Holy Ascension Parish, Newsletter for October 2012 Christus Pantocrator, Mt. Sinai. THE HOLY ASCENSION ORTHODOX CHURCH is the Washington, DC, parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), under the omophor (or the conciliar leadership) of Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky), Bishop of Odessa & Taurida. The Holy Ascension Parish was organized on Ascension Day, 17 May 2007. BISHOPS & LOCAL CLERGY Metropolitan Agafangel, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, and Bishop of Odessa & Taurida Vicar Bishop Joseph (Hrebinka) of Washington Father John Hinton, priest Father Andrew Frick, deacon Seraphim Englehardt, subdeacon John Herbst, subdeacon ADDRESS 3921 University Drive, Fairfax VA 22030 703.533.9445.
Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Fairfax, VA Part 1. Our Parish. The Holy Ascension parish welcomes all Orthodox people to its sacraments and welcomes all people with an interest in Christianity and the abiding Tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church. The immediate Holy Ascension parish member background is Russian émigré and American, with many other English-speaking members. Members, visitors, and people in touch online come from all ethnicities. The Church is One. http://www.holyascension.info/ http://ruschurchabroad.com/ http://sinod.ruschurchabroad.org/engindex.htm Part 2. Holy Days of October. October 7, the 18 th Sunday After Pentecost. The epistle reading from Second Corinthian speaks of the rewards of Christian diligence. So let each give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver. The gospel of the day recounts Our Lord s preaching from a boat in Lake of Genesseret, and the great catch of fish, and then the many and sudden conversions of those who had watched. October 7, Martyr Thecla. St. Thecla was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of St. Paul the Apostle. Her sole record is in the second-century apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla,. According to these Acts, Thecla was a young and noble virgin who listened to Paul s discourse on virginity and became his follower. Her mother and her fiancé Thamyris became concerned that Thecla would follow Paul s demand that one must fear only one God and live in chastity, and so they punished both Paul and Thecla. She was miraculously saved from burning by the onset of a storm, and she traveled with Paul to Pisidian Antioch. There she was again saved by miracles. Her day is September 24/October 7. 2
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, October 2012 October 14, the 19 th Sunday After Pentecost. The two epistle readings from Second Corinthians recall St. Paul s escape form the Damascus garrison and his understanding of God s commission of him as a missionary. October 14, The Protection of the Theotokos. The Protection of the Mother of God is one of the most beloved feast days of Orthodox Slavic peoples, commemorated on October 1/14. It is also known as the feast of the Virgin Mary s Cerement. In most Slavic languages the word cerement has a dual meaning of veil and protection. The Russian word Pokrov, like the Greek Skepi), has a complex meaning. First of all, it refers to a cloak or shroud, but it also means protection or intercession. For this reason, the name of the feast is translated as the Veil of Our Lady, the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos, the Protection of the Theotokos, or the Intercession of the Theotokos. Protection of the Mother of God. The feast day celebrates the appearance of the Mother of God at Blachernae (Vlaherna) in the tenth century. At the end of St. Andrei (Andrew of Constantinople) Yurodivyi s life, he, with his disciple St. Epiphanius, and a group of people, saw the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, and several other saints and angels during a vigil 3
Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Fairfax, VA in the Church of Blachernae near the city gates. The Blachernae Palace church housed several of her relics. The relics were her robe, veil, and part of her belt that had been transferred from Palestine during the fifth century. The Theotokos approached the center of the church, knelt down and remained in prayer for a long time. Her face was drowned in tears. Then she took her veil off and spread it over the people as a sign of protection. The event occurred during a pagan Rus invasion. The Mother of God saved the city from bloodshed and suffering. The Russian Primary Chronicle retells the story, It is ironic that the Feast of Protection came to be a important feast to the Slavic Orthodox but not by the Greeks. Within a few centuries many Russian churches came to be named in honor of the Protection of the Mother of God. Two among these churches are world famous. In Moscow, the Cathedral of Intercession Upon a Moat is popularly called the St. Basil s Cathedral, and in Bogolyubovo near Vladimir, there is the Church of Intercession Upon the Nerl River. The Moscow cathedral was built in the mid 1500s by Tsar Ivan IV and the Bogolyubovo church in 1165 by Prince Andrew Bogoliusky. In Novgorod, the Monastery of the Intercession of Our Lady (Zverin Monastery) was also built during the 12 th century. Cathedral of the Intercession, Moscow. October 14, Saint Romanos. St. Romanos the Melodist or the Hymnographer was a great Greek hymnographer during the sixth century--the Golden Age of Byz 4
