ST. NICHOLAS ORTHODOX CHURCH “Let Us Therefore Strive to Preserve the Holiness of Our Souls and to Guard the Purity of Our Bodies with All Fervor”-St
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Thirty-first Sunday After Pentecost December 30, 2018 ST. NICHOLAS ORTHODOX CHURCH “Let us therefore strive to preserve the holiness of our souls and to guard the purity of our bodies with all fervor”-St. Nicholas of Myra American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese | Ecumenical Patriarchate Fr. Nicholas Mihaly, Pastor 1123 East Avenue Erie, PA 16503 H: (814) 453-4902 C: (203) 241-1027 [email protected] More Information Parish Website: www.stnicholaserie.org Weekly Schedule Sunday, December 30—9:30 AM; Divine Liturgy & Panachida Diocesan Website: for Dennis Kormos on the 40th Day of repose offered by Jim & www.acrod.org Nancy DeHaven Wednesday, January 2—6:30 PM; Moleben for the Nativity Fast Saturday, January 5—5:00 PM; Vespers www.facebook.com/ StNicholasErie/ Sunday, January 6—9:30 AM; Divine Liturgy Welcome! Confessions are available thirty minutes prior to Divine Liturgy on the If you are new to our parish, first Sunday of every month; thirty minutes before vespers on Saturday welcome! St. Nicholas is a evenings; or by appointment. welcoming Orthodox Christian parish. As a reminder, only those Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves are invited to receive Communion. For all of our visitors, Orthodox or non-Orthodox, please join us for coffee downstairs; meet Fr. Nick & the parishioners! !1 Thirty-first Sunday After Pentecost December 30, 2018 Youth Event; Re-Scheduled for January 26 Our parish children and teens will meet on Saturday, January 26 at 2:00 PM. We will be working on a stewardship project for the parish and enjoying each other’s company. Orthodoxy on Tap Our next gathering of Orthodoxy on Tap will be on Saturday, January 12 at 2:00 PM at the Voodoo Brewery on State Street. Fr. Advent Confessions Stephen Loposky will be our guest speaker. Extra time for confessions Christmas Excuse Note during this Advent Season will Do you or your children need an excuse note to miss work or be available on the next two school for Christmas Day? Please see Fr. Nick and he’d be happy Sundays, December 30 & to write one for you to make sure that everyone is here to January 6, in addition to the celebrate the Christmas Divine Liturgy! usual times for confession. If these times do not work out for House Blessings 2019 you, please schedule a time with Fr. Nick for confession before The house blessing season is almost upon us! Following the feast Christmas Day. Celebrate the of Theophany and the Great Blessing of Water on January 19, Fr. birth of Jesus Christ with a clean Nick will be available for house blessings. Please see Fr. Nick to schedule a time to have your house blessed between January 20 & soul! March 1. More information regarding house blessings will be in Upcoming Events future bulletins. • January 7-Christmas Day Blessing of Presque Isle Bay • January 12-Orthodoxy on Tap On Saturday, January 19, we will meet at Dobbins Landing for the • January 19-Blessing of Presque Second Annual Pan-Orthodox Blessing of the waters of Presque Isle Bay Isle Bay. The service will begin at 1:00 followed by a fellowship gathering at Voodoo Brewery on State Street. • January 26-Youth Event • March 11-Great Lent Begins Birthdays & Anniversaries • April 28-Great & Holy PASCHA Dec 31 Helen Douglas Jan 1 George & Leonna (Eddy) Vukmer-59th Anniversary 8 Irene Schwab If you would like Many Years to be sung for you or a loved one, please let Fr. Nick know prior to the beginning of Divine Liturgy !2 Thirty-first Sunday After Pentecost December 30, 2018 Parish Prayer List “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” James 5:16 For the Health of…Bishop Athanasius Akunda, Fr. John Baranik, Fr. Lawrence Barriger, Fr. James Gleason, Fr. John Gido, Fr. Tony Joseph, Fr. Robert Lucas Fr. Nicholas Palun, Fr. Michael Polanichka, Fr. Michael Rustick, Fr. Jonathan Tobias, Fr. John Zboyovski, Fr. David Smoley, Pani Donna Smoley, Pani Connie Miloro, Pani Eleanor Pribish, George Arghyrou, Douglas Borkowski, Stephen Brancho, Emma Burkell, John Candia, Sandy Carlisle, Gail Collister, Robert Collister, James DeHaven, Mark DeHaven, Mary DeHaven, Peter Dimitriadis, Helen Douglas, Irene Fendya, Miko Jovanovich, John Kloss, Richard Koerner, Jean Kramer, Don Kuzmin, Olivia Kuzmin, Evelyn McCambridge, Mike McCambridge, Guy McIntyre, Orestes Mihaly, Serge Mihaly, Mark Mizak, Robert Perevuznik, Sr., Barbara Scheibeck, Richard Schrader, Irene Schwab, Elizabeth Skalko, Isabella Smith, Ignatius Thompson, Vicktor Volpe, Cheryl Walker, David Walker, Jake & Lauren, Steven, Katlyn Wyant, George Yurcan …through the prayers of St. Nectarios the Wonderworker & St. Panteleimon the Great-Martyr and Healer For Expectant