St. Orthodox Church 1100 Hicksville Rd. • Seaford, NY, 11783 Rev. Fr. Andrew Gromm (516) 541-3628 / [email protected] Website: www.stgregoryseaford.org/ Sunday Mornings: Hours- 9:15, Liturgy- 9:30, Church School- 10:40 ______February 14, 2021 / Zaccheus Sunday Epistle: 1 Timothy 4:9-15; Gospel: Luke 19:1-10; Tone 3 Commemorations: St. Valentine (+270); St. Auxentius (+470); St. Maron of Syria (+423); St. Cyril, Slavic Apostle (+869); St. Nicholas of Corinth (+1554); St. of Brooklyn (+1915) Wednesday, February 17th Saturday, February 20th 9:00 AM – Divine Liturgy 5:30 PM – Vespers Parish Meeting: As the parish board decided, our annual parish meeting will be held on March 7th. All are welcome to attend & vote on the general needs of the parish, including the choosing of parish-board members. Please let Fr. Andrew know if or not you will attend. House Blessings: Metropolitan Gregory has given his directives for this year’s home blessings, with local variations allowed by each dean. For our deanery, everyone is welcome to have their homes blessed, but it will not be the normal way. Fr. Andrew can sing the Theophany blessing prayer outside the door. Afterwards, he will bless the home outside without entering. Then he will give you holy water, so that you may bless your own home with it in all the rooms. If you would like your home blessed, please contact Fr. Andrew to arrange a day and time. Parish Finances: Last week’s contributions were $2147 and expenses were $1519. Weekly Specials: Birthdays= Jonathan Sauer (15th). Prayers: Health for Kathleen, Vicktor, Eugenia, Gregory, Elizabeth, Anthony, Mary, Chris, Mary, Anna, Lydia, Anne, Frank, Danielle, Adriana, Leah, Lisa, Carolyn, Sylvia, Elaine, Paul and Iris. Rubrics for Zacchaeus Sunday 1. RESURRECTION TROPAR: (Tone 3) Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad! * For the Lord has shown strength with His arm, * trampling down death by death, He has become the first-born of the dead. * He has delivered us from the depths of the realm of death, * and has given great mercy to our souls. 2. RESURRECTION KONDAK: (Tone 3) Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Today You arose from the grave O Merciful One, * and lifted us from the gates of death.* exults and Eve rejoices. * They, together with the Prophets and the , * continually proclaim the divine authority of Your power. 3. BOHORODICA: (Tone 3) Now and ever and forever. Amen. O Birth-giver of God, * Mediatrix of the salvation of the human race, * we sing to you a song of praise, * for in the flesh He received from you, * your Son Christ our God suffered the pains of crucifixion, * in order to save us from corruption, * for He is the Lover of mankind. 4. PROKIMENON: (Tone 3) Sing to our God, sing, sing! Sing praises to our King, sing praises to our King! v. Clap your hands all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! (Psalm 47:1) 5. THE EPISTLE LESSON: (1 Timothy 4:9-15) The Reading is from the holy Apostle Paul to Timothy. Brethren: Timothy, my son, you can depend on training in godliness as worthy of complete acceptance. This explains why we work and struggle as we do. Our hopes are fixed on the living God who is the Savior of all men, but especially of those who believe. Such are the things you must urge and teach. Let no one look down on you because of your youth, but be a continuing example of , faith and purity to believers. Until I arrive, devote yourself to the reading of Scripture, to preaching and teaching. Do not neglect the gift you received when, as a result of prophecy, the presbyters laid their hands on you. Attend to your duties. Let them absorb you, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch yourself and watch your teaching. Persevere at both tasks. By doing so you will bring to salvation yourself and all who hear you. 6. ALLELUIA: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! (Repeat after each verse.) v. In You O Lord, do I seek refuge; let me never be put to shame. (Psalm 31:1) v. Be a rock of refuge for me, and a strong fortress to save me. (Psalm 31:2) 7. THE GOSPEL LESSON: (Luke 19:1-10) Let Us All Be Attentive: At that time, as was passing through Jericho, behold there was a man named Zaccheus. And he was a leading publican, and he was rich. And he was trying to see Jesus to find out who he was, but could not on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead & climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up & saw him, and said to him, “Zaccheus, make haste & come down, for I must stay in your house today.” And he made haste & came down, and welcomed him joyfully. And upon seeing it, all began to murmur, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” But Zaccheus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, I give one-half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he too is a son of . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” ------DIOCESAN “HOMEROOM” MINISTRY Calling all youth ages 5-18…If you signed up for the new Diocesan “Homeroom” Ministry, don’t forget to PARTICIPATE online each week by posting comments, pictures & videos. Parents, if you signed your child up for the “Homerooms”, help them to participate. We have 65 youth from 27 parishes across the Diocese signed up for the “Homerooms”, but not all are participating yet. If you need any help logging on, downloading the app, or posting, or have any questions, please email [email protected]. Thank you!! ------The Real St. Valentine (taken from Wikipedia.com and other sources) All that is reliably known of St. Valentine is his name. A major Western Christian tradition asserts that he was martyred and buried at a cemetery on the Via Flaminia close to the Milvian Bridge to the north of on February 14th. It is uncertain whether St. Valentine is identified as one or the conflation of two of the same name but different centuries. An ancient book of saints describes St. Valentine, as the former of , Narnia and Amelia, a town of , central . While under house arrest of Judge Asterius & discussing his faith with him, (the version) was discussing the validity of Jesus. The judge put Valentinus to the test and brought to him the judge's adopted blind daughter. If Valentinus restored the girl's sight, Asterius would do anything he asked. Valentinus laid his hands on her eyes & the child's vision was restored. Immediately humbled, the judge asked Valentinus what he should do. Valentinus replied that all of the idols around the judge's house should be broken, the judge should fast for 3 days & undergo . The judge obeyed & freed all the Christian inmates under his authority. The judge, his family & 44-member household of family & servants were baptized. Valentinus was later arrested again for continuing to proselytize & was sent to the prefect of Rome, Emperor Claudius II. Claudius took a liking to him until Valentinus tried to convince Claudius to embrace , whereon Claudius refused & condemned Valentinus to death, commanding that Valentinus either renounce his faith or be beaten with clubs and beheaded. Valentinus refused & Claudius’ command was executed on February 14, 269. There are many other legends of St. Valentine. In the 1st century, Valentine, a , defied the order of Emperor Claudius II & secretly married couples so the husbands wouldn’t have to go to war. The legend claims that soldiers were sparse at the time so it was a big inconvenience to the emperor. Another legend says Valentine refused to sacrifice to pagan gods. While in prison for this, Valentine gave his testimony; & by his prayers healed the jailer's daughter who was suffering from blindness. On his execution day, he left her a note signed “Your Valentine”. During the Middle Ages, it was believed that birds mated in mid-February, which was then associated with the of Valentine. Valentine’s Day has been widely recognized as a day of romance and devotion. Many legends characterizing St. Valentine were invented in the 14th century in England, notably by & his circle, when the feast day of February 14 was first associated with romantic love. Speculative explanations of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, came from 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, who wrote Butler's Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. Because so little is known of him, in 1969 the Roman removed his name from the , leaving his liturgical celebration to local calendars. The Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize him as a saint, listing him as such in the February 14th entry in the Roman , and authorizing liturgical veneration of him on February 14th in any place where that day is not devoted to some other obligatory celebration. Saint Valentine’s Day is an official feast day in the , as well as in the Lutheran Church. In the , Saint Valentine the Presbyter of Rome is celebrated on July 6th and Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy, is celebrated on July 30th. It is possible to see Orthodox lists with St. Valentine on February 14th.

