SAINT JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH 195 N. Main Street Milpitas, Ca 95035 www.sjorthodox.org Matins 8:00 a.m. The Very Reverend Fr. Jiris Hanna (408) 509-8802 Liturgy 10:30 a.m. Sunday August 2 (7/20), 2015 9 th Sunday after Pentecost Holy and Glorious Prophet Elias (Elijah) األحد التاسع بعد العنصرة - تذكار القديس المجيد النبي ايلياس التسبيتي Matins (Eothina IX): John 20:19-31 Epistle: James 5:10 20 Gospel: Matthew 5:14 19 As we approach the start of Dormition Fasting period (8/14 8/27), we explore the life of our Most Holy Theotokos and Her departure to the eternal life. Part 1 of 4 The Veneration of the Mother of God During Her Earthly Life From Apostolic times and to our days all who truly love Christ give veneration to Her Who gave birth to Him, raised Him and protected Him in the days of His youth. If God the Father chose Her, God the Holy Spirit descended upon Her, and God the Son dwelt in Her, submitted to Her in the days of His youth, and was concerned for Her when hanging on the Cross then should not everyone who confesses the Holy Trinity venerate Her? Still in the days of Her earthly life the friends of Christ, the Apostles, manifested a great concern and devotion for the Mother of the Lord, especially the Evangelist John the Theologian, who fulfilling the will of Her Divine Son, took Her to himself and took care for Her as for a mother from the time when the Lord uttered to him from the Cross the words Behold thy mother. The Evangelist Luke painted a number of images of Her, some together with the Pre-eternal Child, others without Him. When he brought them and showed them to the Most Holy Virgin, She approved them and said: The grace of My Son shall be with them, and repeated the hymn She had once sung in the house of Elizabeth: My soul doth magnify the Lord, and My spirit hath rejoiced in God My Saviour. However, the Virgin Mary during Her earthly life avoided the glory which belonged to Her as the Mother of the Lord. She preferred to live in quiet and prepare Herself for the departure into eternal life. To the last day of Her earthly life She took care to prove worthy of the Kingdom of Her Son, and before death She prayed that He might deliver Her soul from the malicious spirits that meet human souls on the way to heaven and strive to seize them so as to take them away with them to Hades. The Lord fulfilled the prayer of His Mother and in the hour of Her death Himself came from heaven with multitude of angels to receive Her soul. Since the Mother of God had also prayed that She might bid farewell to the Apostles, the Lord gathered for Her death all the Apostles, except Thomas, and they were brought by an invisible power on that day to Jerusalem from all the ends of the inhabited world, where they were preaching, and they were present at Her blessed translation into eternal life.
The Apostles gave Her more pure body over to burial with sacred hymns, and on the third day they opened the tomb so as once more to venerate the remains of the Mother of God together with the Apostle Thomas, who had arrived then in Jerusalem. But they did not find the body in the tomb and in perplexity they returned to their own place; and then, during their meal, the Mother of God Herself appeared to them in the air, shining with heavenly light, and informed them that Her Son had glorified Her body also, and She, resurrected, stood before His Throne. At the same time, She promised to be with them always. The Apostles greeted the Mother of God with great joy and began to venerate Her not only as the Mother of their beloved Teacher and Lord, but also as their heavenly helper, as a protector of Christians and intercessor for the whole human race before the Righteous Judge. And everywhere the Gospel of Christ was preached, His Most Pure Mother also began to be glorified.. 