Sunday, December 8, 2024

Tone 7; 24th Sunday after Pentecost (12th of Luke); Ven. Patapius of Thebes

Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by Saint Anna

Commemorated on December 9

(OCA) The Gospels and other books of the New Testament do not mention anything about Saint Anna, the mother of the Theotokos. According to Tradition, the priest Matthan (Matthew 1:15), a resident of Bethlehem, had three daughters: Mary,1 Sobe (Sobḗ), and Anna. Mary was married in Bethlehem, where she gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of Saint John the Baptist.

The Holy Righteous Anna was the youngest daughter of the priest Matthan, who was from the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron. Her husband, the Holy Righteous Joachim was from the tribe of Judah, from the house and family of King David. According to the ancient promise, the Messiah was to come from the lineage of King David (Luke 2:4).

The couple lived in Nazareth of Galilee. Every year, they gave two-thirds of their income to the Temple in Jerusalem, and to the poor. By God's Providence, the holy couple had no children until their old age. They were greatly saddened by this, since the Jews considered childlessness a great misfortune and a punishment from God. They prayed fervently for the Lord to give them children.

On a certain feast, when the Israelites were bringing gifts to God in the Temple at Jerusalem, the High Priest, believing that the childless Joachim did not have God's blessing, refused to accept gifts from him. Saint Joachim was grief stricken. He consulted the genealogy of the twelve tribes of Israel and ascertained that all righteous men had offspring, including Abraham, when he was a hundred years old. Without returning home, Saint Joachim went into the wilderness and spent forty days there in strict fasting and prayer, entreating God's mercy for himself, and washing away his disgrace with bitter tears.

Saint Anna thought that she was to blame for their sorrow. One day saw a nest with barely fledged chicks in the branches of a laurel tree, she wept and prayed for the gift of a child, promising to bring the infant to God as an offering. As soon as Saint Anna spoke these words, an Angel of the Lord told her that her prayer had been answered, and revealed that she would have a daughter named Mary, through whom all the peoples of the world would be blessed. Rejoicing, Saint Anna hastened to the Temple in Jerusalem, in order to give thanks to God. She repeated her vow to dedicate the child to Him. An Angel came to Saint Joachim in the wilderness with the same news and commanded him to go to Jerusalem. There, the Righteous Anna conceived and gave birth to the Most Holy Theotokos.

The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, sin, etc.) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless, as Saint Ambrose of Milan teaches in Chapter Two of his Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke. The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in her mortality, and in being subject to temptation, although she committed no personal sins. She was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, She would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibility of our salvation is in doubt.

Saint Anna has been honored since ancient times. We infer this from various Fathers of the Church, and also from ancient hymns in honor of the mother of the Theotokos. In the year 550, Emperor Justinian dedicated a temple in Constantinople to Saint Anna.

Part of the Saint's left hand is located in Stavronikita Monastery on Mount Athos. Part of the Saint's incorrupt left foot is located in Saint Anna's Skete on Mount Athos. Part of the Saint's incorrupt right foot is located in the Monastery of Koutloumousiou on Mount Athos.

Fragments of the Saint's Holy Relics are to be found in Saint Anna's Monastery at Lygaria in Lamia, and also in the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian at Sourotis.

Some of the Saint's incorrupt flesh is in the Roman Catholic International Crusaders Collection of Holy Relics. The Saint's wrist is to be found in the Roman Catholic church of Saint Paul "Outside the Walls" in Rome.

Many icons of the Conception by Saint Anna show the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot. Saints Joachim and Anna are usually depicted with hands folded in prayer; their eyes are also directed upward and they contemplate the Mother of God, who stands in the air with outstretched hands; under her feet is an orb encircled by a serpent (symbolizing the devil), which strives to conquer the universe by its power.”

Glory to Jesus Christ!

This coming Friday, 12/6 is the Feast of St. Nicholas, Vespers, 5:30 PM, Thursday. Divine Liturgy, Friday at 7:00 AM.

