The Feast of the Epiphany “LITTLE CHRISTMAS”

JANUARY 6, 2017

The Feast of the Epiphany

JANUARY 6, 2017 HE mystery of the Christ-birth is a rich and glorious beginning, splendid with promise. Today we worship a partial fulfillment when Jesus, as an Infant King, is manifested (epiphania) to wise men of the Gentile world

and through them to all peoples. His royal state is neither frightening not pompous, for the kingly majesty of the sovereign Redeemer is robed in boyhood. Coming in the simplicity of true greatness, Jesus makes Himself acceptable, accessible, and at home to the little and the great of every nation under heaven.

PRELUDE March of the Magi Kings Theodore Dubois HYMN Chartres inside front cover INTROIT (KNEEL) Ecce, advenit Mal. 3:1; I Par. 29:12; Ps. 71:2

(We KNEEL and listen as the Schola chants the Introit and the Priest quietly says the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, pg. 8-11.)

KYRIE (KNEEL, pg. 12) Missa Gloria in excelsis Deo Vito Carnevali GLORIA (SIT, pg. 12) Carnevali COLLECTS (STAND) THE LESSON (SIT) Isa. 60:1-6

Jerusalem stands for the Church, the essentially missionary Church that reaches out its light and life to all peoples and makes them adopted sons and daughters of the Holy Trinity.

GRADUAL (SIT) Isa. 60:6, 1 ALLELUIA (SIT) Matt. 2:2 THE HOLY GOSPEL (STAND) Matt. 2:1-12

Born King of mankind, Jesus received at Bethlehem the first homage of pagan nations. By an arduous Christian apostolate, the rest of the world must be brought to His feet.

EPIPHANY PRCLAMATION ¶ The celebrant solemnly announces the moveable feasts for the Year 2017 A.D.

SERMON (SIT) Dom Theodore Phillips NICENE CREED (SIT, pg. 15) Carnevali OFFERTORY VERSE (STAND) Ps. 71:10-11

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ANTHEM (SIT) There shall a Star come out of Jacob Felix Mendelssohn There shall a star come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

And dash into pieces princes and nations. How brightly beams the morning star!

What sudden radiance from afar With light and comfort glowing!

Thy Word, O Lord, Gives salvation; Radiance darting, Truth imparting,

Thine be praise and adoration! (It is proper to sit while the offering is made and the Anthem sung. Stand as you

are censed and then sit again until the SURSUM CORDA.) “PRAY BRETHREN” Missal pg. 21 SURSUM CORDA (pg. 22) & PREFACE OF THE EPIPHANY (pg. 25, STAND) SANCTUS (KNEEL, pg. 33) Carnevali THE CANON OF THE MASS (KNEEL, pg. 35) POST-EPIKLESIS Benedictus qui venit Carnevali THE LORD’S PRAYER (STAND) Missal pg. 44 AGNUS DEI (KNEEL) Carnevali PRAYER BEFORE COMMUNION Missal pg. 50a MOTET COMMUNION VERSE Mt. 2:2

Following the reception of Holy Communion, it is proper to return to your pew, kneel, and make your Thanksgiving after Communion (Missal, pg. 51 or St. Ambrose Prayer Book, pg. 177). If you have not received Holy Communion, you should make a “Spiritual Communion” (St. Ambrose Prayer Book, pg. 187). This is far more spiritually beneficial and preferable to “people-watching.”

POSTCOMMUNION COLLECT (STAND) DISMISSAL & BLESSING (KNEEL)

LAST GOSPEL (STAND) Luke 2:42-52 HYMN Dix inside back cover POSTLUDE Wie schön leuctet der Morgenstern Johann Pachebel

A N N O U N C E M E N T S ELCOME to all our guests and visitors this morning. There are Service Books in the pews for your use. While Holy Communion may be received only by prepared Orthodox Christians, our non-Orthodox guests are welcome to come forward at

Communion for a blessing and the pain benit—blessed bread. Please fill out one of the “visitor cards” found in the pew racks and take a moment to sign our guest book in the Narthex! Please join us for Coffee Hour in the Parish Hall (downstairs).

Orthodox Christians must be prepared for Holy Communion through Sacramental Confession, fasting, prayer, and being at peace with others. A prepared person must have been to Confession recently (frequency established by his Pastor), have abstained from food and drink from Midnight and have attended Mass regularly. Please seek and give forgiveness before receiving Communion.

. REMOVAL OF CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS We will take down the Christmas Decorations after Mass this Sunday, January 8th. We can sure use everyone’s help. We were rather short-staffed in putting them up so any help you can bring will be greatly appreciated.

A PERSONAL “THANK YOU”

Dear Parishioners and friends, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the kind gifts and cards at Christmas. I so appreciate your thoughtfulness and care. Sometimes the job of a priest can be a lonely one. It is the kindness of our parishioners and their prayers that spurs us on and encourages us in our service to the people of God. I ask God to richly bless you and your families, not only at this holy Season, but throughout the New Year. Know that you remain in my prayers!

