Vespers: The Sunset Service. Volume 36 February 10, 2019 Number 6

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1 The Church Herald Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church 2053 North Road, NE Warren, OH Church Phone: (330) Rectory Phone: (330) Pastor: The Very Rev. Protopresbyter Kenneth M. Bachofsky, D. Min. Parish Web Page: Volume 36 February 10, 2019 Number 6 Vespers: The Sunset Service Vespers is an important service of the Orthodox Church, and one with which too many of our people are unacquainted. There are three basic forms of vespers: small, daily, and great. Small vespers is done only in monasteries before a vigil service. Daily vespers is the normal evening service of the Church. It is not monastic in origin or character, but is, like the morning service of Matins, one of the church s main liturgical services. Vespers and Matins form the two poles around which the rest of the Church s daily cycle of services is arranged. In practice, most parishes do not celebrate daily vespers and Matins. A third form of vespers is Great Vespers. It is celebrated in all Churches on the eves of Sundays and great feasts, and is sometimes combined with matins to form a vigil. Great Vespers is composed of the same basic elements as daily vespers, although some of the material is rearranged, and more hymns related to the feast are added. In keeping with its festal character, most psalms and hymns are sung during Great Vespers, whereas in daily vespers they are chanted by the reader. From the beginning, the Orthodox Church followed the Jewish system of counting days from sunset to sunset (instead of from midnight to midnight, as we do). In this system, the new day begins at sunset, so the transition from one liturgical day to the next occurs during the evening service. This is why all the stichiri we sing at vespers on Saturday night are devoted to Christ s resurrection. We are nolt merely preparing for Sunday; in the Church, it already is Sunday. Thus, Great vespers commences the celebration of Sunday and feastdays; and because this celebration will reach its peak and goal in the morning liturgy, Great vespers begins our vigil (or watch ) for the coming of the Lord in the Eucharist, and helps to prepare us for this event. Unfortunately, the majority of the faithful does not attend vespers. One reason for this is the attitude, instilled in us by American society, that Sunday morning is the only appropriate time for worship. The result of this attitude among the Orthodox is that many of uor people simply do not acknowledge the existence of any service other than the Divine Liturgy. Another side of this same problem is the popular view of Saturday as a day off, a day to take it easy and enjoy oneself. Saturday night in particular is considered the night to go out and socialize, to go to movies, dances, sports events, and other types of entertainment. Although these things are not wrong in themselves, they are nothing more than forms of temporary amusement and recreation. But the Church, on that some Saturday night, is offering us re-creation: the opportunity to rediscover Christ as the true source and content of our lives, and to re-establish ourselves in Him: and the experience of the hope, joy, love, peace, and energy that comes from worshiping the Lord and living in communion with Him and with each other. A last reason for the general neglect of vespers is the lack of Eucharistic participation of many Orthodox. We mentioned above that Great vespers helps to prepare us for the liturgy and begins our vigil for the Eucharist. But, tragically, the Liturgy is no longer widely understood as an ascent to the Kingdom of Heaven, whose goal is the eating and drinking of the Bonquet of Immortality. Since, therefore, the majority of the people will not be taking communion, no preparation is undertaken, and there is nothing to keep vigil about. The Themes For those who are not yet attending vespers, and for those who are, we will give a short review and explanation of the plan of this service. The order of service is built around four basic themes: creation, the fall of man into sin, salvation, and the Kingdom of Heaven. These themes are the four major stages of the history of our salvation: the world and man were created good; but man sinned and separated himself from God; then Christ came to save us from sin and death, and when He comes again, He

2 will take us into His Kingdom! Each theme is expressed by different psalms and hymns, and they succeed one another in this order during the course of the service. It must be mentioned at this point that there was a certain tendency in the Russian musical tradition to rather arbitrarily select and set to music only a few verses of some of the vespers psalms, instead of arranging the entire psalm. (In fact, this happened to the psalms in almost every one of the Church s services). This has led to a standard parish practice that eliminates large sections of certain key psalms. The reduction of these psalms to only a few verses is most unfortunate.; Not only does it empty the individual psalms of their meaning, it also obscures the logic behind the order of service by making it almost impossible to recognize each theme and to follow the progression from one theme to the next. Fortunately, there is now a movement underway in some communities in our Church to restore the psalms in their entirety to vespers (and other services too), and some new musical settings now exist for this. The Structure 1) Psalm 104. Vespers begins with