SS.

kosmas & damianos Orthodox Church (goa)

703 W. Center Street, Rochester, MN (507) 282-1529 http://www.rochesterorthodoxchurch.org
office@rochesterorthodoxchurch.org Rev. Fr. Mark Muoz, Proistamenos
/APOLYTIKIA FOR TODAY

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, , ,
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The joyful news of your resurrection was told to the women
disciples of the Lord by the angel. And throwing off the
ancestral curse, they boastingly told the Apostles: death has
been vanquished, Christ our God is risen, bestowing great
mercy on the world.
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Mid-way in the feast, refresh my thirsty soul with the flowing
waters of piety. For You cried out to all, O Savior, "Let him
who thirsts come to me and drink." You, O Christ our God, are the Fountain of Life, glory to You.
/KONTAKION FOR TODAY

, , ,
, , ,
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Though You went down into the tomb, You destroyed Hades' power, and You rose the victor, Christ God,
saying to the myrrh-bearing women, "Rejoice!" and granting peace to Your disciples, You who raise up
the fallen.

Sunday of the Samaritan woman

Isidore the Martyr of Chios, Holy Hieromartyr Therapontus, Holy New Martyrs Mark and John,
Serapion the Holy Martyr, Leontius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
May 14th, 2017
 Todays scripture readings
Epistle reading
Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30
Prokeimenon. Mode 4.
Psalm 103.24,1
O Lord, how manifold are your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.

IN THOSE DAYS, those apostles who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen
traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there
were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also,
preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed
turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to
Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain
faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
And a large company was added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he
had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large
company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. Now in these
days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and
foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days
of Claudius. And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the
brethren who lived in Judea, and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Gospel pericope
John 4:5-42

At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the
well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give
me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him,
"How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me
a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him,
"Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you
greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his
cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the
water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of
water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst,
nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered
him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have
had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly." The woman
said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say
that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour
is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship
what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is
coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the
Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he
will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do
you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the
city and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?"
They went out of the city and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying "Rabbi,
eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one
another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent
me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I
tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives
wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the
saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor;
others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." Many
Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's
testimony. "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans
came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there
two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said
to the woman, "It is no longer because of your words that we believe,
for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ
the Savior of the world."
 Announcements
Liturgical/Program Schedule:
TODAY: Spring General Assembly during Fellowship Hour
Wed. May 17th: Parish Council Meeting, 6:30pm

Congratulations: to Richard and Tia Uytdewilligen on the baptism of their son, Callum George,
yesterday at Holy Anargyroi! Proud Godparents are Andy and Amy Franqueira. NA SAS ZISEI!

Church School Family Picnic: all families are invited to join us after the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, May
21st at Oxbow Park for our annual end of the academic year picnic. Please bring a dish to share,
beverage and your favorite lawn game! Water balloons are encouraged!

HOW TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNIONOnly Orthodox Christians in good standing are encouraged to receive Holy
Communion frequently, provided they have prepared themselves spiritually, mentally and physically. They must be on time for the
Divine Liturgy, and be in a Christ-like, humble state of mind. They should be in a confession relationship with their priest or spiritual
father, have observed the fasts of the Church, and they should have self-examined their conscience. On the day of receiving Holy
Communion, it is not proper to eat or drink anything before coming to church. When you approach to receive Holy Communion,
state your Christian (baptismal) name clearly, and hold the red communion cloth to your chin. After receiving, wipe your lips on the
cloth, step back carefully, hand the cloth to the next person and make the sign of the Cross as you step away. Please do not be
in a rush while communing! Please take special care not to bump the Holy Chalice.

ETIQUETTE REMINDER:
For this holy house and for those who enter it with faith, reverence, and the fear of God, let us pray to
the Lord.

