St. Michael Orthodox Church
127 Steel St. • Youngstown, OH 44509
Very Rev. Protopresbyter (Msgr.) George Hutnyan (Pastor Emeritus)
Radio Show: On Earth As In Heaven, Saturdays at 12 noon on WSOM, AM 600
TV Show: ETC Channel, Thursdays at 8:30 PM, “Orthodoxy Now”
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June 7, 2015 / First Sunday After Pentecost; All Saints’ Day
Epistle: Hebrews 11:33-12:2; Gospel: Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38, 19:27-30; Tone 8
Commemorations: St. Theodotus (+303); St. Zenaida (+350); Pope St. Marcellus & Companions
(+309); St. Anthony of Kozhaezersk (+1634); St. Andronicus, Archbishop of Perm (+1918).
News: Fr. Andrew & Pani Yoanna are on vacation June 1st-23rd. If there’s a need, contact Fr. Martin Kraus
at 516-483-3649 or frmartin@htocem.org. He’s the priest at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in East Meadow.
Attention: There is no Liturgy on weekdays and there is no Vespers until the Gromm’s return.
Camp Nazareth: Family Day is on June 7th, while our deanery’s week is July 19-25. Pass the word around
that everyone is welcome. The bishop’s letter & flyers are in the kitchen.
Our Youth: Our diocesan Young Women’s Encounter is June 28-July 1. If any young woman 12-18 years
old is interested, contact Fr. Andrew. A flyer is in the kitchen. /// Also, if anyone is interested in the Altar Boy
Retreat June 28-July 1, contact Fr. Andrew. A flyer is in the kitchen.
Event: The famous Orthodox Metropolitan Kallistos Ware will lecture at Fordham Law School June 26-27. A
flyer is in the kitchen.
Big Day: July 10th is the tentative day for Fr. Andrew roller-skating with the parish children. He wants to
see how they’ll do at United Skates. Bring friends. Everyone is welcome to this event.
Prayers: Health= Anthony, Kathleen, Martha, Anthony, Eugenia, Gregory, Daniela, Sylvia.
Jobs= Nicholas, Peter, Robert, Caesar.
“He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his Mother.”
St. Cyprian of Carthage (+258)
Rubrics for the 1st Sunday after Pentecost & All Saints’ Day
1.
RESURRECTION TROPARION: (Tone 8)
You came to earth from heaven, O Gracious One. * You allowed Yourself to be in the grave
for three days, * that we might be freed from our passions. * O Lord, our Life & our Resurrection,
glory to You.
2.
TROPAR OF THE SAINTS: (Tone 4)
Your Church throughout the world, O Lord * is clothed with the blood of Your Martyrs * as
with fine linens & purple robes; * and so the Church cries out to You, O Christ our God, * “Send
down Your goodness on Your people; * grant peace to Your Church & great mercy to our souls.”
3.
KONDAK OF THE SAINTS: (Tone 8)
Glory to the Father & to the Son & to the Holy Spirit, * now & ever & forever. Amen.
To You, O Lord, Author of all creation, * the universe offers the God-bearing Martyrs * as the
first-fruit of nature. * Through their prayers & the intercession of the Mother of God * preserve
Your Church, Your dwelling-place, in perfect peace, O Most Merciful One.
4.
PROKIMENON: (Tone 8)
Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them.
v. God is made known in Judah; in Israel His name is great.
God is wonderful in His Saints, the God of Israel.
v. Bless God in the churches; bless the Lord, you of Israel’s wellspring.
God is wonderful in His Saints, the God of Israel.
5. THE EPISTLE LESSON:
(Hebrews 11:33-12:2)
The Reading is from the holy Apostle Paul to the Hebrews.
Brethren: Through faith the holy ones of God subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight
the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured,
not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of
mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were
sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They
wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having
obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided
something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the
sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame & has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
6. ALLELUIA:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
v. The righteous call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all their distress.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
v. Many are the trials of the righteous man, but from them all the Lord will rescue him.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
7. THE GOSPEL LESSON:
(Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38, 19:27-30)
Let Us All Be Attentive: The Lord said to his disciples, “Everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever disowns
me before men, I in turn will disown before my Father in heaven. Anyone who loves father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me. And anyone who loves son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy
of me.” Then Peter addressed him saying, “Behold, we have left all and followed you. What then
shall we have?” And Jesus said to them, “Amen I say to you that you who have followed me, in
the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, shall also sit on 12
thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left house or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold
and shall possess life everlasting. But many who are first now will be last and many who are last
now will be first.”