27 آب( نبذة عن حياة ورقاد والدة االله بمناسبة قرب بدء صوم العذراء )14 آب الجزء 1 من 4 اجزاء نموذج حياة العذراء يصف القديس امبروسيوس حياة العذراء في بيت يوسف الشيخ خطيبها فيقول: "حملت العذراء جسدا بدون اتصال مع جسد آخر لم تكن عذراء بالجسد فقط بل بالعقل الذي لم يلو ث بأي ميل الى الشهوة ايضا. كانت متواضعة في قلبها جريئة في كالمها حكيمة في فكرها قليلة الكالم ومولعة بالقراءة. لم تضع املها في الغنى بل بطلبات الفقير منكب ة على العمل ومتواضعة في الحديث. التمست هللا حاكم افكارها وليس االنسان لم تؤذ احدا بل كانت محبة للجميع لم تقف امام الكبار ولم تحسد المساويات لها تجن بت التباهي واحب ت الفضائل لم تخرج من فمها كلمة ليست بالنعمة لم تخالف جاراتها ولم تحتقر األقل منها لم تجتنب الذين هم في حاجة لم تحتقر فقيرا لم تستهزء بأحد وكانت تغط ي على كل ما تراه وتسمع به بمحبتها. لم يكن شيء كئيب في عينيها وال شيء وقح في كالمها وال شيء غير محتشم في اعمالها لم تعمل اي حركة بغباء ولم تخطو اي خطوة غير محسوبة. لم يكن في صوتها اي فظاظة. وببساطة كان مظهرها الخارجي انعكاسا لكمالها الداخلي في طيبتها واعتدالها. لم يكن في حياتها ايام تراخ وكسل بل ايام صيام وصالة اذا ارادت ان تأكل كانت تأكل اي طعام يقع تحت يدها لم تلجأ الى الراحة حتى ال تتلف حياتها كانت دائما الحاجة فقط هي التي تجعلها تنام بجسمها في حين كانت روحها يقظة دائما وفي نومها كانت تجول فيما كانت تقرأ من الكتب المقدسة لم تكن معتادة الخروج من البيت اال للخدمات اإللهية برفقة اقاربها كانت تشتغل في بيتها. ومعها اشخاص آخرون لحماية جسدها ولكنها وحدها كانت حارسة ألفكارها وأخالقها كانت تفرض االحترام في مشيها وكالمها كانت تتقدم خطوة فخطوة في الفضيلة كانت تمتلك كل الفضائل وكل ما كانت تعمله كان درسا قائما بنفسه أوفت بكل التزاماتها من الفضائل كأنها تتعل م وليس كأنها تعل م وعندما دخل عليها رئيس المالئكة جبرائيل وجدها في عزلة خاصة في بيتها بدون رفاق لم ترد ان يزعجها احد ولم ترغب في رفقة احد ألن رفاقها كانت افكارها وأكثر من هذا كانت تظهر لنفسها انها اقل وحدة عندما تكون وحيدة إذ كيف يمكن ان تكون وحيدة م ن لها هذا الكم من الكتابات هذا الكم من رؤساء المالئكة والمالئكة واألنبياء ". يقول القديس اثناسيوس "ان مريم كانت عذراء نقي ة لم تترك بيتها ولم تتعود الذهاب الى األماكن العامة كانت تعيش داخل بيتها كنحلة العسل كانت تعطي بكرم وتوز ع ما عندها للفقراء لم يعلو صوتها وكانت يقظة في قلبها لم تقل اي كلمة على احد ولم تكن تحب سماع اي كلمة سوء على احد كانت حياتها مثاال للجميع". كتب القديس غريغوريوس باالماس: "الشيء الوحيد الذي ال يستطيع هللا ان يفعله هو ان يتحد بنفسه بشيء غير طاهر ونقي قبل ان يطه ره مقد ما قبل االتحاد به وهكذا كان من الضروري ان تكون عذراء خالية من اية شائبة وكلي ة النقاوة من يستطيع ان يحمل ويحتمله هو الذي يحب ويهب الطهارة".
لنستمع الى هذا المديح الذي يقوله القديس يوحنا كروتستاد الذي يكتب عن العذراء ما يلي: "الذي زي ن السماء بالنجوم أال يستطيع أن يزي ن بجمال اكبر سماءها الفكرية ام ه العذراء األطهر بين الخليقة. والذي زي ن االرض بمختلف انواع وألوان األزهار ووضع فيها عبيرها الجميل أال يستطيع أن يزي ن امه االرضية بكل الفضائل وجعل عبيرها روائح روحية حقا يقدر. لقد اصبحت سي دة السماء وهيكل هللا مزي نة بكل الفضائل ولها شذى اطيب من جميع طيوب األرض". وكتب في مكان آخر الزينة المتألقة ما هي طهارة وكمال قصد القادر على كل شيء أن تكون عليه هذه الروح األكثر قداسة واألطهر جسدا ام هللا الذي تكو ن في رحمها هللا الكلمة الروح والجسد أتى ليسكن فيه تخي ل ما هو االحترام الذي تستحقه كيف يمكن ان نمج دها +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "In an acceptable time I have heard thee..." Isaiah 49:8, 2 Cor 6:2 When a person intends to travel internationally, he prepares his passport and arranges for a visa from the intended destination country's embassy accordingly. Generally speaking, all travelers inquire about the departure time of the bus, train, ship or airplane and make every reasonable effort to ensure that they are on time, with their ticket in hand. Similarly, a young man who plans to study at a university ensures that he prepares and submits the necessary application forms, as required by the educational institution of his choice. It is likewise for the businessman who has borrowed material for his business and is obliged to submit monthly payments; he makes every effort to be on time and to not cause any issues with his lender. We always make the necessary time to ensure that we obtain our passport, purchase our ticket, pay our loan, and attend to all of our other duties related to employment, marriage and family. But God did not create us for travel and business, for degrees and titles, for dowries and weddings. These things have nothing to do with our main purpose. Our life may last 20, 40, 60 or 80 years; what can we do during this time? Why do we not open the Holy Scriptures, the Synaxarion, or even visit a cemetery where the bodies of many lie buried? Why do we not look in the stars in the sky and then, searching within our heart, ask ourselves: "Why did we come to this world?" What is it that we ought to accomplish within the span of our earthly life? For the young lady who spends so much time in front of the mirror or stay up during all hours of the night entertaining herself; for the young man who spends his day running around in his car; for the housewife who spends hours window shopping in the malls; and for all of us: why are you wasting so much of your time? We only ask that you set aside some of your time each day for prayer, to kneel