Brethren,

I have attached the February calendar. Thanks to Tom for putting it
together. Hard copies of the calendar will likely be available at the
church, should you run into problems printing it, or should you forget to
print it, etc. Included on the calendar are links to Orthodox charitable
organizations you may want to familiarize yourselves with or donate to.

Schedule of Services

• Feb 7 Meat Fare Sunday 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy (Fr. John)
• Feb 14 Cheese Fare Sunday 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy (Fr. Mike); Choir Practice
• Feb 21 1st Sunday of Lent 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy (Fr. Mike)
• Feb 27 6pm Soul Saturday Vespers (Fr. John)
• Feb 28 2nd Sunday of Lent 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy (Fr. John); Confession/Counseling 2pm

Epistle Reading

• Feb 7 Stephanie Douglass
• Feb 14 Marcus Todd
• Feb 21 Mandy Brock
• Feb 28 Michael Shepard
• http://www.goarch.org/chapel/ (link to daily scriptures)

Any other volunteers for Epistle Readers?

_________________________________________________________________________________

>From Fr. John

*Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian*

* *

Of all Lenten hymns and prayers, one short prayer can be termed *the* Lenten prayer. Tradition ascribes it to one of the great teachers of spiritual life – Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Here is its text:

O Lord and Master of my life,

Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King,

Grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother;

For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

This prayer is read twice at the end of each Lenten service Monday through Friday. At the first reading, a prostration follows each petition. Then we all bow twelve times saying: “O God, cleanse me a sinner.” The entire prayer is repeated with one final prostration at the end.

Why does this short and simple prayer occupy such an important position in the entire Lenten worship? Because it enumerates in a unique way all the *negative* and *positive* elements of repentance and constitutes, so to speak, a “check list” for our individual Lenten effort. This effort is aimed first at our liberation from some fundamental spiritual diseases which shape our life and make it virtually impossible for us even to start turning ourselves to God.

The basic disease is *sloth*. It is that strange laziness and passivity of our entire being which always pushes us “down” rather than “up”– which constantly convinces us that no change is possible and therefore desirable. It is in fact a deeply rooted cynicism which to every spiritual challenge responds “what for?” and makes our life one tremendous spiritual waste. It is the root of all sin because it poisons the spiritual energy at its very source.

The result of sloth is *faint-heartedness*. It is the state of despondency which all spiritual Fathers considered the greatest danger for the soul. Despondency is the impossibility for man to see anything good or positive; it is the reduction of everything to negativism and pessimism. It is truly a demonic power in us because the Devil is fundamentally a *liar*. He lies to man about God and about the world; he fills life with darkness and negation. *Despondency is the suicide of the soul* because when man is possessed by it he is absolutely unable to see the light and to desire it.

*Lust of power*! Strange as it may seem, it is precisely sloth and despondency that fill our life with lust of power. By vitiating the entire attitude toward life and making it meaningless and empty, they force us to seek compensation in a radically wrong attitude toward other persons. If my life is not oriented toward God, not aimed at eternal values, it will inevitably become selfish and self-centered and this means that all other beings will become means of my own self-satisfaction. If God is not the Lord and Master of my life, then I become my own lord and master-the absolute center of *my* own world, and I begin to evaluate everything in terms of *my* needs, *my**my* desires, and *my* judgments. The lust of power is thus a fundamental depravity in my relationship to other beings, a search for their subordination to me. It is not necessarily expressed in the actual urge to command and to dominate “others.” It may result as well in indifference, contempt, lack of interest, consideration, and respect. It
is indeed sloth and despondency directed this time at others; it completes spiritual suicide with spiritual murder. ideas,

Finally, *idle talk*. Of all created beings, man alone has been endowed with the gift of speech. All Fathers see in it the very “seal” of the Divine Image in man because God Himself is revealed as Word (John 1:1). But being the supreme gift, it is by the same token the supreme danger. Being the very expression of man, the means of his self-fulfillment, it is for this very reason the means of his fall and self-destruction, of betrayal and sin. The word saves and the word kills; the word inspires and the word poisons. The word is the means of Truth and it is the means of demonic Lie. Having an ultimate positive power, it has therefore a tremendous negative power. It truly creates positively or negatively. When deviated from its divine origin and purpose, the word becomes *idle*. It “enforces” sloth, despondency, and lust of power, and transforms life into hell. It becomes the very power of sin.

These four are thus the negative “objects” of repentance. They are the obstacles to be removed. But God alone can remove them. Hence, the first part of the Lenten prayer-this cry from the bottom of human helplessness. Then the prayer moves to the positive aims of repentance
which are also four.

(continued next time)

-Taken from *Great Lent* by Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

*Food for Thought*

* *

There is always an “*I*” in the middle of s*I*n… (Paul L. Powers)

“How many are my iniquities and my s*I*ns?” - Job 13:23

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Continued thanks to Fr. John and Fr. Mike for their efforts on our behalf.

Many thanks and many years to all those who have contributed to the Coffee Hour after services. Tom, Claudia, Deborah and others (forgive me for not knowing all who contributed!) have prepared wonderful food for us.

Those who want a tax document from HT for their 2009 donations to please contact treasurer Peter Byrd [pnmbyrd@charter.net].

In Christ,

Mark

Kelly Dean Jolley
Department of Philosophy
Auburn, AL 36849-5210

January Schedule (All Times EST)

Jan 3 Orthros 9am/Liturgy 10am THEOPHANY/EPIPHANY (Blessing of the Waters)
Jan 6 Bible Study 7:30pm
Jan 9 2nd Saturday Foodbank 10:30am
Jan 10 Orthros 9am/Liturgy 10am
Jan 13 Bible Study 7:30pm
Jan 17 Orthros 9am/Liturgy 10am
Jan 20 Bible Study 7:30pm
Jan 24 Orthros 9am/Liturgy 10am
Jan 27 Bible Study 7:30pm
Jan 31 Orthros 9am/Liturgy 10am

Scripture Reading

Jan 3 Kelly Jolley
Jan 10 Marcus Todd
Jan 17 Mandy Brock
Jan 24 Stephanie Douglass
Jan 31 Subdeacon Michael Shepard

Readings for each day can be accessed at
http://www.goarch.org/chapel/

If you would like to join our rotation of epistle readers, please let me know.

From Fr. John
(If you would like your home blessed, please note the section below.)

Theophony/Epiphany

In the Orthodox calendar the feast of the Epiphany is called “Theofania,” or Theophany, the manifestation of God. Epiphany is the most ancient feast, after Pascha or Easter, relating to the Lord and is observed by the entire Christian Church on January 6th.

The first evidence attesting to the feast of the Epiphany comes from Clement of Alexandria who died about 215. He relates that a Gnostic group observed the Baptism of our Lord on January 6th believing that it was at the time of Baptism that Divinity took the flesh in Christ. The date of January 6th was selected because according to some ancient reckoning the day began to grow longer on that date and so it was celebrated by pagans as the day of victory of light over darkness. In Rome, though, the day of the birth of the Invincible Sun was celebrated on December 25th. In both East and West, and practically at the same time, these two pagan festivals were replaced by a Christian feast signifying the epiphany (manifestation) ‘of the sun of justice’ and ‘of the true light of the world.’ The 25th of December began to be celebrated in Rome as the day of the Epiphany (Nativity), while in the East January 6th remained as the Epiphany day including both the Nativity and Baptism of our Lord. By the end of the 4th century, the 25th of December as the day of the Nativity was adopted in most of the East, and January 6th remained as the feast of our Lord’s Baptism.

When the Eastern Epiphany day was introduced in the West, the already celebrated Nativity on December 25thth, although accepted as the day of Baptism, took the character of manifestation of Christ’s Divinity to the pagan world. Hence the Magi, figuratively representing the entire heathen world, were taken to be recipients of the saving grace of the newly manifested Christ. It is only the Armenian Church in the East that still celebrates the Nativity and Epiphany together on January 6th.

The most characteristic feature of the Orthodox day of Epiphany, or Theophania, is the sanctifying of waters by invoking the Spirit that appeared in the form of a dove over Christ at the time of His Baptism. The Orthodox receive sanctified water at the end of the special service of Epiphany and with it sanctify their homes, gardens, and other possessions while some preserve it for the entire year partaking of it at times of illness and other personal or family adversities. The twelve days between the Nativity of our Lord, December 25th, and the day of the Epiphany, January 6th, is called Dodekaemeron (twelve feastal days) and is considered to be one continuous festive period. On December 26th, the Virgin Mary who gave birth to our Lord is honored, and on January 1st, the day of the Circumcision of our Lord is celebrated. The festive character of the period is observed by abolishing all kinds of fasts, apart from the day prior to the Epiphany when the service of the Great Hagiasmos or Great Blessing of Water is performed.

Hagiasmos

There is the Small and Great Hagiasmos, both signifying the liturgical act by which water is sanctified as a result of certain prayers and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, as well as by immersing in it a small ceremonial cross. The service is called Hagiasmos (sanctification), because it is believed that by being sprinkled with and by drinking this sanctified water the faithful is cleansed and sanctified. The celebrant prays that the sanctified water heal soul and body and protect the faithful against all adversary powers. The use of sanctified water goes back to the ancient Church. Ecclesiastical writers such as Epiphanios and Theodoret mention events involving the use of sanctified water for the purpose of restoring health in people and of warding off epidemics and other diseases. Sprinkling with sanctified water (holy water) accompanied by prayers and sealing with the Cross had already been introduced into liturgical use in the 4th century for the purpose of healing not only people but even sick animals, and for bestowing the blessing of God on new homes and on new buildings for public use.

- Taken from A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy by Rev. Nicon D. Patrinacos

One of the central signs of our acceptance of God’s sanctification of creation at Holy Theophany is the blessing of our homes. This is done:

• To reveal the home as what it is created by God to be, a way to heaven.
• To rid the home of every evil.
• To reveal the truth that the family is a small Church unit in Christ.
• To consecrate the home and all the activity in it to God.
• To fill the home and all those who abide in it with God’s grace and blessings.

Only the Church can reveal what life is because She alone is the Kingdom of God on earth. She lives within Christ and reveals Him to us. The home is the little Church, a part of the greater Church, and therein participates in the mystery of God’s grace. By the blessing of homes with holy water, the priest sanctifies this smaller unit of the Church, in the same way that the main Church is blessed and sanctified, for just as in the Church building proper, in the home the Church blesses, reveals and sanctifies all things in the very way we live our lives.

