ST.
JOHN
ORTHODOX CHURCH
1663 TUTWILER AVENUE
(901)
274-4119
www.stjohnmemphis.org
V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman V.
Rev.
Assistant
Pastor Pastor
GREAT
VESPERS ORTHROS and
Saturday,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
“…the
Disciples were called Christians first in
Acts 11:26
Forty
Holy Martyrs of Sebaste
Epistle: Hebrews 12:1-10 Gospel: Matthew
6:14-21
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Kh.
Welcome
to all those visiting St. John Orthodox Church.
We are honored by your presence.
It is our sincere desire that your participation today in the Divine
Liturgy will draw you closer to Christ and His Church.
If you are from a non-Orthodox background you may
see new things such as icons, incense, the sign of the
cross, the veneration of saints, and a great deal of standing. These can be perplexing to the uninitiated
eye. Rest assured that everything we do
has a solid biblical foundation and a long history among Christian people. Please feel free to participate where you
feel comfortable, and feel equally as free only to observe when you prefer.
The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or Lord’s
Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of
Sunday -
Forgiveness Vespers,
- No Teen Group
- No
Young Adult Group
Monday - First
Hour,
- Great Compline with
Great Canon,
Tuesday - Third Hour,
-
Men’s Lunch,
- Great
Compline with Great Canon,
- No
Choir Practice or Catechumen/Inquirer’s Class
Wednesday - Third Hour,
- Presanctified Liturgy,
Thursday - Third
Hour,
- Great Compline with
Great Canon,
Friday - First Hour Prayer,
- Third Hour Prayer,
- Stay & Play Group – meet here at the
church after 3rd hour prayer
-
Sixth Hour Prayer,
-
Akathist,
Saturday -
Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday - Orthros at Annunciation,
- Divine Liturgy
at Annunciation,
Schedule
for Presanctified Liturgy Wednesday, March 12th
PRIEST: Fr. John
DEACONS: Dn. Tim
ALTAR SERVERS: Any who can
READER:
USHER:
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church - Sunday, March 16th
DEACONS: Dns.
Tim & James
ALTAR SERVERS: Caleb, J. Morgan, Misha,
Joe
HOLY BREAD: Margaret McKelroy
Upcoming
baptisms, chrismations, enrollments:
- IN
Today, Sunday, March 9th
Jason and
Jordan and
Lauren Guntharp, Baptism - Godparents
COMMEMORATIONS**
March 9: The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
March 10: Kodratos of
March 11: Sophronios, patriarch of
March 12: Venerable Theophanes the
Confessor of Sigriane; Gregory the Dialogist, pope of
March 13: The translation of the relics of Nikephoros,
patriarch of
March 14: Venerable Benedict of Nursia;
Euschemenos, bishop of Lampsakos.
March 15: Martyr Agapios of
Palestine and those with him; Apostle Aristoboulos of
the Seventy, first bishop of
March 16: Martyr Sabinos of Egypt;
Venerable Christodoulos the wonderworker of
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY
SCRIPTURE
Sunday Romans
Monday Genesis
1:1-13 Proverbs 1:1-20
Tuesday Genesis
1:14-23 Proverbs
1:20-33
Wednesday Genesis
1:24-2:3 Proverbs
2:1-22
Thursday Genesis
2:4-19 Proverbs 3:1-18
Friday Genesis
2:20-3:20 Proverbs
3:19-34
Saturday Hebrews 1:1-12 Mark
Sunday Hebrews
11:24-26, 32-12:2 John
1:43-51
Pray for our catechumens: In
Please remember in your
prayers: His
Alms Giving Opportunities:
The Alms Fund
– used for a variety of uses throughout the year
Food
for Hungry People – add to the food pantry**
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity Orthodox Church –
Remember –
The opening service of Great Lent is Forgiveness
Vespers, this evening at
KEEPING
THE GREAT FAST:
While the hymnography of the Church reminds us of the primary importance of
keeping the spiritual aspect of the Great Fast, it also counsels us
to keep the physical aspect -- reducing our consumption of food
and drink and abstaining from certain categories. From the
first day of the Great Fast which is known as Pure Monday (Monday, March 10th)
we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, cheese,
milk or other dairy products, fish, wine and olive oil) on weekdays
through Great and Holy Friday, while on Saturdays and
Sundays there is katalysis for wine and olive oil.
EXCEPTIONS: On the great feasts of Annunciation (March 25th)
and Palm Sunday (April 20th) there is katalysis
for fish, wine and oil; on Great and Holy Thursday (April 24th)
there is katalysis for wine and oil; on Great and Holy Saturday (April
26th) if we eat anything at all, we observe the traditional fasting
discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, milk or other dairy products,
fish, and olive oil) with katalysis for wine. We
break the Lenten Fast following the Paschal Orthros and Divine Liturgy
(4/27).
Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar
Women’s Teaching – led by Fr. John Troy
Thursday, March 20th -
Upcoming Book Club Dates:
Monday, May 12th – My Journey with Father
Alexander
by Juliana Schmemann
Monday, June 2nd – The Pilgrim’s Inn ~ The
Herb of Grace
by Elizabeth Goudge
Stay & Play – A mom’s group that will plan to meet Friday
mornings at the church for third hour prayer at
It's a boy!!!