13. COMMUNION HYMNS:
1. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the highest. Alleluia!
2. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous; praise befits the upright. Alleluia!
14. AMVON PRAYER: O Lord, You are glorified in the council of Your holy ones. You are the
boast of the Apostles, joy of the prophets, support of the martyrs, joy of the saints & crown of
the Birthgiver! Give us Your peace. Guide & guard our lives by Your merciful goodness, that we
may be deemed worthy to imitate their struggles, & pleasing You, come to future happiness with
them. For it is You, O Christ our God, who give us everlasting gifts, & we give glory to You,
together with Your eternal Father & Your all-holy, good&life-creating Spirit now & ever & forever.
St. Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church, 6/7/15
All Saints’ Sunday
The Sunday after Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints- those known to us & those known only
to God. There have been saints at all times & they have come from all over the earth. They
were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics & Righteous, yet all were perfected by
the same Holy Spirit.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to rise above our fallen state & attain
sainthood, thereby fulfilling God's command to "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter
1:16, etc.). Therefore, it is fitting to commemorate All Saints on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
This feast may have originated early, maybe as a celebration of all martyrs; then it included all
men & women who witnessed Christ by their virtuous lives, even if they did not shed their blood.
St Peter of Damascus, in his "Fourth Stage of Contemplation," mentions 5 categories of
saints: Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs & Monastic Saints.
St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain adds the Righteous to St Peter's 5 categories. This list is
found in his book The 14 Epistles of St. Paul in his discussion of I Corinthians 12:28.
The hymnology for the feast of All Saints also lists six categories: "Rejoice, assembly of the
Apostles, Prophets of the Lord, loyal choirs of the Martyrs, divine Hierarchs, Monastic Fathers,
& the Righteous."
Some saints are Confessors, a category not in the above lists. Since they are similar in spirit
to martyrs, they are regarded as belong to the category of Martyrs. They were not put to death
as Martyrs, but they boldly confessed Christ & came close to being executed for their faith.
The order of these 6 types of saints seems to be based on their importance to the Church.
The Apostles are listed first, because they were the first to spread the Gospel through the world.
The Martyrs are next because of their example of courage in professing their faith to the
enemies & persecutors of the Church, which encouraged other Christians to remain faithful to
Christ even to death.
Although they are first chronologically, the Prophets are listed next. This is because the Old
Testament Prophets saw only the shadows of things to come, while the Apostles & Martyrs
experienced them firsthand. The New Testament takes precedence over the Old Testament.
The holy Hierarchs are the fourth category. They are the leaders of their flocks, teaching them
by their word and their example.
The Monastic Saints, listed 5th, are those who withdrew from the world to live in monasteries
or in seclusion. They did not do this out of hatred for the world, but in order to devote
themselves to unceasing prayer, and to do battle against the power of the demons.
The last category is the Righteous, those who attained holiness while living in the world.
Examples are Abraham & Sarah, Job, Sts Joachim & Anna, St Joseph the Betrothed, St Juliana
of Lazarevo & others.
Saints Marcellinus, Bishop of Rome, Claudius, Cyrinus & Antoninus
St Marcellinus was Bishop of Rome during the persecution against Christians under Diocletian
& Maximian (284-305), when 17,000 were martyred in one month. In this time St Marcellinus
was arrested. Afraid of the fierce tortures, he burned incense & offered sacrifice to idols. The
emperor called him his friend & clothed him in splendid robes. Although he encouraged others
to undergo torture for Christ, he gave in to cowardice. He wept bitterly, filled with remorse.
During this time, a Synod of 180 bishops and presbyters met at Sinuessa (in Campania). St
Marcellinus appeared at the assembly in penitential sackcloth, his head sprinkled with ashes.
He confessed his sin before the delegates and asked them to judge him. The Fathers of the
Council said, “Judge yourself! From your lips this sin came forth, from your lips let judgment be
pronounced. We know that even St Peter denied Christ out of fear, but he wept bitterly for his
sin, and received forgiveness from the Lord.”
Then Marcellinus pronounced sentence on himself, “I strip myself of the priestly dignity, of
which I am unworthy. After death, do not bury my body, but instead throw it to the dogs. Cursed
be the one who dares to bury it.”
In Rome, Marcellinus went to the emperor, threw down the fine clothing & said he regretted
his renunciation of Christ. The enraged emperor had him tortured, and sentenced him to death.
