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 Muñoz, Proistamenos
ΑΠΟΛΥΤΙΚΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΗΜΕΡΑΣ/APOLYTIKIA FOR TODAY

Ἀγγελικαὶ δυνάμεις ἐπὶ τὸ μνῆμά σου, καὶ οἱ

φυλάσσοντες ἀπενεκρώθησαν, καὶ ἵστατο Μαρία
ἐν τῷ τάφῳ, ζητοῦσα τὸ ἄχραντόν σου σῶμα.
Ἐσκύλευσας τὸν ᾅδην, μὴ πειρασθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ,
ὑπήντησας τῇ παρθένῳ, δωρούμενος τὴν ζωήν, ὁ
ἀναστὰς ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, Κύριε δόξα σοι.
The heavenly powers appeared at Your tomb, and
those guarding it became like dead. Mary stood at
Your grave seeking Your pure body. You stripped the power of Hades, not touched by its corruption. You
met the virgin woman as one who grants life. O Lord, who rose from the dead, glory to You.

Ἀνελήφθης ἐν δόξῃ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, χαροποιήσας τοὺς Μαθητάς, τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ τοῦ ἁγίου
Πνεύματος, βεβαιωθέντων αὐτῶν διὰ τῆς εὐλογίας, ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ λυτρωτὴς τοῦ
κόσμου.
You ascended in Glory, O Christ our God, and gladdened Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Your blessing assured them that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
Ὑπερδεδοξασμένος εἶ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ φωστῆρας ἐπὶ γῆς τοὺς Πατέρας ἡμῶν θεμελιώσας,
καὶ δι' αὐτῶν πρὸς τὴν ἀληθινὴν πίστιν, πάντας ἡμᾶς ὁδηγήσας, πολυεύσπλαγχνε, δόξα σοι.
Most glorified are You, O Christ our God, Who has established our Fathers as luminous stars upon the
earth, and through them did guide us all to the true Faith. O Most Merciful One, glory be to You.
ΚΟΝΤΑΚΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΗΜΕΡΑΣ/KONTAKION FOR TODAY

Τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πληρώσας οἰκονομίαν, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἑνώσας τοῖς οὐρανίοις, ἀνελήφθης ἐν
δόξῃ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, οὐδαμόθεν χωριζόμενος, ἀλλὰ μένων ἀδιάστατος, καὶ βοῶν τοῖς
ἀγαπῶσί σε, Ἐγὼ εἰμι μεθ' ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐδεὶς καθ' ὑμῶν.

O Christ our God, upon fulfilling Your dispensation for our sake, You ascended in Glory,
uniting the earthly with the heavenly. You were never separate but remained inseparable, and
cried out to those who love You, "I am with you and no one is against you."
Sunday of the fathers of the 1st ecumenical synod
St. Mark the Hermit
May 20th, 2018
 Today’s scripture readings
Epistle reading
Acts of the Apostles 20:16-18, 28-36
Prokeimenon. Mode 4.
Daniel 3.26,27
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers.
Verse: For you are just in all you have done.

IN THOSE DAYS, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesos, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was
hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And from Miletos he sent to Ephesos and called to
him the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the
flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the
blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the
inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know
that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by
so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'it is more blessed to give
than to receive.' "And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Gospel pericope
John 17: 1-13
At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son
may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you
on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own
presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made. "I have manifested your name to the men
whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you
gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you did
send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are
mine; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but
they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that
they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I
have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I
am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
 Announcements
Liturgical/Program Schedule:
TODAY: Church School Graduation and Family Bowling @ Bowlocity, 1:45-3pm!
Mon. May 21st: Sts. Constantine & Helen Equal-to-the-Apostles, Orthros/Divine Liturgy 8:30am
Sat. May 26th: Saturday of Souls, Orthros/Divine Liturgy 8:30am
Sun. May 27th: Feast of Pentecost, Kneeling Vespers immediately following Liturgy

Our 2018 Grads: today we honor our two High School graduates, Maria Kelly and Ronnie Mangouras!

Greek Fest is Coming: Festival Volunteer’s Needed. Please volunteer to help. Mark your calendars for
the the last weekend in August to volunteer for this year’s festival. Also, we need volunteers for baking
days. Please see attached baking schedule.

Coffee Hour: we need some generous volunteers to host our fellowship hour during the summer
months! Please consult the bulletin board at the entrance to the Hall for openings! Thank you!

