SAINT MARY OF EGYPT ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA Newsletter – JUNE 2012 925 Beaver Ruin Rd. Norcross, GA 30093 770-923-7790 Clergy Archpriest Peter Smith – Rector [email protected]678-924-0004 Hieromonk Cyprian (DuRant) [email protected]678-765-7357 Deacon Lazarus Muska [email protected]770-638-0472 Archpriest Dimitri Oselinsky (attached) [email protected]678-765-6027 Priest Thomas Alessandroni (attached) [email protected]678-373-9433 Lay Leadership Matushka Terri Smith Choir Director [email protected]678-924-0004 Carl Bartz Secretary [email protected]770-878-1282 Janice Douglass Treasurer [email protected]770-921-2565 Tim York Webmaster [email protected]404-538-0976 Anya Gill Warden [email protected]404-218-3588 Taylor Hostetter Outreach, Catechist, Building Committee Chair [email protected]770-682-7020 Michaela Staskiewicz [email protected]404-578-8522 Barbara Massoudi [email protected]770-296-1810 O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things; Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life - come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One. Calendar Highlights June 3 PENTECOST June 9 Myrrhbearing Women Gathering June 11 Beginning of the Apostles Fast June 29 Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 30 –July 1 Visit of Abbot Gerasim
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ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA...Anna (Lynne) Acts Harvey (George) and Irene Ghiz (Emily’s parents) Christopher Tsialos (Emily’s uncle) Rayna and family Nathaniel, Maria and family
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SAINT MARY OF EGYPT
ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
Newsletter – JUNE 2012
925 Beaver Ruin Rd. Norcross, GA 30093
770-923-7790
Clergy Archpriest Peter Smith – Rector [email protected] 678-924-0004
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION ARE NEEDED FOR: The Orthodox Church in America Diocese of the South and for the upcoming Diocesan Assembly Metropolitan Jonah; Bishop Nikon, Our Holy Synod, Archpriest Peter, Matushka Anastasia, Lottie Hieromonk Cyprian, Macrina and Nina Priest Thomas; Matushka Angela Archpriest Dimitri; Matushka Maryanne Deacon Lazarus Archbishop Seraphim, Metropolitan Theodosius; Metropolitan Herman, Our catechumens: Yolanda, Jacob, Stephanie, David and Kim The infant Juliana & family David, Elizabeth and David The newly illumined infant Adrian and his family Brian, Janese and the newborn infant Catherine (and her brother and sisters) Michael & Serah and the newly born child Skyler (Ioanna’s family) Gabriel, Susan and the child to be born of her Ward (Patrick) and Cindy (Patricia) Sasha, Natalie, Kristina and Peter Cathie Payton (Maryanne Romano’s mother – in treatment for breast cancer) Richard Romano (Chris’ father) in remission of several different types of cancer, and a recent PET scan showed additional "spots of concern." He has also recently been diagnosed with sever artery blockage that because of past radiation is inoperable. Elise (Chris’ mother and Richard’s wife and caregiver) Robert and Xenia Peterson Abby and Holly (Debra’s daughter in laws) Magdalene Marston Elaine Calugar and family, Carole; Anna, Victor; Tanya and family - especially Veronica; Todd, Kimber, Mathew, Maggie, Amanda and Scott; Niko Bouboulis battling a brain tumor Donna and Christopher Juliana (Carol) and Peter Reader John and Alexandra (Brad & Alexis – Carol and Peter’s family) as they move to St. Vladimir’s Caleb Noble Thomas, Emilia, Maria, Catherine; Craig Anna (Lynne) Harvey(George) and Irene Ghiz (Emily’s parents) Christopher Tsialos (Emily’s uncle) Rayna and family Nathaniel, Maria and family (Nathaniel is a long time friend of the Alessandronis who has recently been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor) Bob Winters (Vincent Hunter’s cousin’s husband succumbing to lung cancer) Danielle and Michael (Ralph Geeza’s niece and brother) Kerin Tamara and Todd Demetrios Teresa and Tim, Cheryl, Linda and Ashley Barbie and Rob (daughter and son-in-law of recently departed Joan)
Patti; Angela, Ed and NicholasSt. Basil’s House The Gainesville Mission All those who have suffered and/or are suffering at the hands of others or without friends or family Those who have fallen asleep in the Lord: Archbishop Dmitri Anthony DiLeo (father and grandfather of Tony DiLeo and his sons)
Pentecost: The Descent of the
Holy Spirit (From Fr. Tom Hopko’s series The Orthodox Faith, Vol ii Worship)
In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which
occurred fifty days after Passover. As the passover feast
celebrated the exodus of the Israelites from the slavery of
Egypt, so Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the ten
commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.