When the priest comes to bless your home at Holy Theophany, the following guidelines should be observed:

• Have as many family members present as possible.
• Turn off all TVs, radios, etc.
• Prepare a place in the dining room or kitchen with an icon and candle (on top of a white cloth if available).
• Prepare a list of the first names of those for whom prayers are to be offered, both living and departed.
• Take the opportunity to know the priest better and ask him any questions you may have.
• Make the priest aware of any special family needs or concerns.

Note: Father John will be glad to bless your home. He is making a schedule now so please contact him via email at jstefero@hotmail.com or his cell phone at 678-637-4425 to schedule a date and time to have your home blessed.

Reminders

• Keep in mind our Foodbank. It would be good if you could supply either food or time to it–or, better, both. The Foodbank is the 2nd Saturday of each month. This month it is January 9th.
• Please keep Fr. John, and Fr. Mike and Presvyterra in your prayers. Their service to us is invaluable. We thank them for all they do.
• Wednesday Bible Study resumes in January. Contact Stephen Muse if you have any questions: smuse52@gmail.com
• If you have a topic for coffee hour discussion, contact Fr. John.

Thanks

• Thanks to Tom for all the good food after Liturgy. Thanks also to Claudia and to Deborah. Thanks to any others who I have not mentioned by name but who have contributed. Finally, thanks to those who have given time to clean up after the coffee hour.
• Thanks to Stephen Muse for all his hard work leading the Wednesday Bible Study.
• Thanks to John and Tom for all the little things they do each week before, during and after services. When one or both are absent, we all realize just how dependent on them we are. Many Years to both!
• Thanks to those who have prepared the Prosphora. Our rotation: Jan. 2010 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens; Feb. 2010 Barbara Vogus; Mar. 2010 Claudia Muse

Please do NOT forget to turn back your clocks one hour Saturday night! Our November 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Sun. Nov 1st - Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Orthodox Discussion Group
Wed. Nov 4th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. Nov 7th - Archangel Michael Banquet in Atlanta
Our Honorees: Alexis Mosjidis & Peter Byrd
Sun. Nov 8th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Nov 11th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. Nov 14th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution &
Pancake Breakfast
Sun. Nov 15th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. Nov 18th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Nov 22nd - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Nov 25th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Nov 29th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero

Paper copies of the November calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall. Many thanks to all who have adjusted to the new starting time for the Doxology (the first dozen pages we sing in the book) several minutes earlier so our Divine Liturgy may start more promptly at 10am.

Our “Big Event” Greek Dinner for fellowship and to showcase our church to the community was a great success! By all accounts Fr. John’s Presentation was superb. Many thanks to Father, Tom and Francine for all their efforts in organising and making it work so well. Thanks also to our Bible Study group for cleaning, it looked wonderful - Deborah Hunsinger, Tom kubik, Sophia Mann, Claudia Muse, Yiayia Sophia, Beba & Francine for making the pans of pastitsio’s. Everyone listed above again plus Margo & Keith from Atlanta and Tammy, Anthony, Pete for helping with the dinner and clean-up afterward. And last but not least, Presvytera and Georgia Saratsiots for making the koulouraki! As Francine said, “It was hard work, but all worked together well and it was a great success! Thanks to everyone!!!” I’m sure I’ve left some out - as always, please forgive omissions of this sort.

Please take a moment to welcome Stephanie Douglass to the Parish Council - recently sworn in as our replacement for Donna Hesterman. While on the subject, here are a few highlights from the last PC Meeting:

1) Fr John will serve Vespers on Saturday, December 5 and will be available for Confessions/Counseling that afternoon and evening.

2) General Assembly Meeting, Sunday, December 6

· Proposed Budget for 2010
· Nominations for Parish Council
· Goals for the future – short term/long term.

As I recall we were on a three year rotation but Metropolitan Alexios changed that to a two year rotation when Fr Michael Condos came to us. Last year Peter Byrd, Stephen Muse, John Sophocleus and Tom Kubik were up for retirement/re-election. Peter, Stephen, Sophia Mann, and Tom were elected to a two year term. This year, Claudia Muse, Francine Brittingham, and Stephanie will be retired/re-elected for a two year term. If correct, the floor will open to nominations for these three positions.

Fr. John continues his discussion group sessions after our social fellowship on Sundays. Please send your questions/thoughts on topics to Father’s e-mail [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. Dependent upon response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus and would like to keep sessions to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly.

Sunday afternoon Confessions (following the Liturgy and Fellowship activities) may be arranged by contacting Fr. John [JStefero@hotmail.com] in advance, so he may anticipate and plan his Sunday afternoons accordingly. We don’t Denise to needlessly worry about father being on the road so much on our behalf.

Father John’s topic for this month’s e-mail is on cremation:

Here is an article on Cremation that I took from a book entitled “A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy by Rev. Nicon Patrinacos.

“By cremation we mean the burning rather than the burial of the dead. Burning of the dead was a pagan custom practiced everywhere apart from Egypt, Judea, and China. In modern times cremation was introduced as a general practice during the French Revolution. Later, other countries such as Italy, Germany, and England followed, and crematoria were built. The Roman Catholic Church condemned cremation in 1886. And though at first cremation was introduced for reasons of public health, later on it began to be practiced as a more economical way of disposing of the dead.

Burning the dead was considered with the Hebrews to be an extension of the death penalty and was allowed only as such (Leviticus 20:14-21). It was believed that those of the dead who were not buried were in constant wandering. Talmud (first 5 books of the Old Testament) also prohibits the practice of burning the dead. It was in conformity to this Jewish practice that Christ was buried. An expression from the Old Testament “you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19) is still used in the Orthodox funeral service, thus establishing the practice of the Church of burying the dead as the only Biblically befitting end of a Christian life. An early witness such as Tertullian unequivocally expresses himself against the burning of the dead, calling it ‘cruelty’ as against burying which he calls ‘an act of mercy for the dead.’

The strongest argument against cremation is believed to be St. Paul’s teaching regarding the resurrection of the dead at the Second Coming of the Lord (I Corinthians 15). The argument is, if the dead according to St. Paul are to be resurrected, how can a body which has been reduced to ashes be resurrected? However, St. Paul’s resurrection of the bodies refers to spiritual rather than to material bodies. Needless to say, the overall strongest argument for burying the Orthodox departed is the fact that Christ, on whose life, death, and resurrection, the entire Orthodox system of belief and practice is based, was buried and bodily resurrected.

It appears, however, that there is no definite dogmatical basis on which the stand of the Church against cremation can be unshakably supported. But in spite of the fact that there is no Synodical (synod of bishops) binding decision of pan-Orthodox authority against cremation, there are definite opinions against it. Also, there are definite rulings prohibiting cremation, on penalty of the departed Orthodox being deprived of the funeral and burial rites. In this respect, the Orthodox teaching regarding the communion of the living and departed members of the Church should be kept in mind. Believing that death is not the end but the beginning of a new life, the Church holds the position of a continuity of life from the moment of birth to the time of the Second Coming of the Lord. Hence, the close bond of the Orthodox between the living and the dead expressed by memorial services, perpetual care of graves and the survival of the names of parents in
the persons of grandchildren.

The Orthodox Liturgy is offered for the remission of sins of both living and dead, and the eternity it promises extends far beyond the grave not only in terms of time but in terms of the living of the dead in the memory and conscience of the Church. It seems that in some cases people who want their dead to be cremated attempt to dissociate themselves from them especially in cases where the ashes are scattered. Orthodox who will for their bodies to be cremated appear to be of a philosophy of life and death not akin to the Orthodox concept of living in Christ. Even though a grave with one’s remains may appear to some to be gruesome, for the people who have loved their dead in life it is the only bond of a continued association that gives a meaning to life far beyond that of merely sustaining and serving one’s physical existence. Thus, the reasons for the Orthodox Church’s prohibition of cremation should be sought in its life and tradition rather
than in dogmatical arguments.”

————————————————————————————————————

In addition to the above, it’s important to note:

- The reason there is such a strong Orthodox reaction to cremation in the historic geographic regions of our faith, is that during the period of the so-called “Enlightenment” in the 18th century, many rationalists who denied the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, chose cremation as a way of expressing their lack of faith. In response, the Churches, both East (Orthodox) and West (Roman Catholic), saw cremation as an attack on this most important teaching of the Church, and prohibited their members from receiving a Church funeral if they were planning to have their bodies cremated. The ruling still stands in the Orthodox Church, with certain exceptions.

- Pagans cremated bodies and thus Christians did not want to do what the pagans did and chose to continue burying bodies.

- The Church’s main objection to cremation is based primarily on the view that it is often used as a symbol of the rejection of the Christian faith (especially those who may not believe in heaven, an afterlife, or the Second Coming of Christ).

- Finally, some people in the early Church emphasized the purity of the soul but the corruption of the body to an extreme. The Orthodox Church believes that both the body and the soul are important (our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit) and so we should treat both of them with the utmost respect.

- On a practical note, some people prefer cremation to save on funeral expenses (casket, transportation of the body, burial plot, etc.).

And this final Food for Thought:

“The most overloaded, desperate people are those who can see no other burdens but their own.”

Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2)

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives.

Our November Epistle readers are:

11/1 Stephanie Douglass [1 Cor 12:27-13:8]
11/8 Marcus Todd [Heb 2:2-10]
11/15 Subdeacon Michael Shepherd [Eph 2:4-10]
11/22 Mandy “Seraphima” Brock [Phil 1:1-25]
11/29 Kelly “Mark” Jolley [Eph 4:1-7].

If you would like to (re)join the group of Epistle readers, please let me know.

The prosphora rotation is:

Nov. 2009 Claudia Muse
Dec. 2009 Tom Kubik
Jan. 2010 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens
Feb. 2010 Barbara Vogus

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies.

The food pantry was again wiped out last month - so please don’t forget to bring your donations for our next “Second Saturday” on November 14th. Many thanks to those who have started to replenish the shelves, please consider giving more generously as part of your Thanksgiving celebration. Many more who now know of our “Second Saturday” distribution depend on us. Evharisto poli to Pete & Maureen Byrd for all their efforts these past years to keep this blessed outreach going. As noted in the calendar above we are planning to have a pancake breakfast in conjunction with this month’s food pantry - anyone interested in participating please contact Tom Kubik [tkubik@wcbradley.com] for details.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration. Please keep Cecilia in your prayers to continue to mend well after her surgery. Jorge has also done a splendid job in his efforts toward outreach to our local Hispanic community.

As always, many thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties. We are blessed to have these two good servants (Alex & Peter) as our representatives/recipients of the 2009 Archangel Michael Award this year.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering. Evharisto Poli again to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore and serving in the Altar. It is wonderful to have Subdeacon Michael serving and being our “go to man” to help getting Ft. Benning soldiers to our liturgies.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann for all their efforts to educate our children in Christ as we begin a new cycle.

