+ Sunday, September 16, 2007 +

Sunday After the Elevation of the Holy Cross

Tone: 7 + Eothinion: 5

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

“We worship untiringly Thy quickening Cross, O Christ God, and glorify Thy third-day Resurrection; for by it, O Almighty, Thou hast renewed the corrupt nature of mankind, and made plain to us the ascent to heaven; for Thou alone art good and the Lover of mankind.”

Next Sunday’s Readings:

Epistle: Galatians (4:22-27) Holy Gospel: St. Luke (5:1-11)

THE EPISTLE

O Lord, how manifold are Thy works. In wisdom hast Thou made them all.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians

(Chapter 2:16-20)

Brethren, you know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the Law died to the Law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

+ The Holy Gospel +

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

Chapter (8:34-9:1)

The Lord said, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and loses his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” And He said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power.”

Meditation: “St. John Chrysostom on the Cross”

St. John Chrysostom wrote the following concerning the Cross of Jesus Christ:

“The Cross has dissolved hatred towards man, has brought reconciliation, has made the earth heaven, has mingled men with the angels, has conquered the bastian of death, has neutralized the strength of the devil, has dismissed the power of sin, has rid the earth of error, has restored the truth, has driven away the demons, has torn down pagan temples, has upset sacrificial altars, has dispelled the smell of burnt offerings, has planted virtue, has founded Churches. The Cross is the will of the Father, the glory of the Son, the joy of the Holy Spirit, the pride of St. Paul. The Cross is brighter than the sun and more illuminating than its ray. The Cross has torn our bond, has rendered useless the prison of death. The Cross is proof of the love of God, the unshaken wall, the unconquered weapon, the security of the rich, the richness of the poor, the weapon of the threatened, the rebuke of the passions, the kingdom of virtue, the wonderful and strange sign. The Cross has opened paradise, has admitted the thief, and has guided the human race from impending disaster to the Kingdom of God.”

* 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.

SEPTEMBER is the month of the Fellowship of St. John the Divine. If you are interested in joining this organization please contact the cathedral office. The Fellowship is comprised of parishioners 20 years of age and up. We have weekly religious discussions/bible studies and we also organize humanitarian events and social gatherings. We hope you will join us!

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 Cathedral Bookstore

The Cathedral Bookstore was established in order to provide our parishioners with resources that will help educate and nurture their spiritual health. There are numerous books that should be read by everyone. We should not ignore 2000 years of Holy Wisdom, which has been passed down to us from generation to generation. If you have any specific book you are looking for, we will do our best to get it for you. If you have any questions please speak to Sub-Deacon George after the Divine Liturgy in the bookstore.

Aita Al-Fokhar & Ain Arab Society

Dear parishioners of St. Elias Cathedral

Aita El-Fokhar and Ain Arab Society would like to invite you to attend The Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross (Eid El Salib) annual party that will take place on Sunday September 23^rd, 2007 at 7:00 pm at St. Elias Banquet Centre on Ridgewood Ave. in Ottawa. The event will be attended by the ambassador of Lebanon H.E. Mr. Massoud Maalouf

The proceeds of this party will be fully donated to the families of the Lebanese Army martyrs killed during their battle against terrorists in Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp.

The fund-raising event features videos produced by the Lebanese Army Directorate of Orientation as well as live entertainment with singer Chadi Naddaf and his musical band to celebrate the Lebanese Army victory.

The Society is asking for your support to make this event successful. Ticket price is $50 per person which includes full dinner. Tables are 10 persons each.

For tickets information:

Fadi Lteif at 613-295-4045

Elie Gharib at 613-698-9888

George Hanna at 613-299-4000

Nada Ayoub at 613-286-6232

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you there.

Fadi Lteif

President

Explanation of the Nicene Creed – Part 14

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

…Incarnation… (3)

The Nestorian Controversy

In the fifth century a long and difficult controversy developed over the true understanding of the person and nature of Jesus Christ. The third ecumenical council in Ephesus in 431, following the teaching of St. Cyril of Alexandria, was most concerned to defend the fact that the One who was born of the Virgin Mary was no one other than the divine Son of God in human flesh. It was necessary to defend this fact most explicitly because some in the Church, following Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople, were teaching that the Virgin Mary should not be called Theotokos -- a term already used in the Church's theology -- because it was claimed that the Virgin gave birth to the man Jesus whom the Son of God had become in the incarnation, and not to the Son Himself. In this view it was held that there is a division between the Son of God born in eternity from God the Father and the Son of Man born from the Virgin in Bethlehem; and that although there is certainly a real "connection" between them, Mary merely gave birth to the man. As such, it was held, Mary could be called Theotokos only by some sort of symbolic and overly-pious stretching of the word, but that it is rather dogmatically accurate to call her Christotokos (the one who gave birth to the Messiah) or Anthropotokos (the one who gave birth to the Man that the Son of God has become in the incarnation).
St. Cyril of Alexandria and the fathers of the council in Ephesus rejected the Nestorian doctrine and claimed that the term Theotokos for the Virgin Mary is completely and totally accurate and must be retained if the Christian faith is to be properly confessed and the Christian life properly lived. The term must be defended because there can be no division of any sort between the eternal Son and Word of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, and Jesus Christ, the Son of Mary. Mary's child is the eternal and divine Son of God. He -- and no one else -- was born of her as a child. He -- and no one else -- was incarnate in human flesh from her. He -- and no one else -- became man in the manger in Bethlehem. There can be no "connection" or "conjunction" between God's Son and Mary's Son because they are in fact one and the same person. God's Son was born of Mary. God's Son is divine; He is God. Therefore, Mary gave birth to God in the flesh, to God as a man. Therefore, Mary is truly Theotokos. The battle cry of St. Cyril and the Council in Ephesus was just this: The Son of God and the Son of Man -- one Son!
The Council of Chalcedon