the theme of creation. As we are beginning the new day, we are reminded of the first day of creation: And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:3-5). In psalm 104 we praise the goodness, beauty, order and diversity of His creation, and His continual care for it: How manifold are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom have you made them all! 2) The Great Litany. This is the great intercessory prayer of the Church, and is concerned with the general welfare of the Church, the people, and the country, asking for the peace from on high. 3) The First Kathisma. ( Blessed is the man ) The Book of Psalms is divided into twenty sections called kathismi. All twenty kathismi are read in the Church throughout the course of the week, and the cycle begins at Saturday evening vespers with the first kathisma. The entire first kathisma is eight psalms, but in current practice it has been reduced to sic verses. 4) Lord I call (Psalm 141-2,130) This is the core of vespers, and it coincides with the offering up of the evening incense: Let my prayer arise in Your sight as incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. We have moved from the theme of creation into that of the Fall. Man separated himself from God by sin, and now he finds himself far away from his Creator: Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low!...out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice! From this lowest point there is a gradual movement towards hope in the mercy of God: If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You...O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption, and He shall redeem Israel form all his iniquities! Usually at eight or ten verses from the end of this psalm, stichiri, or short hymns, begin to be inserted between the psalm verses. These stichiri are devoted to the feast we are already beginning to celebrate. 5) The Entrance/ O gladsome Light. The theme of salvation comes to prominence with the entrance of the celebrant into the sanctuary and the procession to the high place behind the altar, which accompanies the singing O Gladsome Light. This is one of the most ancient Christian hymns known, possibly dating from as early as the second century A.D. At this point in the service, since it was sundown, the lamps in the Church were lit, and this hymn was sung to Christ, the Light of the World! And the Never-Setting Sun, Who will be with us through the darkness of the coming night! 6) The Prokeimenon. This is a psalm which normally introduces a reading form the Scriptures. Its text and tone change daily. AT Great vespers for a feast, these readings, called paramia remain. There are usually three readings from the Old Testament images (or Types) of the people or events of the feast. Although no reading are presently called for a Sunday, the prokeimenon is still sung. 7) Vouchsafe. The prayer Vouchsafe, O Lord has its roots in the Song of the Three Young Men recorded in the Book of Daniel, and asks that we be preserved this night without sin. Vouchsafe is also the official transition point from one Liturgical day to the next during the service. It should be sung, rather than chanted, at Great vespers. 8) The Apostica. This is another combination of a psalm and hymns, alternating verses of the psalm with stichiri, on the same pattern as Lord I call 9) St. Simeon s Prayer/Trisagion through Our Father. Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace This is the prayer that the righteous elder Simeon sang when, after a lifetime of waiting, he finally saw Christ and recognized Him as the Messiah. Simeon saw: Christ only as an infant in the temple, yet he could say,...my eyes have seen Your Salvation!... We Christians have seen the whole drama of our Salvation - The Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension accomplished; we have been baptized into Christ, and we know that in the Church, The Kingdom of Heaven is in our midst. We have now come to the theme of the Kingdom. This section ends with the Our Father, and with the fervent hope that His Kingdom will come. This hope will be fully realized when Christ comes again, but our prayer is already answered in anticipation when we eat and drink at His Table, in His Kingdom, at the Divine Liturgy! 10) The Troparion. This troparion is the theme song of the feast, and sets the tone for our

3 celebration. On Sundays, there are eight ( Octoechos or Eight Tones ) different troparia to the Resurrection, one for each musical tone. We encourage all Orthodox Christians to rediscover the service of vespers, and to experience its richness! - By: Barbara Sevansky - Wednesday, February 27th 4:00 p.m. The for the sick and anointing of the faithful. Happy Birthday! Nina Christley. Our Worship Schedule Sunday, February 10th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The Sunday of Zaccheus, Tone 4, (Page 90). The Hieromartyr Haralambos, Virgin Martyrs: E n n a t h a, Valentina & Paula are commemorated. Epistle I Timothy 4:9-15 Gospel Luke 19:1-10 Wednesday, February 13th 4:00 p.m. The for the sick and anointing of the Myro of the faithful! Saturday, February 16th 4:00 p.m. The Evening Vesper Service followed by Bible Study Class. Sunday, February 17th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The Lenten Triodion: Sunday of the Publican & Pharisee, Tone 5 (Pages 93 &175). The Great Martyr Theodore of Tyro, Venerable Roman of Ternov and Relics of Menas of Alexandria are commemorated. Epistle 2 Timothy 3:10-15 Gospel Luke 18:10-14 Wednesday, February 20th 4:00 