THEOPHANY SCHEDULE & RESOURCES
The Great Feast of Theophany commemorates Christ's Baptism in the Jordan by John, and "the worship of the Trinity made manifest," as the Troparion exclaims. "For the Voice of the Father bore witness, calling Thee His Beloved Son and the Spirit in the form of a dove, confirmed the truthfulness of the Word."
Plan to join us for the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Tuesday, January 5 at 6pm, followed immediately by the Blessing of Waters. And explore our Theophany Resource Page to learn more about the Feast...
Bishop Paul to offer opening prayer, remarks at January 17 Chicago March for Life
CHICAGO, IL [MW Diocese Communications] — Priest Andrew Bartek, Rector of Saint Panteleimon Church, Summit; member of the Chicago March for Life board; and Spiritual Advisor to Orthodox Christians for Life, recently announced that His Grace, Bishop Paul of Chicago and the Midwest will deliver the opening prayer and offer remarks at the annual March for Life Chicago on Sunday, January 17, 2016. The March will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Federal Plaza, 50 West Adams, Chicago.
“It is anticipated to be the largest pro-life gathering in Illinois, doubling from last year, between 8,000 to 10,000 people,” said Father Andrew. “We encourage all deanery and local Orthodox clergy and faithful to attend and gather under the ‘Orthodox Christians for Life’ banner at 1:45 p.m. to give voice to those who do not have one in the fight against abortion...
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING, SUN. JAN. 31 — Plan now to attend our annual Parish Meeting on Sunday, January 31, following the Divine Liturgy and simple refreshments at coffee hour. Annual reports from our pastor, Fr. Steven, and our Parish Council, election of the new Parish Council, and plenty of opportunity for Q&A on the life of the parish.
MEETING OF THE LORD IN THE TEMPLE (Feb 2)
Leavetaking of the Feast is February 9.
This Feast marks the event recorded in St. Luke's Gospel of Christ being presented, as an offering, in the temple forty days after His birth. Thus, it is one of the Twelve Great Feast Days of the Liturgical year. We, in turn, will celebrate the Feast with the Vesperal Liturgy at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, February 1. Be sure to explore our Festal Resource Page, which has several insightful articles on the meaning of the Meeting of the Lord!
ZACCHAEUS SUNDAY (Feb 14)
With the Sunday of Zacchaeus we hear the first announcement of the coming period of Great Lent, we learn how essential is the desire to see Jesus for Him to come and dwell with us, and we see a living example of someone willing to look foolish in the eyes of the world if only he can gaze upon the Lord. Zacchaeus climbs a tree and the Lord comes to dwell in his house!
Let us follow along with Zacchaeus as we begin our journey towards Lent...
HOUSE BLESSINGS BEGIN - With the Feast of Theophany and the Blessing of Waters, we also begin the blessing of homes with the holy water blessed at the Feast. An Orthodox Christian home is a little church and an extension of the local church, so by this blessing, we consecrate our homes and lives to the Lord. Signup in Church, or contact Fr Steven to schedule...
NEW WEBSITE DESIGN - We hope you like our new background image for our parish website, which strives to show in a visual way our commitment to 'living and proclaiming the Ancient Faith in Contemporary Cincinnati'. We invite you to explore the many resources on Orthodox Christianity and our Parish Life, and of course, we invite you to join us for our worship services, and to 'Come and see!'
PUBLICAN & PHARISEE (Feb 21)
The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee sees the introduction of the Lenten Triodion into the services of the Church, as we begin to prepare ourselves for the journey of Great Lent.
Each Pre-Lent Sunday has a different message for us. Through Christ's parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, we are called to see ourselves as we really are in the light of Christ's teaching, asking Him to be merciful to us, deliver us from sin, and to lead us on the path of salvation.
Visit our special Pre-Lent Section for extensive articles and resources for this blessed and invigorating season of renewed spiritual effort.
SUNDAY of the PRODIGAL SON (Feb 28)
Our approach to Great Lent continues this Sunday with the Parable of the Prodigal Son. As with last week's Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, there are almost limitless depths to this passage, and we have tried to highlight some of the wisdom of the Church in our special section.
Explore all our Pre-Lenten Resources as we prepare our souls for the Saving Forty Days which lead us to the Lord's Passion and Resurrection!
|
Click to view full size! |
Dear Christ the Savior ~ Holy Spirit Family!
Livia and Leo are doing a fundraiser in honor of Elias once again, and we would love to see our Church friends there!
Thank you,
Emma
Come join us for a Hot Cocoa Party!
This fundraiser is in honor of our brother, Elias, who has been battling Krabbe disease almost his whole life.
All funds raised will go to Hunter's Hope Foundation for Krabbe Research, and to help other families who have been affected by this disease, and to Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Hope to see you there!
When? — Friday, March 4, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where? — The White House, 6689 Hans Brinker Dr, Liberty Township OH 45044 | Map
Cost? — Recommended donation of $10 per family
'Three Evenings with Pushkin' - now thru March 9!
READING LIST FOR SESSION 3 POSTED!
Fr. Steven writes: "I would have a hard time over-stating how much I enjoyed Session I of our 'Three Evenings With Pushkin'. We had both a lively group and an even livelier discussion about two short masterpieces from the hand of Pushkin."
There's still time to join us! Visit our Adult Education page for full info on the specific titles by the great Russian poet and novelist Alexander Pushkin, with the link to order the edition we will be using for the classes. Notes and discussion topics posted each week!
