Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today

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1 Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church 8306 NC HWY 751, Durham NC News & Announcements, February 5, 2017 Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today Agatha the Martyr Polyeuktos, Partriarch Of Constantinople Antonios the New Martyr of Athens Theodosios, Archbishop of Chernigov NEWCOMERS AND VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME! Sunday Worship Schedule: Matins 9:00 am & Divine Liturgy 10:00 am To Our Visitors and Guests We welcome you to worship with us today, whether you are an Orthodox Christian or this is your first visit to an Orthodox Church, we are pleased to have you with us. Although Holy Communion and other Sacraments are offered only to baptized and chrismated (confirmed) Orthodox Christians in good standing with the Church, all are invited to receive the Antidoron (blessed bread) from the priest at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. The Antidoron is not a sacrament, but it is reminiscent of the agape feast that followed worship in the ancient Christian Church. After the Divine Liturgy this morning please join us in the Church hall for fellowship and refreshments. Please complete a Visitor's Card before you leave today and drop it in the offering tray, or give it to one of the parishioners after the service, or mail it to the church Office. St. Paul's Second Letter to Timothy 3:10-15 Today's Readings: TIMOTHY, my son, you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at lconion, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 1

2 Πρὸς Τιμόθεον β' 3:10-15 Τέκνον Τιμόθεε, παρηκολούθηκάς μου τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, τῇ ἀγωγῇ, τῇ προθέσει, τῇ πίστει, τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ, τῇ ἀγάπῃ, τῇ ὑπομονῇ, τοῖς διωγμοῖς, τοῖς παθήμασιν, οἷά μοι ἐγένετο ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, ἐν Ἰκονίῳ, ἐν Λύστροις, οἵους διωγμοὺς ὑπήνεγκα καὶ ἐκ πάντων με ἐρρύσατο ὁ κύριος. Καὶ πάντες δὲ οἱ θέλοντες εὐσεβῶς ζῇν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ διωχθήσονται. Πονηροὶ δὲ ἄνθρωποι καὶ γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον, πλανῶντες καὶ πλανώμενοι. Σὺ δὲ μένε ἐν οἷς ἔμαθες καὶ ἐπιστώθης, εἰδὼς παρὰ τίνος ἔμαθες, καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ βρέφους τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδας, τὰ δυνάμενά σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν διὰ πίστεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. The Gospel according to Luke 18:10-14 The Lord said this parable, "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Κατὰ Λουκᾶν 18:10-14 Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τήν παραβολὴν ταύτην Ἄνθρωποι δύο ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν προσεύξασθαι, ὁ εἷς Φαρισαῖος καὶ ὁ ἕτερος τελώνης. ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο ὁ Θεός, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἅρπαγες, ἄδικοι, μοιχοί, ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης νηστεύω δὶς τοῦ σαββάτου, ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα ὅσα κτῶμαι. καὶ ὁ τελώνης μακρόθεν ἑστὼς οὐκ ἤθελεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐπᾶραι, ἀλλ ἔτυπτεν εἰς τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ λέγων ὁ Θεός, ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ. λέγω ὑμῖν, κατέβη οὗτος δεδικαιωμένος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἢ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται. Today's Events: Coffee Hour Hosted by members of our own local Chapter #277 to honor the visit of our brother AHEPAN District Governor Bill Bond and his wife Aretee. Religious Calendar for the Month of February: 2 - Thursday - Presentation of our Lord - 9 am 5 - Publican and the Pharisee (Triodion Begins) - 9 am 10 - Friday - St. Haralambos the Priest Marty - 9 am 12 - Sunday of the Prodigal Son - 9 am 18-1st Saturday of Souls - 9 am 19 - Judgment Sunday (Meatfare) - 9 am 25-2nd Saturday of Souls - 9 am 26 - Forgiveness Sunday (Cheesefare) - 9 am 27 - Clean Monday - Great Compline 6:30 2

3 AHEPA CHAPTER # 277 NEWS VISITORS: Today we welcome our AHEPA DISTRICT 3 GOVERNOR brother Bill Bond and his wife Aretee, who are visiting our local AHEPA chapter 277 and attending this morning s Church Services. AHEPA members are hosting today s coffee hour in their honor. After Liturgy, EVERYONE is most cordially invited to a light lunch and coffee in St. Barbara s fellowship hall. SCHOLARSHIPS: The time to apply for AHEPA SCHOLARSHIPS has arrived on the AHEPA table at St. Barbara s you will find DISTRICT 3 SCHOLASHIP applications, available to undergraduate students, who are accepted into the first to fourth year of a US college or university. Must apply by April 15 th, Also AHEPA NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP applications are available to undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students. The submission deadline is March 31, PLEASE NOTE: for both District and National scholarships, the student needs to be sponsored by a parent who is an AHEPA member in good standing [whose 2017 dues are paid], or the applicant must be an AHEPA member in good standing. In addition, a local AHEPA SCHOLARSHIP is available to a qualified high school graduate who is an active member of our St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church parish. The applications for this scholarship will also be at the AHEPA table and the submission deadline is April 15 th

