St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Monthly Newsletter Diocese of Toledo - Orthodox Church in America 2143 S. Center Road – Burton, Michigan 48519 Served by: Fr. Matthew-Peter Butrie – Rector Fr. Esteban Vázquez Deacon Kerry Luke Gonser Email: [email protected] Website: www.saintnicholasburton.org Church Office: 810-744-0070 Services: Wednesday- 9 am Adult Education-11 am Saturday – 5 pm Vespers followed by Confessions Sunday - 9:30 a.m. Third Hour 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy Holydays, Vigil and Vespers as announced “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 1:20 JULY & AUGUST 2017 FROM FATHER’S DESK Dear sisters and brothers in Christ: Christ is among us! Pilgrimage means different things to different people. The English word “pilgrim” originally comes from the Latin word peregrinus (per, through + ager, field, country, land). It can describe a traveler making a brief journey to a particular place or someone settling for a short or long period in a foreign land. The word “pilgrimage” in English means a journey undertaken for spiritual purposes and implies a degree of hardship or discomfort. But the Greek word for pilgrimage, proskynesis (προσκύνησις) means prostration or veneration: in other words it lays stress on what you do when you arrive rather than on how you got there. We venerate the holy icons and relics, we worship God in the divine services. The earliest Christian pilgrimages were to the holy places associated with the life of our Lord Jesus Christ: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives. Egeria, a nun from Spain, left a detailed account of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the 380s. She made this journey to visit the places of our Lord Jesus’s life and to worship and pray to God at these sacred places. Not all of us may be able to make a pilgrimage such as Egeria’s. Yet we may make a pilgrimage – a spiritual journey – even here. Holy Dormition Monastery is less than two hours’ away from our parish. This monastery made up of women monastics (nuns) is a spiritual oasis in the world. The nuns dedicate themselves to prayer and work. The most important activity of the monastery is to follow St. Paul’s injunction to “pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonian 5:17). The nuns’ entire life and their day to day activities are scheduled around the daily cycle of services. The services are held in the main church and are open to the public. Guests and pilgrims are encouraged to attend the services and to provide names of those to be prayed for. The monastery is organized as a cenobitic community, meaning everything is held in common, and each member of the community shares in the work and responsibilities, that is, the daily “household” chores that any family would have--though on a larger scale. The gardens, orchard, vineyards, and chickens all need to be tended to. Meals need to be cooked and dishes washed. The church and chapels, as well as the guest house and other public buildings need to be cleaned and prepared for services and visitors. Lawns need mowing and bushes need trimming. These and many other tasks are carried out faithfully not only by the nuns, but also with the help of a multitude of volunteers. The monastery is a pillar of fire for us who live in the world. A place where we may journey to be refreshed and renewed in and by Christ through our participation in the sacred services and being present in such a sacred space. The monastic community receives all visitors as fellow pilgrims, joining together in our common journey toward Christ. Some stop by for only a few minutes, while others stay for several days in the guest house, but the nuns’ prayer is that all will have the opportunity to “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) and to “Be still, and know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10) The feast of the monastery is the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15). This year is the 30th annual pilgrimage. Among the pilgrims this year will be Archbishop Nathaniel, our own Archbishop Alexander, Bishop Paul of Chicago and the Midwest, and Bishop Anthony of Toledo and the Midwest (Antiochian Archdiocese). If you can, make time to come to the lamentations we will sing on August 14 in the monastery church where we will stand before the icon of her dormition and sing her praises in imitation of the lamentations we sing before the icon of our Lord in the tomb on Holy Friday. On August 15 the bishops will lead us all in the holy Liturgy where we may, indeed, taste and see that the Lord is good as we receive His Precious Body and Life-Giving Blood for the remission of our sins and to life everlasting. After lunch there