Celebrating the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

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1 10748 E. 116 th Street Fishers, Indiana (317) V. Rev. Father Nabil L. Hanna, Pastor (317) Rev. James A. Childs, Deacon (317) A Parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest TONE 5 NOVEMBER 20, 2016 EOTHINON ND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 9 TH SUNDAY OF LUKE FOREFEAST OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE THEOTOKOS VENERABLE GREGORY OF DECAPOLIS PROCLOS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE WONDERWORKER SOZOMEN OF CYPRUS Celebrating the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple Mary was brought as a small child to the temple by her parents in order to be raised there among the virgins consecrated to the service of the Lord until their betrothal in marriage. According to Church tradition, Mary was solemnly received by the temple community which was headed by the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. She was led to the holy place to be nourished there by the angels in order to become herself the holy of holies of God, the living sanctuary and temple of the Divine child who was to be born in her. She thus inaugurates the New Testament in which are fulfilled the prophecies of old that the dwelling of God is with man and that the human person is the sole proper dwelling place of the Divine Presence (Ezek 37.27; Jn ; Acts 7.47; 2 Cor 6.11; Eph ; 1 Pet 2.4; Rev ). Matins/Divine Liturgy for the Feast: 9/10 am Monday, November 21

2 L I T U RGY VA R I AT I O N S 3 RD ANTIPHON: APOLYTIKION OF THE RESURRECTION (TONE 5) Let us believers praise and worship the Word, coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation, for He took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh to suffer death and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection. APOLYTIKIA AFTER THE ENTRANCE Let us believers praise and worship. Troparion of the Resurrection (Tone 5) Schedule of Regular Weekly Services Sundays: Matins, 8:50 AM Divine Liturgy, 10 AM Wednesdays: Vespers, 6:30 PM Saturdays: Great Vespers, 5 PM Confession: After Saturday Vespers See Calendar for Feast Days and Other Weekday Services Scheduled Order for Holy Communion Members of the Orthodox Church age seven and above must prepare for Holy Communion with a recent confession, prayer, fasting from all food and drink from midnight (unless medical condition preclude it), being in church before the Epistle and Gospel readings, and being at peace with everyone. CHILDREN going to church school and their teachers should come down the center aisle first. (Small children may need to be assisted by their parents.) ALL OTHERS should wait until an usher dismisses your row from the center aisle. Then return to your place by a side aisle for the prayers of thanksgiving and the final blessing and dismissal. Please let choir members pass when they come down for Communion. During Sunday Matins Or by Appointment Remember to turn cell phones off! A Warm Welcome to Our Guests We are glad you are worshipping with us. Please note that participation in Holy Communion is limited to members of the Orthodox Church in good standing, who have prepared with prayer, fasting and confession. For all others: though we cannot share Communion with you since it is an expression of membership and full unity in faith you are welcome to come forward after the dismissal, receive a blessing and partake of the blessed bread (from the large bowls). Please also sign our guest book, and introduce yourself to Fr. Nabil during the coffee hour. You may inquire with him how you can become a member.

3 Troparion of the Forefeast of the Entrance of the Theotokos (Tone 4) Today Anna bequeaths joy to all instead of sorrow by bringing forth her fruit, the only ever Virgin. In fulfillment of her vow, today with joy she brings to the temple of the Lord the true temple and pure Mother of God the Word. Liberator of captives, Defender of the poor, the Physician of the sick and the Champion of kings, O Trophy-bearer, Great-martyr Troparion for St. George (Tone 4, Byzantine) George, intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved. Kontakion of the Prefeast of the Entrance of the Theotokos (Tone 4) Today the universe is filled with joy at the glorious feast of the Mother of God, and cries out: She is the heavenly tabernacle. SCRIPTURE LESSONS Prokeimenon (Psalm 11.7,1 LXX; Tone 5) You, O Lord, shall keep us and preserve us. Verse: Save me, O Lord, for the godly man has failed. From the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians (6:11-18; 22 nd Sunday after Pentecost) BRETHREN, see with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would compel you to be circumcised and not only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who receive circumcision do not themselves keep the Law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God. Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen. From the Gospel according to St. Luke (12:16-21; 9 th Sunday of Luke) THE LORD SPOKE THIS PARABLE: The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? And he

