melkitescranton · the qurban consecrated at today’s liturgy was baked ... your son may glorify...
TRANSCRIPT
Liturgy Intentions
May 12, 2013
Robert Walsh—Marie Patchoski
Eleanor Milewski Grado—Bertha
Milewski
May 17, 2013
Joseph Barron—Tony and Kathie Barrett
Karen Murray —Jerry, Marcella, Jerome
and Mark
E-Mail: [email protected] Web: http://melkitescranton.org Webmaster: Sal Zaydon
May 12. 2013
Tone 6 and Orthros Gospel 10 Sunday of the Fathers of the Council of Nicea
Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vespers 5 pm Compline Weds 8:30PM
Sunday Orthros 8:55 am Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church 130 North Saint Francis Cabrini Avenue
Scranton, PA 18504
Rev. Protodeacon Michael Jolly Administrator pro tempore 570-213-9344 Reader Michael Simon Reader John Fitzgerald
Parish Office 570-343-6092
Parish Notes:
Welcome back Father Jerome Wolbert who serves at our altar this week
The Qurban consecrated at today’s liturgy was baked by Elizabeth Dessoye
The Saint Joseph Rummage Sale will be the held on June 8th. You can start collecting for your surplus, priceless treasures.
The Cover Icon: This Sunday we commemoration of the First
Ecumenical Council which has been celebrated by the
Church of Christ from ancient times. The Lord Jesus Christ left the Church a great promise, “I will build My Church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt.
16:18).
The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
Antiphons: O Lord, Who are Good beyond description, we ask You through the intercession of Your All-pure
Mother and the Holy Fathers who participated in the Ecumenical Councils, to support the Church,
uphold the faith and make us all partake of Your heavenly Kingdom, when You come to judge the
whole creation.
For You are the Way, the Truth and the Life, O Christ God and we render glory, to You and to
Your Eternal Father and Your All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and always and for ever
and ever.
People: Amen.
First Antiphon
R. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior save us! Tone 2 Pg. 11 Second Antiphon
R. O Son of God, Who are risen from the dead… Tone 2 Pg, 11 Hymn of incarnation Tone 4 Pg. 13 Third Antiphon
R. Resurrectional Troparion Tone 6 Pg. 18
Hymns: Troparion of the Resurrection Tone 6 Pg. 18 Troparion of the Ascension Tone 4 Pg 90 Troparion of the Fathers Tone 8
O Christ our God, You are infinitely glorified, for You established our Fathers as
radiant stars on earth: You led us to the true faith though them. O Most Merciful One,
glory to You! Troparion of Saint Joseph Kontakion of Ascension Tone 6 Pg. 91
Prokiemenon (Tone 7) Daniel 3:26, 27 Blessed are You, O Lord God of our fathers, and Your name is worthy of praise and glorious forever.
Stichon For You are just in all You have done to us, and all Your works are true and Your ways right.
Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, 20:16-18, 28-36 In those days Paul decided to sail past Ephesus so as not to waste time in Asia. For he was hurrying as
much as he could in order to reach Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost. From Miletus, however, he had
sent an invitation to Ephesus for the presbyters of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to
them, (20:28) “Be careful about yourselves and the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has placed you
as bishops, to herd the Church of God which He has redeemed through His own blood. For I know this,
that after I am gone fierce wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock. And from among
you, some men will rise, speaking perverse doctrines, to draw away the disciples after them.
“Watch, therefore, and remember that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn with tears
every one of you. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, Who is able
to edify and to grant you an inheritance among all His blessed ones.
