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
FATHER THOMAS O’CONNELL, PASTOR
FATHER DEACON RON VOLEK, PASTORAL ASSISTANT
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH
307 BLACK OAK RIDGE ROAD PO BOX 817
SEYMOUR, TN 37865
PHONE: 865-609-1081
www.hrbcc.org

Slava Isusu Christu! Slava Na Niky!
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Ninth Hour Prayer precedes Liturgy at 3:30 p.m.

Potluck supper follows Liturgy on the third Sunday of the month
Also at this time non-perishable foods and items for those in need

SEPTEMBER 9, 2007
SUNDAY BEFORE THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
POSTFESTIVE DAY OF THE BIRTH OF THE THEOTOKOS
THE HOLY AND JUST GRANDPARENTS OF GOD, STS. JOACHIM AND ANNA
THE HOLY MARTYR SEVERIAN

Our Offerings
Sept. 2: $430 — Candles: $10

SOLEMN HOLY DAY: FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14: DIVINE LITURGY AT 7:30 p.m.

From the Church Fathers: St. John of Kronstadt

Through Christ’s Incarnation, the Most Holy Virgin has become our All-Powerful Intercessor and our protection from sins, disasters, and misfortunes. Praying for us day and night, our Queen and Lady, whose power no visible or invisible enemies can withstand, and our very Mother by grace, in accordance with the words of Christ on the cross to His disciple, St. John: “Behold thy Mother!” And to her: “Behold thy son!” Glory to Thy bountifulness, Lord!

THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS

A tradition well established in the sixth century relates that Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, discovered near Golgotha the three crosses on which Christ and the two thieves had been crucified. Bishop Macarios identified the true Cross of Christ as the one whose touch returned a dying woman to perfect health.

The Holy Cross was preserved in the Basilica of the Resurrection in Jerusalem until May 4, 614, when the Persians conquered the city and burned down the basilica. In 628, Emperor Heraclius defeated Chosroes, king of Persia, and returned the Holy Cross to Jerusalem. It is reported that the mighty emperor, arrayed with precious jewels and clothed in formal imperial attire, carried the Cross to the church door, where an invisible hand stopped him. Zachary, bishop of Jerusalem, said to him: “Beware, your Majesty! These precious vestments and priceless jewels are the marks of human pride: This does not conform with the poverty of Jesus Christ nor with his humility in bearing the Cross.” The emperor immediately stripped himself of all his adornments, borrowed a simple cloak, and walked barefoot to Golgotha, where he planted the Cross. The faithful bowed their heads to the ground and said, “We bow profoundly to your Cross, O Christ! And we sing a hymn of glory to your resurrection.”

A piece of the Holy Cross was brought to Rome in the seventh century by Pope Sergius I, who was of Byzantine origin. He ordered it to be exposed to the veneration of the faithful in the Church of the Savior.

The Feast of the Holy Cross has a great importance in the Byzantine as well as the Latin churches. It is, in a sense, a renewal of Holy Friday, with the difference that Holy Friday commemorates Redemption by the blood and death of Christ, while today the Cross is seen as a sign of glory and victory: the glory of Christ and Christianity and our own victory over evil and sin.

The office of the day recalls various prefigurations of the Cross in the Old Testament: the Tree of Paradise, which caused our fall, while the Tree of the Cross is the instrument of our salvation; the Ark of Noah, which saved only the just, while the Cross embraces both just and sinner; Jacob, who stretched out his arms to bless Joseph’s children; Moses, who did the same to open a road through the Red Sea so that the people of Israel could be saved, and who sweetened the bitter waters of Marah with his rod; Moses again, who made water gush from the rock with his staff, and who sustained Israel in battle against Amalek by extending his arms in prayer; the flowering rod of Aaron, and the brazen serpent he placed in the midst of the camp to save those dying from poison.

With the Cross, suffering appears no longer as the work of a blind destiny that crushes us and leads us to revolt: It becomes a proof of love, the close imitation of Christ, the cleansing of sin, a sharing in the redemption of mankind, and a ladder to the summit of heavenly glory.

PRAYER FOR THE SICK
Let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

O Lord Almighty, the Healer of our souls and bodies, You Who puts down and raises up, Who chastises and heals also; do You now, in Your great mercy, visit our brother (sister) (Name), who is sick. Stretch forth Your hand that is full of healing and health, and get him (her) up from his (her) bed, and cure him (her) of his (her) illness.

Put away from him (her) the spirit of disease and of every malady, pain and fever to which he (she) is bound; and if he (she) has sins and transgressions, grant to him (her) remission and forgiveness, in that You love mankind; yea, Lord my God, pity Your creation, through the compassions of Your Only-Begotten Son, together with Your All-Holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit, with Whom You are blessed, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen

Last updated: 16-Sep-2007