From the Fathers and others:

Everyone who loves God shows himself patient and steadfast in times of suffering. Whoever bears them bravely becomes strong and obedient to God, and whoever enters the path of following the will St. John Orthodox Church of God conquers his natural weakness. On the other hand, whoever does not recognize his own A Parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America powerlessness is proud and not inclined to submit himself to the will of the Lord. Whoever does not submit to it and hopes only in his own power does not receive the power and help of God and, not having been strengthened in spirit, cannot become patient. But whoever does not endure misfortune and afflictions has not faith, and whoever does not have faith, does not love God. --St. Alexis of Senaki

If we were not passionately inclined to money or to vainglory, then we would not fear death or poverty. We would not know enmity or hatred, and we would not suffer from the sorrows of ourselves or others. -St. John Chrysostom

In the spiritual life we can do nothing worthy without repentance, but the Lord has much mercy on us because of our intentions. He who compels himself and holds on to repentance until the end, even if he sins is saved because he compelled himself, for the Lord promised this in the . -St. Mark the Ascetic

Our inhuman enemy [the devil, in drawing a Christian to defilement] inspires the thought that God loves mankind, and that He quickly forgives this sin. But when we observe the guile of demons, then we see that after the commission of the sin, they suggest to us that God is a righteous and implacable Judge. The first they say in order to lead us to sin, the second, in order to weigh us down in despair. -St. John of the Ladder

A certain monk told me that when he was very sick, his mother said to his father, "How our little boy is suffering. I would gladly give myself to be cut up into pieces if that would ease his suffering." Such is the love of God for people. He pitied people so much that he wanted to suffer for them, like their own mother, and even more. But no one can understand this great love without the grace of the Holy Spirit. -St. Silouan the Athonite

Until you have suffered much in your heart, you cannot learn humility. -Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

We were created for eternal life by our Creator, we are called to it by the word of God, and we are renewed by holy Baptism. And the Son of God came into the world for this, that He should call us and take us there, and He is the one thing needful. For this reason your very first endeavor and care should be to receive it. Without it everything is as nothing, though you have the whole world under you. -St. Tikhon of Zadonsk ~ June 6, 2021 ~ It is impossible to draw near to God without sorrows, without which human righteousness cannot remain unchanged... If you desire virtue, than give yourself to every affliction, for afflictions produce humility. If someone abides in virtue without afflictions, the door of pride is opened to him. Sunday of the Blindman -St. Isaac the Syrian

ST. JOHN ORTHODOX CHURCH ST. JOHN CALENDAR June 6 - 13 1663 TUTWILER AVENUE MEMPHIS, TN 38107 Sunday -Orthros, 9am (901) 274-4119 www.stjohnmemphis.org -Divine Liturgy, 10am Baptism Today -Youth Group, 1pm June 6 His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH Monday -First Hour, 6:45am Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America Ivy Garrison -AWSJ Book Club, 7pm, Kh. Pamela’s home

His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS Tuesday -Third Hour, 9am Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Miami and the Southeast -Orthodoxy 101, 7pm Upcoming Memorial Wednesday -Third Hour, 9am June 13 V. Rev. Fr. Philip Rogers, Pastor V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman, Associate Pastor Buddy Taylor V. Rev Fr. John Troy Mashburn, Jr., Pastor Emeritus V. Rev. Fr. Donald Berge, Attached -AWSJ Women’s Teaching, 10am -Great Vespers, 6pm Clifford McWhorter

GREAT VESPERS ORTHROS and CHURCH SCHOOL DIVINE LITURGY -Parish Council Meeting, 7pm Saturday, 6:00 p.m. Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Sunday, 10:00 a.m. Thursday -Divine Liturgy for Ascension, 9am Friday -First Hour, 6:45am Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America “…the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch!” -Third Hour, 9am Acts 11:26 -Sixth Hour, 12pm Saturday -9th Hour & Vespers, 5:50pm Sunday of the Blindman Sunday -Orthros, 9am -Divine Liturgy, 10am : Acts 16:16-34 Gospel: John 9:1-38

