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 Christu! Slava Na Niky!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Potluck supper follows Liturgy on the third Sunday of the month
JUNE 10, 2007
Our Offerings It is truly proper to glorify you, O Theotokos, the ever blessed, immaculate and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim; who a Virgin gave birth to God the Word, you, truly the Theotokos, we magnify!
The Church Fathers Speak
When we teach our children to be gentle, to be forgiving, to instill virtue in their souls, we reveal the image of God within
them. This then is our task: to educate both ourselves and our children in godliness; otherwise, what answer will we have
before Christ’s judgment seat?
—St. John Chrysostom
Second Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 4:18-23
The Gospel of today presents Jesus calling His disciples and apostles to follow Him and to offer themselves exclusively for
His service. This service embraces two duties. The first duty is to serve God, as every creature should do. It is the service
Jesus performed throughout His life on earth.
The second duty—which Jesus also performed throughout His life on earth—is to serve people. As Jesus says,
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Each and every one of us is called to the same kind of service. Service to God is the main duty of every rational creature.
Service to people, to help them save their immortal souls, is the second duty.
Let us try to serve God with all our soul, heart, and strength, for this is the purpose of life here on earth. Let us fulfill
His divine will, as we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Let
us try to keep the commandments of God; they reveal the will of our heavenly Father. Let us also encourage our relatives,
neighbors—everyone—to keep these rules of life given to us by God because by obeying them, we are saving our souls
and helping ourselves reach our destination. By doing so, we will hear the invitation of Christ: “Well done, good and
faithful servant. You have shown that you can be faithful in small things. I will trust you with greater. Come and join in
your master’s happiness.”
AXION ESTIN (IT IS TRULY MEET): COMMERATED JUNE 11
In 980, during the reign of Emperor Basil II, when Nicholas Chrysoberges was the Ecumenical patriarch, the Holy Archangel
Gabriel appeared to a monk living in a hermitage that belonged to the Monastery of Pantocrator on the holy mountain, Athos.
During Matins, after the monk had chanted the usual hymn, “More honorable than the Cherubim...,” composed by
St. Cosmas the Hymnographer, the Angel Gabriel—having appeared as another visiting monk—chanted the same
hymn, but with the following prelude: “It is truly meet to call thee blessed, the Theotokos, the ever-blessed and all
immaculate and the Mother of our God.”
Marveling at the hymn’s beauty, the monk asked his visitor to record this new text in writing. The Angel Gabriel,
complying to the monk’s request, did so by miraculously inscribing the words on a piece of slate using only his finger!
After completing the task, he then vanished.
As evidence of the miracle, the slate was brought to the Church of the Protaton and from there to the imperial court in
Constantinople and then to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Henceforth, this version of the hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos began to be chanted in the Divine Liturgy in all the churches.
The place where the miracle took place is now called Adein, from the Greek word which means “to sing.” The
icon itself, before which this hymn was first chanted is called the icon of AXION ESTIN (it is truly meet) and is kept
in the sanctuary of the Church of the Protecton on the holy mountain.
PASTORAL PONDERINGS
The recent series of thefts and break-ins at several churches in the Seymour area have led us to reinforce our own security.
The addition of the ornamental iron work doors to the gathering space as well as the grate over the window allows us to keep a
number of sacred vessels more securely. Those who normally use the gathering space for meetings during the week should see
either myself or Jackie for the location of the key. All parishioners are asked to carefully set the alarm and lock the
church, especially in the evening, after any meetings taking place in the church.
Continuing our review of sacramental theology, we will now examine our core beliefs concerning the Sacrament of Chrismation.
—Father Thomas O’Connell
Last updated: 10-Jul-2007 |
