THE PARISH NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 The Nativity of the Mother of God Russian Orthodox Church 518 869-3932 A parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad www.albanyrocor.org Rector: Protopriest Fr. Alexis Duncan Protopriest: Fr. Michael Fritz Protodeacon: Fr. Michael Soloviev ATTENTION, SISTERHOOD: WE LL MEET SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 AFTER LITURGY SEPTEMBER NAMESDAYS 8 Natalie Schuler Natalie Miller Natasha Smelova Natalie Federow Adams Natalie Krykhtin Adrian Miiller 10 Susanna Fritz 12 Alexander Krykhtin 22 Anna (Nanette) Nikiforov Anna Hauf 24 Sergey Shevtchuk 29 Ludmilla Sinkevich Lyudmila Kapustina Lyudmilla Greene 30 Matushka Nadezhda Drobot Nadieszda Kizenko Vera Kristie Hope (Therese) Henry Sophia Barnes DATES TO BEAR IN MIND IN SEPTEMBER 7 (Sunday) Church Council meets at the rectory. Note the date! 11 (Thursday) Beheading of St. John the Baptist 20 (Saturday) 5:00 p.m. Vigil of our parish feast day 21 (Sunday) The Nativity of the Theotokos our parish feast day 9:00 a.m. Vesting of Bishop Nicholas, and the Hierarchical Liturgy 27 (Saturday) Exaltation of the Cross THE BLESSING OF CHILDREN On Sunday, September 7 immediately following the Liturgy we will serve the Blessing of Children as they begin their school year. All students and teachers should be present to receive God s blessings on their studies. PLEASE LISTEN UP ABOUT OUR PARISH FEAST DAY We must get our church and hall ready; i.e., cleaning up, planting, etc. A workday is planned for Saturday, September 13 starting at 9:00 a.m. If you can t make it then, but would like to help, just call Margo Beighey (371-7758) and you and she can discuss what to do. Any amount of time you can give will be appreciated. Bring your garden tools and lunch. We need desserts for the feast day. More will be announced in church.
Please stay to help clean up after the feast day meal! Details of the customary Feast Day Raffle will be announced in church. WINTER HOURS RESUME as of SEPTEMBER 27/28: Liturgy/Hours 9:30 a.m. (N.B.: Your editor finds this term for the USA northeast s climate unkind and pejorative, but Winter Hours is what he heard at Council. It s not nice to say that around here we have two seasons: winter and the 4 th of July! A RUSSIAN S KEY TO UNDERSTANDING ETHNICITIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES As our welcoming and inclusive church continues to attract an ever swelling tide of persons who did not have the good fortune to be Russian Orthodox from the cradle, it indeed behooves your editor to decode if quite stereotypically significant traits of those nations represented by surnames of converts now familiar among our parish roster. There are the eloquent English (Baker), the tuneful Welsh (Welsh, Richards), all the many contentious Irish (Farley, Fitzpatrick, Henry, Taylor), and the frugal Scots (Duncan). The lines below, recited to your editor a quarter-century ago by a woman of Scottish descent, will be useful in assisting your recall. The English love the gospel because they can talk about it, the Welsh love the gospel because they can sing about it, the Irish love the gospel because they can fight about it, and the Scots love the gospel because it is free! LITURGICAL PARISH PURCHASES IN RUSSIA IN JULY Father Alexis reported to the Church Council in August that he bought the following items with funds donated by members of our parish family. The total spent was $10,237.43, but the rate of exchange to rubles varies. 6 Gospel markers 4 chalice covers 4 altar boy robes Silver chalice Bishop s staff Jeweled cross Silver spoon Unction tray Altar cross Gospel Holy water vessel 8 cups for wine Chalice & spoon for the sick Antimins cover Embroidered items for the altar Large prosphora stamp September 2014, page 2 Gottesmuehlen mahlen langsam, mahlen aber trefflich klein; Ob aus Langmut Er sich saeumet, bringt mit Schaerf Er alles klein Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all. Friedrich von Logau, tr. H. W. Longfellow
