St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
Monthly Parish Bulletin Orthodox Church in America 2143 S. Center Road – Burton, Michigan 48519 Served by: Fr. Matthew-Peter Butrie – Rector Deacon Kerry Luke Gonser Email: [email protected] Website: www.saintnicholasburton.org Fr. Matthew’s Email: [email protected]
Home: 810-695-2023 Church: 810-744-0070 Fax: 810-744-4880
Services: Sunday - 9:30 a.m. Third Hour 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy Holydays, Vigil and Vespers as announced Confessions are heard before all morning services and after all evening services.
“But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” St. Jude: 20______JANUARY 1 – 31, 2012
Bulgarian Diocese of Toledo Orthodox Church in America Chancery: 286 E. Woodsdale Avenue, Akron, OH 44301 (330) 724-7009
December 15, 2011
To the Beloved Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of the Bulgarian Diocese The Bulgarian Diocese will be celebrating the consecration and installation of Bishop-Elect Alexander (Golitzin) as our new diocesan hierarch on the weekend of Friday, May 4, to Sunday, May 6, 2012, at St. George Cathedral in Rossford, OH. On the evening of Friday, May 4, Bishop-Elect Alexander will make his profession of faith in preparation for his consecration. Saturday morning, May 5, he will be consecrated bishop at a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, and other members of the OCA Holy Synod of Bishops. A consecration banquet will follow this Liturgy on Saturday afternoon. At the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday, May 6, our newly- consecrated Bishop Alexander will be officially installed as Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese. Those of our diocesan clergy and faithful who wish to take part in this historic event may book hotel rooms that weekend at the Holiday Inn French Quarter, 10630 Fremont Pike, in Perrysburg, OH. A short drive from St. George Cathedral, the hotel is offering a special room rate of $89.00 per night. To book a room at this rate, please call the hotel at (888) 874-2592 and ask for the rate for the Bulgarian Diocese. You can also make your booking online at www.hifq.com; the group code for the special room rate is BDO. The hotel has a shuttle service to and from Toledo Express Airport. If you would like to use the shuttle, you will need to inform the hotel's reservation department when booking your room. Please note that if you are arriving at another airport, you will need to make your own arrangements to get to the hotel. On behalf of our Spiritual Council, I am also taking this opportunity to inform you that the diocese will be purchasing Bishop-elect Alexander's vestments and MITRE for his consecration, as our gift to him in recognition of this joyous event. The total cost of the vestments and MITRE will be approximately $3000.00. We are encouraging each of our parishes to make a special donation to the diocese of $200.00 in honor of our new bishop to help cover these costs. We thank you, in advance, for helping the diocese purchase this gift for our new bishop. We also want to make you aware that, in addition to the vestments and MITRE for Fr. Alexander's consecration, several other items are required for our new bishop. These items include: a set of purple vestments (approximate cost $1,500.00); a purple MITRE (approximate cost $1,500.00); a pastoral staff (approximate cost $500.00), and the monastic hat and veil called the klobuk (approximate cost $150.00). If your parish or individual parishioners are interested in making donations to purchase any of these items, please contact me directly to make arrangements.
More information on Bishop-Elect Alexander’s consecration and installation, including service times and further details about the Saturday banquet, will be announced as it becomes available. We are hoping to see as many of our diocesan clergy and faithful as possible at this joyous celebration. If you have any questions concerning the consecration weekend, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at (260) 484-2277 or by email at [email protected].
In Christ,
Archpriest Andrew Jarmus Consecration Committee Chair THEOPHANY BANQUET Our traditional outdoor blessing of water and Theophany Banquet will take place on Sunday, January 8, 2011. The banquet will consist of lamb or chicken, rice, vegetables, salad and dessert. The cost for the meal is $10 for adults and $5 for children.
Readers Schedule January February March 1 Eli 5 Esteban 4 Kathy 8 Shari 12 Eli 11 Eli 15 Esteban 19 Kathy 18 Johnny 22 Kathy 26 Johnny 25 Esteban 29 Johnny
The Orthodox Book Club meets on Monday, January 9 at 6:00 at St. George Church. We will be reading Father Roman Braga’s “The Inner Universe”. For more information contact Deacon Michael Bassett / [email protected] / 989-725-2753
The Parish Council will meet on Monday, January 9 at 6:45 pm. Please call the parish office if you are unable to attend this meeting.
ST. CATHERINE’S WOMEN’S LEAGUE There will be no meeting this month, instead we will have our annual dinner out. Join us at Lucky’s (Davison) on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 5:30pm. Please see Rosemary Vuckovich or Roseanne Bagale for you reservation.
HOUSE BLESSINGS Begin on January 9. See the enclosed flyer to set up your appointment.
