+ Sunday, July 15^th 2007 +

7^th Sunday after Holy Pentecost

& Feast-Day of the Holy Fathers of the 4^th Ecumenical Council

Tone: 6 + Eothinion: 7

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+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

“O Philanthropic Word, boundless and indescribable, having become incarnate for our sake, the solemn assembly of the wise Fathers proclaimed Thee, that Thou art perfect God and perfect Man, complete, dual of Nature and acts, and dual also of will, and that Thou Thyself art one in Person. Wherefore, having known Thee as one God with the Father and the Spirit we worship Thee in faith, blessing them.”

Today’s Scripture Readings:

v Epistle: Titus 3:8-15

v Holy Gospel: St. Matthew 5:14-19

Next Sunday’s Scripture Readings:

v Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

v Holy Gospel: St. Matthew 14:14-22

Meditation: “The 4^th Ecumenical Council”

The 4^th Ecumenical Council was held in Chalcedon, near Constantinople in 451 A.D. under Emperor Marcian, where 630 Bishops were present.

Monophysite Controversies

The Council was concerned, once again, with the nature of Jesus Christ. The teaching arose that Christ's human nature (less perfect) dissolved itself in His divine nature (more perfect): like a cube of sugar in a post of water. Thus, in reality, Christ had only one nature, the Divine. Hence, the term: Monophysites ("mono", one and "physis", "nature".) Monophysitism overemphasized the divine nature of Christ, at the expense of the human.

Proclamation

The Council condemned Monophysitism and proclaimed that Christ has two complete natures: the divine and the human, as defined by previous Councils. These two natures function without confusion, are not divided nor separate (against Nestorios), and at no time did they undergo any change (against Eutyches: Monophysites).

* Announcements *

Feast of the Holy Prophet Elias:

v Wednesday, July 18^th 2007- Lebanese Festival Opening Ceremonies at 8:30 p.m.

v Thursday, July 19^th 2007 – Great Vespers at 7:00 p.m.

v Friday, July 20^th 2007 – Matins at 8:45 a.m. & Hierarchal Divine Liturgy presided by His Grace Bishop ALEXANDER at 10:00 a.m.

v Every Saturday – Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.

v Every Sunday – Matins at 8:45 a.m. & Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

ü Registration for the 48^th Antiochian Archdiocese Convention

The 48^th Antiochian Archdiocese Convention will be hosted by St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Montreal, Quebec on July 23^rd – July 29^th. Registration forms are available in the Cathedral Office for anybody who is interested in attending.

ü Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch

On Tuesday, July 24^th during the Archdiocese Convention, the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch is holding its meeting from 11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Following the meeting, the Order is hosting a dinner beginning at 7:00 p.m. All members are invited to reserve at their earliest convenience. We are hopeful to induct at least 30 new members into the Order at this convention. Many are already confirmed at this date and because of this, a personal invitation is extended to each one of them, with their spouses, so that they may enjoy the camaraderie of the evening. The hosts for the evening (Yola & Theo Kersheh) will be calling each of these ‘confirmed to be inducted’ new members to extend a personal invitation. Any parishioners who would like to be inducted during the Convention and have not yet reserved their places for the dinner are asked to speak with Fr. Ghattas ‘ASAP’ so arrangements for your invitations can be made prior to the Convention.

ü Fellowship of St. John the Divine

Weekly Meeting every Tuesday from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. SHARP! Please be on time. A Bible Study/Religious Discussion will take place in the Church School Building (1^st Floor). Please give us your email address if you are not receiving our weekly online newsletter.

ü Festival Volunteers

The Festival starts on Wednesday, July 18th @ 4:00pm and we have started preparing the food. All hands are welcome! Monday & Tuesday & Wednesday after 10:00 a.m. We will be preparing the vegetables. Young, Old, Men & Women, we need you all!

ü Church Beautification

“Blessed are those who love the beauty of Thy House, O Lord”

Our Iconographer may unfortunately be retiring in the near future and we are looking to finish (while we still can) the empty area over the Choir Loft with a beautiful new set of icons. Some icons left for selection are:

v The Holy Hymnographers & Antiochian Saints (For Example: St. Andrew of Crete, St. Joseph of Damascus, St. Isaac the Syrian, Sts. Peter & Paul holding the Church of Antioch in their hands, Sts. Sergios & Bachos the Unmercenary Healers. OR any other Orthodox Saint you would like to honor and have depicted on the walls of our Cathedral.