The summer months will soon be upon us and that means enjoying warm weather and fun in the sun. While shorts (for males
& females), capris, leggings, flip-flops, tank tops, spaghetti straps, short skirts well above the knees, etc. are practical and
may be acceptable at the pool or the lake front they are not appropriate attire at church, and must not be worn during the Divine
Services of the Church. At every Eucharistic celebration we are spiritually and physically brought in the awesome presence of
Jesus Christ Himself, and when we commune He comes to dwell within us in a miraculous way. Therefore the sanctity,
solemnity, and dignity of the Divine Liturgy must be preserved for the wellbeing of all. ******Parents, your assistance and
guidance are most especially helpful and appreciated.******

Gems From the Desert

"We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be
true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has
received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive
these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our
salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer
set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that
incarnated Jesus" (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]). St. Justin Martyr
 Memorial Day Commemorations
In the United States Memorial Day was originally and specifically dedicated to remembering those
military men and women who fell in service to their country, as opposed to a general commemoration
of all loved ones. In addition we as Orthodox Christians should defer, and give priority to, the liturgical
calendar of the Church for commemorating our departed loved ones (i.e. the four Saturday of Souls
commemorations) thereby uniting our prayers with the Church at large through the offering of the
Divine Liturgy. Notwithstanding, it has now become tradition to remember all departed loved ones on
this day. We will gather Monday, May 29th-9am, in Austin and 10:00am at Oakwood Cemetery to chant
the Trisagion Service for our departed loved ones. Please bring a list of your family members (baptismal
first names only). You may include those departed relatives who are not laid to rest at Oakwood in your
lists.
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Todays liturgical commemorations

1. THE HOLY MARTYR ISIDORE: During the reign of Decius, Isidore was drafted by force from the island of
Chios into military service. From childhood, Isidore adhered to the Faith of Christ and spent his entire life in fasting,
prayer and good works. But when in the army Isidore declared himself a Christian, the commander seized him,
required of him an answer and counseled him to deny Christ and offer sacrifices to the idols. The saint replied:
"Even if you kill my body, you have no authority over my soul. I possess the True, Living God, Jesus Christ Who
now lives in me and after my death, He will be with me and I am in Him and will remain in Him and I will never
cease to confess His Holy Name as long as my soul is in my body." First, the commander ordered that Isidore be
whipped with oxen tails and after that they cut out his tongue. Even without his tongue, Isidore, by the Spirit of God,
spoke and confessed the Name of Christ. Meanwhile, the punishment of God came upon the commander and he,
suddenly, became mute. Finally, the mute commander gave the sign to behead Isidore. Isidore was elated at this
sentence and after praising God went to the scaffold where he was beheaded in the year 251 A.D. His companion,
Ammon buried his body and following that also suffered and received the martyr's wreath.

2. THE VENERABLE SERAPION, THE SINDONITE: Sindon means "linen cloth" in which the bodies of the
dead were wrapped. Serapion was called the Sindonite because he covered his naked body with a single linen cloth.
He carried a Book of the Gospels in his hand. Serapion lived like a bird without a roof and without any worries
moving from place to place. He gave his sindon to a needy person who was shivering from the frost and remained
completely naked. When someone asked him: "Serapion, who uncovered you?" He pointed to the Holy Gospels and
said: "This!" After that he even gave the Book of the Gospels away as a ransom for a man in debt whose lender was
threatening him with prison for this debt. Once in Athens, he did not eat anything for four days because he had
nothing available and began to cry out from hunger. When the Athenian philosophers asked him why he was crying
out so, Serapion replied: "I was indebted to three; two of which I have satisfied but the third one is still tormenting
me. The first lender is carnal lust which tormented me from my youth; the second lender is avarice and the third
lender is the stomach. Those two have left me, but the third one still torments me." The philosophers gave him a
gold coin to purchase bread. He went to a baker, purchased only one loaf of bread, left the gold coin and departed. In
his old age, he presented himself peacefully to the Lord in the fifth century.
 Personal Integrity and the Closed
Chalice

by Fr. Steven C. Salaris, M.Div., Ph.D.

One of the most difficult and sensitive areas that our clergy must

deal with when non-Orthodox attend the Divine Liturgy is the

"closed chalice." This refers to the teaching and practice of the

Orthodox Church worldwide that only Orthodox Christians may partake of the Eucharist (or any sacrament for that matter) at our

worship services. It is a simple concept, but one that seems to cause a lot of strife. There are two basic reasons for this: 1) Visitors

from Protestant denominations are often used to open chalices where anyone is allowed to come to Communion. This author has

observed a Protestant chapel service where the pastor stated that Jesus gave his Body and Blood not to a denomination, but to his

disciples. Thus, anyone who felt called to the chalice was welcomed. You could be a Mormon, Catholic, Protestant, etc. and still

come to communion at this Protestant chapel. 2) The Roman Catholic Church (Latins, Melkites, and Maronites) teaches that in

situation where no Roman Catholic Church is present (unheard of in this country) and/or in cases of extreme and dire emergency

where no Roman Catholic priest is available (again, not likely in this country) one can seek out the Orthodox sacraments if they

feel it is absolutely necessary. This has led to the misconception amongst the Roman Catholics that one can commune from the

Orthodox chalice anytime they visit an Orthodox Christian Church. Lets quickly remind ourselves why these examples are

incorrect and then elaborate a unique approach to explaining our closed chalice to the non-Orthodox.

