St. Athanasius Orthodox Church 3410 Green St., Claymont DE 19703 Serving Greater Wilmington, DE & Southern Chester Co., PA 302.798.3888/610.738.9702 e-mail: st.athanasiusoc@verizon.net |
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St. Athanasius Orthodox Church Newsletter
The Beginning of Great Lent
March, 2008
Pastor’s Pen
Lenten Message, 2008
Brothers and Sister in Christ,
We have begun the season of Great and Holy Lent. Let us enter fully into this
period of repentance through prayer, fasting, almsgiving and the Sacrament of Holy
Confession.
With respect to prayer, we all need to participate in as many of the Presanctified
Liturgies served at 7:30pm on Wednesdays of Lent as we are able. Also, Tuesday
morning, March 25th at 9:00am, we will have the Matins and Divine Liturgy for the
Feast of the Annunciation. This is one of the Great Feasts of the Church. And
please remember we must not neglect Sunday Divine Liturgies.
The fasting rules of the Orthodox Church can be summarized as follows; on
Lenten weekdays all are to abstain from meat, meat products, fish, dairy products, olive
oil and wine. On Wednesdays olive oil and wine are permitted. On the Feast of the
Annunciation and Palm Sunday, fish may be eaten (shell fish are permitted on any
Lenten day). While circumstances may interfere with strict observance of the fast, we
must make every effort to adhere to these rules as closely as possible.
Regarding the giving of alms, we must remember to support the church financially,
aid the poor (Food for Hungry People) and assist those in need both materially and
spiritually.
Finally, we need to call to mind our sins, repent of them and confess them in the
Sacrament of Holy Confession. That, having accused ourselves, we may receive the
forgiveness of God and the remission (the blotting out) of our sins, that we might be
fully prepared to celebrate the Great and Holy Pascha of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
The next newsletter will contain the schedule for the liturgical services of Holy
Week and Pascha. Praying that God will grant you all a spiritually beneficial Lenten
Season and looking forward to seeing all of you in church,
I remain,
Yours in Christ,
Father James.
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Treasurer’s report January 1, 2008-February 29, 2008: Income: $4,523.75.
Expenses: $5,213.11. Deficit: $689.36.
March is AOCWNA month. Our AOCWNA chapter has been selling the
new Orthodox Study Bible. If you have not yet purchased one for your family, there
are bibles left for purchase. Below is an excerpt from the Antiochian Web Site
celebration of AOCWA month.
The month of March has been designated as Antiochian Women’s Month by His
Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP. During the month of March every year, women are
encouraged to express the fullness of their ministry in the Church.
"The women are very important in the life of the Church. You are the most important
body within the Church. You make a big difference in our ministry. When everyone
left our Lord Jesus Christ alone of the cross, the women were there. Can you see
how important women are? You are the myrrh-bearing women."
Antiochian Women Raise Funds for Retired Clergy Fund
By Lucy Hanna, Antiochian Women President of Diocese of Los Angeles and the
West
The primary areas of focus of the Antiochian Women on all levels are religious
programs, humanitarian work and the annual project. The NAB project committee has
the responsibility of coordinating the raising of funds from women throughout the
Archdiocese to benefit one specific project adopted each year by the Antiochian
Women.
Over the last 35 years, the Antiochian Women have raised over two million dollars
towards the funding and support of many worthwhile endeavors, some of which are the
Antiochian Village, the Seminarians, Continuing Pastoral Education, Missions, and
Orphanages and for the last three years, the Retired Clergy Fund.
Our clergy play a pivotal role in our lives. They are there for us from birth to death.
They baptize us, marry us and bury us. They pray for us and anoint us when we are
sick. Christ said to the leper, "Go show yourself to the priest and make an offering for
your cleansing." It is not uncommon for a priest to miss a birthday celebration of his
young child to be with a parishioner in the hospital or a parishioner in a crisis.
Our clergy teach us, guide us, hear our confessions and give us absolution so we may
be cured not only of the diseases of the flesh, but also of those of the soul. Most of all
they feed us the life giving Body and Blood of Christ to our salvation.
When the Bishop presents the newly ordained priest with the consecrated Lamb, he
says, "Receive thou this pledge, and preserve it whole and unharmed until thy last
breath, because thou shalt be held to an accounting therefore in the second and fearful
coming of our great Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Our priests also have to
give an accounting for every soul that is in their charge. This is an awesome
responsibility. This is why we must obey them for our own salvation, and theirs.
For all that, it is incumbent on us to make sure they are provided for, along with their
families during their years of service and in retirement. The Retired Clergy Fund does
just that. Metropolitan Philip has challenged the Antiochian Women to raise $500,000
over five years to help subsidize the retirement fund which he established in 1968 for
the clergy of the Archdiocese. Without substantial support, the fund would go broke
in a few years.
March 9th, Trisagion Prayers of Mercy were said for the memory of Jabra Goubar,
father of Inshirah. May his memory be eternal.
On March 16th, Trisagion Prayers of Mercy were said for the repose of our beloved
brother, Byron Mavrelis who went home to the Lord on Saturday, March 15th. May
his memory be eternal. The children made little “Kleenex” carnations and gave them to
Byron’s family members who attended church. Byron really liked those little carnations
when we made them the first time. I placed one in his jacket button hole. When he lost
it, he had asked that the next time the children make the carnations, could he please
have another one. God bless you, Byron. The children made lots of carnations just
for you.
Ancient Faith Radio has more podcasts. Search the Scriptures is a great way to
learn about the teachings of the church. Wheat, Wine and Oil contains information
about our special Orthodox “fasting cooking”; and my favorite, Orthodixie with a
wonderful and fresh look at our faith. Just go to www.ancientfaithradio.org .
On the altar there is a small jar with a white lid. Jeanne Kimerer placed the jar there
in memory of something her father did with the jar. He used to put his change into the
jar and then use the coins when he played bingo. Now we use the jar to place coins,
monies in when we might have some spare change. We can use the contents for
something we need in the church. What a great way to keep one’s memory eternal!
The children continue to learn more about the Orthodox faith as they learn some
of the prayers, church behavior and many things that make our faith rich with prayers
and rituals.
Let us continue to keep the following servants of God in our prayers for peace and
good health:
Nina, Olga, George, Danielle, Tristan, Saliba, Vetta, Charles, Jason, Metropolitan
CONSTANTINE, Dn. Daniel, Sarah, Anastasia, Symeon, Margaret, Henry,
Curt, Joan, Edward, Charlotte, Mary Beth, Nancy, Jared, Helen, Richard,
Christopher, Valerie, Rachel, Ashley, Amanda.
Let us pray for these departed servants of God that their memory may be eternal:
Byron, Johnnie, Massad, Nijmeh, Saied, Jamilleh, Jacob, Sara, Assad, Huda, Mary
Lou, Esther, John, Samuel. Rozalia, Gordon.
Mission Vespers will be held at St. Michael's on Sunday March 23, at 4:00 pm.
Fr. Timothy Hojnicki will be the guest homilist. Bishop Tikhon and guest clergy will be
present. Also present will be the weeping icon of St. Anna.
St. Michael’s will also be hosting a Lenten Retreat on Saturday, March 29th from
10:00am, with registration at 9:00am, through Great Vespers starting at 5:00pm.
There is no charge for the Retreat but they need to know asap who is coming so they
prepare food.
May we all have a blessed beginning to our Lenten season. Amen.
God grant us all many years! Make everything you do every day a prayer!
