ST JOSEPH THE
BETROTHED
Melkite-Greek
Catholic CHURCH
725 W. Mt. Hope
Ave, Lansing, MI 48910 517-575-6264
FMailing Address: 921 Westover Circle, Lansing, MI 48917E
Rev. Father James
K. Graham, Pastor frjamie@earthlink.net
Rev. Protodeacon
Joseph Daratony
248-719-5169
Phone or
email Fr James with items for the bulletin by Thursday night.
Troparion of St
Mary of Egypt (Tone 8)
In you, O Mother Mary, was restored the likeness
of God,
for you carried your cross and followed
Christ. You taught by your deeds
how to spurn the flesh, for it passes away, and
how to value the soul, for it is immortal.
Wherefore, your soul is forever in happiness with
the angels.
6 April 2014—5th
Sunday of Great Lent (St Mary of Egypt).
Holy Father Eutychios of Constantinople.
(Tone 5)
Readings Apostolos: Hebrews 9:11-14 Gospel: Mark 10:32-45
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great for the health &
salvation of Deacon Joe Daratony, Griffin
Barna, Jim Covello, David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph Farhat, Robert Kuri,
Nick Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Louise Hajj, Iva Butler, Michel Badawi, Kelsey
Andrews, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Michael Maslowski, Clay
Thomas, Michael Harmuth, Elias Haggar, Fr John Leonard, Fr James Babcock;
in
memory of Louis Zarka (by Daniel
& Debbie Martin), Abraham Saba (by Bishara Gedeon), John Rashid (by Mark Kamar), Jennie Morey, Chester Bullard and
Michael P. Garten (by Fr James).
13 April 2014— Holy
and Glorious Palm Sunday—The Triumphal Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Holy Father Martin the Confessor, Pope of
Rome.
Readings Apostolos: Philippians 4:4-9 Gospel: John 12:1-18
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great in memory of Louis Zarka, Abraham Saba (by Boutros
Eid), John Rashid (by Dave &
Cookie Abraham), Abdallah & Zakieh
Badawi (by Nadia Badawi), and Millard
Wallace (by Fr James).
Chant the Beatitudes Instead of Antiphons Today
Instead of singing the usual three Antiphons in today’s
Liturgy, we will chant the Beatitudes, found on page 24 of the Liturgikon.
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
- Troparion of the Resurrection, in Tone 5, Liturgikon, page 189.
- Troparion of St Mary of Egypt, in Tone 8, page 205.
- Troparion of St Joseph, in Tone 4, page 30A.
- Kontakion of the Theotokos in Tone 2, page 31.
Our Offerings to the Lord
The collection taken in the Liturgy is part of our
worship. We offer the Lord our lives,
our prayers, our gifts of bread and wine, and our financial gifts. Last Sunday, about 85 people attended the Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1164 in the ordinary
collection, $190 for liturgies and memorials, $382.52 for reimbursements, and $32
for candles. Please make a
generous sacrifice to support your church in proportion to the many blessings
God has given you.
Protodeacon Joe Daratony Will Have Hip Surgery
Protodeacon Joe Daratony will have hip
replacement surgery this Tuesday, 8 April.
Please pray that God will bless and protect him, guide his medical team,
and grant him a successful and speedy recovery.
Great Compline, Lazarus Vespers on Weds.
& Friday
We are entering the last week of the Great Fast. Great Compline will be celebrated at 6 pm on
Wednesday and Vespers for Lazarus Saturday on Friday at 6 pm. Great Vespers for Palm Sunday will be served
on Saturday at 5 pm. Please attend as
many of these services as you can. You
can find announcements of our Lenten services on our Facebook page.
Time to Bring Items for Food Fest Flea Market
There will be a flea market again this year at the Food Festival. Please bring in your items this week. Suggestions: books, toys, puzzles, knicknacks,
jewelry, scarves, purses, decorative doilies, placemats, dishes, pictures. No clothing, please. Thank you.
Bulletin, Homilies On Line; Can Be Mailed
Also
Every week, the Sunday bulletin and the homily from the Liturgy are
posted on our website, www.MelkiteChurch.org. If you do not have internet
access, the bulletin and homily can be mailed to you. Please contact Nimer Haddad if you need to
have the bulletin and homily mailed to you.
New Book Available: The Melkite Church at
Vatican II
At the
Second Vatican Council, 1963-65, the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church had a great
influence on the whole Catholic Church.
A collection of the speeches, memos, and letters of Patriarch Maximos IV
Sayegh and the other bishops has just been published in English by our diocesan
Sophia Press. The cost is $30 per
book. Contact Fr James right away if you
want to order; only a limited edition was printed.
St Mary
of Egypt
By
Nimer Haddad, Chair of St Joseph Evangelization Committee
Mary of Egypt was born somewhere in Egypt
during the fifth century, and at the age of 12 ran away to the city of
Alexandria where she lived a sinful life. After 17 years, she traveled to Jerusalem for
the great feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. She paid for her passage by offering sexual
favors to other pilgrims and continued as a prostitute for a short time in
Jerusalem.
When she tried to enter the Church of the Resurrection
for the celebration, an unseen force kept her from doing so. Realizing that this was because of her sinful
life, she was struck with repentance. Seeing
an icon of the Virgin Mary outside the church, she prayed for forgiveness and
promised to give up the world. Then she
tried again to enter the church, and this time was allowed in.
After venerating the relic of the True Cross,
she returned to the icon to give thanks, and she heard a voice telling her, “If
you cross the Jordan River, you will find rest.” She immediately went to the monastery of St.
John the Baptist on the bank of the Jordan, where she received absolution and afterwards
Holy Communion. The next morning she
crossed the Jordan River and retired to the desert to live the rest of her life
as a hermit in penitence. She took with
her only three loaves of bread and she lived on whatever she could find in the
desert.
Mary of Egypt lived for 47 years in the
desert without encountering another human being or any animal. A year before her death, St. Zosimas of
Palestine, on retreat in the desert for Lent, found her completely naked and
almost unrecognizable as a human person. She asked him to toss her his mantle to cover
herself with, and then she narrated her life’s story to him. She asked him to meet her at the banks of the
Jordan on Holy Thursday of the following year, and to bring her Holy Communion.
When he fulfilled her wish, she made the
sign of the cross and crossed the river to get to him by walking on the surface
of the water and received Holy Communion, telling him to meet her again in the
desert the following Lent. The next
year, Zosimas traveled to the same spot where he first met her and found her
lying there dead. According to an inscription
written in the sand next to her head, she had died on the very night he had
given her communion. She had been
somehow miraculously transported to the place he found her, and her body
preserved incorrupt. He was amazed to
discover that she had, in several hours, covered a distance of more than twenty
days’ march. He buried her body with the
help of a passing lion.
When Zosimas returned to the monastery he
told her life story to the brethren, and it was preserved among them as oral
tradition until it was written down by St. Sophronius, the Patriarch of
Jerusalem (634-638).
St. Mary of Egypt is commemorated on the Fifth
Sunday of Great Lent because the Church recognizes her as a model of
repentance.
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