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

 The New Spring of Great Lent is upon Us!!

***Please make every effort especially during The Great Fast to come to Church early on Sunday Mornings to attend both Orthros/Matins and The Divine Liturgy!***

***Remember with your extra EFFORT in working out your Salvation in fear and trembling; by attending these Divine Services, and ALL THE SERVICES of The Holy Church, The Holy Trinity will come and make their Dwelling in your Body and Soul!***

***By simply attending The Divine Services, you will be starting upon the path to Repentance; the process of being made into a Temple of The Holy Spirit and you will begin in time, to Glow with the Divine Energies of Holy God!!! What a Great and Glorious Gift of Love from Holy God!!!***

***Please do not miss these God given opportunities! They are offered for your Salvation!!! ***

Saturday March 23rd The 2nd Souls Saturday-The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom with The Reading of The Parish Diptychs and the Blessing of Koliva 9:00AM - The Venerable Nikon and His Disciples

Saturday March 23rd Choir/Music Practice 4:00PM -  Topic: The 2nd Tone and parts of Vespers and Matins. Everyone is welcome to attend!!!

Saturday March 23rd Confessions 5:00PM - Confessions will also be available after Vespers

Saturday March 23rd Vespers 6:00PM - Saint Gregory Palamas and Pre-Festive Day of The Annunciation

 Sunday March 24th Orthros/Matins  8:30AM

 Sunday March 24th The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil The Great 10:00AM -The Second Sunday of The Great Fast - Saint Gregory Palamas and Forefeast of The Annunciation

Sunday March 24th Great Vespers with The Blessing of Artoclasia 6:00PM - The Feast of The Annunciation of The Theotokos

Monday March 25th The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom 9:00AM - The Feast of The Annunciation of The Theotokos/Fish with a backbone, Wine and Oil are permitted on This Great Feast. It is only a ONE DAY Feast, so we are back to Fasting as usual on Tuesday!

Wednesday March 27th Adult Catechism Class 6:00PM - Topic: The continuing study of The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts and The Colors of the Season

Wednesday March 27th The Liturgy of The Pre-Sanctified Gifts of Saint Gregory the Dialogist 7:00PM - The Holy Martyr Matrona Salonika, Venerable John the Seer & The Holy Martyr Manuel

Thursday March 28th The Akathist Hymn to The Theotokos 7:00PM

Friday March 29th The Liturgy of The Pre-Sanctified Gifts of Saint Gregory the Dialogist 7:00PM - The Holy Martyr Mark of Arethusa, Deacon Cyril & The Venerable John the Hermit

Saturday March 30th The 3rd Souls Saturday-The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom with The Reading of The Parish Diptychs and the Blessing of Koliva 9:00AM - The Venerable John, The Author of the "Climacus" & Saint Sophronius

 Saturday March 30th Choir/Music Practice 4:00PM -  Topic: The 3rd Tone and parts of Vespers and Matins. Everyone is welcome to attend!!!

 Saturday March 30th Confessions 5:00PM - Confessions will also be available after Vespers

 Saturday March 30th  Great Vespers 6:00PM- The Veneration of The Holy and Life-Giving Cross of Our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ & The repose of Saint Innocent

 Sunday March 31st Orthros/Matins  8:30AM

 Sunday March 31st The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil The Great 10:00AM - The Third Sunday of The Great Fast - The Veneration of The Holy and Life-Giving Cross of Our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ & The repose of Saint Innocent

Monday April 1st  Moleben to The Holy Cross 7:00PM

Tuesday April 2nd Moleben to The Holy Cross 7:00PM

Wednesday April 3rd Adult Catechism Class 6:00PM - Topic: The Mystery of The Holy Eucharist

Wednesday April 3rd The Liturgy of The Pre-Sanctified Gifts of Saint Gregory the Dialogist 7:00PM - The Holy Martyr Elpidiphorus, Martyr Illyricus & The Confessor Nicetas

Thursday April 4th The Akathist Hymn to The Holy Theotokos 7:00PM

Friday April 5th The Liturgy of The Pre-Sanctified Gifts of Saint Gregory the Dialogist 7:00PM - The Holy Saints Theodulus & Agathopodes, Venerable Plato Studite & Venerable Theodora

Saturday April 6th The 4th Souls Saturday-The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom with The Reading of The Parish Diptychs and the Blessing of Koliva 9:00AM - The Holy Saint Eutychius, Saint Methodius of Moravia & Saint Platonida

 Saturday April 6th Choir/Music Practice 4:00PM -  Topic: The 4th Tone and parts of Vespers and Matins. Everyone is welcome to attend!!! 

