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Assumption of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2022-08-14
Bulletin Contents
Calmstorm
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Assumption of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Street Address:

  • 801 Montecito Drive

  • San Angelo, TX 76903


Contact Information




Services Schedule

Sundays
9 AM Orthros Prayer Service
10 AM Divine Liturgy Communion Service

 


Past Bulletins


Calendar & Announcements

DORMITION  FAST  and  FEASTDAY

Today is the last day of the Dormition fast  in honor of the Mother of God. Because today is also a Sunday, we are allowed fish, wine, and oil.

Tomorrow, August 15, is the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Our parish is named after this feast. For more information, see "Why Our Name?" on the About page for our parish website.

This two-week fasting period every August is is not as strict or severe as Great Lent, but put some effort into it.
 
What to do to honor the Mother of God? From August 1–14, everyone is encouraged to pray the Paraklesis service at home in front of their icons, or watch a broadcast from another parish.

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FASTING
After tomorrow's feastday, we will resume the normal "Wednesday Friday Fast." We observe this weekly fast during most of the year. 
 
Question: Why do we fast?
Answer: Because Christ did. He also said that we need to fast to increase our spiritual strength. “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:29)
 
QuestionWhy do we fast on Wednesdays and Fridays when it's not Lent?
Answer: Because Christ was betrayed on a Wednesday, and crucified on a Friday.
 
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SUNDAY  SERVICE  SCHEDULE

Today, August 14, we will have a reader's service at 10 a.m. Fr. Mark is in Ft. Worth preparing for the second test in this "block" of medical school. Thank you for your prayers! He passed the first test, by your prayers. 

The following week, August 21, Fr. Mark will be here, and we will have Sunday Orthros (also called Matins or Morning Prayers) at 9 a.m., and Divine Liturgy afterwards at approximately 10 a.m.  After liturgy, there will be a parish council meeting.

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WEEKDAY  SERVICES

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DONATIONS  BUTTON  WORKING  AGAIN

Many thanks to Costa Dunias for fixing the PayPal account! Presbytera Suzanne has updated the website to include the new donations button.

Remember that PayPal and credit cards deduct a percentage from your donation. If you wish for 100% of your donation to go to church ministries, you can place a personal check into the donations slot on the candle stand, which is near the front door.

Thank you for helping the church with your donations! You are keeping the doors open, the lights on, and the air conditioning running. Even more, you are allowing us to continue ministering to the people. Thank you!

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VOLUNTEER  OPPORTUNITY

The organizers of the Concho Christmas Celebration have invited our parish to be hosts for the Christmas light tour.

Date: Friday, December 23 

Time: one-hour shifts, from 6-9 pm

There will be a sign displayed that says we are the hosts, and it will have the name of our church.

What it involves is greeting people in their cars at the starting point of the tour, and handing out a little bag that has a survey card, a pencil, and a candy cane.

This will be a good way for people to meet members of our parish and see how friendly we are. It will also help spread Christmas cheer.

If you can volunteer, even for a little while, please see Presbytera or the sign-up sheet in the church kitchen, on the refrigerator. Thank you!

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COFFEE  HOUR

We need people to sign up for Coffee Hour. It's not necessary to sponsor an entire meal — you can just sign up to bring one dish. That way, several people can sign up each Sunday. "Many hands make the burden light." Thank you for your help!

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CARING  MEALS  MINISTRY 

If you know someone who needs meals due to illness, birth, etc., please see Kathy Baughman or Noelle Bartl. Thank you to everyone who volunteers for this ministry. You are being the hands of Christ!

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PARISH  COUNCIL

The parish council meeting scheduled for August 14 has been rescheduled for August 21. We will meet during Coffee Hour.

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Check out the rest of the bulletin online! See below for news from the world of Orthodoxy, online concerts and lecture series, and more.

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SPECIAL  OCCASIONS

Birthdays: Augustina Bartl, Marietta Garza, Luke Large

Anniversaries: Yana & Jared Crusberg

Namedays: Marietta Garza (Dormition of the Mother of God 8/15)

Memorials: Mary Carolyn Large

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AFTER  CHURCH

Please join us for refreshments in the Social Hall.