St. Cyril, First Gospel Teacher to the Carpatho-Rusyns Saint Cyril Equal of the Apostles, Teacher of the Slavs (Constantine in the schema), and his older brother Methodius, were Slavs, born in Macedonia in the city of Thessalonica. St. Cyril received the finest education & was raised with the emperor’s son from the age of 14. Later, he was ordained a priest. On his return to Constantinople, he was a cathedral librarian & a philosophy professor. St. Cyril successfully held debates with iconoclast heretics & Moslems. Seeking solitude, he went to Mt. Olympos to his older brother Methodius, but this didn’t last long. Both brothers were sent by Emperor on a mission to preach Christianity to the Khazars in 857. On the way they found the relics of Hieromartyr Clement of Rome at Cherson. Arriving at the territory of the Khazars, the holy brothers spoke with them about the Christian Faith. Persuaded by the preaching of Saint Cyril, the Khazar prince together with all his people accepted Christianity. The grateful prince wanted to reward the preachers with rich presents, but they refused this and instead asked the prince to free and send home with them all the Greek captives. Saint Cyril returned to Constantinople together with 200 such captives set free. In 862, the chief exploit of the holy brothers began. At the request of Prince Rostislav, the emperor sent them to Moravia to preach Christianity in the Slavic language. By a revelation from God, saints Cyril & Methodius composed a Slavonic alphabet & translated the Gospel, Epistles, Psalter and many Service books into Slavonic. And they introduced divine services in Slavonic. The holy brothers were then summoned to Rome by Adrian, who received them with great honor, since they brought the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement of Rome. Sickly by nature & in poor health, St. Cyril fell ill from his labors, and after taking the schema, he died in 869 at 42 years old. Before his death, he wished that his brother continue the Christian enlightenment of the Slavs. St. Cyril was buried in Rome’s Church of St. Clement, whose relics also rest there.

St. Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church 1100 Hicksville Rd. • Seaford, NY, 11783 Rev. Fr. Andrew Gromm (516) 541-3628 / [email protected] Website: www.stgregoryseaford.org/

Weekly Bible Message February 14, 2021

If you watch certain TV shows, you hear about haunted houses and other haunted physical objects. We don’t know exactly what this is about, except that demons give false impressions about spirituality. And physical objects can be possessed, just as people can be when sins over-accumulate.

The Bible likes to talk about houses as spiritual places. The temple & Church are God’s house, Heaven is God’s house, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, etc. So it sounds like houses can soak up holiness! This was hinted by the Lord Jesus when He met Zaccheus, who was a rich man, a tax collector, a sinner. But Zaccheus was excited to see Jesus & climbed a tree to watch Him go by. When Jesus saw him in the tree, Jesus said that He must enter his house. Zaccheus ran to Him and declared that he would give away half of his wealth & restore 4 times what he stole from anyone. So Jesus said that salvation has come to his house.

Did Zaccheus’s house literally receive salvation? We know that this is not the case. But Jesus does emphasize Zaccheus’s house as having a sense of spirituality about it, like a tinge of grace which comes from the owner of the house. Or maybe the house signifies something heavenly. We do know that the handkerchiefs of St. Paul healed people. And we know about icons which exude oil. Can our prayers also enter the bricks of our houses?

Do priests bless people? Do priests bless physical objects, even houses? There are many stories of holy water chasing ghosts away from homes. So when Christ speaks of salvation entering a house, it can be about the house being blessed & sanctified by the owner’s prayers & by his priest’s sacramental hands. Such a house is literally joined with the Church in some way. And whatever Jesus meant by salvation entering a house, He was expressing the view that our houses should be treated like an extension of our churches with icons, prayers and blessings. Salvation can enter a house; and it can be more than a poetic expression.