Every Saturday we have Great Vespers (unless otherwise noted) at 6:00 p.m. Every Sunday - Orthros at 8:50 a.m., Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. Weekday Services are as listed on the Calendar and Community News.
Weekday Services...
Every Sunday we have Orthros beginning at 8:50 a.m. and Divine Liturgy beginning at 10:00 a.m. Saturday evenings we have Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Weekday services are listed below and begin at 9:00 a.m. with Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy. Unless otherwise stated service will be at St. George.
(Note: For the weekday feast - all services are at 9:00 a.m. and at St. George unless otherwise noted)
November
1st, Monday - Sts. Kosmas & Damianos
8th, Monday - Holy Archangels
9th, Tuesday - St. Nektarios (Liturgy only at St. Elijah)
25th, Thursday - St. Katherine the Great
30th, Tuesday - St. Andrew the Apostle
People concern themselves with Christian upbringing but leave it incomplete: they neglect the most essential and most difficult side of the Christian life, and dwell on what is easiest, the visible and external.
This imperfect or misdirected upbringing produces people who observe with the utmost correctness all the formal and outward rules for devout conduct, but who pay little or no attention to the inward movements of the heart and to true improvement of the inner spiritual life. They are strangers to mortal sins, but they do not heed the play of thoughts in the heart. Accordingly they sometimes pass judgements, give way to boastfulness or pride, sometimes get angry (as if this feeling were justified by the rightness of their cause), are sometimes distracted by beauty and pleasure, sometimes even offend others in fits of irritation, are sometimes too lazy to pray, or lose themselves in useless thoughts while at prayer. They are not upset about doing these things, but regard them as without significance. They have been to church, or prayed at home according to the established content and at peace. But they have little concern for what is happening in the heart. In the meantime it may be forging evil, thereby taking away the whole value of their correct and pious life.
Let us now take the case of one who has been falling somewhat short in the work of salvation; he becomes aware of this incomple teness, and sees the incorrectness of this way of life and the instability of his efforts. And so he turns from outward to inward piety. He is led into this either by reading books about spiritual life, or by talking with those who know what the essence of Christian life is, or by dissatisfaction with his own efforts, by a certain intuition that something is lacking, and that all is not going as it should.
Despite all his correctness he has no inner peace; he lacks what was promised to true Christians, ‘peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom. 14:17). Once this troubling thought is born in him, then by talking with people who have knowledge he will come to realize what the matter is, or he may read about it in a book. Either of these things will enable him to see the essential defect in the order of his life, namely his lack of attention to the movements within himself, and his lack of self-mastery.
He understands then that the essence of the Christian life consists in establishing himself with the mind in the heart before God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Spirit: in the way he is enabled to control all inward movements and all outward actions, so as to transform everything in himself, whether great or small, into the service of God the Trinity, consciously and freely offering himself wholly to God.
St. Theophan the Recluse
From: An Akathist in Praise of God's Creation
Kontakion 4
How sweetly Thou delightest them that meditate upon Thee; how life creating is Thy holy Word; Softer than oil and sweeter than honeycomb is conversation with Thee; prayer to Thee giveth wings and life; with what trembling is the heart then filled; how majestic and wise then become nature and all life; where Thou art not, there is emptiness; where Thou art is richness of soul; there the living flow poureth forth the song; Alleluia.
Ikos 4
When the sun goeth down upon the earth; when reigneth the rest of the night’s sleep, and the silence of the fading day; I behold Thy bridal chamber in the image of shining courts, and the cloudy halls of dawn. Fire and purple, gold and azure, prophetically speak of the unutterable beauty of Thy dwellings, and solemnly cry: Let us go to the Father.
Glory to Thee in the tender hour of evening;
Glory to Thee Who pourest out great peace upon the world;
Glory to Thee for the farewell rays of the setting sun;
Glory to Thee for the rest of gracefilled sleep;
Glory to Thee for Thy favour in the darkness, when all the world is distant;
Glory to Thee for the gentle prayers of a soul deeply touched;
Glory to Thee for the promised awakening to everlasting joy of the eternal day that hath no evening;
Glory to Thee, O God, unto the ages.
Metropolitan Tryphon (Turkestanov),1934
Prayers for all sick people
O Lord Almighty, healer of our souls and bodies, Who putteth down and raiseth up, Who chastiseth and health also; now, in Thy great mercy, visit our brothers and sisters who are sick. Stretch forth Thy hand that is full of healing and health, and raise them up, and cure them of their illness. Put away from them the spirit of disease and of every malady, pain, and fever to which they are bound. And if they have sins and transgressions, grant to them remission and forgiveness, for Thou loves humankind. Yea, O Lord my God, have pity on Thy creation, through the compassions of Thine only-begotten Son, together with Thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, with whom Thou art blessed, both now and ever, and to ages of ages.
Community Connections
Sunday School
Sunday School takes place right after Liturgy. Please let the children come up for communion first.
Community News
Sunday, November 14th - 40-Day Memorial for Maria Papasarantou. A breakfast will be held in her memory. May her memory be eternal.
