Chronicle of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church
Diocesan Bishop - His Grace Bishop Dr. MITROPHAN
Parish Priest - Fr. Rodney Torbic
296 Old Route 21
Carmichaels, Pennsylvania 15320
March 9 / March 22, 2009
Third Sunday of Great Lent
No. 531
Remember to listen to the parish radio broadcast each Sunday afternoon at 12:15
on WMBS, 590 AM, Uniontown.
I Corinthians 16:13-14
Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.
Recent Services
- March 13
- Midnight Office, First Hour and Third Hour were read.
- Seven people came for the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts. Six communicants.
- Great Compline was read.
- March 14
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
- Two people were present for reading of the Akathist to the Mother of God the Healer.
- Six people were present for Vespers.
- March 15
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
- Third and Sixth Hours were read before the Divine Liturgy.
- Thirty-six people were present for the Divine Liturgy. Eleven communicants.
- March 16
- Great Compline was read.
- March 17
- Midnight Office, First and Thirds Hours were read.
- Three people came for the Akathist to the Holy Spirit
and Akathist to the Mother of God the Healer
- March 18
- Midnight Office, First and Third Hours were read.
- Four people came for Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts. Three communicants.
- Ninth Hour was read.
- March 19
- Midnight Office, First and Third Hours were read.
Services This Coming Week - Always Call to Confirm Weekday Schedule
- Today
- Midnight Office, Matins, First Hour. Third and Sixth Hours before Divine Liturgy.
- Mornings
- 5:30 AM on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday.
- Afternoons
- 4:00 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday.
- Tuesday
- 6:30 PM followed by Adult Class
- Wednesday
- 8:00 AM - Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts.
Remember Monastery Marcha with Prayers and Contributions
Important Dates
March 22 - Vespers Third Sunday of Great Lent at 5:30 PM St.George Church, Midland.
March 29 - Vespers Fourth Sunday of Great Lent at 5:30 PM Holy Resurrection Church,
Steubenville
April 3 - Second Vigil Service at 6:00 PM St. Elijah Church, Aliquippa.
April 5 - Vespers Fifth Sunday of Great Lent at 5:30 PM St. George Church, Carmichaels.
April 11 - Lazarus Saturday
April 12 - Vespers Palm Sunday at 5:30 PM Holy Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh
April 13 - Great and Holy Monday
April 14 - Great and Holy Tuesday
April 15 - Holy Unction at 7:00 PM Holy Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh.
April 16 - Great and Holy Thursday
April 17 - Great and Holy Friday
April 18 - Great and Holy Saturday.
If you are too busy to pray...you are too busy!
Remember the Suffering Serbian People in Kosovo and Metohija
Parish Life
- · Eight children were in the church school class last Sunday. Five were visitors.
- · Mitzie Hunchuck is teaching the class of young children each Sunday.
- · Dianna Brozich and Anna Mae Knezevich normally help when the Kolo bakes.
- · Sonia Janson, Mildred Bezjak and David Rudovsky attend the Adult Class
on Tuesdays. This past week the Gospels for the Second Sunday of Great
Lent were discussed.
- · Mike "Mac" Rogish will be honored at Dolfi's. on April 25 for his hundredth
birthday Parishioners are invited and must respond to his family by April 11.
- · Remember the sick, the suffering, the imprisoned, those in rehab centers,
the homebound, the mentally ill , their caretakers and the institution staffs.
- · Remember the men and women serving in the military and their families.
- · Remember the workers in mines, law-enforcement, corrections, probation and
parole and firefighters, all working in dangerous occupations.
- · Every believer is a missionary for the Church.
- · Learn the calendar of the Church and use it to structure your daily life.
- · If you have a question about the Divine services or other questions ask
Father Rodney and come to the Adult Classes.
- · Honor the Fast until the Paschal Divine Liturgy.
- · Every believer able should come to Holy Confession and Holy Communion during Lent.
A Thought from Father Damascene
The imminent threat of our monasteries being devoured in flames gave us a deeper sense of
our dependence on God; on the intercessions of the Most Holy Virgin; on the prayers of the
monasteries' heavenly benefactors, St. Herman of Alaska, St. John of Shanghai and San
Francisco, and the righteous Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina; as well as on the prayers of
all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
(The Orthodox Word
, May June 2008.