Eucharistic communion is an act of theological and ecclesiological union. Many bishops and priests that have written on this

subject and the various authors all say the same thing: Eucharistic communion is not the path to, but the fruit of, of the Orthodox

Churchs ecumenical work. For two church bodies to commune together means that we can look at each other and say, in all

aspects, "We are one." However, in todays world, churches are divided along various theological and ecclesiological issues and

we Orthodox do not simply "put aside our differences" for the sake of table fellowship with other Christians. Time and time

again, people respond to the notion of the closed chalice by saying, "What does it matter, as long as you believe in Jesus?" It is a

valid question. Orthodox Christians believe that Jesus is the incarnate Word of God who was crucified and resurrected on the
third day. We believe that Jesus is fully human and fully divine without mixture, confusion, separation, or division (Fourth

Ecumenical Council). We believe that the empty tomb signifies for us that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. No argument

there, right? Now, imagine a visitor comes to one of our parishes. He comes from a church that is not Orthodox. Lets imagine

that he believes Jesus was an incarnate created being an angel lets say and that he was not resurrected, but reincarnated! He
does not believe in the divinity of Christ and he does not believe in the resurrection. Not very Orthodox is it? Yet, this

individual approaches the chalice and wants to receive communion; after all, "What does it matter, as long as you believe in

Jesus?"

Just prior to the reception of communion, the Church recites the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. We verbally confess our

Orthodox belief in "one Lord Jesus Christtrue God of true God begotten not made, of one essence with the Fatherand

[who] rose from the dead on the third day." Our Orthodox beliefs do not match the beliefs of the visitor. By approaching and

partaking of the Eucharist, he is making a statement that he has a common faith with us. But in reality he does not. If he partakes

from the chalice then all of us are allowing that individual to make a liar of himself before God. St. Paul tells us in I Corinthians

11:27-29 that those who partake of the Eucharist without discerning the Body and Blood of Christ eat and drink condemnation

unto themselves. Who among us would wish that upon a visitor to one of our churches and what judgment is upon us if we

allow that to happen?

The reality of the closed chalice is not that Orthodox Christians are somehow bigoted and insensitive. Quite the opposite, we

Orthodox are called to love and respect other Christians and their beliefs. In fact, we love and respect other Christians so much,

whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, that we will not allow them to make liars of themselves before God by receiving

sacraments in a church with beliefs that are different than their own. It is a matter of maintaining the personal integrity of those
who visit our churches. The example used for this article is a bit extreme; however, the same logic applies to any Christians who

have any beliefs that are not in agreement with ours whether those beliefs are about Scripture and Tradition, Ecclesiology, the

Sacraments, the authority of the bishop of Rome, the Immaculate Conception of Mary (the belief that Mary was conceived by

her parent, Joachim and Anna, without the original sin that all mankind is born under), iconography, etc. The reason that there

are tens of thousands of Christian denominations in this country is that there are tens of thousands of ways to believe differently

from us Orthodox Christians; thus, we are not in communion with those Churches. So, to allow a Protestant or a Roman

Catholic (Latin, Melkite, or Maronite) to commune from the Orthodox chalice is making him or her state that they reject their

Churchs teachings. We are inviting them to lie. That is disrespectful, insensitive, and un-Orthodox. Asking a non-Orthodox

visitor to refrain from partaking of the chalice maintains the personal integrity of the visitor and demonstrates the Orthodox
Churchs respect, but not acceptance, of the differences that divide us. That is respectful, sensitive, and Orthodox. Let us pray

that one day the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will bring all worshipping Christians to the True Faith so that all Christians will

be one and that all may partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
 EMBODIED PERSONS, MALE AND FEMALE: THOUGHTS ON THE BODY
A N D P E R S O N A L I D E N T I T Y Fr. Philip LeMasters

