Saturday 7pm - Great Vespers
Sunday 9am - Orthros
Sunday 10 am - Divine Liturgy
Third Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Mark 16:9-20
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.
Third Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Μᾶρκον 16:9-20
᾿Αναστὰς δὲ πρωῒ πρώτῃ σαββάτου ἐφάνη πρῶτον Μαρίᾳ τῇ Μαγδαληνῇ, ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἐκβεβλήκει ἑπτὰ δαιμόνια. ἐκείνη πορευθεῖσα ἀπήγγειλε τοῖς μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ γενομένοις, πενθοῦσι καὶ κλαίουσι. κἀκεῖνοι ἀκούσαντες ὅτι ζῇ καὶ ἐθεάθη ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς, ἠπίστησαν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δυσὶν ἐξ αὐτῶν περιπατοῦσιν ἐφανερώθη ἐν ἑτέρᾳ μορφῇ, πορευομένοις εἰς ἀγρόν. κἀκεῖνοι ἀπελθόντες ἀπήγγειλαν τοῖς λοιποῖς· οὐδὲ ἐκείνοις ἐπίστευσαν. ῞Υστερον ἀνακειμένοις αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἕνδεκα ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ὠνείδισε τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν καὶ σκληροκαρδίαν, ὅτι τοῖς θεασαμένοις αὐτὸν ἐγηγερμένον οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· πορευθέντες εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει. ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται. σημεῖα δὲ τοῖς πιστεύσασι ταῦτα παρακολουθήσει· ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσι· γλώσσαις λαλήσουσι καιναῖς· ὄφεις ἀροῦσι· κἂν θανάσιμόν τι πίωσιν, οὐ μὴ αὐτοὺς βλάψει· ἐπὶ ἀρρώστους χεῖρας ἐπιθήσουσι, καὶ καλῶς ἕξουσιν. ῾Ο μὲν οὖν Κύριος μετὰ τὸ λαλῆσαι αὐτοῖς ἀνελήφθη εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἐξελθόντες ἐκήρυξαν πανταχοῦ, τοῦ Κυρίου συνεργοῦντος καὶ τὸν λόγον βεβαιοῦντος διὰ τῶν ἐπακολουθούντων σημείων. ἀμήν.
Prokeimenon. Plagal First Mode. Psalm 11.7,1.
You, O Lord, shall keep us and preserve us.
Verse: Save me, O Lord, for the godly man has failed.
The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:1-4.
Brethren, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
But I call God to witness against me - it was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
Προκείμενον. Plagal First Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 11.7,1.
Σὺ Κύριε, φυλάξαις ἡμᾶς καὶ διατηρήσαις ἡμᾶς.
Στίχ. Σῶσον με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπεν ὅσιος.
τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Κορινθίους β' 1:21-24, 2:1-4.
Ἀδελφοί, ὁ βεβαιῶν ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν εἰς Χριστόν, καὶ χρίσας ἡμᾶς, θεός, ὁ καὶ σφραγισάμενος ἡμᾶς, καὶ δοὺς τὸν ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν. Ἐγὼ δὲ μάρτυρα τὸν θεὸν ἐπικαλοῦμαι ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχήν, ὅτι φειδόμενος ὑμῶν οὐκέτι ἦλθον εἰς Κόρινθον. Οὐχ ὅτι κυριεύομεν ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως, ἀλλὰ συνεργοί ἐσμεν τῆς χαρᾶς ὑμῶν· τῇ γὰρ πίστει ἑστήκατε. Ἔκρινα δὲ ἐμαυτῷ τοῦτο, τὸ μὴ πάλιν ἐν λύπῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλθεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ λυπῶ ὑμᾶς, καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ εὐφραίνων με, εἰ μὴ ὁ λυπούμενος ἐξ ἐμοῦ; Καὶ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν τοῦτο αὐτό, ἵνα μὴ ἐλθὼν λύπην ἔχω ἀφʼ ὧν ἔδει με χαίρειν, πεποιθὼς ἐπὶ πάντας ὑμᾶς, ὅτι ἡ ἐμὴ χαρὰ πάντων ὑμῶν ἐστίν. Ἐκ γὰρ πολλῆς θλίψεως καὶ συνοχῆς καρδίας ἔγραψα ὑμῖν διὰ πολλῶν δακρύων, οὐχ ἵνα λυπηθῆτε, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀγάπην ἵνα γνῶτε ἣν ἔχω περισσοτέρως εἰς ὑμᾶς.