Sincerely in Christ, Right Reverend Msgr John Mangels

VISIT THE CRÈCHE Before we remove the Christmas Decorations on Sunday, January 8th, plan on spending a few moments in meditation before the Christmas Crèche in our Church. This is an excellent way for families to teach their young children the REAL MEANING of Christmas and the profound impact of the Mystery of the Incarnation. The Prayers for this Visit are found in the St. Ambrose Prayer Book (pg. 453-454). It is good for adults as well!

SPECIAL THANKS to Mackenzie Talley, Claire LeBorgne, Humberto Borboa and Jeff McClendon from THE AMBROSIAN CHORISTERS, our organist-choirmaster, Frank Slechta and Richard Robertson (who is playing the Prelude and Postlude) for providing the special Liturgical Music for today’s Mass! BLESSING OF CHALK & “CHALKING OF THE DOOR” From the earliest times there has been a tradition that on (or near) the feast of the Epiphany we pray for God’s blessing on our homes, marking the door post with chalk (an incarnational image reminding us of the dust of the earth from which we were made). The main door of our home is marked with the initials of the Magi and the numerals of the new year,

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connected with crosses: 20 ✠ C ✠ M ✠ B ✠ 17

The initials remind us of the names of the Magi—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—and also stand for the Latin motto: Christus mansionem benedicat, "May Christ bless this house." In the Book of Exodus, the Israelites marked their doors with blood so that the Lord would pass over their homes; but in this ritual, we mark our doors with chalk as a sign that we have invited God's presence and blessing into our homes. (You will notice this above the entrance to the Church from the Narthex.) It remains there until the Feast of Pentecost. The priest will gladly come and Bless your homes at the Feast of the Epiphany or any time. EPIPHANY WATER was blessed on the Feast of the Epiphany and is available in the Holy Water dispenser in the Narthex. Every Orthodox Home should have Holy Water. We have Holy Water bottles in the Book Store. CHURCH CALENDARS 2017 AVAILABLE The 2017 Church Calendars have arrived. They are very beautiful this year and contain all of the information an Orthodox Christian of the Western Rite needs in following the fast & feasts of the Church Year. Get your new 2017AD calendar today! Patristic Wisdom: The Wise men, therefore, fulfill their desire, and come to the child, the Lord Jesus Christ, the same star going before them. They adore the Word in flesh, the Wisdom in infancy, the Power in weakness, the Lord of majesty in the reality of man: and by their gifts make open acknowledgment of what they believe in their hearts, that they may show forth the mystery of their faith and understanding. The incense they offer to God, the myrrh to Man, the gold to the King, consciously paying honour to the Divine and human Nature in union: because while each substance had its own properties, there was no difference in the power of either. St. Leo the Great (+461)

----------- ---------- Saint Augustine Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church

55 West Third Avenue Denver, Colorado 80223

Website: http://www.staugustinedenver.org Right Reverend Monsignor John A. Mangels, Pastor

ajammn@aol.com Church Phone - 303-698-2433 Pastor’s Phone - 303-832-3657

Mankind and the Epiphany

EHOLD, Magi came from the East. Few occurrences related in Scripture are more evocative of the reach and grandeur of the sacred story of Christianity than this one.

A cavalcade of camels brought the three wise men, who asked, "Where is he that

is born king of the Jews?" God had been manifested. 'We have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him." These journeyers from the Orient mystically spoke for multitudes. Their quest was the ageless, endless pursuit of the human race, seeking, often unknowingly, the home and heart of the Creator.

Epiphany (from the Greek epiphania, the manifestation) is the feast of God Revealed. The Church celebrates it by calling to our attention three miracles of manifestation. There is the manifestation of the Infant God to the Magi. There is the manifestation of Christ through the miracle of the water made wine at the marriage feast of Cana. There is the manifestation, as John the Baptist poured the waters of the Jordan on the bowed figure before him, of the God-man come among the dwellers of the earth. "And behold, a voice from the heavens said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'" (Matt. 3:17).

Through each of us individually, God is manifested in the goodness and holiness of our lives. Through all of us jointly, members of the Church—the true Jerusalem, the City of Light—God shall be carried to all mankind who will find Him in our tidings of Christian love.

"Christ, has taught us not only to have love for those of a different nation and a different race, but to love even our enemies .... While our heart overflows with the sweetness of the Apostle's teaching, We chant with him the length, the breadth, the height, the depth of the charity of Christ, which neither diversity of race or culture, neither the wasteless tracts of ocean, nor wars, be their cause just or unjust, can ever weaken or destroy."

"Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon Thee .... Then shalt Thou see and abound, and Thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to Thee… (Isa. 60:1, 5).

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