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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2018-07-01
Bulletin Contents
Schedule of Services
Community Calendar
Prayer Requests
News & Events
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese News
Assembly of Bishops News
Hymns of the Day
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Saints and Feasts
Allsaint
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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 408.605.0621
  • Street Address:

  • 9th and Lincoln

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 5808 Carmel by the Sea

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921

Contact Information

Priest: Father Ion Coman


fatherion@gmail.com | 408.605.0621

Services Schedule

 

Weekend services: the weekend schedule is fixed for most of the year. The services take place in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at All Saints Church, lower level, 9th and Lincoln.

Saturdays: 5:00pm Vespers

Sundays:   8:30am Matins

                   9:30am Liturgy

Week-day services: during the week we may celebrate the major feast days of the Church either in Carmel or in Salinas. Please check the calendar! The schedule pattern is:

Wednesdays:  6:00pm Paraklesis

Eve of feasts: 6:00pm Vespers

Feast days:    8:30am Matins

                       9:30am Liturgy

Past Bulletins


Schedule of Services

Saturday, June 30  Synaxis of the Holy Apostles
    5:00pm  Vespers
Sunday, July 1   Saints Cosmas and Damianos
    8:30am  Orthros (Matins)
    9:30am  Liturgy
Monday, July 2   Saint John Maximovitch
    8:30am  Orthros + Liturgy
Saturday, July 7
    5:00pm  Vespers
Sunday, July 8
    8:30am  Orthros (Matins)
    9:30am  Liturgy
Tuesday, July 10
    12:00pm  Akathist Service
Wednesday, July 11   St. Euphemia /  St. Olga
    6:00pm  Vespers
    7:00pm  Dinner, Lecture and Discussion Time
Thursday, July 12   Saint Paisios the Athonite (since 2015)
    8:30am  Orthros + Liturgy
Saturday, July 14
    5:00pm  Vespers
Sunday, July 15
    8:30am  Orthros (Matins)
    9:30am  Liturgy

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Community Calendar

July 1 - Farewell to Tim and Olga Mica
July 2 - Festival Meeting
July 7 - Work Day: Cleaning and Maintenance with ASC
July 8 -  Kids’n Cancer BBQ
August 18: - Wisdom Day: Cleaning and Maintenance with ASC
September 1-3 - Saint John's Greek Festival
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Prayer Requests

Please remember in your prayers the following who are in need.

"Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on your servant (first name)."

Alex and his parents Paul and Sasha, Jeanette Stasinakis, Sheila Doyle-Rickenbacker, Georgette Jabbour, Corkey Balcom, Christina and newborn baby Eleanor, Maria Kastros-Taubman, Tiffany Yant, Helen Saites, Sophie Britton, Jeanny Elliott, Nina and George Kadiev and their daughter Annie, Christina Pressas, Loula Maheras, Gus Moutos, Jonah and his parents Nick and Sarah Ledo and Father Mark Vinas.

and our catechumens Tim and Olga.

Father Ion is available for home visits. Please call him directly at 408.605.0621 if you would like to schedule one.

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News & Events

FAREWELL TO TIMOTHY AND OLGA MICA

Timothy Mica ended his mission in Monterey and will be moving to San Diego. This Sunday we will say goodbye the Mica Family and thank them for their participation in the life of our community. 


SUNDAY SCHOOL

The Sunday School will meet this Sunday following the service and lunch.


FUNERAL FOR JEANETTE STASINAKIS

The plans for Jeanette Stasinakis' funeral have been finalized and they are as follows:

Monday, July 2 from 6 pm: Trisagion (Wake Service) at the Struve & Laporte Funeral Chapel at 41 W San Luis St, Salinas

Tuesday, July 3 from 11am: Funeral at Saint John the Baptist Church in Salinas and then interment at Garden of Memories Memorial Park in Salinas at 850 Abbott St, Salinas.

The traditional Makaria meal will take place after the burial in the fellowship hall at Saint John's Church.

May her memory be eternal!


CATECHISM CLASS

The Catechism Class will meet on Tuesday, July 3 from 6pm in Saint Nektarios Chapel.


FROM THE HOLY FATHERS TO CONTEMPORARY DOCTORS - THE THEOLOGY OF ILLNESS

We are reading and discussing "The Theology of Illness" book by Jean-Claude Larchet and we have input from the secular medical field: the group is blessed to have Dr. Michael Bachik, a retired cardiologist and Athanasios Vasby, a retired nurse. The book is available at our bookstore and from Amazon.com here. The text is packed with patristic and scriptural support and it is very enriching. Its three parts are: (1) The Origin of Illness, (2) The Spiritual Meaning of Illness and (3) Christian Paths towards Healing.