Sunday, Novmeber 21st - General Assembly & Thanksgiving Dinner after Liturgy.
Sunday, November 28th - Memorial for George & Jennie Philip, and Diane Bishard.
Kid's News
JOY – Junior Orthodox Youth
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
6:30 to 7:30 pm.
JOY is starting again and is for all elementary school students.
Come for “Time with Fr. John, a craft and a snack.
Philoptochos Corner
If making a purchase at B.C. Clark, please remember to ask for a church donation receipt. B.C. Clark has been generous to us, thanks to shoppers from our church making sure a percentage of their purchases go to us.
Thank You to all who attended the recent Philoptochos meeting! It was a wonderful turn out and so many great ideas were discussed and we'll work on implementing them moving forward. Please note the following information and help spread the word on the following:
Month of November: JOY FOR KIDS contribution box will be out all month with a list of needed items for foster kids ages birth-21 and will be delivered to the Citizens Caring for Children the beginning of December.
Saturday November 20th: Thanksgiving Luncheon table set up; TIME TO BE ANNOUNCED; This is for our Luncheon/community General Assembly meeting on November 21st.
Sunday December 5th after church will be our next Philoptochos meeting to discuss putting ideas into action PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND!
Saturday January 8th: Holiday Happiness Party. Yeota Theodoridis graciously offered to host again. Address: 11409 Quail Creek Road OKC, OK. Festivities to begin @6:00 pm. The party will include: Potluck with recipe included (*we'll use these to put together a recipe book); Dirty Santa gift if members wish to participate and Board election discussion.
We voted to help the church choir by paying for 5 new choir robes and are excited about their upcoming Bake Sale. Thank you Crystal Robertson for all you do!
Fellowship Hour...
We are having Fellowship Hour after Church and they are available for sponsorship.
Prosfora Schedule
November
1st, Monday - Catherine Chrysant (Sts. Kosmas & Damianos
7th, Sunday - Patrick Ingle (7th Sunday of Luke)
8th, Monday - Fofo Bargeliotis (Holy Archangels)
14th, Sunday - Peter & Diana Theophilos (8th Sunday of Luke)
21st, Sunday - Elaine Bappert (Entrance of the Theotokos)
25th, Thursday - Catherine Chrysant (St. Katherine the Great Martyr)
28th, Sunday - Beth Huntley (13th Sunday of Luke)
30th, Tuesday - Katerina Stavrakis (St. Andrew the Apostle)
St. Paul writes, "The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in rememberance of me.'" (1 Cor. 11:24).
We are in need of Prosfora bakers. Our ladies and gentlemen have diminished over the years. The greatest part of this is everyone qualifies! Anyone young and old can make Prosfora. We would only ask a few times per year to prepare bread for a Divine Liturgy. What better way for a family to give of themselves and their love for the Church.
Prosfora can be kneaded in a bread machine, with a mixer that has dough hooks, or by hand. It can easily bge an individual's or an offering made by the whole family. Children love to knead bread or be able to put the seal on and for the children it is a learning experience. It is a great offering of life and love to God.
Please call the Church office if you would like to offer this gift.
Tenth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 21:1-14
At that time, being raised from the dead, Jesus revealed himself to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. Psalm 18.4,1.
Their voice has gone out into all the earth.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.
The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 4:9-16.
Brethren, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
8th Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 10:25-37
At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live."
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Narthex Press
Constantine was born on the island of Hydra in the 18th century. Born to a pious Orthodox Christian family, he left the island to the city of Rhodes in order to find work. There he worked for the Turkish governor and converted to Islam. He soon repented and returned to his Christian faith and lived on Mt Athos for a period of time as a monastic. He returned to Rhodes to confront the governor and confess his Christian faith. He died the death of a martyr by being hanged on November 14, 1800.
This Apostle, one of the Twelve, was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and was a compatriot of Andrew and Peter. He was instructed in the teachings of the Law, and devoted himself to the study of the prophetic books. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus called him to the dignity of apostleship, he immediately sought out and found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of Whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1.45). Having preached Jesus the God-man throughout many parts of Asia Minor, and having suffered many things for His Name's sake, he was finally crucified upside down in Hierapolis of Phrygia.
The Nativity Fast is one of four main fast periods throughout the ecclesiastical year. Beginning on November 15 and concluding on December 24, the Nativity Fast gives individuals the opportunity to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior in the Flesh on December 25. By abstaining from certain food and drink, particularly from meat, fish, dairy products, olive oil, and wine, as well as focusing more deeply on prayer and almsgiving, we can find that the primary aim of fasting is to make us conscious of our dependence upon God.