 

** As always, see the parish website for any changes and updates. **

 

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Fasting Recipes

JOYFUL  FASTING

What is the secret for reasonable nutrition during fasting seasons? Combining complimentary protiens, such as beans + rice. Beans have some of the amino acids your body needs daily, and rice has the others. Together, you have a "complete protein." Instead of feeling like you are starving, you will feel light and satisfied.

Here is a beans and rice dish that is tasty but simple to make. Fasting foods are supposed to be simple so that we can spend more time praying, reading our Bibles and lives of the saints, giving alms, and doing good deeds as caring Christ-followers should.

Even so, fasting food can be tasty! Here are two examples:

  1. Try this Creamy Pea Pasta dish. The creamy green sauce is made using a blender to puree some of the peas, shallots (onion), and garlic. Frozen petite peas work very well in this sauce, and fresh garden mint and lemon make a delicious, aromatic flavor.

  2. This vegan Louisiana Red Beans and Rice dish uses smoked paprika to give it a deep, delicious taste. Serve it with a crunchy salad or stewed greens on the side.

Worried about gas from beans? Watch this video about proper preparation of beans to make them more digestible. Hint: If you prefer canned beans, use the Eden Organic brand. They are prepared in this way to avoid gassiness.

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COOKBOOK  RECOMMENDATION

Looking for a fasting cookbook that deals with modern diets like paleo, gluten-free, and nut-free? That isn't ethnic?

  • Try Fasting as a Family by Melissa Naasko, blogger and mother of 11. Available from Ancient Faith and Amazon.
  • Melissa also has a useful Facebook page @FastingFamily.

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Denver Metropolis News

October 15 Ordination Scheduled for Detroit Metropolis Auxiliary Bishop

Bishop-elect Constantine of Sassima

 

In continuation to the July 22, 2022, communication from the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy and Sacred Synod announcing the unanimous election of His Grace Bishop-elect Constantine of Sassima (Moralis) as an auxiliary Bishop for the Holy Metropolis of Denver, it is with much joy that our Sacred Archdiocese announces that His Grace’s ordination to the Holy Episcopacy will take place at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City this fall, on October 15. 

His Grace Bishop-elect Constantine of Sassima (Moralis) was born in 1966 in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the son of the late Petros (a refugee from Asia Minor born in Athens) and Sarah (of Mobile, Alabama), and is the youngest of three children.

From an early age, His Grace served as an acolyte at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore, MD under the late Fr. Constantine M. Monios of blessed memory, a mentor who encouraged him to pursue ordained ministry. In 1988, he began his studies at Hellenic College and graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1994. He was ordained to both the holy Diaconate and Presbyterate in 1996 by the late Metropolitan Silas of New Jersey of blessed memory and was assigned to the Annunciation Cathedral in Baltimore — the same parish where he was baptized and raised — and has served as its pastor to the present day. He was elevated to the rank of Confessor in the year 2000 and to the rank of Archimandrite in 2002, at which time he was also installed as Dean of the Annunciation Cathedral. On July 22, 2022, he was elected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy and Sacred Synod as the Bishop of Sassima.

With over 1,000 families at the Cathedral, His Grace has worked tirelessly to serve the needs of the parish and the greater Baltimore community. He has established a number of programs for youth and young adults and is the founder of the Annunciation Senior Center. His Grace’s pride and joy, the Annunciation Senior Center affords senior members of the community a safe haven for Christian fellowship while receiving the highest level of care, but has temporarily closed due to Covid. He served as the director of the Chesapeake region’s Camp Good Shepherd and has led four overseas pilgrimages. His Grace currently serves on the Board of Trustees for both Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and St. Basil Academy.


Men's Retreat in August

Men's Retreat in August

To register: 2022 Men's Retreat


Assumption Metropolis Cathedral Feast Day in Denver, CO

Announcement of Feast Day


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Archdiocese News

Camp St. Paul Concludes 17th Successful Summer

08/13/2022

centennial

Archdiocese Audit Committee Updates the Clergy-Laity Congress on Audit Results

08/13/2022

At the Clergy-Laity Congress, Archdiocesan Audit Committee Chair Maria Stefanis reported on the activities of the Audit Committee and the results of the 2021 financial audit. She noted that the financial audit was completed by April 26, 2022.
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Ninth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:19-31

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in His side, I will not believe." Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and My God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 8th Tone. 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 First Letter to the Corinthians 3:9-17.

