the angel of light 09/2009

8/14/2019 The Angel of Light 09/2009

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September; 2009/Monthly Bulletin of the Orthodox V Charitable AssociationEditorAlona Sergeeva

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Church New YearThe First Ecumenical Council decreed that the Church's year should begin on Sep-

tember 1(14) . The month of September was, for the Jews, the beginning of the civil

year, the month of the gathering of fruits and the bringing to God of sacrifices of

thanksgiving. It was at the time of this feast that the Lord Jesus went into the syna-

gogue in Nazareth, opened the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and read the words:

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because He hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the

meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the

opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the

day of vengeance' (Is. 61:1-2; cf. Luke 4:16-21). This month of September is also noted in the history

of Christianity because it was during September that Constantine the Great was victorious over

Maxentius, the enemy of the Christian faith, a victory followed by the granting of freedom of con-

fession of the Christian faith throughout the whole Roman Empire. For a long time, the civil year in

the Christian world was reckoned in the same way as the Church's year, from September 1st, but it

was later changed to January 1st, first in western Europe and then also in Russia in the time of Peter

the Great. In its hymns for this day the Holy Church prays "Creator and Fashioner of all things visi-

ble and invisible" "bless the crown of the year", "grant fruitful seasons and rains from heaven for

those on earth", "bless our comings and goings, direct the works of our hands and grant us forgive-

ness of offences", "grant peace to Thy churches", "overthrow heresies", "protect our cities unbe-

sieged, make glad our faithful Sovereigns by Thy power, giving them victories against enemies.

Troparion , Tone II -

O FASHIONER OF ALL CREATION,/ WHO IN THINE AUTHORITY HAST APPOINTED THE TIMES AND SEA-

SONS:/ BLESS THOU THE CROWN OF THE YEAR WITH THY GOODNESS, O LORD,/ PRE- SERVING IN

PEACE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS AND THY CITY,// AND SAVE US THROUGH THE PRAYERS OF THE THE-

OTOKOS.


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Patriarch Kirill has finished his visit to Ukraine

Ten-day pastoral visit of Patriarch Kirill of Mos-cow and All Russia to Ukraine has finished. The

Primate visited eleven cities and towns of the country and heads cele-bration of the Day of Russia's Baptism in Ukraine.

Some unique events distinguished this visit: first time in history the

Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate took place in Kiev, for thefirst time ever the Russian Church Primate visited the place where St.

Vladimir had been baptized in Khersones and celebrated the Divine Liturgy there.

Patriarch Kirill's pastoral visit to Ukraine started on July 27 in Kiev with festive celebrations of Rus-

sia's Baptism. From this day and during the whole period of his stay in Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill em-phasized the importance of spiritual unity between peoples of historical Rus now divided by state bor-ders.These statements aroused harsh reaction on the Patriarch's position from church schism advocates.

Nationalists from the Svoboda Association even demanded to initiate a criminal case against the Pri-

mate of the Russian Church and deport him from the country. However, according to chronicle of thePatriarch's visit, his opponents were always in minority while crowds of Ukrainians enthusiastically

welcomed the high guest. Many of them even came from other regions of the country to pray with thePatriarch.

Today's celebrations in the Pochayev Lavra in Volyn culminated the patriarchal program (by the way,it has been the first time a Patriarch of Moscow visited this part of Western Ukraine.) Despite the fore-casts, schismatics didn't manage to disturb celebrations of the 450th anniversary of bringing the

Pochayev Icon of the Mother of God as they were very few and not even allowed to the Lavra, whereabout 50 thousand parishioners of canonical Orthodox Church prayed.

The main impression the Patriarch got from his visit to Ukraine was that "people keep sincere faith intheir hearts despite numerous hardships and divisions in political and social spheres that penetrated

into church life."

"I'm deeply convinced that this power of people's spirit will help Ukrainian state and Ukrainian societyovercome hardships and strive to achieve the objectives that will contribute in spiritual expectations of

Ukrainian people," Patriarch Kirill said summing up his visit . Interfax

News

Kaliningrad masters created unique mosaic portraying Alexy II for Moscow Region church

Unique amber mosaic was delivered to St. George Cathedral in

Odintsovo, the Moscow Region, from Kaliningrad.

It portrays Patriarch Alexy II. The depiction is a reproduction of the re-

pher, the Kaliningrad edition of the Pravda daily has reported onWednesday.According to the edition, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

will consecrate an amber portrait of his predecessor in September.Kaliningrad masters made the mosaics by request of the Odintsovo Ad-

ministration head Alexander Gladyshev and with blessing of the localdiocese.