Mothers… Pani Eleni Stagon, Sarah Fucsko, Brenna Mihaly…through the prayers of St. Anna, the Mother of the Virgin Mary For the Repose of…Pani Magdaline Blaschak, Pani Mary Kundla, Lawrence Beck, Helen Bires, Ann Burdick, Lousie Butts, Thomas Candia, Ann DiMarco, Anna Evanisko, Vera Fetchina, Alvin Irwin, John E. Kelley, Dennis Kormos, Kyle Lomme, Shane Murdock, Mildred Paproski, Rade Uzunovski …May their memories be eternal! If you have someone you would like to be added to the prayer list, please see Fr. Nick !3 Thirty-first Sunday After Pentecost December 30, 2018 The Holy Supper on Christmas Eve By Fr. David Mastroberte Customs for this meal vary from region to The day before Christmas has been observed region, village to village, and family to family. as a day of fasting among both Eastern and Here is a rough outline of some common tradi- Western Christians since the earliest centuries. tions among Carpatho-Rusyns: While the Roman Catholics broke with this • The table is covered with a white cloth, to ancient tradition by eliminating the Christmas remember the swaddling clothes of the Infant Eve fast after their Second Vatican Council in Jesus. Straw is placed either under or on the the 1960s, Orthodox Christians (as well as most tablecloth, as a reminder of the manger. Eastern Catholics) continue to keep Christmas • The meal begins after the first star appears, Eve as a strict-fast day: no meat or dairy are as a reminder of the star of Bethlehem. The eaten on this day, head of the as it is the final household signals day of the Nativity the start of the Fast. That being meal by saying said, Christmas “Christ is born!” Eve is not with all replying somber! “Glorify Him!” In the church’s •Before food is cycle of services, served, any the new day number of cus- begins at sunset toms might take —just as was the place. custom in the Old Participants may Testament. wash their hands, Fasting, however, as a sign of purity. doesn’t end until Some tie a rope midnight and, on around the table days when there is a Divine Liturgy, after legs to symbolize unity. Rural families even Liturgy and the reception of Holy Communion. bless the animals in the barn to recall the To balance the fact that Christmas has begun animals present at the birth of Christ. (These but the fast has not ended, many Christian days, some people bless their pets!) peoples of Central and Eastern Europe such as Carpatho-Rusyns, Ukrainians, Belarusians, • A candle is lit, to remember that Christ is the Slovaks and Poles, developed a festive-yet- Light of the World. Everyone then joins in a fasting meal known as the “Holy prayer like the Lord’s Prayer or the Tropar of Supper” (Svyaty Vecher) or “Veliya” (from Christmas “Your nativity, O Christ our God…” “vigil”). • A loaf of bread is cut and shared, since Jesus One possible origin of this dinner is the is the “Bread of Life.” This simple leavened common monastic practice of eating sweetened bread (made from flour, water, yeast, and boiled wheat kernals known as koliva—in perhaps a little salt, sugar, or oil) is similar to Slavonic, kutya—on days of fasting. This food is the “prosfora” used for Holy Communion. still made for Christmas Eve in some locales. (Wafers—oplatky—are used by Roman !4 Thirty-first Sunday After Pentecost December 30, 2018 Catholics, since they use unleavened bread their own by gathering as a family on Christmas for Communion.) Eve to pray together, break bread, make a toast • Everyone gets a glass of wine and a toast is of wine, and share a fasting meal. This is a given, wishing good health for the new year. worthy way to begin the celebration of Our Lord’s Nativity. This Christmas Eve, make your • Some families share pieces of garlic dipped supper a Holy Supper! in honey—a symbol of accepting both the sweet and the bitter in life. Others dip the bread in honey. Our Journey to Bethlehem • After these preliminary actions, the meal itself begins. As noted before, it is a strict-fast The forty-day fast that precedes the celebration meal, so the foods are prepared without meat of Christmas, the Nativity of Jesus Christ, is or dairy products. However, this doesn’t mean known commonly as Advent. Advent comes the foods aren’t plentiful and delicious! Some from the Latin word advenire—arrival. It’s also families serve 12 dishes, in honor of the 12 the root of the word adventure. Indeed, Advent apostles. Familiar dishes utilize the kinds of is an adventure, a spiritual adventure to the foods that could be preserved for the winter, manger and the cave. Just as St. Joseph and and include: a soup, of beans, mushrooms, the Virgin Mary had to travel to Bethlehem for cabbage, or other similar ingredients; Jesus Christ to be born, we too have to travel to bobaľky (bread dough made into small balls, Bethlehem in order to properly celebrate this baked, and seasoned with cabbage/ great feast.