+ Sunday, August 26^th 2007 +

13^th Sunday after Holy Pentecost

Tone: 4 + Eothinion: 2

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

“Let us praise the Lord, our God. He has come to the help of His people and set us free. He has provided for us a mighty Savior. Our God is merciful and tender. He shines the bright dawn of salvation on us and guides our steps into the path of peace. Lord, glory to You!”

Next Sunday’s Readings:

Epistle: II Corinthians 1:21-2:4 Holy Gospel: St. Matthew 22:2-14

+ The Epistle +

Verse: “O Lord, how magnificent are Your works.

You have made all things in Wisdom. Bless the Lord, O My Soul”.

The Reading is from the First Letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

(Chapter 16:13-24)

Brethren, be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, and be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Now, brethren, you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints; I urge you to be subject to such men and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence; for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men. The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brethren send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

+ The Holy Gospel +

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

(Chapter 21-33-42)

The Lord spoke this parable: “There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’”

* Announcements *

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 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 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 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.

ü Welcome to our New Ambassador His Excellency Mr. Massoud Maalouf

It is with great pleasure that we welcome our New Ambassador to Canada His Excellency Mr. Massoud Maalouf and his family. We wish him a pleasant and happy stay in Ottawa and a very successful service to the Lebanese Community in all Canada. We also pray for peace and unity to our Lebanese people in our beloved country Lebanon. God Bless Lebanon.

Please join us to a coffee hour and Knafibjibin immediately after the Divine Liturgy and greet His Excellency.

ü Farewell Party to Fr. Mark, Khouriyee Rola and Marina

We would like to thank Fr. Mark for his blessed ministry in our parish for the last 3 years, we all loved him and his family and never thought that he will be transferred to another Church, but there is a great need for his ministry at St. Nicholas Church. So we wish him all the best.

Next Sunday, immediately after the Divine Liturgy we invite you all to an extended coffee hour in the Cathedral Basement to say goodbye.

May the Dear Lord bless his ministry in Montreal as He blessed it here in Ottawa.

Fr. Mark, remember us in your prayer as we will always remember you.

ü An Important Message from the Church School to all Parents

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 10:00 a.m. Children will still be seated in the Church School section on the South side of the Church. Father Ghattas and Father Mark will give Communion to all the Church School children FIRST, then we will go to our Classes for one hour of teaching. This should prove satisfactory to everyone. Previously, parents were not bringing their children on time; therefore they were missing part of the lessons. This new way, everyone will be able to start at the same time and have one complete hour of teaching. Other Orthodox Churches in our Archdiocese are having Church School this way with great success. We will need your full cooperation to make this work. Bring your children preferably before the Divine Liturgy starts at 10:00 a.m. and immediately after we have received Communion we will go to our Classes.

REMEMBER: REGISTRATION WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9^th FROM 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. IN THE CHURCH SCHOOL AREA.

Yours in Christ,

Joann Nicholson, Superintendent of St. Elias Church School.

ü St. Thekla Pilgrimage – 2007

The St. Thekla Pilgrimage will be taking place this year on September 21^st – 23^rd 2007 at the Antiochian Village. This year’s topic is “Wholeness & Health in a Secular World” with presentations given by Dr. Engelhardt who specializes in Orthodox Bioethics. Registration forms are available at the Cathedral Office, which must be filled out and submitted by the end of August 2007.

ü Ottawa Serbian Festival 2007

The Serbian Orthodox Church and the Congregation of Saint Stefan in Ottawa are holding their traditional Ottawa Serbian Festival 2007 on Saturday and Sunday September 1^st and 2^nd at 3662 Albion Rd. every one is welcome!

+ 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 11

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

…the Only-Begotten Son of God… (3)

The affirmation that the Son has "come down from heaven and was incarnate" does not mean that the Son is located somewhere "up there" in the universe and then descended onto the planet earth. That He came "down from heaven" is the Biblical way of saying that the Son of God came from the totally "other" divine existence of God, outside the bounds and limits of all space and time located within the created, physical universe. In general we must remember again the symbolical character of all of our words and affirmations about God.

The affirmation that the Son came "down from heaven" also should not be interpreted in the sense that before the incarnation the Son of God was totally absent from the world. The Son was always "in the world" for the "world was made through Him" (Jn 1:10). He was always present in the world for He is personally the life and the light of man (1 Jn 4).

As "created in the image and likeness of God," every man -- just by being a man -- is already a reflection of the divine Son, who is Himself the uncreated image of God (Col 1:15 ; Heb 1:3). Thus, the Son, or Word, or Image, or Radiance of God, as He is called in Scriptures, was always "in the world" by being always present in every of his "created images," not only as their creator, but also as the one whose very being all creatures are made to share and to reflect. Thus, in his incarnation, the Son comes personally to the world and becomes Himself a man. But even before the incarnation He was always in the world by the presence and power of His creative actions in His creatures, particularly in man.

In addition to this, it is also Orthodox doctrine that the manifestation of God to the Saints of the Old Testament, the so-called Theophanies (which means divine manifestations), were manifestations of the Father, by, through and in His Son or Logos. Thus, for example, the manifestations to Moses, Elias or Isaiah are mediated by God's divine and uncreated Son.

It is the Orthodox teaching as well that the Word of God which came to the Old Testament Prophets and Saints, and the very words of the Old Testament Law of Moses, which are called in Hebrew the "words" and not as we say in English, the "commandments", are also revelations of God by His Son, the Divine Word. Thus, for example, we have Old Testamental witness to the revelation of God's Word, such as that of the Prophet Isaiah, in almost the same personalistic form as is found in the Christian gospel:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I propose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isa 55:10-11).

Thus, before His personal birth of the Virgin Mary as the man Jesus, the divine Son and Word of God was in the world by His presence and action in creation, particularly in man. He was present and active; also in the Theophanies to the Old Testament Saints; and in the words of the Law and the Prophets, both oral and scriptural.

(To be continued…)