4 PROJECTS TO DATE: 2016 January 16 January 30 February 20 June 4-5 July 23 September 24 October 1 November December 2 December 10 May 6-7 April Evening of Music Spaghetti Event Gyro Event Greek Festival Gyro Event Evening of Jazz Greek Style Chicken Dinner & Pastry Athenian Grill and Pastry Christmas Concert Holiday Greek Pastries Greek Festival Easter Concert Happy 2017! Upcoming Events: Membership Tea Saturday February 11. This year there will be an Outreach Activity. As part of Fill the Bag Initiative we will be assembling bags for the homeless. Bags will contain water, wipes, tissues, socks and a non perishable food item. Beginning Sunday February 12, bags will be available for members of our parish to have on hand in their cars to distribute to homeless. All ladies are invited to attend the Tea and become members of Philoptochos. Sunday February 12 there will be a tray passed for Social Services as well. Yours in Christ Catherine Mariakakis- Chapter President THANK YOU TO ALL OUR STEWARD FAMILIES! Our goal for the year 2016 was to increase the number of our active Steward families to 150! We are pleased to report that this ambitious effort has been practically achieved by noting that as of December 31, 2016, we had 145 Steward families contributing generously their time, talents and treasure to assist their church community of St. Barbara in meeting its mission. A big Thank You to ALL for your commitment to total STEWARDSHIP! 4

5 Saturday, February 11, 2017 Church Social Hall from 2-4 PM If you are not a member of our Ladies Philoptochos Society, we cordially invite you to please attend our social and consider becoming a member of this worthwhile National Philanthropic Organization. All ladies attending will participate in a Hands on Philanthropic Activity. We would be honored to have you attend! 5

6 Hey Everyone We have been asked to sing in the Easter concert by Summer Kinard. In addition, I want to walk you through what is involved in preparing an Orthros service; this will involve a look at the order of the service and where to find that on line or what book to consult. Where is the music found? Where are the prosomia found? How to learn new prosomioa quickly? How to stretch the words of a hymn text to a melody? How to do it in English? How to read Byzantine hymns in western notation convincingly? Basics of what neo Byzantine music is readily availalbe for free and how to get started reading it. This is an overview of what I do to prepare for a given service. This will give you an insight to what you could be doing to learn how to handle the music better. It will include illustrations of style and Greek Byzantine idioms. We will chant some of the material together. I will guide you. It will be fun! It would be great to see everyone together again soon. I want to get an idea of who may interested in a chant group session in February. Here are some proposed dates for those of you who are interested: Tuesday Feb. 7, Wed. Feb. 8th Tuesday Feb. 14. Wed., Feb 15 Saturday Feb. 25th Tuesday Feb. 28th. Please let me know Thank you! -Tony TRIODION 2017 By Protopresbyter Dr. George D. Dragas For Orthodox Christians Easter, or Holy Pascha, is actually the center of what is known as the cycle of all movable feasts. This cycle is called the Paschal Cycle. Sunday, February 5 marks the beginning of this year s Paschal Cycle, which invites us to be renewed spiritually on the basis of what is most central and most sacred in our faith. The Paschal Cycle gives us the opportunity to consider the sacred feasts of this period and the particular meaning they have for Orthodox Christians. The Paschal Cycle constitutes the heart of the Orthodox liturgical year. This is because Holy Pascha is regarded as the Feast of feasts and the Festival of festivals (eorti eorton kai panegyris panegyreon), as it commemorates the greatest event in human history, the Resurrection of Christ, through which death has been abolished for all humanity. MOVABLE AND IMMOVABLE FEASTS The Orthodox liturgical year consists of two kinds of sacred feasts (ierai eortai): the immovable and the movable. 6

