Parish Bulletin
St. Michael the Archangel
Orthodox Church of America in Concord, CA
www.stmichael.org
Saturday Vespers at 5 p.m.- confessions following
Sunday Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m.- Confessions 9 – 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Bulletin – November 18, 2018
Welcome to all our parishioners and visitors this Sunday! We hope you find us a warm and welcoming place. If you are visiting us, please introduce yourself to the rector.
Thanksgiving Day – On Thursday, November 22, 2018, there will be Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m.
Come and join your brothers and sisters in giving thanks to the Lord who loves mankind!
Confession on Sunday? Yes, beginning next Sunday, November 25, confessions will be heard every Sunday morning from 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. before Divine Liturgy. Confessions will also be heard as usual after Saturday evening vespers.
Nativity Fast – For us Orthodox, the Advent season in preparation for Christmas, the Birth of Christ, has already begun. The 40 Day Fast stretches from November 15 to December 24th. We join all the Orthodox world in solidarity by this fast. Do the best you can, and don’t beat yourself up if you cannot maintain all of it. Remember, if you simply avoid meat during this time, you are doing well. Fasting does not apply to those who are sick or have some other medical condition that prohibits fasting.
Basket Collection – Archbishop Benjamin and the Diocesan Office has asked that a collection be taken up today for the victims of the fires. As you leave the Temple a member of the congregation will be at the entrance with a basket for your donations.
Prosphora? Before the Divine Liturgy the priest prepares the loaves and commemorates the saints, bishops, living and deceased members of the parish. Next Sunday and following, we will begin the custom of commemorating individual prosphora that you can obtain from the desk. