JANUARY 2, 2011 ST SERAPHIM OF SAROV THE SUNDAY BEFORE THEOPHANY

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1 St. Mark Antiochian Orthodox Church Self-ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, Diocese of the West Sky Park Circle, Irvine, CA (949) Website: Archpriest Michael Laffoon, Priest Patrick Irish Protodeacon George Moubayed, Sub Deacon Athanasius Fakhouri Choir Director Barbara Scholl; Chanters: Dionysius Ingraham, Mark Ellis Theresa Joubran, Jacob Bahbah & Elia Qushair Church Office Administrator: Lydia Wakileh; Youth Director: Juliana Turk Saturday evening Great Vespers 4:00 p.m. (Confessions after) Sunday Schedule: Orthros (Matins) & Confessions 8:45 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Church School after Holy Communion JANUARY 2, 2011 ST SERAPHIM OF SAROV THE SUNDAY BEFORE THEOPHANY

2 HYMNS AFTER THE LITTLE ENTRANCE Troparion of the Resurrection in the Seventh Tone: Thou didst shatter death by Thy Cross, Thou didst open paradise to the thief; Thou didst turn the sadness of the ointment-bearing women into joy. And didst bid Thine Apostles proclaim a warning, that Thou hast risen O Christ, granting to the world the Great Mercy. Troparion of the Forefeast in Fourth Tone: Make ready, O Zebulon, and prepare, O Nephtali, and thou, River Jordan cease thy flow and receive with joy the Master coming to be baptized. And thou, Adam, rejoice with the first mother, and hide not yourselves as ye did of old in paradise; for having seen you naked, he appeared to clothe you with the first robe. Yea, Christ hath appeared desiring to renew the whole creation. Troparion of St. Seraphim of Sarov in the Fourth Tone: Thou didst love Christ from thy youth, O blessed one, and ardently desiring to work for Him alone, thou didst struggle in the wilderness with constant prayer and labor; and having acquired love for Christ with compunction of heart, thou didst prove to be the beloved favorite of the Mother of God. Wherefore, we cry to thee: Save us by thy prayers, O Seraphim, our Holy Father Troparion of Saint Mark in the Third Tone: O holy Apostle Mark, intercede with the merciful God to grant our souls forgiveness of sins. Kontakion for the Forefeast in the Third Tone: Today hath the Lord appeared in the streams of the Jordan, crying out to John and saying: Fear not to baptize me, for I have come to save Adam, the first created. Prokeimenon (Psalm 27:9,1) O Lord, save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my God. The reading from Saint Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy (4:4-8) My son Timothy, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. Alleluia Verses (Psalm 66:1) May God be merciful to us and bless us. May he cause his face to shine upon us and have mercy on us.

3 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark (1:1-8) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight -- " John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Holy Oblations are given today by Melad & Wafa Hanna for the health and salvation of their children Michael, Amanda & Samir and the success in their school, especially for Amanda on the occasion of her graduation, and by Hana Bahou and her family in a loving memory of the passing of 6 months of Yacoub George Bahou, and by Emilie Laffoon, Helen Simon and Cheryl Messner for the soul of Robert Simon, departed this life on December 31 in New Jersey. May their memory be eternal. Coffee hour is given today by Foaud & Rima Tarazi. Thank You!!.Please remember in your prayers: Irene Zogob, Mitchell Zogob, Fr. Alexander Atty, Genevieve Saba, Fr. Michael Lewis, Pamela Sanbar, Eleanor Wackeen, Nabila Zabaneh, Michael Debbas, Paul & June Anter. Altar boys serving this week: Noah Fortuna, George Bahbah, Jay Skaff, Paul Rodriguez Altar boys serving next week: George Khoury, Joseph Attalah, Andrew Bahbah, George Hanna. Ushers serving this week: Ghassan Awayjan & Sammy Nino. Ushers serving next week: Sleiman Aldada & Mufid Samara. Note: Please make sure that your cell phones and pagers are turned off during the service.