If you are interested in donating any icons, please contact Fr. Ghattas in the office or speak to him after the Divine Liturgy.

+ St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral +

(2975 Riverside Drive – Ottawa)

Cathedral Office: 700 Ridgewood Ave

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1V 6N1

Telephone: (613) 738-2222, Fax: (613) 737-4392

Email: info@steliascathedral.com, Website: www.steliascathedral.com

The Rt. Rev. Bishop ALEXANDER

Bishop of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York

The Very Rev. Father Ghattas Hajal – Dean

Rev. Father Mark Arsenios Wyatt – Assistant Priest

The Very Rev. Father Daniel Matheson – Emeritus

Explanation of the Nicene Creed – Part 6

(Taken from: Orthodox Faith - Volume 1 - Doctrine)

Man – Part I

Man is God's special creature. He is the only one "created in the image and likeness of God" (Gen 1:26). He is created by God from the dust at the end of the process of creation (the "sixth day") and by the special will of God. He is made to breathe "the breath of life" (Gen 2:7), to know God, to have dominion over all that God has made. God created humans as male and female (Gen. 1:27; 2:21) in order "to be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28). Thus, according to Orthodox doctrine sexuality belongs to the creation which God calls "very good" (Gen 1:31), and in itself it is in no way sinful or perverse. It belongs to the very nature of humanity directly willed by God.

As the image of God, ruler over creation and co-creator with the Uncreated Maker, man has the task to "reflect" God in creation; to make His presence, His will and His powers spread throughout the universe; to transform all that exists into the paradise of God. In this sense man is definitely created for a destiny higher than the bodiless powers of heaven, the angels. This conviction is affirmed by Orthodox Christianity not only because of the Scriptural emphasis on man as made in God's image to rule creation, which is not said about angels; but it is also directly affirmed because it is written of Jesus Christ, Who is truly the perfect man and the Last Adam (1 Cor 15:45) that "God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10-11).

It follows from belief in Jesus that man is created for a life far superior to that of any creature, even the angels who glorify God and serve the cause of man's salvation. It is precisely this conviction which is affirmed when the Church hails Mary the Mother of Christ as "more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim." For what is glorified as already accomplished in the human Mary is precisely what is expected and hoped for by all men "who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk 11:28).

Thus we see the great dignity of man according to the Christian faith. We see man as the "most important" of God's creatures, the one for whom "all things visible and invisible" have been created by God.

It is the Orthodox doctrine that one can understand and appreciate what it means to be human only in the light of the full revelation of Jesus Christ. Being the Divine Word and Son of God in human flesh, Jesus reveals the real meaning of manhood. As the Perfect Man and the Last Adam, the "man from heaven," Jesus gives us the proper interpretation of the story of creation given in the book of Genesis. For as the Apostle Paul has written, Adam finds his significance as "the type (or figure) of the one who was to come," namely Jesus Christ (Rom 5:14).

Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man (Christ) is from heaven ... Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Cor 15:45-49).

According to Orthodox theology, to bear the image of God is to be like Christ, the uncreated Image of God, and to share in all of the spiritual attributes of divinity. It is, in the words of the holy fathers, to become by divine grace all that God Himself is by nature. If God is a free, spiritual, personal Being, so human beings, male and female, are to be the same. If God is so powerful and creative, having dominion over all creation, so human creatures, made in His image and according to His likeness, are also to exercise dominion in the world. If God exercises dominion and authority not by tyranny and oppression, but by loving kindness and service, so are His creatures to do likewise. If God Himself is love, mercy, compassion and care in all things, so must His creatures, made to be like Him, also be the same. And finally, if God lives forever in eternal life, never dying, but always existing in perfectly joyful and harmonious beauty and happiness with all of creation, so too are human beings made for everlasting life in joyful and harmonious communion with God and the whole of creation.

According to Orthodox doctrine, human being and life is never completed and finished in its development and growth because it is made in the image and according to the likeness of God. God's being and life are inexhaustible and boundless. As the Divine Archetype has no limits to His divinity, so the human image has no limits to its humanity, to what it can become by the grace of its Creator. Human nature, therefore, is created by God to grow and develop through participation in the nature of God for all eternity. Man is made to become ever more Godlike forever, even in the Kingdom of God at the end of this age, when Christ will come again in glory to raise the dead and give life to those who love Him. (To be continued next Sunday…)