Sunday, December 31, 2017-Sunday of the Forefathers of Christ

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1 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese Ecumenical Patriarchate 1123 East Avenue Erie, PA Parish Website: stnicholaserie.org Diocesan Website: Rev. Fr. Nicholas Mihaly Rectory: (814) Cell: (203) Sunday, December 31, 2017-Sunday of the Forefathers of Christ Schedule of Services and Events: Sunday, December 31 Divine Liturgy Canceled due to Snow Emergency Tuesday, January 2 6:00 PM; Adult Class Wednesday, January 3 6:00 PM; Akathist for the Nativity Friday, January 5 6:00 PM; Royal Hours for the Nativity Saturday, January 6 8:00 PM; Vigil Service for the Eve of the Nativity Sunday, January 7 9:30 AM; Divine Liturgy; Nativity in the Flesh of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ If you have not yet gone to confession this Advent Season and would like to, please come to one of the evening services or make an appointment with Fr. Nick.

2 UPCOMING EVENTS January 7 -Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord January 13 - Pro-life Breakfast January 14 - Feast of St. Basil January 19 - Theophany January 20 - Blessing of the Bayfront Waters off of Dobbins Landing Please join us on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM for an adult education class. The class is open to anyone who wants to learn more about our Orthodox Faith. To begin, we will be reading through The Orthodox Way by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. It is an excellent book which reviews the basic tenets of our Faith. Please bring yourselves and any friends who might be interested in learning more! There are some icons in the church hall, please help yourself! There are some household items from the rectory in the church hall. The parish is asking for a donation if you would like them for your own home. On January 20, we and other local Orthodox Churches, will be meeting at Dobbins Landing to bless the water of Presque Isle Bay for the feast of Theophany. Please plan to attend and tell your friends and family to be present at this great blessing for our region

3 Birthdays & Anniversaries Dec 31 Helen Douglas Jan 4 Ann DiMarco 8 Irene Schwab If you would like Many Years to be sung for you or a loved one, please let Fr. Nick know prior to the beginning of Divine Liturgy

4 Parish Prayer List Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. James 5:16 For the Health of Fr. John Baranik, Fr. John Gido, Fr. Nicholas Palun, Fr. John Zboyovski, Fr. David Smoley, Pani Donna Smoley, Pani Connie Miloro, Pani Eleanor Pribish, Ann Burdick, Emma Burkell, John Candia, Tom Candia, Sandy Carlisle, James DeHaven, Mary DeHaven, Ann DiMarco, Peter Dimitriadis, Helen Douglas, Irene Fendya, Miko Jovanovich, John E. Kelley, Laura Klepek, John Kloss, Richard Koerner, Jean Kramer, Don Kuzmin, Olivia Kuzmin, Serge Mihaly, Barbara Scheibeck, Irene Schwab, Elizabeth Skalko, Isabella Smith, Cheryl Walker, David Walker, Katlyn Wyant, George Yurcan through the prayers of St. Nectarios the Wonderworker & St. Panteleimon the Great-Martyr and Healer For the Repose of Fr. Charles Sunderland, Pani Ann Kozar, William Demyanovich, Maria Keim, Paul Meaden May their memories be eternal! If you have someone you would like to be added to the prayer list, please see Fr. Nick

5 To Ponder An article on the Carpatho-Rusyn Holy Night Supper by John Righetti The Christmas celebration for Carpatho-Rusyns, an East Slavic people hailing from the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe, is steeped in ancient tradition. The customs are a mystical blend of old pagan Slavic customs honoring ancestors and family with the revelations of Eastern Christianity. The celebration s main time is actually Christmas Eve, when the Holy Supper (Svjatyj Vecur, Velija) is served. Many customs are associated with this solemn meal, and these customs can vary from village to village and county to county. In many Carpatho-Rusyn villages, the head of the household takes some of the food first and feeds it to the animals, since the animals in the stables were the first to witness the coming of the Savior when He was born in a manger. This gesture is to help assure a prosperous year for all of the family s animals. Peas are thrown out to the chickens to assure their fertility (and that of the household s) for the coming year. In the middle of the table rests three key items the icon of the Nativity of Christ. The Kracun or Christmas bread, and a triple candle stand. The icon proclaims the mystery of the Nativity; the bread that the coming Christ is the bread of life: and the candles that through Christ s coming the Trinity was revealed to us. The kracun is then broken, passed around the table and shared together. Then garlic cloves and honey are shared by all. This must happen so that the family will stay together for the coming year. In some Rusyn villages, the legs of the table are bound by chains to Keep the family together. Christmas Eve for Rusyns is a strict fast day. Therefore, all foods served must be free of meat and dairy products. Twelve dishes are

