Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church

1250 Oakdale Avenue

West Saint Paul, Minnesota 55118

Parish Website: http://www.saintgeorge-church.org

Very Reverend Archpriest Thomas Begley, Pastor

Right Reverend Archimandrite Duane Pederson, attached

 Reverend Deacon Russell Hodge, Assisting Deacon

Reader Leonard Soroka, Director of Music

SUNDAY, APRIL27, 2008

THE HOLY AND GREAT SUNDAY OF PASCHA

On this day, we commemorate:    

 

DIVINE LITURGY TODAY

 

During and after the Little Entrance with the Gospel Book, sing the Troparion of Pascha in Tone 5:

 

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death.  And upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

a)      Hypakoe of the Feast  in Tone 4:

 

c)      Kontakion of Pascha in Tone 8:

 

Though Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal One, yet didst Thou destroy the power of Hades, and didst arise as victor, O Christ God, calling to the myrrh-bearing women: Rejoice; and giving peace unto Thine Apostles.  O Thou who dost grant resurrection to the fallen.

 

 Prokeimenon:  This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad therin.

                    O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever.

                  

EPISTLE: The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles.

 (1:1-18)

 

n the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen. To them He presented Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, “You heard from Me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

     So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”

 

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN

(1:1-17)

       

n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

     There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.

     The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world knew Him not. He came to His own, and His own people received Him not. But to all who received Him, who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

     And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John bore witness to Him, and cried, “This was He of Whom I said, ‘He Who comes after me ranks before me, for He was before me.’”) And from His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

 

HOLY BREAD

Holy bread is given in memory of Father Essa and Khouria Olympia Kanavati, Raymond and Doris Rudquist, Arthur and Lilllian Kranz, Father John Khoury, ZuZu Khoury, Naiem Dahmah, Meriam Hanna, James Casci. For the health and welfare of Thomas and Mary Rudquist and their grandchildren, and Denise Scott. Holy bread is offered by Christine Brant, Lisa Price,   Angela Sicora, Tanya O'Brien and Sean Rudquist.

 

COFFEE HOUR

Coffee Hour will follow the Pascha Liturgy. Hear ye! Hear Ye! The feast after the feast is coming! Come and crack the Resurrection eggs together and feast1 Hosted by Tom and Mary Rudquist. Everyone is invited for this period of fellowship.  CHRIST IS RISEN!

.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

PRAY FOR THE SICK

Please pray for Lorraine DeFlorin, Wally Golden, Nicholas Marinkov, Don Droubie, Yasmin Kakish, Mary Saba, Erma Ziton, Peter Hafiz, John Etoll, Nicholas Bolt and John Feilmeier, Renee, Nick & Julie, Jackson & Hunter Golden, Mavis Aussey, George Saba, Joni Meister, John & Julie Funari, Denise & Christine, Robert Hafiz, Lucille Hessler, Ghassen.

 

If you are ill and wish to be remembered in the Liturgy and daily prayers of the priest, please

contact Father Tom.

 

ORTHODOX LENTEN VESPERS

The Orthodox MEOCCA Lenten Vespers will be held today, April 20 at 4:00 P.M. at St. Herman’s Orthodox Church (OCA) 5355 38^th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55417

 

MEMORY ETERNAL

We have just learned of the passing of James Casci, who has fallen asleep in the name of the Lord. Our condolences to his family. The funeral will be held at 11:00 A.M.at Anderson Funeral Home, (1401 Arcade St. St. Paul).May his memory be eternal.

 

PASCHAL VIGIL

On April 26^th the youth of St. George are planning to hold a vigil before Holy Pascha.  We are planning to hold the vigil after the service evening vespers until Midnight or 1:00 A.M.  Anyone wishing to participate with the youth is invited to worship with us.

 

BAKING - KOCH AND MAKAROUN

The Ladies will be baking Koch and Makaroun on Wednesday, April 23rd at 10:00 A.M. Please come and help.  We need all the help we can get!!

 

BIBLE STUDY

Due the busyness of the season, Bible Study will not start up again until after the Paschal season.

KIBBY

On May 3rd we will be making Kibby for the Dinner. If you would like to help,  please call me at 651-457-6885. This is a great opportunity to learn how to make it and I could use the help. Beverly Zaine.

 

NOTICE

The flyers for the Spring Dinner are on the candle table. Please take them and give to your family and friends to help promote the Spring Dinner. Thank you.

 

ANNUAL SPRING DINNER MAY 18^TH (NOON  UNTIL 6:00PM)

PLEASE BRING HOMEMADE BAKED GOODS FOR THE BAKE SALE

The time is near to bring your HOMEMADE Baked Goods to St George.  On May 17^th we will be pricing and putting all baked goods in packages to sell for the Bake Sale. Every kind of bakery item is needed to make this a beautiful Display!  You can even bake the items ahead of time and freeze them.  We will provide typed up labels for your Baked Goods and containers - which you can take home and package your delicious baked items in. We will need help on Saturday, May 17th to price the cookies, breads, caramels, cakes, cup cakes, bars, and other items you bake for the Bake Sale.  We will also need help on Sunday, May 18^th from noon – 6:00pm to help sell all the yummy baked items during the dinner.  You can sign up to help in the social hall.  Please see Christine Quam with any questions at 651-270-3829 or christinecquam@yahoo.com. 