Saturday April 6th Confessions 5:00PM - Confessions will also be available after Vespers

Saturday April 6th Great Vespers 6:00PM- Saint John Climacus, The Repose of Saint Tikhon, Venerable George of Mitylene & The Martyr Calliopus

Sunday April 7th Orthros/Matins  8:30AM

Sunday April 7th The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil The Great 10:00AM -The Fourth Sunday of The Great Fast - Saint John Climacus Sunday, The Repose of Saint Tikhon, Venerable George of Mitylene & The Martyr Calliopus

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory be Forever!

   In today’s Gospel lesson we hear the story of the Healing of the Paralytic. This man was brought to Jesus on a pallet which was carried by four men! Now think about this for a moment! This man was completely paralyzed, which means he was completely unable to move on his own accord! Not being able to move any part of his entire body because of a illness he had contracted, or an injury he had suffered, or perhaps he was born this way, the scripture does not make this clear why he was paralyzed. Still the fact remains this man was fully paralyzed!! This is why he was carried by four of his friends, not because he was sleepy, tired, or lazy! This painful disease that infected this man’s body had advanced to the point of shutting down from the inside out, all of his physical organs except his bodily vital signs that would need to function in order for him to stay alive, and this illness spread to the outside of his body affecting the whole of his being from head to toe.  

   You maybe be wondering; Why am I belaboring this point of the man in the Gospel being completely paralyzed? Brothers and sisters, all of us are the person of the Paralytic!!!  All of us in this Church, and all of mankind throughout the world, is paralyzed. Now, without a doubt, some people are physically paralyzed, but I am not referring to physical  Paralysis. I am talking about an inward paralysis, this is the darkness that we freely allow to enter into our souls known as sin and passion that causes spiritual paralysis, and if left untreated or unhealed will lead to spiritual death. The sin that we freely allow to enter into our lives becomes comfortable to us as it attaches itself to our souls and sucks out the lifeblood of our spiritual life. When we allow sin to be comfortable to us, it becomes who we are and how we identify ourselves, and in turn we begin to lay in the filth of our sins and passions allowing them to become the bed or “pallet” we sleep in.

   Saint Augustine tells us; “You have been a paralytic inwardly. You did not take charge of your bed. Your bed took charge of you! One can be a paralytic inwardly without bodily paralysis.” Saint Augustine likewise refers to Psalm 41;  I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.” The demons are the enemies that this Psalm is speaking of, they infect us inwardly and will not stop until they have fully captured us in all kinds of passions, and they will dance for joy at the death of our souls. We are to put on the armor of Christ and defeat these enemies through the power of the sacraments of the Church, fasting, true prayer, loving our brothers and sisters, and self-control. We need to awake from the sleep of sin and put on this armor of light that is only found in the person of Jesus Christ. We are to pick ourselves up off this pallet, or bed of sin, and walk in the light and truth of the Gospel.

   The Saints of the Church are shining examples for us in this pursuit of Holiness and Christ centered living. The Saints themselves who are filled with the uncreated light of God show us how to free ourselves from the paralysis of sin and passion. Today the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates a great and Holy Champion of the Faith, who put on the armor of the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ and defeated both spiritual and heretical enemies.  This Saint we commemorate today was an Athonite Monk that lived in the 14th century on The Holy Mountain known as Athos. This Holy Monk is Saint Gregory of Palamas. He was a humble monk who practiced the unique type of contemplative prayer known as hesychasm, which is the practice of saying the Jesus Prayer quietly and focusing all of your attention on the your inner person where the Kingdom of God dwells. Through this prayerful practice many of these hesychastic monks experienced the uncreated Glory of God known as His Divine Energies. In other words, these humble monks experienced the living God as we are experiencing each other right now! They were the intimate friends and lovers of the Trinity. After many years of prayerful struggle on the Holy Mountain this Holy monk, because of his holiness and learning, was elected Archbishop of Thessalonica where his theology would be tested to the utmost extent by the theological ideas of a western philosopher and theologian named Barlaam the Calabrian.        

   In the year 1337 the monk Barlaam who was Saint Gregory’s opponent, journeyed to Mount Athos, where he became acquainted with the spiritual life of the hesychasts. He made fun of these Holy Monks calling them “navel gazers” saying that it was impossible to know the essence of God, he declared mental prayer of these monks as heretical error. Journeying back and forth from Mount Athos to Thessalonica, Barlaam entered into disputes with the monks and attempted to demonstrate the created, material nature of the light of Mount Tabor which is the light which shown forth at Transfiguration of Christ. He ridiculed the teachings of the monks about their methods of prayer and about the uncreated light seen by the hesychasts.

