St. Elizabeth s Orthodox Mission. Reverend Father Matthew Dutko, Pastor. Weekly Schedule:

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1 T h e S t. E l i z a b e t h s p a r i s h n e w s St. Elizabeth s Orthodox Mission 2263 E. Cherokee Dr. Woodstock, GA A Parish of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople O Holy St. Nicholas Pray to God For Us! Reverend Father Matthew Dutko, Pastor Phone: fatherdutko@gmail.com Sunday December 6th th Sunday After Pentecost Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-17 Gospel: Luke 17:12-19 For St. Nicholas: Hebrews 13:17-21 Luke 6:17-23 Weekly Schedule: Wednesday12/9 Divine 9AM The Conception of the Birthgiver of God by the Righteous Anna (Grandmother of the Lord) Saturday 12/14 6 PM Great Vespers Sunday: 12/15 10 AM Divine Liturgy Tropar Tone 2: Blue book pg. 84 Red book pg. 99 Tropar for St. Nicholas-Blue Book pg.123 Red pg.139 Kondak For St. Nicholas: Same as above Kondak Tone 2: Blue Book pg. 84 Red Book pg. 100 Kondak Tone 3: Kondak of Preparation Today the Virgin is on her way to the cave* where she will give birth in manner beyond understanding* to the Word Who is in all eternity.* Rejoice, therefore, universe, when you hear it heralded.* With the angels and the shepherds, glorify Him Who chose to be seen as a newborn babe * while remaining God in all eternity. O who dwells in God's holy mansions; Is our help on the land and oceans. He will guard us from all ills, keep us pure and free from sins, Ni-cho-las, Ni-cho-las. Ni-cho-las, tearfully we sinners, Beseech you fervently in our prayers. Help us in our tribulations, comfort ev'ry Christian nation. Ni-cho-las, Ni-cho-las. Music + more verses in pew books. Blue pg. 126 Red pg. 143

2 T h e S t. E l i z a b e t h s p a r i s h n e w s O who loves Nicholas the Saintly! During St. Nicholas life he was known for many wonderful things. Most especially though, St. Nicholas was known for loving Christ, his Orthodox Faith, and the poor and needy. One of the stories from the life of St. Nicholas is about what he did for three young maidens in the city of Myra, where he was the Bishop. The city of Myra was located in what is now the southwestern coast of Turkey. In modern day America, we would certainly consider Myra a very unforgiving place; as would many of the poor young women who lived there. Thankfully for three of those poor young women, St. Nicholas in his godly compassion saw Myra in this same unforgiving way and felt a calling form the Lord to make a difference. In 4th century Myra it was the custom for young maidens to pay a dowry in order to be able to get married. If your family was to poor to pay a dowry, this was bad news for you if you were a young woman. Young women of poor families who could not afford a dowry would sadly most often be sold into slavery. St. Nicholas knew of a particular unfortunate family and the love they shared for each other. Filled with compassion he went out one night in secret and threw a sack of his own gold coins into the home of the poor young women, thereby saving them from a life of slavery. Legend tells us that the gold coins landed in a stocking or a shoe; and so the tradition of hanging stockings for St. Nicholas began! This is a beautiful and fun story, but more beautiful is the person of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas is an example for all of us, because all of St. Nicholas acts of love, compassion, and kindness were inspired by Christ. St. Nicholas was truly a good servant of the Lord, he was truly like-christ as we are all called to be. St. Nicholas is known for many things: love, kindness, compassion, mercy, and charity. Above all though he is known for his zeal for Truth. The Truth that is found in the Orthodox Church. The Truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. We love St. Nicholas because St. Nicholas is like Christ as we are all called to be!

3 T h e S t. E l i z a b e t h s p a r i s h n e w s

4 S t e w a r d s h i p L e t t e r

5 SAINT ELIZABETH S ORTHODOX CHURCH STEWARDSHIP COMMITMENT CARD FOR 2016 Name Member? Yes [ ] No [ ] Address Phone In gratitude for God s blessings, I/we am offering to God, through St. Elizabeth s, the following stewardship of my money: $ weekly $ monthly $ quarterly $ annually $ one-time If you are able to help with any cleaning, fundraising, or any other way: please write that in below with an area where you would like to help! Only the Priest and the Treasurer will see this form. Please put this card into an envelope, mark the envelope Pledge for 2016 and bring it with you to Church by January 3rd You may mail the card to Fr. Matthew, 2263 E. Cherokee Dr., Woodstock, GA