“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing. You, yourselves, know these hands of mine have
provided for my needs and those of my companions. In all things, I have shown you that by working in
this way you should help the weak, and remember that the Lord Jesus said in person, ‘It is more blessed to
give than to receive.’” And after saying this, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
Alleluia (Tone 1) Psalm 49:1,5 The God of gods, the Lord has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Stichon: Gather His faithful ones around Him, those who have made a covenant with Him through
sacrifices.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint John 17:1-13, p 44 At that time Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come! Glorify Your Son, that
Your Son may glorify You, even as You have given Him power over all flesh, in order that to all You
have given Him, He may give everlasting life. Now this is everlasting life, that they may know You, the
only true God, and the One You have sent, Jesus Christ. I have glorified You on earth; I have
accomplished the work You have given Me to do. And now do You, Father, glorify Me with Yourself,
with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. I have manifested Your name to the men You
have given me out of the world. They were Yours, and You have given them to Me, and they have kept
Your word. Now they have learned that whatever You have given Me is from You; because the words
that You have given Me, I have given to them. And they have received them, and have known as a fact
that I came forth from You, and they have believed that You did send Me. I pray for them; not for the
world do I pray, but for those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours; and all things that are
Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but
these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep in Your name those You have given
Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.
Those You have given Me, I guarded; and not one of them perished except the son of perdition, in order
that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You and these things I speak in the world,
in order that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”
Hymn to the Theotokos / Hirmos It is truly right... Tone 8 Pg. 40
Hymn after communion— Troparion of the Ascension
Saint Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, “a last relic of
ancient piety,” as St. Jerome calls him, lived during the
fourth century in Phoenicia. The Roman empress Honoria
was his sister. He was of Jewish descent, and in his youth
he received a fine education. He was converted to
Christianity after seeing how a certain monk named Lucian
gave away his clothing to a poor person. Struck by the
monk’s compassion, Epiphanius asked to be instructed in
Christianity.
He was baptized and became a disciple of St. Hilarion the
Great (October 21). Entering the monastery, he progressed
in the monastic life under the guidance of the experienced
Elder Hilarion, and he occupied himself with copying
Greek books.
Because of his ascetic struggles and virtues, St. Epiphanius
was granted the gift of wonderworking. In order to avoid
human glory, he left the monastery and went into the
Spanidrion desert. Robbers caught him there and held him
captive for three months. By speaking of repentance, the
saint brought one of the robbers to faith in the true God.
When they released the holy ascetic, the robber also went
with him. St. Epiphanius took him to his monastery and
baptized him with the name John. From that time, he
became a faithful disciple of St. Epiphanius, and he
carefully documented the life and miracles of his
instructor.
Reports of the righteous life of St. Epiphanius spread far
beyond the monastery. The saint went a second time into
the desert with his disciple John. Even in the wilderness
disciples started to come to him, so he established a new
monastery for them.
After a certain time, St. Epiphanius made a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem to venerate its holy shrines, and then returned to
the Spanidrion monastery. The people of Lycia sent the
monk Polybios to St. Epiphanius asking him to take the
place of their dead archpastor. When he learned of this
intention, the clairvoyant ascetic secretly went into the
Pathysian desert to the great ascetic St. Hilarion (October
21), under whose guidance he had learned asceticism in his
youth.
The saints spent two months in prayer, and then Hilarion
sent St. Epiphanius to Salamis. Bishops were gathered
there to choose a new archpastor to replace one who
recently died. The Lord revealed to the eldest of them,
Bishop Papius, that St. Epiphanius should be chosen
bishop. When Epiphanius arrived, St. Papius led him into
the church, where in obedience to the will of the
participants of the Council, Epiphanius agreed to be their
bishop. St. Epiphanius was consecrated as Bishop of
Salamis in 367.
St. Epiphanius won renown because of his great zeal for
the Faith, his love and charity toward the poor, and his
simplicity of character. He suffered much from the slander
and enmity of some of his clergy. Because of the purity of
his life, St. Epiphanius was permitted to see the coming of
the Holy Spirit upon the Gifts at Divine Liturgy. Once,
when the saint was celebrating the Mystery, he did not see
this vision. He then became suspicious of one of the clergy
and quietly said to him, “Depart, my son, for you are
unworthy to participate in the celebration of the Mystery
today.”
At this point, the writings of his disciple John break off,
because he became sick and died. The further record of the
life of St. Epiphanius was continued by another of his
disciples, Polybios (afterwards bishop of city of
Rinocyreia).
Through the intrigues of the empress Eudoxia and the
Patriarch Theophilos of Alexandria, towards the end of his
life St. Epiphanius was summoned to Constantinople to
participate in the Synod of the Oak, which was convened to
judge the great saint, John Chrysostom (September 14 and
November 13). Once he realized that he was being
manipulated by Chrysostom’s enemies, St. Epiphanius left
Constantinople, unwilling to take part in an unlawful
council.
As he was sailing home on a ship, the saint sensed the
approach of death, and he gave his disciples final
instructions: to keep the commandments of God, and to
preserve the mind from impure thoughts. He died two days
later. The people of Salamis met the body of their
archpastor with carriages, and on May 12, 403 they buried
him in a new church which he himself had built.
The Seventh Ecumenical Council named St. Epiphanius as
a Father and Teacher of the Church. In the writings of St.
Epiphanius, the PANARIUM and the ANCHORATUS are
refutations of Arianism and other heresies. In his other
works are found valuable church traditions, and directives
for the Greek translation of the Bible.
In his zeal to preserve the purity of the Orthodox Faith, St.
Epiphanius could sometimes be rash and tactless. In spite
of any impetuous mistakes he may have made, we must
admire St. Epiphanius for his dedication in defending
Orthodoxy against false teachings. After all, one of the
bishop’s primary responsibilities is to protect his flock
from those who might lead them astray.
We also honor St. Epiphanius for his deep spirituality, and
for his almsgiving. No one surpassed him in his tenderness
and charity to the poor, and he gave vast sums of money to
those in need.
Among Today’s Saints
Salvation History
Abraham Salvation history, properly so
-called, begins with Abram,
whom God named Abraham
which means “father of a
multitude.” Abraham was the
first patriarch of the people
of Israel. The word
patriarch means “the father
of the people.” In the person
and life of Abraham, the
central events of the
salvation of the world by Christ in the New
Testament have been prefigured.
God made the first promise of His salvation of all the
people of the earth to Abraham, with whom He also
made His covenant to be faithful forever.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your
country and kindred and your father’s house to
the land that I will show you. And I will make
you a great nation, and make your name great, so
that you will be a blessing ... and in you all
families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:1-
3, See also 17:1-8, 22:1-18).
The fulfillment of the promise to Abraham comes in
Jesus Christ. He is the descendent of Israel’s first
father in whom all the families of the earth are
blessed. Thus, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, sings at
her time of waiting for the Savior’s birth, that all
generations will call her blessed because the
fulfillment has come from God “as He spoke to our
fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever” (Lk
1:55, see also Zachariah’s Song in Lk 1:67-79). All
through the New Testament the claim is made that
God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus.
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to
his offspring. It does not say, “And to off
springs,” referring to many; but, referring to one,
“And to your offspring,” which is Christ (Gal
3:16).
The faith of Abraham is prototypical of al those who
in Christ are saved by faith. The New Testament
stresses faith as necessary for salvation. The model
for this faith is Abraham.
Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to
him as righteousness (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3).
Abraham’s faith was united to his works, and was
expressed in his works.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
You see that faith was active along with his
works, and faith was completed by works, and
the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham
believed God, and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness;” and he was called the friend of
God. You see that a man is justified by works
and not by faith alone (Jas 2:21-24).
God tested Abraham by commanding him to
sacrifice his beloved son Isaac as a burnt offering.
Abraham believed and trusted in God. He obeyed his
will, and went to the mountain to slay his child. God
stopped him and placed a ram in Isaac’s place saying
“for now I know that you fear God, seeing that you
have not withheld your son, your only son, from
me” (Gen 22:12). Then once more God made the
promise that “by your descendants shall all of the
nations of the earth be blessed ...” (Gen 22:18).
The sacrifice of Isaac is not only a testimony to
Abraham’s faith. It is also the original sign that God
Himself does what He does not allow the first and
foremost of His People to do. No ram is put in the
place of God’s Son, His only Son Jesus, when He is
sacrificed on the cross for the sins of the world.
The perfect priesthood of Christ is also prefigured in
Abraham’s life. It is the priesthood of Melchizedek,
the King of Peace. It is the priesthood in which the
offering is bread and wine. It is the priesthood which
is before that of the Levites, and the one which is that
of the Messiah, Who is “a priest forever according to
the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4, Heb 5-10).
So also Christ did not exalt Himself to be made a
high priest, but was appointed by Him Who said
to Him, “Thou art my Son, today I have begotten
thee;“as He says also in another place, “Thou art
a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers
and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to
Him Who was able to save Him from death, and
He was heard for His godly fear. Although He
Devotions and Readings for this week
Mon 5/13
Holy Martyr Glyceria Acts 21:8-14 Jn 14:27-15:7
Tues 5/14
Holy Martyr Isadore of Chio Acts 21:26-32 Jn 16:2-13
Weds
5/15
Father Pachomious the Great and Isadore, Bp. Of
Rostov Acts 23:1-11 Jn 16:15-23
Thurs 5/16
Father Theodore the Sanctified Acts 25:13-19 Jn 16:23-33
Fri 5/17
Apostles Andronicus and Junias Acts 27:1-28:1 Jn 17:1&7:18-26
Sat 5/18
Martyrs Peter, Denis and their companions Acts 28:1-31 Jn 21:14-25
was a Son, He learned obedience through what He
suffered; and being made perfect He became the
source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
being designated by God a high priest after the order
of Melchizedek (Heb 5:5-10).
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the
Most High God, met Abraham returning from the
slaughter of the kings and blessed him; and to him
Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He
is first, by translation of his name, king of
righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem,
that is king of peace. He is without father or mother
or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor
end of life, but resembling the Son of God he
continues a priest for ever (Heb 7:1-3).
The most sublime of the New Testament revelations,
that of the Holy Trinity, was also prefigured in
Abraham’s life. This is the famous visit of the three
angels of God to Abraham under the oaks of Mamre.
And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of
Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of
the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and
behold, three men stood in front of him. When he
saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them,
and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My lord,
if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by
your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash
your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I
fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh
yourselves, and after that you may pass on ... since
you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do
as you have said” (Gen 18:1-5).
Abraham addresses the three
angels as one, calling them
Lord. They eat in his presence
and foretell the birth of Isaac
from Sarah in her old age. In
this visitation of God to
Abraham, the Orthodox Church
sees the prefiguration of the full
revelation of the Holy Trinity in
the New Testament.
Because there can be no depiction of God the Father and
the Holy Spirit in human form, Orthodox iconography
has traditionally painted the Holy Trinity in the form of
the three angels who came to Abraham. The most
famous icon of the Holy Trinity, the one often used in
the Church on the feast of Pentecost, is that of Saint
Andrew Rublev, a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh
in Russia in the fourteenth century.
Thus the salvation of the world which has come in
Christ was prefigured in the life of Abraham, as well as
the Christian doctrine about faith and works and the
Christian revelations about the sacrifice, the priesthood,
and even the most Holy Trinity. Truly in Abraham every
aspect of the final covenant in Christ the Messiah was
foreshadowed and foretold.
Sunday after the Ascension
IN MONASTIC OR RELIGIOUS CIRCLES it is common for
spiritual leaders to leave their followers a “spiritual
testament,” an outline of the teachings and instructions
which they want uppermost in their disciples’ minds.
Christ’s prayer in John 17 is a kind of spiritual testament. In
it the Lord expresses His holy will for Himself, for His
apostles, for the Church and for all mankind on the eve of
His crucifixion.
The Time of His Glorification – The prayer begins with
Christ praying for Himself: “Father, the hour has come.
Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify You” (verse 1).
What the Scripture calls Christ’s “hour” refers to the time of
His redeeming sacrifice. Christ prays that He would be
glorified by the completeness of this self-emptying. He
totally enters into our experience of suffering and death in
order to be one with us in all things except sin. His glory
would not be the earthly idea of glory – power and might –
but the glory of absolute and unconditional love.
Jesus as the Eternal Word Made Flesh – The prayer
continues: “glorify me in your presence with the glory I had
with You before the world began” (verse 5). The heavenly
glory, known to the angels, was to be manifested to us on
earth through the cross.
This reference brings us back to the proclamation of who
Jesus is, which is found in the very first verse of John’s
Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word…” The Gospel
proclaims Jesus as the pre-eternal Word of God who is
glorified with the Father before all ages. Jesus is not simply
a prophet or inspired teacher – He is the One whom the
Gospel says “…was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through Him and without Him nothing was made
that was made” (John 1:2, 3).
This portrait of the eternal Word as one with the Father
shows us a God who is in an eternal relationship and who is,
therefore, love by His very nature (see 1 John 4:8). God’s
relationship is, first of all, with the true and entirely
appropriate object of His love: His divine Word who is
glorified with Him from all eternity. Based on the words of
this prayer the Church would go on to speak of Christ as
“equal in glory with the Father.” Combining this with
Christ’s teaching on the Holy Spirit, later believers would
express this relationship as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Our Re-creation is in Christ – Between verses 1 and 5 we
find a third concept recorded in the Gospel: “…You have
given Him authority over all flesh that He should give
eternal life to as many as You have given Him” (verse 2).
The Word of God, through whom all things were made, is
now incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth as the agent of a new
creation. Mankind is given a new life which is, in fact, a
second chance at the life intended for him from the
beginning as described in the book of Genesis.
This life is then described: “And this is eternal life: that
they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom You have sent” (verse 3). Eternal life, authentic life is
communion: that knowledge which flows from a
relationship with God. It was a relationship of communion
which Genesis describes as God “walking with Adam” in
the Garden. That fellowship, once lost, is restored through
Christ.
Some scholars believe that this verse is the Evangelist’s
commentary on Christ’s prayer, an aside in the text, since it
refers to the Lord in the third person. There were no
quotation marks, punctuation or even paragraphs in first-
century Greek manuscripts so it is possible that this is so.
This verse does make an excellent commentary, a kind of
liturgical refrain not only to this prayer but to our entire life
in Christ. All of the Church’s life – our liturgies, icons,
practices – draws its power from the relationship which we
have with God. When we are in a living communion with
Him, everything that we do as Christians shows forth that
life. Our interior eyes gain the power to see what is present
in the Scriptures, the Eucharist or the saints. They become
means for us to deepen the life which comes from our
relationship with God in Christ. If we are not living in that
relationship then these practices are simply outward forms
which will increasingly bore us.
Prayer That His Disciples Be One – The prayer continues:
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have
given me out of the world…. and they have believed that you
sent me” (verses 6, 8). The Apostles had been called forth
by Christ to leave their families and their livelihoods to
follow Him. They were about to see Him arrested,
humiliated and killed. They in their turn would face similar
ends. Yet He prays, not that they remain steadfast, but that
they remain one. “Holy Father, keep through Your name
those whom You have given me, that they may be one as we
are” (verse 11). The unity of the Apostles in Christ would
be more significant than the physical lives of any one of
them, because from that communion would come the
ongoing life of the entire Church.
Prayer for the Church and the World – A few verses later
we find a similar prayer for the whole Church and the
world as well: “I do not pray for those alone, but also for
those who will believe through their word that they all
may be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You that
they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe
that You sent Me” (verses 20-21).
