Saturday Vespers: 6 pm
Feast Day Vespers: 6pm
Sunday Divine Liturgy: 10 am
Feast Day Divine Liturgy: 9 am
Orthodox Catechism Class: Wednesdays at 6:30 pm
Welcome to The Dormition of the Mother of God Orthodox Christian Church (Saint Mary's) which is a parish of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church of the USA whose presiding Bishop is His Eminence, Metropolitan Gregory of Nyssa. The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese is an Autonomous Diocese under the spiritual protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople of which His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the ruling Patriarch.
We are thankfully to Almighty God that you are here in God's House to Worship with us Today!
If you are new to the Orthodox Church you will find that our worship is abit different than what you maybe used to, or it maybe entirely new all together! It's okay!!! All of us were new to the Faith at one time or another, but we encourage you to participate as you feel comfortable. The Blue Book in your pew has the whole Service of what we call the Divine Liturgy in it so you can follow along.
Please, if you have any questions about what you see or hear today at the Divine Liturgy, we have a Coffee Hour in the Church Hall after service that you are invited to attend! Come and join us for fellowship to have something to eat and have all your questions answered either by Our Pastor Father Vincent or a friendly member of the Church.
If you have been on a long or short spiritual journey looking for the True Church you have found it here in the Orthodox Church!
We pray that what you find and experience here is none other than the peace of Christ Jesus Our Risen Lord and the Kingdom of Heaven!
If you are ready or interested in becoming an Orthodox Christian please see Father Vincent at Coffee Hour or contact him at (570) 640-2517 or email him at vincedranginis@gmail.com
Saturday January 26 Vespers 6PM - The Holy Translation of The Divinely Energized Wonder Working Relics of Our Father Among the Saints John Chrysostom ArchBishop of Constantinople
Sunday January 27 Divine Liturgy 10AM - The Holy Translation of The Divinely Energized Wonder Working Relics of Our Father Among the Saints John Chrysostom ArchBishop of Constantinople
No Vespers Will be Celebrated on Saturday February 2nd
Sunday February 3rd Readers Typica 10AM - The Righteous Simeon and Anna The Prophetess
My Dear Parish Family! Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory be Forever!
After I am ordained Priest on February 3rd, I will be using this section of the Bulletin to announce the Liturgical Schedule for the week that the Bulletin is issued, and sometimes for the following weeks.
The First announcement that I am happy to make is the return of Sunday Morning Matins!
Sunday Morning Matins or Orthros as the Greeks call it, will be celebrated starting at 8:30am every Sunday Morning before the Divine Liturgy, and will flow right into the Divine Liturgy which will still begins at 10:00am as usual.
The first Sunday that Orthros will be celebrated is February the 10th starting at 8:30am followed by Divine Liturgy.
Please make every effort to come to Church early on Sunday Mornings to attend both Orthros and Divine Liturgy!
The hymns of the Matins Service just like the Hymns of the Vespers are meant to teach us the God Saving Theology of Our Holy Orthodox Faith!! These services, just like the Divine Liturgy are meant to transform the human person both in Soul and Body by humbling us to bring us to repentence and confession, and to deify us that we may become all that Jesus Christ is in His Energies!! Particularly, through making every effort to attend all the Services of Vespers, Matins, The Divine Liturgy, and by entering into a life of repentance through regular Confession, we will be transfigured into the True Sons and Daughters of God!! Then, we will together and individually, Aquire The Holy Spirit and become 'gods' by the Holy Trinity's Divine Energies!!
Working in His Vineyard,
Father Vincent
The Proskomedia (from the Greek προσκομιδή, “offering”), sometimes referred to as prothesis (from the Greek πρόϑεσις, "setting forth") or proskomide, is the Office of Oblation celebrated by the priest prior to the Divine Liturgy during which the bread and wine are prepared for the Eucharist. The Proskomedia is a prerequisite for the Divine Liturgy. The priest conducts the Office of Oblation behind the Iconostasis at the Table of oblation or Table of Preparation (also Prothesis, or sometimes Proskomide) that is located to the left of the Altar Table. Proskomedia, when translated to English, means "preparation."
