March 2, 2014 Bulletin St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Orthodox Church in America 2143 S. Center Rd, Burton, MI 48519 Served by: Fr. Matthew-Peter Butrie Rector Deacon Kerry Luke Gonser Web Page: www.saintnicholasburton.org Church: 810-744-0070 Fr Matthew: 810-247-4265
SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014 SUNDAY OF CHEESEFARE Tone 3. Forgiveness Sunday. The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise. Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia (ca. 320). St. Arsenius, Bishop of Tver (1409). Virgin Martyr Euthalia of Sicily (257). Martyr Troadius of Neo-Cæsarea (3rd c.). Ven. Agathon of Egypt (5th c.). 400 Martyrs slain by the Lombards in Sicily (579). TROPARIA (Tone 3) Let the heavens rejoice! / Let the earth be glad! / For the Lord has shown strength with His arm. / He has trampled down death by death. / He has become the first born of the dead. / He has delivered us from the depths of hell, / and has granted to the world // great mercy. (Tone 4) In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, a model of meekness, and teacher of abstinence, so you won the heights by humility, and riches by poverty, O Holy Father Nicholas, intercede with Christ God to save our souls. KONTAKION (Tone 4) Now the season of virtues has come, and the Judge is at the door. Let us not hold back with a darkened face, but offering tears, contrition and giving of alms let us keep the fast, and let us cry: Our sins are more in number than the sands of the sea, but forgive each of us, that we may receive an incorruptible crown, O Savior of all! The Prokeimenon in the Eighth Tone: Pray and make your vows before the Lord our God! v. In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel. THE READING FROM THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PAUL TO THE ROMANS (13:11-14:4) Brethren: Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.
Alleluia, Tone 6 v. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Thy Name, O Most High. v. To declare Thy mercy in the morning, and Thy truth by night. THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MATTHEW (6:14-21) The Lord said: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. COMMUNION HYMN Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! On March 4th the Church celebrates the memory of Saint James the Faster. He was, as his title tells us, a man who fasted and prayed, but he also faced temptations that almost killed him. He lived in the sixth century, and entered the monastic life at a young age. Because of his holy life, he was granted the ability to cure the worst diseases. People traveled great distances to be prayed over and healed by this wonder-working monk. One of the devil's wiles for monks is to tempt them with lust, and so it was with James. A woman came to him, having been challenged by cynical companions to see whether she could undermine his composure. She pretended to weep bitterly and to need his help desperately. Then she tried to seduce him. Knowing that lust was a strong personal temptation for him, James put his hand into the fire and let it be badly burned, and in order to force his attention away from his aroused desire. The horrified woman, as we might imagine, never forgot this. She changed her own life, and repented of having tried to lead him into sin. James continued to alleviate the most severe illnesses and conditions, while still being pursued by his own demon of lust. When a mother and father brought their suffering daughter to him, he used his gift of healing, and the girl was cured. But then he failed to honor the gift of his monastic calling, and had sexual relations with her.
