(901)
274-4119
www.stjohnmemphis.org
V.
Rev.
Pastor
Assistant Pastor
V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman Rev.
Fr. Donald Berge
Associate
Pastor
Attached
GREAT
VESPERS ORTHROS and
Saturday,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
“…the
Disciples were called Christians first in
Sunday before Theophany
Epistle: II Timothy 4:5-8 Gospel: Mark 1:1-8
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 - No Teen Group
-
No Young Adult Group
Monday - Divine Liturgy for the Paramon
of Theophany,
Tuesday - Divine Liturgy for the Feast of
Theophany,
- Choir Practice,
- Catechumen/Inquirer’s
Class,
Wednesday - Third
Hour,
- Vespers,
-
Wednesday Dinner,
-
Wednesday Teaching,
Thursday - Third
Hour,
- Women’s Teaching at
the home of Anne Dugan,
Friday -
First Hour,
-
Third Hour,
-
Stay & Play Group will meet in the fellowship hall after third hour.
-
Sixth Hour,
Saturday - Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday -
- Orthros,
- Divine Liturgy,
Divine
Liturgy for the Paramon of Theophany
Monday, January 5th ,
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr. John
DEACONS: Whoever can READER: Caleb McGee
HOLY BREAD:
COFFEE HOUR: Anna-Sarah Farha & Judy Terry
Divine
Liturgy for Theophany Tuesday, January 6th
,
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr. John
DEACONS: Whoever can READER: Subdeacon
HOLY BREAD:
COFFEE HOUR: Kh. Jeanette Meyers & Meribeth
Harvey
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy Sunday,
January 11th
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr.
John
DEACONS: Dns.
James & Tim READER:
HOLY BREAD: Judy Terry USHER:
ALTAR SERVERS:
COFFEE HOUR: Michael & Mindy Williams,
Caleb McGee
COMMEMORATIONS
January 4: The synaxis of the Seventy Holy Apostles; Venerable Theoktistos of Sicily; Venerable-martyrs Euthymios and his twelve companions of Vatopedi
monastery on Athos; Venerable-martyr Onouphrios the
deacon of Hilandar monastery on Athos; Eustathios, archbishop of Serbia.
January 5: Martyrs Theopemptos the
bishop of
January 6: The Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ. Venerable Makarios Makris of Vatopedi monastery on Athos and Pantocratoros
monastery in
January 7: The synaxis of the honorable, glorious Prophet,
Forerunner and Baptist John; Julian the deacon; Hieromartyr
Romanos; New-martyr Athanasios
of Attalia; Venerable Brannock
of Braunton.
January 8: Venerable George the Chozebite;
Venerable Agathonos of Egypt; Venerable Domnica of Constantinople and Venerable Makarios;
Emilianos the Confessor, bishop of Kyzikos; Martyr Theophilos the
deacon of Libya; Cyros and Atticos,
patriarchs of Constantinople; New-martyr Kyran;
Venerable Gregory of the Kiev Caves.
January 9: Martyr Polyeuktos of Armenia;
Venerable Eustratios the wonderworker; New-martyr Parthenas; Philip, metropolitan of
January 10: Gregory, bishop of Nyssa; Marcian
the priest of
January 11: Theodosios the Great, the
head of monasteries in Palestine; Venerable Theodosios
of Philotheou monastery on Athos; Venerable Agapios of Apamea in Syria;
Venerable Michael of Klops, fool-for-Christ.
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY
SCRIPTURE
Sunday Colossians
Monday Hebrews 8:7-13 Luke
3:1-18
Tuesday Hebrews
9:8-10, 15-23 Mark 1:9-11
Wednesday Hebrews 10:1-18 Mark
Thursday Hebrews 10:35-11:7 Mark 12:18-27
Friday Hebrews 11:8, 11-16 Mark
Saturday Ephesians
5:1-8 Mark
13:1-8
Sunday Colossians 3:12-16 Luke
17:12-19
Pray for our catechumens: In
In Tupelo - Shane Davis, Justin & Tifphanie Franks (Paris), Justin & Brandy Williams,
Leah Hardy, Adam Clay, Casey & Jessica Hardy (Davis) and Justin Stevens.
Please remember in your
prayers: His
- ALMS-GIVING
–
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity
Orthodox Church –
Upcoming special services:
January 6th, is
the Great Feast of Theophany. We
will serve the Great Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great tomorrow,
January 5 at
Theophany
House Blessings – Be sure and sign up in the parish hall for times and days that are
possible times for one of the priests to bless your home.
Welcome Team
– Mark your calendars! There will be a Welcome Team meeting in the nave on
Monday, January 26th at
Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar
~ Book Club ~
Monday,
January 12th at Kh.
The book for January is
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
February ~ The Purple Mantle
~ Women’s Teaching ~
This
Thursday, Janaury 8th at the home of Anne
Dugan at
Upcoming Dates ~
February 5th ~ March 12th
~ AWSJ WOMEN’S RETREAT ~ Fr. Stephen Rogers ~
Friday
& Saturday, January 30th~31st, 2009
We are privileged to have Ft. Stephen Rogers of
St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in
Thank you for the winter supplies (see below)
donated to Rachel’s Kids!