Brethren, we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.


Gospel Reading

9th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 14:22-34

At that time, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they entered the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.


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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 8th Tone

From on high you descended, O merciful Lord. You accepted the cross and three days in the tomb to free us from the bondage of sin, O our life and resurrection. Glory to you, O Lord.

Apolytikion for Forefeast of the Dormition in the 4th Tone

In faith, O ye people, leap for joy while clapping your hands; and gather in gladness on this day with longing and shout in radiant jubilance. For the Theotokos cometh nigh to departing from the earth unto the heights; and we glorify her with glory as the Mother of God in our unceasing hymns

Seasonal Kontakion in the 4th Tone

In the Immaterial Spirit, the whole world hath been mystically adorned upon the glorious memory; and it doth cry to thee joyously: Rejoice, O Virgin, thou boast of the Christian race.
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Saints and Feasts

Calmstorm
August 14

9th Sunday of Matthew


Dormition3
August 14

Forefeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary


Allsaint
August 14

The Holy Prophet Michaias (Micah)

This Prophet (whose name means "who is like God?"), was a Morasthite from the land of Judah. He prophesied more than fifty years in the days of Joatham, Ahaz, and Hezekias, Kings of Judah. These kings reigned in the eighth century before Christ. From this it is clear that this Michaias is not the one who was the son of Iembla (or Imlah-III Kings 22:8), who censured Ahab and was murdered by Ahab's son Joram, as the Synaxaristes says; for this Joram reigned the ninth century before Christ. Yet Michaias was still prophesying, as mentioned above, in the days of Hezekias, who was a contemporary of Hosea and Esaias, and of Hoshea, the last King of the ten tribes of Israel, when that kingdom was destroyed by Salmanasar (Shalmaneser), King of the Assyrians (IV Kings 17: 1 - 16; 18: 1). This Michaias is sixth in rank among the minor Prophets. His book of prophecy is divided into seven chapters; he prophesied that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Michaias 5: 2). In the reign of Saint Theodosius the Great, the holy relics of the Prophets Michaias and Abbacum were found through a divine revelation to Zebennus, Bishop of Eleutheropolis (Sozomen, Eccl. Hist., Book VII, 29).


Allsaint
August 14

Holy Hieromartyr Marcellus, Bishop of Apameia


Allsaint
August 14

Holy New Martyr Symeon of Trapezoundos (1653)


Dormitio
August 15

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

Concerning the Dormition of the Theotokos, this is what the Church has received from ancient times from the tradition of the Fathers. When the time drew nigh that our Savior was well-pleased to take His Mother to Himself, He declared unto her through an Angel that three days hence, He would translate her from this temporal life to eternity and bliss. On hearing this, she went up with haste to the Mount of Olives, where she prayed continuously. Giving thanks to God, she returned to her house and prepared whatever was necessary for her burial. While these things were taking place, clouds caught up the Apostles from the ends of the earth, where each one happened to be preaching, and brought them at once to the house of the Mother of God, who informed them of the cause of their sudden gathering. As a mother, she consoled them in their affliction as was meet, and then raised her hands to Heaven and prayed for the peace of the world. She blessed the Apostles, and, reclining upon her bed with seemliness, gave up her all-holy spirit into the hands of her Son and God.

With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim. But one Jew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately received from divine judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they buried there with honor the all-immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the source of Life. But on the third day after the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Theotokos into the Heavens.

These things has the Church received from the traditions of the Fathers, who have composed many hymns out of reverence, to the glory of the Mother of our God (see Oct. 3 and 4).


Allsaint
August 16

Diomedes the Physician & Martyr of Tarsus

The holy Martyr Diomedes was from Tarsus in Cilicia, a physician who treated bodies with his healing art and souls with his piety. In the days of the Emperor Diocletian, about the year 288, Diomedes left Tarsus and came to Nicaea, where he benefited many both as a physician and as a preacher of the Faith. He was accused to Diocletian, who sent men to fetch him. When they arrived, although finding that he had already given up his soul to the Lord, they cut off his head to take it to the Emperor, and because of their inhumanity were stricken with blindness. When Diocletian saw the Saint's head, he commanded them to take it back and put it on the body in its place; when they had done so, they received their sight again. Saint Diomedes is one of the Holy Unmercenaries.