HOW TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION—Only 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.******
 Today’s liturgical commemorations
1. THE HOLY MARTYR THALELAEUS

Thalelaeus was born in Lebanon. His father was called Berucius and his mother was called Romila.
Thalelaeus was an eighteen-year old youth, handsome of countenance, physically tall and with reddish
yellow hair. He was a physician by profession. He suffered for Christ during the reign of Numerian.
When he bravely confessed his faith in Christ the Lord before his tormenting judge, the judge ordered the
two executioners, Alexander and Asterius, to bore through his knees with a drill, to thread a rope through
the perforated bones and to hang him from a tree. But God through an invisible power, took away the
sight of the executioners. In place of Thalelaeus they bored through a board and hung it from a tree. When
the judge-torturer found out, he thought that the executioners did this intentionally and ordered them both
to be flogged. Then Alexander and Asterius, in the midst of their flogging, cried out: "The Lord is alive to
us and, from now on, we are also becoming Christians. We believe in Christ and suffer for Him." Upon
hearing this, the judge-torturer ordered that both be beheaded. Then the judge took the drill to bore the
knees of Thalelaeus himself but his hands became paralyzed and he begged Thalelaeus to save him,
which the innocent martyr of Christ did, with the help of prayer. Following that, Thalelaeus was thrown
into water but appeared alive before his tormentor (for Thalelaeus prayed to God inwardly to prolong his
sufferings that he not die immediately). When he was thrown before wild beasts, they licked his feet and
were amiable toward him. Finally, Thalelaeus was beheaded and took up his habitation in life eternal in
the year 284 A.D.

2. THE HOLY MARTYR ASCLAS

Asclas suffered in the town of Antinoe in Egypt during the reign of Diocletian. He was flogged, scraped,
burned with candles but he remained unwavering in the Faith to the end. When the tormentor Arrian was
crossing the Nile by boat Asclas, through prayer, stopped the boat in the middle of the river and would
not allow it to move until Arrian wrote that he believes in Christ as the One and Almighty God. But,
ascribing this miracle to a magical skill of Asclas, the tormentor forgot what he wrote and continued to
torment the man of God. Finally, they tied a stone around his neck and tossed him into the Nile river. On
the third day Christians found the body of Asclas along the shore with the stone around his neck (as the
martyr foretold them before his death) and honorably buried him in the year 287 A.D. Leonides, the holy
martyr, also suffered with him. Arrian, their tormentor, later repented, believed in Christ with his whole
heart and openly began to express his faith before the pagans. The pagans also killed him and so Arrian, a
one-time tormentor of Christians, was made worthy of the martyr's wreath for Christ.
 STEWARDSHIP CORNER
It was Sunday and the parish council members were counting the Sunday offering in the church office as the trays
were being brought in from Divine Liturgy. One faithful parishioner found his way back to the church office and
politely inquired, “How much do I owe?” This well-intentioned parishioner was asking if he was up-to-date on his
pledge, but his question reveals something about our thought process in offering our gifts to the Church. No matter
how generously we support the Church, can we ever feel that we have given in proportion to the blessings we have
received? Many Greek Orthodox parishes have embraced the process of stewardship, by which we offer our gifts to
the church according to our blessings. Many continue to operate in a dues system. And some operate under a hybrid
Stewardship-with a minimum system. Each person coming to the gathering of the Church brought with them
everything they could spare for the needs of the Church. This meant for the sustenance of the clergy, widows and
orphans, for helping the poor, and for all the good works of the Church. This is the Church that we as Orthodox
Christians claim to be. Stewardship is not about calculations or portions or percentages. It can’t be reduced to a
number of hours of service or dollars offered. Stewardship is a way of life. As Orthodox Christians, we are called to
a new way of seeing things – a new way of life. Our stewardship is obedience to the greatest commandment to “love
the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” We are called to bring others to commit their lives to Jesus
Christ in such a way that leads to the joy of knowing Him personally and profoundly.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

St. Makarios of Optina on “Faith and Works”

Faith is the foundation of all good deeds, and without faith it is impossible to please the
Lord (Heb. 11:6). She is the gift of God (cf. Mark 16:16; Matt. 28:19-20). The Holy Apostle
James teaches: What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have
not works, can faith save him?... Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.... For as the
body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:14,17,26). For our
salvation one needs not simply faith alone, but works also. The words of the Apostle Paul: By the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified (Romans 3:20) refer to the works of the Old Testament laws and not to the new
commandments of grace. But he who trusts in his own works even with faith errs.