In the new covenant of the Messiah, the passover event
takes on its new meaning as the celebration of Christ’s
death and resurrection, the “exodus” of men from this
sinful world to the Kingdom of God. And in the New
Testament as well, the pentecostal feast is fulfilled and
made new by the coming of the “new law,” the descent of
the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ.
When the day of Pentecost had come they were all
together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from
heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there appeared to
them tongues as of fire, distributed as resting upon each
one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…
(Acts 2:1-4).
The Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his disciples
came on the day of Pentecost (Jn 14:26, 15:26; Lk 24:49;
Acts 1:5). The apostles received “the power from on high,”
and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the
risen Christ, the King and the Lord. This moment has
traditionally been called the birthday of the Church.
In the liturgical services of the feast of Pentecost, the
coming of the Holy Spirit is celebrated together with the
full revelation of the divine Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. The fullness of the Godhead is manifested with the
Spirit’s coming to man, and the Church hymns celebrate
this manifestation as the final act of God’s self-disclosure
and self-donation to the world of His creation. For this
reason Pentecost Sunday is also called Trinity Day in the
Orthodox tradition. Often on this day the icon of the Holy
Trinity—particularly that of the three angelic figures who
appeared to Abraham, the forefather of the Christian faith
- is placed in the center of the church. This icon is used
with the traditional Pentecostal icon which shows the
tongues of fire hovering over Mary and the Twelve
Apostles, the original prototype of the Church, who are
themselves sitting in unity surrounding a symbolic image
of “cosmos,” the world.
On Pentecost we have the final fulfillment of the mission
of Jesus Christ and the first beginning of the messianic age
of the Kingdom of God mystically present in this world in
the Church of the Messiah. For this reason the fiftieth
day stands as the beginning of the era which is beyond the
limitations of this world, fifty being that number which
stands for eternal and heavenly fulfillment in Jewish and
Christian mystical piety: seven times seven, plus one.
Thus, Pentecost is called an apocalyptic day, which means
the day of final revelation. It is also called
an eschatological day, which means the day of the final
and perfect end (in Greek eschaton) means the end). For
when the Messiah comes and the Lord’s Day is at hand,
the “last days” are inaugurated in which “God declares:... I
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” This is the ancient
prophecy to which the Apostle Peter refers in the first
sermon of the Christian Church which was preached on
the first Sunday of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1 7; Joel 2: 28-32).
Once again it must be noted that the feast of Pentecost is
not simply the celebration of an event which took place
centuries ago. It is the celebration of what must happen
and does happen to us in the Church today. We all have
died and risen with the Messiah-King, and we all have
received his Most Holy Spirit. We are the “temples of the
Holy Spirit.” God’s Spirit dwells in us (Rom 8; 1 Cor 2-3, 12;
2 Cor 3; Gal 5; Eph 2-3). We, by our own membership in
the Church, have received “the seal of the gift of the Holy
Spirit” in the sacrament of chrismation. Pentecost has
happened to us.
The Divine Liturgy of Pentecost recalls our baptism into
Christ with the verse from Galatians again replacing the
Thrice-Holy Hymn. Special verses from the psalms also
replace the usual antiphonal psalms of the liturgy. The
epistle and gospel readings tell of the Spirit’s
coming to men. The kontakion sings of the
reversal of Babel as God unites the nations into
the unity of his Spirit. The troparion proclaims
the gathering of the whole universe into God’s
net through the work of the inspired apostles.
The hymns 0 Heavenly King and We have seen
the True Lightare sung for the first time since
Easter, calling the Holy Spirit to “come and
abide in us”, and proclaiming that “we have
received the heavenly Spirit.” The church
building is decorated with flowers and the
green leaves of the summer to show that
God’s divine Breath comes to renew all
creation as the “life creating Spirit.” In Hebrew
the word for Spirit, breath and wind is the same
word, ruah.
Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast revealed the
fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the
Holy Spirit: through them Thou didst draw the world into
Thy net. O Lover of Man, Glory to Thee (Troparion).