Napkin
August 16

Translation of the Image of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ

When the fame of our Lord Jesus Christ came to Abgar, the ruler of Edessa, who was suffering from leprosy, Abgar sent a messenger named Ananias, through him asking the Savior to heal him of his disease, while bidding Ananias bring back a depiction of Him. When Ananias came to Jerusalem, and was unable to capture the likeness of our Lord, He, the Knower of hearts, asked for water, and having washed His immaculate and divine face, wiped it dry with a certain cloth, which He gave to Ananias to take to Abgar; the form of the Lord's face had been wondrously printed upon the cloth. As soon as Abgar received the cloth, which is called the Holy Napkin (Mandylion), he reverenced it with joy, and was healed of his leprosy; only his forehead remained afflicted. After the Lord's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, the Apostle Thaddaeus (see Aug. 21) came to Edessa, and when he had baptized Abgar and all his men, Abgar's remaining leprosy also was healed. Abgar had the holy image of our Savior fixed to a board and placed at the city gate, commanding that all who entered the city reverence it as they passed through. Abgar's grandson, however, returned to the worship of the idols, and the Bishop of Edessa learned of his intention to replace the Holy Napkin with an idol. Since the place where it stood above the city gate was a rounded hollow, he set a burning lamp before the Holy Napkin, put a tile facing it, then bricked up the place and smoothed it over, so that the holy icon made without hands was no longer to be seen, and the ungodly ruler gave no further thought to it.

With the passage of time, the hidden icon was forgotten, until the year 615, when Chosroes II, King of Persia, was assaulting the cities of Asia, and besieged Edessa. The Bishop of Edessa, Eulabius, instructed by a divine revelation, opened the sealed chamber above the city gate and found the Holy Napkin complete and incorrupt, the lamp burning, and the tile bearing upon itself an identical copy of the image that was on the Holy Napkin. The Persians had built a huge fire outside the city wall; when the Bishop approached with the Holy Napkin, a violent wind fell upon the fire, turning it back upon the Persians, who fled in defeat. The Holy Napkin remained in Edessa, even after the Arabs conquered it, until the year 944, when it was brought with honor and triumph to Constantinople in the reign of Romanus I, when Theophylact was Ecumenical Patriarch. The Holy Napkin was enshrined in the Church of the most holy Theotokos called the Pharos. This is the translation that is celebrated today.


20_gerasimos
August 16

Gerasimus of Cephalonia

Saint Gerasimus was from the Peloponnesus, the son of Demetrius and Kale, of the family of Notaras. He was reared in piety by them and studied the Sacred writings. He left his country and went throughout various lands, and finally came to Cephalonia, where he restored a certain old church and built a convent around it, where it stands to this day at the place called Omala. He finished the course of his life there in asceticism in the year 1570. His sacred relics, which remain incorrupt, are kept there for the sanctification of the faithful.


Allsaint
August 16

Manuel and John the New Martyrs


Allsaint
August 16

The Six Martyrs Dorotheos, Sarantis, Jacob, Seraphim, Demetrios and Basil who contested in Megara


Allsaint
August 16

Joseph the Hesychast


Dormition2
August 16

Afterfeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary


Myron
August 17

Myron the Martyr of Cyzicus

Saint Myron was a priest during the reign of Decius, when Antipater was ruler of Achaia. On the day of our Lord's Nativity, Antipater entered the church to seize the Christians and punish them. Saint Myron, kindled with holy zeal, roundly insulted Antipater, for which he was hung up and scraped, then cast into a raging furnace, but was preserved unharmed. When Myron refused to worship the idols, Antipater commanded that strips be cut in the Saint's flesh from his shoulders to his feet; the Saint took one of the strips of his flesh and flung it in the tyrant's face. He was beaten, and scraped again upon his beaten flesh; then he was thrown to wild beasts, but when Antipater saw them leaving off their fierce nature and protecting the Saint from harm, he was overcome with unbearable shame and slew himself. The Saint was then sent to Cyzicus, where the proconsul had him beheaded, about the year 250.


