The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. The Holy Relics of St. Demetrius. Volume 33 October 22, 2017 Number 41

Transcription

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 33 October 22, 2017 Number 41 The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica On October 26th we celebrate the Feast of St. Demetrius the Myrrh-Gusher, of Thessalonica. This glorious and wonderworking saint was born in Thessalonica of noble and devout parents. Implored of God by childless parents, Demetrius was their only son, and so was raised and educated with great care. Demetrius father was a commander in Thessalonica. When his father died, Emperor Maximian appointed Demetrius as commander in his place. As he appointed him, Maximian, an opponent of Christ, particularly recommended that he persecute and exterminate the Christians of Thessalonica. Demetrius not only disobeyed the emperor but openly confessed and preached the Lord Jesus Christ in the city of Thessalonica. When the emperor heard of this he became furious with Demetrius. The, when he was returning form battle against the Sarmatians, Maximian stopped at Thessalonica to investigate the matter. Demetrius openly acknowledged his Christian Faith to the emperor and also denounced the emperor s idolatry. Maximian cast Demetrius into prison. Knowing what was awaiting him, Demetrius gave all his goods to his faithful servant Lupus to distribute to the poor, and joyful awaited his imminent suffering for Christ the Lord. An angel of God appeared to him in prison, saying: Peace be to you, O sufferer of Christ; be brave and be strong! After several days, the emperor sent soldiers to the prison to kill Demetrius. The soldiers found the saint of God at prayer and ran him through with lances. Christians secretly took his body and honorably buried it. Healing myrrh flowed from the body of the martyr of Christ, curing many of the sick. Soon, a small Church was build over his relics. An Illyrian nobleman, Leontius, was affected with an incurable illness. He hastened, with prayer to the relics of St. Demetrius and was completely healed. In thanksgiving, Leontius erected a much larger Church on the site of the old Church. The saint appeared to him on two occasions. The Holy Relics of St. Demetrius When Emperor Justinian wanted to translate the relics of the saint form Thessalonica to Constantinople, flaming sparks sprang from the tomb and a voi8ce was heard: Stop, and do not touch! And thus, the relics of St. Demetrius have remained for all time in Thessalonica. As the protector of Thessalonica, St. Demetrius has appeared many times, and on may occasions has saved Thessalonica form great calamity. His miracles are without number. The Russians considered St. Demetrius to be the protector of Siberia, which was conquered and annexed to Russian on October 26, Demetrius was a commander of Thessalonica during his life and remained so after his repose. People have felt his presence in Thessalonica, especially in times of great calamities. He protects the city, wards off misfortunes, repels invaders, and help all who invoke his name. Here is a wonderful example of his unusual aid to people in need: Once, the barbarians attacked Thessalonica and were unable to overtake it. Infuriated at this, they pillaged the countryside and bound and carried off two beautiful maidens whom they gave as a gift to their prince. These maidens knew how to embroider well. When the prince saw their handiwork, he said to them: I hear that there is a great god in your land, Demetrius, and that he works great miracles. Embroider his face on this linen. The maidens told him that St. Demetrius was not a god but rather God s servant and the helper of Christians. At first, they refused to embroider the face of the saint, but when the prince threatened them with death, they carried out the command and completed the task by St. Demetrius Day. On the eve of the feast, they looked at their embroidery and wept sorrowfully, as they had to spend the feast day in slavery and had to give that embroidered image of their beloved saint to an impious barbarian. Both maidens prayed to St. Demetrius to

2 forgive them. Then St. Demetrius appeared to them and took them both away, as an angel had once taken the Prophet Habakkuk. He brought them to Thessalonica and set them in his Church. A solemn all-night vigil was being celebrated, and many people were there. When they learned of the miraculous rescue of these Christian maidens, all glorified God and St. Demetrius, His great servant and commander. Miracle two of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. That the saints of God live, clothed in great glory and might in the heavens, Orthodox Christians know, not by their own reasoning, but by the true help and visitations of the saints. At times the saints appear so that men may see and hear them; at times, only to be either seen or heard; at times, though unseen and unheard, they influence our thoughts, our dispositions and our actions. Among the many miracles of St. Demetrius in Thessalonica the following is recorded: A young man named Onesiphorus was appointed to the service of sacristan in the Church of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. His primary task was to keep an account of the candles and lampadas. This young man began to steal candles, take them home, and then resell them. St. Demetrius appeared to him and said: Brother Onesiphorus, your action is not pleasing to me, for you are stealing candles. By this, you bring harm to others and especially to yourself. Cease doing this and repent! Onesiphorus was frightened and ashamed and, for a time, stopped stealing candles. But he eventually forgot himself, and again began to steal candles. One morning, a distinguished man brought some large candles to the tomb of the saint, lit them, prayed and left. Onesiphorus approached the candles and stretched forth his hand with the intention of taking them, but at that moment a voice like thunder roared: Are you doing that again? As though struck by lightning, Onesiphorus fell to the ground, unconscious. When someone came into the Church he found him and lifted him up off the floor; he gradually came to himself and related all that happened. Everyone s was astonished, and glorified God. A Hymn of Praise: The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius: Thessalonica glorifies its wonderful saint St. Demetrius, servant of the Most-high God. Demetrius, the commander, Servant of the Creator and Lord. St. Paul bedewed Thessalonica with tears, Demetrius watered it with his blood. Demetrius, the commander, Servant of the Creator and lord. The tears of the apostle and the blood of the martyr are the glory, salvation and pride of Thessalonica. Demetrius, the commander, Servant of the Creator and Lord. Let us also glorify Christ s soldier, the Myrrh-Gushing saint and courageous martyr, Demetrius, the commander, Servant of the Creator and Lord. - By: St. Nikolai Velimirovich - Worship Schedule Sunday, October 22nd 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The 20th Sunday After Pentecost, Tone 3. (Page 87). The Isapostle Abercius, the Seven Youths of Ephesus, and the Kazan Icon of the Theotokos are commemorated. Epistle Galatians 1:11-19 Gospel Luke 16:19-31 Wednesday, October 25th 4:00 p.m. The Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers for the sick and anointing of the faithful. Sunday, October 29th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The 21st Sunday After Pentecost Tone 4 (Page 90). The Venerable Martyr Anastasia, Abramius the Hermit and niece the Blessed Mary are commemorated. Epistle Galatians 2:16-20 Gospel Luke 8:26-39 MONDAY, OCTOBER 30TH 9:00 A.M. THE DIVINE LITURYG: IN CELEBRATION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE WEEPING ICON OF THE THEOTOKOS IN OUR CHURCH! November 1st 4:00 p.m. The Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers for the sick and anointing of the faithful. Saturday, November 4th 4:00 p.m. The Evening Vesper Service followed by Bible Study Class. Sunday, November 5th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Tone 5 (Page 93) Prayers of Thanksgiving on the 39th Anniversary of Father Ken to the Holy Pristhood! Galacteon & Epistemius, St. Gregory of Alexandria and the Apostle Patrobus of the Seventy are commemorated. Epistle Galatians 6:11-18 Gospel Luke 8:41-56 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH 9:00 A.M. THE FEAST OF THE SYNAXIS OF THE

3 ARCHANGELS: MICHAEL, GABRIEL AND ALL HEAVENLY HOSTS! EPISTLE HEBREWS 2:2-10 GOSPEL LUKE 10: :00 p.m. The Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers for the sick and anointing of the faithful with the Holy Myrrh! Saturday, November 11th 4:00 p.m. The Evening Vesper Service followed by Bible Study Class. Sunday, November 12th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of the Third Hour. 10:00 a.m. The 23rd Sunday After Pentecost, Tone 6 (Page 96). St. John the Merciful, Venerable Nilus the Faster, and St. John, Foolfor-Christ are commemorated. Epistle Ephesians 2:4-10 Gospel Luke 10:25-37 Happy Birthday! Mary Pitinii.. Ryan Weber. Peter Delida.. John Prokup Jr.. Veronica Diles... Happy Anniversary! Fr. Ken & Pani Mary Bachofsky...October 22nd Samaritan Outreach Next on the calendar of activities for our St. Nicholas Samaritan Outreach will be the Free Dinner on Tuesday, October 24th. It will be held at the American Legion in Windham, Ohio. Dinner will be served beginning at 5:00 p.m. If there is more food left over then take out dinners will be given out as requested. The menu for this dinner is: Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Vegetable, Bread & Butter, Beverage and Dessert. If you are able to give of your time and talent toward this dinner please contact either Father Ken or Deacon Ed during the coffee social this morning, or by . Coming up on the schedule next month is the Thanksgiving Day Dinner. Not to early to start making plans for this special dinner! May the Lord continue to bless this ministry and those who give of their time and talent! Bishop s Anniversary The Diocesan Chancery has announced a special celebration of the 5th Anniversary of the Episcopal Consecration of His Grace, Bishop Gregory! This