MANY THANKS Cookie Walk Thank you to everyone that helped with the Cookie Walk. Thank you to everyone that baked their wonderful cookies you helped make the Cookie Walk a great success. Outdoor Nativity Donkey, Ox and 2 Lambs for the outdoor nativity, were donated in memory of Chris (8yrs) and Mildred (18yrs) Aleksoff by Christine and Angelo Panoff.
VISITATIONS TO THE SICK Please inform Fr. Matthew about any sick members of our parish. Please remember that most hospitals do not inform parishes about the sick. Father Matthew brings Holy Communion every week. If you would like to be added to his scheduled visits, please call the office. Remember that we pray for all the sick at every Divine Liturgy.
SAVE THE DATE Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 26, 2012. Father Joseph Abud will be celebrating his 25th Anniversary in the Priesthood. St. George will be celebrating with Vespers on Saturday evening followed by a banquet. We will pass along more information to you as it becomes available to us.
CHRISTMAS BASKET RAFFLE Congratulations to all of our winners. Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets you helped raise $562.00 for the Church School children’s summer trip. A special thank you to Anna Branoff, Diane Todorovsky, Rosemary Vuckovich, Dorothy Goodman, Gloria Zelenko, Barbara Brown, Roseanne Bagale & Sharon Jernigan for donating the wonderful baskets for the raffle.
Coffee Hour Volunteers January 1: January 8: Theophany Banquet January 15: 40 day Parastas +Walter Borkovich January 22: 40 day Parastas +Domna Panagiotopolous January 29: Annual Meeting – sloppy joe luncheon
PARISH PRIDE – A NEW BOILER SYSTEM This new system will cost between $ 35,000 and $ 40,000. The new system is a high efficiency system that will help reduce our winter heating bill dramatically. There is $15,000.00 in the Parish Pride fund for this project. We need $25,000.00 to complete the project. If you would like to donate toward the cost of the new system please see Debbie.
MEMORY ETERNAL +Walter Borkovich, husband of Allison Borkovich, fell asleep in the Lord on Friday, December 9. Viewing and Parastas were at St. Nicholas Church on Sunday, December 11 with the funeral at church on Monday, December 12 followed by interment at Evergreen Cemetery. May God grant His servant +Walter blessed repose and eternal memory.
+Domna (Batzos) Panagiotopolous, mother of, Helen Popoff, Olympia Meskos and Tom Batzos, fell asleep in the Lord on Monday, December 19, 2011. Funeral services were held in Church on Friday, December 23, 2011 followed by interment at Evergreen Cemetery. May God grant his handmaiden +Domna blessed repose and eternal memory.
MANY YEARS James Hart and Kristin (Borkovich) Krug were crowned in Holy Matrimony on Saturday, December 17, 2011. May God grant them many and blessed years in peace, health and salvation!
THEOPHANY 2012 We are in need of donors for the doves (4) for the blessing of water at Theophany. Please see Debbie is you are interested Choir Rehearsal Schedule in donating one or all of the doves. January 8 FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE We are looking for five January 15 volunteers from the parish to serve on a committee to list and evaluate other options for fundraisers throughout the year. January 22 If you are interested in being a part of this committee, please January 29 see Mike Stikovich. All Rehearsals are at 5:30pm or 2012 OFFERING ENVELOPES Offering envelopes are in the parish hall for you to pick up. following the 4:30 Vespers Please take those for your family members. If you do not see All rehearsals are subject to change envelopes with your name on them and did not request not to if needed. receive envelopes please see Debbie so that she can get Please call me on my cell phone if offering envelopes for you. you cannot attend at 586-665-0550. 2012 CALENDARS Thanks! Joseph Tome 2012 Church calendars have arrived. The calendars are in the rear of the church. Please, only one per family.
MERRY CHRISTMAS Emil & Mary Harrison would like to wish their parish family & friends a very Merry Christmas & a Happy & Healthy New Year.
CONGRATULATIONS to Elizabeth Stojanovski, who recently graduated from nursing school as a Registered Nurse. She will begin her career as a nurse at William Beaumont Hospital of Troy. Elizabeth is the daughter of Lazar & Jelica Trpcevski and the granddaughter of proud grandparents Atanas & Kathy Sozovski.