Allsaint
August 18

Floros & Lauros the Monk-martyrs of Illyria

These Martyrs were twin brothers, and stonemasons. After the martyrdom of their teachers Proclus and Maximus, they left Byzantium and came to the city of Ulpiana in Illyricum, where a certain Licinius hired them to build a temple for the idols. The wages he gave them, they distributed to the poor, and when the temple was built, Floros and Lauros gathered the paupers, and with their help put ropes about the necks of the idols, pulled them to the ground, and furnished the temple as a church. When Licinius learned of this, he had the paupers burned alive in a furnace. Floros and Lauros were tormented, then cast into a deep well, where they gave up their souls to the Lord. When their holy relics were recovered years later, they poured forth myrrh and worked many miracles; they were enshrined in Constantinople.


Dormition1
August 17

Afterfeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary


Allsaint
August 18

Relics of Arsenios the Righteous of Paros


Dormition
August 18

Afterfeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary


Allsaint
August 19

Andrew the General & Martyr & his 2,593 soldiers

During the reign of Maximian, about the year 289, Antiochus the Commander-in-Chief of the Roman forces sent Andrew with many other soldiers against the Persians, who had overrun the borders of the Roman dominion. Saint Andrew persuaded his men to call upon the Name of Christ, and when they had defeated the Persians with unexpected triumph, his soldiers believed in Christ with him. Antiochus, learning of this, had them brought before him. When they confessed Christ to be God, he had Andrew spread out upon a bed of iron heated fiery hot, and had the hands of his fellow soldiers nailed to blocks of wood. Antiochus then commanded some thousand soldiers to chase the Saints beyond the borders of the empire. Through the instructions of Saint Andrew, these soldiers also believed in Christ. At the command of Antiochus, they were all beheaded in the mountain passes of the Taurus mountains of Cilicia.


Allsaint
August 19

Holy Martyrs Timothy, Agapius and Thecla


Allsaint
August 19

Theophanes the New Wonderworker of Macedonia


15_dorm2
August 19

Afterfeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary


Samuel
August 20

Samuel the Prophet

This most holy man, a Prophet of God from childhood, was the last judge of the Israelite people, and anointed the first two Kings of Israel. He was born in the twelfth century before Christ, in the city of Armathaim Sipha, from the tribe of Levi, the son of Elkanah and Hannah (Anna). He was the fruit of prayer, for his mother, being barren, conceived him only after she had supplicated the Lord with many tears; wherefore she called him Samuel, that is, "heard by God." As soon as Hannah had weaned him, she brought him to the city of Silom (Shiloh), where the Ark was kept, and she consecrated him, though yet a babe, to the service of God, giving thanks to Him with the hymn found in the Third Ode of the Psalter: "My heart hath been established in the Lord . . ." Samuel remained in Silom under the protection of Eli the priest. He served in the Tabernacle of God, and through his most venerable way of life became well-pleasing to God and man (I Kings 2: 26). While yet a child, sleeping in the tabernacle near the Ark of God, he heard the voice of God calling his name, and foretelling the downfall of Eli; for although Eli's two sons, Ophni and Phineas, were most lawless, and despisers of God, Eli did not correct them. Even after Samuel had told Eli of the divine warning, Eli did not properly chastise his sons, and afterwards, through various misfortunes, his whole house was blotted out in one day.

After these things came to pass, Samuel was chosen to be the protector of the people, and he judged them with holiness and righteousness. He became for them an example of all goodness, and their compassionate intercessor before God: "Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; yea, I will serve the Lord, and show you the good and the right way" (ibid. 12:23). When he asked them -- having God as witness -- if he ever wronged anyone, or took anyone's possessions, or any gift, even so much as a sandal, they answered with one voice: "Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, nor afflicted us, neither hast thou taken anything from anyone's hand" (ibid. 12:4). When Samuel was old, the people asked him for a king, but he was displeased with this, knowing that God Himself was their King. But when they persisted, the Lord commanded him to anoint them a king, saying, "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me from reigning over them" (ibid. 8:7); so Samuel anointed Saul. But Saul transgressed the command of God repeatedly, so Samuel anointed David. Yet, since Samuel was a man of God, full of tender mercy, when the Lord told him that He had rejected Saul, Samuel wept for him the whole night long (ibid. 15:11); and later, since he continued to grieve, the Lord said to him, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?" (ibid. 16:1). Having lived blamelessly some ninety-eight years, and become an example to all of a God-pleasing life, he reposed in the eleventh century before Christ. Many ascribe to him the authorship of the Books of judges, and of Ruth, and of the first twenty-four chapters of the First Book of Kings (I Samuel).