   Saint Gregory wrote a collection letters known as the “Triads” or the defense of the Holy Hesychasts which he completed in the year 1338. In the year 1341 there was a Church Council called in Constantinople to settle these issues between Barlaam and the Monks of Mount Athos. This Council was held in the Church of Hagia Sophia where Saint Gregory debated with Barlaam, focusing upon the nature of the light of Mount Tabor, or the Essence and Energies of God. On May 27, 1341 the Council accepted the position of Saint Gregory Palamas, that God, unapproachable in His Essence, reveals Himself through His energies (or Grace), which are directed towards the world and are able to be perceived, like the light of  Mount Tabor, but which are neither material nor created things. The teachings of Barlaam were condemned as heresy, and he himself was anathematized and fled back to Calabria.

   My dear people we need to learn from the example of Saint Gregory of Palamas and live our lives in Christ, professing the truth of our Orthodox Faith. The Great Fast is for us to grow and mature in the image and likeness of God for we were created to be gods by Grace, just like the monks of Saint Gregory’s time. If you are stuck in your own bed of sin, pick yourselves up and continue the struggle of fasting and prayer! The fast is still young, this is only the Second Sunday of the Great Fast, get up and truly live your Faith. We all suffer defeat in the battles with the demons in the arena of spiritual warfare, but these are small battles we can overcome with the help of God’s Grace, because Jesus Christ our Savior has already won the war against Satan for us by dying on the cross, descending into hades, and by His Glorious Resurrection! Jesus Christ has already destroyed death and hell forever! What we need to do is walk in the light of the Resurrection of Christ by fighting against the demons that tempt us and cause us to sin. We walk and live in the light of God, by living an Orthodox Christian Life in the Church of the Saints.  

 OCMC Alms Giving Box Update

Thank you to all who are actively heeding Our Lord's call to feed the hungry, give drink to the thristy, cloth the naked, and help to spread the Gospel to the four corners of the earth! Thank you for your continuing participation in this project to support our Orthodox Missions throughout the World. When you have finished filling your coin boxes please tape them up so they do not fall apart because of weight or so that the money does not escape. Then everyone can begin bring them to the Church when they are full and we will continue to collect them until Palm Sunday which is the 21st of April. So, all Coin Boxes should be returned to the Church by April 21st and then we will send them to OCMC the next day.

Orthodox Prison Ministry Almsgiving Basket

I spoke about this new opportunity for supporting the Prison Ministries last Sunday. There will be an Alms giving box in the back of the Church to support the Orthodox Prison Ministry for all who would like to heed the call of Our Lord to "visit" ie. "Support" those in the Prisons, please give generously from your heart! This collect will be taken up until Palm Sunday April the 21st and will then be sent to the Orthodox Prison Ministries Office the next day. Thank you in advance for your love and support for this worthy cause!

New Parish Event: Bowling Night!!!

 Put on your bowling shoes and step up to the line, it's bowling time!!! Pani and I were thinking of our next parish event that was Lenten Friendly, so we checked out Mountaineer Lanes Family Fun Center here in Bluefield! We toured the place and seems like a nice place for our next Parish Family Event!  There's nothing wrong with having a little fun while we fast and add more prayer to our lives, even the Saints rested from their labors of prayer and fasting and returned to their Churches or Monastic Communities for some fellowship. We can talk about which Day and Time would be best for everyone at coffee hour!

Saint Mary's Book Store News

 There are new item's for sale in the Book Store which include a new Book by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlahos; "Entering the Orthodox Church" which is a catechism and instruction on Baptism for adults, the price is $15.00.

Other new items include:

The "Blue" Prayer Book's printed by Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston Massachusetts; "A Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians," the price is $18.00.

Other Prayer Books include:

Our very own Diocesan Book entitled, "Come to Me" which is available now for $18.00.

We also have, "The Book of Hours" which was first created and printed here at Saint Mary's Orthodox Church in Elkhorn! The price for this prayer book is also, $18.00.  

The Book "Great Lent" by Fr. Alexander Schmemann is now available for $15.00!!!

It is the Purple Book on the back table in the Coffee Hall! This Book is a wonder meditation book on the 40 days of Lent, a spiritual companion that would be useful to all of us as we journey through Great Lent together.

 We also have the new Book entitled; "Lenten Spring" by Fr. Thomas Hopko which is another meditation book for the season of Great Lent, the price is also $15.00 for this Book.  

There are many new icons that are available in the Book Store as well, please visit the Book Store to check out these new items!

Please see Ginny or Sophia for assistance with Book Store purchases.