This mutual interaction of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in
the Trinity is extended to humanity in the Church. The
bond we have with God is no longer simply that of
creature to Creator; it is the filial relationship of the Son
to the Father. “as You, Father, are in Me and I in You.”
The Church, then, is not simply a human association of
Jesus’ followers but an organic union of those who are
“one in Us.”
Finally, the world’s conversion to Christ is tied to the
communion of the Church with God. This passage is
often explained to mean that when Christians are united to
one another the rest of the world will believe. It is perhaps
more accurate to say that when the Church in “one in Us”
– finding the source of its unity in the life of the Trinity
rather than in authority, political power or other external
factors – people will be drawn to it.
The Icon of Our Communion with God
The icon which most perfectly expresses this vision for
the communion of the Church as being “one in Us” is the
adaptation by St Andrei Rublev of the traditional image,
“The Hospitality of Abraham.” The patriarch himself and
other details from the Genesis story are deleted and all we
see are the three guests whom he entertained, seated
around a table. In Gen 18:2 these visitors are described as
“three men” but Rublev depicts them as angels. In fact
Gen 18:13 and verses following refer to Abraham’s
company as “the LORD,” causing the Fathers to see this
visitation as an early indication of the Trinity. Their
eternal relationship is expressed by the fluid motion of
their gestures.
The fourth place at the table, included in these gestures, is
set for us. Through baptism we have been brought into the
eternal relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. The single vessel on the table suggests the means
of our ongoing communion with God, the Eucharist.
Being
“One in Us”
The First Ecumenical Council The Melkite Church today prayerfully remembers the Fathers
of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which once met in
the city of Nicaea in order to investigate and judge the heresy
of Arius. We know that in the first centuries of Christianity,
the Church endured severe persecution, first from the Jews
and then from the pagan Roman imperial power. But despite
the fact that the persecution was bloody, despite the fact that
thousands of Christians died under torture for their confession
of faith, nonetheless, it was not dangerous for the Church.
The Christian of the first centuries remembered well that the
Lord Jesus Christ said: “And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the sou: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt
10:28). And in the Apocalypse He said: “be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev 2:10). In
these bloody persecutions Christians were faithful to death,
went to martyric death, and received from the Lord Savior the
crown of eternal life earned by them.
When the era of persecution ended, another began. This was
much more dangerous for the Church. Then inside the Church
appeared heresy, delusion, and distortion of the truth. They
appeared immediately, but the first were not much noticed,
and did not attract many followers. The heresy of Arius,
which appeared when the persecution had ended, agitated the
entire Church. Arius was a scholar and an eloquent presbyter,
that is, a priest – a pastor in the city of Alexandria. The
bishop of Alexandria died. At that time the flock choose its
own pastors. The eloquent, educated Arius, who held a
prominent position, was certain that he would be chosen, and
that he would be the bishop. But the majority of the clergy
and people chose another bishop, the presbyter Alexander,
who was also well read, educated, and knowledgeable. He
was not as outstanding and talented as Arius, but he was
marked by his piety, and was truly of righteous and holy life.
For this reason the clergy and flock honored him and elected
him.
This piqued Arius’ wounded self-love. Unfortunately, this is
always the story in the history of heresies. In the beginning
there lies an evil motive, an evil impulse of a personal
character, which is wrapped in a robe as a kind of fidelity to
truth.
Thus Arius, in his self-love, decided to speak out against his
own bishop – he could not accept the fact that he was not a
bishop. Once Bishop Alexander spoke with his clergy about
the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, about the equality of its
Persons, that the Holy Trinity is a Trinity of Unity, inasmuch
as in three Persons there is One Divine Essence, One Divine
Nature. Arius boldly stood up and began to contradict him
and began to assert that the Son of God is not equal to God
the Father, as Bishop Alexander had said, or not born of Him,
but created by Him, as a creature, as creation. True, higher,
more perfect, but still creation, a creature. Alexander tried to
reason with gentle admonitions to reason with Arius, but he
persevered. And since he was eloquent, this heresy arose, and
because of him it spread and eventually roused the entire
Church.