and speak with God. For the husband, who spends hours upon hours studying those papers with the fine print. You are in the car or at home either in front of the TV or staring at magazines and newspapers. What is it that you find in them? If you are a baptized Orthodox man, then open up your Bible each day and spend some time reading it with your wife and children so that all of your eyes may open. Take a pen and paper and start counting the hours. One entire week comprised of 168 hours. From all these hours, what does God ask of us? Simply just one or two hours to attend the weekly Sunday Liturgy; to be in church from the moment you hear "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" all the way to "Through the prayers of the Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us and save us, Amen." If the priest asks us to attend an all-night vigil who goes? If, however, the devil calls us to join him in the dark entertainment centers of the evening, then many run to be with him through midnight and beyond. While in church, though, they all ask "How much longer until it's over?" In the end, every new year God grants you a new cycle of 365 days. From all these 365 days dedicate at least 12 or 24 days and approach the spiritual clinic through the sacrament of Holy Confession. When you lose your physical health, you run to doctors and hospitals. For your soul, however, do you do anything? Thus from all these 365 days, pick few days and seek a confessor, go and kneel in front of him and confess your offenses. There is such great unwillingness to dedicate five minutes for prayer, a few minutes to study the Holy Bible, an hour or two to attend the weekly Liturgy a day or two for confession. What can we then expect from God?
How many of us will rise in the morning and instead of standing in front of the bathroom mirror and take the time to seek the spiritual mirror contained within our Holy Bible and read it? How many of us will kneel at home to pray? How many of us will make it a point to start coming to church every Sunday? How many of us will make it a point to seek the spiritual father for confession? Time is of the essence! even though it appears that we have plenty of time. Our church reminds us of this every day; "That we complete the remaining time of our lives in peace and repentance, let us ask of the Lord." What is the duration of our life going to be? How much longer will we live? Is it perhaps possible that this current year is the last one of our earthly life? Could this current month be our last one? Perhaps even this next week or next day may end up being our last one... Just open the newspaper and read the obituary section... How much longer shall we remain senseless? How much longer shall we refuse to consider eternity? "In an acceptable time, I have heard thee..." Let all the sinful come, all people, all nations, while there is time. The time will soon come that the white flag of love and mercy will be lowered and then all gates will be shut. The day will come that you will arrive only to find the Church door closed. You will keep knocking but not even the chanter will be there to answer. The stars and the sun will be extinguished and the rivers will dry up. The moment of judgment and justice will be upon us all! As long as we remain in this vain world, let us repent, let us weep, and let us all beg for God's mercy; May God deem us worthy to spend the rest of our life "in peace and repentance," through the intercessions of our Holy Theotokos and all the saints. Amen. THE SPIRITUAL LIFE There are times that are sorrowful, wearisome, and dark, and they are unavoidable. In the sensual war, there are afflictions and illness to be endured, but we can receive far worse wounds from the demons in spiritual warfare. As long as we rely on our own abilities and understanding, we will be defeated, until we humble ourselves and acknowledge infirmity. - St. Macarius The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary Friday 8/28 We will have Burial and Lamentation Processions similar to the service we have on Great Friday before Easter, with a processions around the church with the Bier of The Theotokos. We Are Accepting Donations For The Flowers For The Bier of the Theotokos Please Fill This Form And Give To Treasurer Samer Aboujudom All the names of your loved ones will be remembered during the matin service of the feast By:... For The Continued Good Health Of..... In Blessed Memory Of...........