4 said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. As He said this, Jesus called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. HOLY OBLATIONS AND PRAYER REQUESTS By David and Cynthia Egly, for their children, grandchildren, the children of St. George s Parish, and those mothers who are carrying children yet to be born. A sign-up sheet for baking and offering the prosphora (altar bread) is posted on the bulletin board, next to the elevator. You can also contact Thelma Hoover at (317) TODAY S STUDY TOPIC: LESSON II.9 1 SAMUEL/KINGDOMS All church school classes from first grade on up today will study this text. Adults study the same text simultaneously with our children at the end of Liturgy. A N N O U N CEMENTS PLEASE JOIN US FOR FELLOWSHIP AFTER THE LITURGY Coffee hour is hosted today by David and Elise Sumner and by Suzanne Mesalam. The sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour is on the bulletin board next to the elevator. We need people to sign up for the regular coffee hour as well as for the Church School snack. (Something simple is all that s expected, though you re welcome to do more for a special occasion.)

5 THE PRE-CHRISTMAS FAST CONTINUES Remember that in her holy wisdom, the Church gives us a 40-day period of preparation for Christmas. We fast from November 15 until the Christmas Liturgy (although we make a special dispensation for Thanksgiving). During this time, we abstain from all meat and dairy products, AND we increase our prayer, reading of Scripture and almsgiving for the poor. CHOOSE ONE OF THE TWO COURSES, AND JOIN US Wednesdays: Vespers 6:30 p.m. Classes 7:00-8:30 p.m. September 28 December 14, 2016 Introduction to Orthodoxy Class Taught by Fr. Nabil Hanna The course will cover Orthodox Faith and Practice, including the Bible, the Creed, the Liturgy, sacraments, saints, icons, fasts, feasts, differences with Roman Catholics and Protestants, etc. The Epistle to the Hebrews Taught by Dn. James Childs The Church has received into the New Testament the letter to the Hebrews as an expression of St. Paul s teaching on how Christ fulfills the Old Testament prophecies. LET US GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD! Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, Nov a.m. Pan-Orthodox Liturgy with Artoklasia St. George Church E. 116th Street, Fishers Guest Homilist: Fr. Lucas Christensen, The New Assistant Pastor at Holy Trinity Loaves of bread will be blessed for you to take and break at home, so that the blessing of the Lord s Table will extend to yours at home. Fr. Nabil and Kh. Elaine also invite to their home for Thanksgiving Dinner at 4 p.m. any who would like to join us, especially anyone who does not have family in the area. Please just let us know you re coming, at pastor@stgindy.org or , so we can plan properly.

6 FROM YOUR CHARITY MINISTRY TEAM: 4 THINGS TO DO FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR: 1. Christmas Card Please donate to the Christmas card. Your name will appear on the St. George Christmas card that is mailed to each parishioner. Donations for the Christmas card fund our charity ministries locally and abroad needs throughout the year. There is no set amount, but please be generous. Please complete the Christmas Card form, place it in the return envelope with your donation, and return it to the church in the collection basket or by mail by December 4. You may also submit your Christmas card donation online at 2. Coat drive and toiletries We are collecting gently used COATS, HATS, GLOVES, ETC. for distributing through our Indianapolis FOCUS Ministry (the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve). Please place them in the large boxes in the lobby, near the stained glass windows. 3. Canned and Non-perishable Food From now until Christmas, as part of our parish participation in the Archdiocese wide World Food Day program, we ask you to bring in canned goods and other non-perishable items. You can place them on the table in the main Lobby. Please check the expiration date on the items you purchase and try to bring items whose expiration date is in late 2017 or after. PLEASE DO NOT BRING EXPIRED ITEMS. In order to keep the food pantry manageable, please bring only the following items: November 13 Mac and cheese, instant mashed potatoes, noodles and rice November 20 Canned meat, dried beans, canned vegetables* November 27 Canned meat, canned fruits, canned soup or broth, soda crackers December 4 Peanut butter, jelly, breakfast bars, snack and/or protein bars December 11 Spaghetti & other pastas, dry or canned; spaghetti sauce December 18 Small boxes of cold cereal, oatmeal, non-fat dried milk December 25 Any of the above We have an abundance of green beans and corn, but can use other canned vegetables, esp. canned beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce. We report the total poundage received to the Archdiocese, but we keep the items for our own food pantry to help those in need (including parishioners).

