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SHEPHERDMonthly newsletter of the Serbian

Orthodox Church of the AssumptionFair Oaks, California

April 2015God be with you

P A S T I R

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SHEPHERD

A monthly publicationof the

Serbian Orthodox ChurchAssumption of the Blessed

Virgin Mary

7777 Sunset AvenueFair Oaks, Ca 95628

Very Rev. Stavrophor Dane PopovicVery Rev. William Weir

Church: 916-966-5438Fax: 916-966-5235

Priest: 916-966-6276Cell: 916-606-8808

Shepherd Staff

Editor: V. Rev. Stavrophor Dane Popovic

Written contributions are welcome;Editorial discretion reserved. Please

Submit articles and ideas to:

V. Rev. Stavrophor Dane Popovic7777 Sunset Ave

Fair Oaks, Ca 95628

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Hristos VaskrseVaistinu Vaskrse

Hristos Vaskrse

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Dear Sistersand Brothers

in our Risen Lord,

It is with a consider-able joy that I greet you on theday of Pascha with the agesold greeting of “Christ is

Risen!” I am certain that those of you whoenriched your lives with attendance at theLenten services and who followed the fastwith devotion and patience are experienc-ing the happiness of Christ’s Resurrectionwith internal joy and a renewed spirit.

St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Cor-inth to speak of the centralityof the Resurrection in the livesof Christians. (1 Cor. 15:12-58) If you read these versesyou will discover several as-pects of the Resurrection andits place in God’s kingdom.You may also notice that manyof St. Paul’s statements are in-cluded in the hymns andprayers we sing and pray dur-ing the Paschal service.At the time St. Paul wrote this letter(Epistle) about 55 AD, 55 years afterChrist’s Resurrection, there were someChristians who did not believe that there

was a Resurrection at all. St. Paul wasseeking to dispel that notion. As he begins,St. Paul writes: “But if there is no resur-rection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.And if Christ is not risen, then our preach-ing is in vain and your faith is in vain.” “Invain” also means “empty” or “for nothing”.In our Orthodox faith the day of Pascha,Easter, is the key to our entire Church year.The major Holy days which follow arebased on the day of Pascha for the remain-der of the year. Many Orthodox Christianslive their lives from one Pascha to the next.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ isthe anchor of our Church and religiouslives.

For those who participateddeeply in the Lenten prepara-tion and especially the servicesof Holy Week from LazarusSaturday to Saturday night Res-urrection Matins, you wouldhave experienced and“explosion of joy”. It is thatfeeling of joy and hope that Ipray we all experience at theend of our earthly lives. Ourown entrance into eternal life is

so much more than simply a dead bodycovered with dirt and finished forever. Ifthe end was without hope and that was allthere is to life, then our life or purposewould be completely without meaning. It

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is the words of the Resurrection hymn:“Christ is risen, trampling down death bydeath and to those in the tombs restoringlife.” that are sung at the Resurrection andassure us of the life to come.

In addition to the death and Resur-rection of Jesus Christ annihilating deathit also conquers man’s greatest fear, thefear of death. The fear of death is worsethan death and generates a basic and sub-tle anxiety in us. We grow up and ageknowing that we are powerless in the faceof death. To overcome this anxiety wespend our lives accumulating treasure andpower and often become lost in the pleas-ures of life as a way to escape the ultimateinsecurity of life. By the death and Resur-rection of Jesus Christ and our belief asOrthodox Christians that earthly life endsbut with it we rise to a newlife with

God. This eternal life with our Savior willnot end!

For anyone who reads this month’sShepherd and this greeting who does notunderstand the important implication ofChrist’s Resurrection for him or her, wepray that the Resurrection Liturgy mayprove to be a personal awakening and re-birth of the love of God within you. Wewish that the Risen Lord will lead each of usall to accept the joy of the great gift of eter-nal life that our Lord offers to us so that wemay fully share in the true joy of this feastof feasts. Christ is Risen!

Your unworthy intercessor beforethe altar of our Risen Lord,Fr. William

Dear fellow parishioners,

I hope all of you are enjoying the Easter lent with your family and friends. This time ofthe year always signals a new beginning and I hope we can all come together EasterSunday and enjoy each other's fellowship.

Also, I would like to thank Mirko Petrovich and his entire family for making the crabfeed so successful with all their hard work. Of course no event is successful without thepeople who attended so thanks to all of you. Also thank you to the Gojkovich, Bradric,and Halverson families for selling so many tickets and sharing our Serbian hospitalitywith so many.

All the best,Stan Mojsich

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Draga Bra}o iSestre u Vaskrslom

Hristu

Pozdravljam vas savelikom rado{}u na dan

Hristovog Vaskrsenja sa starim poz-dravom hri{}anskim “Hristos Vaskrse”.

Verujem da svi oni koji su obogatilisvoj ìvot prisutvovanjem bo-gosliènjima u vreme posta i oni kojisu upra`njavali post sa odano{}u ismirenjem doìvljavajuveliku radost HristovogVaskrsenja sa unutra{njom rado{}u i odu-hovljenim duhom.

Sv. ApostolPavle je pisao hri{}anima u Korintuo ova`nosti Vaskrsenja u ìvotu Hri{}}ana.(1Kor.15:12-58). Ako pro~itateove stihove otkri}e te nekoliko pouka oVaskrsenju i njegovom mestu u Car-stvu Boìjem. Primeti}ete te da mnoge

pouke Apostola Pavla su uvr{tene uhimnama i molitvama koje pevamo i~itamo u vreme Vaskr{njeg bo-gosluènja.

U vreme kada je Apostol Pavlepisao pisma hri{}anima oko 55godinepo Hristu, 55 godina posle HristovogVaskrsenja, postojali su hri{}ani kojinisu verovali u Hristovo vaskrsenje.Sv. Apostol Pavle traìo je na~inekako da ih uveri u istinitos Vaskrsenja.Na po~etku, Sv. Apostol Pavle pi{e:“Ako ne postoji vaskrsenje iz mrtvi,onda Hristos nije vaskrsao. A akohristos nije vaskrsao, uzalud je vera

nasa uzalud je nadanje na{e”. Uzalud zna~I prazno,nepostoje}e”. U pravoslav-noj veri dan Vaskrsenja,Vaskrs, je klju~ ~itavecrkvene godine. Svi velikipraznici koji dolaze supvezani sa Vaskrsenjem

Hristovim. Mnogi hri{}ani ìve njihovìvot od Vaskrsa do Vaskrsa. Vask-rsenje Isusa Hrista je koren na{egCrkvenog i duhovnog ìvota.


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Svi oni koji aktivno u~estvovaliu pripremama za vreme posta aposebno na bogosluènja u Velikunedelju po~ev{i od Lazareve Subotedo Vaskr{njeg jutrenja na VelikuSubotu, oseti}ete eksploziju radosti”.To je taj ose}aj radosti i nada zakoju se molim da svi mi osetimo nakraju ovozemaljkog ìvota. Na{ li~niulazak u ve~ni ìvot je mnogo vi{enego jednostavno mrtvo telo pokrivenosa zemljom za uvek. Ako je kraj beznade i to je sve u ovom ìvotu, ondana{ ìvot, ili cilj na{eg ìvota bio bipotpuno bez zna~enja. Re~i odPashalne pesme kaè: “Hristos vaskrseiz mrtvi smr}u smrt pobedi I onima ugrobovima ìvot darova.” ta pesma naVaskrs nam svedo~i o ìvotu kojdolazi.

Pored smrti i Vaskrsenja IsusaHrista on ja jo{ i pobeda nadnajve}im ljudskim strahom, a to jesmrt. Strah od smrti je stra{nija negosama smrt koja izaziva i najmanje inajve}e strahove u nama. Od ranogìvota do starosti saznali smo da smonemo}ni pred licem smrti. Da bi po-bedili ovaj strah mi potro{imo ~oitavsvoj ìvot prikupljaju}i bogatsvo i mo}a ~esto puta budemo izgubljeni uzadovoljstvima ovog ìvota kako bi iz-

begli nesigurnost ovoga ìvota. Krozsmrt i Vaskrsenje Isusa Hrista i na{everovanje kao Pravoslavaca da seovozemaljski ìvot zavr{ava i kroz njuvaskrsavamo u novi ìvot sa Gospo-dom. Ovaj ve~ni ìvot sa Gospodomne}e nikada prestati!

Svi oni koji ~itaju ovomese~niPastir i ovu poruku i nerazumjuva`nost i smisao Hristovog Vaskrsenjaza njega ili nju, mi se molimo da imVaskr{nja Liturgija pokaè istinuli~nog bu|enje i ponovno ro|enjeljubavi Bo`je u njima

@elja nam je da Vaskrsli Gospoduvede svakog od nas,da primimo ra-dost velikog dara ve~nog ìvota kojeGospod nudi svima nama i da u pot-punosti delimo istinitu radost ovogPraznika nad Praznicima.