p.m. The for the sick and anointing of the faithful! Saturday, February 23rd 4:00 p.m. The Evening Vesper Service followed by Bible Study Class. Sunday, February 24th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The Lenten Triodion: Sunday of the Prodigal Son, Tone 6 (Pages 96 & 175). The 1st & 2nd Discovery of the Head of St. John the Baptist, and St. Erasimus is commemorated. Epistle 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Gospel Luke 15:11-32 Trisagion Service There will be a Memorial Service offered this morning, at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. This Trisagion is offered for the repose of the souls of +Gus Tsimpinos, on the anniversary of his repose and the newly departed, +Eleftherios Karakatsanis in ovservance of the 40th day of his repose. All are invited to attend to lend their voices to ours. The blessed Koliva can be shared in the Fellowship Hall after the service. With the Saints, O Lord, grant rest to Your departed servants: +Gus Tsimpinos and +Eleftherios, where there is no pain, sorrow nor mourning but only Life-Everlasting! Eternal be their Memories!!! Home Blessing T h e T h e o p h a n y Home Blessing season is now coming to an end. If Father Ken has not yet c o n t a c t e d you, you are assured it is by accident. The best way to proceed now is to give Father Ken a call so that a day and time for your Home Blessing can be scheduled. It is always his intention to bring the Blessings of the Jordan River to each home of our faithful parishioners! Father Ken would like to express his sincere thanks to everyone for their hospitality, patience and generosity! It has been a very pleasant Theophany season because of your cooperation. May the Blessings of the Lord, from the Jordan River be with all of you in peace, good health, joy and salvation, this year and many more to come!!!

4 Samaritan Outreach The next event on the schedule for our St. Nicholas Samaritan Outreach will be a Free Dinner! This has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at the American Legion Hall in Windham, Ohio. We are now soliciting your stewardship of time and talent for this ministry of our parish. We need help setting up, cooking and cleaning after the meal. If you are able to assist us in any of these responsibilities please either contact: Father Ken, Sis Albers or Jeff Yenchochik during the Sunday coffee socials. So far, the menu for this dinner will be: Beef and Noodles, Vegetables, Potatoes, Dessert and a Beverage. The food will be cooked in the Church kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. The food will be transported to the hall that Tuesday and dinner will be served from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m. Take out dinners will be packed after everyone has been served their meal. You are asked to aid us in this ministry of feeding those in need in some of the parts of our area that have the least ability to receive needed aid! We offer this ministry to the Glory of the Lord and in honor of our beloved Patron, St. Nicholas of Myra, Patron of those in need! There will be a short meeting of our St. Nicholas Book Club after the Divine Liturgy. We ask that everyone interested in joining us please stay in the front two pews for the meeting. We will not pick out the new book to read, especially during Great Lent, which is the perfect time to devote to spiritual reflection. If anyone is interested in learning more of their Orthodox Christian Faith and how to better implement it in their lives, consider join us for this meeting and the St. Nick s Book Club! The more that we have the greater insights we can share! Our Church Kitchen Our Internationally Renowned Perohi & Holupki Dinners were served, in our Fellowship Hall this week! We are forever grateful to the Lord, for His blessings, our valued customers and especially our dedicated Kitchen Crew! This is always the key to our success in this fund raiser of our parish! The income from the sale of dinners and take outs was $2, dollars. The weekly expenses came to $ This gave us a net profit of $1, for the week. What a great blessing this is for us! The cabbage has already been taken care of already. Now Kitchen Crew workers will be needed on Tuesday morning for rolling the Holupki and in the evening for cooking/mashing the potatoes. Wednesday crew members will pinch and cook the Perohi and of course, Thursday is the heating of the food, serving the dinners, as well as packing the take -outs. Your stewardship of time and talent will be greatly appreciated this week, and until the conclusion of this season. May the Lord bless you abundantly for your time, talent and enthusiastic dedication to this fund raiser of our parish! Lenten Retreats Information concerning the upcoming Diocesan Lenten Retreats has been released by the Diocesan Chancery. The central region, which includes our Y o u n g s t o w n Deanery, Lenten Retreat has been scheduled for Saturday, April 6, It will be held at St. Nicholas Church, 903 Ann Street in Homestead, Pennsylvania. It will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The adult/teen Lenten Theme is: Focusing On the Ladder of Divine Ascent and Our Spiritual Journey: One Step At a Time with the speaker being Metropolitan Gregory. The children s Lenten Theme is Windows to Heaven Icon of Divine Ascent & The Feasts of the Lord by Father David Urban. There will be a Free Will Offering collected at registration that will include a continental Breakfast and light Lenten Lunch. Information Packs with the schedule and additional information are available on the table in the Parish Atrium. Those wishing to attend are to kindly inform Father Ken. We will try to have a car pool for transportation to the retreat. Our Gifts to the Lord! One of the many acts of worship conducted at each Sunday Divine Liturgy, is performed in our