Our next Class will meet on Tuesday, July 17 after the Akathist service. Bring your own lunch and join us! Prepare Chapter 3: Christian Paths Toward Healing, pp79-101.


PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS

Please keep our sisters Tiffany, Sheila, Maria, and our little brother in Christ, Alex, in your vigilant prayers.  May God be with them.
 
The second annual Kids ‘n Cancer Summer BBQ benefiting kids n’ cancer | camp agape and Philoptochos ministries is just around the corner!  Reservations are coming in, have you reserved yet?!  We have an extra special afternoon planned this year at the Fettis Family Farm!  There will be games for adults and kids, chances to win fun & cash prizes.  Our master griller, Thimi, will be roasting your hot dogs and hamburgers to perfection!  Help us welcome families offering their testimonial about Philoptochos Kids ‘n Cancer |  Camp Agape.  Won’t you and your family help Philoptochos make this our most successful year yet?  The festivities begin at noon with a very special presentation by Philoptochos member, Nick Fettis.  You won’t want to miss this. 
 
Yes, I want to help Philoptochos with:  summer side dishes without mayonnaise, paper goods, relish trays, sliced watermelons, cases of bottled water, sodas, and or cash donations to sponsor listed items.  If you would like to sponsor the BBQ, please contact Christina Pressas at: , 831-917-5439 cell or yasou-girl@comcast.net 
 
Philoptochos is the philanthropic arm of the Greek Orthodox church.  We are completely self-supporting thru your membership, and our fundraisers.  If you have not yet become a member of our small but mighty chapter, we invite you to join the ranks of Christian men and women doing His works now.  We are currently at 54 members, won’t you please help Philoptochos reach our goal of 65 members?!  100% of your donations go to charity – no admin fees just lots of hard work and love. 
 
The board will be in summer session for July & August.  If you or anyone you know is in need of Philoptochos assistance, please contact us at any time:  alex@alexandramouzas.com, or 619-518-2755  See you in October at our General Meeting, featuring guest speaker Despina Kreastoulas with the Politis Museum. 


KIDS 'N CANCER

Family & Friends you’re invited to the Philoptochos annual Kids ‘n Cancer BBQ on Sunday, July 8th

There will be fun under the sun at the Fettis Family Farm in sunny Carmel Valley!
Festivities begin at noon.
Enjoy hot dogs & hamburgers, a buffet of tasty treats, games for kids & adults,
and chances to win fun prizes
All profits benefit Camp Agape and Philoptochos ministries

Your support enables us to provide families with these special children a respite from life in the hospital surrounded by nature, love, kindness, and fun  

In 2016, our chapter contributed $25 to Kids ‘n Cancer, 2017 $250, 2018 $500, and our ongoing support of our very own beloved cancer warrior Alex

 If you would like to become a BBQ sponsor we are need of the following donations: 

Prizes, hot dog & hamburger buns, relish tray, condiments, paper-goods, desserts, and soft drinks

ADULTS $10 & KIDS $5
RSVP 619-518-2755 or alex@alexandramouzas.com


SERVING THESE SUNDAYS

Serving this Sunday in church and at the fellowship hour following Liturgy:

July 1
   PC member: Euthimios Saites
   Welcoming: Brian and Corkey Balcom
   Fellowship: Team Gold – always 1st Sunday of the month.

July 8
   PC member:
   Welcoming: Hussam Ibrahim
   Fellowship: Team Pink – always 2nd Sunday of the month.


FESTIVAL MEETING

We are a little more than two months away from Labor Day Weekend and the start of the our 32nd Annual Greek Festival. However the work of the festival, prepping, cooking, and organizing begins now. This coming Monday, July 2nd, we will have our second festival planning meeting. We will decide the final menu, set a definitive cooking schedule, fill in a few booth chair positions that have opened up, and discuss the possibility of adding other food booths. The festival benefits all of the Saint John’s community and over the next weeks it needs the vigorous involvement of the community. For this upcoming meeting, the more input we have, the better the decisions we make and the stronger the synergy we build.

This is the agenda for Monday, July 2 from  7 PM at our Salinas Church - pizza will be provided; you may bring sides and desert:

1)    Opening Prayer
2)    Signup Sheet -
3)    Cooking Schedule
4)    New Booth Chairs
a)    Entrée Booth
b)    Salad Booth
5)    Menu/Pricing
6)    New Booths
a)    French Fries
b)    Calamari
c)    Wine Tasting
7)    Taverna Night
8)    Setup and Teardown
9)    Final Cleanup
10)  Closing Prayer


WORK DAYS AND WISDOM DAYS

All Saints Church has lined up a cleaning contractor to take care of the kitchen and bathrooms every week. The hall will be cleaned every other week. Also, the ASC people will gather for prayer and cleaning once a month as listed below. We were invited to participate.

