ST. MARY ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

A PARISH OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA

905 SOUTH MAIN ST. S WILKES-BARRE PA 18702 PARISH OFFICE (570) 824-5016 S PARISH HALL (570) 824 – 1674

RECTORY 570-287-2049 S PARISH EMAIL - stmarywilkesbarre@gmail.com

ARCHDIOCESE WEB PAGE S www.antiochian .org S

WELCOME to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. We are the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Christian Church whose roots trace directly back to the first century Antioch, the city in which the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

The Orthodox Church is the oldest and second-largest Christian group in the world. We are called by God, our Creator, to worship and follow Him and to proclaim to the world His message of love, peace and salvation.

God loves all mankind and desires that all human beings should believe in Him, know Him, abide in Him, and receive eternal life from Him. To accomplish this God Himself came into the world as a man in Jesus Christ --- becoming man that we might become like God. The Parishioners of St. Mary Parish welcome you and are pleased that you have decided to worship Almighty God with our Parish family today. We encourage you to learn about our Orthodox faith and our Parish if you are not yet Orthodox.

Although the non-Orthodox may not receive Holy Communion, which may only be given to the Orthodox faithful, we invite you to come forward at the close of the Liturgy to receive a blessing from the Priest and blessed bread. Please also come downstairs to the Parish Hall join us for our fellowship hour.

Our Patronal Feast is the DORMITION (FALLING-ASLEEP) OF THE THEOTOKOS, which is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church and is celebrated each year on August 15. The Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, was “blessed amongst women,” and she was chosen “to bear the Savior of our souls.” Orthodox Christians consider her to be the Queen of all the saints and angels. Knowing she is eternally present at the throne of God interceding for mankind, we pray for her love, guidance, and protection.

Clergy His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH, Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America

His Grace Bishop THOMAS, Auxiliary Bishop of Charleston, Oakland & the Mid-Atlantic Very Rev. Fr. George Alberts, Pastor

Very Rev. Fr. Dr. David Hester, Pastor Emeritus Subdeacon William Obeid + Subdeacon N.D. Namey + Subdeacon John Moses Jr.

Subdeacon/Seminarian David Rayahin + Seminarian Mark Makarios

COMMEMORATIONS ! Today – Holy Bread, Bulletin & Coffee

Hour sponsored by Gloria and Bashar Attar and Family in loving memory of Kamal Nasri + Trisagion Prayers are also for Kamal Nasri

! March 1 – Holy Bread and Bulletin offered/sponsored in loving memory of Lee Namey by his family and also Holy Bread and Bulletin and Coffee Hour are offered/sponsored in loving memory of Peggy Malta by her family and Trisagion Prayers are also said for Peggy Malta for her 40 Day Memorial

! March 8 - Holy Bread, Bulletin and Coffee Hour offered/sponsored in loving memory of O.J, Guy, and Marge Solomon by the Solomon Family and also Trisagion Prayers are offered for O.J, Guy, and Marge Solomon

! March 15 - Holy Bread, Bulletin and Coffee Hour offered/sponsored in loving memory of Sadie Barkovitz by the Moses Family and also Trisagion Prayers are offered for Sadie Barkovitz

! March 22 – Open

! March 29- Holy Bread and Bulletin Offered/Sponsored by Corrine Censulla in loving memory of Mildred Broody

SCHEDULE OF PARISH LIFE AT ST. MARY Lenten Triodion Continues Today

Building & Grounds Committee Meeting after Liturgy

Sat. Feb. 29 Confessions from 4:30 – 5:00 & Vespers at 5:00 pm

Sun. March 1 Matins at 8:50 am & Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am & + Forgiveness Vespers at 5:00pm

Mon. March 2 Lent Begins

CONFESSION is one of the Sacraments of the Church & Is Important To Our Continued Spiritual Health …. The Church prescribes confession at least four (4) times a year ….. There is no better time than this Lenten season to make your confession. Father George is available every Saturday before Vespers and Sunday after Liturgy or by appointment to hear your confession ….

Divine Liturgy Variables on Sunday, February 23, 2020 Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meat Fare)

Hieromartyr Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna; Venerable Gorgonia, sister of Gregory the Theologian; Venerable Zebinas, Polychronios, Moses and Damian near Cyrrhus in Syria; Venerable Damian of

Esphigmenou monastery on Mount Athos

RESURRECTIONAL APOLYTIKION IN TONE THREE Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, for the Lord hath done a mighty act with His own arm. He hath trampled down death by death, and become the first-born from the dead. He hath delivered us from the depths of Hades, granting the world the Great Mercy.

APOLYTIKION OF THE DORMITION In giving birth thou didst keep thy virginity and thy repose thou didst not forsake the world O Theotokos, for thou art the mother of life and thou didst pass over into life. And through thine intercessions from death thou dost redeem our souls.

KONTAKION FOR SUNDAY OF LAST JUDGMENT IN TONE ONE When Thou comest, O God, to earth with glory, and all creatures tremble before Thee, and the river of fire floweth before the Altar, and the books are opened and sins revealed, deliver me then from that unquenchable fire, and make me worthy to stand at Thy right hand, O righteous Judge.

