December 1, Dear brothers and sisters,

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Volume IV No. 12 Telеphone: 724-342-1198 www.stgeorgehermitage.org Email: frmilovan@stgeorgehermitage.

1 Volume IV No. 12 Telеphone: December 2007 December 1, 2007 Dear brothers and sisters, At the Divine Liturgy on the last Sunday of November we heard the gospel reading of the man, called a fool by our Lord, who amassed riches for himself to such an extent that he began planning the building of larger barns in order to fit all of his possessions. And in this story our Lord continues saying but God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? Thus will it be, our Lord concludes, for the one who stores up treasures for himself but is not rich in what matters to God. The man in this story is called a fool but not an atheist. Our Lord, in telling the story, doesn't make a point of saying that the man didn t believe in God. For all we know he might of held some sort of belief, albeit weak, in God and even went from time to time to the temple. Perhaps he even made a donation or two. But that wasn t the point of the story. Rather, the point was that we really don't know what is waiting for us tomorrow. We don t know what will happen to us when we close our eyes and fall asleep in the evening. Indeed, this sleep is at the core of the meaning of this parable. In telling us the story Christ gives us a stern warning of falling asleep in our faith. There are different stages of sleep. First of all there is the stage where we are sleeping but can still relate to what is happening around us. For instance, we fall asleep and someone calls out our name, we re able to wake up immediately. Next, there is a stage where we sleep because we re tired. This can last for a short time and when we wake up we re refreshed. At this stage of sleep we re not unconscious. But then there is a stage of sleep where we can not relate to what is happening around us. That stage is called deep sleep and we become unconscious. It lasts for a long time and when our sleep is interrupted we tend to lose our speech for a short while and we speak of things that don't make sense until we re-gain consciousness. It is this final, deep sleep, which our Lord speaks of in the gospel story. Since we re human our faith in God, like other things in life, might have it s ups and downs. Perhaps we go through different stages in our life and for a time we stop coming to church. Then, all of the sudden, we start coming again. Though it s not recommended perhaps, for some reason or other, this might happen to us. The danger, although, is that we not only fall asleep in our faith but fall in deep sleep; which is to say, that we are drawn to such deep slumber that we not recognize the messages given us each Sunday in the readings from the gospels and the epistles of the holy apostles. Each and every Sunday the message in church is the same - it s a message of how we make mistakes, as well as the dread consequences of those mistakes, but it s also a message of forgiveness and love, a message of warning to not be fools but man in that image and likeness of God in which we were created, always glorifying and worshiping God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. ews from the Parish On Friday, November 30th we are excited to announce that we will be beginning once again with our Friday night fish dinners - the Fish Fry. Perhaps you ve already heard from someone, or seen the sign on the church lawn, or seen the ad in the paper, or the one on TV. As you can tell, we ve tried to get the word out. Let s not forget that the fish fry last year brought in over $6,000! This is a big deal because we had all kinds of weeks - we had poor turn outs, bad weather, snowstorms, etc. But, regardless, we kept the doors open. Parishioners came and worked and we served both the many and at times the only few that showed up. Though it took time to catch on, by the time we stopped we were getting calls at our hall from people asking when are we going to have it again and how much they enjoyed it. A large part of our success, of course, was due to the fact that we had parishioners sponsoring each week s fish dinner. In that same fashion, as we get ready for this year s Fish Fry the following individuals having already volunteered to be sponsors: John & Christine Cataloni Ed & Francine Fabian Mico & Desa Vucenovic Bob & Evelyn Vucenovic Margaret Erceg Steve & Ivana Vucenovic Milos Miodrag If you would like to make a donation to offset the cost of our Fish Fry, please see either Mico Vucenovic or treasurer Francine Fabian. We continue to search for volunteers to help with the weekly cleaning

Page 2 DECEMBER 2007 / VOLUME IV NUMBER 12 $100 donated for our building fund from Nada Grkinich Myers In memory of +Doris Klaric: $50 Јоhn and Mary Doering $25 Martin and Sandra Wallach $10 Sandra

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Chairman for the 2007 SNF Bowling Tournament John Kasich has called a final WRAP UP meeting to be held on Sunday, December 2007.