We at Saint John’s have offered help with larger projects that might need more man power or energetic people.

Work Days:  Begin with Morning Prayer in the Chapel, followed by 1.5 hours of working together on certain projects around the church.  (9am - 11am)

Wisdom Days:  In Silence.  Wisdom Days focus on contemplative prayer, lectio divina, and 1 to 1.5 hours of work in silence.  (9am - 1pm)

Saturdays:

July 7:  Work Day
August 18:  Wisdom Day
September 8:  Work Day
October 6:  Wisdom Day
November 10:  Work Day
December 8:  Wisdom Day


CONFESSIONS AT SAINT JOHN’S

Father Ion is available to hear confessions after services and also by appointment at other times. If you need to do confession, please contact him ahead of time.


SCHEDULE OF SERVICES FOR SAINT JOHN MAXIMOVITCH IN SAN FRANCISCO

We remember Saint John Maximovitch on July 2 and the festivities at the Russian Cathedral in San Francisco begin days before according to the following schedule:

  • Friday, June 29: 6pm - Vigil
  • Saturday, June 30: 9am - Liturgy

PROPHET ELIAS FEASTDAY CELEBRATION - SANTA CRUZ

The Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church Community, 223 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, is hosting the Feast Day Celebration of St. Prophet Elias:

6:00pm, Thursday, July 19, 2018 - Great Vespers for the Feast of The Prophet Elias and Artoclasia, followed by light refreshments in their hall.

9:00am - Orthros and Divine Liturgy, Friday, July 20, 2018 followed by lunch in the church hall.

www.propheteliassc.org     (831) 429-6500


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Greek Orthodox Archdiocese News

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Archdiocese Statement in Defense of Children and Families

06/18/2018

Stavros Papagermanos, Press Office - pressoffice@goarch.org

June 18, 2018

NEW YORK – In recent days, the words of St. Paul in the 13th chapter of his Epistle to the Romans have been circulating in the news.  We are concerned and alarmed at the use of this biblical quote being used out of context to justify the strict application of a policy occurring at our southern border, which is detrimental to family life.

The numerous challenges of today’s world weaken the already strained bonds of every modern family.  Family—a divine institution (cf. Ephesians 3:14)—is something that we as Orthodox Christians cherish and hold as sacred.  Furthermore, when our Lord came into this world as a human being, he entered it as a child and part of a family.  As a special creation of God the Father, no family deserves to be separated.  The institution of the family is found from the beginning of the Book of Genesis (chapter 2).  In love and harmony, the family finds joy, each member in the other.  Reflecting this joy, the Psalmist proclaims, your children will be like olive trees around your table (Psalm 127/128:3b).  Let us bear in mind that the branch of an olive tree is a universal symbol of peace, not something to be torn apart and broken.

It is for peace and for a dignified and humane solution to this unfortunate situation that we, together with people of good faith across our great nation, urgently entreat.  Children should not, under any circumstances, be punished for things that are beyond their control.  Our hearts go out to those suffering under these terrible conditions.  We pray for them, that their families soon be restored, and pray that the proper authorities find a swift and just solution to this unfortunate and very painful situation.

== 30 ==


https://www.goarch.org/-/archdiocese-statement-in-defense-of-children-and-families

Encyclical of Archbishop Demetrios for Independence Day - July 4, 2018

06/29/2018

Protocol No. 97/18

                                                                                                 July 4, 2018

                                                                                             Independence Day

To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

            As we commemorate Independence Day, we are gathered in Boston for our 44th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress.  We are meeting in a city that has deep historical connections to the struggle for independence, a place where events supported the cause of liberty, and significant effort and sacrifice secured freedom and the birth of a new nation.

            The theme of our Congress is connected to this history and to this place in a manner that provides a spiritual foundation for our freedom.  Within the land of liberty and beyond, we have the freedom to pursue our potential in offering faith and love to others.  We continue to affirm through our Congress and through our witness as Orthodox Christians that all things are possible to the one who believes in Christ.   

            We know and proclaim that all things are possible through faith because our Almighty God has freed us from sin and death through the power of the Holy Resurrection.  We know the impossible is possible, because He has the power to set all of creation free from the bondage of decay to obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:21).   Through our faith in Christ, we have the freedom to live in the manner and for the purpose for which we were created, to explore the unlimited potential of the power of His grace.