A big evharisto poli to all who so generously donate inputs and clean-up efforts to our social fellowships after services, the Allens, Byrds, Natalie Bowman, Yiayia Sophia, Tom Kubik, Stephanie Douglass, Deborah Hunsinger, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann, Barbara Vogus, the Muses, to name a few.

It’s time to sign up for College Conference South 2009 at the Diakonia Center in South Carolina. Wonderful speakers are lined up for the event (including our keynote Fr. Jon Braun), dances, service projects, fellowship, new (and old) friends, church services, and other fun activities.
When: Dec. 27-31
Where: Diakonia Center in SC
Cost: $325 for students
$375 for alumni
(Scholarships are Available)

As usual, any suggestion(s) for improvement, corrections, edits and/or additions would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes. Prof. Kelly “Mark” Jolley has agreed to take over the e-mailing, so if you have a way to make sure his e-mail address is not blocked, please do so, it seems some have experienced my address being blocked or screened out at times.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Felicity Allen, Brandon & Viktoriya Cantrell, Nick Vogus and George Saad in your prayers. We also ask for your prayers for Maureen Byrd’s sister Nancy recently diagnosed with cancer and Jeri ‘Maude’ Earnest, who is the daughter of Luke & Felicity Allen. She has been ill for weeks and there is no definitive diagnosis and has recently undergone surgery to determine the cause of her problems.

In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed.

Your fellow servant of God,

John Sophocleus.

PS: Here is some more from Fr. John on the Prayers for the Dead

At every Divine Service, the Holy Orthodox Church offers up prayers for her departed children. Special prayers and troparia are read at Compline (Night Service) and Nocturns (Midnight Service), and at Vespers and Matins the departed are remembered in the Litany of Fervent Supplication. At the Divine Liturgy the departed are commemorated at the Proskomedia, in the Litany following the Gospel and when “It is truly meet…” is sung. In addition, it is customary to have a Service for the departed on Saturdays, unless this coincides with a feast on that day.

1. Early Christians expressed their concern for the repose of the souls of their beloved by works of charity and love and by personal and communal prayers. The Apostolic Constitutions recommended that part of the possessions of a dead person be distributed to the poor in his ‘memory.’ St. John Chrysostom, Jerome, Tertullian and others, also recommend almsgiving in memory of the dead although they believe that this and other good works for the repose of the soul of the dead also benefit the doers. Another kind of memorial was the gathering on the graves of the dead or in the church, and the serving of meals known as ‘makariai’ (meals in memory of) that are still held by many in the church hall following burial.

2. Remembrance on the 3rd, 9th, and 40th days after a person’s death.

Saint Simeon of Thessalonica says the following in On Things Done for the Departed:

“The Third Day Service is celebrated for the reason that the departed one received his being through the Trinity and having passed to a state of good being and being changed he shall (at the Resurrection) appear in his original state or one superior.

The Ninth Day is celebrated that his spirit dwell together with the holy spirits – the angels – being immaterial and naturally similar to them – for these spirits are nine in number and by them (the orders) they triply proclaim and praise the God in Trinity – and so that he may be united with the holy spirits of the Saints.

The Fortieth Day is celebrated because of the Savior’s Ascension – which came to pass after so many days after His Resurrection – in the sense that the reposed, a it were, having also risen and having ascended – being caught away in the clouds, shall meet the Judge and thus being united with Him he should ever be with the Lord
(I Thessalonians 4:17)

The end of the year (1-year) is celebrated because it is the consummation, and our God, the Trinity, is the Life of all and the Cause of being, and shall be the Restoration of all and the Renewal of human nature.”

3. In addition to these personal days for remembrance of the departed, the Church has also set aside a number of universal days of commemoration. These are:

Meatfare Saturday
2nd, 3rd, and 4th Saturdays of Great Lent
Tuesday of St. Thomas Week
Trinity Saturday (Saturday before Holy Pentecost)
Saturday before the feast of St. Demetrius on October 26th

4. The Orthodox Church from biblical times, has offered prayers for the dead. They are offered on the basis of the fact that the Church is one, but found both on earth (the Church Militant) and in heaven (the Church Triumphant). Since as members of the Church we are obligated to pray for each other, there is no reason why we may not pray for the dead. However, it is another issue as to the actual consequences of our prayers for the dead. For you see, the Church also teaches that all which we do for salvation must be done in this life. According to Church teaching there is no movement from damnation to salvation in the life to come, nor is there a continuation of spiritual development.

Then what effect can our prayers have for the dead? We have only the response that somehow they help by providing comfort and assistance. We do not know precisely the nature of that assistance, but we trust the mercy of God, that He will hear our prayer for our beloved dead. But this is not so unusual. Even as we pray for things in this life, we never know in advance just what kind of answers our prayers will receive. Our prayers do not produce predictably automatic results. It is the same with our prayers for the dead. Needless to say, our prayers for the dead also have an impact on us: they remind us of those who have gone on; we have the sense of fulfilling a responsibility toward them individually, we come into communion with the Church Triumphant; and, not insignificantly, we are reminded of our own eventual death and our responsibility to prepare for it and to be ready for it.

5. Kollyva are closely connected with memorial services for the benefit of one’s departed. Their origin goes back to the time of Julian the Apostate when in 362 he withdrew from the market in Constantinople food-stuffs prescribed for the first day of the Great Lent, Clean Monday, and ordered that they be substituted with ‘polluted sacrificial food’ in an attempt to enforce upon the people paganism of which he was an ardent supporter. But Saint Theodore suggested to Patriarch Eudoxios that he ordain boiled wheat (already called Kollyva) as a substitute to Lenten food-stuffs taken from the market by emperor Julian. Since then kollyva, having become connected with celebrating the memory of saints, were brought to church and were blessed by the priest during memorial prayers known today as Memorial Services.

Today’s kollyva consist of boiled wheat mixed with seeds of pomegranate (in warm climates) and decorated in a platter with sugar covering, raisings, and perhaps herbs. A cross is traced on top, and on its sides are the initials of the departed for whom the memorial is held. The kollyva are distributed to the congregation after the service, who in return say, ‘may God forgive his or her soul!’

The Kollyva are symbolic of the resurrection of the dead on the day of the Second Coming of the Lord. St. Paul said, ‘what you sow does not come to life unless it dies,’ (I Corinthians 15:34), and St. John, ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit’, (John 12:24). Thus, as the wheat is buried in the soil and disintegrates without really dying but is later regenerated into a new plant that bears much more fruit than itself, so the Christian’s body will be raised again from the very corruptible matter from which it is now made; however, it will be raised not in its previous fleshy substance but in an incorruptible essence which ‘will clad the mortal body with immortal garment’, in the words of St. Paul (I Corinthians 15:53). The Kollyva, then, symbolize the Apostolically rooted hope in the resurrection of the dead as the only eventuality that gives meaning and
attains
the longed perfection on the part of the individual who takes his life to be a divinely ordained meaningful living for ever.

- Taken from A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy and The Faith We Hold

The “Big Event” this month is upon us! The Greek Dinner for fellowship and showcase our church to the community is this Saturday night. The early seating is 5:30pm; later seating at 7:30pm with Fr. John’s Presentation on Icons in between (6:30pm) so we may accommodate the most visitors. Francine may be reached by phone at (706)593-5896 or e-mail Francine@knology.net for those who need to confirm tickets sales (specifying early or late seating) and their shift to help work the dinner. It is import to contact Francine [or Tom at (706)587-3654 by phone or tkubik@wcbradley.com e-mail] to verify how many tickets have been sold to date and better still if you want to get some more! Francine and Tom would like to get the count asap!!

Please note on the calendar below we need help Saturday Oct. 3rd 4:30/7:30pm for set-up and serve then clean up after the event. Instead of usual Bible Study this (Wed. 9/30) it will start earlier at 7pm to clean the church and social hall and especially the icons which will be on display for Fr. John’s presentation - i.e., it will be learn as we clean Bible study evening. We are also looking for a few more volunteers for the Friday evening Oct. 2nd set up at 5:30pm.

Our October 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Fri. Oct 2nd - 5:30pm Set-up for Church Dinner/Showcase
Sat. Oct 3rd - 5:30 & 7:30 Seatings for Church Dinner
Fr. John’s Lesson on Icons between seatings
Sun. Oct 4th - Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Orthodox Discussion Group
* No Bible Study this week
Sat. Oct 10th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Sun. Oct 11th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Oct 14th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Oct 18th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Oct 21st - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Oct 25th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. Oct 28th - 7:30pm Bible Study

Paper copies of the October calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall. A final reminder that we’re starting the Doxology (the first dozen pages we sing in the book) several minutes earlier so our Divine Liturgy may start more promptly at 10am.

Parish Council Members, please note the meeting following our October 25th Liturgy. The Council is contemplating some building projects/repairs - a walkway from the church door (by the Bishop’s Throne) to the social hall, the window frames which are dry-rotting, reseal brick mortar, etc.. More reports on this to come as the preliminary/more specific plans are considered by the Council.

Fr. John will continue his discussion group sessions after our social fellowship on Sundays. Please send your questions/thoughts on topics to Father’s e-mail [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. Dependent upon response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus and would like to keep sessions to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly.

Father John’s spiritual ‘Food for Thought’ for this month’s e-mail is as follows:

“Knocking at the Door”

We must remember that all we possess is a gift. The first Beatitude is one of poverty, and only if we live according to the Beatitude can we enter into the kingdom of God. This Beatitude has two aspects. First, there is the very clear fact that we possess nothing which we can keep, whether we want to or not; it is the discovery that I am nothing and that I have nothing - total, irremediable, hopeless poverty. We exist because we have been willed into existence and brought into existence. We have done nothing for it, it was not an act of our free will. We do not possess life in such a way that it is impossible for anyone to take it away from us, and all that we are and all that we possess is ephemeral in this way. We have a body - it will die. We have a mind - yet it is enough for one minute vessel to burst in a brain for the greatest mind to be suddenly extinguished. We have a heart, sensitive and alive - and yet a moment comes when we
would
like to pour out all our sympathy, all our understanding for someone who is in need, and at that moment there is nothing but a stone in our breast.

So, in a way, we can say that we possess nothing because we are masters of nothing which is in our possession. And this could lead us, not to the sense of belonging to the kingdom of God and rejoicing in it, but to despair - if we did not remember that although none of these things are ours in such a way that they cannot be taken away from us, yet we are in possession of them.