St Marcellinus prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who mercifully receives sinners who repent,
then willingly placed his head beneath the sword. The holy martyrs Claudius, Cyrinus and
Antoninus were beheaded with him.
The body of St Marcellinus lay for 36 days along the wayside. Appearing in a vision to the new
bishop Marcellus, the Apostle Peter said, “Why have you not buried the body of Marcellinus?”
“I fear his curse,” replied St Marcellus.
“Perhaps you do not remember,” said the Apostle Peter, “that it is written: ‘He that humbles
himself shall be exalted.’ Therefore, go bury his body with reverence.”
Fulfilling the command of the Apostle Peter, St Marcellus buried the body of St Marcellinus in
a crypt, built for the burial of the bodies of martyrs by the illustrious Priscilla, along Via Salaria.
St. Priscilla and St. Marcellus
Saint Priscilla suffered at Rome with the hieromartyr Marcellus, Bishop of Rome, and the holy
deacons Sisinius and Cyriacus; also Smaragdus, Largus, Apronian, Saturninus, Crescentian,
Papias & Maurus and the holy women martyrs Lucina (Lucy) & the emperor’s daughter Artemia
during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian (284-305) and their successors, Galerius
(305-311) and Maxentius (305-312).
Emperor Maximian, ruler of the Western Roman Empire, deprived all Christians of military
rank & sent them into penal servitude. At this time the emperor’s daughter Artemia and another
21 prisoners were executed with St Cyriacus, then buried.
The bodies of the holy martyrs Cyriacus, Smaragdus and Largus were exhumed and reburied
on the estates of two Christian women, Priscilla and Lucy, on the outskirts of Rome, after they
had transformed Lucy’s house into a church.
Ascending the throne, Maxentius gave orders to destroy the church & turn it into a stockyard,
and he sentenced the holy Bishop Marcellus to herd the cattle. Exhausted by hunger and cold,
and wearied by the tortures of the soldiers, Marcellus became ill and died in the year 310.
The holy women Pricilla and Lucy were banished from Rome in disgrace, and their estates
confiscated and plundered.
At all times, indeed, but specially when I reflect upon the achievements of the saints, it comes
over me to feel despondency concerning my own condition, because we have not even in
dreams experienced the things among which those men spent their whole lives, not paying the
penalty of sins, always doing rightly and yet always afflicted….And having spoken of that which
befell the apostles….Elijah suffered the same thing with them and the Son of Man….For God
has provided some better thing for us. In order that they might not seem to have the advantage
from being crowned before us, He appointed one time for crowning for all….Do you see His
tender carefulness? (St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews, 4th century)
In times past, when heresies prevailed, many chose death through martyrdom and various
tortures. Now, when we through the grace of Christ live in a time of profound and perfect peace,
we learn for sure that cross and death consist in nothing else than the complete mortification of
self-will. He who pursues his own will, however slightly, will never be able to observe the
precepts of Christ the Savior. (St. Symeon the New Theologian, Discourses, 11th century)
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/
Catechism Message
June 7, 2015
The Lord Jesus often talked about His death on the Cross. But He also
talked about how we will be hated just because we believe in Him. He
wanted to make sure that we don’t stop believing Him because if we do,
then we become phony or false. It would be like having a good friend who
you make fun of when other people want you to do this. If we are going to
be good friends with someone, we must always be friends no matter what.
We must think of Jesus Christ as greater than our parents, our brothers
and our sisters. And Jesus actually tells us to do this. If we will go hungry
to stay with our family, maybe even suffer worse things for mom and dad,
how much more should be suffer to stay with God who created us! Other
people may try to make us skip church or ignore the Bible forget prayer
and watch TV, or even curse Jesus, but we should stand up for ourselves
and defend our belief in Christ no matter what.
It doesn’t matter what classmates say. It doesn’t matter what scientists
say. It doesn’t matter what textbooks say. We should be proud and glad to
be made fun of for Christ. The Bible tells lots of accounts of holy people
who died in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our Faith is
a serious thing and we should always be ready to stand strong for it.
In the stories of the saints, there were children who recognized that life
isn’t looking forward to movies, music and parties. Instead, life is about
looking forward to a good death, a death prayerfully in Christ. A few
children were killed by adults because of this belief, which some icons
show. And some were laughed at. But as you may know, it doesn’t matter
what others think or what they don’t want you to do in religion. worship,
pray and love in defiance of the mockery and hate. And be glad that you
love them more than they hate you.