Va{ nedostojni molitvenik pred oltaromVaskrslog Gospda

Prota William Weir


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Monday: "Beholdthe Bridegroom comesin the midst of thenight, And blessed isthe servant whom Heshall find watching.But, also unworthy ishe whom He shall findlazy. Beware therefore

my soul, do not fall into sleep."Thus is sung the hymn which highlightsthe theme of Holy Monday evening. Theservice commemorates the Parable of theTen Virgins. Of the ten virgins, five werewise and five were foolish, and all wereawaiting the Bridegroom to enter theMarriage Feast. However, He delayedHis arrival and the five foolish virginsfell asleep after their oil lamps had goneout. When the Bridegroom arrived, theycould not welcome Him properly, andonly the five wise virgins, who were pre-pared, entered the bridal hall with theBridegroom,

Tuesday: In this, the final Nym-phios Service, the Church commemo-rates the sinful woman who anointed theLord with myrrh, only a few days beforeHis death. With true repentance for thelife she had led, the woman anointed thehead and feet of Christ with the myrrhand wiped His feet with her hair. Hertears, which mixed with, the myrrh,were more effective than words in ex-pressing her repentance to the Lord.

THE FI-

NAL DAYSOn Holy Wednesday evening it has beentraditional for hundreds of years for theChurch to celebrate the Sacrament ofHoly Unction. The priest anoints thefaithful with holy oil for the forgivenessof sins, protection from all things thatmay deter one's mind away from theLord and the healing of spiritual andphysical infirmities. This allows thefaithful to clear themselves of all thingsand to concentrate on the final events of

Holy Week.Thursday

morning the Orthosis sung. The service,which commemo-rates the Lord'swashing of His disci-ples' feet, also re-members the shame-

ful deed of Judas Iscariot in his decisionto betray Jesus. As the Liturgy beginsthe thought of this betrayal is combinedwith readings and hymns marking theLast Supper. As the faithful prepare topartake of Holy Communion in remem-brance of the Lord's sheering of His Bodyand Blood with His disciples, a hymnuniting the betrayal and the Last Supperis sung.

"Receive me today, O Son of God,as a partaker of Your mystic feast. For Iwill not speak of Your mystery to your


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enemies; I will not kiss You as Judasdid. But, as the thief I will confess You,Lord, remember me as You come intoYour Kingdom."

On the evening of Holy Thurs-day, Jesus Christ is crucified. There are

twelve Gospelreadings in thisservice, all ofwhich contribute tothe completion ofthe tragic and dra-matic picture of theLord's final hourson earth. He is fol-lowed to His fare-well conversation

with His disciples and the Garden ofGethsemane where He prays one lasttime to His Father in Heaven.

"My Father, if it is at all possi-ble, take this cup of suffering away fromme. Yet, not by my will, but by Thine bedone." Then Jesus wept.

The atmosphere in the Churchon this evening is one ofhushed sorrow and trag-edy. The words of ourLord's accusers are read;the statements of PontiusPilate; and the cries ofthe mobs demanding Hiscrucifixion.

Finally, after thefifth Gospel is read, thesymbolic procession to thehill of Golgotha, where

Christ was crucified, begins from theSanctuary door. The lights of the churchare dimmed, the priest carries the large

wooden crucifix on which Christ's body isnailed and the congregation chants.

At the conclusion of the processionthe priest places the Crucifix in the frontof the church where the faithful approachand kiss Christ's feet in shame and sor-row of man's wickedness, even againstthe Creator.

On Holy Friday morning thechurch commemorates the Royal Hours:

the Lord's hours ofagony on the crossand His death. NoDivine Liturgy isever celebrated onHoly Friday becausethe Supreme Sacri-fice of our Lordmust be honored.Friday afternoon theLord's body is re-

moved from the Cross. Usually done bytwo priests, they symbolize Joseph of Ari-mathea and Nicodemus who, after remov-ing the Lord's body, wrapped Him up inthe finest linen and buried Him in Jo-seph's new tomb. The priest, who also

wraps Christ's body,places it on the HolyAltar to prepare it forthe tomb.

Toward theend of the service thefuneral processiontakes place with thepriest and the altarboys. The

priest carries the Epitaphios, a richlyembroidered cloth depicting Christ prepared for burial, while the altar boys


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carry their torches and fans. The pro-cession slowly approaches the tomb ofChrist, the flowercovered canopy(Kouvouklion) at the front of the church,and the priest places the Lord withinit.

CHRIST IS RISENOn Holy Saturday morning, Vespersand the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil arecelebrated. This service links togetherthe hopelessness of the burial of Christ

with the Hopeof His GloriousResurrection.The priest scat-ters rose petalsand bay leavesthroughout thechurch chant-ing: Arise, 0

God, and judge the earth; For You shallinherit all the nations. That evening,just before the stroke of midnight, thelights in the church are turned off. Thedarkness represents the despair felt bymankind over Christ's death. However,with the coming of midnight, the dark-ness is suddenly broken. The priestemerges from the sanctuary with alighted candle and chants triumphantly:

"Come receive the light from the Never-fading Light; ' - And glorify Christ Whois risen from the dead. "The light from the priest's candle isthen distributed to all the congregationand the church takes on a brilliantglow. The time of mourning and sadness is over, for Jesus Christ has con-quered death, He is the victor. He isRisen! Indeed He has!

The triumphant hymns which fol-low tell the faithful that this is the Day ofDays. This is the Great Banquet toldabout in the Bridegroom services. All areinvited to participate in the Feast of theLord. In the Liturgy of St. John Chry-sostom which follows, all are invited toreceive Holy Communion. All who fastedand all who did not; all who came in thefirst hour and those who came in the elev-enth hour; all who are of wealthy meansand all who are of humble means; every-one is invited to share equally in theBridegroom feast.

THIE KISS OF AGAPEThe final day of Holy Week takes place

on Easter Sunday afternoon. Without thisservice, the Easter celebration is not com-plete. The faithful gather once more withlighted candles to sing of the Lord's tri-umphant Resurrection. The Gospel read-ing of this service, which is Christ's visitto His disciples after His Resurrection, isread in many languages to symbolize that

the promise of eternalsalvation is offered to allpeople everywhere.

This service hasbeen traditionally calledthe Feast of Agape(love). The faithful greetone another with a kiss,symbolic of forgivenessand Christian love, They

realize that they have shared a commonroad with Christ and through all the painand the sorrow and the suffering, theyhave emerged, like Him, triumphant.


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Kod nas srba obi~aj je da se zaVaskrs spremaju obojena I {arenajaja. Doma}ice se trude da pripremejaja sa rznim {arama. Na tim ku-vanim jajima ispisuju: Hristos vask-rse!, “Sre}an Vaskrs” I drugo. Decanajvi{e vole ovaj praznik zbog{arenih jaja. Kucaju se jajima, I ~ijese razbije, to razbijenopredaje se pobedniku.

Po~etak ovogaobi~aja, da se za Vaskrsspremaju farbana jaja,poti~e jo{ iz ranih hri{}anskih vremena. Sled-benica Isusa Hrista,Marija Magdalina do{laje, posle HristovogVaznesenja u Rim radi propovedanjaJevan|elja. I kada je izi{la pred caraTiberija, pozdravila ga je re~ima:“Hristos vaskrse!” I pruìla mu nadar ofarbano jaje. Ovakav poklonSvete Marije Magdaline obja{njava setime {to je u Rimu I kod drugihnaroda bio obi~aj darivanja jaja prinastupanju nove godine, koja je tadaobi~no po~injala u prole}e. Kada suprvi hri{}ani doznali za ovaj darSvete Marije Magdaline, onda su Ioni po~eli da se ugledaju na nju. Odtada, svuda u dane Vaskrsenja Hris-tovog pripremaju se uskr{nja jajakao symbol Vaskrsenja Hristovog. Umnogim mestima jaja se bojecrvenom bojom, {to podse}a hri{}anena krv Hristovu. No, osim crvenombojom {araju se jaja I drugim bo-

jama,kao ùtom, ze-lenom, ruì~astom Iraznim {arama, premaukusu doma}ice.

Pored navedenog predanja, ~ininam se da je pravi simbol uskr{njegjajeta u slede}em: kao {to pile, bezi~ije pomo}I spolja, kada do|e vreme,sopstvenim mo}ima razbija ljusku Iizlazi na svetlost dana, tako I Hristos,

sopstvenim snagama raz-bija okove groba– smrti,vaskrsava I donosi noviìvot svima koji veruju uNjegovu re~ I boànskumo}.

Sa pripremom I{aranjem uskr{ih jaja vez-ani su razni obredi I vero-vanja, koja svedo~e o njiho-

vom va`nom zna~enju u religioznomìvotu na{eg naroda. @ene I devojke{araju jaja obi~no uo~I Vaskrsa. Ovajposao smatraju sve{tenom radnjom, pase zato pripremaju molitvom. Da bi{aranje I bojenje ispalo bolje, voduspremaju na Veliki ~etvrtak, po{to~uju da crkveno zvono odzvoni za bo-gosluènje. U tu vodu dodaju I maloosve}ene vodice, koju je sve{tenik os-vetio u toku Vaskr{njeg posta. Unekim krajevima, prvo jaje spu{teno uvodu ~uva se do slede}e godine.


