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Home , Euphemia, Euphemia (empress)

the Orthodox 146 Third Avenue, Rankin, PA 15104 Pastor: Very Reverend Nicholas Ferencz, PhD Cantor: Professor Jerry Jumba Parish President : Carole Bushak

Glory to Christ! Glory Forever! Slava Isusu Christu! Slava vo v’iki!

Rectory Phone: 412 271-2725. E-mail: [email protected] Hall Phone: 412-294-7952 WEB: www.stmichaelsrankin.org

JULY 26, 2020 7TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils

Sun., July 26 7th Sunday after Pentecost. Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils. Synaxis of the Holy Archangel . Nun Mildred of England 9:00 AM Deacon’s Service with distribution of the Holy Eucharist – Tropar Tone 6. P 111; then, Fathers, pp 185-186

Sun., Aug. 2 8th Sunday after Pentecost. The Holy Prophet the Tishbite 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy – Tone 7, pp 114–117, St. Elijah – pp 186–187 Panachida: August Perpetual Remembrances: Parish Semi-Annual Meeting

Holy Mystery of Confession: I will be available for Confessions after the Divine Liturgy, when the church is more private. Or, you can make an appointment and we will arrange an appropriate time. Please just contact me.

PEOPLE STUFF Prayer List: Deceased: Michael Kondolian. Ingelido. Patty Watson. Living: Father George Livanos. Father Patrick. Dana Andrade. Gloria Andrade. Gregory Michael Aurilio. Georgia B. Chastity and Jeff Bache. Brandon. Walter Bolbat. Donald Bodnar. Jaime Budesa. Barbara Chappie. Barbara and Steve Bournius. Rebecca, & Bradley Cozad. Mary Ann Crouse. Martha Danchak. Nicholas Duranko. George & Margaret Dorogy. Breanne Glass. Dorothy Glass. Eddie Gombos. Jennifer Hartrick. Hlavac. George Hrabchak. Raymond Hrabchak. Shirley Hrubic. Zhensan Huang. Kevin and Karen Ianni. Gary Ingelido. Andrea Kerkentzes. Jeanne Lesko. Bobby Malackany. Marina. Joan Martell. Sharon Mascilak. Bill and Barbara McCauley. Ed McCreanor. Jake McLaughlin. Helen Mihalik. Teresa Onuska. Frank Palmieri. Diane Phillips. Millie Phillips. Robert Petro. Anna Senich. Bernice Siudak. Terry Slezak. Milton and Thelma Supak. Diana Terezis. Bobby and Dee Triffanoff. Josh Walendziewicz. Paul & Valerie Yednak. Edward Yoon. Jim Zajac. Prosphora Bakers: Trudy Trifanoff. Delores Cubakovic and their intentions. Also: Chase Vlad, Gianna Vlad, Laura, Sharita, all First-Responders, and all who are working in the Health and Medical Fields during this time of crisis.

Page 1 of 4 F(E)ASTING Our Gifts to God and our Church July 19, 2020 Upcoming Feast Days: The Holy Prophet Elijah the Tishbite, Attendance 20 Sunday, August 2/July 20 Communions 8 Collections ARISH TUFF Sunday 1175.00 P S All Votive Candles 199.00 New! Fr. Deacon Marc Wisnosky will be celebrating the Building Maintenance 60.00 Deacon’s Service this morning while Paòi Joanna and I make Diocesan Membership 54.00 our annual trek to our family convention. Please welcome Fr. Dn. Marc as kindly as you always do. Many thanks to Fr. Total Offerings: 1488.00 Marc for helping out! Reminder! Blessing with the Holy Eucharist Chalice. We Update: Building and Repairs Donations know that some folks are not yet comfortable with receiving which are available for upcoming repairs to Holy Communion, but nevertheless miss it. We are reviving date are $4691! God bless your generosity! an old custom where people can be blessed with the chalice instead of receiving. You merely need to come up in the communion line and say, “Bless me, Father,” so that I know that this is what you prefer. New Update! Building and Repairs Donations which are available for upcoming repairs to date are $4691! God bless your generosity! 3rd Official Announcement! The Semi-Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday, August 2, after the Divine Liturgy. More info later. A Covid Reminder! Be safe! Take care of yourselves and others around you! Pray for all of us who are affected, whether a lot or a little, by this pandemic. May the Lord God deliver us soon! Reminder! Hospital and home visits: Call me if you have questions.

DIOCESE, DEANERY AND ADDITIONAL STUFF Reminder! Diocesan Orthodox Charity Initiative: Fr. Joseph has contacted the nuns at Saxonburg Monastery about their needs, and they gave us a list. And then we realized that because of the pandemic, asking everyone to bring something to church would be a bad idea. Therefore, we are going to do the same thing as we are doing with the St. Cyril Food Pantry: offer monetary donations, and let one person buy all of the necessities. We will have a 2nd, Special Collection, on Sunday, August 16. There will be another basket in the vestibule which will be labeled for the Monastery. (I know, the vestibule is starting to get crowded with the baskets, but they do seem to work well). Please be as generous as you always are. God bless! New! Please read the latest directive from Metropolitan Gregory regarding the Hagia Sophia.