It took five masters a month and a half to finish the 120 cm x 90 cm mosaic in Florentine style. It

also required 4 patents of invention and 15 kilograms of amber of 15 shades. Interfax


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Patriarch Kirill satisfied with his visit to Ukraine

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes he hasachieved the main goal of his pastoral visit to Ukraine.

- IF), I can say that this prayer took place. I felt your heartswith my heart, I saw your faces, I felt a deep power of faith

day speaking to Orthodox believers from the porch of theAssumption Cathedral in Vladimir-Volynsky.

The Patriarch told the people who came to listen to him that he would like to help them keep the faith and

urged them to secure unity. He reminded them that the borders of the three sovereign states divide onceunited spiritual space of the Kievan Rus.

fare, reconciliation and helps overcome conflicts. At the same time, the Church preserves her unity as the

According to him, the ancient Assumption Cathedral of Volyn, which was in the hands of Uniates for two

Interfax

Holodomor not a pretext to separate Russians and Ukrainians - Patriarch Kirill

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has said that the Holodomor (the 1932-1933 Ukrainian famine)

is one common historical tragedy both for Russians and Ukrainians.

"This [Holodomor] was a common misfortune for all the people who lived in the same country at the

time," the Patriarch said on Monday after visiting together with Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko amonument to the famine victims in Kiev.

The Patriarch urged all believers to pray so that this tragedy never happens again and "so that none of these

tragic events of our history hampers our fraternal communication," Patriarch said.

Hopefully, the Holodomor and related "tragic circumstances of our history" will not encourage the devel-

opment of the "fratriphobic philosophy of history," the Patriarch also said.

"The famine, dreadful famine, which was entirely the result of a specific policy and became even worsedue to natural disasters, claimed an enormous number of lives in Ukraine, Volga region, North Caucasus,

Southern Urals, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan," the Patriarch said commenting on the Holodomor

problem. Interfax

On August 28 the parishioners of Orthodox V took part of celebra-tion the 100th anniversary of the Dormition Church in Kurchaki,

near MacNutt (Saskatchewan), which forms part of patriarchal par-ishes in Canada. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by bishop Iov ofKashir, assisted by the rector of the church archpriest Igor Kisil, priest

George Sergeev, and cleric of the OCA archpriest Andrew Piast. Af-ter the Liturgy which was attended by140 people a moleben with a

procession and a panikhida were held. At festive a dinner Bishop Iovpresented the Patriarchal Certificate (Gramota) of merit to the parish.

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H u m o u rA Sunday School teacher began her lesson with aquestion, 'Boys and girls, what do we know aboutGod?' A hand shot up in the air. 'He is an artist!'

said the kindergarten boy. 'Really? How do youknow?' the teacher asked. 'You know - Our Father,

who does art in Heaven... '

People want the front of the bus, the back of the

church, and the center of attention.

Two priests are fixing a board with inscription:

late!" A truck is passing by beside them at high

speed, the driver is cursing and shaking his fist atthem: "Damned cultists! You screw me down!"

The car passes out of sight, the sounds of crash and bubbles are being heard. One priest says to the

other: "Perhaps, you were right and we should

write, "Bridge is destroyed."

- There's an omen, if you see a spider, you'll soon

get a letter. I've been to the exhibition of spiders.What does it mean?

- You'll get piles of spam!

A priest opens pet's corner in his churchnear St. Petersburg ( Leningrad).Rabbit cages and aquariums with croco-

diles are kept under the same roof with theHoly Hierarch Spiridon parish in the townof Lomonosov

near St. Peters-burg.

"I want to pro-

mote children'slove of God'screatures. This

is some kind ofthe live message. Children come to enjoy

what they see. I explain to them that theseare all God's creatures," church's rectorOleg Yemelyanenko explains his idea to

open a pet's corner at the church in an in-terview to Pervy Canal.

Moreover, Father Oleg hopes to distractchildren from computers by bringing uphis young parishioners in love of animals.

Fr. Oleg decided to open a pet's corner atthe church when one of his parishionersgave him iguana as a present. Now the

collection counts over 30 animals, includ-ing two chameleons, a male and a female,

and several species of cockroaches -Blatella germanica (German cockroaches)and Panchlora cubensis (Cuban cock-

roaches). The latter reproduce themselvestoo fast.