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It all began a long time ago with a youngwoman named Mary. Mary Magdalene. Mary,who later became a Saint of the OrthodoxChurch, was a devout follower of Jesus Christ inthe days when He came to earth tosave sinners. Whenthe time had come thatChrist was buried, Mary Magda-lene went to his grave, bearingMyrrh, to anoint his body. But,when she arrived, the stone of thetomb had been cast aside, and thetomb was empty. Worried thatthieves had stolen her Lord's bodyin the middle of the night, Mary asked the firstperson she saw if they had seen anyone enter orleave the tomb. Mary stood and cried. Throughtear-filled eyes, she bent over, looked into thetomb and saw two angels, dressed in white, sittingwhere the body of Jesus had been. One angel wassitting where His head had been and one at thefeet.

"Woman, why are you crying?" theyasked. "They have taken my Lord away, and I donot know where they put Him," replied Mary.Then she turned around and saw a man standingthere; but she could not recognize that it was Je-sus. "Woman, why are you crying?" asked Jesus."Who is it that you are looking for?" She thoughtHe was the gardener and so she said to Him "Ifyou took my Lord away sir, please tell me whereyou have put Him and I will go get Him." ButJesus called to her "Mary!" and immediately sheknew that it was Him. "Do not hold on to me,"Jesus told her. ' 'I have not yet gone back up tomy Father. Go to my brothers and tell them that I

am returning to Him, who is my Father andtheir Father, my God and theirGod." And so, Mary heard firstthe Good News that Christ had

Risen. She ran to tell his disciples, andthen went to visit the Emperor in Rome. Shegreeted the Emperor with "Christ has Risen," andgave him a red-dyed egg. She knew it would be

diffi- cult to convince the Em-peror of the Glory ofChrist, and thus she

used the tiny egg as her example.

Mary borrowed the ancientbelief that the egg symbolizesnew life much like the Resurrec-tion of her Lord. She told theEmperor that Christ had been

transformed into a new life. She dyed the egg redto symbolize the blood that was shed to save theworld from their old ways.This tradition has been carried on throughoutthe years. The egg represents the sealed tomb ofour Lord. On Holy Thursday morning house-holds dye the eggs red to symbolize the sacredblood of Christ that was shed on the cross. Theeggs are then put away until Saturday eveningwhen after the Resurrection service families em-bark in the traditional egg-cracking ceremony.Each member of the family chooses an egg thathe thinks is hardest and that will crack everyoneelse's. The eggs are thentapped against each other, first the more pointedends, while the two players announce, "Christ isRisen!" and "Indeed He has!" This simple actsymbolizes the seal of the Tomb of Christ beingbroken and His life being resurrected. The per-son whose egg remains unbroken receives thegood-luck blessing for the year.


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Sunday March 29 . 2011THE SUNDAY OF SAINT MARY

OF EGYPTSaint Mary of Egypt was a harlot who,

having recognized her sinfulness, sought tobring about an essential change in her life: sheran from her sinfulness and devoted the re-mainder of her life to placing God's will above

her own. In her per-son we recall Christ'swords: "Truly, I sayto you, the tax collector and the harlots gointo the Kingdom ofGod beforeyou" (Matthew21:31).The end is drawingnear, yet repentanceis still possible, evenfor the greatest ofsinners. We see how

the harlot repents and is forgiven, There is nosin so great that God will not forgive it; there isno amount of sinfulness which can condemn usif we are willing to repent and to merge ourvision with that of Our Lord: "The Lord is mer-ciful and gracious, slow to anger and abound-ing in steadfast love... For as the heavens arehigh above the earth, so great is His steadfastlove toward those who fear Him; As far as theeast is from the west, so far does He removeour transgressions from us. As a father pitieshis children, so the Lord pities those who fear

To keep church dooropen, for us to inter,

We need to support ourchurch.

Da bi dr`ali vrata crkvena ot-vorena za nas da u|emo,

moramo crkvu da poma`emo

Him" (Psalm 103:8, 11-13).But we must not only count on His

mercy; we must change ourselves as well.The end is drawing near, yet it is never too

late.

Great Lent is over.Holy Week has notyet begun. We are inthe days of the festalinterlude. We holdbranches in ourhands as we sing.“Hosana! Blessed isHe who comes in thename of the Lord!”And at the same timewe look ahead to the

road to Golgotha upon which Christ invitesus to join Him. While we sing praises withour lips, our lives must not cry out with theangry mob: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

With this in our minds and in ourhearts, we enter the days of the Passover ofthe Cross, the great and holy Pascha of theLord, the Resurrection!


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Kada se Presvetoj Devi navr{i jedanaest godina prebivawa isluèwa pri hramu Jerusalimskom, i~etrnaest godina od ro|ewa kada,dakle, stupi u 15-tu godinu nemoè vi{e ostati pri hramu, nego treba da seobru~i i stupi u brak.No kako velikoiznena|enje za sve sve{tenike bi odgovorPresvete Deve, da jese ona posvetila Bogui da èli ostati devo-jkom do smrti ne stu-paju}i ni s kim ubrak! Tada po Pro-mislu i vnu{ewuBo`jem prvosve{tenik Zaharija,otac Prete~ev, dogovorno sa ostalimsve{tenicima, sabra 12 bezènihqudi iz plemena Davidova, da bi jed-nome od wih uru~ili Devu Mariju na~uvawe devoja{tva wenog i starawa owoj. I bi uru~ena starome Josifu izNazareta, koji joj be{e i srodnik. Udomu Josifovom Presveta Devaproduì ìveti isto kao i u hramuSolomonovom, provode}i vreme u~itawu Sv. Pisma, u molitvama, bo-gorazmi{qawu, postu i ru~nom radu.Gotovo nikada iz ku}e ne izlaza{e,niti se interesova{e svetskimstvarima i doga|ajima. Malo je s kim

u op{te govorila, i nikad beznaro~ite potrebe. Naj~e{}e je u ku}i op{tila sa dvema k}erima Josi-fovim. No kada se navr{i vremeprore~eno Danilom prorokom, ikada Bog blagovoli ispuniti obe}awe Svoje izgnanom Adamu i proro-

cima, javi se veliki arhangelGavril u odaji PresveteDeve, i to, kako neki sve{teni pisci pi{u, utrenutku ba{ kada je onadràla otvorenog prorokaIsajiju i razmi{qala o we-govom velikom proro~anstvu:gle, devojka }e za~eti irodi}e sina! Javi joj seGavril u svetlosti arhangel-skoj i re~e joj: raduj se,blagodatna! Gospod je s to-

bom! I ostalo sve redom kako pi{e uJevan|equ boànstvenog Luke. Saovom arhangelskom blagove{}u, i sasilaskom Duha Svetoga na DevuPre~istu, otpo~iwe spasewe qudi iobnavqawe tvari. Istoriju NovogZaveta otvorio je arhangel Gavrilore~ju: Raduj se! da o znamenuje time,da Novi Zavet ima da zna~i radost zaqude i za svu stvorenu tvar. Otuda iBlagovest se smatra koliko velikimtoliko i radosnim praznikom.


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When the All-Holy Virgin completed thefourteenth year after her birth and was enteringher fifteenth year, after having spent elevenyears of living and serving in the Temple of Jeru-salem, the priests informed herthat, according to the Law, shecould not remain in the Templebut was required to be be-trothed and enter into mar-riage. What a great surprise tothe priests was the answer ofthe All-Holy Virgin that she haddedicated her life to God andthat she desired to remain aVirgin until death, not wantingto enter into marriage with any-one! Then, according to DivineProvidence, Zacharias, the highpriest and father of the Forerunner, under theinspiration of God, and in agreement with theother priests, gathered twelve unwed men fromthe Tribe of David to betroth the Virgin Mary toone of them to preserve her virginity and to carefor her. She was betrothed to Joseph of Naz-areth who was her kinsman. In the house of Jo-seph, the All-Holy Virgin continued to live as shedid in the Temple of Solomon, occupying hertime in the reading of Sacred Scripture, inprayer, in Godly-thoughts, in fasting and inhandywork. She rarely went anywhere outsidethe house nor was she interested in worldlythings and events. She spoke very little to any

one, if at all, and never without spe-cial need. More frequently she com-municated with both of Joseph'sdaughters.

When the fullness of time had come, asprophesized by Daniel the Prophet, and whenGod was pleased to fulfill His promise to thebanished Adam and to the Prophets, the greatArchangel Gabriel appeared in the chamber ofthe All-Holy Virgin and, as some priestly writers

wrote, precisely at that same mo-ment when she held open thebook of the Prophet Isaiah andwas contemplating his greatprophecy: "Behold, the virginshall be with child, and bear ason!" (Isaiah 7:13). Gabriel ap-peared in all of his angelic bright-ness and saluted her: "Rejoice,highly favored one!

The Lord is with you" (St.Luke 1:28), and the rest in orderas it is written in the Gospel of the

saintly Luke. With this angelic annunciation andthe descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin,the salvation of mankind and restoration of allcreation began. The history of the New Testa-ment was opened by the words of the ArchangelGabriel: "Rejoice, highly favored one" This is toimply that the New Testament was to signify joyto mankind and to all created things. It is fromthis that the Annunciation is considered not onlya great feast, but a joyful feast as well


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From thelight ofHolyThursday weenter into the darkness of Friday, the day ofChrist's Passion, Death, and Burial. The earlyChurch called it "Pascha of the Cross" for it isthe beginning of the Passover or passage, themeaning of which is gradually re-vealed to us, first, in the quiet ofthe Great Sabbath, and then in thejoy of the Pay of Resurrection,Easter.This is the day when the Churchinvites us to realize the reality andawful power of sin and evil in theworld. For sin and evil have notdisappeared, but on the contrary,are still predominant in our lives.