6 served and these too vary from village to village. However, some of the more common include mushroom, pea or bean and sauerkraut soup, pirohy (dough stuffed with potatoes, kraut or prunes) bolbalky (bread balls with kraut or honey and poppy seeds), holubky(cabbage stuffed with rice or barley and mushrooms), fish, and prunes. The décor is also meant to remind the Carpatho-Rusyn peasant of the mysteries of God becoming man and dwelling with us. The table is covered with a decorated white cloth, symbolizing that Christ came without sin; hay is scattered on the table and floor, reminding Rusyns that He came in humility, born in a stable; and an extra place is set at the table for Christ, symbolizing the Eastern Christian belief that Christ comes each year ever present in the Eastern Christian home. Originally, however, this place was set in pagan times for the ancestors to join the family. After the meal, the family goes to church for Christmas Eve Matins, leaving the food on the table and sometimes the windowsill for the ancestors. Children awake the next morning and see the food and drink gone, consumed by their ancestors. Each Carpatho-Rusyn home is also visited by the Jaslickari, or Bethlehem carolers, a custom that can be traced to the blending of pre-christian caroling customs and the medieval passion plays. The Jaslickari are young men from the village dressed as shepherds and angels, who witnessed the miraculous birth of Christ. They come into each home to enact a play with song, about their visit to the manger and their coming to grips with the mystery of Christ s birth and their own human failings. The Jaslickari are a genuine folk expression and were a vital piece of the peasant s education in his or her faith.

7 The Jaslickari enter the home carrying a replica of the parish church or a stable. Some are in the role of angels, wearing white robes and tall, stovepipe hats. Others are the shepherds. Among the shepherds is a particularly colorful character, Guba, who dressed in sheep s wool and sporting a beard and mask, represents mankind s human tendency towards evil, chasing and frightening many a Carpatho-Rusyn child in the home. Christmas Day is spent feasting while groups of carolers go from home to home proclaming the Good News. And Carpatho-Rusyns greet one another with the exchange: Christ is Born! Hristos Razdajtsa! Glorify Him! Slavite Jeho!

8 Virginmartyr Eulalia of Barcelona-Patron Saint of Snowfall Commemorated on August 22 The Martyr Eulalia lived in Spain, near the city of Barcionum (now Barcelona), and she was raised by her parents in piety and the Christian Faith. Already at fourteen years of age, the maiden spent a solitary life in her parental home with others of her own age, occupied in prayer, the reading of Holy Scripture, and handicrafts. During the time of a persecution against Christians under the emperors Diocletian ( ) and Maximian ( ), the governor Dacian arrived in the city of Barcionum to rid it of Christians. Hearing of this, the maiden secretly left her home at night, and by morning had made her way into the city. Pushing her way through the throng of people, the girl made a bold denunciation of the judge for forcing people to renounce the True God in order to offer sacrifice to devils instead. Dacian gave orders to strip the girl and beat her with rods, but she steadfastly endured the torment and told the judge that the Lord would deliver her from the pain. They tied the martyr to a tree and tore her skin with iron claws, and they then burned her wounds with torches. During her torment, Dacian asked the saint, Where then is your God, Whom you have called upon? She answered that the Lord was beside her, but that Dacian in his impurity could not see Him. During the saint s prayer: Behold, God helps me, and the Lord is the defender of my soul (Ps. 53/54:4), the flames of the torches turned back upon the torturers, who fell to the ground. The Martyr Eulalia began to pray that the Lord would take her to Heaven to Himself, and with this prayer she died. People saw a white dove come from her mouth and fly up to Heaven. Then a sudden snowstorm covered the martyr s naked body like a white garment (the saint s commemoration is sometimes given as December 10, which may be more correct, in view of the snow). Three days later, the martyr s parents came and wept before her hanging body, but they were also glad that their daughter would be numbered among the saints. When they took Saint Eulalia from the tree,

9 one of the Christians, named Felix, said with tears of joy: Lady Eulalia, you are the first of us to win the martyr s crown! Saint Felix himself soon accepted death for Christ, and is also commemorated on this day.