After baptism it is without fail necessary to keep God's commandments, by which the grace given at baptism is preserved and,
to the measure of one's proficiency in the commandments, is increased. Having transgressed the commandments, by
repentance one again acquires grace. All this acts through faith, but without faith one could not perform deeds of repentance.
In every case both faith and deeds are involved. But one must not think that one's deeds merit salvation: the merits of the
Savior afford us this. One must do good deeds but not place hope in them. To place hope in one's deeds is a sign of self-
reliance. The Lord does not always grant us strength to perform good deeds, but rather allows the passions to be strengthened
in us so that we might acknowledge our weakness and humble ourselves before God, remembering God's
commandment: Whenever you do what has been commanded you, say we are unprofitable servants, for we have
done that which it was our duty to do (Luke 17:10). Read in Volume One of The Philokalia the book by St. Mark the
Ascetic, "On Those Who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works" (Chapters 1-7, 11-24).
 Pentecost is next
Sunday!
After the Saviour's Ascension into the Heavens, the
eleven Apostles and the rest of His disciples, the God-
loving women who followed after Him from the
beginning, His Mother, the most holy Virgin Mary, and
His brethren-all together about 120 souls returned from
the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. Entering into the house
where they gathered, they went into the upper room, and
there they persevered in prayer and supplication, awaiting
the coming of the Holy Spirit, as their Divine Teacher had
promised them. In the meanwhile, they chose Matthias,
who was elected to take the place of Judas among the
Apostles. Thus, on this day, the seventh Sunday of
Pascha, the tenth day after the Ascension and the fiftieth
day after Pascha, at the third hour of the day from the
rising of the sun, there suddenly came a sound from Heaven, as when a mighty wind blows, and it filled
the whole house where the Apostles and the rest with them were gathered. Immediately after the sound,
there appeared tongues of fire that divided and rested upon the head of each one. Filled with the Spirit, all
those present began speaking not in their native tongue, but in other tongues and dialects, as the Holy
Spirit instructed them.

The multitudes that had come together from various places for the feast, most of whom were Jews by race
and religion, were called Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and so forth, according to the places where they
dwelt. Though they spoke many different tongues, they were present in Jerusalem by divine dispensation.
When they heard that sound that came down from Heaven to the place where the disciples of Christ were
gathered, all ran together to learn what had taken place. But they were confounded when they came and
heard the Apostles speaking in their own tongues. Marvelling at this, they said one to another, "Behold,
are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we
were born?" But others, because of their foolishness and excess of evil, mocked the wonder and said that
the Apostles were drunken.

Then Peter stood up with the eleven, and raising his voice, spoke to all the people, proving that that which
had taken place was not drunkenness, but the fulfilment of God's promise that had been spoken by the
Prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that I shall pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and daughters shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28), and he preached Jesus of Nazareth unto them,
proving in many ways that He is Christ the Lord, Whom the Jews crucified but God raised from the dead.
On hearing Peter's teaching, many were smitten with compunction and received the word. Thus, they
were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added to the Faith of Christ.
 Faith and Science:Contradictory or Complementary Meanings?
By Michael G. Houlis,
Theologian, Professor, Special Associate of the Holy Metropolis of Syros (continued from last Sunday’s bulletin)

In this context, Atheism does not have the right to use Science as its vanguard against Christianity and religions in
general, because when Science embarks on researching an absolute knowledge, it lacks the instrument, the object
and the method respectively that can even come close to understanding the meaning of “God”, since the essence of
God is beyond everything absolute and is entirely inapprehensible. Atheist scientists, therefore, are not atheists
thanks to any findings of their science, but on account of a specific, materialistic ideology that they believe in.

Faith and Logic, Religion and Science are not seen as conflicting, by well-meaning persons. Only the erroneous
placements of the representatives of each side are in conflict. Proof of this is the fact that eminent Christians,
clergymen and laymen, as well as the major Fathers of the Church, were also well educated for their time and some
of them – for example Saint Basil the Great – were also well versed in all the sciences. Wasn’t the Belgian scientist
Georges Lemaitre – the “father” of the “Big Bang” theory on the Beginning of the Universe – a priest? Weren’t
many of the Teachers of our Nation during the Turkish Occupation, such as: Eugenios Voulgaris, Nikephoros
Theotokis, Methodios Anthrakites, Benjamin of Lesvos, e.a., also the first teachers of positive sciences in our
homeland, and at the same time priests? On the other hand, there have been very important scientists who were also
religious: Keppler, Pascal, Newton, Leibnitz, Volta, Ampere, Gauss, Carrell, Faraday, Maxwell, Pasteur, Lister,
Jung and so many others; all of them were exceptional scientists and at the same time people with deep religious
faith. Their science did not and does not negate their faith; in fact, one could say that it complemented it. This is
because scientists examine with their Science the natural and the empirical world, throughout Time, while with their
faith and their prayers, they communicate with the “One Who Is” – the personal, Triadic God – and from Him, they
draw their courage in their lives and their work. When, in the course of his observations and his research, a scientist
realizes the grandeur of Nature as a creation of Divine Providence, he does not necessarily have to respond with a
display of conscience, crying out “How great are Your works, o Lord; You have created everything with wisdom”
(Psalms). In view of this, the English Physicist Paul Davis wrote: “The fact that the natural laws of the universe have
allowed the development of complex biological structures which have led to the appearance of conscience, to me
constitutes obvious proof that there is something in nature that surpasses us. I am convinced that behind the miracle
of the universe, there is a divinely-inspired plan” (Focus magazine, as above)