7 4. Christmas tree for our local needy families We are providing support for families and children again this year, who need our assistance this Christmas Season from the Indianapolis area! a) Beginning Nov. 20, please choose as many tags as you can from the Christmas Giving Tree. Tags will include the information regarding the item that needs to be purchased - the size, etc. b) Return your gift, wrapped, by December 4. (Please do not put your own name on tag, as the gift is from the entire parish, but please keep the original tag with the gift, so we can identify who should receive it.) c) We will also use funds from your generosity in the Christmas Card for fresh food. Thank you in advance for your generosity, and may what you give return to you tenfold this Christmas season and always!

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11 Our Annual Stewardship Campaign begins today. This is the time of year when we reflect upon our many blessings and give thanks to our almighty God. It is also the time to reevaluate our stewardship commitment for the coming year. This commitment is in the form of our annual stewardship pledge. This is the pledge we make to continue the operational support of our church for the coming year and is separate from the building fund/mortgage pledge. Today, David Najjar will give a message to open our Stewardship reflection month. Next Sunday we have Fr. Joseph Purpura as a special guest speaker. On December 4, we will have a Testimonial to Orthodoxy. Our pledge drive will culminate on Sunday, December 11, our annual Pledge Sunday followed by a light brunch sponsored by our stewardship committee. We would like to receive all pledge cards on or before December 11. We hope everyone is striving to reach a goal of at least 10% of their total income as a pledge. If you can t reach 10%, please consider increasing your pledge from last year and continue to work toward 10% in the future. You will receive a pledge card in the mail in the coming weeks. We also have pledge cards available at the candle stand. Please fill out your pledge card for the coming year and deposit it into the locked wooden box located at the candle stand. You may also mail it directly. Please know that your pledge is strictly confidential, only processed by the office staff. Father Nabil, the parish council and stewardship committee are asking for 100% participation from all members of St. George Parish. Please help us reach our goal! The Stewardship Committee, Duke Haddad, Thomas Assalley, Elaine Eckhart, Patrick Koers

12 KROGER AND AMAZON SMILE Support us when you shop for holiday gifts. #StartWithaSmile at and Amazon donates to St. George. Select our church for the Amazon Smile recipient. Select "Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of NA. Location: Fishers, IN." Our church will then receive a 0.5% donation from Amazon for every order. DO YOU SHOP AT KROGER? Support the Knights of St. George with Kroger Community Rewards Simply enroll the Plus Card that you scan at Kroger stores each time you check out by going to krogercommunityrewards.com and designating either #88895 or "St George Orthodox Church" as the recipient. (If you don't already use the online features of your Plus Card, you will need to set this up as well).

