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Archbishop Elpidophoros on the CODVID19
From Father Nick
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This Sunday we will be commemorating Saint John of Climacus, (from klimax in Greek means ladder leading to ascent), a very well- known saint who lived primarily around Sinai Mountain and responded to the request of a neighboring head of a monastery for commentary/set of instructions about proper ascetic life. He produced 30 chapters describing the ascent towards God through askesis/exersice and submission to His will.
You may seek out information about the great Saint and his work on the site of our Archdiocese found at: https://www.goarch.org/sunday-stjohnclimacus.
In addition for a good translation of the Ladder of the Divine Ascent see the following: http://www.prudencetrue.com/images/TheLadderofDivineAscent.pdf. The work, written in a rather unfamiliar, requires some patience to read it, yet it is a gem. It has a notable advantage over modern books. It does not require to read it as an essay of as a novel from beginning to end but rather to look at a particular subject and read one or more excerpts from it. Commenting, for example, on people wishing to serve Christ he notes: “For community life is not for all, on account of greed; and not for all are places of solitude, on account of anger.” For us it is very “profitable” to consider his points: solitude breeds anger and community generates greed.
Approaching the pandemic with the proper mindset made me choose, rather arbitrarily some statements. I hope they will help in reorienting our prayer life for the acceptance of God mercy needed during the time of the anticipation of the relief. St. John’s book on the Ladder offers innumerable additional examples. Feel free to examine them and make them part of your life as much as possible.
In Christ
Fr. N.Galanopoulos
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Save the Date: Roanoke Greek Festival September 18-20, 2020
Welcome to All Visitors!
Please join us for fellowship in the Church Hall immediately following the Divine Liturgy. For those visiting an Orthodox Church for the first time, please be aware that Holy Communion is a sign of unity of faith, which is only offered to Baptized and Chrismated Orthodox Christians. All present are welcomed to come forward and receive the antidoron (or blessed bread) which is distributed at the end of the service. For those interested in learning more about the Orthodox Christian faith, please feel free to speak with Fr. Nick after the service.
Prayers and Offerings
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Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. Psalm 75.11,1.
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them.
Verse: God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 6:13-20.
BRETHREN, when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore to himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Sunday of St. John Climacus
The Reading is from Mark 9:17-31
At that time, a man came to Jesus kneeling and saying: "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again." And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise."
Εὐλογητὸς εἶ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ πανσόφους τοὺς ἁλιεῖς ἀναδείξας, καταπέμψας αὐτοῖς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην σαγηνεύσας, φιλάνθρωπε, δόξα σοι.
Blessed are You, O Christ our God who, by sending down the Holy Spirit upon them, made the fishermen wise and through them, illumined the world, and to You the universe is ever drawn. O Loving God, Glory to You.