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, October 2012 antine hymnography. The main sources about the life of Romanos are the Menaion for October, the eighth-century poet St. Germanos, and the Suda encyclopedia, where he is called Romanos the Melodist. Romanos was born to a Jewish family in either Emesa (modern-day Homs) or Damascus. He was baptized as a young boy, and ordained a deacon in Beirut. He served as sacristan in the Great Church (Hagia Sophia) of Constantinople, residing to the end of his life at the Monastery of Kyros. If he lived during the reign of the earlier Anastasios, then he may have continued writing during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-65), who himself wrote hymns, as contemporaries of two other Byzantine hymnographers, Anastasios and Kyriakos. St. Romanos was not at first considered a talented reader or singer. He was, however, loved by the Patriarch of Constantinople because of his humility. Around the year 518, while serving in the Church of the Panagia at Blachernae, during the All-Night Vigil for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, he was assigned to read the kathisma verses from the Psalter. He read so poorly that another reader had to take his place. Some of the lesser clergy ridiculed him. He sat down in a choir stall. Overcome by weariness and sorrow, he fell asleep. As he slept, the Mother of God appeared to him with a scroll in her hands. She commanded him to eat the scroll, and as soon as he did so in his dream, he awoke. He immediately received a blessing from the Patriarch, mounted the ambo pulpit, and chanted extemporaneously his Kontakion of the Nativity, Today the Virgin gives birth to Him Who is above all being. Everyone was amazed at the theology of the hymn and his clear, sonorous voice. According to tradition, this was the very first kontakion ever sung. The Greek word kontakion refers to the shaft on which a scroll is wound. The significance of the Theotokos command for him to swallow a scroll is that his compositions were by divine inspiration. The scene of Romanos s first performance is often shown in the lower part of Protection of the Theotokos icons. His day in the calendar is October 1/14. October 21, the 20 th Sunday After Pentecost. In the epistle reading from Galatians, St. Paul describes his political persecution of Christians before his own conversion, and his slowness to visit Jerusalem to meet the still living apostles of Our 5
Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Fairfax, VA Lord, such as St. James. The gospel from St. Luke describes Our Lord s visit to the city of Nain, where he brought a man back to life, the sole child of a widows who implored Our Lord for help. October 21, The Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council The Holy Fathers met in council in 787 to defend and describe the proper use and veneration of Holy Images, which had been a part of the Christian experience since apostolic times. St. Luke is called the first iconographer. According to ancient tradition, he crafted an image of the Mother of God and Christ-child that was blessed by her, and later used as the basis for the Vladimir Mother of God, which is still popular. Although being in full agreement that icons should never be worshipped, the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council defended their proper use within the Church on the basis that through the incarnation of the Son of God, the invisible and immaterial God added to His existence a visible and material human nature which could now rightfully be depicted by human art. In short, Christian iconography exists solely because of the incarnation of Christ! This is why it is mistaken to argue from the impartial revelation of the Old Testament argue against the fuller revelation of New Testament. Icons signify that God became man, bringing glorification to humanity. The Christ-figure portrayed in the icons is not a ghost or an illusion, nor merely an ordinary man. He is the God-man, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Second Person of the Holy Trinity, truly incarnate and divinely glorified in the flesh for our sakes and for our salvation. October 28, the 21 st Sunday After Pentecost. The reading from the Galatians epistle delivers St Paul s explanation that Christians are saved by faith father than by heeding the traditions of Judaism. The reading from St. Luke illustrate the same principle. Our Lord and his disciples walk in the fields and harvest grain that they eat, breaking the law against labor on the sabbath. Next Our Lord enters the synagogue and heals someone, indifferent again to His being called a man who breaks of the sanctity of the traditional Sabbath. 6
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, October 2012 Saints of the Week. Saint Euthymious the New came from Thessalonika and became a monk of Mt. Athos (889). His day is October 15/28. Hieromartyr Lucian was a presbyter of the Kievan Caves (1243). St. John of Kronstadt (1820-1908) was a Russian Orthodox priest, a striking, unconventional personality, pious and energetic. His vigil falls of October 19/31, but there will be no November 1 liturgy this year. Part 3. Liturgies During the Civil Month of October 2012. All Sunday Liturgies begin at 10:00 am. A luncheon buffet follows all Sunday liturgies. Volunteers may offer help with cooking at home and last preparation at the church. Currently a regular schedule also designates a family that is responsible for cleaning the church after the services. The duty is for one month at a time. If you wish to volunteer, please see the warden/ starosta, Mr. Gontscharow. Wednesday, October 3, Vespers & Akathist at 6:00 pm. Saturday, October 6, Vigil at 5 pm. Sunday, October 7, the 18 th Sunday After Pentecost, Hours & Divine Liturgy at 9:40 am. Martyr Thecla. Saturday, October 13, Vigil at 5 pm. Sunday, October 14, the 19 th Sunday After Pentecost, Hours & Divine Liturgy at 9:40 am. Protection of the Theotokos. St. Romanos. Wednesday, October 17, Vespers & Akathist. 7
Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Fairfax, VA Saturday, October 20, Vigil at 5 pm. Sunday, October 21, the 20 th Sunday After Pentecost, Hours & Divine Liturgy. Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Wednesday, October 24, Vespers & Akathist. Saturday, October 27, Vigil at 5 pm. Sunday, October 28, the 21 st Sunday After Pentecost, Hours & Divine Liturgy at 9:40 am. Saint Euthymious the New. Hieromartyr Lucian. Wednesday, October 31, Vigil at 6:30 pm. Thursday, November 1, St. John of Kronstadt. No services. Saturday, November 3, Vigil at 5 pm. Sunday, November 4, the 22 d Sunday After Pentecost, Hours & Divine Liturgy at 9:40 am. Kazan Icon. Saint Albercius. The Seven Youths of Ephesus. Please send questions and corrections to the newsletter preparer--patrick Brown hpcjfbrown@cox.net 8