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES January Birthdays January Wedding Anniversaries 1 Luai Helal 14 Randall & Diana Broadfoot 2 Barbara Vuckovich 31 John & Marie Todorovsky 5 Martha Bradley 6 Stella Nedanis 10 Jennifer Brucksch 15 Luba Yosheff 26 Deborah Gonser-Adams 27 Ressa Borkovich 29 Deacon Kerry-Luke Gonser
HOW SHOULD I GIVE, AND HOW MUCH? The question: How should I give? Is clearly answered in the Holy Scriptures. First, we must remember that our gifts will be no more acceptable to God than the grudging offering of Cain, if we do not first give ourselves to God totally (2 Cor. 8.5). Secondly, we must give out of love of God, not for the praise of men or for the feeling of superiority it gives us, or even because of guilt feelings; we give only because we have sincere gratitude for the Father’s gift of His Son to us. We are to free our hearts from bitterness toward our fellows (“Go first and make up with your brother, then come and offer your gift.”) We are to give with joy (“for the Lord loves a cheerful giver”). We must also, and above all, give with hearts full of love for others. For even if we gave everything we owned to the poor and we did so without love, it would be to no profit for us (1 Cor. 13:3). So we should then give prayerfully, lovingly, and quietly, having first given our lives. Only then we may give the outward symbols of our lives to God. But the Scriptures give us even more explicit directions on how and when and what we should offer. Here is what Saint Paul tells us; “Upon the first day of the week (Sunday) let every one of you lay aside some as God has prospered him.” (1 Cor 16:2)
---Who should give then? Every Christian
---When? Every Sunday
---How? Regularly
---How much? A proportion of what the Lord has given him.
So we can see that our giving should be regular, every Sunday, proportionate to our income and incumbent upon everyone throughout the Church. Now, as to what proportion of our income we ought to give there is a different matter. We have already seen that the Old Testament standard was a tithe of 10% of one’s increase and many early Christians therefore took this as a norm. But as we have also seen, Christians are constrained by love and not by the Old Testament Law. Perhaps a better question then would be, how much of my income may I withhold for myself and my family? The answer is as much as you need to fulfill your r al needs as the Lord leads you, in prayer, to see those needs. If this rule -first pray for direction, then keep out what you need and give the rest -were followed, most families in the U. S. would give well over 10% a week to the Lord’s work. Now it may sound to some people as if we are ignoring the poor old grandmother living on social security, who dutifully puts her dollar bill in the basket each Sunday. This is far from intended. Remember our Lord’s approval of the poor widow’s pennies more than the rich man’s thousands (Mark 12:41). The fact simply is, if Christians gave as they should, there would not be any poor or hungry people in our parishes. Seeing then that the Lord has made it clear how we should give of our material possessions, the question remains; why don’t more Christians give as they should and what they should to the Lord? From What is Christian Stewardship? By Father Joseph Hirsch
Daily Intercession for our Sick and Homebound:
The following are our brothers and sisters of St. Nicholas who are currently homebound, suffering from chronic illness, in recovery or in need of special prayers. Please remember them in your prayers and reach out to them with a card, a phone call or a visit! Holy Communion is available upon request.
Anna Allen Mary Harrison Daisy Karkoski Evdokia Ponomarenko Bogdon Beslac Bill Haw Alfred Keeler Anne Smith Helen Bibilikow Olga Haw Lydia Keeler Aspasia Stathopoulos Larry Bladecki Maria Ilijev Athena Kosman Bill Tadrick Joe Eckert Helen Iwanoff Daisy Marvosh Wendy Tadrick Gladys Edwards Goldie Johnson Evdokia Naumoff Helen Todorow Evanka Elieff Nick Karayanis Pauline Nenoff Gloria Zelenko Kosta Georgopoulos Mary Karayanis Fred Oginsky John Zelenko Mickey Gonser
To aid in your “outreach”, here is a listing of the addresses and phone numbers of our Homebound:
Anna Allen 4444 Court St. # 4113 Flint, MI 48532 732-4238
Bogdon Beslac 3005 Blue Grass Lane Swartz Creek, MI 48473
Larry Bladecki 6700 Westside Saginaw Road Bay City, MI 48706
Joseph Eckert 2000 N. Canton Center Rd #101 Canton, MI 48187
Gladys Edwards 2 Harbor Dr. St. Clair, MO 63077
Olga Haw 1085 Oak Rd Davison, MI 48423
Maria Ilijev 440 W. Russell B-14 Saline, MI 48176
Daisy Karkoski 3011 N. Center Rd Flint, MI 48506
Lydia & Alfred Keeler 4104 Squire Hill Dr. Flushing, MI 48433 733-8053
Daisy Marvosh Almost Home 305 Furlong Ct. Fenton, MI 48430
Aspasia Stathopoulos 4064 Sheraton Dr. Flint, MI 48532
CHRISTMAS FLOWER DONATIONS
Red Poinsettias Lucy Hogg In Honor of Evdokia Ponomarenko In Memory of Ivan Ponomarenko
Red Poinsettias Alex & Magda Popoff In Honor of Popoff & Naum Families
Red Poinsettias John & Rose Goodman In Memory of Goodman Family & Waskerwitz Family
Red Poinsettia Stojan & Mira Prusac In Memory of Luka, Mara, Domyan, Danica, Milosh, Marica, Milka, Djuro, Nikola & Mira
Red Poinsettia Joe & Dorothy Goodman In Memory of Harry & Julia Goodman, George & Themyana Brown
Red Poinsettias Max & Martha Bradley In Memory of Frances Fekin
Red Poinsettias Akkerman Family
Red Poinsettias Diane Broadfoot In Memory of Mildred Bladecki
Red Poinsettias Nicholas Chizewsky In Memory of Violet Goodman Chizewsky
12 Inch Wreath Johnny Kantor In Memory of Mary King
16 Inch Wreath Alex & Magda Popoff In Memory of Popoff & Naum Families
24 Inch Wreath Tom, Linda, Peter & In Memory of Stella Branoff Marilyn Branoff
24 Inch Wreath Johnny Kantor In Memory of Beloved Mother Stella Kantor
36 Inch Wreath John & Gloria Zelenko In Memory of Helen Doyle & Marko Vuckovich
36 Inch Wreath Alex & Magda Popoff In Honor of the Popoff & Naum Families
50 Foot Garlands Frank Tegge In Memory of Sophia Branoff-Tegge, Father Raphael Biernacki
Thank You to everyone that gave monetary donations for the flowers
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We will have the answers to both December and Januaries puzzle in the February bulletin. Hope you had fun with them.
