St. George Orthodox Church of Spring Valley 211 E. Minnesota St. • Spring Valley, IL 61362 www.stgeorgeorthodox.org • [email protected] 815-664-4540 (church office) • 773-575-3272 (Fr. Andrew)

Sunday, December 10, 2017 Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost • Martyr Menas of Matins, 9:00 am :: Divine Liturgy, 10:00 am

Pastor: Father Andrew Kishler Parish Council officers: Parish Council members: Chair, Kasap Genie Sanders Vice Chair, Matthew Rowan Jennifer Harshman Secretary, Lynette Forsa Leo Kapetaneas Treasurer, Anysia Medawar

Today’s Epistle Reader: Holy Bread/Coffee Hour: Bob and family Next Sunday’s Coffee Hour:

Hymns of the Day, immediately after the Small Entrance: Troparion of the Resurrection (Tone 2): When Thou didst submit Thyself unto death, O Thou deathless and immortal One, then Thou didst destroy hell with Thy Godly power. And when Thou didst raise the dead from beneath the earth, all the powers of Heaven did cry aloud unto Thee: O Christ, Thou giver of life, glory to Thee. Troparion for the Martyrs Menas, Eugraphos, and Hermogenes (Tone 8): They had slain through their abstinence and struggles the fiery raging and fierce activity of the passions, and the staunch Martyrs of Christ God laid hold of the graces to drive off pains and illnesses of the sick. They worked wonders both while living and after death. Strange indeed is the miracle: that these bare bones should pour forth such overflowing streams of cures. Glory be to our only God! Troparion for St. George the Great-Martyr (Tone 4): Since thou art a liberator and deliverer of captives, a help and succour of the poor and needy, a healing physician of the sick, a contender and fighter for kings, O great among martyrs, the victory-clad George: Intercede with Christ God for the salvation of our souls. Kontakion for Advent (Tone 3): Today the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth in an ineffable manner to the Word before the ages. Rejoice therefore, O universe, when thou hearest; and glorify with the and the shepherds Him who shall appear by His own will as a newborn Babe, being God before the ages.

2 THE EPISTLE For the Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost The Lord is my strength and my song. With chastisement, hath the Lord chastened me. The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians (6:10-17) Brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

THE GOSPEL For the Tenth Sunday of Luke The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke (13:10-17) At that time, was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrite! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As Jesus said this, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by Him.

3 Announcements and Upcoming Events For a full calendar of events and services at St. George, see our website, www.stgeorgeorthodox.org. Today:  Christmas bake sale continues today after Liturgy!  No children’s Sunday school This week:  No Wednesday services or Intro to Orthodoxy class this week.  Saturday, Dec. 16: Vespers, 6pm. Father will be available before and after for confession, anointing, or any other priestly services.  Next Sunday, Dec. 17: Sunday of the Holy Forefathers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Matins, 9am; Divine Liturgy, 10am, followed by Sunday school.

The Ladies of St. George are taking up a collection for the Spring Valley Food Pantry. Please be generous! Make your checks payable to “The Ladies of St. George.” Many thanks to the Ladies of St. George for the beautiful and successful bake sale hosted yesterday! Congratulations to Kenneth Wiltse and Nicholas Harvey, on becoming Illinois State Scholars for their academic achievements (based on a combination ACT score and GPA)! May God grant them many years. Our St. George Teen SOYO raised a total of $6,016.00 for their first sale! All of the food was donated by Marsha Neven and Melanie Thompson, so all proceeds are 100% profit, and the SOYO plans on donating 95% percent of the proceeds to the church. We plan to keep the remaining amount in the Teen SOYO account for the needs of the group throughout the year. Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year, so we will have the usual Sunday Liturgy at 10am, and our Christmas Eve Liturgy at 7pm. You are permitted (and encouraged) to receive Holy Communion twice that day. In addition, we will be receiving three new members into the Church on Christmas Eve: Zagar, Anthony Pajkos, and Rebecca Pajkos. The service of Chrismation will take place Christmas Eve at 6:30, just prior to the Divine Liturgy. St. George Church 100th Anniversary: In 2018, our church will be 100 years old! Save the date: Anthony plans to visit us the weekend of November 2-4, 2018 to help us celebrate. Do you have an announcement for the bulletin? Please contact Fr. Andrew no later than Friday each week for inclusion in the Sunday bulletin. 4 Sunday Volunteer Schedule