This day is also a day ofRedemption, for Christ's death is a savingdeath for us and for our salvation. It is the per-fect, supreme sacrifice. Death is the naturalfruit of sin, yet there is no sin in Christ, al-though He died for us, only by His love for us.He accepts the punishment of the whole world,and takes upon Himself the tragedy of man'slife. In His death, the very nature of death ischanged, for, from punishment it becomes anact of love and forgiveness. His death is a sav-ing death because it destroys the very source ofdeath, which is evil. Throughout His wholepassion, it is Christ who triumphs, for evil cando nothing against Him. As Christ moves to-ward the Cross and the end, the human tragedyreaches its climax, His triumph, His victoryover evil.

This is the double mystery of Holy Fri-day, manifested in darkness and yet light.There is, during the services, a constant empha-sis on the Passion of Christ as the crime of all

crimes. But, on theother hand, the sacri-

fice of love which pre-pares the final victoryis also present. The

beautiful Vesper Hymns depict this:"When Thou, the Redeemer of all, Hast beenlaid for all in the new tomb, Hades, the respec-tor of none, saw Thee and crouched in fear.

The bars broke, gates were shattered,graves were opened, the dead arose.Then Adam, thankfully rejoicing,cried out to Thee: Glory to Thy hu-miliation, 0 Merciful Master."The end of Holy Friday marks theend of the long history of salvationand redemption, and introduces theBlessed Sabbath, which relates GoodFriday, the commemoration of theCross, with the day of His Resurrec-tion, Easter.

The Services in the Orthodox Church forGood Friday are of a sad, mournful note. Theybegin Friday morning with the "Royal Hours",services consisting of Hymns, Psalms, andReadings from the Old and New Testaments,all related prophetically to Christ. In the after-noon, the Vespers are celebrated, during whichthe commemoration of the removal of Christ'sBody from the Cross is remembered. The un-nailing and wrapping of the Body with a whitesheet by Joseph of Arimathea takes place. Thepriest takes the Holy Shroud on which ispainted the Body of Christ, carries it around theChurch, and places it in the tomb, which hasbeen prepared in the Church. In the evening ofGood Friday, the Church celebrates the Ser-vice of Lamentation.

The whole of Good Friday is observedin prayer, fasting, self-examination, confes-sion, good works, always in humility and re-pentance so that the grace of the Cross might


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DATO OD BOGA SAMO PRA-VOSLAVNOJ CRKVIObred silaska Svetog Plamena

u Jerusalimu.

Ovaj obred se de{ava uPravoslavnoj crkvi HristovogVasksenja u Jerusalimu na ta-kav na~in da zadivljuje I pre-pora|a du{e hri{}ana.Na velikuSubotu u podne PravoslavniPatrijarh ili neki drugiPravoslavni Episkopulazi u Hristov grob ,govori specijalne mo-tive I ~eka. Nekada je~ekanje du`e a ne-kada kra}e.Narod u tamnoj crkviponavlja stalno naglas“Gospode pomiluj”. U odre|enovreme Sveti Plamen zasvetli izdubine svetinje na nadprirodanna~in I pali malo kandilo samaslinovim uljem ispred Hris-tovog groba. Partijarh iliEpiskop posle ~itanja odre|enih

molitvi pali dva rukovata od 33sve}e koje dr`I I po~inje da delisveti plamen mnogobrojnimhodo~asnicima koji je primajusa neopisivom emocijom, pro-pra}eni zvonima ushi}eni I puniodu{evljenja.

Sveti Plamen ne dolazisamo od Episkopa ve} odsamog sebe. Izlaze}I iz Hristo-vog Groba svetlost je potpuno

razli~ita odobi~nog pla-mena. Svet-luca i obas-java kaomunja, ioble}e kaogolub okosvetog

prestola i pali kandilo isprednjega.

Plamen ska~e sa jednestrane crkve na drugu. Ulazi uneke od kapela u crkvi kao naprimer u kapelu Raspe}a Hris-tovog i pali kandila. Tako|e pali


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sve}e nekima od hodo~asnika.Ustvari postoje neki vrlopobo`ni hodo~asnici kojima seovo doga|a svakiput kada prisustvuju ovomobredu, {to zna~I njihove sve}ese pale same od sebe.

Ovaj plamen tako|e pred-stavlja ~udo jer neprestano goria nikoga ne ope~e. Kada se po-javi ako dotakne lice, usta iliruku ne}e ope}i. Ovo je samdokaz Boànskog I nadprirod-nog porekla. Moramo razumetida ovaj sveti plame se po-javljuje samo pri prizivu Pra-voslavnog Episkopa. Svaki putkada nepravoslavni episkop vr{Iobred ni{ta se ne dogodi.

Jednom su Armejci paltiliTurcima koji su tada vladali Sv.Zemljom da im dozvole da nji-hov Episkop u|e u HristovGob. Pravoslavni Patrijarh jestajao àlostan sa svojom past-vom na izlazu crkve blizu levogstuba, kad je sveti plamenrazdelio ovaj stub vertikalno izasijao blizu PravoslavnogPatrijarha. Musliman Mu-

jazin zvani Tonom, koji vide ovo~udo sa minareta ostavi odjed-nom islamsku religiju I postaPravoslavni Hri{}anin. Ovo sedogodilo 1549 godine kada jevladao sultan Murat IV a Pa-trijarh Jerusalimski tada be{eSofronije II. Pomenuti razdeljenistub jo{ uvek postoji od 12veka. Pravoslavni hodo~asnici sepoklone pred ovim stubom prenego {to u|u u crkvu.

Pojava Svetog Plamena jedoga|aj koji se ponavlja svakegodine pred o~ima hiljade i hil-jade svedoka. Niko nemoè daporekne ovo. Naprotiv ovo ~udomoè da oja~a one sa slabomverom.

Postoje vrlo dirljivi skora{njidoga|aji, koji su se dogodilinekima od Jevreja koji supoverovali u Hrista poslevi|enja ovog svetog plamena Ikoji javno govore svojima: “Za{to jo{ uvek ~ekate Mesiju? Me-sija je zaista ve} do{ao”.


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Please help us decorate the Church andChrist’s Tomb for the Easter Holidays.

Easter is upon us!We are now beginning totake donations for flowers to decorateChrist’s Tomb and for the Church onEaster. You may wish to give a donationin memory, or for the good health, of aLoved One.Please specify that your donationis for Easter Flowers.

Traditional Easter Dinner, SundayApril 12, 2015

10:00 am Divine Liturgy

Followed by Easter Banquet

Bring your family and friends!

Dobro nam do{li!

Pomozite dekoraciju crkve I Hris-tovog groba za Vaskrs!Vaskrs je na pragu!Sakupljamo priloge za cvece.Priloge moète dati za pokoj du{eumrlima, ili za zdravlje vamadragim.

Molimo vas nazna~ite prilog zaVaskrsnje cvece

19 Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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CHARGES FOR RELIGIOUS RITES - TREBESteward Non-Steward

Wedding $50 $500Baptism Donation DonationChurch Funeral Donation $300Chapel $50 $300Parastos—Panihida $25 $100Pomen $15 $ 50Certificates $10 $ 20

Parish StatisticsPARASTOS: March 8, for Danica Ryder Gojkovich, Memory Eternal !

March 14, for Ilinka Cubrilo, Vjecna ja pamjat!BAPTISM: No

BECOME A SHEPHERDSPONSOR FOR 2015

Please consider becoming a Shepherd Sponsor. For $ 25 you will become abronze Sponsor, for $ 50 a Silver Sponsor an for $ 100.00 a gold Sponsor.

Your name or the name of a loved one will be listed.

Quotes "Christianity is not only faith in God, but faith in man as well,belief in the possibility of the revelation of the divine in man. The idea of Divine-humanity is directed toward cosmic transfiguration, something almost completelyalien to official Catholicism and Protestantism . . . The central idea in OrthodoxChristianity is not justification, but transfiguration . ” (Nicholas Ber-dyaev, d.1948)

"Our life on earth is like the flight of the passing bird, like a ship leaving notrack upon the sea, a speck of dust, a vapour, an early dew, a flower that quicklyfades . . ." (St. Gregory Nazianzen, panegyric on his brother St. Caesarius)

"It is a great thing, this reading of the Scriptures! For it is not possible ever toexhaust the mind of the Scriptures. It is a well that has no bottom." (St. JohnChrysostom, 345-407 A.D.)

20Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A P R I L 2015 A P R I LSundayNedelja

MondayPonedeljak

TuesdayUtorak

WednesdaySreda

Thursday^etvrtak

FridayPetak

SaturdaySubota

1 2 3

Presanctified Liturgy at 9 a.m

4Lazarus Saturday

Liturgy at9:00amVespers-Ve~ernje –Vrbica

6:00 pmConfession—Ispovest-

PALM SUNDAY 56th Sunday of Great LentDivine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.6 ta Nedeqa Velikog Posta

Gospel. Jn. 12:1-18;Epistle: Phil. 4:4-9;

6

PresanctifiedLiturgy at 9am

VELIKI PONEDELJAK

7ANNUNCIATION

BLAGOVASTIDivine liturgy9:00am

6:30 P.M. Matins ServiceVELIKI UTORAK

8Great Wednesday

Service of Holy Unction6pm

VELIKA SREDA

9Great ThursdayLiturgy at 9am

Great Vigil at 6pmVELIKI CETVRTAK

10GOOD FRIDAY

VELIKI PETAKHours at 9am

Taking down from the Cross at 3pmLEMENTATION & PROCASION at 6:30pm

11GREAT SATURDAY

Divine Liturgy at 9:amResurrection Matins

At 11:45

RESURRECTION -VASKR 12Bright Sunday

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.SVETLA Nedeqa —Gospel. Jn.1:1-17;

Epistle: Acts. 1:1-8;

13Resurrected

MondayDivine Liturgy

at 9:00am

14Resurrected

TuesdayDivine Liturgy

at 9:00am

15 16 17 21

Vespers- Vecernje6:00 p.m.

Confession—Ispovest

192nd Sunday of PaschaDivine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.2ga Nedeqa—TOMINA

Gospel. Jn. 20:19-31;Epistle: Acts 5:12-20;

20 21 22

Catechism Class 5:00pmAKATIST at 6:00 p.m.

23 24 28Vespers- VE^ERNJE

6:00 p.m.--

263rd Sunday of Pascha

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.3}a Nedeqa- MironosicaGospel. Mk. 15:43-47; 16:1-8;

Epistle: Acts 6:1-7;

27 28 29Catechism Class 5:00pm

AKATIST at 6:00 p.m.

30

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KSS

Mee

ting

KIDS EGGHUNTING!

Following withSerbian traditional

Easter Dinner

Pascha– Vaskrs


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ALL ALTAR BOYS ARE ASKED TOSERVE WHEN ATTENDING CHURCH

Reader Schedule

Message to all readers:Please make note of the days you

are to read and make plans to cometo church before 10:00 a.m.

April – April 5Reader: Theodor Hadzi-Antich

Gospel. Jn. 12:1-18;Epistle: phil. 4:4-9;

April – April 12Reader: Protinica Maryann

Gospel. Jn.1:1-17;Epistle: Acts. 1:1-8;April – April 19

Reader: Natalie FitzpatrickGospel. Jn. 20:19-31;Epistle: Acts 5:12-20;April – April 26

Reader: Nick BrownGospel. Mk. 15:43-47; 16:1-8;

Epistle: Acts 6:1-7;May – Maj 3

Reader: Theodor Hadzi-AntichGospel. Jn.5:1-15;

Epistle: Heb. 9:32-42;

INFORMATION FOR MaySHEPHERD

If anyone has anything they wouldlike to add to the Shepherd, the last

day to send information isApril 15th.

INFORMACIJE ZA MAJSKIAko imate ne{to da bi èleli da

date za mese~ni Pastir, zadnji danza to je 15 April. Nazovite Protu

Dana ili po{aljite po{tom.

A P R I L 2015 A P R I LSundayNedelja

MondayPonedeljak

TuesdayUtorak

WednesdaySreda

Thursdayêtvrtak

FridayPetak

SaturdaySubota

1 2 3

Presanctified Liturgy at 9 a.m

4Lazarus Saturday

Liturgy at9:00amVespers-Ve~ernje –Vrbica

6:00 pmConfession—Ispovest-

PALM SUNDAY 56th Sunday of Great LentDivine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.6 ta Nedeqa Velikog Posta

Gospel. Jn. 12:1-18;Epistle: Phil. 4:4-9;

6

PresanctifiedLiturgy at 9am

VELIKI PONEDELJAK

7ANNUNCIATION

BLAGOVASTIDivine liturgy9:00am

6:30 P.M. Matins ServiceVELIKI UTORAK

8Great Wednesday

Service of Holy Unction6pm

VELIKA SREDA

9Great ThursdayLiturgy at 9am

Great Vigil at 6pmVELIKI CETVRTAK

10GOOD FRIDAY

VELIKI PETAKHours at 9am

Taking down from the Cross at 3pmLEMENTATION & PROCASION at 6:30pm

11GREAT SATURDAY

Divine Liturgy at 9:amResurrection Matins

At 11:45

RESURRECTION -VASKR 12Bright Sunday

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.SVETLA Nedeqa —Gospel. Jn.1:1-17;

Epistle: Acts. 1:1-8;

13Resurrected

MondayDivine Liturgy

at 9:00am

14Resurrected

TuesdayDivine Liturgy

at 9:00am

15 16 17 21

Vespers- Vecernje6:00 p.m.

Confession—Ispovest

192nd Sunday of PaschaDivine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.2ga Nedeqa—TOMINA

Gospel. Jn. 20:19-31;Epistle: Acts 5:12-20;

20 21 22

Catechism Class 5:00pmAKATIST at 6:00 p.m.

23 24 28Vespers- VEÊRNJE

6:00 p.m.--

263rd Sunday of Pascha

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.3}a Nedeqa- MironosicaGospel. Mk. 15:43-47; 16:1-8;

Epistle: Acts 6:1-7;

27 28 29Catechism Class 5:00pm

AKATIST at 6:00 p.m.

30

CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS? - MENJATE ADRESU?If you’re planning to move, please let us know before changing your address.Ako èlite da se preselite na drugu adresu obavestite nas pre nego se preselite.

Write to –Pi{ite nam na or [email protected] of the Blessed Virgin Mary

7777 Sunset Ave. Fair Oaks, Ca. 95628

22Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Amount Pledged Monthly Weekly Daily$1200 100 23.07 3.28$1000 83.33 19.23 2.73$800 66.66 15.38 2.19$600 50 11.53 1.64$500 41.66 9.61 1.36$300 25 5.76 0.82

How to calculate my financial commitment

STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM 2015Stewardship is our financial response to God and His Church. Through our financial

commitment our Parish will be able to carry on its programs for all its members. Please fillyour stewardship card and mail it to the Church office. “ God has given us everything we

have. He expects from us a generous portion of our blessings for the needs of His Church.”Starateljstvo je ne{ finansiski odgovor prema Bogu i Njegovoj crkvi. Kroz na

{a nov~ano obavezivanje na{a parohija bi}e u mogu}nosti di ispuni sve njene pro-grame prema svim parohijanima. Molimo vas popunite KARTU STARATELJSTVA ipo{aljite je u crkvenu kancelariju. “Bog nam je dao sve {to imamo. On i o~ekuje odnas dobar deo od blagoslov nam dati za potrebe Njegove crkve”.

We are grateful to the following Stewards of our parish family for their pledge of support to theChurch and her ministries for 2015

THE FOLLOWING PARISHIONERS HAVE RETURNED THEIR2015

STEWARDSHIP COMIMITMENT CARDSRadomir AntovichIlija & Anna BradaricMargaret ChernayJoe & Annette ChinnAnne CippaPavo & Bosiljka Cvjtkovic-Dragoljub & AndjaCvjetkovicBiserka delichTim & Stephanie DisonLeo & Aleksandra GlebovRobert & Zorka GojkovichJeff & Lindsey Gray

Theodore & Diana Hadzi-AntichYuliya & Chris JohnsonDimitri & Luba KarnaookhGladys KatsikisSilvia KenteraPaula KordicJohn & Nevenka KordicBarbara LobodovskyBill MamikaMile & Terri S. MarjanovichMirjana MarkovicIlinka MeglemreCarolyn Metzka

Robert F. MillerDesanka MojsichVelika PejovichDraginja PetrovicProto & Protinica PopovicMilanka RadosavljevicJovo TicaMilan & Betty TicaNikola & Zorka TicaTodor & Milena RajakDragan & Michelle VidovichProto & Protinica WeirConnie Ziacan


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The ceremony takesplace in the Orthodox Church of theResurrection in Jerusalem in such away that bewilders the soul of theChristians.

On Easter Saturday, at noon,the Orthodox Patriarch,or any other OrthodoxArchbishop, enters theHoly Sepulcher, recitesspecial prayers and re-mains waiting. Thecrowd, in the darkenedchurch, repeats con-tinually with a loudvoice: "Lord, have mercy." (Kyrieeleison). At a certain moment theHoly Light flashes from the depth ofthe Holy Sepulcher in a supernaturalway, and miraculously lights up thelittle lamp of olive oil put on the edgeof it. The Patriarch, or theArchbishop, (after having read someprayers) lights up the two clusters of

33 candles he is holding, and beginsto distribute the Holy Light to themultitude of pilgrims, who receiveit with great emotion, accompanied

with the peeling of bells, acclama-tions, and an unbridled enthusiasm.

The Holy Light is not onlydistributed by the Archbishop, butoperates also by itself. It emits fromthe Holy Sepulcher having a gleamof a new completely different fromthat of natural light. It sparkles, itflashes like lightning, it flies like adove around the tabernacle of the

Holy Sepulcher, andlights up the unitlamps of olive oilhanging in front ofit.

