St. Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church
1100 Hicksville Rd. • Seaford, NY, 11783
Rev. Fr. Andrew Gromm
(516) 541-3628 / onearthasinheaven@yahoo.com
Website: www.sgnseaford.org/
Sunday Mornings: Hours- 9:15, Liturgy- 9:30, Church School- 10:40
____________________________________________________________
August 30, 2015 / Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 16:13-24; Gospel: Matthew 21:33-42; Tone 4
Commemorations: St. Alexander (+340) St. John (+595); St. Paul the New (+784); St. Sava I
(+1235); St. Cyril (+1419); St. Gabriel I, Archbishop (+1659); St. Ignatius Lebedev (+1938).
Wednesday, September 2nd
Saturday, September 5th
9:00 AM- Divine Liturgy
5:30 PM- Vespers
His Grace: Bishop Gregory is in Constantinople until Sept. 3rd. Pray for his safe travel and for
all the bishops’ meetings with Patriarch Bartholomew.
Award: Hannah & Cathryn Popadin-Lesniak will each receive Chi-Rho awards from the Eastern
Orthodox Committee on Scouting today. This will be done after the announcements.
Flowers: Thank you Diana and Lydia Howrilka for the Dormition flowers. They are part of God’s
blessing of herbs and flowers.
Fest 1: Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in East Meadow has its festival Sept. 5th, 10 AM – 6 PM.
Food and fun for everyone are offered. The flyer for it is in our kitchen.
Fest 2: Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Hicksville has its festival Sept. 11-13. Food and fun for
everyone are offered. The flyer for it is in our kitchen.
Fall Festival: Our Fall Festival is scheduled for the Friday and Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Fr. Andrew hopes to discuss more about this after Liturgy during coffee hours.
Parish Finances: Last week’s contributions were $823 and expenses were $2184.
Prayers: Health= Anthony, Kathleen, Martha, Anthony, Eugenia, Gregory and Mary.
Jobs= Nicholas and Peter.
Rubrics for the 13th Sunday of Pentecost
1. RESURRECTION TROPARION: (Tone 4)
The joyful message of the resurrection was heard by the faithful women from the angel; *
having been freed from the ancestral curse, * they boasted to the Apostles: * Triumphantly
death has been overcome! * Christ our God has risen, granting great mercy to the world.
2. RESURRECTION KONDAK: (Tone 4)
Glory to the Father and to the Son * and to the Holy Spirit.
O my Savior and Redeemer, as God You lifted fallen man from the bondage of the grave.
You shattered the gates of death. As the Master, You arose on the third day.
3. BOHORODICA: (Tone 4)
Now & ever * and forever. Amen.
O Birthgiver of God, the mystery hidden from eternity, and unknown even to the angels, has
been revealed in you to those who live on earth; this mystery is the incarnation of God: Christ,
who of His own will suffered crucifixion for us, to raise the first man He had fashioned, He who
saved our souls from death.
4.
PROKIMENON: (Tone 4)
How glorious are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made them all!
v. Bless the Lord O my soul, O Lord my God, You are very great! (Psalm 104:1)
How glorious are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made them all!
5. THE EPISTLE LESSON:
(1 Corinthians 16:13-24)
The Reading is from the holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians.
Brethren: Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith and act like men. In a word, be strong. Do
everything with love. You know that the household of Stephanus is the first fruits of Achaia & is
devoted to the service of the saints. I urge you to serve under such men & under everyone who
cooperates and toils with them. I was very happy at the arrival of Stephanas, Fortunatus and
Achaicus, because they made up for your absence. They have refreshed my spirit as they did
yours. You should recognize the worth of such men. The churches of Asia send you greetings.
Aquila and Prisca, with the assembly that meets in their house, send you cordial greetings in the
Lord. All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. It is I, Paul, who send you
this greeting in my own hand. If anyone does not love the Lord, let a curse be upon him. O Lord,
come! The favor of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.
6. ALLELUIA:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
v. For the cause of truth & to defend the right: let your right hand teach you awful deeds!