will take place on Monday, November 27, All of the faithful of our parish are invited to attend! Prayers of Thanksgiving for His Grace will be offered at the Holiday Inn, downtown Johnstown at 5:00 p.m. followed by a Cash Bar & Horsd doeuvres at 5:15 p.m. The Anniversary Banquet will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Dinning Room of the Hotel Lobby. The dinner entree will be either Salmon or Filet Mignon at $50.00 per adult and student 12 years and younger at $20.00 dollars. If you would like to attend please see Father Ken and give him your donation for your meal that you have selected. Reservation deadline will be November 6, Special rate rooms can be reserved at the Johnstown Holiday Inn. When reserving your room please do it under ACROD in order to obtain your discount. Many Years Your Grace! Feast of St. Demetrios The pastor and faithful of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on High Street in Warren, cordially invite us to join them in their Patronal Celebration for the Feast of St. Demetrios the Martyr! The celebration will be as follows: Hierarchical Great Vespers with Lytia beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25, Metropolitan Savas to preside. A reception will be held in the basement of the church after the service. The Matins Service at 8:00 p.m. Followed by the Festal Hierarchical Divine Liturgy approximately 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at St. Demetrios Church. Metropolitan Savas to be the celebrant. There will be no services here at St. Nicholas Church to enable Father Ken to serve at St. Demetrios Church for this celebration.

4 Kitchen Doors to Open We are pleased to report that the Lord has blessed us with many blessings this past week, in o u r C h u r c h Kitchen! Many of our loyal and new customers can to enjoy our Internationally Renowned Holupki & Perohi Dinners and take out food! We are indeed so grateful! The income from the sake of diners and take outs was $3, The weekly expenses were $ This gave us a wonderful profit of $3, We are always looking for additional people becoming a part of our Kitchen Crew for our dinners! Here are some ways that you can give of your stewardship of time and talent toward our ethnic dinners: On Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. we will be stuffing and rolling the Holupki. On Wednesdays, beginning at 9:00 we will be pinching and cooking the Perohi, ending with lunch. Thursdays we serve our dinners from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and take outs until 5:00 p.m. Saturday mornings bring with it the coring and cooking of the cabbage. Attention bakers! We are going to need cakes for dessert on Thursdays beginning this week. Thanks so much, our customers enjoy them. May the Lord bless our work as we labor together in love and dedication! Camp Encounter 2017 Our Diocesan Youth Group (Jr. A.C.R.Y.) would like to invite all youth 8 to 18 years of age to join them at Encounter 2017! This will be held at Camp Nazareth beginning with registration on Friday, November 10th 7:00 9:00 p.m. The encounter will end on Sunday, November 12th with Divine Liturgy at 9:00 a.m. followed by a noon encounter dismissal. Activities will include Divine Liturgy, a religious talk with clergy, sports and a special event. Father Ken will have a two hour Bible discussion focused on prayer, for the adults attending the encounter. Don t forget to bring your Bibles. To register: 1) Please rachelprib@gmail.com by Wednesday November 1st. Include name of Encounter participant, age and any food allergies. Forms are available at: forms. 2) Please mail complete registration forms and a check made out to National Jr. A.C.R.Y for $90.00 per person by Wednesday, November 1st to: Rachel Pribish 668 S. Broad St. Elizabeth, NJ For more information contact either: Rachel Pribish at rachelprib@gmail.com or Fr. Miles Zdinak at frmiles@gmail.com. If there are families that are not able to afford the complete registration fee, please contact Father Ken. There are funds available through our Church School Program. We are please to announce that our Diocese, in conjunction with the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh will convene a Fall young Adult Retreat Trusting the Process. The retreat is crafted for young adults ages years of all and will take place Friday, October 27 Sunday, October 29, 2017 at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, Pennsylvania. The weekend event will feature Keynote addresses given by Mr. Jacob Saylor, the Pastoral Assistant at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church n in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has worked extensively in the field of Orthodox Youth and Young Adult Ministry and will offer a unique perspective on the cosmic process of salvation. The retreat will be filled with learning, fun, fellowship, worship, and time for reflection ad rejuvenation! The Registration Fee of $75.00 per person will be asked for the weekend event. Financial-need scholarships are available to students from the diocese. For financial help, additional information and for registration please contact: YoungAdultRetreats@gmail.com or Phone Father Stephen Loposky at (724) or (412) Our Church Offerings O n e of the many acts of worship conducted at each Sunday Divine Liturgy, is performed in our generous donations 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