CACAN GRI (tr., Welsh Cookies) with fasting modifications 2 ½ cups flour ½ cup Crisco or oleo 2/3 cup sugar ½ tsp. salt 1 egg (or powdered substitute) 1 cup currants ¼ tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder ½ cup milk (can be soy) Run water over the currants and let drain while mixing other ingredients. Mix like a pie crust and roll out not too thin. Cut with a round cookie cutter or with a drinking glass. Bake in a moderate oven, or if you want to be authentically Welsh-traditional, in a frying pan (if electric, @ 375-degrees) until lightly brown 3 to 4 minutes, then turn over for 3 to 4 minutes. Your editor got this recipe from Dylis Thomas Morris of Poultney, Vermont, Welsh to her very core. It s ideal for use with children or grandchildren as a rainy day activity or on camping trips, using a frying pan of course. ST. JOHN THE DWARF feast day: November 9 He was born of poor parents in Tese in about 339. He was very short (hence his name) and came to the monastery of Scetis when about eighteen years of age with his brother Daniel. He had quite a temper and struggled with anger. Whenever he felt anger with a brother, he would run away until he cooled down. When he was a young monk, he wanted to go the desert and live in great zeal, saying, I will go and lead the angelic life in the desert! In a few days though, he tired of it and returned to the monastery. He knocked at the door of his brother s cell, but his brother did not answer. Who is it? asked Daniel. It s me, John! he said. Daniel replied, That can t be John isn t a man anymore, he has become an angel! John understood the lesson and learned humility. One time he was rebuked by an irritable brother who said, A little pitcher full of spite that s what you are! John replied gently, Ah friend! There are worse things in this pitcher than spite if you could peep inside. He attracted great attention and fame for his holiness. After 407 he moved to Suez and then to the mountain of St. Anthony. He died in peace in the fifth century. A Calendar of Saints, L. R. Farley (adapted) Abba John the Dwarf said, A house is not built by beginning at the top and working down. You must begin with the foundation in order to reach the top. They said to him, What does this saying mean? He said, The foundation is our neighbor, whom we must win, and that is the place to begin. All the commandments of Christ depend on this one. Abba Poemen tells us the Saints are like a group of trees, each bearing different fruit, but watered from the same source. The
practices of one Saint differ from those of another, but it is the same spirit that works in all of them. September 2014, page 3 Abba John said, I am like a man sitting under a great tree, who sees wild beasts and snakes coming against him in great numbers. When he cannot withstand them any longer, he runs to climb the tree and is saved. It is just the same with me; I sit in my cell and I am aware of evil thoughts coming against me, and when I have no more strength against them, I take refuge in God by prayer and I am saved from the enemy of our souls. From Orthodox Christian Readings, available from our bookstore Editorial comment: ON DWARFISM AND OTHER ABNORMALITIES If you ve watched The Little Couple on television (channel TLC: 183), you know that little person is the correct term for people of abnormally short stature. Dwarf is used of St. John; but we cannot know whether he had that medical condition. Dwarf occurs in fairy tales and in medical terminology; otherwise, it s insulting, as is midget. When the irritable brother called St. John a little pitcher full of spite, it was a put-down. Note St. John s classy reply! small wonder he was proclaimed a saint. DEADLINE FOR THE OCTOBER PARISH NEWSLETTER: Thursday, September 25 Submit items for publication in writing or to bacvas020402@gmail.com. Charlie Vas Murn, Editor PERSONAL SPIRITUAL PREPARATION FOR OUR PARISH FEAST DAY The text of an interview with Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan can be found on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia and on that of its Eastern American Diocese under the title I Give Thanks to the Lord. It is too long to be summarized but it is well worth reading in its entirety. It shows what Orthodox Christians often say: There are no coincidences. There have been none in the life of Bishop Nicholas and, when any of us think back, none in our lives either. Read that article and nourish your faith. Which of you having a servant plowing, or feeding cattle, will say to him by and by when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat. And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he thank that servant, because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye have done all those things which are commanded
you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do. Luke 17:7-10 September 2014, page 4 Nativity of the Mother of God Russian Orthodox Church 617 Sand Creek Road Albany NY 12205