Every time the Divine Liturgy is served, priest and deacon stand before the Table of Oblation/ Prothesis and prepare the bread and the wine for the coming Eucharist.The priest places the Lamb in the midst of the diskos, and then takes a series of little particles of bread and arranges them around the central Lamb. From the same loaf, another particle is cut and placed beside the Lamb to represent the Mother of God. Then from another section of the same loaf, nine ranks and classes of saints are represented by name in the form of nine other particles. Lastly, from another section of the one loaf other particles are removed as the names of various living people are commemorated and represented by their particles, and likewise various departed people are commemorated and represented by their particles. All of these various particles are arranged around the central Lamb so that the diskos represents Christ surrounded by those whom He loves. The theology manuals tell us that it is an image of the Church, with Christ at the center.
My Dear Friends, I need your help in building a new Proskomedia Commemoration List that I may pray for all of you, at this most Sacred Time of Preparation of the Bread and Wine that will become Our Lord's Most Pure Body and Blood at the Divine Liturgy!
Please print clearly the names of both the Living and the Deceased of your family that you would like me to commemorate at the Proskomedia. These Lists can include both Orthodox and Non-Orthodox members of your family!
We Commemorate on the Diskos everyone in the world for whom we pray in the Liturgy, since everyone in the world has been redeemed by Christ. The arranging of particles of bread on the Diskos seems intended not to express the Church’s place in the world but the redeeming power of Christ in the world in all its cosmic fullness. The Proskomedia celebrates the cosmic scope of Salvation, which is a proclamation of inclusion!
Please use the attach form at the end of the Bulletin to complete this task!
Thank you,
Father Vincent
Second Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back, for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you." And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.
The Reading is from Matthew 25:14-30
The Lord said this parable: "A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." As he said these things he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
This event took place on this day in the year 438, when Saint Theodosius the Younger had been Emperor for thirty years; he was the son of Arcadius, and Eudoxia, who had exiled Saint John. The Archbishop of Constantinople at that time was Proclus, who had been the Saint's disciple (see Nov. 13 and Nov. 20).
Saint Ephraim was born in Nisibis of Mesopotamia some time about the year 306, and in his youth was the disciple of Saint James, Bishop of Nisibis, one of the 318 Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council. Ephraim lived in Nisibis, practicing a severe ascetical life and increasing in holiness, until 363, the year in which Julian the Apostate was slain in his war against the Persians, and his successor Jovian surrendered Nisibis to them. Ephraim then made his dwelling in Edessa, where he found many heresies to do battle with. He waged an especial war against Bardaisan; this gnostic had written many hymns propagating his errors, which by their sweet melodies became popular and enticed souls away from the truth. Saint Ephraim, having received from God a singular gift of eloquence, turned Bardaisan's own weapon against him, and wrote a multitude of hymns to be chanted by choirs of women, which set forth the true doctrines, refuted heretical error, and praised the contests of the Martyrs.
Of the multitude of sermons, commentaries, and hymns that Saint Ephraim wrote, many were translated into Greek in his own lifetime. Sozomen says that Ephraim "Surpassed the most approved writers of Greece," observing that the Greek writings, when translated into other tongues, lose most of their original beauty, but Ephraim's works "are no less admired when read in Greek than when read in Syriac" (Eccl. Hist., Book 111, 16). Saint Ephraim was ordained deacon, some say by Saint Basil the Great, whom Sozomen said "was a great admirer of Ephraim, and was astonished at his erudition." Saint Ephraim was the first to make the poetic expression of hymnody and song a vehicle of Orthodox theological teachings, constituting it an integral part of the Church's worship; he may rightly be called the first and greatest hymnographer of the Church, who set the pattern for these who followed him, especially Saint Romanos the Melodist. Because of this he is called the "Harp of the Holy Spirit." Jerome says that his writings were read in some churches after the reading of the Scriptures, and adds that once he read a Greek translation of one of Ephraim's works, "and recognized, even in translation, the incisive power of his lofty genius" (De vir. ill., ch. CXV).