14th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 22:2-14
The Lord said this parable, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."
14th Sunday of Matthew
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 22:2-14
Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην· Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἐποίησε γάμους τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἀπέστειλε τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τοὺς κεκλημένους εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν. Πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους λέγων· Εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις· ἰδοὺ τὸ ἄριστόν μου ἡτοίμασα, οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα, καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα· δεῦτε εἰς τοὺς γάμους. οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ὃς μὲν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον ἀγρόν, ὃς δὲ εἰς τὴν ἐμπορίαν αὐτοῦ· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ κρατήσαντες τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὕβρισαν καὶ ἀπέκτειναν. Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκεῖνος ὠργίσθη, καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσε τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησε. Τότε λέγει τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ· ῾Ο μὲν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι· πορεύεσθε οὖν ἐπὶ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὁδῶν, καὶ ὅσους ἐὰν εὕρητε καλέσατε εἰς τοὺς γάμους. Καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς συνήγαγον πάντας ὅσους εὗρον, πονηρούς τε καὶ ἀγαθούς· καὶ ἐπλήσθη ὁ γάμος ἀνακειμένων. Εἰσελθὼν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς θεάσασθαι τοὺς ἀνακειμένους εἶδεν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἐνδεδυμένον ἔνδυμα γάμου, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἐταῖρε, πῶς εἰσῆλθες ὧδε μὴ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου; ῾Ο δὲ ἐφιμώθη. Τότε εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς διακόνοις· Δήσαντες αὐτοῦ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ἄρατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. Πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσι κλητοὶ, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.
We are looking to add two more teachers for our Sunday School classes, specificially the Junior High and High School classes. Curricula is provided and you will be part of a team. If you are interested please see Melissa or David Parker ASAP. Thank you!
If you would like your children to participate in Youth Group and Sunday School you need to fill out a registration form before September 9th. You can get a form on the candle stand (one form for each child - sorry, "yes, this is necessary"). If your child is not registered they will not be able to attend any Sunday School or Youth Group functions. This is a mandate that we must follow. Thank you!
Next Sunday, September 9th, we will hold our Annual Youth Group Family Hike and Sunday School Kickoff! We will offer a special prayer for all of our Sunday School participants and their teachers before we serve Holy Communion, and then, weather permitting we will go on our annual hike following Coffee Hour.
John and Alena Coon would like to invite you to their Orthodox wedding and reception on September 16th at 4 PM. Cake, wine and appetizers will be served. If you plan to attend, please RSVP John Coon by phone or text 907-242-3829.
From Christ to Chalcedon, a study group of the early church as seen through the writings of the early church fathers, is restarting September 20. The Spring 2018 study group ran five-months, one night per month, and was well received and attended. The Fall 2018 study group will meet for three-months, and covers the writings of Hermas, St. Melito of Sardis, St. Theophilis of Antioch, St. Athenagoras of Athens, and St. Irenaeus of Lyons. The study volume is ‘The Fathers of the Church’ 3rd Edition by Mike Aquilina. Participants purchase the book on their own. The study group is sponsored the Cardinal Newman Chair of Catholic Studies, Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, and churchvisits.com. Dr. Lisa Unterseher, and Fr Vasili Hillhouse are faculty, and the moderator is Chris Thompson. The format will be lecture and Q&A. Course fee is $25 payable at the first session. If you are interested, please contact Chris Thompson at churchvisits@gmail.com. This study promises to fill in major gaps in understanding the early development of the Christian Church.