10 WEEKLY OFFERINGS Sunday, December 24, 2017 DONOR $2.00 WEEKLY CANDLES FOR HEALTH GIVEN FOR Tamara Kloss Husband John Kloss Phyllis Tarasovich Herself and Family Theodore & Patricia Molly Themselves and Family Theodore & Patricia Molly John Kloss David Lipchik Daughter Elaine Elizabeth Lipchik David Lipchik Daughter Elaine s Unborn Child Elizabeth Elaine Lipchik Helen Douglas Herself and Family John & Donna Novak Ann DiMarco s Birthday, January 4 John & Donna Novak Daughter Lisa and Son Kevin John Lipchik Jr. & Kathleen Boyce Uncle Peter & Aunt Marge Sima Kathleen Boyce Families of Brother John Lipchik Jr. and Husband Gary Boyce DONOR $2.00 WEEKLY CANDLES FOR THE DECEASED GIVEN FOR John & Tamara Kloss Her Parents Very Rev. Proto. Ronald & Pani Dolores Hazuda Douglas & Jean LaBoda and Family His Father Michael LaBoda Douglas & Jean LaBoda and Family His Mother Virginia LaBoda George Yurcan Parents Wasyl & Aniela Yurcan and Deceased in Family Richard & Susanne Demchak Beloved Parents Joseph & Susan Demchak Dr. George & Kitty Kuzmishin Beloved Family Members Janet Belliveau Parents Douglas & Anne Liebel John Lipchik Jr. & Kathleen Boyce Parents John Sr. & Helena Lipchik David Lipchik Parents Steve & Ann Lipchik Phyllis Tarasovich Deceased in the Tarasovich and Kelley Families Reader David & Debra Tarasovich Grandson Carter Robert Egloff Reader David & Debra Tarasovich Her Mother Shirley s Birthday, December 29 Theodore & Patricia Molly Michael Kane CATEGORY AMOUNT CATEGORY AMOUNT Candles Pledges Loose Change Social Hour 8.00 Regular Envelopes 1, Memorials* Christmas Donations Grove Refund 3.60 Christmas Flowers Total Income 1, *Thank you to Pam Nolan ($50), Frasha Evanoff ($30), Renee Kloecker ($20), and Louis & Pauline Berti ($10) for their donations in memory of William Demyanovich. ATTENDANCE Akathist to St. Nicholas (Mon., Dec. 18): 6 Liturgy for St. Nicholas (Tue., Dec. 19): 7 Adult Education Class (Tue., Dec. 19): 5 Vespers for St. Nicholas (Sat., Dec. 23): Canceled, Nobody Attended Divine Liturgy (Sun., Dec. 24): 34

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12 January 2018 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Tentative Calendar CHURCH December 2017 S M T W T F S January 2018 S M T W T F S February 2018 S M T W T F S Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 31 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy 1 2 6:00 PM Adult Education Class 6:00 PM Akathist for the Nativity :00 PM Royal Hours for the Nativity 6 8:00 PM Vigil Service for the Nativity of Our Lord 7 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy-Christmas Day 8 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy-Synaxis of the Mother of God 9 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy-Feast of St. Stephen 6:00 PM Adult Education Class :00 PM Vespers 14 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy :00 PM Adult Education Class :00 PM Vigil Service for Theophany 7:00 PM Theophany Holy Supper 19 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy-Theophany 12:00 PM Blessing of Presque Isle Bay :30 AM Divine Liturgy :00 PM Adult Education Class :00 PM Vespers 28 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy :30 PM Emmaus Soup Kitchen 6:00 PM Adult Education Class :00 PM Vespers Page 1/1

13 St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Christmas Schedule East Avenue Erie, PA Friday, January 5; 6:00 PM-Royal Hours of the Nativity of Our Lord Saturday, January 6; 8:00 PM-Vigil Service on the Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord Sunday, January 7; 9:30 AM-Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Monday, January 8; 9:30 AM-Divine Liturgy for the Synaxis of the Virgin Mary Tuesday, January 9; 9:30 AM-Divine Liturgy for the Feast of St. Stephen