We are blessed to live in a nation and society that values liberty and in a place where our freedom in Christ is joined with a freedom to worship, to minister, and to serve as we are led by God. We are free to work together as brothers and sisters in Christ, free to show and lead others to Him, and free to pursue the unlimited potential of our faith.  Let us be committed to pursuing the opportunities offered by this freedom.  As people of faith living in a free society and guided by the freedom we have in Christ, let us proclaim the truth that all things are possible and follow with action and plans that will bring honor and glory to God!

         With paternal love in Him,

†DEMETRIOS

Archbishop of America


https://www.goarch.org/-/encyclical-of-archbishop-demetrios-for-independence-day-2018
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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 4th Mode

When the women Disciples of the Lord had learned from the Angel the joyful message of the Resurrection and had rejected the ancestral decision, they cried aloud to the Apostles triumphantly: Death has been despoiled, Christ God has risen, granting His great mercy to the world.

Apolytikion for Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian in the Plagal 4th Mode

Holy Unmercenaries and Wonder-workers, visit our infirmities. Freely you received; freely give to us.

Apolytikion of Saint John the Baptist in the 1st Mode

The memory of the just is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord's testimony is sufficient for you, O Forerunner; for you have proved to be truly even more venerable than the Prophets, since you were granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed. Wherefore, having contested for the truth, you did rejoice to announce the good tidings even to those in Hades:  that God has appeared in the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and granting us great mercy.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Mode

A protection of Christians unshamable, intercessor to our Holy Maker, unwavering, please reject not the prayerful cries of those who are in sin. Instead, come to us, for you are good; your loving help bring unto us, who are crying in faith to you: hasten to intercede and speed now to supplicate, as a protection for all time, Theotokos, for those who honor you.
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Fifth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Luke 24:13-35

At that time, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see." And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 4th Mode. Psalm 15.3,8.
Among the saints who are in his land, the Lord has been wondrous.
Verse: I see the Lord before me continually.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 12:27-31; 13:1-8.

Brethren, you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Gospel Reading

5th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 8:28-34; 9:1

At that time, when Jesus came to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one would pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.

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Wisdom of the Fathers

Now, should any one say, "And wherefore did Christ fulfill the devils' request, suffering them to depart into the herd of swine?" this would be our reply, that He did so, not as yielding to them, but as providing for many objects thereby.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 28 on Matthew 8, 4th Century

If your tongue is used to chattering, your heart will remain dim and foreign to the luminous intuitions of the Holy Spirit. But if your mouth is silent, your heart will ever be aflame with the spirit ... hush your tongue that your heart may speak, and hush your heart that God may speak. St. John of Dalyatha Homily on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
St. John of Dalyatha
Homily on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

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Saints and Feasts

Allsaint
July 01

5th Sunday of Matthew

Kosmdami
July 01

Saints Cosmas & Damian the Holy Unmercenaries

These Saints, who are different from those that are celebrated on the 1st of November, were from Rome. They were physicians, freely bestowing healing upon beasts and men, asking nothing from the healed other than that they confess and believe in Christ. They ended their life in martyrdom in the year 284, under the Emperors Carinus and Numerian.

26_theotokos2
July 02

Deposition of the Precious Robe of the Theotokos in Blachernae

During the reign of Leo the Great (457-474) two patricians and brethren on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land lodged with an old widow, a Christian of Jewish descent. Seeing the many miracles wrought at a small shrine in her house, they pressed her until she revealed to them that she had raiment of the most holy Theotokos kept in a small coffer. Our Lady had had two virgins in her lifetime who attended upon her; before her holy dormition, she gave each of them one of her divine garments as a blessing. This old widow was of the family of one of those two virgins, and it had come through the generations into her hands. With the permission of God, that this holy relic might be had for the profit of many, the two men took the garment by stealth and brought it to Blachernae near Constantinople, and building a church in honor of the Apostles Peter and Mark, they secretly enshrined the garment therein. But here again, because of the multitude of miracles that were worked, it became known to the Emperor Leo, and a magnificent church was built, as some say, by that same Leo, but according to others, by his predecessors Marcian and Pulcheria, and enlarged by Leo when the holy raiment was found. The Emperor Justin the Younger completed the church, which the Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes raised up immediately again after it had burned in 1070. It burned again in 1434, and from that time it remained a small house of prayer together with the renowned holy spring. After the seventh century, the name Blachernae was given to other churches and monasteries by their pious founders out of reverence for this famous church in Constantinople. In this church John Catacuzene was crowned in 1345; also, the Council against Acindynus, the follower of Barlaam, was convoked here (see the Second Sunday of the Great Fast).