Perhaps he panicked, or perhaps he feared being found out and losing his reputation for holiness. Whatever it was that drove him, he killed the girl, and threw her body into a river. James wandered into the wilderness, grieving over his sin. He came upon a desert monastery, and confessed his sin before all the brothers. The abbot urged him to stay, fearing that in his misery he might harm himself. But, feeling unworthy of such kindness, he left and continued to wander. He made a kind of grave for himself, and stayed there for many years, begging God to forgive him and comfort the girl's parents. At first, the prayers of this monk whose prayers had been so powerful seemed to go unheard. But a severe drought hit the area where he was living, causing immense suffering and loss. He prayed humbly for rain, and when big raindrops began splashing down on the dry earth, he knew he had been forgiven. During this first week of Great Lent we begin reading from Proverbs. On March 5th we read: "...if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God" (2: 3-5). Saint James the Faster "cried out" and "raised his voice" in his long wilderness repentance. He found God's understanding and experienced His willingness, even after the most deadly sins, to give us a second chance. March 2, 2014 CANDLE INTENTIONS FOR THE HEALTH & BLESSINGS OF Health & God s Blessings Macy Lemmen Health & God s Blessings Joe Goodman, John & Gloria Zelenko, Happy Anniversary Dr. Vladimir & Zina Pyatenko, Happy Birthday Rose Goodman Special Intention Health & God s Blessings Deborah & Allen Adams & family, Harold & Laurie Brock, My family, Sick & shut-ins of St. Nicholas Health & God s Blessings Alex & Magda Popoff, Angelo & Helen Popoff Health & Blessings Alex Nedanis Happy 90 th Birthday & God s Blessings Rose Goodman Panoff Health & Blessings Anna Branoff Special Intentions Diane & Art Zambito & family, Nancy, Ken & Maggie Laycock, Gloria & John Zelenko, Helen & Doug Phillips, Patricia Miculka, Gladys Edwards, Jeanette Hildreth, Brett w/cancer, God s Blessings & Good health for Evanka Elieff Gigi & Dedo Johnny Kantor & Jo Ann Havens Joe Tome Anna Branoff Nedanis Family Angelo & Christine Alex & Magda Popoff Her Family
Fr. Ilya, Fr. Lawrence, Fr. Joe, Deacon Anthony, Anna, Reggie, Evanka, Aretoula, Dorothy & Joe, Walter & Zina, Harold, Mira, Bosa, John & Gloria, Peter & Olga, Elaine, Rosemary, Jeanette, Ted & Marlene, Fr. David, Gladys, My family & friends Belated Birthday my dear granddaughter Maggie, my nephew Nick Oginsky, Stojan Prusac, Matushka Lisa Butrie, Helen Polzin Phillips, Rose Goodman, Belated Wedding Anniversary Roseanne & Robert Oginsky, Happy Belated Birthday Sharon Jernigan God s Blessings to Avery Panoff on her 13 th birthday Feb. 23 Good Health & God s Blessings John & Gloria Zelenko, Stojan & Mira Prusac Happy Birthday & God s Blessings for my dad Happy Belated Birthday & God s Blessings Stojan Prusac, Good health & God s Blessings Mira & Stojan Prusac ETERNAL LIGHT Bakousidis Family, Alex Nedanis, Evangelia & Nikolaos Bakousidis, Alex Nedanis on his birthday CANDLE INTENTIONS FOR ALL THOSE IN BLESSED REPOSE Peter Popoff-Memory Eternal Carl Smith & our son, Dad Nick Polonic-Memory of Birthday, Mom Helen Polonic, Mary Oginsky, Olga Elasivich, Joanne Triplett, Christine Stathopoulos, Jean Bulman, Norma Oginsky, Caroline Shebesta, Anna Sugar, Todora Branoff, Mildred Marko-Memory of Birthday, Evdokia Ponomarenko- Blessed Repose Todora Branoff-Bogda Prosti- Memory Eternal, Tony Branoff-Memory Eternal, Peter Popoff-Memory Eternal ETERNAL LIGHT Theodora & Kosta Papalazarou Joe Tome Baba & Dedo Rosemary Vuckovich Cheryl Ellis Peter & Jo Sredich Lena Bakousidis Alex & Magda Popoff Anna Branoff Lena Bakousidis We welcome all of our friends and visitors to St. Nicholas. Please join us in our parish hall for our traditional Cheesefare luncheon. VESPERS for the beginning of Great Lent will be served after the Cheesefare luncheon. SUNDAY OFFERINGS Because of the poor weather on weekends since the middle of January our attendance at Liturgy has been down. And with it, our Sunday Offerings have been down. We are in the red as you can see from the Sunday Offerings summary. Our expenses continue, especially the cost of snow removal. Snow removal has been required almost every week because of the snowy winter. Please send in your offerings to the church or drop them off at the office during the week. Your offerings make the work of the gospel possible. Please be generous! CHEESEFARE LUNCHEON will be held today following the Divine Liturgy. Deviled Eggs, Crepes (Blintz), Pierogi and Mac n Cheese will be served. $10.00 per adult meal, children 12 and under $5.00. All are invited to attend. SPECIAL MEETING for the revision of our parish bylaws will be following the Divine Liturgy. A committee of parish council went through the bylaws to bring them up to date with the revised Diocesan Constitution and our current parish practice. The proposed revisions have already been approved by Bishop Alexander. The sole item on the agenda of this meeting will be the revised bylaws. The revisions have been sent out in the mail and email. If you have not received your copy there are extras in the parish hall. MEATFARE BREAKFAST thank you to all that stayed. You helped raise $519.25 for the Seminarian Fund. A special thank you to the church school students and teachers for the wonderful breakfast they put on.
SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY next Sunday the children will process around the church with Icons. They may bring their Icon from home if they wish. We will have Icons for them here at church to carry if needed. HOPE IN A BOX for the month of March is feminine care products. Please place the items in the blue Hope in a Box container located in the parish hall. The products will be distributed by Catholic Charities Community Closet. PINE TREES As you may have noticed, all of the pines trees closest to Center Road are turning brown. They have been infected by a fungus. Three tree companies have looked at them and said that the trees cannot be saved. As a result, at parish council meeting it was decided to take down the trees with volunteers from the church. This will be occurring in the coming month, if and when the snow melts. If you would like to assist please see Dave Houser, Dennis Jernigan or Dennis Goodman. PHOTO DIRECTORY We will have a parish Photo Directory made this year. Lifetouch will be taking pictures of our parishioners on March 12 & 13 and June 11 & 12 from 2 pm to 9 pm. All portrait sessions in March will receive a 20% discount. In June only seniors will receive a 20% discount. You can make your appointment by: 1- Scheduling an appointment online at www.saintnicholasburton.org 2- Using the sign-up sheet in the hall to make your appointment 3- Calling the church office at 810-744-0070 Please make your appointment today! We will need volunteers to greet people and get them to sign in on March 12 & 13. Please see Subdeacon Johnny Kantor if you can volunteer. KOLYVA/PSHENITSA We need kolyva/pshenitsa for Friday evening and for Saturday morning for the feast of St. Theodore the Recruit. If you are able to make some, please see Fr. Matthew. Schedule of services and events for the Week of March 2: Monday, March 3 Great Lent Begins 10:00 am Changing of candles & Altar cloths Tuesday, March 4 6:30 pm St. Catherine s League Meeting Wednesday, March 5 9:00 am Lenten Hours Thursday, March 6 Friday, March 7 6:00 pm Presanctified w/ blessing of Koliva followed by Lenten Potluck Please bring a Lenten dish to pass (NO meat, eggs or dairy product) Saturday, March 8 St. Theodore the Recruit 8:30 am Confessions 9:00 am Divine Liturgy w/ blessing of Koliva 4:30 pm Vespers followed by Confessions Sunday, March 9 Sunday of Orthodoxy 9:30 am Third Hour 10:00 am Divine Liturgy Processions w/icons No Church School
**Please note that ALL services this week will be at St. Nicholas and are NOT combined** Sunday Offerings for February 23, 2014 Weekly Offering Envelope $2,050.00 Children s Offering $ 0.00 Cemetery Maintenance $ 10.00 Charity Envelope $ 20.00 Love Inc $ 0.00 Diocesan Support $ 0.00 OCA Envelope-Missions $ 30.00 Candle Fund $ 174.80 Coffee Hour $ 0.00 Seminarian Fund $ 0.00 Loose Offering $ 25.00 Kiosk $ 0.00 Christmas $0.00 Total Sunday Income Feb. 23, 2014 $2,309.80 Estimated Average Weekly Expenses $ 3,629.13 Actual Income $20,421.12 Actual Expense $35,730.17 +/- to date 110 people were in attendance on Sunday, February 23, 2014.