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On Tuesday, January 17th we will be celebrating the on Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Venerable and God-bearing Father Saint Anthony the Great.  Saint Anthony lived in the third century and is called the father of monasticism.   Saint Anthony wanting to follow the command of Christ " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." (Mat. 19:21) sold the family estate and went to live in the desert.   More information about St. Anthony can be found in The Life of St. Anthony by Athanasius and in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. 

 Apolytikion of Saint Anthony 

 On Friday we celebrated the feast of Theophany which commemorates the Lord was

 baptised in the River Jourdan. On Thursday we prepared to celebrate the feast of Theophany with Royal Hours, vespers and liturgy followed by the great blessing of the waters. 

"Baptism is the symbol of death and resurrection; Christ came to the earth in order to die and be raised. Baptism is a symbol of repentance of sin and its forgiveness; Christ came as the

 Dear friends,

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

We had a glorious celebration of the Nativity of our Lord this past weekend! I hope your holiday was filled with joy. One of the highlights for us was the celebration of our patron, St. Stephen the Protomartyr yesterday. We had over 30 faithful gathered for a week day Divine Liturgy and after the Liturgy we enjoyed a delicious feast at Toojays. The Feast of Nativity continues so there is no fasting until the Eve of Theophany on January 5th. It is amazing to think that 2012 is just around the corner. I always like to set some goals for the coming year, and this year, I am using Fr. Thomas Hopko's 55 Maxims for Christian Living as a guide. One of my goals is to read through the Gospels in January using this plan. Did you know it takes an average of 3 minutes and 45 seconds per day to read the entire New Testament in a year? There are a few suggestions for you. What are your goals for 2012? 

- We will host a concert at the Church on January 8th. Sofya Dudaeva will play classical music on the flute. Local charity group CTG will provide drinks and appetizers. There will be a free will donation and all proceeds will go to the Ephraim Project, a ministry to the homeless in Orlando. The flyer is attached. Please come and invite your friends.

- We have been encouraged by our Diocesan leaders to start serving Vespers on Wednesday night. Many healthy parishes in our Diocese have seen benefit from their midweek Vespers service. The first midweek Vespers at St. Stephens will be January 11 and it will be followed by a full Panikhida for the departed priests who have served St. Stephens. Fr. Peter and Fr. Lawrence departed this life just over a year ago and we will also include Fr. Slava who served our Russian community.  

- The Akathist to St. Xenia of Petersburg is a good prayer for those who are looking for work.   

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

--From Fr. David's Parish Email

 Tomorrow morning we will celebrate our patron saint,  Saint Stephen the Protomartyr.  Saint Stephen’s story is beautifully told in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.  St. Stephen was the first recorded martyr which is where the name “Protomartyr” or first martyr comes from.  He was also among the first deacons.   He was martyred while preaching the Lord Jesus and was granted a vision of heaven during his martyrdom.  Echoing the words of Jesus he prayed for those who killed him. “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:59-60)

O First Martyr and Apostle Of Christ,

Thou hadst fought the good fight.

And didst expose the perversion of the persecutors,

For when thou wast killed by stoning at the hands of wicked men,

Thou didst receive a crown from the right hand on high,

And didst cry out to God saying,

"O Lord do not charge this sin against them!" --Troparion Tone 4 

 On Tuesday December 6 we will be having a Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Bishop of Myra.  St. Nicholas was known for his generosity and many miracles.  He was Archbishop of Myra in the 4^th century.  He was imprisoned during the persecutions of Diocletian and may have attended the Council of Nicaea.  He is the patron saint of many countries including Greece and Russia and many professions especially those having to do with ships.

Attached is a flyer with the Hymns of the Feast of St. Nicholas and some more information about his life and how to celebrate. 

Attachments:

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St Nicholas flyer		33 Kb

She was born in Rome of noble parents, and was left an orphan at the age of three. As an orphan, she was taken to a convent near Rome where the abbess was Sophia, a nun of the highest level of perfection. After seventeen years, Anastasia was well known-among the Christians as a great ascetic, and among the pagans as a rare beauty.

Read more: Venerable Martyr Anastasia the Roman - Celebrated Oct. 29

 James is called the Lord's brother because he was the son of the righteous Joseph, the betrothed of the Most-holy Theotokos. When the righteous Joseph was near death, he divided his estate among his sons, and wanted to leave a portion to the Lord Jesus, the son of the Most-holy Virgin, but all the other brothers opposed this, not regarding Jesus as their brother. James greatly loved Jesus and declared that he would include Jesus in his share. That is why he is called the Lord's brother.

Read more: Holy Apostle James, Brother of the Lord

When you come to venerate the cross after the Divine Liturgy, I always greet you by saying, “Christ is in our midst!” and you respond with, “He is and ever shall be!” For many Orthodox Christians this greeting is as common as saying, “Hello. How are you?” It is one way for us to remember and celebrate the presence of God in our lives. For those of you who are learning the greeting for the first time or teaching it to your children, I offer the following thoughts:

Read more: Christ is in Our Midst!