Andrewhymn
July 04

Andrew of Crete Author of the Great Canon

Saint Andrew was from Damascus; his parents' names were George and Gregoria. He became a cleric and secretary of Theodore and Patriarch of Jerusalem; from this, he is called "the Jerusalemite." He was present at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, which was convoked in 680 during the reign of Emperor Constantine IV (668-685). He became deacon of the Great church in Constantinople, that is, the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, then Archbishop of Crete. He reposed in 720 or 723. Beside his other sacred writings, he also composed various hymns, among which is the famous Great Canon, which is chanted during Great Lent (see the Thursday of the Fifth Week of the Fast).

Maximovitch
July 02

Saint John Maximovitch, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco

The Holy Hierarch John Maximovitch was born in the Kharkov region in 1896, and reposed in Seattle in 1966. In 1921, during the Russian Civil War, his family fled to Belgrade, joining the ranks of Russian exiles in Serbia, where he later became a monk and was ordained priest. In 1934 he was made Bishop of Shanghai, where he served until the Communists came to power. Thereafter he ministered in Europe, serving as Bishop first in Paris then in Brussels, until he became Archbishop of San Francisco in 1962. Throughout his life he was revered as a strict ascetic, a devoted man of prayer, and a truly wondrous unmercenary healer of all manner of afflictions and woes. He served the Divine Liturgy daily, slept little more than an hour a day, and kept a strict fast until the evening. It is doubtful that any one man gave so much protection and comfort as he to the Russian Orthodox people in exile after the Revolution of 1917; he was an unwearying and watchful shepherd of his sheep in China, the Philippines, Europe, and America. Through his missionary labors he also brought into the Church many who had not been "of this fold." Since his repose in 1966, he has been especially glorified by God through signs and miracles, and his body has remained incorrupt.

Royalfamily
July 04

Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia

Tsar Nicholas II was the son of Alexander III, who had reposed in the arms of Saint John of Kronstadt. Having been raised in piety, Tsar Nicholas ever sought to rule in a spirit consonant with the precepts of Orthodoxy and the best traditions of his nation. Tsaritsa Alexandra, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria of England, and a convert from Lutheranism, was noted for her piety and compassion for the poor and suffering. Their five children were beloved of all for their kindness, modesty, and guilelessness.

Amidst the political turmoil of 1917, Tsar Nicholas selflessly abdicated the throne for what he believed was the good of his country. Although he had abdicated willingly, the revolutionaries put him and his family under house arrest, then sent them under guard to Tobolsk and finally Ekaterinburg. A letter written from Tobolsk by Grand Duchess Olga, the eldest of the children, shows their nobility of soul. She writes, "My father asks that I convey to all those who have remained devoted to him ... that they should not take vengeance on his account, because he has forgiven everyone and prays for them all. Nor should they avenge themselves. Rather, they should bear in mind that this evil which is now present in the world will become yet stronger, but that evil will not conquer evil, but only love shall do so."

After enduring sixteen months of imprisonment, deprivation, and humiliation with a Christian patience which moved even their captors, they and those who were with them gained their crowns of martyrdom when they were shot and stabbed to death in the cellar of the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinburg in 1918.

Together with them are also commemorated those who faithfully served them, and were either slain with them, or on their account: General Elias Tatishchev; Prince Basil Dolgorukov; the physician Eugene Dotkin; the lady-in-waiting Countess Anastasia Hendrikova; the serving-maid Anna Demidova; the cook John Kharitonov; and the sailors Clement Nagorny and John Sednev.

Sisoes
July 06

Sisoës the Great

This Saint, great and renowned among the ascetics of Egypt, lived in the fourth century in Scete of Nitria. After the death of Saint Anthony the Great, he left Scete to live in Saint Anthony's cave; he said of this, "Thus in the cave of a lion, a fox makes his dwelling." When Sisoës was at the end of his long life of labours, as the Fathers were gathered about him, his face began to shine, and he said, "Behold, Abba Anthony is come"; then, "Behold, the choir of the Prophets is come"; his face shone yet more bright, and he said, "Behold, the choir of the Apostles is come." The light of his countenance increased, and he seemed to be talking with someone. The Fathers asked him of this; in his humility, he said he was asking the Angels for time to repent. Finally his face became as bright as the sun, so that the Fathers were filled with fear. He said, "Behold, the Lord is come, and He says, 'Bring Me the vessel of the desert,'" and as he gave up his soul into the hands of God, there was as it were a flash of lightning, and the whole dwelling was filled with a sweet fragrance.

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