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Bulletin 20.03.01

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Bulletin 20.03.01 St. Cyril Keep your mind and your heart aw ay from false teaching. D o not Orthodox Church even speak about 9000 Hw y 242, ⌦e W oodlands, TX Christianity with www.stcyril.us ∙ (281) 298-3232 people who have been in fe c te d w ith fa lse + M a r c h 1 , 2 0 2 0 + thoughts; do not read books on Christianity Forgiveness Sunday th at w ere w rien by Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise heretics. Martyr Eudoxius of Heliopolis (+160) - S t. Ign a tiu s Expulsion of Adam and Eve Brianchaninov ✓om Paradise SERVICES FO R TH IS WEEK: Monday, Tuesday, & $ursday: Great Canon of St. Andrew, 6:00 p.m. Wednesday: Presancti/ed Liturgy, 6:00 p.m. CHEESEFARE SUNDAY– In the Church's traditional fasting rule, beginning tom orrow we fast from meat, 4sh, eggs, and dairy products until Holy Pascha. For those who are unable to keep this fast – children, nursing m others, the elderly, the sick, etc. – the rules of the fast m ay be relaxed, follow ing the counsel of your spiritual father. H ow ever, w e should all m ake an e7ort to keep the fast in obedience to th e C hurch, to the extent that w e are able. And let us remember to keep our eyes on our own plate. MEMORIAL SATURDAY– On Saturday, M arch 14, we will have a special Liturgy to com m em orate the departed. If there are nam es of departed O rthodox C hristians that you w ould like rem em bered, please subm it them to Fr. Benedict by em ail or text by Friday, M arch 13. TREASURER UPDATE – February o7erings w ere $10,507. E xpenses w ere $11,142. + How God Reveals Himself Even though He is incom prehensible, God has not le@ us without knowledge of Himself and H is works. ⌦rough the H oly Spirit H e has revealed H is will to righteous particular hum an beings who were pure in heart. ⌦ese are called prophets and apostles. According to St. John Chrysostom , it ought to be that every hum an being would willingly hear the W ord of God, but since we have become mired in sins and pleasuring the Besh, God in His mercy has le @ us H is R evelation, given to us by particular hum an beings, the prophets and apostles. ⌦ere is both natural and supernatural Revelation. When philosophers marveled at his wisdom, St. Anthony the Great would answer thus: “I read two books – Nature and Scripture – and through them I com e to know God the Creator.” ⌦e 4rst of these books clearly teaches us to contemplate the might, the wisdom, and the mastery of the Lord and His care for the world, while Scripture, supernatural Revelation, also reveals H is aHrib u tes an d H is in ten tio n s fo r th e w o rld an d fo r m en . E ven th e pagan s, w h o do not know the Scriptures, are not le@ without the know ledge of God that is placed into their hearts, handed dow n to them through Tradition from their ancestors, and gathered from contem plating nature. For this reason they will have no excuse on the day of Judgm ent: For th e in visib le th in gs of H im om the creation of the w orld are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are m ade, even H is eternal pow er and G odhead; so that they are w ithout excuse (R om . 1:20). Without supernatural Revelation, however, God would remain for us a distant Power, mighty but obscure. God's direct intervention alone has revealed His own Self to us. How did this R evelation take place? St. B asil the G reat gives this description of the state of prophecy: “In w hat m an n er did the pure an d illum ined souls proph ecy? H aving becom e, as it w ere, a mirror of Divine action, they revealed in themselves a clear, unmingled image undarkened by Beshly passions. For the Holy Spirit abides in everyone, but reveals His ow n pow er in those who are pure of passions, not in those in whom the masterful part of the soul [th e m in d ] is darkened by sinful impurities . W hen the soul, having dedicated itself to every labor of virtue, through strong love for God constantly preserves in itself unsullied the rem em brance of God, impressed upon it, and in this manner makes God as it were to live in itself, then, having becom e divinely inspired, through strong e7ort and unuHerable love for God, it is made worthy of the gi@ of prophecy, because God bestows Divine power and opens one's sp iritu al eyes to th e un d erstan d ing of w h atever vision s it pleases H im to im p art.” “Som e say that th e proph ets prophesied in ecstasy, so that the hum an m ind w as bloHed out by the Spirit. But it is contrary to the prom ise of God's overshadow ing to make mad those w ho are divinely inspired, so that w hen they are 4lle d w ith d ivin e in stru ctio n s th ey would take leave of their reason and, while bringing bene4t to others, themselves obtain no bene4t from their ow n words. And in general, is it in any way in accordance with reason that th e S p irit o f W isd o m w o u ld m ak e a p erso n lik e o n e ro b b ed o f h is m in d , an d th at th e S p irit o f Knowledge would destroy reason from within him? But light does not produce darkness; on the contrary, it arouses the pow er of sight given by nature. A nd the Spirit does not produce darkening in souls; on the contrary, it arouses the mind, cleansed of sinful stains, to the contem plation of the noetic.” – Fr. Daniel Sysoev (+2009) + $e Building Blocks of Orthodox Christian Worship ⌦e liturgy is a sacred ACTION, that is, a series of movements, and not just readings and prayers. A comm unity does not pray and worship God only with words, but with bodily actions and movements. Kneeling, li@ing up the hands, bowing the head, prostrations, kissing, etc., are religious rites as old as hu m an ity itself. ⌦ey have been accepted into C hristian w orship because they are direct and natural religious expressions. In addition to these basic actions, there are several basic rites th at w e 4n d in all litu rgical services. 1. Censing – th a t is , b u r n in g in c e n s e . ⌦is rite existed in the Jew ish T em ple and in its predecessor, the Tent of Meeting, as well as being com m on in pagan worship. It is a natural sym bol of religion: of its transform ative power (the incense becom es a fragrance) and worship (as its sm oke goes upw ard). In Christian worship censing is prescribed either as an act of preparation and san cti4cation (fo r exam p le, th e H o ly T ab le is cen sed befo re th e bread an d w in e are set on it at th e Divine Liturgy) or as an expression of sacred respect (for example, the censing of icons and of the people, recognizing each man and wom an as an icon, or image, of God). 2. Processions and entrances. A ll litu rgical services are virtu ally b u ilt a@er the paHe rn o f a procession, that is, forward movem ent. Procession sym bolizes and manifests the movem ents of man tow ard G od, and the m ovem ent of G od tow ard m an; and the m ovem ent of the w hole history of salvation to w ard s its ultim ate co n su m m ation in th e K ingd o m of G o d . Fo r exam p le, in th e D ivine Liturgy we see the entrance of the clergy into the Holy Altar (showing man's movem ent); and we see th e brin ging in of th e bread an d w ine (a m o vem en t of sacri4ce); an d th en th e ho ly ch alice bein g brought out for Com m union (show ing God approaching men, com ing to be with us). 3. Light and darkness. B esid es ligh tin g can d les before icon s, there are also liturgical rites of light. ⌦e newly baptized person is given a lit candle to hold, as also are the newly-wed. ⌦e celebrants have candles in their hands during certain parts of the service, and the whole congregation at the funeral and m em orial services. ⌦e liturgical rubrics prescribe that the church be illum in ated at certain m om ents and darkened at others. All this m anifests ritually the fundam ental Christian opposition of light and darkness, holiness and sinfulness, joy and sorrow, death and resurrection. ⌦e light always stands for Christ who is the Light of the world, and for the enlightenment that He has brought to us: the know ledge of the True God, the possibility to reach Him, the gi@ of com m union with H im .
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