)
Remember the Students at St. Sava School of Theology, Libertyville, Illinois
To Consider
· The Cross in mid-Lent.
· The Cross in the center of the Church.
· The Cross in our hearts and minds.
Recent Activities of Parish Priest
March 13 - Went to Diocesan Center.
March 14 - Went to Morgantown, W.Va for printing purposes.
March 14 - Met with two Orthodox Christians.
March 15 - Went to St. Elijah Church in Aliquippa for Vespers.
March 16 - Went to UPMC, Presby Hospital in Pittsburgh while parishioner had surgery.
March 17 - Took friends of parish to local hospital in Johnstown.
Stopped to visit at St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church.
From the Wisdom of Sirach
48:1
Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
Third Sunday of Great Lent
Veneration of the Holy Cross
Mark 8:34-38, 9:1
And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them,
"Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for
My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if
he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous
and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the
glory of His Father with the holy angels'. And He said unto them, "Verily I say unto you,
that there will be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death,
till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
Matthew 20:1-16
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day,
he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing
idle in the market place, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is
right I will give you.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,
and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle,
and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because
no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you
will receive.' So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward,
'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.
And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denaurius.
But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise
received each a denaurius. And when they had received it, they complained against the
landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to
us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.' But he answered one of them and said,
'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denaurius? Take what is
yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful
for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?' So the
last will be first, and the first last.. For many are called, but few chosen.
Mid-Lent has arrived. The Cross of Christ sits in the middle of the Church as a visible
and formidable reminder. The Cross is an instrument of death. The Cross is an instrument of
victory.
The Cross revealed Christ's divinity. The Cross brought death to Christ's humanity.
The Cross was necessary as a predecessor to the Resurrection. The pain of the Cross was
replaced by Resurrection joy.
Mid-Lent is the time to assess our Lenten efforts. It is time to make the necessary
changes in personal practices for this to be the best Great Lent we have experienced.
The Forty Martys of Sebaste being commemorated today serve as inspirational examples
for believers in every century. The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste honored the Cross of Christ
the way they lived and died.
St. Demetrius of Rostov said of the Martyrs of Sebaste who refused to sacrifice to idols:
"They believed in the one God, confessed His Son Christ, refused to deny the Holy Spirit,
and were glorified by the life-creating Trinity. Their Passion is a memorial and guide to
salvation for all..." 1
Contemporary believers do well to assess the degree of personal willingness to suffer
for Christ. Contemporary believers do well to assess the degree of personal willingness to
confess Christ in the face of peril.
In America, freedom of worship exists. In other countries in the present and in the past,
freedom of worship has not available to everyone. Christians in certain areas today put their
lives at risk in order to worship.
We who have freedom to worship should treat this freedom with great respect. We should
make full use of freedom to worship for personal benefit and in prayer for those whose ability
to worship is limited and in peril.
Parish churches are to be used by believers throughout the year. Parish churches are to
be used for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, for all the Divine services and the Holy
Mysteries of the Church.
Believers benefit by making use of the parish church particularly during Great Lent.
Great Lent is the time for repentance when a concerted effort for the salvation of the soul
is expected.
Believers benefit by coming to the parish church throughout the year including weekdays
to pray for beloved family members and friends facing illness, personal crisis or having
departed this life.
The parish church is present in the community for believers to come to pray to God
at all times. Believers should not be hesitant in turning to the Church in prayer.
Each experience in the Church is intended to be a growth experience. Believers are
expected to repent of sins. Believers are expected to learn for the benefit of the soul.
Believers are expected to pray and glorify God.
Great Lent gives believers the opportunity to examine progress made, sins committed
and changes in life that are necessary. Opening the heart, mind and soul to Christ
completely is essential in Great Lent.
1Saint Demetrius of Rostov.
The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints. Vol.7
Translated by Father Thomas Marretta. Chrysostom Press, House Springs,
Missouri, 2008, pp. 144-152
St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.
March 9 / March 22, 2009
Third Sunday of Great Lent.
Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
Fr. Rodney Torbic
Back to St. George Serbian Orthodox Church,
Carmichaels - Home Page