Theophany House Blessings
We (I) wish for Fr. Matthew to visit our home with the traditional blessing this year.
Name ______
Address ______
Phone Number ______
Please visit ______on a weekday
______on Saturday only
______any day
Father Matthew or the parish office will call the day before your house blessing. Please have the following prepared:
1. A dignified place covered by a white cloth with a candle placed there along with an Icon or Cross.
2. Please turn off television and radios.
Father will bring the Holy Water.
January 2012
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 Eve of Theophany 6 7 Strict Fast Theophany of the Lord Synaxis of St. John the 9:30 am Third Hour 9:30 am Royal Hours 6 pm Vesperal Liturgy Baptist 10 am Divine Liturgy for Theophany of St. Basil the Great at St. George Blessing of Water 4:30 pm Vespers 5:30 Choir Practice Church School Office Closed
8 9 10 11 St. Theodosius Fast 12 13 Fast 14 9:30am Third Hour 10 am Divine Liturgy Parish Council 9 am Divine Liturgy 4:30 pm Vespers w/Outdoor Blessing of Meeting @ 6:45pm 5:30 Choir Practice Water Theophany Banquet Office Closed
15 16 17 St. Anthony the Great 18 Fast 19 20 Fast 21
9:30 am Third Hour 9 am Divine Liturgy League Dinner Out at 4:30 pm Vespers 10 am Divine Liturgy Lucky’s in Davison 5:30 Choir Practice 40 day Parastas @ 5:30pm +Walter Borkovich Church School Office Closed 22 23 24 25 Fast 26 27 Fast 28 St. Gregory the Theologian 9:30 am Third Hour 4:30 pm Vespers 10 am Divine Liturgy 9 am Divine Liturgy 5:30 Choir Practice 40 day Parastas +Domna Panagiotopolous Office Closed Church School
29 Zacchaeus Sunday 30 Three Holy Hierarchs 31
9:30 am Third Hour 9 am Divine Liturgy 10 am Divine Liturgy Annual Meeting
Sloppy Joe Luncheon
February 2012
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 Fast 2 Encounter of our 3 Fast 4 Lord in the Temple 6:00 pm Vespers w/ 4:30 Vespers Times & Dates are subject to change. Liturgy 5:30 Choir Practice Location to be determined
Office Closed
5 Publican & Pharisee 6 7 8 9 10 11
9:30 Third Hour St. Catherine’s 10am Divine Liturgy League Meeting 4:30 Vespers @ 6:30pm 5:30 Choir Practice
Church School Office Closed
12 Prodigal Son 13 14 15 Fast 16 17 Fast 18 Memorial Saturday
9:30 Third Hour 9 am Divine Liturgy 10am Divine Liturgy Trisagion with 2 year Parastas reading of names +Tony Brayanis Church School Office Closed 19 Meatfare 20 Meat Fast 21 Meat Fast 22 Meat Fast 23 Meat Fast 24 Meat Fast 25 Meat Fast
9:30 Third Hour 10am Divine Liturgy 4:30 Vespers Office Closed 5:30 Choir Practice Father Matthew will be attending the Metropolitan Council Meeting February 21-24.
26 Meat Fast 27 Fast 28 Fast 29 Fast MARCH 1 Fast 2 Fast 3 St. Theodore Fast Cheesefare Sunday Great Lent begins Forgiveness Sunday 9:30 am Confessions 6 pm Compline 6 pm Compline 6 pm Compline 6 pm Compline 6:00 pm Presanctified 10 am Divine Liturgy 9:30 Third Hour followed by Lenten 10am Divine Liturgy potluck Office Closed