THE VICARIATE FOR THE PALESTINIAN & JORDANIAN CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA SAINT JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH 195 NORTH MAIN STREE MILPITAS, CA 95035 A PIECE OF THE HOLY AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS WILL BE PRESENTED AT OUR CHURCH ON FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 2015 As we begin the fast of the Dormition of the Theotokos and celebrate the feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the life-giving Cross of the Lord we are blessed with a piece of the Precious Cross. We invite the Orthodox Community to join us in a procession and veneration led by the Very Reverend Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Damaskinos Alazrai. Event Program 7:00 pm An Entrance Procession to receive the piece of the Holy and Life Giving Cross of the Lord at the church entrance 7:15 pm The Blessing of the Holy Water Service 7:30 pm Paraklesis to the most Holy Theotokos Service 8:30 pm The Life of the Most Holy Theotokos (By Archimandrite Damaskinos)
HOLY, GLORIOUS PROPHET ELIJAH Commemorated August 2 (7/20) The Holy Prophet Elijah is one of the greatest of the prophets and the first dedicated to virginity in the Old Testament. He was born in Tishba of Gilead into the Levite tribe 900 years before the Incarnation of the Word of God. When Elijah was born, his father Sobach saw in a vision, angels of God around him. They swaddled him with fire and fed him with flames. The name Elijah ( the Lord s strength ) given to the infant defined his whole life. From the years of his youth he dedicated himself to the One God, settled in the wilderness and spent his whole life in strict fasting, meditation and prayer. During this time the Israelite nation had fallen away from the faith of their Fathers, they abandoned the One God and worshipped pagan idols. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, was devoted to idol worship. She persuaded her husband to build a temple to the pagan god Baal, which led many Israelites away from the worship of the true God. Beholding the ruin of his nation, the Prophet Elijah began to denounce King Ahab for impiety, and exhorted him to repent and turn to the God of Israel. The king would not listen to him. The Prophet Elijah then declared to him that as punishment there would be neither rain nor dew upon the ground, and the drought would cease only by his prayer. Indeed, the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and there was drought and famine throughout all the land. During this time of tribulation, the Lord sent him to a cave beyond the Jordan. There he was miraculously fed by ravens. When the stream Horath dried up, the Lord sent the Prophet Elijah to Sarephta to a poor widow, a Sidonian Gentile who suffered together with her children, awaiting death by starvation. At the request of the prophet, she prepared him a bread with the last measure of flour and the remainder of the oil. Through the prayer of the Prophet Elijah, flour and oil were not depleted in the home of the widow for the duration of the famine. By the power of his prayer the prophet also performed another miracle: he raised the dead son of the widow. After the end of three years of drought the Merciful Lord sent the prophet to appear before King Ahab, and promised to send rain upon the earth. When the nation had gathered, the Prophet Elijah proposed that two sacrificial altars be built: one for the priests of Baal, and the other for the Prophet Elijah who served the True God. The Prophet Elijah told them to call on their gods to consume the sacrificial animals with fire, and he would call on his. Whichever was first to send fire on the sacrifice would be acknowledged as the true God. The prophets of Baal called out to their idol from morning till evening, but the heavens were silent. Towards evening the holy Prophet Elijah built his sacrificial altar from twelve stones, the number of the tribes of Israel. He placed the sacrifice upon the wood, gave orders to dig a ditch around the altar and commanded that the sacrifice and the wood be soaked with water. When the ditch had filled with water, the prophet turned to God in prayer. Through the prayer of the prophet fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, and even the water. The people fell down to the ground, crying out: Truly, the Lord is God! Then the Prophet Elijah had all the pagan-priests of Baal put to death, and he began to pray for rain. Through his prayer the heavens opened and an abundant rain fell, soaking the parched earth. King Ahab acknowledged his error and repented of his sins, but his wife Jezebel threatened to kill the prophet of God. The Prophet Elijah fled into the Kingdom of Judea and, grieving over his failure to eradicate idol worship, he asked God to let him die. An angel of the Lord came before him, strengthened him with