Monday, 12/9 is the Feast of the Conception of St. Anne. We will celebrate Divine Liturgy at 7:00 AM.

I will be at the Seminary, from Thursday, 12/12 through Saturday, 12/14. Fr Christopher will serve Vespers, on Saturday 12/14.

In Christ,

Fr Gregory

This Week at Ss Cyril & Methodius

Wednesday, December 4

• 11:00 AM- 3:00 PM: Office Hours

Thursday, December 5

• 1:00-5:00 PM: Office Hours
• 5:30 PM: Vespers 

Friday, December 6 (St. Nicholas)

• 7:00 AM: Divine Liturgy

Saturday, December 7

• 3:00 PM: Inquirers/Catechumen Class
• 5:00 PM: Great Vespers
• 6:00 PM: Confessions

Sunday, December 8

• 9:00 AM: Hours
• 9:30 AM: Divine Liturgy

Looking Ahead to Next Week

Monday, December 9 (Conception of St. Anne)

• 7:00 AM: Divine Liturgy

Wednesday, December 11

• 11:00 AM-3:00 PM: Office Hours
• 5:30 PM: Vespers 

Saturday, December 14

• 3:00 PM: Inquirers/Catechumen Class [canceled]
• 5:00 PM: Great Vespers
• 6:00 PM: Confessions [canceled]

Sunday, December 15

• 9:00 AM: Hours
• 9:30 AM: Divine Liturgy

Hymns After the Small Entrance

Tone 7 Troparion (Resurrection)

By Thy Cross Thou didst destroy death. To the thief Thou didst open Paradise. For the Myrrhbearers Thou didst change weeping into joy, and Thou didst command Thy disciples, O Christ God, to proclaim that Thou art risen,//granting the world great mercy.

Tone 4 Troparion (Sts. Cyril & Methodius)

Divinely-wise Cyril and Methodius, / equals-to-the-apostles and teachers of the Slavs, / entreat the Master of all / to strengthen all nations in Orthodoxy and unity of mind, / to grant peace to the world and to save our souls. 

Tone 8 Troparion (Ven. Patapius)

The image of God was truly preserved in thee, O Father, for thou didst take up the Cross and follow Christ. By so doing, thou taughtest us to disregard the flesh for it passes away; but to care instead for the soul, for it is immortal.//Therefore thy spirit, venerable Patapius, rejoices with the angels.

Tone 7 Kontakion (Resurrection)

The dominion of death can no longer hold men captive, for Christ descended, shattering and destroying its powers. Hell is bound, while the Prophets rejoice and cry: “The Savior has come to those in faith;//enter, you faithful, into the Resurrection!”

Tone 3 Kontakion (Sts. Cyril & Methodius)

Let us honor the sacred pair, who translated divine scripture / pouring forth a fountain of divine knowledge from which we still draw today. / Now as you stand before the throne of the Most-high / we call you blessed, Cyril and Methodius, / as you fervently pray for our souls.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

Tone 3 Kontakion (Ven. Patapius)

Thy temple is found to be a source of healing, and the people flock to it eagerly, O saint. They seek the healing of their diseases and the forgiveness of their sins,//for thou art a protector for all those in need, ven’rable Patapius.

now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 6 Theotokion

O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, / O mediation unto the Creator unfailing, / disdain not the suppliant voices of sinners, / but be thou quick, O good one, to help us who in faith cry unto thee; / hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, // thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honour thee.

Epistle: Ephesians 2:14-22

Brethren, for He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel: Luke 17:12-19 

Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

By the age of 25, about 60% of those baptized as infants will no longer consider themselves members of the Orthodox Church. A parish on a university campus is an important witness not only to the surrounding community but also to high school age and younger parishioner. Establishing a parish on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison helps remind young people that graduating high school doesn't mean "graduating" from the Church. Please consider joining those who have committed their time, treasure and talent in establishing an Orthodox community on the Isthmus.

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