Byzantine Catholic Mission
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Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
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O ye incorporeal angels who stand before the throne of God, luminous with the brilliance thereof and everlastingly shining with radiance. As secondary luminaries, entreat Christ, that He grant unto our souls peace and great mercy. O immortal messengers of the truly incorruptible Life, ye most blessed ones who received life from the first Life, ye have become holy beholders of the eternal Wisdom, full of light, and reflecting lamps shown forth as is meet. O ye archangels and angels, principalities, thrones, dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine, many-eyed cherubim, instruments of wisdom, virtues and powers most divine. Pray ye to Christ, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy. Archives:
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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER! We welcome all visitors among us always! We hope you find our worship true and reverent and our people here friendly and cordial. If you are seeking a spiritual home, we would be honored by your presence in our family. We are glad you chose to worship with us. August 4, 2002 - Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - Commemoration of the Seven Holy Youths of Ephesus and the holy woman martyr Eudokia. Today's Divine Liturgy is offered for Lloyd and Barbara Drouhard, deceased parents of Darrell Drouhard. Next Divine Liturgy Schedule Thursday, August 15: Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God; Prayer Rule - 7:00 PM; Divine Liturgy - 7:30 PM. Divine Liturgy is offered for Metropolitan Basil. It is a holy day of obligation - there will be blessing of flowers. Sunday, August 18: Prayer Rule of the Mother of God - 2:30 PM; Divine Liturgy - 3:00 PM. There will be a potluck after Divine Liturgy - everyone welcome to stay. If you would like the Divine Liturgy offered for a loved one who is deceased or living, please give your offering to Father O'Connell and obtain a Liturgy intention card from William Gogar. Please write down the intention so it can be put in the bulletin. On Saturday evenings at 6:30 PM, Byzantine vespers are prayed here at Holy Family, when there is no Divine Liturgy that weekend. Everyone is welcome to attend. Reader's vigil service for the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, August 5, 7 PM at Holy Family. Vigil service includes Vespers, Matins, and the First Hour. OFFERING FOR JULY 21 - $921.00 CURRENT BALANCE AS OF JULY 21 - $15,033.72 Please remember in your prayers the members of our mission who are ill: JoAnn Cuddy (cancer) and Dolores Antcliff (operation in September). If you would like the Divine Liturgy offered for a loved one who is deceased or living, please give your offering to Father O'Connell and obtain a Liturgy intention card from William Gogar. Please write down the intention so it can be put in the bulletin. AUGUST 4 - SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS The icon on today's tetrapod portrays the "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus," seven youths imprisoned in a cave for their loyalty to Christ. Decius, a Roman emperor, came to Ephesus to persecute Christians. He commanded pagan temples be built in the center of the city. All people were ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods. Those who refused were put to death. Seven Christian youths named Maximillian, Jamblichus, Martin, John, Dionysisu, Constantine and Antoninus lived in the city. They refused to worship the false idols and were condemned to death. They were, however, given an opportunity to recant before the emperor returned to the city. In the meantime, the youths gave all their material posessions to the poor and hid in a cave on Mt. Celion. When the emperor returned he sought them out and found them sleeping in the cave. He ordered the mouth of the cave sealed with stones, leaving the youths to die. Two Christians, realizing the youths were doomed to die for their faith, wrote a martyrology and placed it among the stones which sealed the cave entrance. Two hundred years later, when some people had doubts concerning the resurrection of the dead, God saw fit to raise the seven martyrs from their cave-grave. The following account is given of this event: Following an order of the chief official of Ephesus to construct a stable for shepherds and herdsman on the mountainside, masons removed the stones which sealed the cave. The seven suddenly awoke thinking they had slept but one night. Being hungry, they sent one of the number to the city to purchase bread. Since their coins were now over two hundred years old, the baker thought the young man had found an old treasure and took him to the magistrate and bishop. Because they were reluctant to bleieve his story, he led them to the cave where the other youths verified the strange tale. The sealed martyrology also proved their story. Their feast is celebrated in the East on August 4 and October 22. SAYINGS FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS
Though the enemy and devil seduced Eve, and Adam fell with her, yet the Lord not only granted them in the fruit of the seed of
a woman a Reedeemer Who trampled down death by death; but also granted us all in the woman, the Ever-Virgin Mary Mother of God
- who crushes the head of the serpent in herself and in all the human race - a constant mediatress with her Son and our God,
and a blameless, invincible intercessor even for the most desperate sinners. That is why the Mother of God is called the
"Scourge of Demons" for it is not possible for a devil to destroy a man so long as the man himself does not refrain from
running to the help of the mother of God. AUGUST 6 - FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD "Jesus took with Him Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their prescence He was transfigured. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them ... And from the cloud there came a voice which said: "This is my Beloved Son ... Listen to Him" (Matthew 17: 15). Thus the evangelist describes one of the glorious incidents of Our Lord in His earthly life. Transfiguration implies an external change in Jesus Christ through the manifestation of His Divinity. Christ let the divine light pass from His Godhead and His soul to His body, and as a result an extraordinary brightness enveloped Him. The inner brilliance affected even His garments and they appeared to be covered with white light. The luminous cloud that surrounded the apostles was the symbol of God's presence. God spoke to them, saying: "Here Him, or Listen to Him," because He is My Beloved Son, My Messenger, My Ambassador and the Revealer of the final Truth which will never be changed as long as the world exists. The miracle of the Transfiguration is a kind of preparation of the Lord and His apostles for the last trial on Good Friday. They had passed many trials during the three years of Christ's preaching, without getting disheartened and abandoning their Master. The trial of Calvary will be mure more severe, and therefore they needed a special strength, and they received it on the Mount of Tabor where Christ transfigured Himself before them and provoked such an enthusiasm in them that St. Peter exlacimed in the name of his companions: "Lord, It is wonderful for us to be here." Last updated: 2-Feb-2003 |