 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SPRING DINNER!!

Please sign up on the sheet posted in the Church Hall. We need everyone’s help in supporting our church's ANNUAL SPRING DINNER.

 

Use of St. George Facilities – Anyone wishing to use St. George facilities must receive approval in advance of use.  At a minimum, make your request 48 hours in advance to the event.  Provide your request to the Council President who will consult with Fr. Tom as to appropriate use, possible date or time conflict and usage fees, if applicable.  

Reminder – If you use St. George facilities, it is your responsibility to clean up after yourself, shut off the lights, turn off all appliances and lock the doors!! 

 

BUILDING LOAN BALANCE

Thanks to your prayers, hard work and giving spirit, our building loan balance as of April 25, 2008, is $251,000. Since the beginning of our fiscal year (September 1, 2007), you have made it possible to pay $118,036 toward the principal of the loan. Please continue to mark your donations to the Building Fund. May God continue to bless our Parish and help u s reach our goal of a loan-free Church!

 

To the people of St. George Orthodox Church,
The church council has approved the use of GoodSearch. Good Search is a search engine on the internet just like Google and Yahoo! In fact GoodSearch is powered by Yahoo! The difference is, with every search on GoodSearch, St. George will receive a donation. The people at GoodSearch receive sponsor/advertisement money and in turn give a portion of that money back to churches and other non-profit organizations listed with them. Here is how it works. Have GoodSearch as a bookmark and when you need to do a search, list the subject to be searched in the box provided and then click on St. George Orthodox Church in the dropdown right below the search box (The first time using the search you will have to type in St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church. Click on our church and for future searches the name will appear). Simple and easy, plus you are providing needed funds to the church. St. George is approved and on the GoodSearch list ready to use today!  

 

MOTHERS DAY SOCIAL - SAVE THE DATE!!

On MAY 10TH, at 10:00 A.M. we will have a gathering to Honor all Ladies, Mom's, Sisters, Daughter’s, Aunt's, Grandmothers, Godmother's, and Friends to come and celebrate Mother's Day! The place, this year, will be at Khoury's Restaurant. The price of this Delicious Brunch varies in price Adults - $14.50, children under 14 years old, $12.00,and under 10 years old, $7.00. These memories of being together, at this Special time, will pass on for years to come. Please sign up before May 4th, so we know how many people plan to attend. Checks to be made out to the Restaurant. For any questions, please see Sue Perry or Barb Abrass.

 

Late summer /Fall Festival update:
Thanks to all those who showed up for the initial meeting for the proposed St. George's Festival.  It was a very positive meeting with a lot of wonderful ideas put in place.  Certain people were put in charge of different things and in the up-coming weeks they will be recruiting volunteers to make this the success we anticipate.  Just to give you an idea of the basics we will be planning:  An outdoor festival to be held in our parking lot with a variety of different foods, (remember last year’s picnic, same idea only bigger), games and activities for kids, live music and dancing outside, church tour, and other things.  The main sitting, cooking and entertainment area will all be under tents, so this will go off rain or shine.  We will be updating you periodically throughout the next few months as to our progress.  Thank you.

 

SAVE THE DATE
The Korluka's are having another gala party event at their place on June 1, at 3:00, we will have live music.  Please bring a salad or dessert to share.  All else is provided.  The entire church is invited.  Please mark your calendars!  Information will follow soon.

 

Christ is Risen!  Indeed He is Risen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2008

 

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death

and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

We celebrate the abolition of death,

the destruction of Hades and the first fruit of everlasting life.

And as we leap with joy, we praise the Cause of these good gifts,

the God of our fathers who is alone blessed and mostly gloried.

 

Beloved of God,

 

            Christ is Risen!  Truly, He is Risen!  El Messieh Kahm! Hakken Kahm!  Khristos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese!  Let us embrace one another and forgive all things for the sake of Christ’s Holy Resurrection.  May Christ’s Holy Resurrection strengthen us for a life of purity and holiness.  Let us say with St. Paul “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2: 20)  Let us guard this gift of eternal life so freely bestowed! Forgiving as Christ forgives.  Let us love as Christ loves.  Christos Anesti!  Alithos Anesti!  Cristos Vaskres!  Vaistinu Vaskres!  Cristos a Inviat!  Adevarat a Inviat!

 

Yours in Christ,

+ MARK

Bishop of Toledo and the Diocese of the Midwest

Announcing the 2008 Summer Camp Scholarship Contest!