This teaching about Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, was further elaborated and explained by the definition of the fourth ecumenical council in Chalcedon in 451. This was necessary because there was a tendency to stress the divine nature of Christ to such an extent that His true human nature was underplayed to the point almost of being rejected. At the fourth council the well-known formulation was made which says that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son and Word of God is one person (or hypostasis) having two full and complete natures: human and divine. Inspired particularly by the letter of Saint Leo, the Pope of Rome, the fourth council insisted that Jesus is exactly what God the Father is in relation to His divinity. This was a direct reference to the Nicene Creed which claims that the Son of God is "of one essence with the Father," which simply means that what God the Father is, the Son is also: Light from Light, True God from True God. And the council insisted as well that in the incarnation the Son of God became exactly what all human beings are, confessing that Jesus Christ is also "of one essence" with all human beings in respect to His humanity. This doctrine was and is defended as teaching nothing other than the apostolic faith as recorded in the Gospels and the New Testament writings, for example, those of the Apostle Paul:

... though He was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not count equality with God a thing to be clung to, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant, being found in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:6-8; See also Heb 1-2, Jn 1).

(To be continued…)

In Honour of

Fr. Mark Arsenios, Khouriyee Rola & Baby Marina

Monday, September 24, 2007 @ 6:00P.M.

Tickets $10.00 Each in the Bookstore

TEEN SOYO

If you are 13-19 years old and a member of this parish you are eligible to be a member of Teen SOYO. Our weekly “Teen Night” is held every Friday at 7:00p.m. – 9:00p.m. Our meetings are held in the Cathedral Hall (basement) or in the Church School building. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU EVERY FRIDAY!

Remember that the church is the house of God and behave accordingly. Please enter with respect and reverence. You are kindly asked to wear appropriate modest dress. Entering the church, please refrain from talking and greeting friends. Please switch off mobile phones. Children should be watched by their parents during the service and not allowed to be noisy.

During the service try not to move around without need. Movement is discouraged during certain parts of the service (such as during the reading of the Gospel; the great entrance; the Creed; and especially during the Eucharistic Canon.) At these solemn moments one should not enter or exit the church, fix candles, etc. It is best to buy and put candles at the beginning of the service and the rest of the time to pray without distraction. Even if you do not know the order of the service, try to follow the reading and singing. Please feel free to ask questions later. For making the sign of the cross and bowing, see what others are doing.

Everybody is welcome to attend the services. However, only Orthodox Christians, duly prepared, can receive Holy Communion. For confession, please come early before the Divine Liturgy.

Arriving late for the Divine Liturgy is not acceptable. Those who would like to receive Holy Communion should be at Liturgy before it begins and after it has concluded. Nobody would arrive at somebody’s home late for dinner and leave immediately after eating. The Divine Liturgy is a Banquet where we are all invited to sit at the Lord’s Table and eat His Holy Body and drink His Precious Blood. At the end of the service, please depart quietly. You are kindly asked to refrain from talking at the time when people are venerating the cross and the final prayers are being said. Please go downstairs if you wish to share a cup of coffee usually offered after the Divine Liturgy.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to speak to Fr. Ghattas following the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral Hall.

Behavior in the Church

+ 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

The Very Rev. Father Daniel Matheson – Emeritus

The Exaltation of the Cross

Prayer

Let us make glad today in honor of the Feast of the Holy Cross.

Let us with joyful faces and strong voices sing to the Lord!

O Christ, for us You accepted condemnation, being spat upon and scourged;

You were wrapped in a purple robe and were raised up on the Cross.

Seeing You, the sun and the moon hid their light, the earth quaked in fear,

and the veil of the Temple was torn in two.

Today the Cross is glorified and the devils are put to flight;

today the whole creation is freed from corruption: for through the Cross

every gift of grace shines upon us.

Therefore, we all worship you, rejoicing, O Christ,

and say: How marvelous are Your works! Lord, glory to You!

Come, all you nations, and let us venerate the blessed wood of the Cross,

through which eternal righteousness has come.

For Satan who by the fruit of a tree deceived our forefather Adam

is by the tree of the Cross caught…and overthrown in a headlong fall.

The poison of the serpent is washed away by the Blood of God, and the just curse against us is destroyed through the unjust condemnation of the Righteous One.

The consequences of the tree of paradise are healed by the blessings

of the tree of the Cross; and the corruptive passions of humanity justly condemned

are cleansed by the passion of the Sinless One. Glory to You, Christ our King,

for Your awesome plan of redemption for us,

by which You have saved us all, for You are good and merciful!