THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE GREAT FAST
VENERABLE JOHN (LESVITCHNIK) CLIMACUS
Confessions heard; Third and Sixth Hours– 9:30 AM
Divine Liturgy – 10:00 AM
Prayer List: Mother Raphaela; and Arleen (Pauluch)
Sunday, April 14th Divine Liturgy offered:
For the Health of:
Peter, Anna, Nicholas, Alaric, Natalia, Alexei, Elya, Andrew by Seasholtz Family
Mary (Kaczmar) our oldest living parishioner, now living in Fairfield, CT who will be 102 yrs on April 17th, by Marlene Blaskevitch
For the Memory of Departed servants:
Newly Departed +Archpriest Emil (Minkovich)
Newly Departed +Matushka Patricia (Saverino)
+Alexander (Sokoluk) on birthday by Alexei, Lucia & Amelia
+Evgenia by Alexei, Lucia & Amelia
Flowers on the tetrapod and on the altar are in memory of Newly Departed +Archpriest Emil (Minkovich), by Alexei, Lucia and Amelia. Memory Eternal! Vechnaya Pamyat!
Schedule of Services:
- Great Lent Dairy & Meat are excluded until Pascha May 5th
- Sunday, April 14th Sunday of St. John Climacus Divine Liturgy 10AM
- Sunday April 14 Pan Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood of Philadelphia Lenten Sunday Vespers, at 4 PM at Holy Trinity OCA Church,1236 Juniper Street, Pottstown PA 19464
- Wednesday, April 17th Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts 6PM
- Thursday, April 18th Viewing and Funeral for Matushka Pat, starting at 9 AM at St. Michael
- Thursday, April 18th Canon of St. Andrew of Crete 6PM
- Sunday, April 21st Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt Divine Liturgy 10AM
- Sunday, April 21st Pan Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood of Philadelphia Lenten Sunday Vespers, at 4 PM at St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church, 506 Stahr Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027
- Wednesday, April 24th Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts 6PM
- Saturday, April 27th Lazarus Saturday Divine Liturgy 10AM
- Sunday, April 28th Sunday of Feast of Entry of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) Divine Liturgy 10AM
PALM SUNDAY FISH DINNER - The Women's Fellowship is hosting a fundraising luncheon on Palm Sunday April 28th 2024. We will have Fish, Shrimp Scampi, Rice Pilaf, Vegetables, sides, beverages and dessert, BYOB. Adults are $20 and children 6-13 are $10 - Please rsvp to Denise Rutherford, Tanya Sarris or Suzanne Veres by Wednesday April 24, 2024.
The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent: Venerable John Lestvichnik, Troparion, Tone I Thou didst prove to be a freeman of the desert, an angel in a body, and a wonder-worker, O our God - bearing Father John. By fasting, vigil and prayer thou didst obtain heavenly gifts, and thou healest the sick and the souls of those who have recourse to thee with faith. Glory to Him Who gave thee strength, glory to Him Who crowned thee, glory to Him Who works through thee healings for all.
Kontakion, Tone I Offering ever-blossoming fruits of learning from thy book, O wise one, thou delightest the hearts of those who study it seriously, O blessed one. For it is a ladder which leads up from the earth to the heavenly and abiding glory souls who with faith honour thee.
Troparion of the Sunday, Tone IV When the women disciples of the Lord learned from the angel / the joyous message of Thy resurrection, / they cast away the ancestral curse / and elatedly told the Apostles: / Death is overthrown! / Christ God is risen, / granting the world great mercy!
Kontakion of the Sunday, Tone IV My Savior and Redeemer as God rose from the tomb and delivered the earthborn from their chains. He has shattered the gates of hell, and as Master, He has risen on the third day!
St. Mary of Egypt, Troparion, in Tone VIII In thee, O mother, that which was created according to the image of God was manifestly saved;/ for, accepting thy cross, thou didst follow after Christ;/ and, praying, thou didst learn to disdain the flesh,/ for thou didst transcend it, to take care of thine immortal soul.// Wherefore, with the angels doth thy soul rejoice, O venerable Mary.
Kontakion, in Tone IV, "Having been lifted up..." Having fled the gloom of sin/ and illumined thine heart with the light of repentance, O glorious one,/ thou didst go to Christ and didst bring His all-immaculate and holy Mother to Him/ as a merciful intercessor;// hence, thou didst find remission of thy transgressions and dost now rejoice ever with the angels.
Another translation
Troparion, Tone V Enlightened by the grace of the Cross, thou wast shown forth as a radiant lamp of repentance, dispelling the darkness of the passions, O all-holy one. Wherefore, thou didst appear as an angel in the flesh unto the sacred Zosimas in the wilderness. O Mary, our righteous mother, do thou intercede with Christ for us.
Kontakion, Tone III Once thou wast defiled with every impurity, but today through repentance thou hast become the bride of Christ. Desiring the life of the angels, thou hast cast down the demons with the weapon of the Cross. Wherefore, O glorious Mary, thou wast made a bride of the Kingdom.
EPISTLE HEBREWS 6:13-20 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
GOSPEL MARK 9:17-31 Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not. He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."
EPISTLE EPHESIANS 5:9-19 (VENERABLE JOHN LESTVICHNIK) (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light." See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
GOSPEL MATTHEW 4:25-5:12 (VENERABLE JOHN LESTVICHNIK) Great multitudes followed Him-from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.