7 Immovable feasts are those with fixed dates (e.g., Christmas and the Annunciation) and are celebrated on the same dates each year. Movable feasts, on the other hand, have variable dates (e.g., Easter and Palm Sunday) and are celebrated on different dates from year to year. Holy Pascha, which this year falls on April 16, has a forefeast (proeortia) and a postfeast (metheorta). The forefeast mainly comprises the Great Week, more commonly known as Holy Week, and especially Good Friday and Great Saturday. It also includes, by extension, the entire period of Great Lent (Megale Sarakoste). The postfeast comprises the week after Holy Pascha, which is known as the New or Bright Week (diakainisimos), as well as the whole period from the Resurrection through Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday, which this year falls on June 4. The entire Paschal Cycle covers a period of 19 weeks (ten Sundays before Easter and eight afterwards). It begins with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee and ends with the Sunday of All Saints, which is the first Sunday after Pentecost. The ten weeks preceding Easter are known as the period of the Triodion, the book of triadic canons (i.e., the hymns which were written especially for this period). The eight weeks after Easter are known as the period of the Pentecostarion, the book of triadic hymns which are chanted from Pascha to Pentecost. The period of the Triodion is subdivided into three other periods: the three preparatory weeks plus one Sunday, the six weeks of Great Lent, and Holy Week. SPHERE OF VIRTUES The first four Sundays constitute a preparation for, or gradual entry into, the sphere of virtues (sphera ton areton), which is the primary theme of the Great Lent. The precise meaning of this is revealed in the Sunday Gospel lessons of this period. On the first Sunday (February 5), the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke ) teaches us about the damage which one suffers on account of pride and how delivery from pride can be obtained with the virtue of humility. On the second Sunday (February 12), the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke ) teaches us about the great virtue of repentance, whereby every sinner returns to God and receives forgiveness and salvation. The third Sunday (February 19) of the preparation is called Meatfare Sunday (Apokreos) because we eat meat for the last time until Pascha. This particular Sunday is also dedicated to the memory of the Second Coming of the Lord and the Last Judgment. This is most clearly revealed in the relevant Gospel reading (Matthew ) which is recited during the Divine Liturgy that day. The remembrance of the forthcoming Last Judgment teaches us that we must learn to avoid living carelessly. We should not misinterpret the longsuffering forbearance (makrothymia) of God, which makes Him delay the day of His coming. We should rather always be on the alert, working for what is good and being mindful that God is not only our Father Who loves mankind, but also the Righteous Judge. 7

8 The Thursday before Meatfare Sunday is known as Tsiknopempti, sort of the Orthodox version of Fat Tuesday, because people get together for the purpose of eating all kinds of meat delicacies. The eve of Meatfare Sunday is known as the Saturday of Souls (psychosabbaton) because we observe a memorial service (mnemosyno) for all Christians who have fallen asleep in the Lord, since the Last Judgment is connected with the Resurrection of the Dead. Another such psychosabbaton is observed on the Eve of Pentecost Sunday, which this year falls on June 3. Collyva (i.e., boiled wheat mixed with pomegranate seeds, nuts, raisins and sugar) are also distributed on the first Saturday of Great Lent. This does not signify a psychosabbaton, however; it commemorates the miracle of Saint Theodore of Teron. The fourth Sunday (February 26) is known as Cheesefare Sunday (Tyrine) because we eat cheese and dairy products for the last time until Pascha. On this particular Sunday, which is the Eve of the Inauguration of Great Lent, we remember the expulsion of the Adam and Eve from Paradise. Thus, we are reminded of the terrible consequences of sin and transgression against the Divine Will, and we are encouraged to take up the battle of fasting and obedience in order to obtain spiritual renewal and blessedness. The Gospel lesson of Cheesefare Sunday (Matthew ) teaches us that the right way to fast is to get rid of evil intentions, avarice and attachment to material goods. It is a custom that Christians grant forgiveness to one another during the vesper service of this Sunday, so that all of them together may enter with love and unanimity into the Lenten Season. The 40 days of Great Lent begins on the Monday after Cheesefare Sunday, Pure Monday (Kathara Deftera), which this year falls on February 27. On Friday the 3rd of March we start the Service of Salutations to the Theotokos (Chairetismoi). It is important to note that the Church leads us to this point gradually during the preparatory period of the first three weeks of the Triodion. During the first week, She allows us to eat everything, even on Wednesdays and Fridays. During the second week, we can eat everything, except for meat on Wednesday and Friday. During the third week, we are no longer allowed to eat meat, but we can eat fish, eggs and dairy products. The Church has thereby introduced us gradually into the more severe fast of Great Lent which begins on Kathara Deftera, when the faithful embrace a totally vegetarian diet. The custom of preparing Christians for the celebration of Pascha through fasting and prayer is very ancient, but neither the length nor the type of fast was strictly specified during the first centuries. For instance, Saint Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons at the end of the 2nd Century AD, tells us that some fasted for one day, others for two days, others for more, and still others for only 40 hours. Socrates, the 5th Century church historian, tells us that some did not eat meat while some ate poultry and fish, and while still others ate only vegetables. In the 4th Century, however, the fast of the Paschal Cycle began to take a more specific form, at least in regard to length. It was extended to 40 days in commemoration of the 40 days, which the Lord fasted in the wilderness, hence the term Sarakoste (i.e., Lent). 8

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