It whirls from oneside of the church to

the other. It also lights up the can-dles of certain pilgrims. In factthere are some very pious pilgrims -who every time they attended thisceremony, noticed that their andleslit up on their own accord!

This divine light also presentssome peculiarities. As soon as it ap-

Given by God Only tothe Orthodox Church

The Ceremony of the Holy Light inJerusalem

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Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

pears it has a bluish hew and does notburn. At the first moments of its ap-pearance, if it touches the face, or themouth, or the hands, it does not burn. .We must also take into considerationthat the Holy Light appears only by theinvocation of an Orthodox Archbishop.Each time the heterodox bishops triedto obtain it, they failed.

Once the Armenians paid theTurks, who then occupied the HolyLand, in order to obtain permission fortheir Patriarch to enter the Holy Sepul-cher. The Orthodox Patriarch wasstanding sorrowfully -with his flock atthe exit of the church, near the left col-umn, when the Holy Light split thiscolumn vertically and flashed near theOrthodox Patriarch.

A Muslim Muezin, calledTounom, who saw the miraculous eventfrom an adjacent mosque, abandonedimmediately the Muslim religion andbecame an Orthodox Christian. Thisevent took place in 1549 under SultanMourad IV. , when the Patriarch of Je-rusalem was Sophrony II. (The men-tioned split column still exists. It goesback to the XII c. The Orthodox pil-grims embrace it at the "place of the

split" as you enter the church).

The appearance of the HolyLight is an event -which occursevery year in front of thousands ofvisual -witnesses. Nobody can denyit. On the contrary, this miracle canreinforce those -who have lack offaith.

There are some very touchingrecent cases of some Jews, •who be-lieved in Christ after having seenthe Holy Light, and -who said totheir compatriots: "Why are youstill waiting for the Messiah? TheMessiah came indeed".

From Irene Econimides’ book"Differences between theOrthodox and Roman Catholicism"

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Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kids age 5-16are invited for

Day campfrom 9 am- 6 pm

Bring your friends!

POZIVAJU SEDeca od 5-16 zaDnevni Kampod 9– 6 uvece

Dovedite vase Prijatelje

Juni 8-12, 2015

We are trying to organize summer daytime camp. If youlike to help with organizing camp in any capacity please

let me know as soon as possible to Fr. Dane at 916-606-8808Zeleli bih da organizujemo Dnevni de~ji Kamp u Junu.

Ako `elite da pomognete u organizaciji ili na bilo koji na~inmolimo vas da se odmah javite Proti Danu na 916-606-8808

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Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Георгије Флоровски:

У учењу о Цркви открива сесазнању вернога „велика тајнапобожности” у свој својој неиспитанојпуноћи. Црква је дело Христово на земљи,објективни резултат његовогискупитељског подвига, слика Његовогблагодатног боравка у свету „у све дане досвршетка века” (Мт 28,20). У Црквиврхуни и испуњава се божанска икономијао свету. Управо на Цркву у лицуДванаесторице и свих присутних, као напредизбрани почетак, сишао je Дух Свети„у страшној и неисказаној тајни”Педесетнице; и у Цркви, као у „домуБожјем”, силом и дејством и благодаћуСвесветога Духа савршава се и продужавасе спасење, освећење и „обожење” свихстворења. Црква је једина „двер живота”,по речима св. Иринеја Лионског, и уз то,„богата ризница” свега што се тиче истинеИ зато, само у Цркви, из Цркве и крозЦркву открива се истински путхришћанског знања и богопоштовања.Наиме, хришћанство није напросто учењекоје би се могло усвојити прекоспољашњих поука, већ тo je и живот којитреба суштински задобити и који се можестицати само стварним рађањем од извораживота. Није довољно тек познаватихришћанство, „имати хришћански начинразмишљања”; треба бити хришћанином,живети „у Христу”, a тo je могуће саможивотом у Цркви. Хришћанство је опит. И

цело хришћанско вероучење, по своменастанку, управо је црквено вероучење,опис црквеног опита, тo jeсведочанство Цркве о повереном нам„залогу вере”. Само кроз тухаризматичну црквену потврду верскеодредбе добијају пунину силе изначења, и тo од Цркве, не као одвласти и ауторитета, него као од гласаДуха Светога и самога Господа, „којисе никад не удаљава, него непрестаноостаје”. „Угодно би Духу Светоме инама” (Дап 15,28), тa свечанамолитвена формула у саборскимодлукама своди сва црквенасведочанства на њихов истинити„животворни извор”. He самомистички, него и историјски, Црква јеједини извор хришћанског живота ихришћанског учења, јер сехришћанство јавило cвету једино увиду Цркве. С друге стране, и по својојсадржини хришћанско верско учењесводи се, на крају крајева, управо научење о Цркви, као о вечном НовомЗавету, као о „Телу Христовом”; исвака повреда учењâ о Цркви, сваконарушавање пуноте црквеногасамоосећања неизбежно повлачи засобом и начелне догматске ибогословске нетачности, заблуде икривотворења. Ето зашто, у суштини,не може бити посебног, самосталног ипотпуног догматског учења о Цркви,изложених уобичајеним догматскимформулацијама. Наиме, Црква је жижасвега хришћанства и познаје се самоизнутра, искуством и подвигомблагодатног живота, а не кроз


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појединачне догматске дефиниције, негокроз сву пуноtу исповедања вере. Тачнопримећује један савремени рускибогослов: „Не постоји појам учење оЦркви, но сама Црква постоји, и засваког живог члана Цркве црквениживот је нешто најодређеније инајопипљивије што он зна” (свештеникП. Флоренск .

Хришћанство се не састоји ни уучењу, ни у моралу, ни у потпуномтеоријском знању, ни у зборникуморалних прописа или правила; није тоу њему главно. Хришћанство јестеЦрква. У Цркви се садржи и предајеучење, „догмати Божји”, излаже се„правило вере”, чин и уставпобожности. Али сама Црква је нештонеизмерно више. Хришћанство није текучење о спасењу, него само спасење,савршено једанпут Богочовеком; „смртЊегова, а не Његово учење и строгиживот људи, јесте средство помирења”,каже јасно и убедљиво рускидогматичар Филарет, архиепископчерниговски. По православном учењу,Христос је, пре свега, Спаситељ, — несамо „Учитељ добри” и Пророк, негопревасходно Цар и Првосвештеник,„Цар света и Спаситељ душа наших”. Испасење се не састоји толико упроповедању Царства небеског колико убогочовечанском лику самога Господа иу Његовом делу, у Његовом„спаситељном страдању” и„животворном крсту”, у Његовој смртии васкрсењу. Јер „ако Христос нијеустао... празна је и вера наша” (1 Кор15,14). Хришћанство је Вечни Живот,

који се открио cвету и људима унеисказивом Оваплоћењу Сина Божјега, авернима се пројављује кроз свете Тајнеблагодаћу Светога Духа. „Јер Живот сејави, и видели смо, и сведочимо, иобјављујемо вам овај Живот вечни, којибеше у Оца и јави се нама” (1 Јн 1,2). Поречима чувеног руског подвижника,епископа Теофана Затворника, „у сазнањухришћанина најпре се види Лик ХристаГоспода, Сина Божјег Оваплоћенога, а изазавесе тела Његовог сазерцава сеТриипостасни Бог”. У православнојсвести Господ Исус Христос је, пре свега,Син Божји, Реч (Логос) оваплоћена,„Један од Свете Тројице”, Јагње Божјекоје узима грехе света..., и отуда јеправославна вера потпуно неодељива одЛица Богочовека, и немогућа је без живогопштења с Њим кроз тајне Цркве.

Свим својим исповедањем усимволима вере, свим својим молитвеними богослужбеним животом Православнацрква посведочава тајну Богочоветва удуху и смислу халкидонског догмата. Онаисповеда неисказиво несливеносједињење „пуноће Божанства” и пуноћечовештва у свеукупном овоземаљскомживоту Спаситељевом, — у тајни Његовогрођења од Приснодјеве наитијем ДухаСветога, у Његовим искушавањима,унижењима и страдањима — „до смрти, ито до смрти на крсту” (Флп 2,8), уЊеговом тродневном васкрсењу и у„Његовом Божанском Вазнесењу нанебеса својим Пречистим телом ”. Све сутo истинити и историјски догађаји, који сусе збили у овом свету и тиме просветлилиовај свет. „Реч (Логос) постаде тело инастани се међу нама” (Јн 1,14), -

NASTAVI]E SE…….

ово се збило у Витлејему Јудејскоме завреме цара Ирода. И тaj историјскидогађај налази се у сржи хришћанске вере.Хришћанска вера је стварно историјска,јер почива на историјским догађајима.Историјски карактер је имала иапостолска проповед од самога данаПедесетнице када је апостол Петарсведочио као очевидац о савршеномспасењу, о силама и чудесима, ознамењима које је учинио Бог Христос, оЊеговим страдањима и Васкрсењу, оВазнесењу и о ниспослању дарова ДухаСветога. У апостолској проповеди јеемпиријско искуство узрастало самистичким искуством, јер у самомемпиријском, у тварној невидљивости,јавило се надемпиријско, Божанско, -јавила се тајна Богочовештва. И тy тајнусадржи и пројављује Cвeтa Црква, „ЦркваБога Живога, стуб и тврђава истине” (1Тим 3,15). Сва хришћанска вера jecтeтумачење и објашњење тајне ипостасногБогочовештва, и само у свези са овимдогађајем - „Син Бога постаје Син Дјеве” -појмљива је суштина и природа Цркве каоистинског „Тела Христовог“. Управо таслика апостола Павла jecтe најтачније итемељно одређење свете Цркве, које чинимогућим сва друга, каснија одређења.