When the Most High came down and confused the
tongues, he divided the nations. But when he distributed
the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore, with
one voice, we glorify the All-Holy Spirit! (Kontakion)
The Great Vespers of Pentecost evening features three
long prayers at which the faithful kneel for the first time
since Easter. The Monday after Pentecost is the feast of
the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church, and the Sunday
after Pentecost is the feast of All Saints. This is the logical
liturgical sequence since the coming of the Holy Spirit is
fulfilled in men by their becoming saints, and this is the
very purpose of the creation and salvation of the world.
“Thus says the Lord: Consecrate yourselves therefore, and
be holy, for I your God am holy” (Lev 11:44-45, 1 Pet 1:15-
16).
Within A Mandorla
By Fr. Stephen Freeman
There is a small class of events within the gospels that are
treated in a special manner by iconographers. This special
treatment reflects the language of Scripture as well. In the
icons of the Transfiguration, Pascha and the Ascension,
there is a particular artistic device used called a Mandorla.
Sometimes circular, sometimes almost star-shaped, it
serves as something of a “parenthesis” within an icon.
What is being set in the parenthesis is an event which
somehow transcends what most of us think of as normal.
Revealed in the context of a mandorla is that which we
know by the revelation of Scripture but which might not
have been witnessed by the human eye – or – if witnessed
– somehow transcended the normal bounds of vision.
In the icon of the Transfiguration, the transfigured Christ
stands within the mandorla. The Church’s hymns remark
on this in their own manner:
You were transfigured on the mount, O Christ God,
revealing Your glory to Your disciples as far as they could
bear it. Let Your everlasting Light also shine upon us
sinners,through the prayers of the Theotokos.
O Giver of Light, glory to You!
In this text for the Troparion (Hymn) for the Feast of the
Transfiguration, Christ’s glory is described as having been
revealed to his disciples “as far as they could bear it.”
The Kontakion of the Feast carries the same message:
On the Mountain You were Transfigured, O Christ God
And Your disciples beheld Your glory as far as they could
see it; So that when they would behold You crucified,
They would understand that Your suffering was voluntary,
And would proclaim to the world, That You are truly the
Radiance of the Father!
The disciples are described in the Scriptures as having
been “afraid.” St. Peter speaks of building three
tabernacles, “because he did not know what to say.” The
experience is more than even the words of Scripture can
express.
The depiction of the Ascension in iconography has this
same artistic device. Some would perhaps wonder why an
event that is described in a prosaic manner “a cloud
received him from their sight” should need to be framed
within the parentheses of a mandorla. Of course, this
description is given only in the book of Acts. Mark and
Luke simply say that he was “carried up into heaven.” We
are at a place where language has a limit. Indeed, Mark
says that he was “carried up into heaven and seated at the
right hand of God.” This last formula is a creedal
confession – but not an eyewitness description. That Christ
was taken up and that He is seated at the right hand of the
Father is the faith and dogma of the Church. But the
Church knows this in a mystical manner and not in the
manner of a newspaper reporter.
To acknowledge this is not to weaken the witness of
Scripture or to make a concession to the historical
uncertainty of liberalism. It is simply to recognize the
nature of the Biblical witness. The iconographic witness of
the Church affirms this – placing the Ascension of Christ
within a mandorla – recognizing that this will only be
known and understood by the mystical knowledge of faith
(and by faith I do not mean an intellectual leap of
judgment). I will return to this matter of faith shortly.
Very similar to this event is Christ’s Descent into Hades,
the traditional icon of Christ’s Pascha. In this icon we see
what is referenced in several places within the Scriptures
and upheld in the Church’s dogma – that Christ descended
into Hades and “trampled down death by death, and upon
those in the tombs bestowed life.” But when we confess
this cornerstone of our faith we are not reciting what is
known by eyewitness account. Eyewitnesses see Christ’s
crucifixion and eyewitnesses place Him in the tomb.
Eyewitnesses return to the tomb on early Sunday morning
and find the tomb open and empty.
The resurrected Christ appears to his disciples. In St. Paul’s
recitation of the “tradition” (for that is the word he uses to
describe his recitation, we hear:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with
the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on
the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that
he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.Then he
appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time,
most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen
asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles (1 Corinthians 15:3-7).
There are interesting descriptions that accompany the
Scriptural witness of Christ’s resurrection appearances. St.
Mark says:
After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as
they were walking into the country. And they went back