This is the second aspect of the Beatitude. We are rich, and everything which we possess is a gift and a sign of the love of God and the love of men, it is a continuous gift of divine love; and as long as we possess nothing, love divine is manifested continuously and fully. But everything we take into our own hands to possess is taken out of the realm of love. Certainly it becomes ours, but love is lost. And it is only those who give everything away who become aware of true, total, final, irremediable, spiritual poverty, and who possess the love of God expressed in all His gifts. One of our theologians has said, ‘All the food of this world is divine love made edible.’ I think this is true and the moment we try to be rich by keeping something safely in our hands, we are the losers, because as long as we have nothing in our hands, we can take, leave, do whatever we want.

This is the Kingdom the sense that we are free from possession, and this freedom establishes us in a relationship where everything is love - human love and love divine.

We cannot live a life of prayer, we cannot go ahead God-ward, unless we are free from possession in order to have two hands to offer and a heart absolutely open - not like a purse which we are afraid of keeping open because our money will drop out of it, but like an open and empty purse - and an intelligence completely open to the unknown and the unexpected. This is the way in which we are rich and yet totally free from richness. And this is the point at which we can speak of being outside the Kingdom and yet be so rich inside and yet also so free.

- Taken from Beginning to Pray by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

And the final Food for Thought:

‘Our motive for prayer must be the divine will, not our own’

“Therefore do no be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is ” (Ephesians 5:17)

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives.

Our October Epistle readers are:

10/4 Stephanie Douglass [2 Cor 6:16-18, 7:1]
10/11 Marcus Todd [Titus 3:8-15]
10/18 Peter Byrd [Col 4:5-11, 14-18] (in Mark’s stead while he’s away)
10/25 Mandy “Seraphima” Brock [Gal 1:11-19].

If you would like to (re)join the group of Epistle readers, please let me know. BTW, I’m delighted to type that it appears Stephanie will be with us for at least another six months or so - what a blessing to have her back!

The prosphora rotation is:

Oct. 2009 Barbara Vogus
Nov. 2009 Claudia Muse
Dec. 2009 Tom Kubik
Jan. 2010 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies.

The food pantry was completely wiped out last month - so please don’t forget to bring your donations for our next “Second Saturday” on October 10th. It seems by our barometer - in spite of reports to the contrary — the economy in our little part of the world is not quite on the mend yet. Many thanks to those who have started to replenish the shelves, this really is a start from zero like we’ve not experienced since Harakas Family started it several years ago. Many more now know of our “Second Saturday” efforts and depend on us.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration. It was also a delight to Cecilia doing well and getting a clean bill of health after her surgery - thanks for keeping them in your prayers. Jorge has also done a splendid job in his efforts toward outreach to our local Hispanic community.

As always, many thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties. What honour to have two good servants (Alex & Peter) as our representatives/recipients of the 2009 Archangel Michael Award this year.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering. Evharisto Poli again to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore and serving in the Altar. It is wonderful to see Dylan Brittingham and Joshua Mann serving when they can.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann for all their efforts to educate our children in Christ as we begin a new cycle.

A big evharisto poli to all who so generously donate inputs and clean-up efforts to our social fellowships after services, the Allens, Byrds, Natalie Bowman, Yiayia Sophia, Tom Kubik, Stephanie Douglass, Deborah Hunsinger, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann, Barbara Vogus, the Muses, to name a few.

As you may be able to glean from some of the lessons Fr. John is highlighting from our Epistle, Gospel readings and sermons, he would like us all to give some heartfelt thought into our stewardship commitments as we’ve begun our Church New Year, making one’s ultimate goal to tithe and put God first in recognition of all His blessings.

As usual, any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes. Prof. Kelly “Mark” Jolley has agreed to take over the e-mailing, so if you have a way to make sure his e-mail address is not blocked, please do so, it seems some have experienced my address being blocked or screened out at times. Mark’s sabbatical takes him to St. Vladimir’s and then to Harvard - we wish him safe journeys and may it prove a satisfying effort to feed this good man’s mind and spirit in his journey to follow Christ’s path to God. From some accounts through students, Mark is indeed making this a very productive endeavour.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Felicity Allen, Nick Vogus and George Saad in your prayers. A little more prayer for Cecilia Mosjidis as she continues to mend from last month’s successful surgery may also be proper to include in our list.

In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed. I’d like to thank Fr. John, Tom Kubik, Bob Poydasheff and our newcomer to lend a hand, Subdeacon Michael Shepard in our efforts to assist Ft. Benning soldiers who want to attend our Liturgies.

Your fellow servant of God,

John Sophocleus.

PS: Congrats to the Luke & Felicity Allen on their 58th Wedding Anniversary - Chronia Pola!

May God continue to bestow His blessings on our little mission/church as we begin the Church New Year this month. Please see our September calendar below and Fr. John’s note’s on Church Etiquette attached. The food pantry was once again well used - so please don’t forget to bring your donations for our next “Second Saturday” on September 12th. Prof. Kelly “Mark” Jolley has agreed to take over the e-mail upon his return from St. Vladimir’s, so if you have a way to make sure his e-mail address is not blocked. Please do so, it seems that some have experienced my address being blocked or screened out at times.

Our September 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Wed. Sep 2nd - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Sep 6th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Orthodox Discussion Group
Tue. Sep 8th - Nativity of the Theotokos (No service)
Wed. Sep 9th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. Sep 12th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Sun. Sep 13th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Mon. Sep 14th - Elevation of the Cross (No service)
Wed. Sep 16th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Sep 20th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. Sep 23rd - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Sep 27th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Sep 30th - 7:30pm Bible Study

Paper copies of the September calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall. Once again, please note we are starting the Doxology (first dozen pages we sing) several minutes earlier so our Divine Liturgy may start more promptly at 10am.

Parish Council Members, please note the meeting following our September 20 Liturgy. Tom still would like folks to submit goals as we return from the Summer break and start our New Year. The PC also must come up with a Council member replacement (and elect a Secretary) for Donna Hesterman who was relocated w/ Andy, Emily and Victor to California.

Don’t forget Fr. John will continue his discussion group sessions after our social fellowship on Sundays. Please send your questions/thoughts on topics to Father’s e-mail [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. Dependent upon response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus and would like to keep sessions to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly.

Fr. John’s text [below] is timely for this month’s e-mail as September 14th approaches:

The Universal Exaltation of the Life-Creating Cross

Not long after the Nativity of the Most-Holy Theotokos (September 8), the Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Most- Precious Cross of the Lord. The Savior Himself had spoken of His death on the Cross, saying: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:14-16). This was accomplished on Holy Friday when the Lord was “crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried,” as the Creed proclaims. And just before He did He proclaimed It is finished (John 19:30).

Truly, the Nativity of the Theotokos was seen as the beginning of our salvation, and the Cross is seen as the culmination of our salvation. By Christ’s death on It, our salvation was accomplished. Mary is also closely associated with the Cross, for she was the “mystical paradise” in whom the Tree of Life sprouted; this Tree of Life, Christ our Savior, then “planted on earth the life-creating Tree of the Cross” (from the Feast). And as He suffered and died on the Life-giving Tree of the Cross, so too we are called upon to take up our own crosses on our shoulders and to die daily for the sake of Him Who died for us.

This feast came about because of certain historical events. After the voluntary suffering and death on the Cross of the Lord, the sacred place of His suffering was scorned by the pagans. When the Roman Emperor Titus, in 70 A.D. conquered Jerusalem, he destroyed the city and leveled the Temple on Mount Moriah, not leaving even a stone upon a stone, as had been foretold by the Savior in a dialogue with His disciples (Mark 13:1-2).

The Emperor Hadrian (117-138), a backward, zealous pagan, constructed in place of the Jerusalem destroyed by Titus a new city, which he named Helio-Hadrianopolis. Further, it was forbidden for this city to be called by its previous name of Jerusalem. He commanded that the Holy Grave of the Lord be covered with earth and stones, raising on it an idol. On Golgotha, where the Savior was crucified, in 119 he erected a temple dedicated to the goddess Venus. Sacrifices were offered before the statue and pagan rites were celebrated, accompanied by prostitution. In Bethlehem, in the place where the Savior had been born of the Most-Pure Virgin, the impious monarch erected an idol to Adonis. All of this he did intending that the people completely forget about Christ the Savior and nevermore recollect the place where He lived, taught, suffered and arose with glory.

When Constantine the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostle (306-337) ascended the throne (being the first of the Roman Emperors to recognize Christianity), he together with his pious mother, Queen Helena, decided to restore the city of Jerusalem, and in the place of the suffering and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to erect a new church, to cleanse all of the places connected with the memory of Jesus from the pagan cult, and again to consecrate all of them. The Orthodox Queen Helena left for Jerusalem with a great quantity of gold, and the Emperor sent a letter to Patriarch Macarius I (313-323) in which he asked every kind of aid in the holy task of restoring the Christian holy places.

Having arrived in Jerusalem, the pious Queen destroyed all the idols and cleansed the city of pagan cult objects, consecrating the defiled places. She burned with the desire to raise up the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; and so she commanded that digging proceed at the place where the Temple of Venus had stood. There the covered Grave of the Lord was discovered, as well as the place of execution, not far from which were found three crosses and four nails, as well as the sign board which had been nailed over His head.

In order to determine which of the three crosses belonged to the Savior, Patriarch Macarius ordered that the three crosses, in turn, be placed on a dead person who was being brought to a place of burial. When the Cross of Christ touched the dead one, he immediately came to life. With great joy, the Orthodox Queen and the Patriarch together lifted up the Life-Creating Cross and showed it to all the people standing by. Later the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was constructed on the site, enclosing within its walls the place of the crucifixion of the Savior, as well as His tomb, and a Feast was instituted for September 14, commemorating the glorious Exaltation of the Cross.

Kontakion of the Feast

As Thou wast voluntarily crucified for our sake, grant mercy to those who are called by Thy Name; make all Orthodox Christians glad by Thy power, granting them victories over their adversaries, by bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Thy weapon of peace.

- Taken from These Truths We Hold, compiled by a Monk of St. Tikhon’s Monastery

… and this month’s spiritual “Food for Thought”

Being at peace with yourself is a direct result of finding peace with God.

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7)

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives.

Our September Epistle readers are:

9/6 Stephanie Douglass? [Heb 2:2-10] (in Mark’s stead while he’s away)
9/13 Marcus Todd [Gal 6:11-18]
9/20 John Sophocleus [Gal 2:16-20]
9/27 Peter Byrd [2 Cor 6:1-10].

If you would like to (re)join the group of Epistle readers, please let me know.