Спаситељ је сведочио за Себе да је „надвладаосвет”. И победа Његова, Његово дело искупљења,управо се у томе и састоји што је Он саздао ЦрквуСвоју, и тиме у тескоби и смиреносги, у немоћи исиромаштву, установио почетак историјскогпостојања „нове твари”. Почев са светимапостолима, „очевицима и служитељима Речи”,стари хришћани су називали себе „народомБожјим”, „новим народом”, „изабраним родом”,


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Stewardship ReflectionFifth Sunday of Great LentSt. Mary of EgyptMarch 29, 2015

Today, on the fifth Sunday of Great Lent, wecommemorate St. Mary of Egypt. St. Mary hadlived a life of debauchery and on many occa-sions. sold her body for necessities such asfood and travel. She departed her land andupon arriving in the Holy City, followed thecrowd that was thronging towards the Churchof the Resurrection, it being the day of the Ex-altation of the Cross. But, when she reached thethreshold of the Church, an invisible force pre-vented her entering in spite of repeated effortson her part, although the other pilgrims wereable to go in without hindrance. Left alone in acorner of the Narthex, she began to realize thatit was the impurity of her life that was prevent-ing her approaching the holy Wood. She burstinto tears and smote her breast and, seeing anicon of the Mother of God, made this prayer toher: "O Sovereign Lady, who didst bear God inthe flesh, I know that I should not dare to lookupon thine icon, thou who are pure in soul andbody, because, debauched as I am, I must fillthee with disgust. But, as the God born of theebecame man in order to call sinners to repen-tance, come to my aid! Allow me to go into thechurch and prostrate before His Cross. And, assoon as I have seen the Cross, I promise that Iwill renounce the world and all pleasures, andfollow the path of salvation that thou willest toshow me."

She felt herself suddenly freed from thepower that had held her and was able to enter

the Church. There she fervently venerated theHoly Cross and then, returning to the icon ofthe Mother of God, declared herself ready tofollow the path that the Virgin would show her.A voice replied to her from on high: "If youcross the Jordan, you will find rest."

As we reflect upon St. Mary's life, we canalso consider 1 Corinthians 6:20 "you werebought at a price, therefore honor God withyour bodies, and your Spirit, for they are His."When we think about the unfortunate way thatSt. Mary used her body...but through repen-tance was saved and the fact that our Salvationwas bought with a price - Christ's body beingsacrificed on the Cross for our sins... we mustask and think about honoring God with ourbodies and spirit with a focus on our Talents.Are there specific tasks that we can complete tohelp our Church? Does our profession providethe opportunity to assist our parish? Can weextend the daily labor that we do to includeGod's house? Whether a painter, doctor, car-penter, lawyer, gardener, accountant or anyother skills - can we provide them as Steward-ship to our Church?

We are called to honor and love God, toprovide for and support His Church.

Kontakion: Fourth ToneHaving escaped the gloom of sin, O blessed

Mary, and shining brightly with the light ofrepentance, thou didst present thy heart toChrist, O glorious one, bringing Him His Holyand all-immaculate Mother as a greatly merci-ful and most bold intercessor. Hence, thou hastfound the pardon of thy sins and with the An-gles rejoicest for evermore

Stewardship Reflection


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Старатељsка ПорукаПета Недеља Великог ПостаСвета Марија ЕгипатскаАприл 6, 2014

Данас, пете недеље Великог Поста миславимо Св. Марију Египћанку. СветаМарија је живела у греху и не мало путапродавала је своје тело за храну ипутовања. Она је напустила своју земљу ипри доласку и Свети Град , пратила јегрупу људи упала је у Цркву ВаскрсењаХристова на дан када се славило УзношењеЧасног Крста. Али када је ступила на прагцткве , невидљива сила ју је спречила дауђе ма колико се она трудила а осталиљуди су без икакве тешкоће улазили уЦркву. Остављена сама на улазу у Црквусхватила је да је њена грешност та што јеспречава да приђе Часном Крсту. Плачућии ударајуће се у прса и гледајући у иконуМајке Божије усрдно се помолила:Владарко Госпођо , која си носила Госпадау утроби својој, знам да нисам достојна дани гледам у икону Твоју, Ти која си чистателом и душом, јер, Ти мора да ме сегнушаш колико сам нечиста. Али , какоГоспод рођени од Тебе, постаде човек насради да нас призове покајању , тако помозимени. Допусти ми да уђем у Цркву и да сепоклоним Његовоме Крсту. И чим видимКрст, ја обећавам да ћу се одрећи свихзадовољстава овога света и пратитi стазуспасеnjа коју ми одредиш.Одједном се осети слободном од силе која

ју је задржавала и уђе у Цркву. Она сеусрдно поклони и онада вративши сеИкони Мајке Божије објави да је спремнада прати пут који јој Пресвета Дјева

покаже. Глас са висине јој се јави ирече"Ако пређеш реку Јордан остало ћешнаћи".

И док размишљамо о животу СветаМарије Египћанке треба да се присетимо иречи Апостола Павла у Првој Коринћанима6.20 Ви сте купљени за цену , према томеславите Бога својим телима и вашим духомјер сте Његови."

Када видимо како је Света МаријаЕгипћанка злоупотребљавала своје тело ...али кроз mого кајање је спашена , и самачињеница да је наше Спасење плаћено -Христово тело је жртвовано на крсту нагрехе наше .... ми морамо да се запитамо и даразмислимо како да угодимо Богу нашимтелима и душама фокусирајући се на нашТалнат. Да ли има неки посебан начин какода помогнемо нашој Цркви? Да ли нашапрофесија нам омогућава да тако помогнемонашој Цркви? Можемо ли у наш свакодневнирадни дан укључити и Цркву? Било да смодоктори , столари, молери , адвокати ,баштовани, рачуновође или било шта друго-можемо ли то да да искористимо као нашеСтаратељство у нашој Цркви?

Ми смо позвани да славимо и волимоБога , да помажемо нашу Цркву.

Кондак: Глас ЧетвртиПобегавши од таме греха, благословена

Маријо, и сијајући јако светлошћу покајања ,предалa си срце своје Христу, о велика,приносећи Њему Његову Свету невинуМатер као милосрдну и најсмелијегмолитвеника . Због тога си опростио свегрехе и са Анђелима заувек радујући се.


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Sv. Nikolai Velimirovic

NASTAVAK….

ШЕСТИ СПРАТ

Блажени су чисти срцем, јер ће БогаВидети.

Чистота срца основана је на милости. То јеприродно као што се шести спрат диже надпетим. Себичњак и тврдица неће осетитионо блаженство што се назива чистотомсрца. Они неће никад моћи постројитишести спрат своје пирамиде због тога штонису постројили пети. Аврам је био пунмилости, а милост му је помогла очишћењусрца, а чистота срца виђењу Богу.

Зашто се не говори о чистоти душе негосрца? Зато што срце представља средиштедуше. Из срца излазе помисли, у срцу сетаје жеље, у срцу гнезде све страсти. Збогтога је изречен савет: сине, изнад свега чувајсрце своје (Приче 4,23).

Док је срчика у дрвету здрава, гране се могуобијати без опасности по дрво. Али залудсва стројност грана и мноштво лишћа, акосрчику разједу црви. Симеон Нови Богословназива грехе црвима. Што су црви за дрво,то су греси за човека. И никакви греси неразједају срце човеково као тајни греси.Изнесеш ли црве на сунце, они ће поцркати;објавиш ли своје грехе, ма једном јединомпознатом човеку, опраштају ти се, и нестајеих. И црви и греси моћни су веома у тами,

да у тами.

Док се Давид строго чувао да се не огрешио закон Божији, он је говорио с Богом, илако сазнавао вољу Божију. Чим је погазиозакон Божији, Бог је престао с њимговорити, него му је говорио преко другихпророка.

Чисто срце је огледало, у коме Бог воли дасе огледа. Бог је исписао Своје велико истрашно име свуда у загонеткамаприродних твари, а непосредно и беззагонетки, Он се показује у чистом срцучовековом. Какво огромно уздигнуће човеканад свом природом! Каква слава и част заљуде, да у тескоби срца свога удостојавајусе примити Домаћина као Госта! Ово је таковелика срећа за људе, да у њу тешко могуверовати они који нису погледали у јаслеВитлејемске и видели, до које се низинеможе спустити Бог љубави. Човек може дасе диже и спушта, а Бог не може да се дижено само спушта. Бог нема куд да се дижеизнад Себе, а човеку је дато да се можедизати изнад себе, све до висине самогаБожанства. Својом слабошћу човек сеспушта, а Божијом силом се диже. Човековоје да припреми срце, да га очисти одпрашине ситних грехова и од блата крупнихгрехова. Остало је све дејство Божије силе иБожије љубави.

