FIRST SUNDAY OF THE GREAT LENT
TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY
FIRST (4 C.) AND SECOND (452) FINDINGS OF THE PRECIOUS HEAD OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
LITURGY OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT
Confessions heard, Third and Sixth Hours– 9:30 AM
Divine Liturgy – 10:00 AM
Prayer List: Mother Raphaela and Arleen (Pauluch)
Sunday, March 9th, Divine Liturgy offered:
For the Health of:
Peter, Anna, Nicholas, Alaric, Natalia, Alexei, Elya, Andrew, Vadim by Seasholtz Family
For the Memory of Departed servants:
+Reader Samuel (Sokoluk, Jr) by Alexei, Lucia and Amelia
+Alexis (Yankovoy) on anniversary by Alexei, Lucia and Amelia
Flowers on the tetrapod are in memory of +Reader Samuel (Sokoluk, Jr.), +Alexis (Yankovoy) on anniversary, by Alexei, Lucia and Amelia Vechnaya Pamyat! Memory Eternal!
Schedule of Services:
Sunday, March 9, Divine Liturgy 10 AM, Orthodoxy Sunday
Wednesday, March 12 Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts 6pm
Saturday, March 15, Divine Liturgy 10 AM, All Souls Saturday
Sunday, March 16, Divine Liturgy 10 AM, St. Gregory Palamas Sunday
Wednesday, March 19 Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts 6pm
Saturday, March 22, Divine Liturgy 10 AM, All Souls Saturday
Sunday, March 23, Divine Liturgy 10 AM, Adoration of Cross Sunday
Wednesday, March 26 Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts 6pm
The First Sunday of Great Lent, Troparion, We worship Thy immaculate Image, O Good One, and ask forgiveness of our sins, O Christ God; for of Thy own will Thou wast pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh, to deliver from slavery to the enemy those whom Thou hadst created. Therefore we thankfully cry to Thee: Thou hast filled all things with joy, O our Saviour, by coming to save the world.
The First Sunday of Great Lent Kontakion, The illimitable Word of the Father accepted limitations by incarnation from thee, O Mother of God; and He transformed our defiled image to its original state and transfused it with the divine beauty. But we confess and give thanks for our salvation, and we proclaim it by deed and word.
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!
1st. & 2nd Findings of the Precious Head of the Forerunner, Troparion, The head of the Forerunner,/ which hath shone forth from the earth,/ doth shed rays of incorruption/ and healing upon the faithful./ On High it assembleth a multitude of angels,/ and below it calleth upon the human race// with one voice to send up glory to Christ God.
1st. & 2nd Findings of the Precious Head of the Forerunner Kontakion, O prophet of God and Forerunner of grace,/ having obtained thy head from the earth like a most sacred rose,/ we ever receive healings,// for again, as of old, thou dost preach repentance in the world.
EPISTLE HEBREWS 11:24-26, 11:32-12:2 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
GOSPEL JOHN 1:43-51 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
EPISTLE 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-15 (FORERUNNER) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
GOSPEL MATTHEW 11:2-15 (FORERUNNER) And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.' Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!