Of these most illustrious Martyrs of the city of Edessa in Syria, Guria and Shamuna contested during the reign of Diocletian, in 288; after many tortures, they were cast into prison, then beheaded. Saint Habib, a deacon, contested in the days of Licinius, in the year 316, and was burned alive; he was buried with Saints Guria and Shamuna. The three have one common feast, and it is always together that they are portrayed in icons and invoked by the faithful. On account of a renowned miracle they worked, they are invoked for help in marital difficulties. A certain Goth had come with the Roman army to Edessa and was quartered in the house of a pious widow named Sophia. The Goth asked Sophia for the hand of her daughter, Euphemia; after resisting for a long time, Sophia at last agreed. When it was time for the army to return home, Sophia made the Goth vow by the power in the holy Martyrs Shamuna, Guria, and Habib, to keep Euphemia as the apple of his eye. As he was nearing his home, however, the treacherous man revealed to Euphemia that he already had a wife. Euphemia was compelled to serve the Goths wife, who dealt with her mercilessly. After extreme sufferings, which included being sealed alive in a tomb and left there to die, Euphemia was miraculously conveyed to Edessa, to the very shrine of the holy Martyrs whose surety they had taken, and was reunited with her mother through their holy prayers.
This Apostle, who was also called Levi, was the son of Alphaeus and had Galilee as his homeland. A publican before being called by Christ, he became one of the Twelve Apostles, and an Evangelist. While still in Palestine, he wrote his Gospel first in Hebrew, being also the first of all to write the Gospel. When he is depicted in icons, there is portrayed next to him the likeness of a man, one of the symbolic living creatures mentioned by Ezekiel (1.10), which, as Saint Irenaeus writes, is a symbol of our Saviour's Incarnation.
Saint Gregory was born in Neocaesarea of Pontus to parents who were not Christians. He studied in Athens, in Alexandria, in Beirut, and finally for five years in Caesarea of Palestine under Origen, by whom he was also instructed in the Faith of Christ. Then, in the year 240, he became bishop of his own city, wherein he found only seventeen Christians. By the time the Saint reposed about the year 265, there were only seventeen unbelievers left there. Virtually the whole duration of his episcopacy was a time of continual, marvellous wonders worked by him. Because of this, he received the surname "Wonderworker"; even the enemies of the truth called him a second Moses (see Saint Basil the Great's On the Holy Spirit, ch. 29).
Our righteous Mother Hilda was of noble birth, being a kinswoman of Saint Edwin, King of Northumbria (celebrated Oct. 12). At the age of thirty-three she renounced the world, and lived another thirty-three years as a nun and abbess. The last six years of her life she suffered a burning fever with patience and nobility, and reposed in peace in the year 680.
Saint Plato contested in martyrdom in 266, when Agrippinus was proconsul. He was from the city of Ancyra in the province of Galatia.
Saint Romanus, who was from Antioch, lived during the reign of Maximian. He presented himself before Asclepiades the Eparch, and rebuked him, saying, "The idols are not gods; even a little child could tell you that." Then the Saint asked that a child be brought in from the market, that he might be the judge of the matter at hand. Therefore, when the child was asked, "Which God must we worship?" he replied, "Christ." The child was beaten mercilessly and beheaded at the command of the tyrant. As for Saint Romanus, his tongue was cut out, and then he was cast into prison, where he was strangled in the year 305.
The Divine Scriptures do not tell us with any certainty when the Prophet Obadiah lived nor what was his homeland. Thus, some say that he is that Obadiah who was Ahab's steward, who, because of Jezebel's wrath, hid one hundred prophets in a cave and fed them with bread and water (III Kings 18:4), and that he later became a disciple of Elias the Prophet about 903 B.C. But others surmise from the words of the same prophetical book that he is somewhat later than Joel (celebrated on Oct. 19). He is also called Obdiu, or Abdiu, or Obadiah; his name means "servant of God." His book of prophecy, which consists of only one chapter, is ranked fourth among the minor Prophets.
Saint Barlaam, who was from a certain village near Antioch in Syria, was advanced in years and a husbandman by occupation. Because of his confession of Christ, he was brought before the judge, who had him scourged with whips and then scraped with iron claws. Since this could not break his constancy, he was forcibly haled to the idols' temple, and live coals with incense were placed in his right hand. The judge thought that he would cast them down because of the pain, thus seeming to have offered a sacrifice of incense to the idols. But Saint Barlaam stood unmoving until his hand was thoroughly burned by the coals; he fell to the ground, and so gave up his soul into the hands of the Lord. He contested in martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian (284-305). Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom both gave homilies in his honour.
Saint Gregory who was from Irenopolis of the Decapolis of Asia Minor, was the son of Sergius and Mary. He became a monk as a young man, and after struggling for many years in virtue and prayer under obedience to a wise spiritual father, he was informed by revelation that it was the will of God for him to live, like the Patriarch Abraham, with no certain dwelling, moving from place to place. His journeyings took him to Ephesus, Constantinople, Corinth, Rome, Sicily, Thessalonica, and again to Constantinople, where, after many labours in defence of Orthodoxy against Iconoclasm, he reposed in peace in the first half of the ninth century. He had two disciples, one of whom was Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (see Apr. 3), who wrote the Menaion service for Saint Gregory, his father in Christ.