According to the UPR's of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, any priest that has been serving in his parish for seven years is permitted to take a 3-month sabbatical. A sabbatical is traditionaly used for continuing education, as well as for spiritual and psychological health. As we are a small parish, it did not seem appropriate for me to be away from the parish for 3 entire months (not to mention my family!), so I requested and was approved for a sabbatical of three weeks, that I will take beginning the last week of September. As most of you are aware, I have been working on a Master's degree in Pastoral Counseling for the past three years. I have now completed all of the course work for this degree and have been advanced to the "Thesis Stage", which I have the next year to complete. I am writing my thesis on Orthodox Christian Marriage in light of the teachings of Elder Sophrony of Essex. Elder Sophrony was a disciple of St Silouan the Athonite, who founded a very unique monastic community of men and women in Essex England during the 1950's. He reposed in 1994, and will, I have no doubt, eventually be canonized a saint of our Church. My upcoming sabbatical will allow me to travel to Essex and Oxford, where I will research, interview, and begin to write the thesis. This is most certainly the trip of a lifetime for me, where I expect to be edified by prayer, interactions with the monks and nuns, and soaking in both the spiritual atmosphere of Essex, and the academic atmosphere of Oxford. I am also thrilled that I will be blessed to recieve a personal tour of The Kilns - the home of CS Lewis, who is one of my most favorite Christian authors. At the end of my sabbatical I will also be traveling to Ayershire in Scotland, where the roots of the Hillhouse family can be found. I will take this opportunity to also see a little bit more of Scotland as a tourist before heading home to Alaska. I am thankful to His Eminece Metropolitan Gerasimos for his blessing to take this sabbatical, and to our Parish Council for cooperating with me. I am most thankful to my dear wife and your Presvytera for her enthusiastic support - please do all that you can to support her while I am gone! During the sabbatical it is most approriate for me to relax and put the cares of the parish out of my mind, and to trust that those will be handled by the Parish Council and priests that will be covering for me. However, should an emergency arise, I will always be available to you, and plan to use my cell phone while in the UK, though I will be 9-hours ahead of you. Please check the online calendar to any changes in our typical Liturgical Schedule while I am away. Thank you for your understanding, and please keep me in your prayers as I travel.
Yours In Christ,
Fr Vasili
Saint Mammas was from Gangra of Paphlagonia. He was born in prison, where his parents were suffering for Christ's sake and ended their lives. He was named Mammas because, after he had long remained without speaking, he addressed his foster mother Ammia as "mamma." He contested for Christ about the year 275.
The Prophet Moses-whose name means "one who draws forth," or "is drawn from," that is, from the water-was the pinnacle of the lovers of wisdom, the supremely wise lawgiver, the most ancient historian of all. He was of the tribe of Levi, the son of Amram and Jochabed (Num. 26:59). He was born in Egypt in the seventeenth century before Christ. While yet a babe of three months, he was placed in a basket made of papyrus and covered with pitch, and cast into the streams of the Nile for fear of Pharaoh's decree to the mid-wives of the Hebrews, that all the male children of the Hebrews be put to death. He was taken up from the river by Pharaoh's daughter, became her adopted son, and was reared and dwelt in the King's palace for forty years. Afterward, when he was some sixty years old, he fled to Madian, where, on Mount Horeb, he saw the vision of the burning bush. Thus he was ordained by God to lead Israel and bring it out of the land of Egypt. He led Israel through the Red Sea as it were dry land and governed the people for forty years. He wrought many signs and wonders, and wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, which are called the Pentateuch. When he reached the land of Moab, he ascended Mount Nabau, on the peak called Phasga, and there, by divine command, he reposed in the sixteenth century before Christ, having lived for some 120 years. The first two Odes of the Old Testament, "Let us sing to the Lord" and "Attend, O heaven, and I will speak," were written by him. Of these hymns, the first was chanted by the shore of the Red Sea as soon as the Israelites had crossed it; the second, in the land of Moab, a few days before his repose. The Holy High Priest Aaron was the elder brother of the Holy Prophet Moses. He was appointed by God to serve as the spokesman of Moses before the people, and also before Pharaoh, in Egypt. Afterwards, in the wilderness, he was called to the ministry of the high priesthood, as narrated in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in the Old Testament. The name Aaron means "enlightened."
According to the opinion of many Fathers of the Church, based on an ancient tradition, this is the Zacharias whom, as our Lord said, the Jews slew between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35), first, because even after the Virgin Mary gave birth, he continued to refer to her as virgin and number her among the virgins; second, because Zacharias' son John was not found during the slaughter of the Innocents, since the elderly Elizabeth had taken him and carefully hid him while he was yet an infant, in an unnamed place somewhere in the desert, where, according to the Evangelist, "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel" (Luke 1:80). When the child was not found, his father was slain by Herod's command.
According to the ancient tradition of the Church, the Theotokos was born of barren and aged parents, Joachim and Anna, about the year 16 or 17 before the birth of Christ. Joachim was descended from the royal line of David, of the tribe of Judah. Anna was of the priestly tribe of Levi, a daughter of the priest Matthan and Mary, his wife.