Shortly before the end of his life, a famine broke out in Edessa, and Saint Ephraim left his cell to rebuke the rich for not sharing their goods with the poor. The rich answered that they knew no one to whom they could entrust their goods. Ephraim asked them, "What do you think of me?" When they confessed their reverence for him, he offered to distribute their alms, to which they agreed. He himself cared with his own hands for many of the sick from the famine, and so crowned his life with mercy and love for neighbor. Saint Ephraim reposed in peace, according to some in the year 373, according to others, 379.
This common feast of these three teachers was instituted a little before the year 1100, during the reign of the Emperor Alexis I Comnenus, because of a dispute and strife that arose among the notable and virtuous men of that time. Some of them preferred Basil, while others preferred Gregory, and yet others preferred John Chrysostom, quarreling among themselves over which of the three was the greatest. Furthermore, each party, in order to distinguish itself from the others, assumed the name of its preferred Saint; hence, they called themselves Basilians, Gregorians, or Johannites. Desiring to bring an end to the contention, the three Saints appeared together to the saintly John Mavropous, a monk who had been ordained Bishop of Euchaita, a city of Asia Minor, they revealed to him that the glory they have at the throne of God is equal, and told him to compose a common service for the three of them, which he did with great skill and beauty. Saint John of Euchaita (celebrated Oct. 5) is also the composer of the Canon to the Guardian Angel, the Protector of a Man's Life. In his old age, he retired from his episcopal see and again took up the monastic life in a monastery in Constantinople. He reposed during the reign of the aforementioned Emperor Alexis Comnenus (1081-1118).
Axios! Axios! Axois!
By the Divine Grace of Almighty God Father Deacon Vincent will be Ordained to the Holy Priesthood of the Holy Orthodox Church by Our Bishop Metropolitan Gregory of Nyssa on Sunday February 3rd! The Ordination will take place at Father Deacon's Home Parish of Saint Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church in Saint Clair Pennsylania at the 10am Divine Liturgy! If anyone is interested in attending the ordination please let Father Deacon know Today after Liturgy since we are only 7 days away!!!
Rectory House Warming/Open House February 17th After Divine Liturgy!
All are welcome to attend the Rectory House Warming/Open House to welcome our New Pastor Father Vincent and his lovely wife Pani Christyn! After Divine Liturgy on February 17th all are invited down to the Rectory for Lunch and to see the new paint by our resident painter Pani Christyn! This will take the place of coffee hour that Sunday, so come extra hungry for the Eucharist and then a nice Lunch at the Rectory!
Diocesan Assessments
Diocesan Assessments are past due! They were to be sent to our Chancery in Johnstown on January 1st. The assentment dues per parish member is $75 dollars. Please if you have not paid or are unable to pay the whole amount please see Michael Peters or Father Vincent. To paid your assentment please drop it into the offering basket on Sunday Morning and if paying by check please make out the check to Saint Mary's Orthodox Church. Thank you for your support of our Diocese!
Parish Snow Tubing Event!!!!!!!!!! Get Excited!!!!!
Who is interested in some fun in the Sun and the Snow?? If you answered the question, "I am!" then why not join your friends from Saint Mary's at Winter Place Resort WV for a day of Snow Tubing! We will talk as a community about the Actual Day of the Event and Times at Coffee Hour this Sunday. Hopefully, we can plan our day of fun sometime before Great Lent begins in Mid-February or early March. Get your snow suits ready!!!
Diocesan Lenten Retreats
Diocesan Lenten Retreats Info
Diocesan Registration Form
List for Commemorations