Byzantine Catholic Mission
|
Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
| Home | Location | Schedule | Photos | Bulletin | History | Prayers | Contact |
|
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:
|
HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
Slava Isusu Chrisu! Slava Na Viky!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Every Third Sunday of the Month is Food Sunday
Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Divine Liturgy Intention:
Our Offerings
The Holy and Venerable Martyr Stephen the Younger
As Hannah the mother of Samuel prayed that God would give her a son, so did Anna the mother of Stephen. Praying in the
Blachernae church in front of the icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, a light sleep fell on the mother of Stephen. In her
sleep she saw the Holy Virgin, radiant like the sun, and heard her voice: “Woman, go in peace. In fulfillment of your
prayer, you have a son in your womb.” Anna indeed conceived and bore a son, this holy Stephen. He received the monastic
habit at the age of 16 on Mount St. Auxentius near Constantinople at the hands of the elder John, from whom Stephen
learned divine wisdom and asceticism.
When John entered into rest in the Lord, Stephen remained on the mountain in strict asceticism, taking on himself labor upon
labor. His holiness drew many disciples to him. When the Emperor Constantine Copronymos began to persecute the icons even more
ferociously than his father, Leo the Isaurian, Stephen showed himself to be a zealous defender of the veneration of the holy
icons. The demented emperor listened to various slanders against Stephen, and he himself devised a number of intrigues, solely
to break Stephen and get him out of the way. Stephen was exiled to the island of Proconnesus and then taken to Constantinople,
put in chains, and cast into prison. There he met 342 monks brought from all sides and thrown into prison for their veneration
of icons. In the prison, they followed the whole order of church services as in a monastery. The wicked emperor condemned
Stephen to death, which the saint had foreseen 40 days before, and Stephen took his leave of the brethren. The emperor’s
servants took Stephen from the prison and beating and buffeting him, dragged him through the streets of Constantinople,
calling on all who were on the emperor’s side to stone this “enemy of the emperor.” One of the heretics
aimed a blow at the saint’s head with a piece of wood, and the saint breathed his last.
As Stephen the Protomartyr suffered at the hands of the Jews, so this Stephen suffered at the hands of the iconoclast
heretics. This glorious soldier of Christ suffered in the year 767, at the age of 53, and was crowned with unfading glory.
From the Church Fathers
“Of old, God was never depicted. Now, however, when God is seen, clothed in flesh and conversing with men, I make an
image of God, of the God whom I can see. I do not worship matter. I worship the God of matter who became matter for my sake
... to work out my salvation through matter.”
— St. John of Damascus, Defense of Holy Images
“The church is the temple of God, a holy place, a house of prayer, the assembly of the people, the body of Christ. It is
called the bride of Christ. It is cleansed by the water of His baptism, sprinkled by His blood, clothed in bridal garments,
and sealed with the ointment of the Holy Spirit, according to the prophetic sayings: ‘Your name is oil pored out’
and ‘We run after the fragrance of your myrrh,’ which is ‘Like the precious oil, running down upon the
beard, the beard of Aaron.’”
“The church is an earthly heaven in which the super-celestial God dwells and walks about. It represents the crucifixion,
burial, and resurrection of Christ: It is glorified more than the tabernacle of the witness of Moses, in which are the
mercy-seat and the Holy of Holies. It is prefigured in the patriarchs, foretold by the prophets, founded in the apostles,
adorned by the hierarchs, and fulfilled in the martyrs.”
— St. Germanus of Constantinople, On the Divine Liturgy
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!—Psalm 150:6
Pastoral Ponderings: Our Pilgrim Selves
As citizens of the United States, we usually think of the Puritans when we hear the word pilgrim. Because we have just
celebrated Thanksgiving, the holiday that is credited to the Puritans, we almost think of the two words as synonymous.
However, the religious meaning of the word is often better understood in other countries, where “pilgrimage” is
more a religious practice than a matter of migration. Many people make pilgrimages to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in
Mexico or Lourdes in France or Fatima in Portugal. We are often referred to as a “pilgrim people.” Just what does
this mean?
“Pilgrimage” is an apt characterization of the journey upon which we have embarked. Liturgically, we are in the
season of Philip’s Fast. In this context, we are on a journey toward the feast of Christmas. On a much deeper level, we
are beginning anew the journey toward the last days. In other words, we are beginning our yearly re-enactment of the drama of
our salvation, beginning with the mystery of the Incarnation (Christmas) and continuing toward the victory of Christ over
death at Easter time.
Next week we shall celebrate the Feast of the Conception of St. Anna with the Divine Liturgy beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 8, here at the church.
— Father O’Connell
Last updated: 2-Dec-2004 |