Alexander, as a bishop, excommunicated him from the
Church. He left, but began to spread his doctrine further and
further. In the end, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor
Constantine himself commissioned the Elder Hosius of
Cordova, well known for his piety and deep wisdom to
determine if this was a heresy. The elderly Bishop Hosius,
pious and wise, arrived in Alexandria. Without any prejudice,
absolutely impartial, he investigated this question, and
returned and told the Emperor that Arius was preaching a
horrible heresy, which subverts all of Christianity. For if the
Son of God is not equal to God the Father and is not born of
Him, then He is not God, but creation, which means that he
was not incarnate as the true God-Man. That means that the
deed of our salvation was not accomplished as our Christian
faith teaches us.
In the end, an Ecumenical Council assembled. Arius had only
a few bishops on his side. The overwhelming majority of
bishops (and more than 300 assembled for the Council) stood
firmly for the orthodox faith, condemned the heresy of Arius,
and excommunicated him himself from the Church, as a
persistent and uncorrected heretic.
This heretic died a horrible death, but his heresy agitated the
Church for a long time. Only gradually did it begin to
subside. It had to be fought by Basil the Great, Gregory the
Theologian, and John Chrysostom, who lived after Arius.
But, in the end, truth triumphed, but there was a moment
when in the East, of all Orthodox bishops, only St Athanasius
the Great remained, and in the West only St Hilary of
Poitiers; all the other episcopal cathedras, hundreds of
cathedras, were taken by bishops who were themselves Arian
heretics.
The Church, however, was not lost. It was difficult for St
Athanasius to fight with the heretics in the East. Many times
he was exiled, but he remained unmoved. When he learned in
his solitude that at last he had an ally, a successor, in St Basil
the Great, did this great defender of Orthodoxy breathed a
sigh of relief. Thus did the Church experience this heresy,
that is how it was disturbed by it.
After Arius there were other heretics. They were also
condemned by Ecumenical Councils. But today we remember
the First Ecumenical Council, which condemned Arius and
his heresy.
Prayer Requests
Rev. Deacon John Karam
Rev. Basil Samra
Rev. Father David White
Michael Abda Yolande Haddad
Marie Barron Marylou Iandoli
Mary Sue Betress Niko Mayashairo
Chris Carey Mary McNeilly
Nikki Boudreaux Marie Patchoski
Dr. Frances Colie Theodore Petrouchko Jr.
John Colie Charles Simon
Mark Dillman Charlene Simpson
Margaret Dillenburg Ruth Sirgany
Carol Downer James Shehadi
Karen Haddad Kennedy Stevenson
Jemille Zaydon
All those Serving in our Armed Forces
The Christian Community in the Middle East
Sacrificial Giving 5/5/2013
Weekly $573.10
Candles $11.00
The Weekly Quiz Where was Jacob when he told Joseph of the death of his mother, Rachel, and her burial at Bethlehem?
in Bethlehem.
in Ur of the Chaldees.
in the City of Sodom.
in Egypt.
Last week’s answer: Q. In the days of which king was the temple first
built? A. Solomon
Parish Calendar
May
19 Pentecost
27 Memorial Day
June
8 Parish Rummage Sale
17 Parish Baseball outing—Rail Riders vs
Rochester 7PM
We celebrate the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council who served us by formulating a statement of our faith and helped us to understand it correctly. In the Gospel, Jesus prays for His clergy, His fellow workers in ministry. In the epistle, Paul prayed for and with the clergy of his early churches, urging them to watch over the flocks entrusted to them and be dedicated servants, protecting the faith and the faithful. Let us pray for our priests, and pray for an increase in the number of priests serving our diocese.