SAINT JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH 195 N. Main Street Milpitas, Ca 95035 www.sjorthodox.org Saturdays Vespers 5:00 p.m. Sundays Matins 8:00 a.m. Sundays Liturgy 10:30 a.m. The Very Reverend Fr. Jiris Hanna (408) 509-8802 Fr. Dcn. Joseph Kawar (408) 398-6357 Issue No. 653 Sunday July 31 (7/18), 2016 6 th Sunday after Pentecost Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils Martyr Emilian of Silistra in Bulgaria (363) األحد السادس بعد العنصرة - تذكار االباء القديسين الملتئمين في المجامع الستة المسكونية تذكار القديس الشهيد أميليانوس Matins (Eothina VI): Luke 24:26 53 Epistle: Titus 3:8 15 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 COMMANDMENTS OF GOD Let us maintain our faith in Christ and according to our strength, fulfill His holy commandments. Only do not rely on your own powers, but on help from the Lord: Lord help me! and He will help. - St. Barsanuphius The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary Sunday 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...........
July 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10:00 am Divine Liturgy Nativity of St. John the Baptist 8 10:00 am Divine Liturgy Holy Apostle Jude & St. John Maximovitch 9 10 11 Divine Liturgy Holy Apostles Peter & Paul 12 13 10:00 am Divine Liturgy Holy 12 Apostles 7:30 Board of Trustees Meeting 7:30 Parish Bible Study 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 12:00 St. James Annual Picnic 24 6-month Trisagion memorial for Huda Fashho 25 Divine Liturgy Holy Archangel Gabriel 26 27 28 29 30 31 Notes: 1-year Trisagion memorial for Deebeh Khashan
Services This Week Monday 7/25 at 7 Commemoration of the Holy Archangel Gabriel May her memory be eternal! Please join Nabil and Nisreen Khashan for the 1-year Trisagion memorial service for their mother, the handmaid of God Mark Your Calendar Saturday August 13 Theebe Khashan - This Sunday 7/31/2016. خشان ذيبة فليكن ذكرها مؤبدا Reflection We will meet at 9am to prepare sandwiches at the church in Milpitas then go to the shelter by 12 to serve. 260 commercial street San Jose 95112 Please contact Marya Hussary (707) 480-0690 or Heba Khoury (714) 458-7910 for information or more details. 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.
Commemoration of the Archangel Gabriel Tuesday July 26 (7/13) The Nature of Angels The nature of angels is in some ways quite different from the nature of man, and in other ways similar to it. On the one hand, the differences are these: The angels are bodiless and, as such, invisible to our physical eyes. Having no body, they consequently have no bodily needs, desires, or passions, no cares about food, drink, clothes or shelter. Nor do they possess the impulse and cravings for procreation. They neither marry nor are given in marriage (Matt. 22:30). They have no worries about the future either, and no fear of death. For, though God created them before man, they are neither aged nor aging, but unchangingly youthful, beautiful and strong. They have no anxiety about their salvation and no struggle for immortality, being already immortal. Unlike men, they are not faltering between good and evil, being already good and holy as when God created them. On the other hand, the angels are similar to men in that they are personalities, every one being individually conscious of himself. Like men, they have intelligence, emotions, free will and acting capacity. And also they bear personal names like men. Some of their names we know either from Scripture or Church Tradition. They are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salathiel, Barachiel, Jeremiel, Jegudiel. Comparing men with angels, St. Paul quoted the words of an ancient prophet who spoke of God: O Lord, what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that Thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownest him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things in subjection under his feet (Heb. 2:6 8; Ps. 8:4 6). Indeed, God gave a tremendous dominion over His works to the first sinless Adam, before this man despised God s commandment and joined Satan, God s adversary. Before the sin, man was equal to God s angels in power, purity and beauty. But through sin man s dominance over God s works dwindled to almost nothing. Nature became disobedient to him who was disobedient to God. Disobedient to its former lord, nature yet lives in expectation. The Apostle speaks of that as follows: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, in order to be again obedient and happy, as in Eden. Until then the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, being itself in the bondage of corruption, like its fallen lord (Rom. 8:19,22). Yet, regenerated through Christ, man will again be angel-like, clothed with Christ s glory. Meanwhile, his elder brethren, the holy and unsoiled angels, are ministering to him, as physicians to the sick, toward his health and salvation. As it is written of them: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Heb. 14:14). by St. Nikolai Velimirovic, Bishop of Zica