THE EPISTLE The Lord is my strength and my praise.

The Lord chastising hath chastised me, but He hath not delivered me over to death. THE READING FROM THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS. (8:8-9:2)

Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care, lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you—a man of knowledge—at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

THE GOSPEL THE READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. (25:31-46)

The Lord said, “When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was

naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see Thee hungry and feed Thee, or thirsty and give Thee drink? And when did we see Thee a stranger and welcome Thee, or naked and clothe Thee? And when did we see Thee sick or in prison and visit Thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Then He will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see Thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to Thee?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to Me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

THE SYNAXARION On February 23 in the Holy Orthodox Church, we commemorate the Hieromartyr Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna; Venerable Gorgonia, sister of Gregory the Theologian; Venerable Zebinas, Polychronios, Moses and Damian near Cyrrhus in Syria; and Venerable Damian of Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos. Today, we commemorate the Second and impartial Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When the Judge of all sitteth to judge the earth, Come now! Mayest Thou judge me worthy of Thy voice!

It is the Sunday of the Last Judgment—known also as Meat Fare Sunday—the lesson of which occurs in today’s Holy Gospel. Jesus illustrates to us God’s ineffable goodness and His great love for mankind. And so lest some who are lazy should loiter and spend the time appropriate to their salvation in the pursuit of sin, and be suddenly overtaken by death, the divine Fathers decree that on this day the remembrance of the Second Appearance of Christ may be celebrated. The intention is to remind them that, as God is good and loving to mankind, He is also a very righteous Judge Who recompenses each according to his deeds. Our Lord teaches us that when we minister to our brother or sister, we really minister to Him. This brings us righteousness and life eternal.

By Thine ineffable love for mankind, O Christ God, make us worthy of Thy devoted voice, number us among Thy righteous ones and have mercy on us. Amen.

The Last Judgement (Meat-Fare Sunday)

The Following is an excerpt from Great Lent by Alexander Schmemann From Chapter 2: Preparation for Lent

It is love again that constitutes the theme of "Meat-Fare Sunday." The Gospel lesson for the day is Christ's parable of the Last Judgment (Matt. 25:31-46). When Christ comes to judge us, what will be the criterion of His judgment? The parable answers: love-- not a mere humanitarian concern for abstract justice and the anonymous "poor," but concrete and personal love for the human person, any human person, that God makes me encounter in my life....

Christian love is the "possible impossibility" to see Christ in another man, whoever he is, and whom God, in His eternal and mysterious plan, has decided to introduce into my life, be it only for a few moments, not as an occasion for a "good deed" or an exercise in philanthropy, but as the beginning of an eternal companionship in God Himself. For, indeed, what is love if not that mysterious power which transcends the accidental and the external in the "other"-- his physical appearance, social rank, ethnic origin, intellectual capacity-- and reaches the soul, the unique and uniquely personal "root" of a

human being, truly the part of God in him? If God loves every man it is because He alone knows the priceless and absolutely unique treasure, the "soul" or "person" He gave every man. Christian love then is the participation in that divine knowledge and the gift of that divine love. There is no "impersonal" love because love is the wonderful discovery of the "person" in "man," of the personal and unique in the common and general. It is the discovery in each man of that which is "lovable" in him, of that which is from God.

....

The parable of the Last Judgment is about Christian love. Not all of us are called to work for "humanity," yet each one of us has received the gift and the grace of Christ's love. We know that all men ultimately need this personal love-- the recognition in them of their unique soul in which the beauty of the whole creation is reflected in a unique way. We also know that men are in prison and are sick and thirsty and hungry because that personal love has been denied them. And, finally, we know that however narrow and limited the framework of our personal existence, each one of us has been made responsible for a tiny part of the Kingdom of God, made responsible by that very gift of Christ's love. Thus, on whether or not we have accepted this responsibility, on whether we have loved or refused to love, shall we be judged. For "inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me..."

Great Lent is a time for us to prepare ourselves for the greatest of all Feasts of the Church. The Church helps us in our preparation by giving us a series of readings on the three Sundays leading up to Great Lent. These readings provide very clear instructions on what we must bring with us on our Lenten journey if we hope to experience everything the Lenten journey can show and teach us. The first Sunday teaches humility. The second Sunday teaches us about the importance of repentance. The lesson we hear today teaches us Christian Love for our brothers and sisters is vital to our salvation ….. Lent begins on Monday, March 2, 2020.

FINAL THOUGHTS

With the end of Jesus's earthly ministry quickly approaching, He shares this story about the final judgment. We know that Jesus will return and at His second coming all will be judged. Since we do not know when this will occur, it is important that we as Christians remain prepared so that we can be numbered among the sheep. In this passage, we are told very specifically what we will be judged for: our acts of Christian love toward others. This love challenges us to go beyond society's notion of charity and calls us to see Christ in everyone, serving each person as we would Christ. This Sunday is also known as Meatfare Sunday. After this day, we begin to fast from meat products. –