Срце се чисти вером и надом и љубављу исећањем смрти и Суда Божијег и дивљењемнад тварима Творчевим и испитивањемпутева Промисла и трпљењем и кротошћу имилошћу и многим другим. Но и кад се срцеочисти свим овим средствима, у њему ипакостаје запах земље и греха и смрти, докле гаДух Божији као ветар са висине не проветрии као муња својим озоном не намирише.


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Према речима отаца: када и сећања научињене грехе исчезну, тек онда можемоговорити о срцу очишћеном.

Чистота срца је камен хрустал, и њоме сезида шести спрат рајске пирамиде.Светлост небеска пролази кроз тај спрат ине налази препону. Ништа тамно нипрљаво нема што би је спречило, даосветли све кутове и све тачке тога спрата.

О, Хришћанине, кад будеш ступио уЦарство Христово, радоваће се твојојграђевини пречисти ангели Божији, имладенци што се рано упокојише уГосподу, и девице што у девичанствупређоше преко моста смрти у Рај. На овомешестом спрату, на спрату чистоте, ти ћешим излазити у сретање и са њима заједносладити се гледањем лица Божијега.

СЕДМИ СПРАТ

Блажени су миротворци, јер ће се синовиБожији назвати. Чистота срца основ јемира. На том основу зида се спрат мира,седми спрат рајске пирамиде што се диже унебеса. Не може имати мира оно срце, којеје испуњено лажним помислима, лудимжељама за пролазним светом и опакимстрастима. Јер ово све изазива немир иподиже мрачне буре у животу човечијем.

У висинама се чисти мутна вода и изнајпрљавијих бара. Уздигни и ти човече,срце свцоје горе и небеса ће га очистити. Учисто срце уселиће се тишина. А у тојтишини гледа се Бог.

Мир је духовна наслада, као и чистота срцашто је духовна наслада. Ко има мир у себи,тај има велику насладу унутра у души

својој. И ту му насладу нико не може отети.Ко има мир има Христа, јер је речено, да јеОн мир наш (Ефес.2,14). Ко се држи кнезамира, тај мора да има мир, а Христос јеназван Кнезом мира (Иса. 9,6). Ко се набури прибије уз Дародавца мира, тај имамир и не боји се. Мир свој дајем вам, рекаоје Он (Јн. 14,27). Ко каже да има Христа усеби, тај ти већ каже да има мир у себи.

И тако, са Христом добијамо мир, безХриста никада. Павле много говори оизмирењу с Богом. Но, то измирење незначи погодбу између наше воље и вољеБожије, но потпуно и радосно потчињењенаше воље Божијој вољи. Павле говори и онашем измирењу с осталим људима. Но, ито не значи погодбу наше воље и вољеосталих људи. На тој погодби, томпогађању и ценкању, људи су се мирилихиљаде година и нису се измирили. Негоапостол Павле хоће да установи мир међуљудима кроз свеопште признање вољеБожије.

Ко удише, тај и издише. Ко удише мирБожији у себе, тај га издише и шири окосебе. Без нарочитог напора, сасвим лако,као што је и дисање лако. Мир творитиотуда значи: примати и давати. Приматимир од Бога и давати га људима и -зверовима око себе. Да, и зверовима: свециБожији живели су у миру и са зверовима, имиловали су ове као кротке јагањце. Дакле,и зверовима; и целој природи око нас. Јер,природа се ничим не узнемирава догрешним немиром људским. Не долази мирљудима од природе него, напротив, мирприроди долази од људи. Чим мир завладамеђу људима, онда се и природа наслађавамиром.

Nastavi}e se…...


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Dear Parishioners,Easter Sunday will be on April 12, 2015 this year and we

will have our traditional egg hunt for the children. In addi-tion to regular Easter eggs, we would also like to col-

lect plastic Easter eggs filled with candy or prizes and havethem donated by parents, grandparents, or church mem-bers. If you are able to donate plastic eggs please givethem to one of the Sunday School teachers Andjelka

Gojkovic or Mike Jovovic anytime before Easter. Thank you.

Please bring extra package of colored eggs to share with people on Easter Day.Thank you. Fr. Dane

DRAGI PAROHIJANIVaskrs je 12-og Aprila ove godine i ponovo }e mo imati

tradicionalno sakupljanje jaja za decu.Pored Uskr{njih jaja ako `elite donesite i plasti~na jaja i

bombone.Svi mogu uzeti u~e{}a u ovome roditelji, bake, deke, i svi

parohijani. Priloge mo`ete dati bilo kojoj od u~iteljicanedeljne {kole Andjelki Gojkovic ili Mike Jovovic pre Vaskr

{nje Nedelje.


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Calendar of EventsWe are publishing a calendar of events

so that you and your familycan join us for these events. All are welcome

and we hope to see you at Church,as well as these events.

More details will follow.

April 4, Lazarus Saturday-VrbicaApril 5, Palm Sunday– CvetiApril 12, PASCHA– VASKRSMay 21,Ascentions– SpasovdanMay 31, Holy TrinityJune 28, VidovdanJuly 19, Drazin Dan

August 28, Church SlavaOctober 10, Serbian Festival

Your Church Board Welcomes you.


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As the sun crept above the horizon ona chilly Easter morning in Korea,there dawned upon me a realizationthat the hundreds of Greek soldiers '.and airmen were congregating at thisair base because of three lit-tle words: "Christ is risen."

The year was 1953. Ascorrespondent for the 315thAir Division' it was my as-signment to live five dayswith men of the Royal Hel-lenic Air Force and write thestory of - their Easter obser-vance.

Lambs which had been slowlyturning on spits over coal fires allnight were almost ready for feasting.Within a small area enclosed by a railfence, the number of Greek fightingmen at Seoul to celebrate the Resur-rection was gradually increasing. An-ticipation permeated the air. It wasnearly time for the arrival of thepriest who since midnight had beentouring Greek outposts. He was com-ing to make the pronouncement that

would signal thestart of festivities. .

Shortly before noon a stir at one endof the gaily decorated enclosure indi-cated the priest had arrived. As Iwatched, a stocky man, nattilydressed in combat fatigues and steelhelmet, stepped briskly into the circle

of uniformed men. Opening asmall attache case, thebearded cleric withdrew thevestments of the Greek Or-thodox Church and slippedthem on over his olive drabs.

Lighted candles inhand, the men pressed closearound their priest and lis-

tened as he spoke to them from aleatherbound volume. I could not un-derstand all that was said, but it soonbecame possible for me to grasp aphrase that repeatedly punctuatedthe message: "Christ is risen! Christis risen! Christ is risen!"

Three little words, I thought.Small in size, but mighty in portent.Without these words, Christianitywould fail. It would lose its meaning.If the Redeemer died and was buried,but did not rise victoriously from thegrave, "then we have nothing to


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preach and you have nothing to believe," Paul declares in 2 Corinthians15:14.

I recall now that until that dayI had shamefully overlooked the fullsignificance of Christ's resurrection.I accepted the fact as scriptural real-ity, but it wasn't until I witnessed thejoy these men felt over the announcement that I grasped the fullest satis-faction that comes in knowing Christis alive, that He intercedes for Hisredeemed.

Because of these three words,we have the assurance that a glori-ous eternal life awaits the redeemedwho depart this world. This assur-ance is as real today as it was whenPaul wrote to the Corinthian church.It is held forth today to all men whowill accept Christ's sacrifice on thecross as being made in their behalf.

"The truth is," Paul writes in the Co-rinthian epistle, "that Christ hasbeen raised from death, as the guar-antee that those who sleep in deathwill also be raised."

B.D. Edson

И најгори човек мора се три pута уживоту сетити Бога: Када видиправедника да страда збогњегове кривице; Када он самстрада због туђе кривице; Када мудође час смрти.

Три пута у животу моразаплакати и најтврђи грешник

Када га након гоњења од људи каодивљу звер, помилује мајчинарука;Када га болесна и осамљена посетињегов противник, доносећи мударове и опроштај; Када му насамрти свештеник каже: Не бој се,Божија милост је већа од твојихгрехова.

Три пута човек сам себи личи наБога

Када му се роди син; Када схвати иусвоји Христа; Када се помири сасвојим страдањем за правду.

(Владика Николај Велимировић


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It is alwaysThe experience that Christ underwent inthe Garden of Gethsemane has been calledby some as the greatest moment in the his-tory of religion. This is quite a claim. Yetall we have to do is look upon the icon ofChrist praying in the garden, or even better,visit the Holy Land, to get an insight intowhat transpired on that first Holy Thurs-day.

Everyone who visits the Holy Landcannot resist a journeythrough this beautiful gar-den on the slope of theMount of Olives in Jerusa-lem. It is indeed a high-light of the land. Flowersbloom in the garden allyear long, and the warmthof the Mediterranean sunbeats down upon all. Themost unusual sight thereare the incredibly old oli

shepherd sh rdsacserbchurch.org/sac/wp-content/uploads/file/april_ 2015...anima u korintuo o...

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