The very significant scientist and studier of the human genome, Francis Collins, in his book “The Language of God”
writes: “The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. He can be worshiped in the cathedral or in the
laboratory." (http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0702/voices.html - Interview with John Horgan).

Furthermore, the English astronomer, Prof. Smart, submitted the following thoughts: “When we study the Universe,
we take into account its size and its regularity and are thence led to acknowledging a Creative Power and a Cosmic
Purpose, which transcends all the boundaries of human comprehension” (D. Kotsakis, The Astronomical Universe –
Creation or Chance?, Zoe publications, 1983, page 108).

But even the great mathematician Einstein wrote: “Every researcher of nature is overcome by a kind of religious
awe in the presence of the order that prevails in nature, which cannot be a chance thing. The universe reveals to Man
an unlimited superior intelligence” (Ferdinand Krenzer, Synopsis of the Catholic Faith, Spiritual Course
Publications, p. 32-33). The existence of the infinitely perfect God can in no way be proven by scientific means and
much less can His essence be made known, because if that were the case, Man would have been perfect, and God
imperfect. God is not a cadaver laid out on an operating table for forensic examination; He is a Person – an actual,
existent Person – with Whom we can come in contact and communicate. The inability to logically prove the
existence of God does not mean that God does not exist. It only means that our own intellect is not able to grasp the
infinite God. Intellectual logic functions under the same laws and the same infrastructure as Nature. God, however,
(as far as His Nature and His essence are concerned) is the “entirely Other”, when it comes to our cosmic laws. He
cannot be comprehended with only our ideological and scientific capabilities. A scientist - devout or agnostic - but
also every faithful Christian, can detect only the traces of His presence in the world; His Providence and His
energies in Creation (His “circum-essence”), but not His essence per se – that is, His unfathomable depth. God is not
a unit, an individual atop a throne in the sky. He is the source of life; He is the meaning of “being” per se, and He is
not revealed by anyone; instead, it is He who reveals Himself, through His uncreated energies, to the humble and the
spiritually sound (=with a cleansed heart), in response to their prayers and their worship, whereas the self-opinioned
mind usually requires God to adapt Himself to its own, personal theories, without that person displaying any
humility whatsoever. This is how an autonomized and obscured mind is, when it cannot see God’s things, because it
is in a fallen state. Obversely, salvation is attained through catharsis of the heart, through ascetic labor and the
upholding of Christ’s commandments, through Whom and in Whose Person God revealed Himself and ever reveals
Himself to the world. Such is the experience of the Prophets, the Saints and the Fathers of the Church. And we
Christians know in our hearts that this is the truth and the path that orientates us towards the personal, Triadic God.

Nowadays, Man has succeeded in placing Nature in his service through Science and Technology, which has given
him the impression that this has made the presence of God redundant. But the fact that someone can utilize
electricity does not mean that he has actually created it. For someone to solve a mathematical problem, he must
follow the correct mathematical method for solving problems. In order for an experiment to succeed in Chemistry,
we must combine specific materials in correct proportions. In order for a piece of equipment to work, it must have
the instructions of its manufacturer. For someone to learn to dance, it is imperative that they follow the teacher’s
steps. To learn how to play a musical instrument, we need to understand the notes and acquire dexterity in our
hands. Thus, in order for one to attain faith, but also the state of seeing God (which is the only perfect, divine
miracle), it is imperative that he follow, step by step, the guidelines of the Church (Christ’s guidelines), Who is the
only one that can responsibly show us the way: that is, through humility, acts of love, sacramental living, ascesis and
the orientation of one’s will towards God. It is futile to ask “cerebrally” if God exists, if we haven’t first embarked
on the road that leads directly to His own revelation of Himself.