The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered by Lori O’Brien. Welcome to all those visiting St. John Orthodox Church. We are honored by your presence. It is our sincere desire that your participation today in the Divine Liturgy will draw you closer to Christ Birthdays, Anniversaries, Namedays and His Church. If you are from a non-Orthodox background you may see new things such as icons, incense, Sunday, 6/6 Thursday, 6/10 the sign of the cross, the veneration of saints, and a great deal of standing. These can be perplexing to Mary Elise O’Brien, Lawrence Elliott Anniversary: Mickey & Sarah Hodges the uninitiated eye. Rest assured that everything we do has a solid biblical foundation and a long history among Christian people. Please feel free to participate where you feel comfortable and feel Monday, 6/7 Friday, 6/11 equally as free only to observe when you prefer. Abigail Yadron The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things Tuesday, 6/8 – the paramount expression of Christian unity. While it is our deepest hope that Christendom will one John Cameron, John David Williams Saturday, 6/12 Anniversary: Bru & Thea Wallace day fulfill Christ’s desire for true unity among all those who claim His name (John 17:21), the Wednesday, 6/9 unfortunate reality of our day is that the various segments of Christendom are not unified with the Ben Ippolito historic Orthodox faith. Since participation in the Eucharist expresses a unity with all the dogma and practice of the Orthodox Church, non-Orthodox guests do not receive Holy Communion. The Holy Anniversary: David & Ioana Rustom Eucharist is reserved for those members of the Orthodox Church who have prepared themselves by St. Columba: Callum Knight prayer, fasting, and recent confession. All visitors and unprepared Orthodox are invited to partake of the blessed bread as they come forward to venerate the cross at the end of the Liturgy. Thank you for your understanding.

Commemorations

June 6: Venerable Hilarion the New, of the Dalmaton monastery; Venerable Vissarion of Egypt and ST. JOHN COMMUNITY Attalos the wonder-worker. June 7: Hieromartyr Theodotos, bishop of Ancyra; Venerable Sebastian the wonder-worker; Venerable Cedd, bishop of Essex. Coffee Hour is Returning! - At long last, we will return to coffee hour on Sunday, June June 8: The translation of the relics of Great-martyr Theodore the General (“Stratelates’); Martyrs 20, Pentecost Sunday!! We will begin by only serving coffee and serving it in disposable Nicander and Kalliope; New-martyr Theophanes of Constantinople. cups (we have Styrofoam cups that need to be used up and then we will switch to paper June 9: Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria; Pelagia and the three Virgin-martyrs of Chios; Venerable Cyril of Beloezersk; Venerable Columba, enlightener of Scotland. ones). Since we are still using St. Raphael Hall for the live-stream of the services, coffee June 10: Martyr and Virgin-martyr Antonina of Constantinople; Venerable Theophanes will be set-up at the back of the hall. All are encouraged to be outside to fellowship the monk of Antioch and Pansemne the former harlot; John of Tobolsk, metropolitan and wonder- together following the Liturgy. Thank you for continuing to be mindful of others! worker of Siberia. June 11: Apostles Bartholomew and ; Venerable Barnabas; The commemoration of the Young Adult Event – Sunday, June 13 @ 6:30 pm – Doctrine on Draft at the Church with appearance of the Archangel to a monk on Athos and the revelation of the hymn “It is Truly Justin VanLandingham leading a discussion on “A Search for Freedom” Meet.” June 12: Venerable Onouphrios the Great; Venerable Peter the Athonite; Venerable Arsenios of AWSJ Book Club – The Women’s Book Club will meet this Monday evening at 7pm over Konevits. Zoom and in-person at Kh. Pamela’s home. We will be discussing The Bookwoman of June 13: Martyr Aquilina of Byblos in Syria; Antipater, bishop of Bostra in Arabia; Triphyllios, Troublesome Creek. Please join us, even if you have not read the book! bishop of Leucosia (Nicosia) in Cyprus. ______Graduate Sunday – We will celebrate our 2021 graduates following liturgy next Sunday, June 13. DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS Sunday Acts 16:16-34 John 9:1-38 Vacation Church School – Save the Dates! – We are working on plans for Vacation Monday Acts 17:1-9 John 11:47-54 Church School July 27-29, from 9-11:30am. Please contact Trish if you would like to help! Tuesday Acts 17:19-28 John 12:19-36 We’ll need assistance in: crafts, snacks, games, teachers. Wednesday Acts 18:22-28 John 12:36-47 Thursday Acts 1:1-12 Luke 24:36-53 Pentecost Pizza Party! – Join us on Wednesday, June 23 for a Fast-free Wednesday Pizza Friday Acts 19:1-8 John 14:1-11 Party following Vespers. Please sign up so we can plan for the appropriate amount of food. Saturday Acts 20:7-12 John 14:10-21 Sunday Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 John 17:1-13 Orthodoxy 101 –Tuesday, June 8 at 7:00 p.m. We will be meet in person and via Zoom to ______discuss “The Divine Liturgy: Pt.2” Orthodoxy 101 is open to anyone interested in learning more about our faith whether you are brand new, catechumen, or long-time member. Remember in Your Prayers Our catechumen: Austin Brown, Joel Gulledge; Carole Sneed; John Pecoraro; Jake Sparks; Jeff Parish Council Update – Thank you for your patience! The HVAC project is still Bennett; Emily Nuckolls ongoing. The work is progressing. This week they installed the new exterior ductwork. We