Allsaint
August 20

Stephen, First King of Hungary


Allsaint
August 20

Hierotheos, Bishop of Hungary


Allsaint
August 20

Oswin the Martyr, King of Deira


Dormition
August 20

Afterfeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary


Healdemonicboy
August 21

10th Sunday of Matthew


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Wisdom of the Fathers

The principle and source of the virtues is a good disposition of the will, that is to say, an aspiration for goodness and beauty. God is the source and ground of all supernal goodness. Thus the principle of goodness and beauty is faith or, rather, it is Christ, the rock of faith, who is principle and foundation of all virtues. On this rock we stand and on this foundation we build every good thing (cf. I Cor. 3:11).
St. Gregory of Sinai
On Commandments and Doctrines no. 83, Philokalia Vol. 3 edited by Palmer, Sherrard and Ware; Faber and Faber pg. 228, 14th century

The very fire which purifies gold, also consumes wood. Precious metals shine in it like the sun, rubbish burns with black smoke. All are in the same fire of Love. Some shine and others become black and dark. In the same furnace steel shines like the sun, whereas clay turns dark and is hardened like stone. God is a loving fire, and He is a loving fire for all: good and bad. There is, however, a great difference in the way people receive this loving fire of God. The difference is in man, not God.
Dr. Alexandre Kalomiros
The River of Fire, pp. 17 & 19, 20th century

If, even after we have heard such words from Him, trials and temptations arise, and the tempests of evil spirits blow mightily, raging against us and afflicting us, and we are a little upset by the waves and their fury, the Lord will reproach our faint-heartedness, but will also stretch out His hand to us and grant us complete calm. If we desire with our bodies and souls to receive this, and not to be disturbed at all times by every wind of adversity, nor upset by the billows stirred up by men who gloat over other's misfortunes, we (must) know how very stormy the sea of life is, and what malice is aroused and seethes therein, and never let faith and hope in God be far from our minds.
St. John Chrysostom
The Gospel Commentary edited by Hieromonk German Ciuba, 2002, 4th Century

So that if his faith had not been weak, he would have stood easily against the wind also. And for this reason, you see, even when He had caught hold of Him, He suffers the wind to blow, showing that no hurt comes thereby, when faith is steadfast.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 50 on Matthew 14, 4th Century

So absolutely nothing does it avail to be near Christ, if not being near Him by faith .... Signifying therefore that not the assault of the wind, but his want of faith had wrought his overthrow, He said, "Wherefore did you doubt, O you of little faith?"
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 50 on Matthew 14, 4th Century

And then we shall hear Him calling out and saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. This truth is supported by an understanding that the bad and terrible things of the present time are passing; they come and they go; therefore, fear not what is transient and evanescent. It is I, (He says,) meaning, I am ever-existent; as God I am He Who is. Do not betray your faith and your love for Me for the sake of the temporal things of the present.
St. John Chrysostom
The Gospel Commentary edited by Hieromonk German Ciuba, 2002, 4th Century

Christ did not command the winds to cease at that time, but Himself stretched forth His hand and took hold of Peter, because here faith was required of him. When we do not do our part, divine (grace) slows and stands still.. . . it was not the wind that did Peter harm; his lack of faith sank him. Where faith is fruitfu, firm and strong, none of the evils that may befall us can do us any harm.
St. John Chrysostom
The Gospel Commentary edited by Hieromonk German Ciuba, 2002, 4th Century

Let us, then, cry out loudly with Peter's words, "Lord, save us." And if we are willing to receive Christ into our ship; that is, to have Him dwell in our hearts; we shall immediately find ourselves at the land to which we are hastening. What land is that? Clearly, it is the promised land, heaven, the land of the meek, of them that refrain from evil. With them, then, may we also be vouchsafed to enter that land and be heirs of its good things; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom be glory and dominion, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
St. John Chrysostom
The Gospel Commentary, edited by Hieromonk German Ciuba, 2002, 4th Century

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