4 NOTE TO OUR VISTORS Welcome to St. Mark's! We are pleased to have you here with us today. Please be informed that only those Orthodox Christians who are prepared through prayer, fasting, and the sacrament of confession should approach the Chalice for the Eucharist. The Orthodox Church does not practice "open communion" or intercommunion with other churches (non-orthodox). If you have any questions concerning this, please talk to Father Michael before taking communion. Visitors are welcome to venerate the cross at the end of the service and to receive some of the blessed bread, if they so desire. For Orthodox Christians to receive Holy Communion: You must be spiritually prepared and uphold the beliefs and moral teachings of the Church. You must keep the fast (Wednesday & Friday, and other fasting seasons) If married, your marriage must have been consecrated in the Orthodox Church. If divorced, you must be formally restored to communion by the Church by confession and Episcopal decision. You must arrive in the church in time to hear the reading of the Holy Gospel. If an Orthodox Christian has left the church, or has been absent from services for a long period, and is returning, he or she must see the priest prior to receiving the sacraments of the Church. We are in a fast free season. There is no fasting from Christmas Day through January 4 th. January 5 is a strict fasting day. Today Thanks to Jamal & Hiam Sayegh for donating the Poinsettias to decorate our church for Christmas and to Charlotte Hanna for decorating the Festal Icon. Thank you Ladies Guild for another successful Christmas Annual Bake Sale last Sunday. Special thanks to all the ladies who helped on Friday baking day, Theresa Joubran, Julie Bahbah, Barbara Khamis, Mary Dibs, Elsa Frech, Carol Tierney, Nadia & George Sindaha, and Jeanette. Thanks to all our ladies who brought or donated goods for the bake sale and to all who helped set up and sell during the bake sale. Total profits were around $1500. Please pick up your 2011 calendar from the table by the bulletin board at the hall. (One per family please, thanks)

5 If you asked for offering envelopes in your pledge card for the year 2011, please find your box at the table by the bulletin board at the hall. ST. NICHOLAS CATHEDRAL DEBUTANTE FASHION SHOW - SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, Sheraton Universal Hotel - Universal City. Social Hour begins at 11:30 a.m. For reservations, please contact Diana Nofal (626) Tickets are going fast, so don't wait. This week Wednesday January 5 th, 6:30 p.m. Evening Liturgy, and Great Blessing of Waters for Feast of Epiphany. (Orthros 5:30 PM) Thursday January 6 th, 7:00 p.m. Ladies Guild Theophany Dinner. Next week Tuesday January 11, 6:30 p.m., Parish Council Meeting Wednesday January 12 th, 6:30 p.m. Vespers. January 14-15, Teen Winter Camp, St. Nicholas Camp. Upcoming Events Sunday January 16, BBQ Lunch with St. Peter Orthodox Church, after Liturgy, here at St. Mark St. Peter Church s Women Group put together a cookbook to raise funds toward the repairing and refinishing of the kitchen on the new property that our parish had purchased. This cookbook has been a labor of love for us as we share our most treasured recipes and helpful kitchen hints that all Orthodox cooks will appreciate. There is an option to download their book for $2.50 in its full color version. A really good idea would be to buy one download for everyone to look at and see if they wanted to order a book for themselves or as Christmas gifts. The color version and the black & white version are identical except some of the graphic elements have been changed to make the book easy to use. We appreciate your support and hope you love our cookbook as much as we do. A DVD/Photo Library is being set up in the Church office, if anyone has any DVDs or photos/photo CDs of St. Mark events that they would like to have included in the Library, please contact Kim Ranney at (kourikimla@yahoo.com or (949) ). We will be happy to make copies of them and return originals to