food and commanded him to go upon a long journey. The Prophet Elijah traveled for forty days and nights and, having arrived at Mount Horeb, he settled in a cave. Later, the Lord commanded Elijah to anoint Elisha into prophetic service. Because of his fiery zeal for the Glory of God the Prophet Elijah was taken up alive into Heaven in a fiery chariot. The Prophet Elisha received Elijah s mantle, and a double portion of his prophetic spirit. According to the Tradition of Holy Church, the Prophet Elijah will be the Forerunner of the Dread Second Coming of Christ. He will proclaim the truth of Christ, urge all to repentance, and will be slain by the Antichrist. This will be a sign of the end of the world. We pray to him for deliverance from drought, and to ask for seasonable weather. Through the prayers of Holy Prophet Elijah, O Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us and save us
Great turn out at the Youth Picnic on Sunday Quality time bonding together under beautiful weather
Reflection Conceal your spiritual treasures and do not reveal them unnecessarily. Behold, how men conceal and hide their material wealth and how, when forced to reveal how much they have, they always conceal the greater amount and only reveal the lesser amount. Very few are the number of men who want to reveal all that they possess, and fewer still are those who would reveal more than they, in reality, possess. This, the world considers frivolous and mindless. This clearly shows you how you need to conceal your spiritual wealth, that is, your virtues, your good works, your fastings, your vigils, and your prayers. Why do not the wise children of this world reveal their material wealth? For two reasons: So that thieves would not hear of it and not to provoke the envy of evil men. There also exist envious and jealous thieves after spiritual treasure. They are the spirits of envy. As soon as you reveal your spiritual treasure, they will endeavor to belittle it and to squander it. Just as soon as you reveal it without need [let us say, out of vanity, so as to be praised], they have seized it and disparaged it; and you, O rich man of spiritual treasure, will imperceptibly and suddenly become a poor man. Many who were spiritually rich, the saints, made themselves out to be fools before the world so that by appearing foolish, they would conceal their great wisdom and strength within themselves. The Abba Isaiah writes, "Those good works which are performed in secret are more pleasing to God." St. Nilus of Sinai says, "The covered skin of the body is white, but the uncovered skin in parched and black." So it is with our concealed and revealed good works.
Mark Your Calendar Celebrating our 9th St. James Annual Food Festival September 25 th, 26 th, 27 th 2015 More information and details soon Lunch This Sunday August 2 will be provided by Nadim & Samar Khoury & family Thank you and God bless you. E-mail sjoc@earthlink.net for your bulletin personal announcements, comments, or feedback. We wish everyone a blessed, beautiful, restful and spiritually enriching summer! Happy Birthdays Julie Najmeh 7/28 Yousef Swaiss 7/29 Kariman Khadder 7/29 Marija Twigg 7/30 Geoffrey Khoury 8/1 Labib Barance 8/1 Justin Raie 8/2 عقبال المئة سنة!!! Nick & Maureen Elsousou 7/29 For Many Years! St. James Orthodox Church 195 N. Main Street Milpitas, CA. 95035 Thursday 7/30 (7/17) Great Martyr Marina (Margaret) Of Antioch in Pisidia
St. James Orthodox Church 195 North Main Street Milpitas, California 95035 phone: (408) 934-1794 email: festival@sjorthodox.org www.sjorthodox.org FEES AS FOLLOW: FESTIVAL AD BOOK FORM 1/3 PAGE AD $50.00 BACK PAGE $1,000 1/2 PAGE AD $100.00 MIDDLE PAGES $500 ea page or $800 for both pages FULL PAGE AD $200.00 ADS CAN BE FOR A BUSINESS AND/OR PERSONAL (IN MEMORY OF, BEST WISHES, GOOD HEALTH, CONGRATULATIONS, ETC.) NAME: MIDDLE EASTERN & GREEK FOOD FESTIVAL A California nonprofit organization Tax ID No. 91 2053330 TYPE OF AD PLEASE CHECK BOX: BUSINESS PERSONAL USE MY AD FROM LAST YEAR MESSAGE: (IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PICTURE OR A BUSINESS CARD PRINTED WITH YOU MESSAGE BELOW, PLEASE MAIL IT WITH THIS FORM OR EMAIL IT TO) festival@sjorthodox.org ADDRESS: CITY STATE ZIP PHONE NUMBERS: HOME CELL EMAIL ADDRESS: THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS SEPTEMBER 7, 2015. BUT WE SUGGEST SUBMITTING IT MUCH SOONER TO ALLOW TIME FOR PRINTING. PLEASE SUBMIT THE APPLICATION AND YOUR CHECK, PAYABLE TO ST. JAMES ORTHODOX. YOU MAY ALSO MAKE A PAYMENT USING PAYPAL FROM OUR WEBSITE WWW.SJORTHODOX.ORG OR BY USING OUR CREDIT CARD MACHINE LOCATED IN THE CHURCH OFFICE. AD BOOK COMMITTEE 195 N. MAIN ST. MILPITAS, CA 95035 FOR ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL JOSEPH AT (408) 449 7534 OR EMAIL festival@sjorthodox.org 195 North Main Street, Milpitas, CA 95035 phone: (408) 934 1794 website: www.sjorthodox.org