5 TEST generous PAGE donations 5 TEXT made during the Church Offering! This is an excellent way of expressing our love, devotion to the Lord, as well as our thanksgiving, for the many blessings received from His Hands! We would like to share with you the Church Offerings from last Sunday s Church Offering: Regular Offering $1,150.00/ Candle Offering $81.00/ Church Dues $600.00/ Donation / Total Church Offerings = $1, The financial officers of our parish issued a plea for parishioners to contribute their $75.00 dollar, per adult, head stipend last month. This is one of the financial requirements required for each adult of our parish. The other financial requirement is the weekly offerings. We would like to thank those who have paid this obligation thus enabling our parish to submit our financial obligations to the Diocese in a timely manner. If you have not yet paid your Annual Dues Stipen, please check your records and take care of this responsibility as soon as possible. Your kind cooperation is greatly appreciated! May our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, magnify your gracious gifts 100 fold, for the continuing salvic work being done here at our beloved St. Nicholas Church and the extension of His Heavenly Kingdom!!! Camp Nazareth News N o w that we are facing some w i n t e r w e a t h e r what better way to get over the w i n t e r blues than thinking about activities for the summer! We want to inform our parishioners about some important activities that have been planned for Camp Nazareth! First of all: the Second Annual Diocesan Senior Retreat that has been scheduled for May 13-16, 2019 at Camp Nazareth! The theme of this exciting conference is: How s Your Eyesight? Keeping Your Focus on God as a Senior! This is geared to seniors needs and interests 55+ and will offer something for everyone. The event promises laughter, joy and relaxation, along with fun activities and delicious meals! The schedule will include Church services, social hours, meals, presentation, free-time, evening entertainment, and more! Place this on your calendar and sign up at acrod.org or call the camp at 1(724) Info packs are on the table in the Atrium! Secondly, The annual Kick-Off to the 2019 Camping Season is the celebration of Family Day! This has been scheduled for Sunday, June 2, 2019 beginning to the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy beginning at 10:00 a.m. that morning. Following the services there will be a delicious meal in the Main Dining Hall of the Main Lodge, along with other activities during the afternoon! In conjunction with this Kick-Off weekend will be the Annual Camp Nazareth Family Camp! For one low price the entire family can stay at the camp this weekend! This will be held from May 31st until June 2nd. This year s theme is: Being in a Believing Family There are examples of families that kept believing even when it was difficult. Come and learn about them and help your family believe and rejoice in God! Register online at CAMPNAZA- R E T H. O R G / e m a i l : C A M P N A Z A - RETH@ACROD.ORG/ or call: (724) The Third Item: Applications for various positions on the Camp Nazareth Summer Staff are now being accepted. Staff positions such as, counselors, head counselor, kitchen workers, janitorial, etc. If anyone from our parish 18 years of age and older are interested please contact Father Stephen by or phone. These applications should get to him by March 15th so that interviews for potential staff members can be scheduled. And Finally, The Youngstown Deanery Camping Session has been scheduled for July 28th until August 3rd! Online registration will begin on March 1st! This is for all of our youth from 8 to 18 years of age! Parents, get ready to sign up your children! The camping fee for 2019 will be: Diocesan Member $ and Non Diocesan Member $ There are Full Summer Camping Scholarships available through our Church School and other sponsors. If you need a scholarship, please contact Father Ken. Take advantage of the Early Bird Special by registering your child and paying by May 15, 2019 and receive a discount, per child, (one time only, not per week)! Registrations received after June 15th will incur an additional $20.00 late fee! Scholarships Available Applications for two scholarships administered by the Department of Philanthropy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America are now available to students from Orthodox Churches affiliated with the Assembly of Bishops. The Malta Scholarship is for undergraduate studies, and the Paleologos Scholarship is awarded for graduate work of a non-theological nature. Each of these scholarships was established through generous gifts from dedicated Greek Orthodox Christians who wanted to provide financial assistance towards the education of young people from the Orthodox Christian community. Applications can be downloaded from the website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese fo America at: For more information, please scholarships@goarch.org, or call: (212) The deadline for submitting an application for these scholarships is May 3, 2019! This information is also posted on the bulletin boards of our parish complex. Please consult this for additional information.