+
11th Sunday after Holy
Pentecost
& The Sunday
after the Feast of the Transfiguration
Tone:
2 + Eothinion: 11
+ In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living
God, You offered Your life on the Cross to take away
the sins of the world. You granted forgiveness to Peter and to the harlot who
turned to You with tears. You forgave the debts of the
two debtors and also said, “him who comes to me I will
not cast out.” Lord, receive me, a sinner and hear my prayer of repentance. I
acknowledge my sins and transgressions, both voluntary
and involuntary, known and unknown. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your
Grace, to turn away from my sins, and to amend my life according to Your teachings. Forgive me and help me to walk in
righteousness, that I may praise Your Holy Name forever. Amen”
Next Sunday’s
v Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
v Holy Gospel: St. Matthew 19:16-26
+
The Epistle +
Verse: “The Lord is
my strength and my song,
The
Lord has chastened me sorely”.
The
(Chapter 9:2-12)
Brethren, you are the seal of my
apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we have
no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife,
as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to
refrain from working? Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a
vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink
of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the
law say the same also? For it is written in the law of
Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen
God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our
sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he
who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual
things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others
are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we
have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the Gospel of
Christ.
+
The Holy Gospel +
(Chapter 18:23-35)
The Lord spoke this parable: The
kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his
servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who
owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master
commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and
that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying,
‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of
that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a
hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying,
‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged
him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not,
but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his
fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and
told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called
him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you
all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on
your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and
delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So
My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not
forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Meditation:
From the Writings of
Two things therefore does God here
require, both to condemn ourselves for our sins, and to forgive others; and the
former for the sake of the latter, that this may become more easy {for he who
considers his own sins is more indulgent to his fellow servant}; and not merely
to forgive with the lips, but from the heart… Let us not then thrust the sword
into ourselves by being revengeful… For if we be willing, no
one shall be able to injure us, but even our enemies shall advantage us in the
greatest degree… We punish ourselves by hating others, even as on the
other hand we benefit ourselves by loving them.
*
Announcements *
v Dormition Fast (August 1st – 14th) No Meat, Dairy
or Fish Permitted
v Monday, August 13th – Final Paraklesis Service at
v Tuesday, August14th – Great Vespers at
v Wednesday, August 15th – Feast of the Dormition of the
Theotokos:
Ř Matins at
Ř Divine Liturgy at
v Every Saturday – Great Vespers at
v Every Sunday – Matins at
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.
ü Celebration of the Feast of the
Dormition (Wednesday, August 15)
All parishioners are invited to come
and celebrate with us the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos by attending
the Divine Liturgy on August 15th
at
On Wednesday August 15th at
ü Fellowship of
Weekly Meeting every Tuesday from
ü An Important Message from the
To enable the children and teachers to
attend the Divine Liturgy from the beginning, we will be having Church School
Classes immediately following Communion. Parents should bring their children to
Church for
REMEMBER :
REGISTRATION WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th FROM
Yours in Christ,
Joann Nicholson, Superintendent of St.
Elias Church School.
ü Thank You!
Thank God this year we had
a wonderful Lebanese Fun Festival! The food was delicious, the entertainment
was great, and the organization was excellent. On behalf of the Parish Council
and all of the Parishioners, a big thank you is given to George Hanna &
Yolanda Hanna Co-Chairs of the Festival & all of this year’s volunteers.
God bless you all!
ü Concerning the New Divine Liturgy
Service Books
Please
remember that the new Bilingual Divine Liturgy Service Books were generously
donated and are in the Church for your spiritual benefit. Please take care of them.
They are not toys for young children, but are for reading and following better
during the Divine Liturgy. Also, for anybody who would like to obtain their own
copy to take home, please do not take the copies that are in the Church, there
are plenty of copies available in our Cathedral Book Store and can be purchased
after the Divine Liturgy.
+ St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral +
(
Cathedral Office:
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
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 9
(Taken from:
Orthodox Faith - Volume 1 - Doctrine)
…the Only-Begotten Son of God… (1)
Jesus is one with God as His
only-begotten Son. This is the Gospel proclamation formulated by the Holy
Fathers of the Nicene Council in the following way: “... and in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages:
Light of Light. True God of True God. Begotten not
made. Of one essence with the Father. Through whom all
things were made ...” These lines speak about the Son of God, also called the
Word or Logos of God, before his birth in human flesh from the Virgin Mary in
There is but one eternal Son of God.
He is called the Only-begotten, which means the only one born of God the
Father. Begotten as a word simply means born or generated.
The Son of God is born from the Father
"before all ages"; that is, before creation, before the commencement
of time. Time has its beginning in creation. God exists before time, in an
eternally timeless existence without beginning or end.
Eternity as a word does not mean
endless time. It means the condition of no time at all -- no past or future,
just a constant present. For God there is no past or future. For God, all is
now.
In the eternal "now" of God,
before the creation of the world, God the Father gave birth to his
only-begotten Son in what can only be termed an eternal, timeless, always
presently-existing generation. This means that although the Son is
"begotten of the Father" and comes forth from the Father, His coming forth
is eternal. Thus, there never was a "time" when there was no Son of
God. This is specifically what the heretic Arius taught. It is the doctrine
formally condemned by the first Ecumenical Council.
Although born of the Father and having
His origin in Him, the only-begotten Son always existed, or rather more
accurately always "exists" as uncreated, eternal and divine. Thus,
the Gospel of St. John says: In the beginning was the Word [the Logos-Son], and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn 1:1).
As the eternally-born of God and always existing with the Father in the
"timeless generation," the Son is truly "Light of Light, True
God of True God." For God is Light and what is born of Him must be Light.
And God is True God, and what is born of Him must be True God.
We know from the created order of
things that what is born must be essentially the same as what gives birth. If
one comes from the very being of another, one must be the very same thing. He
cannot be essentially different. Thus, men give birth to men, and birds to
birds, fish to fish, flowers to flowers.
If God, then, in the super-abundant
fullness and perfection of His divine being gives birth to a Son, the Son must
be the same as the Father in all things -- except, of course, in the fact of
his being the Son.
Thus, if the Father is divinely and
eternally perfect, true, wise, good, loving, and all of the things that we know
God is: "ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, ever-existing and eternally
the same" (to quote this text of the Liturgy once more), then the Son must
be all of these things as well. To think that what is born of God must be less
than God, says one saint of the Church, is to dishonor
to God.
The Son is "begotten not made, of
one essence with the Father." "Begotten not made" may also be
put "born and not created." Everything which exists besides God is
created by Him: all things visible and invisible. But the Son of God is not a
creature. He was not created by God or made by Him. He was born, begotten,
generated from the very being and nature of the Father. It belongs to the very
nature of God-to God as God -- according to divine revelation as understood by
the Orthodox, that God is an eternal Father by nature, and that He should
always have with Him his eternal, uncreated Son.
It belongs to the very nature of God
that He should be such a being if He is truly and perfectly divine. It belongs
to God's very divine nature that He should not be eternally alone in his
divinity, but that His very being as Love and Goodness should naturally
"overflow itself" and "reproduce itself" in the generation
of a divine Son: the "Son of His Love" as the Apostle Paul has called
him (Col 1:13, inaccurately translated in English).
Thus, there is an abyss drawn between
the created and the uncreated, between God and everything else which God has
made out of nothing. The Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, is not
created. He was not made out of nothing. He was eternally begotten from the
divine being of the Father. He belongs "on the side of God." (To be
continued…)