2 Page 2 DECEMBER 2007 / VOLUME IV NUMBER 12 $100 donated for our building fund from Nada Grkinich Myers In memory of +Doris Klaric: $50 Јоhn and Mary Doering $25 Martin and Sandra Wallach $10 Sandra Shuttleworth Parish ews Continued from Page 1 of the church. We d like to thank Jagoda Masic and her two children Dragana and Dragan who volunteered to help clean the church last month. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Chairman for the 2007 SNF Bowling Tournament John Kasich has called a final WRAP UP meeting to be held on Sunday, December All parishioners are invited to attend this informative meeting if they have any questions regarding the recent SNF Bowling Tournament hosted by our parish in October. As of Nov we have in Our Fresco Fund: $11, The Annual Parish Assembly Sunday, December 16, 2007 Beginning at 12:00 noon Besides the regular items on the agenda we will also hear: Dates for the 2007 Parish Picnics A review of the projects completed on the church property in 2007 and discussion of work that needs to be done in Election of 2008 Church Executive Board Officers All members are asked to make every effort at attending the meeting! Да са нама, као друштвом, нешто није у реду види се и по томе колико и како држимо до своје вјере. За нас је она споредна ствар, па је потпуно запостављамо, мислећи да имамо времена да јој се посветимо кад обавимо све друго. А вријеме иде и све га је мање. Живот је кратак и брзо пролази. Они који ово схвате и свој живот посвете вјери добијају и овоземаљаско вријеме и сву вјечност. Господ је устројио тако уздиже оне који су једноставни, који не компликују живот на овом свијету, већ се држе правог, истинског живота у Христу Господу нашем, а оне друге, који се праве паметни, Он одбацује, уколико се не прихвате те спасоносне једноставности Његово Преосвештенство Епископ будимљанско-никшићки Г. Јоаникије Above: Work on our church has continued during the fall months. The workers are scheduled to do some work on the interior of the church in the coming weeks. This is the first phase of the work that needs to be done on our roof. Work will continue in the spring. We thank EVERYONE for all of their donations towards our building fund. Увек више говорите Богу о својој деци, него својој деци о Богу. - Старац Епифаније. Always talk to God more about your children, then to your children about God - Elder Epiphanius. NOTICE TO ALL PARISHIONERS: As most parishioners already know we have opened our social center to catering events through a caterer. Since catering events such as weddings are planned in advance we unfortunately cannot know if those dates will interfere with other doings. All dates are final. For example, when planning a dacha after a funeral please see with Valerie Backo to make sure the date is open. Thank you for your understanding.

The The Feast of the Entrance into the Temple of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary [ ВАВЕДЕЊЕ ] is celebrated on December 4 each year.

Let s look at what the icon of this feast tells us The High Priest, Zacharias receives the Theotokos at the steps of the Temple. A Church School Project Bells of St. George The Little Bells of St.

For bulding the negative form, just add the prefix "ni-" to the present form. Ja nisam = I am not No.

$of "He") are not \ÇàxÜxáà Çz Ytvàá tuéâà fàa a v{éätám Born in Patara, Lycia, named Nicholas, meaning conqueror of nations.$ At his infant baptism, he stood on his feet for three hours, supported by no one! He was ordained by his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, who is also a saint.

At his infant baptism, he stood on his feet for three hours, supported by no one! He was ordained by his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, who is also a saint.

Once he secretly threw gold coins into the home of a poor man who had been tempted to sell his three daughters into prostitution, as he was unable to afford their dowry.

