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St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2020-04-26
Bulletin Contents
Weekly Update
Hymns of the Day
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Saints and Feasts
Thomsund
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St. Nicholas Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 434-973-2500
  • Street Address:

  • 7581 Rockfish Gap Turnpike

  • Charlottesville, VA 22906
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 6981

  • Charlottesville, VA 22906

Past Bulletins


Weekly Update

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CHRIST IS RISEN!  INDEED HE IS RISEN!

If you have not already done so, please take the time to read His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholmew's Paschal Message.  Please also go here to read the Paschal Letter from the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine.

Earth Day 2020

His All-Holiness has also shared an important message on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, in which he reminds us that "The ecological responsibility and the respect of the sacredness and the beauty of every human person, of the elderly and the disabled, the poor and the marginalized, the sick and the suffering, are today the universal categorical imperative for the whole humanity."  Please read the whole message here.

Charitable Works Service Group Gift

The Charitable Works Service Group has made a gift of $500 to Our Community Place in Harrisonburg. May the Lord continue to bless this very important ministry to the most vulnerable among us.

Congratulations and Many Years!

The servant of God Nicholas Mammi was received into the Church on Holy Saturday - may God grant him, and his sponsor Florin, many blessed years!

Opportunities to Serve Your Neighbor!

As we celebrate the Lord's Resurrection, we must continue to remember the critical importance of loving our neighbor (Mt 22:34-40), as the Lord commanded us to do ( "my neighbor is my salvation").  Love is demonstrated both in prayer and deed.  Please remember your neighbors in this time of acute need. Here are some specific ways to help:

  • Virginia hospitals across the state are experiencing a severe shortage of blood, and the UVA Medical Center is encouraging healthy and eligible individuals to contact the American Red Cross to make an appointment to donate.  Our Archbishop Daniel and our seminarians have already done so!

  • Please also keep an eye on Support Charlottesville, which is a hub for opportunities to give (and receive) material support.  This is a very good way to stay informed, get involved and help your neighbors in need.

  • The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank needs healthy volunteers to assist them at multiple locations, as well as in-kind and monetary donations (even more critical as the needs increase). Our Bishops, seminarians and Consistory staff have all been involved in similar work to address food insecurity in New Jersey -- let us emulate their example, and get involved.

  • Charlottesville Community Cares has published a resource guide with information on how to receive financial assistance, request for grocery/prescription delivery, COVID-19 hotline, emergency shelter, and Region Ten Emergency Services Hotline. Join the network: bit.ly/cvillecare2020. Donate: congregatecville.com. Email: cvillecares@gmail.com.
  • Consider making masks for one of the following insitutions:
    • Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital: 540-689-8545rmh_rmhvol@sentara.com
    • Augusta Health Hospital: 540-332-5174ahfoundation@augustahealth.com
    • UVA Hospital: 434-924-5251volunteerservices@virginia.edu

UOL Essay Contest

Applications for the 2020 Ukrainian Orthodox League Essay Contest is 2 May. This is a great opportunity for the youth of the parish. Application and additional information here.

Weekly Sermons from Father

During this period of curtailment of the parish's ability to gather in worship, audio sermons, written meditations and other resources will be posted regularly to the parish website ['Updates from Father Charles' link on the homepage]. Weekly bulletins and email communications will continue. Please use these resources to remain connected to your parish family.

Continued Pandemic Restrictions

A reminder that restrictions remain in place by order of the Governor of Virgina. All parishioners are reminded to observe Virginia state directives regarding non-essential travel and assembly -- these restrictions are critical to broader efforts to stem the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an act of basic Christian charity, mercy and compassion to be observant of these restrictions, for the safety of all of our neighbors and brethren in Christ.

2020 Budget and Board Proposals

A reminder to please review, if you have not already done so, the 31 March email from the Parish Board with the proposed 2020 budget along with instructions for comment. The Board has also recommended the parish move to one general meeting per year, to occur in late October or early November.  Please provide comments back to the Board as soon as possible.

Stewardship Reminder

Despite the current (temporary) modification to the parish's schedule of services, meetings, and events, all parishioners are reminded of the pledges they have made as part of their stewardship commitment of time, talent and treasure. Some parishioners may encounter financial hardship during this time of crisis, and we can only give as we are able. That said, the parish must continue to meet its budgetary obligations and operating expenses.  Please continue sending your contributions by to the church via US Mail:

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church

PO Box 6981

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Special Intentions, Needs and Requests

A reminder to contact Father directly (fr.charles@mailbox.org | 443-204-4542) with any special prayer requests, intentions or concerns/needs, and he will make sure these are addressed.