(Psalm 45:4)
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
v. You love righteousness and hate wickedness. (Psalm 45:7)
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
7. THE GOSPEL LESSON:
(Matthew 21:33-42)
Let Us Be Attentive: At that time, the Lord told this parable: There was a man, a landowner,
who planted a vineyard & put a hedge around it & dug a wine vat in it & built a tower. Then he
leased it to the vine-dressers and went abroad. But when the fruit season drew near, he sent his
servants to the vine-dressers to receive his fruits. And the vine-dressers seized his servants and
beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent another party of servants more
numerous than the first; and they did the same to these. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying,
“They will respect my son.” But the vine-dressers, on seeing the son, said among themselves,
“This is the heir. Come, let us kill him & we shall have his inheritance.” So they seized him, cast
him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When, therefore, the owner of the vineyard comes, what
will he do to those vine-dressers?” They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men and
will lease the vineyard to other vine-dressers, who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; by the Lord this has been done and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Gabriel, Patriarch
Saint Gabriel I was Patriarch of Serbia, at a time when Muslim fanaticism was intense. In the
urgent need for cathedral and country, he went to collect alms in Rumania and Russia.
The saint returned to Serbia with generous alms for his Church and country, but a Bulgarian
had illegally replaced him as archbishop. The Bulgarian fled to the grand vizier to save his
archbishopric, accusing St. Gabriel of conspiring against the sultan. When St. Gabriel went to
court, it became obvious to the grand vizier that he was innocent. But he wanted to force St.
Gabriel to become Muslim as a great trophy against the Gospel, giving St. Gabriel a choice to
become Muslim or die, also promising him riches and power.
“I am completely innocent of state crimes,” said St. Gabriel, “this you admit yourself. I shall
never agree to save my life by betraying the Christian Faith while I remain of sound mind. Keep
your riches and honors, for I don’t need them.”
The torturers took him out and began to torture him mercilessly, trying all along to force him to
convert. Archbishop Gabriel I accepted all the suffering with great fortitude and serenity. When
they saw he would not convert, St. Gabriel was hanged. All this occurred in 1659.
St. Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church, 8/30/15
Old Testament Prophets and Their Martyrdoms
There were many prophets before, during and after the Old Testament was written. But there
were Prophets who were especially sent by God and who were declared to be authoritative in
writing Scriptures or given notoriety of some kind. As today’s gospel reading cites, Jesus Christ
mentions that the Jews murdered the Prophets, which Judaism at the time accepted, though it
was a general statement, since some Prophets were not killed but only persecuted in reaction to
their harsh teachings. Most of these killings are not written in the Bible, but there are pious texts
dealing with their traditions, such as “The Lives of the Prophets”, written in the 500’s, where
their deaths are recorded. The accounts found in the Lives are the following:
 Isaiah suffered martyrdom by being sawn in two by Manasseh and was buried near the
Pool of Siloam, as the early Christians understood Hebrews 11:37. He was killed
because he prophesied the fall of Jerusalem for the wickedness of the people being like
Sodom’s and Gomorrah’s.
 Jeremiah suffered martyrdom by stoning at Tahpanhes in Egypt, where he was buried.
 Ezekiel suffered martyrdom in the land of the Chaldeans and was buried in the grave of
Shem and Arpachshad.
 Daniel was persecuted, but died naturally.
 Hosea died naturally in Belemot.
 Micah suffered martyrdom by Jehoram and buried near the cemetery of the Anakim.
 Amos was tortured by Amaziah (the priest of Bethel in Amos 7:10) and martyred by the
son of Amaziah.
 Joel died naturally and was buried in Bethomoron.
 Obadiah was persecuted, but died naturally in Bethacharam in the land of Sichem.
 Jonah died naturally and was buried in the cave of Kenaz.
 Nahum died naturally and was buried in his land.
 Habakkuk died naturally 2 years before the end of the captivity & was buried in his land.
 Zephaniah died naturally and was buried in the land of Sabaratha.
 Haggai died naturally & was buried near the priests’ graves in the Kidron Valley.
 Zechariah was persecuted, but died naturally and was buried near Haggai.
 Malachi died naturally and was buried with his fathers.
 Nathan died naturally and was buried in his land.
 Ahijah the Shilonite (1 Kings 11:29) died naturally and was buried near the oak of Shiloh.
 Joad was persecuted & sinned, being buried as an unbeliever, as told in 2 Kings 23:18.
 Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:1) died naturally and was buried in the land of Subatha.
