Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission

Icon of the Archangel Gabriel

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.

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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
PASTOR: REV. THOMAS O'CONNELL
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH
307 BLACK OAK RIDGE ROAD PO BOX 817
SEYMOUR, TN 37865
PHONE: 865-609-1081
www.hrbcc.org

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER!
SLAVA ISUSU CHRISTU! SLAVA NA VIKY!

DIVINE LITURGY BEGINS AT 4 P.M. EVERY SUNDAY
NINTH HOUR PRAYER BEGINS AT 3:30 P.M.

February 15, 2004
Sunday of Meatfare
Commemoration of St. Onesimus the Apostle

Bio: St. Onesimus

St. Onesimus was a slave of Filemon, who was later a disciple of the apostle Paul. He became bishop of Ephesus after St. Timothy. He died a martyr at Rome.

Divine Liturgy Intention:
Anna Keiper, deceased aunt of Dolores and Steven Antcliff
Lloyd adn Barbara Drouhard, deceased parents of Darrell Drouhard

Announcements: Liturgy Canceled,
\Forgiveness Vespers and Ice Cream Social Scheduled

We will not celebrate Divine Liturgy on Sunday, Feb. 22. However, we will pray a readers’ service of Forgiveness Vespers at 6 p.m. Since that day is Cheesefare Sunday, the day before the Great Fast begins, and is traditionally the last day to eat dairy products, we will hold an Ice Cream Social at 4 p.m. Liturgy will resume at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 29, the First Sunday of the Great Fast.

What is Forgiveness Vespers?

As we begin the Great Fast on Monday, Feb. 23, we should grow closer to Christ’s ideal of inexhaustible forgiveness toward our neighbor. Forgiveness Vespers celebrates that ideal. Christ demands almost superhuman effort at loving and forgiving our neighbor. St. Peter probably thought that he was being exceptionally holy and generous in offering to forgive his brother seven times. Can you imagine his reaction when Christ replied, “No, not seven times: I say 70 times seven”? What Christ means should be perfectly clear. His followers must be willing to forgive without any limitation whatsoever. Come join us the evening of Sunday Feb. 22; forgive and be forgiven. It is a wonderful and holy way to begin our Lenten journey.

Lenten Penances and Prostrations

In the first centuries of Christianity the practice of public penance for various sins and offences prevailed in the Church. Following the wishes of the Church, many penitents performed their penance during the Great Fast. Just as the faithful adopted the Forty Days Fast from the catechumens, so too, under the influence of Church discipline they began to regard themselves as penitents and to perform various penitential acts during the Great Fast. From this stems the profound penitential spirit of our Lenten services.

Closely connected with our Lenten services are inclinations. These inclinations are made either by bowing from the waist or to the ground (the low, profound bow or prostration), and they are performed at all Lenten services from Monday through Friday.

The prayer of St. Ephrem (ca. 373) with accompanying prostrations merits special consideration. This prayer, repeated at every Lenten service, can be regarded the official Lenten penitential prayer of our Church, expressing, as it does, the whole content and purpose of the Great Fast. We give it here in its entirety:

—O Lord and Master of my life, keep away from me the spirit of discouragement, negligence, desire for power and idle talk.

prostration

—Grant me, your humble servant, the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love.

prostration

—Yea, my Lord and King, grant me the ability to see my own sins and not to judge my brother, for you are blessed, forever and ever — Amen.

prostration

Then, bowing from your waist, touch the fingertips of your right hand to the ground, and them make the sign of the cross when you come up. Do this 12 times, and say, each time, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Finally, say the entire prayer once more with no prostration until you reach the end.

Ponderings: Kids Say the Darndest Things

A few laughs — before the Great Fast starts:

“Lord, if You can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it; I’m having a real good time like I am.”
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e-mail.”
“And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in them.”
Q: “Why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” A: “Because people are sleeping.”
A 6-year-old girl and her brother were sitting in church. The little boy giggled out loud, and his sister told him to be quiet. “Who’s going to stop me?” he asked. His sister pointed to the back of the church and said, “See those two men standing by the door? They’re hushers.”
A wife had invited some friends to dinner. At the table, she turned to her 6-year-old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?”
“I don’t know what to say,” the daughter replied.
“Just say what you hear Mommy say,” she answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said, “Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?”

—From “Letters to the Editor” Eastern Catholic Life Vol. XL, No. 2.

Last updated: 29-Feb-2004