I find it hard to understand why some claim today that it is bigoted and mean-spirited to think that the biological complementarity of
males and females provides an important clue to the personal identity of human beings. When someone speaks of men and women, it is
certainly reasonable to assume that those terms reflect basic biological realities. It is hard to see how we may think of mothers, fathers,
brothers, sisters, etc., without reference to the physical bodies of those who are male or female. If we try to do so, we will quickly find
ourselves supporting a disembodied view of personhood that presents grave challenges for human dignity and is antithetical to the
Christian faith. The facts of life are such that it takes the bodies of two persons of opposite sex to conceive children. As any physician
or scientist will affirm, there are distinctive and biologically defined roles for men and women in this process. It is also the nature of
human beings to inherit physical and other traits from their parents. In other words, the difference and complementarity of biological
males and females stands at the heart of what it means to exist as a human being. No doubt, throughout human history there have been
men and women who would have preferred to have been born as members of the opposite sex. It is one thing to acknowledge that, but
quite another to conclude that their preference means that there is no abiding biological reality to the distinction between males and
females. It is one thing to hope that people who struggle with these issues will find peace in accepting the implications of the physical
reality of their bodies for their personal identity. It is one thing to reach out to them with compassion, as Christians should to all people
with profound personal challenges. It is quite another, however, to say that only vicious, ignorant oppressors would dare to think that
someones physical body manifests whether that person is a man or a woman. Granted, there are very rare cases of ambiguous genitalia
or persons with a disparity between their chromosomes and the outward structure of their bodies. Barring those conditions, it is hard to
see how someone could even come close to making a coherent claim that he or she is really a member of the opposite sex. Such an
assertion would entail that the characteristics of ones physical body are simply irrelevant to his or her personal identity. The details of
gender roles have varied throughout human history and do vary today in different settings, but the physical distinctions between the
anatomy of males and females have remained. Those who do not recognize that biological sexual identity is an abiding dimension of
personal identity have taken a large step away from reality and the broad scope of human experience in the world as we know it. It is not
yet clear how far the agenda of deconstructing maleness and femaleness will go, but to make gender identity simply a matter of
subjective self-definition should deeply trouble us all, and especially advocates of the rights and equality of women. If our society comes
to view physical bodies as irrelevant for the definition of who is a woman, then matters involving womens bodiessuch pregnancy,
motherhood, or violence against women will be taken even less seriously than they are today. If a simple declaration by a biological
male makes him a woman, then the unique interests and cultural significance of those with female bodies must not matter that much.
Indeed, any claim that male and female bodies are even truly distinctive would become incoherent. The definition of who is a woman
would then have no connection with the physical characteristics of the human body; those characteristics would then have only trivial
significance. The less standing the bodies of our neighbors have in our eyes, the less of an obligation we have to help them as embodied
persons. No, this way of thinking is not good news for the orphan, the widow, the stranger, or the rest of us. The classic feminist phrase
our bodies, ourselves would be replaced by a dangerously disembodied vision of personhood.

For Christians, the deconstruction of biological sexual identity is yet another manifestation of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. We
cannot tell the story of the good news of our salvation without referring to biological men and women, for our salvation is the fulfillment
of our identity and vocation as those created male and female in Gods image and likeness. (Gen. 1:27) Just try to make sense of the
story of the Hebrew people from generation to generation without such a perspective. Contrary to those who think that Jesus Christ was
uninterested in these matters, He specifically cited our creation as male and female in speaking about marriage. (Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6)
Against the libertines who thought that what they did with their flesh sexually had no spiritual significance, St. Paul stressed that our
bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit that will participate in eternal life. (1 Cor. 6:12ff.) Christs resurrection manifests Gods gracious
intensions to sanctify every dimension of who we are: body, soul, and spirit. And since He is the Eternal Word Who spoke the universe
into existence, breathed life into us from the dust of the earth, and told us to be fruitful and multiply as men and women (Gen. 1:28), it
should not be surprising that His salvation is the fulfillment, not the repudiation, of our embodied personhood.

In this light, Christians must show true compassion toward people who struggle with gender identity without encouraging them to adopt
self-definitions that ignore the physical realities of human personhood. Christ invites us to the healing of every dimension of our
humanity, which includes embracing the truth about who we are as embodied male or female persons. For all of us, that is a struggle in
one way or another. Healing comes through the difficult task of offering every dimension of our lives to the Lord in humility. We
become more truly the people He created us to be when we reorient ourselves to Him in body, soul, and spirit. Our faith calls us to give
morenot lessattention to the role of our bodies in sharing in the eternal life of the Lord Who made us men and women in His image
and likeness.