{"id":5286,"date":"2016-08-02T17:05:31","date_gmt":"2016-08-02T21:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/?p=5286"},"modified":"2016-08-02T17:05:31","modified_gmt":"2016-08-02T21:05:31","slug":"st-peter-newsletter-paraklesis-to-the-theotokos-and-transfiguration-vespers-and-liturgy-august-5-and-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/st-peter-newsletter-paraklesis-to-the-theotokos-and-transfiguration-vespers-and-liturgy-august-5-and-6\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Peter Newsletter — Paraklesis to the Theotokos and Transfiguration Vespers and Liturgy (August 5 and 6)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Seventh Sunday of Matthew
\nThe Sunday after the Transfiguration of Christ<\/h2>\n

The Holy Righteous Martyr Dometius<\/h4>\n

This Martyr, who lived during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great, was a Persian by race and an idolater by religion. He was catechized by a certain Christian named Abarus. He went to Nisibis, a city of Mesopotamia, where he was baptized and donned the monastic habit in a certain monastery.<\/p>\n

He afterwards ascended a mountain and there endured in extreme ascetical struggles, working miracles for those that came to him, and converting many unbelievers.<\/p>\n

Julian the Apostate learned of these things as he was marching against the Persians in 363, and at his command the Saint and his two disciples were stoned to death, as they were chanting the Sixth Hour.<\/p>\n

Joseph of Arimathea<\/h4>\n

Righteous Joseph of Arimathea was a secret disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a member of the Sanhedrin he did not participate in the “counsel and deed” of the Jews in passing a death sentence for Jesus Christ. After the Crucifixion and Death of the Saviour he made bold to go to Pilate and ask him for the Body of the Lord, to Which he gave burial with the help of Righteous Nicodemus, who was also a secret disciple of the Lord.<\/p>\n

They took down the Body of the Saviour from the Cross, wrapped it in a winding-cloth, and placed it in a new tomb, in which no one had ever been buried, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the presence of the Mother of God and the holy Myrrh-Bearing Women (St Joseph had prepared this tomb for himself). Having rolled a heavy stone before the entrance of the tomb, they departed (John 19:37-42; Matt 27:57-61; Mark 15:43-47; Luke 24:50-56). St Joseph travelled around the world, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. He died peacefully in England.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Holy Transfiguration Vespers (August 5) and Liturgy (August 6)<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/p>\n

The Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On Friday evening August 5 at 6:30 we celebrate Great Vespers of the Transfiguration. This is to prepare us for the Divine Liturgy of the Holy Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Saturday, August 6 at 9:30am.<\/p>\n

What is the Transfiguration?<\/h4>\n

The transfiguration of Christ is one of the central events recorded in the gospels. Immediately after the Lord was recognized by His apostles as “the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Living God,” He told them that “He must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things…and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Mt 16). The announcement of Christ’s approaching passion and death was met with indignation by the disciples. And then, after rebuking them, the Lord took Peter, James, and John “up to a high mountain”—by tradition Mount Tabor—and was “transfigured before them.”<\/p>\n

The Jewish Festival of Booths was a feast of the dwelling of God with men, and the transfiguration of Christ reveals how this dwelling takes place in and through the Messiah, the Son of God in human flesh. There is little doubt that Christ’s transfiguration took place at the time of the Festival of Booths, and that the celebration of the event in the Christian Church became the New Testamental fulfillment of the Old Testamental feast in a way similar to the feasts of Passover and Pentecost.<\/p>\n

In the Transfiguration, the apostles see the glory of the Kingdom of God present in majesty in the person of Christ they see that “in Him, indeed, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” that “in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 1.19, 2.9). They see this before the crucifixion so that in the resurrection they might know Who it is Who has suffered for them, and what it is that this one, Who is God, has prepared for those who love Him. This is what the Church celebrates in the feast of the Transfiguration.<\/p>\n

Learn more on the Orthodox Church of America<\/a> website.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why Should We Attend?<\/h4>\n

Worship is the doorway into the presence of God. Only by entering into God’s presence can we be conformed to Him. Only by being conformed to God do we experience who we are and what we were created for in the ways that God intended us to experience it.<\/p>\n

Dormition of the Theotokos – August 1-15<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/p>\n

Dormition of the Theotokos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

From August 1 through 15 we commemorate the Dormition of the Theotokos. “Dormition” means “falling-asleep,” the term St. Paul uses for those who have died in Christ. Death in Christ is like a falling asleep and then awakening with Christ. <\/p>\n

The Holy Scriptures tell us that when our Lord was dying on the Cross, He saw His mother and His disciple John and said to the Virgin Mary, “Woman, behold your son!” and to John, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:25-27). From that hour, the Apostle took care of the Theotokos in his own home.<\/p>\n

The season ends on August 15 with a special Divine Liturgy held in the evening. During the two weeks leading up to that day, we will hold a smaller service called “The Paraklesis to the Theotokos” on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6:30pm.<\/p>\n

This is also a fasting period. The basic discipline is no meat from August 1 to 15.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Eggs for the Poor<\/h2>\n

Two weeks ago we got a call from the Cafe of Life asking if St. Peter’s could donate 16 dozen hard boiled eggs (eight last week, eight this week) for the working poor of Bonita Springs. St. Peter’s partners with Cafe of Life<\/a> as part of our mission to help the poor around us.<\/p>\n

St. Peter’s parishioners got to work and the eggs were delivered this week.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The eggs distributed to the working poor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Do You Have a Couch to Donate?<\/h2>\n

Do you have a couch you don’t need? Cafe of Life is resettling a family and they need a couch. If you have one please mention it to Zannos Grekos.<\/p>\n

Thank you to…<\/h4>\n

Maria Mourgis for donating the books for our Paraklesis Service and Eddie Kocani for donating the refrigerator in our Social Hall.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Register Your Children for Sunday School<\/h2>\n
\"Let<\/p>\n

Let the Children Come unto Me<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sunday School begins September 11, 2016 — the first Sunday after Labor Day and parents need to register their children!<\/p>\n

You can register you child in three ways:<\/p>\n