th 36 ​ Sunday after Pentecost ​ Afterfeast of the Meeting of the Lord; St Parthenius, of Lampsacus; Venerable Luke of Hellas Tone 3 Readings Timothy 1:15-17 Matthew 15:21-28 Troparion (Tone 1) Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Full of Grace! From thee shone the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those who sat in darkness. Rejoice and be glad, O righteous Elder, thou didst accept in thine arms the ^Redeemer of our souls, Who grants us the Resurrection! Kontakion (Tone 1) By Thy Nativity Thou didst sanctify the Virgin’s womb and didst bless Simeon’s hands, O Christ God. Now Thou hast come and saved us through love. Grant peace to all Orthodox Christians, O only Lover of Man!

701 Augusta Arbor Way, Piedmont, SC 29673 www.stjohnoftheladder.org (864)299‐1140 VRev Fr Marcus C Burch,

Weekly Calendar

Sat 6 Sun 7 Mon 8 Tues 9 Wed 10 Thurs 11 Fri 12 Sat 13

4 PM 9:30 AM 6 PM Daily 1-5 PM Pins, ​ ​ Instructional Divine Vespers Pop, & Pizza Class for Liturgy 7 PM Adult ​ Altar Servers 12:30 PM Study Class 6 PM Great ​ 5 PM Annual Vespers Panikhida Meeting 6 PM Great ​ Vespers 5:30 PM House Blessing & Super Bowl Viewing at Wooten Home

Please Keep in Your Prayers

Newly Departed: Demetrius, Margaret, Others: Zachary, Priest Peter, Pr Kyriake & family, Lucretia, Katherine (“Kat”), Ivan, , Michael, Cecil, Ann, and Georgia Evgenios Newly Born: Melissa & the newborn Nicholas, Erin ​ Sick and Suffering: child Danny, child John Paul, & the newborn Seraphima Karl, Ann Expecting: Amanda, Kathy, Rebecca, Nichole, Grieving: John, Rebecca, Tyler, Garret, Drew Meredith, Melody, Kara ​ Recovering from Surgery: Vera, Mildred, Eric Catechumens: Jack, Darlene, Samantha ​ ​ Suffering from Cancer: , Alex, Rich, Bill, Missionaries: Floyd and Ancutsa Frantz (Romania), Natalya, Mitch, Susan, Douglas, Tara, Jay, Joyce, Fr Daniel Byantoro (Indonesia), Peter & Sharon Debbie, Anne, Reg, Larry Georges (Uganda)

For all those suffering in the world in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

Annual Meeting St John of the Ladder will hold its annual meeting this coming Sunday (February 7) following coffee hour (at approximately 12:15 PM) in the nave of the church. The purpose of the meeting is as follows: to elect new members for the Parish Council, delegates for the upcoming DOS Assembly, and parish auditors; to discuss and approve a budget for 2016; and to discuss the status of our building project.

House Blessing & Super Bowl Viewing at Wooten Home Fr. David and Matushka Natalia invite you to come to the blessing of their home this Sunday, Feb. 7, at approximately 5:30 PM. Following the blessing, all are invited to stay for the Super Bowl at 6:30. The Wootens will be providing carnitas (pulled pork tacos); if you would like to stay for the game, please bring a side dish or appetizer to enjoy together! The Wootens' address is: 15 Ashridge Way, Simpsonville, SC 29681. See you there!

2 Instructional Class for Altar Servers Upcoming Catechumen Classes ● March 2: Confession Ian Burch will lead an instructional class for ○ Wednesday @ 7 pm altar servers on Saturday, February 6, at 4:00 ○ Fr David PM at the church for all who are interested, ● March 19: Preparation for Eucharist both those presently serving and those who ○ Saturday @ 4:30 pm would like to learn.

Christ: The Great High Priest A Pre-Lenten Study of the Epistle to the Hebrews

The Epistle to the Hebrews will be our constant companion on the Saturdays and Sundays of the Great Fast, and many of its verses are incorporated in hymns and prayers of the Divine Liturgy. As such, this epistle should naturally generate many questions among the faithful, such as the eternal Sonship of Christ, the person of Melchizedek, the office of high priests, Christ as the Great High Priest, the wrath of God, the overcoming of the Old Covenant, ancient Hebrew Christians of

3 Palestine, interpretation of various passages from the Epistle to the Hebrews and relevant Old Testament books, et al.

As a sort of "pre-Lenten stretching" to get us ready for the marathon of ascesis that lays ahead, we will spend the four Wednesday evenings during February, trying to familiarize ourselves with the very important text, with a special emphasis on Christ as OUR Great High Priest.

Feb. 10, Class 2: “Christ: A High Priest like Melchizedek” Leading Text: Hebrews 7:26-8:2 (Epistle for St. Palamas, Second Sunday of Great Lent)

Feb. 17, Class 3: “Christ: Our High Priest” Leading Text: Hebrews 4:14-5:6 (Epistle, Third Sunday of Great Lent)

Feb. 24, Class 4: “Pressing on to Maturity as His Priests” Leading Text: Hebrews 6:13-20 (Epistle, Fourth Sunday of Great Lent)

We will be using the following book (available on the SJOTL Bookshelf and as a downloadable "e-book"):

Lawrence R. Farley, The Epistle to the Hebrews: High Priest in Heaven. The Orthodox Bible Study Series. Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014. ISBN-10: 1936270749, ISBN-13: 978-1936270743

Father Lawrence does an excellent job of structuring his commentary around every single important point in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and clarifying issues by citing corresponding Biblical passages. We have taken as the leading texts epistle readings from the first four Sundays of Great Lent, so we can tie this in to the approaching Lenten season. The titles above are taken directly or closely from his subtitles for each section, so as to provide for close correspondence with the themes.

Please join us on Wednesday evenings in February following Vespers (from approximately 7 pm until 8:15 pm)!

From Archimandrite Gerasim:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Faithful of the Diocese of the South,

Christ is in our midst!

On March 4 and 5, 2016, with the blessing of His Beatitude, Metropolitan , we will re-inter the late Dmitri in the new Memorial Chapel at St Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas. The services will coincide with the Saturday for the Commemoration of the Reposed that precedes the Sunday of the Last Judgment.

On Friday afternoon the body of Archbishop Dmitri will be brought from Restland Cemetery to be greeted at St Seraphim Cathedral by and faithful. His Beatitude, Metropolitan TIKHON will preside. The new coffin in which the Archbishop will be placed will be brought into the Memorial Chapel above the prepared crypt. He will lie in state in a sealed coffin during the Vespers of Friday.

4 Vespers will begin at 6:30 PM on Friday evening, March 4, 2016. Friday evening both clergy and faithful will have the opportunity to pray in the Memorial Chapel and read the Holy Scriptures.

In the morning His Beatitude, Metropolitan TIKHON will preside at the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral. The Divine Liturgy will begin at 9:30 AM on Saturday morning, March 5, 2016. Following the Divine Liturgy a Panikhida will be served, after which we will solemnly lower the coffin containing the body of Archbishop Dmitri into his final earthly resting place. This re-interment will conclude with the placing of prepared marble tiles over the crypt.

Texas- hospitality will follow the festivities on Saturday.

In Christ,

Archimandrite Gerasim

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