The prosphora rotation is:

Sep. 2009 Christine Johnson?
Oct. 2009 Barbara Vogus
Nov. 2009 Claudia Muse
Dec. 2009 Tom Kubik
Jan. 2010 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration. Many thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties. What honour to have these two good servants as our representatives/recipients of the 2009 Archangel Michael Award this year.

I hope all had a chance to see the beautiful icons displayed in celebration of our Name Day to help complete the list of those required to make it through our Orthodox calendar. Once again, many thanks to the donor for this blessed endeavour who wishes to remain anonymous. When the last of the set are received, I’m sure Tom will be kind enough to display them as well.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering. Evharisto Poli again to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore and serving in the Altar. It is wonderful to see Dylan Brittingham and Joshua Mann serving when they can.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann for all their efforts to educate our children in Christ as we begin a new cycle.

A big evharisto poli to all who so generously donate inputs and clean-up efforts to our social fellowships after services, the Allens, Byrds, Natalie Bowman, Yiayia Sophia, Tom Kubik, Stephanie Douglass, Deborah Hunsinger, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann, Barbara Vogus, the Muses, to name a few.

The Hestermans, after much visiting and sightseeing, did indeed make it to Pt. Mugu August 25th as planned… it was delightful get the occasional facebook update from them - thanks for keeping them in your prayers. We wish them well as they start this new chapter in their lives.

Fr. John would also like us all to start thinking about our upcoming stewardship commitments as we begin our Church New Year, making one’s ultimate goal to tithe and as he spoke in his last sermon, all God’s blessings associated with doing so.

As usual, any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes. Prof. Kelly “Mark” Jolley on sabbatical which includes a trip to St. Vladimir’s this month and then to Harvard - we wish him safe journey and may it prove a satisfying effort to feed this good man’s mind and spirit in his journey to follow Christ’s path to God.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Felicity Allen, Nick Vogus and George Saad in your prayers. In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed. I’d like to thank all who helped in welcoming PFC Eric Sheppard on his visit to us last Sunday while he was here for his two week training at Ft. Benning.

Your fellow servant of the Holy Spirit,

John Sophocleus.

PS: For those who may not know, Felicity (Mrs. Peggy) and Luke (Ward) Allen will be leaving us to be closer to family and a more amenable medical facility in Kentucky. Please keep them in your prayers as they make the difficult decisions associated with a move of this sort and relocating from a place they’ve held dear and given so much of their time and spirit toward making a better place for about half a century. I know many in Auburn who will miss them dearly.

The food pantry was once again well used - so please don’t forget to bring your donations for our next “Second Saturday” soon to be upon us on the earliest possible date (8/8) it may fall. Much going on in August (see calendar below) with our Name Day and Summer coming to a close. This Sunday we’ll bid farewell and God’s speed to the Hestermans heading West for their new assignment in California. Also welcome back the Kletos to Holy Transfiguration to sponsor and attend a memorial service for our dearly departed past Church member Constantine (Mr. Gus) Kyriacou. We look forward to seeing Pete, his wife Susan and daughters Niki and Marian. They may also bring an incoming freshman (Nick Psihountas) to the CSU music school whom we pray will be able to join us as he works toward completing his degree in Columbus.

Our August 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Sun. Aug 2nd - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Constantine (Mr. Gus) Kyriacou Memorial
Farewell & Blessings to Hestermans move to CA
Orthodox Discussion Group
Wed. Aug 5th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. Aug 8th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Sun. Aug 9th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Holy Transfiguration Name Day Luncheon
Wed. Aug 12th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Aug 16th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. Aug 19th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Aug 23rd - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Aug 26th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Wed. Aug 30th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy; Fr. Stefero

Paper copies of the August calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall. Please note we are starting the Doxology (first dozen pages we sing) several minutes earlier so our Divine Liturgy may start more promptly at 10am.

Don’t forget Fr. John will continue his discussion group sessions after our social fellowship on Sundays. Please send your questions/thoughts on topics to Father’s e-mail [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. Dependent upon response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus and would like to keep sessions to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly. Father asked me to include the following for this month’s e-mail:

DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS

The feast of the Dormition or Falling-asleep of the Theotokos is celebrated on the 15th of August, preceded by a two-week fast. This feast, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ’s mother. It proclaims that Mary has been “assumed” by God into the heavenly kingdom of Christ in the fullness of her spiritual and bodily existence.

As with the nativity of the Virgin and the feast of her entrance to the temple, there are no biblical or historical sources for this feast. The Tradition of the Church is that Mary died as all people die, not “voluntarily” as her Son, but by the necessity of her mortal human nature which is indivisibly bound up with the corruption of this world.

The Orthodox Church teaches that Mary is without personal sins. In the Gospel of the feast, however, in the liturgical services and in the Dormition icon, the Church proclaims as well that Mary truly needed to be saved by Christ as all human persons are saved from the trials, sufferings and death of this world; and that having truly died, she was raised up by her Son as the Mother of Life and participates already in the eternal life of paradise which is prepared and promised to all who “hear the word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:27-28)

The troparion for the feast reads: In giving birth, you preserved your virginity. In falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. You were translated to life, O Mother of Life, and by your prayers you deliver our souls from death.

The kontakion for the feast reads: Neither the tomb, nor death, could hold the Theotokos, who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions. For being the Mother of Life, she was translated to life, by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb.

The services of the feast repeat the main theme, that the Mother of Life has “passed over into the heavenly joy, into the divine gladness and unending delight” of the Kingdom of her Son (Vesper verse). The Old Testament readings, as well as the gospel readings for the Vigil and the Divine Liturgy, are exactly the same as those for the feast of the Virgin’s nativity and her entrance into the Temple. Thus, at the Vigil we again hear Mary say: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). At the Divine Liturgy we hear the letter to the Philippians where St. Paul speaks of the self-emptying of Christ who condescends to human servitude and ignoble death in order to be “highly exalted” by God his Father (Philippians 2:5-11). And once again we hear in the Gospel that Mary’s blessedness belongs to all who “hear the word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:27-28).

Thus, the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is the celebration of the fact that all men are “highly exalted” in the blessedness of the victorious Christ, and that this high exaltation has already been accomplished in Mary the Theotokos. The feast of the Dormition is the sign, the guarantee, and the celebration that Mary’s fate is the destiny of all those of “low estate” whose souls magnify the Lord, whose spirits rejoice in God the Savior, whose lives are totally dedicated to hearing and keeping the Word of God which is given to men in Mary’s child, the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

Finally it must be stressed that in all of the feasts of the Virgin Mother of God in the Church, the Orthodox Christians celebrate facts of their own lives in Christ and the Holy Spirit. What happens to Mary happens to all who imitate her holy life of humility, obedience, and love. With her all people will be “blessed” to be “more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim” if they follow her example. All will have Christ born in them by the Holy Spirit. All will become temples of the living God. All will share in the eternal life of His Kingdom who live the life that Mary lived.

In this sense everything that is praised and glorified in Mary is a sign of what is offered to all persons in the life of the Church. It is for this reason that Mary, with the divine child Jesus within her, is called in the Orthodox Tradition the Image of the Church. For the assembly of the saved is those in whom Christ dwells.

It is the custom in some churches to bless flowers on the feast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos.

- Taken from “Worship,” in The Orthodox Faith, vol. II by Archpriest
Thomas Hopko

And this final “Food for Thought:”

Learn to laugh at your troubles and you’ll never run out of things to laugh at.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to
come.” (Proverbs 31:25)

It takes 64 facial muscles to scowl, but only 13 to smile. One elderly California woman may not have known that fact, but it certainly applies to her life.

During a very strong earthquake, 80 year-old Mary Ann remained serene and unafraid. Some questioned her sanity and whether, perhaps, she was in denial or in the late stages of senility. Others conjectured that perhaps she had been through an earthquake before and that a former survival experience had led to her calm and hopeful demeanor. Still others felt that maybe, at her age, she simply had no fear of dying.

Mary Ann, however, offered this explanation when a reporter asked her, “Why weren’t you afraid?”

“I never even thought about being afraid,” she said. “I was too busy rejoicing at the truth that I serve a God Who is able to shake the whole world.”

To those who experience deep joy in God, difficult circumstances often yield more cause for rejoicing than reason to fear. Helen Keller once said, “Resolve to keep happy, and your joy shall form an invincible host against difficulty.”

- Taken from “How to be an Up Person in a Down World”

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives - please continue special prayers for Presvyterra as she continues to mend following knee surgery.

Our August Epistle readers are:

8/2 Loxley “James” Compton [1 Cor 1:10-17]
8/9 Mandy “Seraphima” Brock [1 Cor 3:9-17]
8/16 Kelly “Mark” Jolley [1 Cor 4:9-16]
8/23 Marcus Todd [1 Cor 9:2-12]
8/30 Peter Byrd [1 Cor 15:1-11].

If you would like to (re)join the group of Epistle readers, please let me know.

The prosphora rotation is:

Aug. 2009 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens
Sep. 2009 Christine Johnson
Oct. 2009 Barbara Vogus
Nov. 2009 Claudia Muse
Jul. 2009 Tom Kubik

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies and her delightful prosphora preparation workshop last Sunday. Don’t miss the surprise Father and Presvyterra will bring to our Name Day Luncheon, Sunday August 9th.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration. Many thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties. Pete’s new job on Ft. Benning (one of the huge construction projects to bring in the armor vehicles from Ft. Knox) will be demanding - esp. as he settles in to all the new challenges, prayers for him these next few weeks may be in order as well. Alex and Peter are our 2009 Archangel Michael Award recipients.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering - wonderful to have him back from from his surgeries at St. Francis. Evharisto Poli again to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore AND serving in the Altar… by all accounts the ‘Movie Night’ was excellent and our Bible Study group is growing.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann and a final thanks to Donna Hesterman for all their efforts to educate our children in Christ.

We also offer our congratulations and ask for His continued blessings upon Beatrice Florescu who recently graduated OCS on Ft. Benning. She has been in our prayers to overcome injury in this taxing endeavour and we wish her well and God’s speed back to Baltimore later this month.

A big evharisto poli to all who so generously donate inputs to our social fellowships after services, the Allens, Byrds, Natalie Bowman, Yiayia Sophia, Tom Kubik, Mandy Brock, Deborah Hunsinger, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann, Barbara Vogus, the Muses, to name a few.

As the middle of the month approaches keep all our teachers and especially our students in prayer for safe journeys and productive years in their educational journeys. Fr. John would also like us all to start thinking about our upcoming stewardship commitments this Fall, making one’s ultimate goal to tithe and all God’s blessings associated with doing so.