The Antiochian Women of
are
invited to a Baby Shower for Jodi Elliott
on
Saturday, March 22 at
at
the home of Claire vanDrimmelen, 1944 Vinton,
Jodi
is registered at Babies R Us. If you would like to contribute to a group gift,
please
contact Elizabeth Cameron at 327-5595 or e.cameron@earthlink.net
Lenten Meals – Anyone
interested in making Lenten meals (or part of a meal) to be served after
Presanctified Liturgies please contact Kh. Martha Berge at 340-2787.
LIBRARY LINES – Many
martyrs are commemorated individually; however, there are several groups who
are remembered not only on their feast days, but throughout the year as the Church
prays. The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste are commemorated
March 9. They were a band of soldiers who
were distinguished for bravery. During the reign of Licinius
in 313, they were imprisoned for refusing to sacrifice to idols. As punishment
they were cast into a lake during severely cold weather. A warm bath-house was
erected on the shore to tempt them. One could not withstand the cold and ran on
shore. As a great light hovered over them and crowns appeared over their heads,
one of the guards joined them in the water and asked God to add him to their
number, making him worthy to suffer with them.
They were then led out of the lake and their legs were broken. Their bodies
were burned and the bones tossed into the lake. Three days later they appeared
to the bishop and told him to gather their remains at night and bury them with
honor. These men are just one example to us of
Christians sharing in each others’ suffering
with love. These men are mentioned in every marriage service,
the Paraklesis to the Mother of God and other services
of our Church.
St. Gregory (3/12) the
Dialogist and Pope of
See icons of these saints
and stories of their lives in St. John Library.
Teen Group Events
Today, Sunday, March 9th – Forgiveness
Vespers
Next Sunday, March 16th – No Teen Group –
Sunday, March 23rd – Soup Kitchen at First
Presbyterian, after Liturgy
Congratulations to “Colonel Mike!” Yes, our own
(former) Major Mike, who oversees our security guards, has been promoted to the
one of the new Colonel positions in the Memphis Police force. We all know it is more than
well-deserved! Many
years, “Colonel Mike!”
Note from Church Office: Please be sure to mark in the memo section of your
checks what the amount is for. If you are contributing to your tithe, please
mark ‘tithe.’ Likewise, if purchasing something from the bookstore, please mark
‘bookstore.’ This allows for easy accounting of your tithes, offerings and
other purposes. Thank you.
Available in the Parish
Hall:
Diakonia
– Copies of the Spring 2008 Diakonia, Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Women of North America’s Newsletter are now available in the
parish hall.
New Phone Directories – There are more copies now available in the parish
hall. Please remember that these directories are for personal use only. Also remember that the directories are only
as good as the information given to us. If there are any changes or corrections
that need to be made, please let me know. – Meribeth
Handouts for Great Lent –
There are copies of a number
of handouts downstairs for your taking:
Comments on the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem
the Syrian
Reflections on the Akathist Hymn
The Sundays of Great Lent
The prayer of repentance used at Forgiveness Vespers
The schedule of services for the Great Fast through
Bright week
“The Rules of Fasting” - by Bp KALLISTOS
“The Four Canonical Fasting Seasons” – by Bp BASIL
Fasting Guidelines – Some nice comments on fasting
Worship and liturgical reminders
Veneration
Candles – We are doing better in making offerings for the veneration candles
being used. Thank you! Remember
parents - try to help your children learn to make their own small offerings
when they take a veneration candle so that they can build a good habit for
life.
It is very sad to observe, but with the
recent recognition of Kosovo as a
sovereign state, many of the Orthodox Christian minority in Kosovo will again
be exposed to the possibility of retribution and expulsion from their family
homes of centuries. The politics of the
region are complicated beyond our understanding. Please
remember them in your prayers.
Serving at the soup kitchen – Mark your calendars! We will serve at the soup kitchen on Western
Easter, March 23. Come help us help others!
Pro-life
Corner - In 2004, there were 239
legal abortions for every 1000 live births in the
Taken from the CDC’s publication, “Abortion
Surveillance –
LENTEN ALMS-GIVING
FOOD PANTRY
Each week of the Great Fast
we will all have an opportunity to add to the food pantry with specific items.
There will be a table set-up in the parish hall to receive these items.
Week 1 – Sunday, March 16th
– Jars of Peanut Butter
***Since we will be at Annunciation Greek
Orthodox Church Sunday, March 16th please bring your donations of
peanut butter to the church during the following week or on Sunday, March 23rdalong with cans of soup
& crackers.
Week 2 – Sunday, March 23rd
– Cans of Soup and Crackers
Week 3 – Sunday, March 30th
– Cans of Fruit and Individual Serving Fruit/Applesauce
Week 4 – Sunday, April 6th
– Toiletry Items – Toilet Paper, Lotion, Soap
Week 5 – Sunday, April 13th
– Canned Meat, Cans of Chili, and Cans of Beans
Week 6 – Sunday, April 20th
– Rice, Pasta & Boxed Meals
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – COIN BOXES
As in the past, coin
collection boxes for Food for Hungry
People are in the parish hall. This
is an excellent way for children (and
grown-ups) to participate in giving alms this Lenten season. Take a box (or two) for your home! At the end of Great Lent, parents should then
help their children count the coins and turn in the collected amount,
preferably with bills or a check for the collected amount.
THE BELCHER FAMILY
Please pray for Chuck Belcher, a former member of our
parish. He was diagnosed in October with
ADL, fatal disease, and is probably in his last six months of life, if
that. They now live in
OTHER CONTINUING ALMS-GIVING
OPPORTUNITIES
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity
Orthodox Church –