6 The St. Elizabeth s parish news Thank you for the recent Liturgical Items given to St. Elizabeth s and may God Bless you all!!! You may have noticed recently the addition of two new banners in the front of the Church. These banners were graciously given to us by Michael and Anna Coffman. The Coffman s are a wonderful family and active members of the diocese. Sadly, there home Church of St. Nicholas in Hobart, Indiana recently closed it s doors for the final time. The Coffman's knew that although the doors of their home parish closed, the doors of Christ s Church are always open. They wanted to make sure that the banners went to a good home; to Church that was young, growing, in need, and filled with love. The Banners were donated in loving memory of Ernest and Julia Coffman and Vasil, Julia, George, Michael, Mary and Catherina Sabo. Thank you to the Coffman family for thinking of all of us here at St. Elizabeth s! You may remember that last year the National ACRY had an Advent philanthropic drive to collet funds for the Mission Parishes of our Diocese. Thanks to the generosity of the members of the ACRY and the faithful of our Diocese, a generous donation was given to St. Elizabeth s for Vestments and other Liturgical objects. Thanks to this generous gift we were able to get three sets of new Vestments and Chalice Covers, which were blessed this Thursday! We also received a beautiful Shroud depicting the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Mother of God. The Shroud was donated in memory of the recently departed Anna Blanar, Mother of Peter Blanar.

7 Announcements St. Nicholas Day: Festivities in the Atrium after Church! Confession: We are in a fasting season. Receiving Confession before Christmas is an important thing for each of us to do; so that we have room in the inn of our heart for our new-born Saviour. Christmas Art Class: Thank you so much to Teresa Van Buul for putting on such a wonderful class! A good time was had by all in attendance! If you were unable to attend but are still interested in making an Angel or an ornament please see Teresa! Holy Night Supper: December 24th at 5PM before Christmas Eve Vigil. Please come and bring a Strict Fast food dish! A list of some strict fast dishes you can bring is in the Atrium, but any strict fast dish (no meat no dairy) is certainly A-Okay to bring! You can sign your name next to a dish you would like to bring or add on anything that s not on the list. If you have any questions just ask. Christmas Play Practice : Practice today! After our visit from St. Nicholas. Please stay a little longer to allow your Children the opportunity to participate in the play. Christmas Play: The play will take place after Church on Sunday December 20th, the Sunday before Christmas. Please come and support our kids as they help us all to get into the Christmas spirit! Christmas Deep Clean: The deep Clean will be on Saturday December 19th, in conjunction with the final practice for the Christmas Play. So bring your kids, and while they practice their play, we can all work together to make the Church ready for the Birth of our Saviour! Bishop Gregory s Advent Prayer Challenge In case you missed it last week, Bishop Gregory has challenged each of us to pray a special prayer for peace each night in our evening prayers. If you need a copy of the prayer they are available in the atrium. Sunday School Project If you have any left over Halloween candy please bring it in for a special project for the kids. We will also need half gallon milk cartons so please wash them out and bring them in! Gift to the Patriarchate: Thank you all last week for your generosity to our beloved Patriarchate and Patriarch Bartholomew! Choir Practice/Are you interested in joining the Choir?- Choir practices for Christmas will be held after Church on all the Sundays until we celebrate the Nativity. If your interested in joining, come to a practice and try it out! Prayer List Evelyn Melnikoff, Fr. John and Pani Betty Jean Baranek, Fr. James Gleason, The Paccio Family, Johanna, James, Herbert and Mary Schleining, Patricia James, Anna, Basil, David, Dianna, Denise, Alex, Jason, Athanasia, Ethel, Kathy, Lester, Sally, Jack, Angela, Tyler, Maria, Bezerra Family, Jeff, Lesley, Page Family, Stephen (Blessed Repose), The Blanar Family, Anna (Blessed Repose), Louise, Emma Rae, The Floyd Family, Phillip (Blessed Repose), Zachary, George, Fred and Helen Mileshko, Robin Through the prayers of St. Elizabeth, the Birthgiver of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, St. Nicholas and all the Saints, may our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ have mercy on us and save us!

8 St. Nicholas Crossword Fun for kids and adults alike! You may have to do a little research to answer them all! The key be posted later!