Prayer Requests: Chris Hodges, Mickey Hodges, Elizabeth Allie (Buddy Bowick’s were told that this is in preparation for actually installing the new unit over the next week. mother/Lawson’s grandmother), Vladimir Drobashevsky, Shukurat Nasanga Kisakye, Jay Lord willing, this will be true! Beginning next Sunday, we will once again be taking Brownlow, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, St. Paul Orthodox Church, the Ortwein family, Julian nominations for the parish council. Start thinking about who might be a good addition to McGee, Bill Thomas (Kathryn McWhorter’s father), Manuela Cortes, those suffering in the the council! Middle East, most especially the Christians.

Expecting: Ashley Powell, Heather Hetrick, Sarah Finley, Marija Pavolic

Upcoming at St. John in June LIBRARY LINES

Ascension: The devotes a whole chapter to the blind man we commemorate today. St. Great Vespers, Wed., 6/9, 6pm Basil says that he was born without eyes. St. Demetrius of Rostov tells us his name is Divine Liturgy, Thurs., 6/10, 9am St. Celidonius, and tradition says he went on to establish a church in Gaul. Read more Pentecost, June 20 about him in The Miracles of Christ (SCR COM DMI). Coffee Hour returns – more details to come Pentecost Pizza Party, June 23 St. Kalliope (6/8) is one of several saints who first attracts our attention because of ______her name, which in Greek, means "the beautiful voiced." After rebuffing a pagan suitor, she suffered great tortures for her faith and was martyred in 250 A.D. Women of St. John Calendar Wednesday we remember one more Celtic saint, Venerable Columba of Scotland 6/9 (Wed.) AWSJ Teaching, 10am (6/9). Those of us senior citizens will enjoy his biography, The Legend of Saint Living in Christ by Mother Raphaela Columba by PadraicColum and illustrated by E. Mackinstry. This old book will bring back memories of similar, old books that have silhouette illustrations. Read more about him 6/7 (Mon.) AWSJ Book Club, 7pm in Orthodox Saints of the British Isles (HAG- - -HUT). The Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson -We will meet in person (location TBD) and via Zoom. Does it ever seem like Ascension gets lost between Pascha and Pentecost? Why didn’t July selection: Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative just stay with the Apostles? Frs. Patrick Reardon and Anthony M. Coniaris explain Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Pavlac Glyer in The Jesus We Missed: the Surprising Truth about the Humanity of Christ (SCR COM ______REA) and Sermons on the Major Holy Days of the Orthodox Church (CAT CAL CON), respectively, that the answer is wrapped up in the Trinity and that this event is part of our St. John Youth Calendar salvation. Read their comments and other accounts of this Feast in St. John Library.

Joint Gatherings Sundays @ 1pm and Thursdays @ 6pm This month we honor several icons of the Theotokos. Today (6/11) we commemorate a 6/6 (Sun.) - Deadline for Oratorical submissions beautiful story behind a hymn and an icon, It Is Meet, of the Theotokos. One night, as a monk was alone and reading the hours, a monk he did not know knocked on his door and Middle Schoolers joined him in prayer. As they sang a hymn by St. Cosmos to the Theotokos, the stranger 6/17 (Sat.) Teen Meeting/Pool Party @ Brooke White’s home, 11am-2pm interjected the words “It is truly meet to bless Thee, O Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God,” and then continued with “More honorable than the ______Cherubim…” The icon glowed and the stranger wrote the “new” words to the hymn on a tile with his finger. He said, “Sing in this manner, and all the Orthodox as well.” Then he disappeared. These words began to be sung in the Divine Liturgy, and the icon was later sent to the Holy Mountain. See the picture of the icon and read more about it in Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary. (ART ICO KHO).

Save the Date PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE 2021 June 13-20