Sorry this is not better done - I was without phone/I-net from Sat. to Wed., forgive my getting this out so late. As usual, any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Felicity Allen and George Saad in your prayers. In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed.

Your fellow servant of the Holy Spirit,

John Sophocleus.

PS: Thanks for those who chuckled at my typing Feb. 2009 instead of 1998 last month - it would be nice if the ordeal had been only a few months instead of more than a decade.

Also thought I’d pass on this (below) from Panagiotis Gigintzis some may find of interest:

— On Sun, 6/28/09, Panagiotis Gigintzis wrote:

> Hi John, I hope you’re doing well, here are some orthodox websites that
> are very interesting.
>
> http://orthodoxchristian.blogspot.com/
>
> http://www.ierosolymitissa.org/english-oode.htm
>
> http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ Link on this page
>
> http://www.pigizois.net/index2.htm Very nice homilies.
>
> http://www.orthodoxyinamerica.org/
>
> http://orthodoxchildren.com/ Very nice site for kids
>
> http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/index.php
>
> Take care John and have a blessed week.
> Panagiotis

Father John asked me to remind everyone to send me or Tom Kubik [tkubik@wcbradley.com] your physical mailing address and preferred e-mail information that we may send to Metropolitan Alexious in Atlanta before July 15th. If you know someone who is NOT on the list yet would like to be, please let me know. Thanks again to Francine Brittingham and Sopia Mann who will put together our new directory.

The food pantry was once again well used - so please don’t forget to bring your donations for our next “Second Saturday” (7/11) which will soon be upon us.

Our July 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Wed. July 1st - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. July 5th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero
Orthodox Discussion Group
Wed. July 8th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. July 11th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Sun. July 12th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis

Wed. July 15th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Deadline for addresses to send to Metropolitan
Fri. July 17th - 6:30pm Family Supper Night (bring covered dish) and
Movie: “The Ostros”
Sun. July 19th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero
Mandy “Seraphima” Brock Chrismation
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. July 22nd - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. July 26th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis
Wed. July 29th - 7:30pm Bible Study

Paper copies of the June calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall. Please note we are starting the Doxology (first dozen pages we sing) several minutes earlier so our Divine Liturgy may start more promptly at 10am.

Please be sure to bid Donna Hesterman farewell as this (6/28) will be her last Sunday with us before heading out to California for their new assignments with the Corps and our Heavenly Father. Andy, Emily & Victor will be with us until August 2nd before also heading west. What a blessing it has been to have them in our congregation (and at Auburn University) these past years. May God grant them safe passage to California and many more years filled His blessings.

Mark you calendars to attend our July 17th Family Supper Night - please sign-up to bring a covered dish. The event will be a viewing of the movie “The Ostros” of which I’ve heard many wonderful reviews.

We look forward to welcoming Mandy Brock into the Orthodox faith on July 19th as she will be Chrismated “Seraphima” before heading north to the seminary. Mandy is another of our truly bright young people filled with the Holy Spirit who we’ve been blessed to have (however briefly) come to Holy Transfiguration.

We also offer our congratulations and ask for His continued blessings upon Beatrice Florescu who recently graduated OCS on Ft. Benning. She has been in our prayers to overcome injury in this taxing endeavour and we wish her well and God’s speed back to Baltimore.

Don’t forget Fr. John will continue his discussion group sessions after our social fellowship on Sundays. Please send your questions/thoughts on topics to Father’s e-mail [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. Dependent upon response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus and would like to keep sessions to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly.

Father’s ‘food for thought’ this month is as follows:

On Obedience

Obedience is the centerpiece of the Christian life. No matter who we are, monastic, priest or lay person, we should all realize the importance of this virtue. As we see in the Scripture, even Christ “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross” (Philippians 2:8).

We are called to be totally obedient, first of all, to the Will of God. This is not always easy, since most of the time we tend to have our own ideas about what we want to do, say, or how we want to act. Obedience requires humility, patience, trust, and above all, love. It also requires the abandoning of one’s own will. “The person, who does not have his own will, always does what he wants. Since, as he does not possess his own will, everything that he does comforts him, and he always finds himself doing his will. He doesn’t want things to be as he wants them to be, but rather as they are” (Abba Dorotheos, C. Scouteris, tr., Athens, 2000, p. 324).

Besides being obedient to God, it is also good to have a spiritual father or mother whom we can trust and obey. Through them the will of God is often revealed to us, so that we are not so dependent on our own resources to discern God’s will. It is not always easy to figure out whether we are indeed being obedient to the Lord or, in fact, the evil one. We must humble ourselves and admit that we need help not only from God, but also from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is also important to instill in our children, from the beginning, the virtue of obedience. If children learn to be obedient to their parents when they are young, it is easier for them as adults to be obedient not only to the Lord, but also to the Church, to their spouse, to their boss, and to their families. Obedience is not only for the young, or for a period of time, but for those of all age and rank, and for all time.

When we find that obedience is difficult in any given situation, we can find it encouraging that Jesus Christ Himself did not necessarily find obedience easy or painless. In the Gospel according to St. Luke, Jesus prays, “Father, if it is Your Will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (22:42). We too can pray this same prayer realizing, with humility, that we want God’s Will to be done and not our own, and that we ask His help to accomplish this.

We must surrender ourselves wholly to God. We are to become His obedient children, acting always in faith and love, and desiring His divine will. Following Christ, we can rejoice knowing the great value of obedience, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man’s (Christ’s) obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

- Taken from “Life Transfigured,” Vol. 38, #2, Summer 2006

Right Use not Misuse

It is important to understand the right use of external objects and pictures of them in our imagination.

The reasonable use of them produces for its fruit the virtues of chastity, charity and right knowledge.

Their unreasonable use results in debauchery, hatred and ignorance.

It is through the measure in which we misuse the powers of the soul, namely its desire, emotion, reason, that the vices install themselves: ignorance and folly in the reasoning faculty, hatred and debauchery in the desires and emotions. Their right use, on the contrary, produces right knowledge and prudence, charity and chastity.

Nothing that God has created is in itself bad. Food is not bad, gluttony is; the procreation of children is not bad, lechery is; wealth is not bad, avarice is; glory is not bad, only vainglory is.

So you see nothing is bad in itself, only the misuse of it, which is the soul’s negligence in cultivating its true nature.

- Maximus the Confessor, Centuries of Charity in “Drinking from
the Hidden Fountain”

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives - please continue special prayers for Presvyterra as she continues to mend following knee surgery.

Our July Epistle readers are as follows:

7/5 Loxley “James” Compton [Gal 5:22-6:2]
7/12 Marcus Todd [Rom 10:1-10]
7/19 Kelly “Mark” Jolley [Titus 3:8-15]
7/26 Mandy “Seraphima” Brock [Gal 3:23-29; 4:1-5].

The prosphora rotation is:

Jul. 2009 Tom Kubik
Aug. 2009 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens
Sep. 2009 Christine Johnson
Oct. 2009 Barbara Vogus
Nov. 2009 Claudia Muse

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration and another special thanks to Jorge Mosjidis for helping with text to make our website more Spanish friendly/appealing. Many thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties. Pete’s new job on Ft. Benning (one of the huge construction projects to bring in the armor vehicles from Ft. Knox) will be demanding - esp. as he settles in to all the new challenges, prayers for him these next few weeks may be in order as well.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering; to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore AND serving in the Altar… a special thanks to Kelly “Mark” Jolley for serving in Stephen’s absence. Bible class continues at the 7:30pm start time which seems to be working out well.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann and Donna Hesterman for their continued efforts to educate our children in Christ.

Evharisto poli to all who so generously donate inputs to our social fellowships after services, the Allens, Byrds, Natalie Bowman, Yiayia Sophia, Tom Kubik, Mandy Brock, Deborah Hunsinger, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann, Barbara Vogus, the Muses, to name a few.

Leaving what many folks find the worst till the last… some discussion of finances. The Parish Council is currently making inquiries with Suntrust Bank toward refinancing our mortgage (just over $40k) while interest rates remain low. Our treasury balance steadily remains around $8k, and the hope is donations will not fall off (as they sometimes do) during the Summer. Fr. John would like us all to start thinking about our upcoming stewardship commitments this Fall, making one’s ultimate goal to tithe and all God’s blessings associated with doing so.

As usual, any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Felicity Allen and George Saad in your prayers. We also continue prayers for our beloved Presvyterra Vastakis as she is mending well from her knee surgery - perastika! Please also keep Elena Gordenina and family in your prayers following a car accident. Again, if anyone might be able to bring them to Columbus from Roanoake some Sunday - let me know.

In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed.

Your fellow servant of the Holy Spirit,

John Sophocleus.

PS: I’d like to thank all who’ve kept me and my bride in their prayers of late as we continue our fight, probably to the US Supreme Court again. We just got the brief into the 11th Circuit - at least it gets easier to rewrite most of the same text after winning so many times over the same issues. We’ve been blessed with excellent decisions by the lowest and the highest jurist - perhaps the hearts of the extremist judges in between will change (it doesn’t look that way) or maybe after our winning unanimously the last time in the Supreme Court they will simply handle it themselves this time. I would hope they agree our suffering this since Feb. of 2008 has been long enough.

Brethren:

Father John asked me to forward the attachment to everyone on the mailing list from Metropolitan Alexious in the effort to enhance and improve communications throughout our Metropolis. To avoid duplications, he is requesting copies of current Parish directories, including email addresses. His hope is eventually to mail copies of Diakonia Magazine and send the Metropolis Messenger to all our Metropolis family. Please send me or Tom Kubik [tkubik@wcbradley.com] your physical mailing address and preferred e-mail information that we may send to Atlanta. If you know someone who is NOT on the list (thanks again to Francine Brittingham and Sopia Mann who did such a wonderful job on our last directory) that would like to be, please let me know.

Our June 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Wed. June 3rd - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. June 7th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis (Pentecost)
Wed. June 10th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. June 13th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Sun. June 14th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. June 17th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. June 21st - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero (Father’s Day)
Orthodox Discussion Group
Wed. June 24th - 7:30pm Bible Study (John the Baptist Nativity)
Sun. June 28th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero

Paper copies of the June calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall.

Don’t forget Fr. John will continue his discussion group sessions after our social fellowship on Sundays. Please send your questions/thoughts on topics to Father’s e-mail [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. Dependent upon response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus but we’ll take one session at a time. He’d like to keep it to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly.

Father’s ‘food for thought’ this month is as follows:

Pentecost – The Descent of the Holy Spirit

In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after Passover. As the Passover feast celebrated the exodus of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt, so Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.

