June 2008 News
Liturgical
Notes
There are two major feast-days in the calendar month of June. The
first of these feast-days commemorates the Ascension of our Lord Jesus
Christ from earth into Heaven forty days after His glorious
Resurrection. This feast-day occurs on June 5 (May23 OS). The Ascension is recorded in the Gospel of Luke: “And He led them out as far as
Bethany , and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.” (Luke 24:50-53). The
Ascension is equally as great as the Resurrection of our Lord in that
He ascended with His human body and was enthroned on the right hand of
the Father showing His complete Divine nature now joined with His
resurrected Body and glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit. His Ascension was the reconnection of earth to heaven which had been
disconnected by Adam’s sin in Paradise . Christ raised up our human nature and thereby opens the door of Heaven for all humanity. In
the hymns of the Church it is said that even the angels were astonished
witnessing the Lord ascending into heaven in a human body. The
Prophet David sings of this event in Psalm 24 when he says:”Lift up
your gates, O ye Princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates,
and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in war. Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory.” From
this feast we no longer sing “Christ is risen from the dead…” but
instead use the troparion of Ascension to introduce our prayers where
normally “O Heavenly King,…” is said. Troparion of Ascension: O Christ God, Thou hast ascended in Glory, granting joy to Thy disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Through the blessing they were assured that Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
The second of these feast-days is the Feast of Pentecost when the Church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. This is on June 15 (June 2 OS). The Lord told His disciples to go to Jerusalem and there wait and He would send a Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The event is recorded in the Acts of the Holy Apostles. “But
you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you
shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem , and in all Judea and Samaria ,
and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” (Acts 2:1-3). This day is known as the birthday of the Church for the Spirit-filled apostles converted over 3,000 to the new Church that day. The liturgical color of this feast is green signifying the spouting of the New Body of Christ on earth, the Church.
On the second Sunday following the Feast of Pentecost we celebrate the feast-day of our Parish, All Saints of America . As
usual the fast of Saints Peter and Paul begins of June 23 (June 10 OS)
and so we will be allowed to have fish to celebrate our feast-day. Sadly, Bishop Peter will have to be in Russia during this period and will not be able to be with us on this day. He sends his regrets but is looking at a visit this coming autumn, God willing. Please mark this day on your calendar so as to be here for the feast!
Parish Notes
The state of Arkansas has approved our request for a cemetery and we now have a registered cemetery west of the Church building. We are presently connecting the Church building, St John’s , and St Mildred’s to the rural water system. Only the parsonage will remain on the well water. The
initial payment for the icons for the holy doors has been sent to St
Elizabeth Convent and work will begin shortly on these icons. We still need approximately $200.00 to complete the payment for the icons.
There are several individuals with special days this month. Please remember them in your prayers. If any are missing from this list please let the priest know.
Costa Skoumbourdis Namesday June 3
Elizaveta Shkurina Birthday June 4
Tatiana Weeks Birthday June 4
John Bennett Namesday June 9 (Ron)
John Bennett Namesday June 9
John Bennett Birthday June 5
Fr George Birthday June 9
Valeriya Gaffney Namesday June19
God grant them many years!
There is a possibility that we may have two nuns from St Elizabeth’s Convent in Minsk , Belarus visit us in July. They are on a fund-raising journey and will be selling icons and items made by the sisters of the convent. They will present the work of their convent to the parish. Further details will be announced.
From the Holy Fathers
Everyone
must know and believe that there is a spiritual, deadly serpent, call
the devil, or Satan, condemned by the Creator to everlasting torments,
that can lead away into everlasting torment those who do not believe,
are unrighteous and impenitent. Everyone must
know and believe that the Savior was sent from God into the world in
order to save men from the deadly shafts of this serpent—that is, from
sin and everlasting death; and that this Savior bestows upon all His
saving, healing remedies against the bites of this serpent: faith, penitence, and the Holy Mysteries of His Body and Blood.
-My Life in Christ by St John of Kronstadt