Now open to our entire Pan-Orthodox Community!  Two Camp scholarship coupons will be awarded in memory of Presbytera Mary Coniaris and James H. Zubulake.  Camp registration fees will be rebated to two contest winners.  This year's theme is, "How do I pursue my Orthodox faith outside of church settings?"     There will be two divisions:

Junior Division- open to children entering 3^rd- 6^th grades fall 2008. Contestants are required to submit a 250- word (typed) essay on the theme.

Senior Division- open to teens entering 7^th- 12 grades fall 2008.  Contestants are required to submit a 500- word (typed) essay on the theme.

Entries must remain as close to the word limits (250 or 500) as possible.

ENTRIES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN FRIDAY MAY 23, 2008.

Please submit entries to:

Doria Saros

C/O St Mary's Greek Orthodox Church

3450 Irving Avenue South

Mpls, MN   55408         Or via e-mail to Doria@stmarysgoc.org

ST. MARY’S SUMMER CAMP – JUNE 29-JULY 6, 2008

Camp registration is coming up soon and it is first come, first serve, so if we are late in registering there is a chance the camp will fill up. Last year we had so many girls at a certain age that a couple of our girls almost didn't get to go. Please pick up a camper information sheet on the usher’s table. For information please see Vicky Michaels.

 

COFFEE HOUR

If you would like to host the coffee hour on Sunday after liturgy, please call Sana Jubran (651)-731-2988.  We need people to host coffee hour.  Also, please consider hosting the coffee hour the same day that you offer the holy bread.  Thank you.

 

UPCOMING ICON CLASSES, LECTURES AND OPEN STUDIO ACTIVITIES!!

A monthly newsletter is released from my website at www.icon-art-studios.com                . Please subscribe to receive all upcoming information about exhibits, teaching and travel related to the study of iconography and Orthodox spirituality facilitated by Icon Art Studios and participating colleagues.  

 

Upcoming Tours and Pilgrimages to Russia and Ukraine

"The Art of Ballet St. Petersburg, Russia" June 17-29, 2008.  Saint Paul City Ballet, Icon Art Studios and Book It! Travel have collaborated to create a  very personalized and unique tour which will focus on the life of ballet, the arts and all general cultural tour sites in St. Petersburg. A day trip to Novgorod is scheduled which will include visits to art museums and monasteries. The tour ids designed to offer dancers master classes conducted by Gabriela Komleva, coach and prime ballerina of the Maryinsky Theatre (Kirov) in St. Petersburg. During the time of dance instruction, Deb and those not involved in the instruction will visit studios and other planned activities. Reservation space is still available for this tour. Brochure and registration is posted on the website.   

 

 

Thou hast raised up in Bethany Lazarus that was four days dead; for as soon as Thou camest to the tomb, Thy voice became life to the dead man.  Groaning aloud, Hades released him in fear.  O mighty miracle!  O Lord of many mercies, glory to Thee.

 

 

 

Tone 1:

 

While the stone was sealed by the Jews, and the soldiers were guarding Thy most pure body,

Thou didst arise on the third day, O Savior, granting life to the world. For which cause the

heavenly powers cried aloud unto Thee, O giver of life. Glory to Thy Resurrection O Christ,

glory to Thy kingdom, glory to Thy providence, O Thou Who alone art the lover of mankind.

 

Tone 2:

 

When Thou didst submit Thyself  unto death, O Thou deathless and immortal One, then Thou

didst destroy hell with Thy Godly power. And when Thou didst raise the dead from beneath the earth, all the powers of heaven did cry aloud unto Thee: O Christ, Thou giver of life, glory to Thee.

 

Troparion of the Resurrection in Tone 3:

 

Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad for the Lord hath done a mighty act with His own arm, He hath trampled down death by death and become the first born from the dead.  He hath delivered us from the depths of Hades granting the world the great mercy.

 

Tone 4:

 

Having learned the joyful message of the resurrection from the angel the women disciples of the Lord cast from them their parental condemnation and proudly broke the news to the disciples saying death hath been spoiled Christ God is risen granting the world great mercy.

 

 

Tone 5:

 

Let us believers praise and worship the Word coeternal with the Father and the Spirit born of the Virgin for our salvation.  For He took pleasure in ascending the cross in the flesh to suffer death and to raise the dead by His glorious resurrection.

 

Tone 6:

 

When Mary stood at thy grave looking for thy sacred body, angelic powers shone above they revered tomb and the soldiers who were to keep guard became as dead men.  Thou led Hades captive and wast not tempted there-by.  Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst give life to the world, O thou who art risen from the dead, O Lord, Glory to thee.

 

Tone 7:

 

Thou dist shatter death by Thy cross, Thou didst open paradise to the thief, Thou turn sadness of the ointment bearing women into joy, and didst bid thine apostles proclaim a warning that Thou hast risen O Christ, granting to the world the great mercy.

 

Tone 8:

From the heights Thou didst descend, O compassionate One, and Thou didst submit to the three-day burial, that Thou might deliver us from passion; Thou art our life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to Thee.