Recent Prayer Requests

+Priest Nestor (reposed this week)

+Melissa (reposed Holy Week)

+All who have reposed in the Lord this week due to the pandemic

Nicholas (newly-illumined)

Karen (healing)

Alice (healing)

Beverly (healing)

Josephine, Daniel Jr., & Lisa

Theo (recovery)

Heidi (illness)

Elizabeth (illness)

Lisa and Daniel (illness)

All of those struggling financially during the pandemic, and for those whoe basic necessities are out of reach

All medical personnel, first responders and others ministering to the sick, and those rendering vital services to their neighbors

All those in high-risk populations during this pandemic

 

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Hymns of the Day

Apolytikion of Great and Holy Pascha in the 5th Tone

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life.

Apolytikion for Thomas Sun. in the 7th Tone

From the sealed tomb, You shone forth, O Life! Through closed doors You came to Your Disciples, O Christ God. Renew in us, through them, an upright spirit, by the greatness of Your mercy, O Resurrection of all!

Seasonal Kontakion in the 8th Tone

Thomas touched Your life-giving side with an eager hand, O Christ God, when You came to Your Apostles through closed doors. He cried out with all: “You are my Lord and my God!”
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

First Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Matthew 28:16-20

At that time, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Amen."

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 4th Tone. Psalm 146.5;134.3.
Great is our Lord, and great is his power.
Verse: Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 5:12-20.

In those days, many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high honor. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, "Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life."

Gospel Reading

Thomas Sunday
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.

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Wisdom of the Fathers

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb. 11:1) And here He pronounces blessed not the disciples only, but those also who after them should believe.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 87 on John 20, 4th Century

For though the Apostles themselves modestly ascribe it all to this cause, declaring that they did these things in the name of Christ, yet at the same time the life and noble conduct of the men helped to produce this effect. "And believers were more added unto the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." Observe, how he now no longer tells the number of them that believe; at such a rate was the faith making way even to an immense multitude, and so widely was the Resurrection proclaimed. So then "the people magnified them:" but they were now no longer lightly to be despised as once they were: for in a little moment, at a single turn of the scale, such have been the effects produced by the fisherman and by the publican! Earth was become a heaven, for manner of life, for boldness of speech, for wonders, for all besides; like Angels were they looked upon with wonder:
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 12 on Acts IV, 4th Century

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Saints and Feasts

Thomsund
April 26

Thomas Sunday

Though the doors were shut at the dwelling where the disciples were gathered for fear of the Jews on the evening of the Sunday after the Passover, our Saviour wondrously entered and stood in their midst, and greeted them with His customary words, "Peace be unto you." Then He showed unto them His hands and feet and side; furthermore, in their presence, He took some fish and a honeycomb and ate before them, and thus assured them of His bodily Resurrection. But Thomas, who was not then present with the others, did not believe their testimony concerning Christ's Resurrection, but said in a decisive manner, "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Wherefore after eight days, that is, on this day, when the disciples were again gathered together and Thomas was with them, the Lord Jesus came while the doors were shut, as He did formerly. Standing in their midst, He said, "Peace be unto you"; then He said to Thomas, "Bring hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not unbelieving, but believing."

And Thomas, beholding and examining carefully the hands and side of the Master, cried out with faith, "My Lord and my God." Thus he clearly proclaimed the two natures - human and divine - of the God-man (Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-29).

This day is called Antipascha (meaning "in the stead of Pascha," not "in opposition to Pascha") because with this day, the first Sunday after Pascha, the Church consecrates every Sunday of the year to the commemoration of Pascha, that is, the Resurrection.

Allsaint
April 26

Basil the Holy Martyr Bishop of Amasea

This Saint was Bishop of Amasia in Pontus, in the days of Licinius (reigned 308-324), fellow Emperor and brother-in-law of Saint Constantine the Great. Licinius' wife Constantia, sister of Saint Constantine, had as handmaid a virgin named Glaphyra. When it became known that Licinius had conceived a sinful desire for her. Constantia secretly sent Glaphyra away to the East. Coming to Amasia, she took refuge with Saint Basileus. When Licinius learned of this, he furiously commanded that both be brought before him. When the soldiers came for them, however, Saint Glaphyra had already departed to the Lord; she is also commemorated this day. Saint Basileus was taken alone to Nicomedia, where he was beheaded. His body was cast into the sea, but through divine revelation was found again and brought back to Amasia.

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