3 The The Feast of the Entrance into the Temple of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary [ ВАВЕДЕЊЕ ] is celebrated on December 4 each year. The Feast commemorates when as a young child, the Virgin Mary entered the Temple in Jerusalem. Let s look at what the icon of this feast tells us The High Priest, Zacharias receives the Theotokos at the steps of the Temple. A Church School Project Bells of St. George The Little Bells of St. George is the Children s Page of our newsletter published by our children for our children. Lesson #3 Back to the verb "Biti". For bulding the negative form, just add the prefix "ni-" to the present form. Ja nisam = I am not No. 3 The Theotokos as a small child being received by the High Priest, Zacharias Joachim and Anna, parents of the Theotokos. Young maidens gathered by Joachim to form an escort for the Theotokos. An Angel of the Lord attends to the Theotokos in the Holy of Holies Ti nisi = You are not (sg.) On nije = He is not Ona nije = She is not Vi niste = You are not (pl.) Oni nisu = They (pl. of "He") are not \ÇàxÜxáà Çz Ytvàá tuéâà fàa a v{éätám Born in Patara, Lycia, named Nicholas, meaning conqueror of nations. At his infant baptism, he stood on his feet for three hours, supported by no one! He was ordained by his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, who is also a saint. He distributed his complete inheritance to the needy. Once he secretly threw gold coins into the home of a poor man who had been tempted to sell his three daughters into prostitution, as he was unable to afford their dowry. (This led to the tradition of filling shoes/stockings with gifts on his feast day.) His worthiness of becoming the bishop of Myra in Lycia was revealed to the archpastoral assembly by an angel who commanded it. At the Council of Nicea, 325 AD, in his zeal, he stood courageously against the teachings of Arius. Together with the holy fathers of the council he affirmed and taught all the dogmas of the Orthodox faith. He fell asleep in the Lord on Dec. 6/19, 343 A.D. and celebrate his feast day each Dec. 19. We must not confuse his memory with Christmas celebrations, as that may distract us from properly commemorating both his feast day and the Lord s Nativity. Numerous St. Nicholas icons around the world have flowed with healing, holy myrrh, curing many from various afflictions. He s especially known as the protector of sailors and all travelers. Remember: Church School classes are held EVERY SUNDAY after Divine Liturgy. Fr. Milovan holds classes for the older group in the church and the younger group meets in the hall.

4 DECEMBER 2007 / VOLUME IV NUMBER 12 Шум од негодовања не да се сакрити Старац Порфирије The oise of Murmurings Shall ot Be Hidden Elder Porphyrios Page 3 У нашој души постоји једно одељење које се назива моралист. Тај моралист се буни када види некога да застрањује, мада је онај ко осуђује, у много случајева, застранио на исти начин. Но он не почиње да се препире са собом него са ближњим. То Бог неће. Христос нам каже у Јеванђељу: Зар ти, дакле, који учиш друге, себе не учиш? Ти који проповедаш да се не краде, крадеш? (Римљ. 2,21-22). Можда не крадемо, али убијамо: приписујемо зло другом, а не себи. Кажемо, например: требало је да учиниш ово, али ниси учинио; ето шта ти се десило због тога! Уствари, у том случају ми желимо да се другоме деси зло. Када мислимо на зло, онда оно стварно може да се деси. На тајанствени и неприметан начин, ми код другог човека умањујемо снагу потребну за његов рад на добру и наносимо му зло. Можемо код њега проузроковати да се разболи, да изгуби посао или имање, и слично. На тај начин не наносимо зло само своме ближњем него и сами себи, јер се удаљујемо од благодати Божје. Тада се молимо, али не бивамо улишени. Иштимо, и не примамо. А зашто? Да ли сте икада о томе размишљали? Јер, на рђав начин иштемо. Морамо наћи начина да се излечимо од скривене тежње у нама да са злобом негујемо осећања или развијамо мисли о другим људима. Може неко да каже: када се тај и тај понаша тако и тако, зацело ће га Бог казнити, и може да мисли да то говори без злобе, али врло је деликатно разуђивање да ли у томе има или нема злобе. То се не види јасно. Велика је то тајна шта се, уствари, крије у нашој души и како оно што се у њој крије може да утиче на личности и догађаје. Не дешава се то исто ако бојажљиво кажемо да наш ближњи не живи како треба, те се молимо Богу да му помогне и даде му покајање; у овом случају ми нити изговарамо нити у дубини душе желимо да га Бог казни због онога што ради. Тада не само што не наносимо ближњему зло него му чинимо добро. Када се неко моли за ближњега или му жели добро, онда једна добра сила излази из њега, прелази на брата, исцељује га, укрепљује и оживљује. Тајна је то како та сила излази из нас. Стварно, међутим, онај ко у себи носи добро, шаље из себе ту добру силу другима тајанствено и нежно. Зрачи на бижњега светлошћу, која око њега ствара заштитни круг и чува га од зла. Када имамо добро расположење према свом брату, другом човеку, и молимо се за њега, тада га исцељујемо и помажемо да иде путем који води ка Богу. Постоји једна невидљиви живот - живот душе. Он је веома снажан и може да утиче на другог човека, па макар нас од њега одвајали многи километри. То се дешава у случају клетве, а клетва је сила која изазива зло. Но ако се, насупрот њој, са љубављу помолимо Богу за некога, онда, ма колико растојање да нас дели од њега, добро ће му бити пренето. Дакле, ни на добро ни на зло нимало не утичу растојања. И добро и зло можемо да шаљемо на бескрајне даљине. То каже премудри Соломон овим речима: Шум од негодовања не да се сакрити. Шум из наше душе доспева на тајанствен начин до ближњега и утиче на њега иако ми нисмо изговорили ниједну реч. Премда ништа нисмо рекли, ипак је могуће да преносимо добро или зло, без обзира на удаљеност која нас одваја од ближњега. Оно што се не да изразити обично има већу снагу него речи. Within us there is a part of the soul called the moralist. This moralist, when it sees someone going astray, is roused to indignation, even though very often the person who judges has strayed in the same way. He does not, however, take this as an occasion to condemn himself, but the other person. This is not what God wants. Christ says in the Gospel: You, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? It may be that we do not steal, but we commit murder; we reproach the other person and not ourselves. We say, for example: You should have done that and you didn t do it. So see now what s happened to you! When we think of evil, then it can actually happen. In a mysterious and hidden manner we diminish the power of the other person to move towards what is good, and we do him harm. We can become the occasion for him to fall ill, to lose his job or his property. In this way we do harm, not only to our neighbour, but also to ourselves, because we distance ourselves from the grace of God. And then we pray and our prayers are not heard. We ask and do not receive. Why? Have we ever thought of this? Because we ask wrongly. We need to find a way to heal the tendency within us to feel and think evil about others. It s possible for someone to say, The way that person is behaving, he will be punished by God, and to believe that he is saying this without evil intent. It is a simple matter, however, to discern whether he has or does not have evil intent. It does not appear clearly. What is hidden in our soul and how that can exercise influence on people and things is a very secret matter. The same is not true if we say with a sense of awe that another person is not living well and that we should pray for God to help him and grant him repentance; that is, neither do we say, nor deep down do we desire that God will punish him for what he does. In this case not only do we not do harm to our neighbour, but we do him good. When someone prays for his neighbour, a good force proceeds from him and heals, strengthens and revives him. It is a mystery how this force leaves us. But, in truth, the person who has good within him radiates this good power to others, mystically and gently. He sends light to his neighbour and this creates a shield around him and protects him from evil. When we possess a good disposition towards others and pray, then we heal our fellows and we help them progress towards God. There is an invisible life, the life of the soul. This is very powerful and can have effect on the other, even if we are miles apart. This also happens with the curse, which is a power that works evil. But if, conversely, we pray with love for someone, whatever the distance that separates us, the good is transmitted. So distances do not affect the power of good and evil. We can transmit these across boundless distances. Solomon the Wise says this very thing: The noise of murmurings shall not be hidden. The noise of our soul is transmitted mysteriously and affects the other, even if we don t say a word. Even without speaking distances do not affect the power of good and evil. We can transmit these across boundless distances. Solomon the Wise says can transmit good or evil, irrespective of the distance which separates us from our neighbour. What is not expressed generally has greater power than words.