 Unnumbered unnamed prophets of the Lord were put to death by Jezebel, in the time of
Elijah (1 Kings 18:4, 13; 19:14). She wanted to wipe out the worship of the Lord, and
replace it with the worship of Baal.
 Elijah the Tishbite was persecuted, but rose to Heaven.
 Elisha was persecuted, but was buried in Samaria.
 Zechariah ben Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) was killed by Jehoash near the altar of
the Temple because he denounced the people for their unfaithfulness. After this, the
Temple priests lost the grace to see Angels of the Lord, nor could they make divinations
with the Ephod, nor give responses in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Eventually, the
Lord sent ordinary prophets and stopped sending special Prophets until Christ’s time.
 John the Baptist, beheaded by Herod for publicly accusing him of adultery, is often
considered to be the last of the Old Testament prophets (Matthew 14:1-12).
New Bulletin Features For Study and Prayer
I have a new idea for the bulletin. If they can fit into the bulletin’s structure, I plan to feature
three things, a book from our parish library which I recommend, an interesting Bible verse and a
scientific fact which enlightens us about how the world reflects God at work. I may not put all
three in each bulletin and I may add a few features from time to time, but it looks like these three
will be normally put in. Last week, Christian lifted my spirit because he borrowed the wonderful
book of teachings from Mother Gavrilia, which I recommended last week. I hope someone will
borrow this week’s book and/or other books from our library to let my spirit soar again! St. Paul’s
students often cheered him up with holy deeds and it should also cheer up His Grace, Bishop
Gregory, because he reads all our bulletins to see how you are doing.
1. On a table in the parish kitchen is this week’s book, which I recommend, titled “The Holy
Women Martyrs”. It’s a collection of accounts about women who have died for the Faith since
early Church times. Each story is short, but it is full of miracles, prayers, devotion and courage,
among other virtues. They are great reports which will often come back to your mind as you
work or visit friends. Angels love to help you apply these stories into your daily lives, as well as
enlightening people about Eastern Orthodoxy and guiding them to our Liturgy. You may be
surprised how the Holy Spirit does this.
2. This week’s Bible verse is 1 Kings 18:4. “For when Jezebel massacred the prophets of the
Lord, Obadiah took 100 prophets & hid them.” Up until 10-15 years ago, it was still known as a
serious insult to call a woman a Jezebel. I don’t think the younger crowd has heard of her &
some of us older ones may have forgot. So it’s a good time to read another account of hatred
reacting to love. The Prophet Elijah was in charge of a school of prophets, when there were only
7000 followers of God-fearing Jews left in all of Israel. But Jezebel wanted all of them dead.
Jezebel married King Ahab of Judah. She established the worship of Pagan deities among
Jews, exacerbated corruption, murdered innocent people, deceived and lied all the time, gained
support from Jews in killing righteous people, etc. Since the prophets & the 7000 followers of
God sought justice & righteousness, she wanted to kill them all. But Elijah prophesied Jezebel
would be crushed to death. Then Elijah blessed a good man, Jehu, to be the future king. Years
later, he became king and saw Jezebel, ordering her to be thrown out of a window to her death.
King Jehu didn’t expect her to be pulverized by horses trampling on her, but it fulfilled Elijah’s
prophecy and signified her total wickedness. Even Jesus Christ used the name of Jezebel in
Revelation 2:12 as a symbol of people who are corrupt, deceitful, sexually impure and willing to
falsify the Gospel. He tells us to avoid them.
3. This week’s religious science fact for the Bible is the finding of dinosaur skin and blood.
Recently, a paleontologist was digging for dinosaurs. As he chipped at a rock-like fossil, he was
surprised when his chisel went through a part near the animal’s head like butter! Instead of
hitting rock-like material, it went through skin tissue. Other scientists have publicly admitted to
finding dinosaur blood from time to time, which can even be read on the NBC News website.
This is evidence that God created the earth thousands of years ago, not millions of years ago.
And it makes a worldwide flood factual. Fossils are made quickly from a catastrophe, not dead
animals turning fully into stone for millions of years, when skin & blood would totally disappear.
Finding skin & blood on fossils seriously damages any belief in dinosaurs living millions of years
ago, while it powerfully supports the Bible’s doctrine that God created the earth in 6 normal days
about 7000 years ago and that a worldwide flood sealed in mud the skin and blood of animals.
“He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his Mother.”
St. Cyprian of Carthage (+258)