Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church March 21st, 2021 The Bells of St. Mary’s

[email protected] | Father Nathaniel Choma | 1(330) 402-0352

Scripture Readings The Herald Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32- lease remember that 12:2 P this week’s services of Presanctifed Liturgy on Gospel: John 1: 43- 51 Wednesday, the Akathist on Music Friday, and Confessions and Vespers on Saturday are set 1st Sunday of Great Lent aside for our youth, young adults, and their families. Sunday of Orthodoxy We look forward to praying Special Tone: Pages 201 - 203 with them this week!

Upcoming Services: Daily prayer services! 3/21: Sunday School 9:15 AM; lease remember to join us every day Monday through Friday Divine Liturgy 10 AM; at 7 AM for the reading of the 3rd hour! This is a beautiful Panachida for Dn. Richard P way to begin your day with prayer during this season of enhanced Howrilka req. by Julie Allen & prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The service is less than 15 minutes Patricia Cherinko req. by and a wonderful way to begin your day! Donna Nimec. 3/22: Third Hour Prayer 7 AM More religious oferings! 3/23: Third Hour Prayer 7 AM lease see the front entrance of our parish for the table still 3/24: Third Hour Prayer 7 AM; P laden with some religious goods! These include icons and Presanctifed Liturgy 6:30 PM other materials that deserve good homes. Be sure to take whatever you would like. If you so choose, you may leave an 3/25: Third Hour Prayer 7 AM ofering in the basket for these things. 3/26: Third Hour Prayer 7 AM; Akathist for Youth 6:30 PM; Book Club 7 PM Candle Updates! s you may have seen during the week, there are more 3/27: NO Soul Saturday A candles available near the sandbox! The memorial tray Liturgy! ; Confessions 3 PM; candles may be ofered in addition to the tapers for special Great Vespers 4 PM intention. The envelopes are for writing your prayer requests!

1 Mary’s Orthodox Church March 21st, 2021

Commemorations this week: Large Hearts: In loving memory of Dn. Richard Howrilka req. by Julie Allen and Diana & Lydia Howrilka. Vičnaja Pamjat!

Small Hearts: For the health and salvation of St. Mary’s Parish!

Eternal Lamp: In loving memory of Tracy Boutelle & George Bundga req. by Ed & Linda Bundga. Vičnaja Pamjat!

Nut Roll Updates! Christ Lamp: With prayerful thanks to Christ for the improvement of Austin Weston & his continued health req. by Sedlacek Family. A big thank you to all of our Mnohija L’ita! continued volunteers who have been helping out for the past Lamp: two weeks with our nut roll St. Nicholas Lamp: bakes! This week is our fnal push, so please be sure to see the Dormition Lamp: In loving memory of George Macko & Dn. sign up sheet and join us for Richard Howrilka req. by Sedlacek Family. Vičnaja Pamjat! rolling!

The good news for our parish is Prayer List that we are SOLD OUT! Clergy & Laity Ben Darcy If you haven’t gotten rolls yet, Family Benjamin Wayne Paul and want them for Pascha, be Austin Sharon Loreina sure to keep an eye on the Met. Gregory Ron Joyce Gregory bulletin. We’ll be having another Fr. Kenneth Judy Charles Saundra bake for ONLY OUR Pani Mary Gail Mary Molly Fr. ORTHODOX CHURCHES to Olga Doug Evelyn Fr. Edward make sure people have rolls for Michael Jerry Amy Fr. Kenneth Pascha. Dates for that coming Eliana Chuck Fr. Michael soon. Michael Marie Fr. James Debbie Janell Tony Lastly, and just as important, we Pani Kathy Scott Sherrie Tifany need volunteers to sign up for Fr. James Megan Karl Robbie the sale on the 27th! Many hands Fr. Andrew Zachary Carolyn Jennifer make light work, and the more helpers we have to direct trafc, bag and hand out rolls, and help Sunday of Orthodoxy! overall will be much appreciated! lease join us for a Zoom event to bring us as the members of P the Orthodox faith together on this Sunday of Orthodoxy! Fr. Jim Dutko has put this together as a way to interact on this God bless you all for all the work most important of days for the Orthodox! See the fyer out front! you have done!

2 Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church March 21st, 2021 of the Day St Theophylactus, bishop of Nicomedia (845)

heophylact was from the east; his native city is unknown. In Constantinople he became a close T friend of Tarasius, who afterwards became of Constantinople (see Feb. 25). Theophylact was made Bishop of Nicomedia. After the death of Saint Tarasius, his successor Nicephorus (see June 2) called together a number of Bishops to help him in fghting the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo the Armenian, who reigned from 813 to 820. Among them was Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (celebrated Dec. 26), who had attended the holy Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 — he was exiled three times for the sake of the holy icons, and for defying the Emperor Theophilus' command to renounce the veneration of the icons, was scourged from head to foot until his whole body was one great wound, from which he died eight days later, about the year 830; of Thessalonica (see July 14); Michael of Synnada (see May 23); Emilian, Bishop of Cyzicus (see Aug. 8); and Saint Theophylact, who boldly rebuked Leo to his face, telling him that because he despised the long-sufering of God, utter destruction was about to overtake him, and there would be none to deliver him. For this, Theophylact was exiled to the fortress of Strobilus in Karia of Asia Minor, where after 30 years of imprisonment and hardship, he gave up his holy soul about the year 845. Leo the Armenian, according to the Saint's prophecy, was slain in church on the eve of our Lord's Nativity, in 820." (Great Horologion)

Hieromartyr Theodoretus (362)

he priest Theodoretus was custodian of a great cathedral in Antioch, built by the Emperor T Constantine and known in its time as 'the golden church' for the beauty and luxury of its appointments. When Julian the Apostate came to the throne, he denied Christ and launched a persecution of Christians. The Emperor's uncle, also named Julian, came to Antioch to prosecute the persecution there. After plundering the church he brought Theodoretus to trial and demanded that he deny Christ. Instead, the faithful priest confessed Christ fervently and rebuked the Emperor for having denied the faith and returned to idol-worship 'as a dog returns to its vomit.' In spite, the judge urinated in the golden church, for which Theodoretus prophesied that he would die a terrible death. Theodoretus was beheaded, and Julian his judge was seized with terrible abdominal pain from the moment he defled the church until he died in torment.

It Wasn’t My Fault! By: Fr. Powel “She made me do it.” This was the “excuse of my daughter when I asked her why she hit her sister! Wow, that’s a lot of power to give to someone else!

It seems we humans have a particular gift for shifting the blame to someone else when we make mistakes. We also seem to be particularly good at excusing or justifying our choices even when those choices turn out badly!

Look at our lesson today in Genesis 2:20-3:20. This is the main portion of the passage:

3 Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church March 21st, 2021 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fg leaves together and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the feld. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Such a familiar story to us, and yet strangely new every time I read it. We see all the familiar players: Adam, Eve, the snake, and God. But the blame game stops with the snake. He never blames anybody else. Only Adam and Eve do the blame game.

And Adam is the frst to cast blame. Most folks think he blames “that woman.” Boy, is this guy in trouble later. But no, Adam DOES NOT blame Eve. He blames God! It was “that woman YOU gave me.”

And so the spiritual illness spreads and also with it the sickness of death. Failing to embrace my own responsibility is like a spiritual virus that infects my whole life with spiritual blindness and actual slavery to sin and death!

Today, most of the time we are tempted to blame others for our mistakes, but that never brings us true freedom. It’s only in embracing our own responsibility, confessing, and then asking for healing that we will ever be Orthodox on Purpose!

P.S. Dear Lord, today, all day, help me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother! Amen

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