson 310 E. Willard Ave Lansing, MI Daisy Karkoski 3011 N. Center Rd Flint, MI Lydia & Alfred Keeler 4104 Squire Hill Dr. Flushing, MI Daisy Marvosh 305 Furlong Ct. Fenton, MI Aspasia Stathopoulos 4064 Sheraton Dr. Flint, MI 48532

7 Meatfare Sunday Sunday, March 10, 2013 Following the Divine Liturgy $10.00 per Adult Children FREE MENU Baked Chicken Pulled Pork Sandwiches Green Beans & Carrots Cheesy Potatoes Rolls, Salad & Dessert ALL ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!!!!!! Come & Enjoy a WONDERFUL Home Cooked Meal! Cheesefare Sunday March 17, 2013 Following the Divine Liturgy FREE WILL OFFERING MENU Blini Pierogi Borscht Deviled Eggs Macaroni and Cheese ALL ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!!!!!!

8 Single Ad space $36.00 for six months Double Ad space $50.00 for six months Triple Ad space $65.00 for six months MARIA S ALTERATIONS Complete Men s, Women s and Children s Alteration Service Call (810) Mon Fri 6149 W. Bristol Road 10:00 6:00 Swartz Creek, MI 48473

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11 St. Catherine s Women s League PALM SUNDAY BAKE SALE Sunday, April 28, 2013 *NO ORDERS CAN BE ACCEPTED AFTER APRIL 14, 2013* Name Address Phone ORDER FORM ITEM COST QUANTITY Sweet Bread $6.00 each TRIANGLES Cheese Frozen $1.75 each Spinach Frozen $1.75 each Leek Frozen $1.75 each Piroshki (Meat Filled) $1.50 each Baked Fried Pierogi (Potato Filled) $8.00 per dozen Lamb Shaped Butter $3.25 each Total Any other donations of baked goods are most welcome!

12 For the Repose of the Souls of: Requested by: 2013

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15 March 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 3 Prodigal Son Church School 10 Meatfare Sunday Church School Meatfare Luncheon 17 Meat Fast Cheesefare/Forgiveness No Church School Cheesefare Luncheon 24 * Fast Sunday of Orthodoxy Church School 31 * Fast St. Gregory Palamas 1yr Parastas +Peter Popoff Church School *Wine and Oil are permitted **Fish, Wine and Oil are permitted am Divine Liturgy 11 Meat Fast Book St. George Parish Council 6:30pm 18 Great Lent Begins 10 am Changing of candles & Altar cloths w/ Canon of St. Andrew of Crete 25 **Fast St. George 12 Meat Fast 9 am Divine Liturgy 19 Fast w/ Canon of St. Andrew of Crete 6 Fast St. Catherine s League 6:30 pm 7 Office Closed 13 Meat Fast 14 Meat Fast 20 * Fast 9 am Lenten Hours w/ Canon of St. Andrew of Crete 26 *Fast 27 Fast 9 am Lenten Hours 6 pm St. George Office Closed 21 Fast w/ Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Office Closed 28 Fast Office Closed 1 2 No Vespers Diocesan Clergy Retreat at Dormition Monastery, Rives Junction, MI 8 Fast 9 Memorial Saturday 10 am Assumption followed by 15 Meat Fast 16 Meat Fast 22 Fast 6:00 pm Presanctified followed by Lenten potluck 29 Fast 6:30 pm Vespers w/ Trisagion w/reading of names for Memorial Saturday Retreat by Dr. Philip Mamalakis 4:30 pm Vespers/ confessions 23 St. Theodore *Fast 9:30 am Confessions 4:30 Vespers 30 * Fast Memorial Saturday 4:30 pm Vespers/ confessions

16 April 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 St. George 2 Fast St. Catherine s League 6:30 pm 3 Fast 9 am Lenten Hours 6 pm Presanctified Followed by Lenten potluck 4 Fast Office Closed 5 Fast 6:30 pm Vespers w/ Trisagion w/reading of names for Memorial Saturday 6 * Fast Memorial Saturday Diocesan Youth Dormition Monastery 4:30 pm Vespers /Confessions 7 Cross-Veneration * Fast 8 Assumption 9 Fast Parish Council 6:45pm 10 Fast 9 am Lenten Hours 6 pm Assumption 11 Fast 12 Fast 6:30 pm Vespers w/ Trisagion w/reading of names for Memorial Saturday 13 * Fast Memorial Saturday 4:30 pm Vespers /Confessions Church School Office Closed 14 St. John Climacus * Fast Church School 15 St. George 16 Fast 17 * Fast 9 am Lenten Hours 6 pm Presanctified Followed by Lenten potluck 18 * Fast Office Closed 19 * Fast 6:30 pm Akathist to the Theotokos 20 *Fast Akathist Saturday 4:30 pm Vespers /Confessions 21 St. Mary of Egypt * Fast Church School 22 St. George 23 Fast 24 Fast 9 am Lenten Hours 6 pm St. Mary Magdalene 25 Fast Office Closed 26 Fast 27 Lazarus Saturday 9:30 am Preparation of Gifts followed by Lenten Breakfast 5:00 pm Vespers /Confessions 28 PALM SUNDAY **Fast No Church School 29 Fast Holy Monday 10 am Bridegroom Matins 6 pm Presanctified w/ Lenten potluck 30 Fast Holy Tuesday 10 am Bridegroom Matins 6 pm Presanctified w/ Lenten potluck *Wine and Oil are permitted **Fish, Wine and Oil are permitted