will be Holy Unction led by the bishops and priests. All come to be anointed with the blessed oil for spiritual and physical healing. Vespers and supper will follow. If you can’t make both days, perhaps come for one or the other service: the lamentations, or Liturgy or Unction. If you cannot make the journey, join the clergy and faithful at Assumption Church in Grand Blanc as they celebrate their parish feast. Draw near to Christ on this great feast of His Mother. You will receive God’s grace. Come and be enlightened, be refreshed and renewed by Christ Jesus Himself. With love in Christ, Third Hour Schedule Reader Schedule July August September July August September 2 Lucy 6 Lucy 3 Reggie 2 Amir 6 Angelo 3 Taras 9 Reggie 13 Reggie 10 Angelo 9 Angelo 13 Amir 10 Amir 16 Angelo 20 Angelo 17 Lucy 16 Johnny 20 Johnny 17 Angelo 23 Lucy 27 Lucy 24 Reggie 23 Kathy 27 Kathy 24 Johnny 30 Reggie 30 Taras If you are unable to make your assigned If you are unable to make your assigned reading date, you must find a replacement. reading date, you must find a replacement. COFFEE HOUR volunteers are needed. There is a sign-up list outside of the kitchen. Please commit to helping out so that we can continue having this social time together. July Coffee Hour Volunteers August Coffee Hour Volunteers 2 6 9 13 16 20 23 27 30 MEMORY ETERNAL! CHRIST IS RISEN! Milan Glusica fell asleep in the Lord on June 1 and was buried from Sharp Funeral Home on Fenton Rd at Evergreen Cemetery by Fr. Gabriel Bilas assisted by Fr. Matthew on June 3. He is the husband of Anita Glusica. Bog da prosti! God forgive him! Christos voskrese! Christos anesti! Christ is risen! PLEASE NOTE that the voice mail system for the office has been reworked. If Marcia is assisting another caller, you will be redirected to voice mail. Please leave a message so that she can get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you. CONTACT INFORMATION Please contact the church office with any updates to your mailing address, email address or telephone number(s) HOPE IN A BOX whenever you have a change. Thank you! DIOCESAN ASSESSMENT You will find in your box of offering July Toilet Paper envelopes one marked “Diocesan Assessment.” Each parish in the Feminine Care Diocese is assessed $35 per pledging adult. We have been paying this August Products/Razors & directly out of our Sunday offerings, presently $5,320 per year. If every Shaving Cream adult will make the $35 assessment above and beyond their regular Toothpaste/Tooth pledge, our parish will save $5,320 per year. If you have not yet turned in September brushes your envelope, please do so as soon as possible. ORTHODOX BOOK CLUB will meet in September. JULY NAMESDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES & BIRTHDAYS NAMESDAYS BIRTHDAYS 3 Cynthia Economou 1 Kara George 11 Olga Samaras 2 Lucy Hogg Olga Todoroff 3 John Borkovich 15 Allen Vladimir Adams Walter Borkovich Bruce Vladimir Borkovich Déva Burnett Vladimir Akkerman Natasha Oginsky Walter John Borkovich 4 Peter Branoff Vladimir Pyatenko 5 Peter Sredich 19 Milica Beslach 8 Oleg Dashevskiy 20 Elias Kokaly Kathryn Gurin Elijah Daniel George 11 Richard Elieff 22 Magda Popoff Robert Elieff Marla Houser 14 Charlie Jernigan 24 Popadia Amanda Christine Vázquez Dante Hatch Chelsea Christine Borkovich 16 Alexander Gonser Christine Adkisson Rimi Abu-Aita Christine Brucksch 17 Bob Russell Christine Panoff 19 Austin Selmi Kirsten Lee Popoff Dorothy Goodman Kristin Hart Jo Ann Havens Krysten Brown Julie Jonascu 25 Anita Glusica 21 Linda Branoff 27 Ponte Brown 23 Calvin Conrad WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES 25 Alexa Stevens 6 Calvin & Ruth Conrad Zoe Stevens 17 Bob & Peggy Russell 28 Ian Price 20 David & Marla Houser Helen Ashmun 27 Chad & Julie Conover 30 David Batzos Nicholas & Constance Maxim Stephanie Price 30 David & Kris George AUGUST NAMESDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES & BIRTHDAYS, NAMESDAYS NAMESDAYS (CONTINUED) 4 Maximilian Biernacki 18 Laurie (Florinka) Brock 6 Xavier Abdallah 21 Cameron Stevens 10 Lawrence Bladecki 26 St. Adrian-Adriane Grossi 11 Susan Goodman St. Adrian-Adrienne Biernacki Susan Oginsky Natasha Oginsky Susan Popoff 27 Monica Mitevski 15 Mia Jonascu 30 Saśo Pirkovic Deva Glusica (Theotokos) Maria Papalazarou ANNIVERSARIES Marie Todorovsky 3 Peter & Jo Sredich Marika Karavanis 7 Peter & Mary Anne Brayan Marilyn Branoff 19 Luai & Amani Helal Mary Abu-Aita 21 Bill & Cindy Economou Mary Ann Brayan 22 Jimmy & Diane Todorovsky Mary Batzos 27 John & Rose Goodman Mary Kosman Maryanna (Marie Anna) Nedanis May Kokaly Sharon Jernigan (Theotokos) Sharon George Linda Marie Branoff Donna (Susie) Ford (Theotokos) AUGUST BIRTHDAYS BIRTHDAYS (CONTINUED) 1 Julie Conover 19 Fr.