In the new covenant of the Messiah, the Passover event takes on its new meaning as the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, the “exodus” of men from this sinful world to the Kingdom of God. And in the New Testament as well, the Pentecostal feast is fulfilled and made new by the coming of the “new law,” the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples.

“When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed as resting upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… (Acts 2:1-4).

The Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to His disciples came on the day of Pentecost. The apostles received “the power from on high,” and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the risen Christ, the King and the Lord. This moment has traditionally been called the birthday of the Church.

In the liturgical services of the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit is celebrated together with the full revelation of the divine Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fullness of the Godhead is manifested with the Spirit’s coming to man, and the Church hymns celebrate this manifestation as the final act of God’s self-disclosure and self-donation to the world of His creation. For this reason Pentecost Sunday is also called Trinity Day in the Orthodox tradition. Often on this day the icon of the Holy Trinity – particularly that of the three angelic figures who appeared to Abraham, the forefather of the Christian faith – is placed in the center of the church. This icon is used with the traditional Pentecostal icon which shows the tongues of fire hovering over Mary and the Twelve Apostles, the original prototype of the Church, who are themselves sitting in unity surrounding a symbolic image of “cosmos,”
the world.

On Pentecost we have the final fulfillment of the mission of Jesus Christ and the first beginning of the messianic age of the Kingdom of God mystically present in this world in the Church of the Messiah. For this reason the fiftieth day stands as the beginning of the era which is beyond the limitations of this world, fifty being that number which stands for eternal and heavenly fulfillment in Jewish and Christian mystical piety: seven times seven, plus one.

Thus, Pentecost is called an apocalyptic day, which means the day of final revelation. It is also called an eschatological day, which means the day of the final and perfect end (in Greek eschaton means the end). For when the Messiah comes and the

Lord’s Day is at hand, the “last days” are inaugurated in which “God declares:..I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” This is the ancient prophecy to which the apostle Peter refers in the first sermon of the Christian Church which was preached on the first Sunday of Pentecost (Acts 2:17; Joel2:28-32).

The Great Vespers of Pentecost features three long prayers at which the faithful kneel for the first time since Easter. The Monday after Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church, and the Sunday after Pentecost is the feast of All Saints. This is the logical liturgical sequence since the coming of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled in men by their becoming saints, and this is the very purpose of the creation and salvation of the world. “Thus says the Lord: Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I your God am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44-45; I Peter 1:15-16).

- Taken from “Worship” (volume ii) of The Orthodox Faith
by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The sinful soul which does not know the Lord fears death, thinking that the Lord will not forgive her her sins. But this is because the soul does not know the Lord and how greatly He loves us. But if people knew this, then no man would despair in his heart, for the Lord not only forgives but rejoices exceedingly at the return of a sinner. Though you be at death’s door believe firmly that the moment you ask you will receive forgiveness.

The Lord is not like us. He is passing meek, and merciful, and good; and when the soul knows Him she marvels greatly and exclaims: ‘O what a Lord is ours!’

The Holy Spirit gave our Church to know how great is God’s mercy.

The Lord loves us, and gently and without reproach takes us to Himself, just as the father in the Gospel story did not reproach his prodigal son but called his servants to bring a new robe and put a precious ring on his finger and shoes on his feet, and told them to kill the fatted calf, and be merry; and in nothing did he condemn his son.

‘Did not our heart burn within us?’ said the Apostles after Christ drew near them. So does the soul recognize and love her Lord, and the delight of His love is a burning delight.

In heaven there is one and the same love in the hearts of all, but on earth some there are that greatly love the Lord, others love Him in small degree, while still others love Him not at all.

The soul that is filled with love of God is forgetful both of heaven and earth. The spirit burns and invisibly beholds the Desired One, and the soul sheds many sweet tears and is unable to forget the Lord for a single second, for the grace of God gives strength to love the Beloved.

Brethren, let us humble ourselves that we may be worthy of the love of God, that the Lord may adorn us with His lowliness of spirit and His humility, that we may become worthy of the heavenly mansions which the Lord has made ready for us.

- Taken from Wisdom from Mount Athos by Archimandrite Sophrony

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives - please continue special prayers for Presvyterra as she continues to mend following knee surgery.

Our June Epistle readers are as follows:

6/7 Loxley Compton [Acts 2:1-11]
6/14 Marcus Todd [Heb 11:33-40; 12:2]
6/21 Donna Hesterman [Rom 2:10-16]
6/28 Kelly ‘Mark’ Jolley [Rom 5:1-11].

The prosphora rotation is:

Jun. 2009 Donna Hesterman
Jul. 2009 Tom Kubik
Aug. 2009 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens
Sep. 2009 Christine Johnson
Oct. 2009 Barbara Vogus
Nov. 2009 Claudia Muse

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies and good eats after our our Liturgies.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration and a special thanks to Jorge Mosjidis for helping with text to make our website more Spanish friendly/appealing. Another thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering; to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore AND serving in the Altar. Bible class continues at the 7:30pm start time which seems to be working out well and will begin with a new book this month (sorry I lost my note with the title) that you can purchase from the bookstore.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham, Sophia Mann and Donna Hesterman for their continued efforts to educate our children in Christ. Natalie [natalieabowman@hotmail.com] sent the following link for Orthodox parents to consider using:

http://www.orthodoxmom.com

She hasn’t checked the whole thing out yet (there is a good bit of material) but was truly impressed with it and hopes it may be helpful to others. Comments from others thus far have also been positive.

Evharisto poli to all who so generously donate inputs to our social fellowships after services, the Allens, Byrds, Natalie Bowman, Tom Kubik, the Muses, to name a few. A special thanks to Deborah Hunsinger (who is has recently joined us at Holy Transfiguration) for the wonderful eats last Sunday.

Congrats to our newly minted graduates, Donna Hesterman, Joe ‘Arsenios’ Moquin and Mandy Brook. May God continue to accompany you in all your future endeavours as you find you way in this world following Christ’s path. It is was also delightful to see Loxley and Stephanie join us during their Summer break! Hope I didn’t miss anyone. As usual, any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Luke & Felicity Allen and George Saad in your prayers. We also ask for special prayers to Beatrice Florescu as she finishes her trials and tests at Ft. Benning with an injured foot and again our beloved Presvyterra Vastakis mending from her knee surgery. Please also keep Elena Gordenina and family in your prayers following a car accident last month - thanks be to God all are OK - just bruises and cuts - but the car is total loss. Again, if anyone might be able to bring them to Columbus from Roanoake some Sunday - let me know.

In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed.

Your fellow servant of the Holy Spirit,

John Sophocleus.

Father asked me to forward the attachment to everyone on the mailing list (that Marcus Todd originally located and sent to Fr. John - thank you Mark) with useful information for Bright Week and the Paschal cycle of services. I hope it comes through in a format you can open.

Our May 2009 calendar [Eastern Time] is as follows:

Sun. May 3rd - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis (Myrrh Bearers)
Wed. May 6th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. May 9th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Sun. May 10th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero (Mother’s Day)
Parish Council Meeting
Wed. May 13th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. May 17th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero (Samaritan Woman)
Orthodox Discussion Group
Wed. May 20th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. May 24th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis
Wed. May 27th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. May 31st - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero

Paper copies of the May calendar may be found on the candle stand in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter in the social hall.

Father John will select a topic for the first discussion/training group session (5/17) but he’d like to solicit questions from parishioners on items they would like to address. Please email Fr. John your thoughts [JStefero@hotmail.com] or write them down and give them to Father or Tom Kubik at church. If there is good response, Father will do one every time he serves in Columbus but we’ll take one session at a time. He’d like to keep it to about 20 minutes so folks may plan their Sunday schedules accordingly.

Father’s ‘food for thought’ this month is as follows:

“Mikhail Sergeyevich! Christ is Risen!”

Many years ago in the Soviet Union an atheist had just finished giving a lecture on the non-existence of God. After he finished, he asked a priest who was present to prove that God exists. The priest rose, looked at the crowd, and said only three words, “Christ is Risen” and sat down. The response was immediate and thunderous, “Truly, He is Risen!”

Many years later in 1990, the annual May Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square was in progress. Two Orthodox priests together with a group of parishioners were carrying a huge, eight-foot cross along the parade route. Before them had just passed the official might of the Soviet Union: the usual May Day procession of tanks, missiles, troops and salutes to the Communist Party elite.

Behind the tanks surged a great crowd of protesters, shouting up at Mikhail Gorbachev: “Bread…Freedom…Truth!”

As more protestors poised directly in front of Gorbachev, the two priests hoisted the huge cross toward the sky. As it emerged above the crowd, the figure of Jesus Christ obscured the giant poster faces of Karl Marx, Engels and Lenin that provided the backdrop for Gorbachev’s reviewing stand.

“Mikhail Sergeyevich! Christ is Risen!” one of the priests shouted. “Mikhail Sergeyevich! Christ is Risen!”

In a matter of months after that May Day celebration, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved. Christ is risen indeed and with Him is raising the Orthodox Church which the vast might of the Soviet Union had tried for over 70 years to eradicate. Christ is risen indeed, and He is building His Church about which He promised, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

- Taken from Daily Vitamins for Spiritual Growth by Fr. Anthony M. Coniaris

Food for Thought

Christ is well known for working three days ahead of schedule (Paula Powers)

“I will destroy this temple…and in three days I will build another…” (Mark 14:58)

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives - please say a special prayer for Presvyterra as she undergoes knee surgery on May 4th.

Our May Epistle readers are as follows:

5/3 Joe ‘Arsenios’ Moquin [Acts 6:1-7]
5/10 Marcus Todd [Act 9:32-42]
5/17 Donna Hesterman [Acts 11:19-30]
5/24 Kelly ‘Mark’ Jolley [Acts 16:16-34]
5/31 Peter Byrd [Acts 20:16-18].

The prosphora rotation is:

May 2009 Claudia Muse
Jun. 2009 Donna Hesterman
Jul. 2009 Tom Kubik
Aug. 2009 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens
Sep. 2009 Christine Johnson
Oct. 2009 Barbara Vogus.

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies and good eats after our our Liturgies.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration and a special thanks to Jorge Mosjidis for helping with text to make our website more Spanish friendly/appealing. Another thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties.

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering; to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore AND serving in the Altar. Bible class continues study of Bishop Kalistos Ware’s “The Orthodox Way,” please attend if you can, the 7:30pm start time seems to be working well.