5 Offerings from last Sunday: Regular Offering $615.00/ Candle Offering $112.00/ Total Church Offerings = $ May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, bless all of you 100 fold for your gracious gifts offered for the continuing salvic work being done at our beloved St. Nicholas Church!!! Banns of Marriage We are pleased to announce for the third and final time Banns of Marriage for: Melissa Anne Morris and John Robert J.R. Macrinos, both communicants of our St. Nicholas Church! The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony will be solemnized in our Church on Sunday,. If anyone should know of any reason why these couple should not be married, they are to bring it to the immediate attention of our Pastor, Father Ken. We thank you for your kind consideration of this matter. Aussie Quiz Nights The Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Academy and Pre School is sponsoring their first Aussie Quiz Night on Friday, October 27th, beginning at 6:00 p.m. It will be held in the Community Room of the school basement at 175 Laird Avenue in Warren. Call your friends and form a team of 5 8 people. If you don t have a team they will be make up at the door upon registration. Let s attend in order to have an enjoyable evening and to support the Holy Trinity School! The admission fee will be $10.00 per person and will include coffee and dessert. You may bring your own snacks and beverages for your team if you like. For more information please consult the posted flyers on the complex bulletin boards or directly contact Holy Trinity Academy at (330) ! Christian Stewardship: Land of Opportunity!...put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:14) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ h a v e p u t o n Christ. (Galatians 3:27) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior fr om there, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20) Recent events have rekindled the discussion about immigration into our country. As our Orthodox forebears were mostly all immigrants, this is a discussion that could affect us deeply. In generations past, many came to this country form Europe because the United States of America was seen as the land of opportunity. For those who had little or no opportunity in their own homelands, America seemed to be the place to come. But what was the opportunity that these immigrants sought and, as well, the modern-day immigrants: what was this opportunity that we not theirs elsewhere, but was available in the USA? A definition of opportunity is: a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something; specifically a chance for employment or promotion. For some, opportunity means the chance to gain for one s self in a new location, what could not be gained where one was. If immigrating to America was done to get ahead financially, many did so. And many continue to attempt to do so today. The question to be asked, is what does one do with the gains one has made through a change of location, a real change of life? In a sense, begin an Orthodox Christian is being an immigrant seeking a better life. When one is Baptized and Chrismated an Orthodox Christian, that new life begins. The immigration is complete. That new life is described by St. Paul as having put on Christ. We can very well look at how we are blessed in our American life in the same way precisely as we have been blessed with our Orthodoxy. When God entrusts to us, in our new Orthodox life, means and riches that abound as they do in America, God does so with the purpose that we use these means not for personal gains and satisfaction, but to adorn the New Life of Christ that we have put on. We are to represent Christ, the Christ we have put on. We are to live not to please and glorify ourselves, or to receive honor because we have succeeded in finding material gains in this new life. The self of the pre-baptismal life is gone. Selfishness is put aside. For me to live is Christ! (Philippians 1:21). Middle-East Hafli The community of St. Mark s Orthodox Church in Liberty, Ohio cordially invite you to join them for their 7th Annual Middle-East Hafli, a wonderful way of celebrating Middle East entertainment. The Hafli will feature a great buffet of Middle Eastern food, music and dancing! It will be held Saturday, October 28, 2017 at the Metroplex Expo Center 1620 Motor Inn Drive in Girard, Ohio! The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. There will be a cash bar and door prizes (winner must be present ) will be awarded. Advanced tickets can be obtained by calling: Mousa Kassis at: (330) or by calling the Church hall at (330) / or stmarkhafli@gmail, com. Advanced tickets are $40.00 per adult, $25.00 per student. Any ticket purchased at the door will be $50.00 per person. All proceeds to benefit: St. Mark s Orthodox Church.