Rachel said these much needed items will help the children through the cold
months ahead. The last delivery will be taken to Rachel’s Kids Monday,
Jan. 5th, after the Theophany Divine Liturgy. Please put any
additional items on the labeled shelves in the food pantry. Questions? Call Lynda Spinol.
The winter supplies requested for children in kindergarten through high school
are: Children’s cough & cold medicine, Band-Aids, ¾ Ankle Socks, Tylenol or
generic acetaminophen, underwear, chap stick/lip balm.
Sons of Thunder – Our next meeting
shall be on Monday evening, January 19th. We will continue our
discussion on the articles we read,
LIBRARY
LINES – Theophany (1/6) was
anciently celebrated as the most important feast day besides Pascha. It predates Christmas as a major feast. Read about its significance and history as a
feast in the following St. John Library books: Christ in the Old Testament
(HAG/---/TIT), Orthodox Saints (black & blue volumes) (HAG/---/POU),
Orthodox Feasts of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary (CAT/SAC/WYB), The Life and
Times of Jesus the Messiah (REF/PRO/EDE), Sermons on the Major Holy Days of the
Orthodox Church (CAT/SAC/CON) and The Theophany of Our Lord (KID/ELA).
Saturday
is a day rich in commemorations for us.
Venerable Paul of Obnora (1/10) was a disciple
of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
See The Wonderful Life of Russia’s St. Sergius of Radonezh (KID/SER).
He lived many years as a hermit and in complete silence and strict
fasting. . Despite his love for solitude he was compassionate and gave wise
counsel.
St.
Gregory of Nyssa (1/10), not to be confused with Gregory of Nazianzus
(1/25), was a brother of St. Basil the Great. He was a staunch defender of the
Church against Arianism and a chief figure of the
Second Ecumenical Council. He is called the “Fathers of Fathers” because he was
a deep thinker and used philosophy to determine the meaning of divine
Revelation.
St. Theophan(1/10)
lived just 200 years ago. He was an
educator and founded two schools for girls. St. Tikon
of Zadonsk was his beloved inspiration from
childhood. At age 50, he chose to live
as a recluse to concentrate on his own salvation and write spiritual yet
practical, readable books. He treats the soul and body as a united whole and
writes in a down-to-earth manner. We know him as the author of The Spiritual
Life and How to Be Attuned To It (PAT/THE) and other works. He translated The Philokalia (PAT/NIK) in five volumes.
See
icons of these saints, their stories and their books in St. John Library.
Beginning in January – We have typically done vespers on Wednesday evenings. In January, we initiate some variation in our
mid-week prayers. In general, we will
pray:
First Wednesday – Lesser blessing of the water (except
for January, since the Great
Blessing of the Water will have been done the
day before)
Second and Fourth Wednesday – Vespers
Third Wednesday – a selected Akathist
This will give us some
variation and introduce these services to our parishioners.
Teen Group Events
TODAY - Sunday, January 4th
– NO MEETING
Have a
GREAT first week back at school!!!
is invited to witness the
Holy Mystery of Matrimony
Of
Gigi Snowden & Chase Sliger
There will be a reception
following in the parish hall
From
the Fathers
“Why has our sincere prayer
for each other such great power over others? Because of the fact that by
cleaving to God during prayer I become one spirit with Him, and unite with
myself, by faith and love, those for whom I pray, for the Holy Spirit acting in
me also acts at the same time in them, for He accomplishes all things.” - St. Theophan
the Recluse
“Prayer is given to those who
pray, as the Scriptures say, but prayer offered only by force of habit, without
heartfelt sorrow for sins, is not pleasing to the Lord. A loving soul cannot
abstain from prayer, for it strives to reach Him through the grace which it
feels by means of prayer.” - St.
Silouan
(Note: The previous item from St. Silouan is a very hard saying. While not encompassing all that he says, it
is no doubt in part referring to prayer rendered out of habit only, without
even an attempt to find or long for some measure of sorrow for sins. Fr John)
“My poor
soul! Sigh, pray and strive to take upon you the
blessed yoke of Christ and you will live on earth in a heavenly
manner. Lord, grant that I may carry the light and goodly yoke, and
I shall be always at rest, peaceful, glad and joyous; and I
shall taste on earth of crumbs which fall from the celestial feast,
like a dog that feeds upon the crumbs which fall from the
master's table.” - St. Tikhon of
“Do all in your power not to
fall, for the strong athlete should not fall. But if you do fall, get up
again at once and continue the contest. Even if you fall a thousand times
because of the withdrawal of God's grace, rise up again each time, and
keep on doing this until the day of your death. For it is written, ‘If
a righteous man falls down seven times’ - that is, repeatedly throughout
his life – ‘seven times shall he rise again.’” [Prov. 24:16] -