13 MISSION TEAMS FORMING NOW Project Mexico, June 7-13, 2017 Anyone interested needs to respond quickly (even if there is only a small chance of being available to go on those dates). We hope the slots will fill completely in short order. A $100 non-refundable deposit for each participant will be due on Jan 31, with a balance deadline of April 30 th. Contact Neal Locasto, our local trip coordinator (locasto@rtmconsultants.com). Hogar Rafael Ayau, Guatemala, August 1-8, 2017 Contact Mike Young (mike.helen.young@sbcglobal.net) for more information ASAP. This mission destination always fills up very fast. St. Herman s Seminary/ Kodiak, Alaska, Summer 2018 It s not too early to start planning for Contact Brad Tingwald (dbtingwald@sbcglobal.net) or Eddy Srour (esrour@iu.edu). HOLY LAND 2017 We have received permission from Metropolitan Joseph to resume our planning for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We are looking at late September/early October Please let Fr. Nabil (pastor@stgindy.org) or Mina Khoury know if you might be interested, so we can put you on the list to get your input on dates and keep you informed as details come together.

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15 FESTIVAL FINANCIAL REPORT ADJUSTMENT Last Sunday we distributed what we thought was the final report for the Festival, then we found another bill. We will re-issue the report after we make sure that no more bills are in the pipeline. WORDS OF WISDOM The first stage of tranquility consists in silencing the lips when the heart is excited. The second, in silencing the mind when the soul is still excited. The goal is a perfect peacefulness even in the middle of the raging storm. - St. John Climacus Call for your tickets now! Space will fill up quickly for this Christmas Concert at Holy Trinity.

16 PARISH PRAYER LIST Please include in your daily prayers the following those struggling with acute illness and those newly departed this life from our parishioners and those for whom they have requested our prayers. (Names are kept for 40 days, the date indicated after the name, and may be renewed upon request of the patient/family.) ST. GEORGE PARISH CALENDAR November 2016 Sun. 20 Matins, 8:50 am Choir warm-up, 9 am Divine Liturgy, 10 am Church School Mon. 21 Great Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple Matins, 9 am Divine Liturgy, 10 am LIVING Metropolitan Paul and Archbishop John Kenneth Hanna, Clearvista Rehab., 12/7 Sharon Georges, friend of Martha Sleder, 12/26 Nancy and Bethany, Martha Sleder s nieces, 12/23 John Kennedy, friend of Patrick and Diane Koers, 12/21 Presbytera Zoe Denas, friend of Kh. Elaine, 12/18 Tony Brown, Pam George s brother 12/16 Gavin Vincent, friend of Issa and Sharon Mustaklem, 12/14 Stanley Smith, Fr. George s son, 11/28 Fiona and Joseph, friends of Christy Roberts, 11/28 Matthew Foster, Beth Flaris brother, 11/27 Dan Ramsey, friend of Alexander Sleder, 11/24 Shelby Chobany and the twins she is carrying, 11/22 Messai Belayneh, on medical mission in Ivory Coast All those suffering from illness, violence or want throughout the world DEPARTED Dn. Benjamin Mann, St. Andrew, Lexington, KY, 12/2 Zachary Moore, grandson of Martin and Debra Barnes, 12/26 Helen Grace Dooley, 12/20 Tracy Osborne, Kelly Patton s cousin, 12/13 Daniel Koutsis, friend of the Pattons, 12/11 Mark Phillips, 12/3 Silvia Yova, Kh. Stefanie Yazge s mother, 11/29 All Victims of violence across America, Syria, Iraq and all conflicts Tue. 22 BSU OCF Campus ministry meeting and dinner, 6:30 pm at Campus Christian House, Muncie Wed. 23 Vespers, 6:30 pm Thu. 24 Pan-Orthodox Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy, 10 am Sat. 26 FOCUS Breakfast, 9:30 am at St. John the Forerunner Church Great Vespers and Confession, 5 pm Sun. 27 Matins, 8:50 am Choir warm-up, 9 am Divine Liturgy, 10 am Church School Mon. 28 Church School Staff meeting, 7 pm Tue. 29 BSU OCF Campus ministry meeting and dinner, 6:30 pm at Campus Christian House, Muncie Wed. 30 Vespers, 6:30 pm Adult Christian Studies, 7 pm Intro to the Orthodox Faith The Epistle to the Hebrews See the full calendar and the latest additions and updates at