6 the owner. We hope to have our library as complete as possible in order to help preserve the wonderful memories at St. Mark and greatly appreciate your help." BUY SCRIP Our Ladies Guild buys scrip from many and various stores and Restaurants (see list included in this Bulletin) at a 3 to 10% discount. When you buy the scrip, which is accepted just like cash at the issuing store, the Parish benefits. You pay no more for these goods and services and are making a donation to our parish. You can purchase this scrip from Saeda Turk & Barbara Khamis at the coffee hour. Canned Food Drive As we all know, our country is in the midst of a deep recession. All relief agencies are seeing more needs and at the same time donations are down. In light of this, the on going canned food collection of our parish is a small but important way to help. Please try to bring something to go in the collection barrel every week. There is a white wooden box by the bulletin board. Please drop in your completed goldenrod pledge cards for Thank you. The following members have submitted their regular 2011 in support of our operating budget. Thank you for your prompt response! Please return your pledge forms as soon as possible SLEIMAN & SEHAM ALDADA PAUL & JUNE ANTER SAMIR & AFIFA ARTOUL MICHAEL & MAY ASALY MICHAEL & LARA AYOUB ANAHID AZZOUNI GEORGE & LORRAINE BABA JACOB & VERA BAHBAH JOE & SALWA BAHBAH GHASSAN & GENY BAHOU EDWARD & DANA CHADE LEO & IRMA CHADE GEORGE & KRISTIN CHALA MALVINA CHALA GEORGE & RANIA CHAMI VLADIMIR & JOANNA CHENDLER RUTH CONN RANDY & MAY DABBAH SUE DABBAH

7 NOHA DAHER EDNA DEEB MARY DIBS JERALD DONOVAN SAMIRA EISSA MARK & EILEEN ELLIS SAMI & WISAM FARRAJ SPIRO & SAMIRA FASHEH ELSA FRECH JAMES J. & CAROLE JO GOSON SANDELLA GOSON KAREEM (KEN) & ADELE HABEEB ESPERENCE HADSHITI ROBERT & KRISTINA HAGEL GEORGE & CHARLOTTE HANNA GEORGE & MARY HANNA DENNIS INGRAHAM MICHEL & THERESA JOUBRAN LILIAN KASSICIEH BACHIR & HELEN KASSIR AIDA KHAMIS ISA & BARBARA KHAMIS JABRA KHAMIS MITRI KHAMIS ANTOUNE & MAYSSOUN KHOURY MICHAEL & CHARLOTTE KHOURY ANTONE & ITAB KISHEK OSAMA & RULA KISHEK SIMON & LOURICE KISHEK MICHAEL & DONNA LAFFOON EMILIE LAFFOON SAMIR & ROBIN LAKKEES JHONNY & SONIA LIQUETE GLORIA MAMEY NELSON & JERRI MAMEY OLGA MANNEH MARY MANSOUR NABIL & ANNE MANSOUR SAM & ADEL MUNAYYER ELIZABEH NASSAR JAMIL NASSAR SAMMY & LANA NINO

8 JAMAL & TAMMY QUTAMI ESSAM & BERNADETTE RAMZY ROBERT & KIMLA RANNEY EMAD & MUNA RIZKALLAH TONY & PAULA RODRIGUEZ NAJIB & HEBA SAADEH FARAH & SYLVIA SABA SIHAM SABA YACOUB & GENEVIEVE SABA RAMZI & RANDA SALAMEH MUFID & SALAM SAMARA STEVEN & BARBARA SCHOLL KENDALL & RONDA SCHORR MILAD & MADONA SHAHEEN FOUAD & PATRICIA SHAKER DON JR & PENNY SKAFF THEODORE & KATHY SKAFF ASHRAF & NAHLA SOLIMAN FOUAD & RIMA TARAZI DAVE & BRENDA TAX ROGER & CAROL TIERNEY TINA TOMEO ANTON & KEITIE TURK AUSTIN & SAEDA TURK JULIANA TURK IBRAHIM & LYDIA WAKILEH MATTHEW & SOPHIA WHITACRE ROBERT & THEODORA WHITEHEAD COURTNEY WILDE PATRICK & SUSAN WILDE Total Pledge Cards: 91 Total pledges: 133, 763