REMEMBRANCE OF THE MIRACLE OF SAINT July 11/24. From The Menologion The holy GreatMartyress Euphemia (the account about her is located under 16 September) suffered martyrdom in the city of in the year 304, during the time of the persecution against Christians by the emperor (284-305). One and an half centuries later, -- at a time when the Christian Church had

Page 2 of 4 become victorious within the , God deigned that Euphemia the All-Praiseworthy should again be an especial witness and confessor of the purity of the Orthodox teaching. In the year 451 in the city of Chalcedon, in the very church wherein rested the glorified of the holy GreatMartyress Euphemia -- there took place the sessions of the Fourth OEcumenical Council (the account about it is under 16 July). The Council was convened for determining the precise dogmatic formulae of the Orthodox Church concerning the nature-composition of the God-Man Jesus Christ. This had been necessitated because of the widely-dispersed heresy of the Monophysites ["mono-phusis" meaning "one nature"], who opposed the Orthodox teaching about the two natures in Jesus Christ -- the Divine and the Human natures [but in one Divine Person as Son of God within the Holy of three Divine Persons]. The Monophysites falsely affirmed that within Christ was only one nature -- the Divine [i.e. that Jesus is God but not man, by nature], causing discord and unrest within the Church. At the Council were present 630 representatives from all the Local Christian Churches. On the side of the Orthodox in the conciliar deliberations there participated Sainted Anatolios, of (Comm. 3 July), Sainted Juvenalios, Patriarch of Jerusalem (Comm. 2 July), and representatives of Sainted Leo, of Rome (Comm. 18 February). The Monophysites were present in large numbers, headed by Dioscoros, the Alexandrian patriarch, and the Constantinople archimandrite Eutykhios. After prolonged discussions the two sides could not come to a decisive agreement. The holy Patriarch of Constantinople Anatolios thereupon proposed that the Council submit the decision of the Church dispute to the Holy Spirit, through His undoubted bearer Saint Euphemia the All-Praiseworthy, whose wonderworking relics had been discovered during the Council's discussions. The Orthodox hierarchs and their opponents wrote down their confessions of faith on separate scrolls and sealed them with their seals. They opened the tomb of the holy GreatMartyress Euphemia and placed both scrolls upon her bosom. Then, in the presence of the emperor Marcian (450-457), the participants of the Council sealed the tomb, putting on it the imperial seal and setting a guard to watch over it for three days. During these days both sides imposed upon themselves strict fast and made intense prayer. After three days the patriarch and the emperor in the presence of the Council opened the tomb with its relics: the scroll with the Orthodox confession was held by Saint Euphemia in her right hand, and the scroll of the heretics lay at her feet. Saint Euphemia, as though alive, raised her hand and gave the scroll to the patriarch. After this miracle many of the hesitant accepted the Orthodox confession, while those remaining obstinant in the heresy were consigned to the Council's condemnation and excommunication. After an invasion by the Persians during the VII Century, the relics of Saint Euphemia were transferred from Chalcedon to Constantinople, into a newly built church dedicated in her name. Many years later, during the period of the Iconoclast heresy, the with the relics of the saint was cast into the sea -- by order of the Iconoclast emperor Leo the Isaurian (716-741). The reliquary was rescued from the sea by the ship-owning brothers Sergios and Sergonos, who gave it over to the local . The holy bishop ordered that the relics be preserved in secret, beneathe a crypt, since the Iconoclast heresy was continuing to rage. A small church was built over the relics, and over the reliquary was put a board with an inscription stating whose relics rested therein. When the Iconoclast heresy was finally condemned at the holy Seventh OEcumenical Council (in the year 787), -- during the time of Sainted Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople (784-806) and the emperor Constantine VI (780-797) and his mother Saint Irene (797-802), -- the relics of the holy GreatMartyress Euphemia were once again solemnly transferred to Constantinople.

Page 3 of 4 July 19, 2020 Protocol No. 29/2020 Glory to Jesus Christ! Dear Reverend Fathers and Faithful Laity of our God-Protected Diocese, Today I write with a sense of great sadness, disgust, anger, determination, faith, and urgency. On July 10, 2020 Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally converted The Great Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (present day ) into a mosque. Built in 537 AD during the reign of Emperor Justinian, for more than a millennium Hagia Sophia served as a place of rich spiritual and cultural inspiration for all. If you have ever been inside this World Heritage Site (I have visited it a couple of times) you know the awesomeness of this architectural wonder. In 1453 when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople, the Great Church of was converted into a mosque. Later however, in 1934, it was converted into a museum by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Transforming Hagia Sophia into a museum opened it up to all people of all faiths and not the property of any one religion. Over 3 million people visited each year.

This Friday July 24th which is scheduled to be the “inauguration date” of Muslim prayer services in Hagia Sophia, I am asking all priests of our Diocese to do the following three things: 1) to toll the bells of the parish (if they exist) several times during the day and evening in lamentation mode, 2) to lower all flags on Church property to half-mast, and 3) to chant the Akathist Service to the during Friday evening with parishioners.

We will be joining with our Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters and indeed all Christians and people of goodwill around the world in this prayerful effort to return Hagia Sophia to the status of a museum, if not a church. Let us, in this time of grief and mourning, appeal to the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever- Mary. She is the “only Hope of the hopeless” and the “the Repository of the Wisdom of God, the Treasury of His Foreknowledge”. With paternal love in our Lord Jesus Christ,

+Metropolitan This Protocol is to be distributed by all means available including the emailing of parishioners as soon as possible.

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