THE VICARIATE FOR Palestinian /Jordanian ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA Monthly Schedule Sheet AUGUST 2016 Very Rev. Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Damaskinos Alazrai ======================================================================================================================= Sunday August 7th, 2016 Divine Liturgy 10:15 am Tuesday August 9th, 2016 Spiritual Lecture 4/321 $(0/.+-,+'&% *%)('&% $#"! <# :;&% :.6968 $76"5&% A"@?/>=769! St. Mary Church N. 84th Ave Peoria Arizona, 85345 10320 Sunday, August 14th, 2016 Divine Liturgy 10:15 am Monday, August 15th, 2016 Paraklesis to the Most-Holy Theotokos ('&%$#"! Tuesday, August 16th, 2016 Paraklesis to the Most-Holy Theotokos ('&%$#"! Wednesday, August 17th, 2016 Paraklesis to the Most-Holy Theotokos ('&%$#"! Thursday, August 18th, 2016 Divine Liturgy For the Feast of The Transfiguration : ED;&% "CB,&9C3,6"5&% $7C.3 8642 Westminster Ave, Westminster, CA 92683 (Orange County) Sunday, August 21st, 2016 Divine Liturgy 10:15 am Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016 Divine Liturgy For the Feast of Saint Lawrence St. Lawrence Orthodox Church 6180 Highway 9 Felton CA 9:00 am
Wednesday, August 24th, 2016 Paraklesis to The Most - Holy Theotokos ('&%$#"! Saints Peter & Paul Orthodox Church 1924 Trinity Ave. Walnut Creek CA Thursday August 25th, 2016 Paraklesis to the Most-Holy Theotokos ('&%$#"! George Orthodox Church 399 San Fernando Way, S.F. CA Saturday, August 27th, 2016 The Great Vespers For the Feast of The Dormition ;?6E%A :)q+?6u% C6gB%A S/Cp%A [%OA ;?%A/ *A+rU%A 2525 Etiwanda Ave. San Bernardino Ca 92410 Sunday, August 28th, 2016 Divine Liturgy For the Feast of The Dormition of The Theotokos & Ever Virgin Mary 4 +)#5 4+&')# 312") ()10/.-,#+*)# ;#:98)# 7)6# 2525 Etiwanda Ave. San Bernardino Ca 92410 10:15 am To Our Parishioners in the State of Arizona His most Reverend Damaskinos Alazrai, the Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne will be visiting the state of Arizona from August 8 to August 12, 2016. This will be his first pastoral visit to the state. In order for the Archimandrite to visit as many families as possible during his visit, we ask the faithful to make arrangements with his very most Reverend by emailing him at damaskinosalazrai@yahoo.gr or by calling him on 951-289-1043. K."+JIA H8(6BEGF.48BEDA.5CB%A @,+?(>=+< ;:)65 98765 :)4/3,+2 1,0/.- )(,)"+ *)('! &%! $#"! WXVY S2 VW 1U>T%A 98, &%! S2 R Q(POA 98, NG K)4/3,+2 1,0/ &%! (;CG M/I) 16L)"+ ;+),3' :?" Cgl< &Z" kcud%a/ ja+),3%a i6e(d% [6bhA fl)58%a Cg" [UG fea8d%a 1,08%A czb.- Q(a)7%A Q(G`DA _6>^ NG ]Z\4 [6Z"/!1,08%A czb.- 15?7DA )(d6=c'< *)('< Q(G`DA NG NB>G damaskinosalazrai@yahoo.gr- 9512891043 : M8>oDA nb)m%a *********************************************************************************************************************** To Contact The Very Rev. Archimandrite Damskinos H8(6BEGF @,+?(>=+IA _G fea8dz% Father Damaskinos Office Address: 11751 Justinian Dr. - Rancho Cordova CA 95742-8052
Happy Birthdays Emma Hanna 7/25 Joelle Kafeety 7/25 Julie Najmeh 7/28 Yousef Swaiss 7/29 Kariman Khadder 7/29 Marija Twigg 7/30 عقبال المئة سنة!!! Mark Your Calendar St. James Annual Christmas Party Saturday November 19, 2016 Mark Your Calendar St. James 11 th Annual Food Festival September 16, 17, 18 Festival Committee is meeting every Thursday at 7:30 at the church hall for preparation and planning. Please feel free join them at this time if you like to offer your help. Nick & Maureen Elsousou 7/29 For Many Years! Lunch This Sunday July 31 will be provided by Nabil Ghanim & family Thank you and God bless you. Many thanks to everyone who showed up or supported or organized our Annual St. James Picnic on Saturday. May God bless you all!