The pet's corner and the parish are tempo-

rarily located in the former club, as thechurch's building is currently under reno-vation. After the renovation works are

completed, the parish is going to return toits initial premises, and the club will be

turned into a zoo.Interfax

The State Council of Komi conveyed Russian gov-

ernment its findings on the question of nam-

The peak is located at a crossroads of touristic

routes. If federal authorities back up this initiative,it will be the first Russian mountain named after an

Orthodox saint. Interfax

Mountain is probable to bear name of Orthodoxsaint first time in Russia


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The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

The first Great Feast to fall in the Church Year is the Nativity of the Most-Holy Theotokos. It is entirely fitting that

at the beginning of the new religious year all Orthodox Christians should

come before the highest example of human holiness that the Orthodox

Church holds precious and venerates - that of Mary, the Theotokos and

Mother of God. This day is seen as one of universal joy; for on this day -

the boundary of the Old and New Covenants - was born the Most-

Blessed Virgin, pre-arranged from the ages by Divine Providence to serve

the mystical Incarnation of God the Word.

The first Old Testament Reading of Vespers (Gen. 28:10-17) speaks of the

dream of Jacob, one of the Old Testament Patriarchs, when he fled the

wrath of his brother Esau. He saw a ladder extending from earth to

heaven, with angels ascending and descending. When he awoke, Jacob

blessed with oil the stone on which he had slept and called it Bethel,

meaning house of God. The Most-Pure Mother of God is seen here as

that ladder between heaven and earth, uniting earth with heaven in her

womb. She who carried God in her womb is truly Bethel, none other than the house of God...and the gate of

heaven (Gen. 28:17).

The birth of the Most-Holy Theotokos took place in the following manner: Her father, the Righteous Joachim, was

a descendant of King David, to whom God had promised that from the seed of his descendants would be born

the Savior of the world. Her mother, the Righteous Anna, was the daughter of Matthan, and through her father

was of the tribe of Aaron and through her mother was of the tribe of Judah. The spouses lived in Nazareth of

Galilee.

Joachim and Anna had no children, and all their life they grieved about this, especially since they were now in old

age. Scorn and mockery was their lot, for at that time childlessness was reckoned as a shame. But they nevermurmured and only the more fervently beseeched God, humbly trusting in His Will.

Once, during the time of a great Feast, the offering which Joachim took to Jerusalem to offer to God in the Tem-

ple, was not received by the priest, who reckoned that a childless man was not worthy to bring a sacrifice to

God. This greatly grieved the old man and he, counting himself only a sinner among men, decided not to return

home, but to flee to a place of solitude in a deserted place.

Anna, having heard how her husband had been humiliated by the priest, began to fast, and in prayer sadly be-

seeched God to grant her a child. In the wilderness, secluded and fasting, Joachim also prayed to God about this.

The prayers of the Holy Spouses were heard. The angel Gabriel came to them and announced that a daughter

would be born to them, whom the whole human race would call blessed. At the command of the Heavenly Mes-

senger, Joachim and Anna returned to Jerusalem where, according to the promise of God, a daughter was born

to them, whom they named Mary.

This child, the Most-Holy Virgin Mary, pure and virtuous, surpassed not only all men, but even the angels, being

manifested as the Living Temple, "the Heavenly Gate, ushering in Christ to the Universe as the Salvation of our

souls." The Nativity of the Mother of God pre-announced the approaching time when the great and comforting

promise of God concerning the salvation of the human race from the slavery of the devil was to be accom-

plished. The Mother of the First-Born of all Creation was revealed to all of us as a merciful Intercessor to whom

we perpetually run for help in all things.

orthodoxworld.ru

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Schedule of Services

For September 2009

06 SundayTone 4 -- Chipman 10:AM

13 Sunday - Tone 5 - Skaro 10:AM

19 Saturday - St. Archangel Michael - Peno10:AM Holy LiturgyGrave Service

20 Sunday - Tone 6 - Chahor - 10 AM

27 Sunday - Tone 7 - Elevation of the Cross - Wostok 10:AM

Orthodox feasts (prazdniki)

in september

If you have any questions or proposals, please, Contact us:Priest Father George Sergeev 780-895-21-49Email: [email protected]. / PO Box 483 Lamont Alberta TOB 2R0

President Yakim Lopushinsky (780-895-26-67Vice -President Jim Nemirsky 780-896-23-47Secretary John Tkachuk 780-576-30-73Treasurer Fred Pewarchuk 780-895-21-59Or visit our websitewww.orthodoxfive.org

11 September -The Beheading of the Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John.

12 September -Translation of the relics (1724) ofSt. AlexanderNevsky (1263).

14 September- Church New Year.

18 September -Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth (1st c.), parents of St. John theForerunner.

21 September -The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

27 September -The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross.

30 September -Martyrs Sophia and her three daughters: Faith (Vera), Hope (Nadezhda), and Love(Lyubov), at Rome (137).

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