St. George Serbian Orthodox Church 80 S Keel Ridge Road Hermitage, PA 16148 Annual Parish Assembly Sunday, December 16, 2007 Place Stamp Here Beginning at 12:00 pm Please make an effort to attend

5 St. George Serbian Orthodox Church 80 S Keel Ridge Road Hermitage, PA Annual Parish Assembly Sunday, December 16, 2007 Place Stamp Here Beginning at 12:00 pm Please make an effort to attend this important annual gathering. D ECEMBER 2007 Распоред Богослужења Schedule of Services December 2007 Below is a list of only the services during the week. The Sunday Liturgy begins at 10am and Vespers on Saturdays and on the Eve of Feasts is at 6pm unless otherwise noted. Tuesday, December 4 - The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos - Ваведење Liturgy 9am Wednesday, December 19 - St. Nicholas, the Wonderwoker Никољдан - Liturgy 9am Fish Fry Fridays - from 4-7pm Beginning ovember 30th Would you like to sponsor a Fish Fry or come and help out? Please see the church president or call the church office. The 2008 Calendar and Planner Available Soon in Church

The Way of the Cross Holy Trinity News

1 H O L Y T R I N I T Y S E R B I A N O R T H O D O X C H U R C H Пут Крста - Вести Цркве Свете Тројице The Way of the Cross Holy Trinity News 1910 Serbian Drive St. Louis, MO 63104 www.serbianchurchstlouis.org