Thanks also to Natalie Bowman, Francine Brittingham and Donna Hesterman for their continued efforts to educate our children in Christ. Natalie [natalieabowman@hotmail.com] sent the following link for Orthodox parents to consider using:

http://www.orthodoxmom.com

She hasn’t checked the whole thing out yet (there is a good bit of material) but was truly impressed with it and hopes it may be helpful to others. She found some delightful things on Thomas to use for this past Sunday.

Evharisto poli to all who so generously donated the inputs during Holy Week and the big Pascha Meal - too many to enumerate! What a blessing to see how beautifully we all came together once again to venerate Christ’s sacrifice to the world and His victorious resurrection over death and forgiveness of our sins.

I’ll ask y’all to be even more forgiving of all my errors and omissions with all the goings on for Pascha. Any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes.

Keep Mike Pappafotis, Luke & Felicity Allen and George Saad in your prayers. We also ask for special prayers to Beatrice Florescu as she continues to endure her trials and tests at Ft. Benning with an injured foot and once again our beloved Presvyterra Vastakis May 4th knee surgery.

In closing, and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed.

Indeed he has Risen!

John Sophocleus

Forgive the longer than usual e-mail with all to include as we make our blessed journey to Pascha this season. I’ll begin with the most immediate reminder to our AUBURN folks that Fr. Ioannis will celebrate the Divine Liturgy (10am Central time) on Saturday, March 28 at the Koullas Chapel off of US 280.

Our April 2009 calendar [EST] is as follows:

Wed. Apr 1st - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Apr 5th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Stefero
Wed. Apr 8th - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sat. Apr 11th - 10:30am ‘Second Saturday’ Food Bank Distribution
Palm folding and Luncheon to follow
Sun. Apr 12th - 9am Orthros/10am Palm Sunday Liturgy Fr. Stefero

[See Holy Week Schedule below - no Bible Study Holy Wed. eve]

Sun. Apr 19th - 12:30am Divine Liturgy of St. John
11am Easter Sunday Vespers; Pascha Luncheon
Wed. Apr 22nd - 7:30pm Bible Study
Sun. Apr 26th - 9am Orthros/10am Liturgy Fr. Vastakis
Wed. Apr 29th - 7:30pm Bible Study

Paper copies of the April calendar above and the Holy Week Schedule below may be found on the candle stand (along with a ‘wish list’ of items to provide) in the back of the church and on the bookstore counter.

HOLY TRANSFIGURATION 2008 HOLY WEEK SERVICES

Sun., Apr. 12 - PALM SUNDAY Orthros 9am/Divine Liturgy 10am;
Fish Luncheon follows at 12 Noon;
Service of Bridegroom Immediately
following Luncheon - Approx. 1pm

Mon., Apr. 13 - Holy & Great Monday 10am Presanctified Liturgy;
Second Service of Bridegroom 6:30pm

Tue., Apr. 14 - Holy & Great Tuesday 10am Presanctified Liturgy;
Third Service of Bridegroom 6:30pm

Wed., Apr. 15 - Holy & Great Wednesday 10am Presanctified Liturgy;
Sacrament of Holy Unction 6:30pm

Thr., Apr. 16 - Holy & Great Thursday 10am Divine Liturgy of St.
Basil the Great;
Passion & Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ 6:30pm

Fri., Apr. 17 - Service of The Royal Hours 9am;
The Unnailing from The Cross 3pm;
Lamentations Before The Tomb 7:30pm

Sat., Apr. 18 - Holy & Great Saturday 10am Divine Liturgy of St.
Basil The Great;
Matins of The Resurrection 11:30pm Nocturns;

Sun., Apr. 19 - 12:01am Matins/The Divine (St. John’s) Liturgy of the
Resurrection (Holy Pascha) 12:30am;
Holy & Great Sunday of Pascha/Easter Sunday Vespers 11am

Pascha luncheon to follow Vespers at the Church.

Fr. John asks all to note the Saturday night Nocturns which go into the Midnight Matins before the Holy Pascha Sunday Liturgy is ONE service and to please remain for the entire service if possible. Father’s ‘food for thought’ this month is to read St. Tikhon’s text on Christ’s Crucifixion and the words from a Paschal hymn below:

Saint Tikhon on the Crucifixion

You were sold and betrayed that I might be freed, I who was enslaved.
You were bound that my bonds might be broken.
You were submitted to an unjust trial, You who are the judge of all the earth, that I might be freed from eternal judgment.
You were made naked in order to clothe me in the robes of salvation, in the garments of gladness.
You were crowned with thorns, that I might receive the crown of life.
You were called the king of mockery, You the King of all, to open the kingdom of heaven for me.
Your head was lashed with a reed that my name should be written in the book of life.
You suffered outside the city gates in order to lead me, one who had been cast out of paradise, into the eternal Jerusalem.
You were put among evil men, You who are the only Just One, that I, the unjust, might be justified.
You were cursed, the One Blessed, that I, the accursed, should be blessed.
You shed Your blood that my sins might be cleansed away.
You were given vinegar to drink that I might eat and drink at the feast in your Kingdom.
You died, You Who are the life of all in order to revive me, the dead.
You were laid in the tomb that I might rise from the tomb.
You were brought to life again that I might believe in my resurrection.

Paschal Hymns

Christ is risen from the dead! He has crushed death by His death and bestowed life upon those who lay in the tomb!

Jesus is risen indeed, as He foretold; He has given us eternal life and abundant mercy!

Please keep Fr. John & Denise and Fr. Mike & Presvyterra in your prayers for continued sound health and safe travels to us and all the others they serve. We’re very blessed to have these good shepherds in our spiritual lives as we endeavour to follow Christ’s path as we journey to Pascha again this Lenten Season.

Our Church Item Request for this year’s Holy Week is as follows:

Palm Sunday:

Palms
White & Purple flowers to decorate Icon of the Bridegroom

Holy Wednesday:

Olive Oil & Cotton Balls;
Bowl of Flour & Seven Candles
(Flour is used to make to prosfora, one for the Eucharist of Holy
Thursday and one for the reserve Eucharist to be placed in the
Tabernacle on the Holy Altar)

Holy Thursday Morning:

Two prosfora;
Prepare/Dye Eggs Red following the Liturgy

Holy Thursday Night:

Three Candles for The Bars of The Cross;
Wreath of White Flowers for Cross

Holy Friday Morning:

Decorate The Tomb w/ Flowers;
Lentils for lunch

Holy Friday Afternoon:

Two Bottles of Rose Water & Rose Petals;
White Sheet;
Sprinkler (RANTISTIRION)

Holy Friday Evening:

Large Candle w/ Red Ribbon

Holy Saturday Morning:

Prosfora;
Large bowl of Rose Petals;

Holy Saturday Evening:

Large Candle w/ White Ribbon and covered dishes for luncheon.

Please contact Tom Kubik [tkubik@wcbradley.com or (706)569-0966] to coordinate donations and set the date for our customary big clean-up of the Church for Holy Week. It really was beautiful to watch it all come together so well last year.

Our next “Second Saturday” food bank distribution is April 11th 10:30am - plan to stay after to fold palms and the luncheon. Thanks to all who continue to give as demands on our food bank outreach increase. An integral part of our Liturgy is to reach out and share God’s gifts bestowed upon us with others in need. Please contact Maureen Byrd at pnmbyrd@charter.net if you can help during this blessed season.

Our April Epistle readers are as follows:

4/5 Kelly ‘Mark’ Jolley [Heb 9:11-14]
4/12 Donna Hesterman [Phil 4:4-9]
4/19 Joe ‘Arsenios’ Moquin [Acts 1:1-8]
4/26 Marcus Todd [Act 5:12-20].

The prosphora rotation is:

Apr. 2009 Barbara Vogus
May 2009 Christine Johnson
Jun. 2009 Donna Hesterman
Jul. 2009 Tom Kubik
Aug. 2009 Jessica ‘Katherine’ Kitchens
Sep. 2009 Claudia Muse.

And a big “evharisto poli” also goes to Presvyterra Vastakis for her generous provision of prophora for our Liturgies and good eats (even during Lent) after our our Liturgies.

Thanks also to Alex Mosjidis for keeping our church website [www.ht-church.com] updated and managing inquiries about Holy Transfiguration.
Another thanks to Peter Byrd for his continued effort to keep the Church grounds along with all his other duties. The timing to cut our palms may work out well this year!

Thanks to Mike Kamar for his continued faithful duty in tending to candles and ushering; to Stephen Muse for leading our Bible Studies, running the bookstore AND serving in the Altar. Bible class continues study of Bishop Kalistos Ware’s “The Orthodox Way,” please attend if you can, the 7:30pm start time seems to be working well.

A HUGE special thanks to both Claudia and Stephen Muse for all their efforts in putting on the Olga Eggert Event, “The Orthodox Church and its Influence on Art and Music.” By all accounts the evening was a tremendous success. There were at least 100 attendees and all went well from set up to parking to seating to the lecture to the refreshments. Tom happily claimed, “Our Lord’s Church shined” that evening.

Evharisto poli to Tom Kubik, Presvyterra, Natlie Bowman, Mike Kamar, Kelly ‘Mark’ Jolley, the Allen, Byrd, Hesterman, Muse and Vogus families (and others?) for the delicious eats and sweets after our March Liturgies. Thanks also to all those who often anonymously contribute to cleaning up the church, bathrooms, social hall; replenish sodas, etc.. If you know who these unnamed providers/workers may be - please pass on their names. We still have paper towels and ice on the wish list.

I’ll ask y’all to be even more forgiving of all my errors and omissions with all the goings on for Pascha. Any suggestion(s) for improvement, edits and/or additions, corrections would be greatly appreciated so I may improve. Hopefully the monthly announcements are less botheration in your e-mailboxes.

Keep Mike Pappafotis (who is reported to be doing much better) Luke & Felicity Allen and George Saad in your prayers. Also keep Jorge Mosjidis in prayer who continues to mend and hopes to return to us soon.

Thanks also to Patsy Morris for her kind heartfelt words to us as it has been over a year since losing her beloved Tom. Please continue to keep Patsy, Nicholas, and Tasha in your prayers; Eonia Imeni - may the memory of Tom Morris indeed be eternal.

In closing, as always and perhaps most important of all, please keep all those in our Armed Forces in your prayers - may they continue to serve us well and return home safely to their families and all those they hold dear in God’s speed.

Wishing all a blessed journey to Pascha,

John Sophocleus.

PS: For those who’ve not yet done so, please remember to update your stewardship forms for 2009 as we venerate Christ’s suffering for us all. Thanks to all who sacrifice their time and resources to bring Christ’s message, Spirit and Love to our little mission/church in Columbus.