"The two past Sundays spoke to us of God’s patience and limitless compassion, of His readiness to accept every sinner who returns to Him. On this third Sunday, we are powerfully reminded of a complementary truth: no one is so patient and so merciful as God, but even He does not forgive those who do not repent..." — Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
Join us for Great Vespers on Saturday evening at 6pm, and Hours and Divine Liturgy on Sunday, as we continue our journey to the beginning of Great Lent. Be sure to explore Fr. Steven's recent Meditations, and our extensive helps in our Pre-Lent Section, with special pages for each of the Pre-Lenten Sundays.
Dear Parish Faithful,
Just in case you are as late in awareness as I am, this is a reminder that we set our clocks forward one hour this evening. Therefore, we "lose" an hour.
If you are prone to arrive late to the Liturgy, you might just miss it if you fail to remember this time change!
- Fr. Steven
Here is an intersting article on who is to blame for the practice of Daylight Savings Time!
Love it or hate it, here comes Daylight Saving Time
USA Today | March 11, 2016
Just like allergies, college basketball and mud, another rite of spring is upon us: The start of Daylight Saving Time, which begins at 2 a.m. Sunday.
At that moment (or the night before), the few analog clocks still around need to "spring forward" an hour, turning 1:59:59 a.m. into 3 a.m. Since most of our computers, phones and DVRs do it automatically, it's not as much of a chore as it used to be.
Starting Sunday, one hour of daylight is switched from morning to evening. We don't go back to Standard Time until Sunday, Nov. 6.
Credit — or blame — for the biannual shift goes back to Benjamin Franklin, who published "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light" in a 1784 journal after he noticed that people burned candles at night but slept past dawn.
But he never saw his plan put into action. The U.S. first implemented daylight saving during World War I as a way to conserve fuel. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act into law.
Under the act, states and territories can opt out of daylight saving. It isn't observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, nor in most of Arizona.
Believe it or not, the U.S. Department of Transportation is actually in "charge" of Daylight Saving Time here in the U.S. According to folks there, switching to Daylight Saving Time reduces energy use, saves lives by preventing traffic accidents and decreases crime.
Studies disagree: One Finnish study found a spike in heart attacks during the first week of the new time. Researchers associated the results with sleep deprivation, which affects heart health.
A Canadian researcher found a 5% to 7% increase in fatal car accidents in the three days after the switch to Daylight Saving Time. Other studies have seen a similar increase in accidents in the fall when we gain that hour back.
The energy savings may be mythical as well: Researchers found switching to daylight saving uses 1% less energy for lighting but 2 to 3% more for heating and air-conditioning.
Getting ready for the switch is advisable: “I think you should start imagining it's Daylight Saving on Friday,” James MacFarlane of the Toronto Sleep Institute told the Weather Network.
“(T)hen you have two days to grow accustomed to it and you're less likely to get into problems Monday morning,” he said.
Contributing: Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star; Michael Morain, The Des Moines Register
Dear Parish Faithful,
Morning Bible Study to Start Up Again
Our very successful morning Bible Study will have a preliminary session on Thursday morning, September 10. We will begin at 10:00 a.m. We will have a careful study of the Sermon on the Mount (MATT. 5-7) and are other parts of the Gospel According to St. Matthew. Please join us!
- Fr. Steven
Cincinnati Parishes unite to celebrate 'Triumph of Orthodoxy' - 03/20/16
Eleven of us from our parish were present March 20 at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church for the Vespers service commemorating the Sunday of Orthodoxy as well as taking us into the Second Week of Great Lent. Fr Steven served (and was asked to give the homily) with four other Cincinnati area priests and a deacon, and we also made a huge contribution to the choir. (Those who didn't stay missed an incredible lenten meal that followed the service).
The mixed, pan-Orthodox choir was directed by Kurt Sander, noted Orthodox composer and longtime friend of Christ the Savior-Holy Spirit. In addition to Fr Steven, clergy included:
- Fr Petar Petrovic, of host parish, St George Serbian Orthodox Church
- Fr Daniel Marshall, St George the Great Martyr Russian Orthodox Church
- Fr Pavel Akmolin, St George the Great Martyr Russian Orthodox Church
- Fr Dcn Alex Petrovsky, St George the Great Martyr Russian Orthodox Church
- Fr William Cassis, Holy Trinity-St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
- Fr William Redmon, Holy Trinity-St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
Perhaps we can host this event next year...
(21 images)
Join area Orthodox Christians
in celebrating the Triumph of Orthodoxy
and the Restoration of the Holy Icons!
Fr. Petar Petrovic at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church has graciously offered to host this beloved pan-Orthodox gathering — the Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers — for 2016.
The faithful are invited to bring icons to hold during the service, during which we commemorate the Restoration of the Holy Icons following the defeat of the iconoclast heresy.
Choir members are welcomed to sing! Please plan to arrive early (4 o'clock) for a quick rehearsal of the Pan-Orthodox choir, led this year by Dr. Kurt Sander.
Sunday, March 20, at 5:00pm • St George Serbian Orthodox Church
Refreshments to follow in church hall.
St George Serbian Orthodox Church • 5830 Glenview Ave • Cincinnati OH 45224
View and print flier in PDF format
Bible Study to Resume
Dear Parish Faithful,
Our Thursday morning Bible Study will resume on Thursday, March 24, at 10:00 a.m. We will study St. Matthew's Gospel, chapters 26-27.
We will begin an in-depth study of the so-called "Passion Narrative" as found in the Gospel According to St. Matthew. This can prove to be an excellent form of preparation for Holy Week. Each evangelist brings something unique to his particular narration of the events that comprise the Savior's last week in Jerusalem before His life-giving Passion. We will carefully study MATT. 26 & 27 as part of our lenten effort this year.
If you are able to come and make the effort, I believe that you will learn a great deal from this study. We will begin with MATT. 26 this coming Thursday morning.
-- Fr. Steven