Holy Bread/Coffee Hour Epistle Reader

Sunday, Dec. 10* Bob Abraham and family Mike Kasap

Sunday, Dec. 17* Ed Malooley Memorial Gabe Leonard

Sunday, Dec. 24* Wayne/Genie Sanders Wayne Sanders

Sunday, Dec. 31 OPEN Alan Harshman

Sunday, Jan. 7 George/Lynette Forsa George Forsa

Sunday, Jan. 14 Bev Malooley and family

Sunday, Jan. 21 Kim/Jeannie Leonard

Regarding HOLY BREAD, you are welcome to bake your own, or use the bread provided by the church (donations of any amount are appreciated). On your Sunday, please also provide to Father Andrew a list of names (living and departed) for prayers during the Liturgy. COFFEE HOUR may be as simple or elaborate as you want. While CLEAN UP is primarily the responsibility of those who provide coffee hour, all of us should help by bussing our own tables and cleaning up as we are able! * SHADED DATES indicate fasting. No meat should be served on these dates.

5 December Birthdays and Anniversaries May God grant you many years! (Please let Father know if we are missing anyone!) Dec. 4 – Katherine Buss Dec. 10 – Ann (Bachio) Townsend Dec. 12 – Mark Wiltse Dec. 16 – Keeley Thompson Dec. 16 – Matthew Rowan Dec. 16 – Nolan Kaleel Dec. 18 – James Harvey Dec. 21 – Angelena (Leonard) Panizzi Dec. 24 – Kim Leonard Dec. 27 – Gabe Leonard Dec. 30 – Monique Harvey ______Updated through October, this chart shows our month-by-month cash flow (income and expenses). As you can see, we tend to do well in the winter and spring, but we struggle in the summer and fall, as more expenses tend to arise and giving decreases. Thank you to George Forsa for providing us with this chart.

Please see this as an encouragement to be generous with your tithes (10%) and other offerings. We also need full church support for all of our organizational fundraisers, whether the Ladies Group, the Men’s Group, or Teen SOYO!

6 :: Metropolitan JOSEPH'S Letter for Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday :: Metropolitan Joseph has designated today Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday. Here at St. George, we deeply appreciate the beautiful and strong voices of our two chanters, Anysia Medawar and Genie Sanders. We thank them for their tireless efforts for the glory of God in our worship! Thank you also to those of you who help read and sing at Vespers and Matins each weekend, and to Kh. Patty Kishler, who sings for us at weekday services while watching children at the same time! ______

Beloved Brother Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, and Christ-loving Faithful of Our God-protected Archdiocese: Blessings and greetings to all of you in the Name of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ! One of the hallmarks of our Orthodox Christian faith is the beauty of our worship. Our ecclesiastical music, when done with prayer and skill, can elucidate the rich theology of our hymnography in such a way that worshippers can exclaim – as did the emissaries sent by Vladimir – "we know not whether we are in heaven or on earth!" Because we owe such a tremendous amount of gratitude to our choirs and our chanters, we set aside the second Sunday of December to honor them for the key role they play in our liturgical life. I offer thanks especially for the work of the Department of Sacred Music in working so diligently to expand the repertoire of music and to make it accessible to all. In addition, the department offers the Sacred Music Institute to help our choir members and chanters learn more about this sacred art and fine tune their God-given talents. To support this work, which is so vital our Orthodox Christian liturgical lives, I ask each parish of this Archdiocese to offer a second collection on December 10, 2017 and to offer special recognition to those who are fulfilling this sacred ministry. Wishing you all a holy and grace-filled continuation of the fast and joyous feast of the Nativity, I remain, Your Father in Christ, +JOSEPH Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America December 10, 2017

7 Daily Bible Readings December 10-16

Sunday, Dec. 10 – Martyr Ephesians 6:10-17 / Luke 13:10-17

Monday, Dec. 11 – Venerable the Stylite Galatians 5:22-6:2 / Mark 8:11-21

Tuesday, Dec. 12 – St. Spyridon the Wonderworker Ephesians 5:8-19 / John 10:9-16

Wednesday, Dec. 13 – St. Herman of Alaska 2 Timothy 4:9-22 / Mark 8:30-34

Thursday, Dec. 14 – Martyrs Thyrsus and Leucis Titus 1:5-2:1 / Mark 9:10-16

Friday, Dec. 15 – Holy Martyr Eleutherius and his mother Anthia Titus 1:15-2:10 / Mark 9:33-41

Saturday, Dec. 16 – Holy Prophet Ephesians 1:16-23 / Luke 14:1-11

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Videos of sermons and Feast Day services are available on our website, www.stgeorgeorthodox.org. Follow St. George Church on Facebook for daily Bible readings and the lives of the . Please be aware that photographs and videos from our church appear on our website and Facebook page. Please feel free to let us know if you would prefer not to have your pictures online.

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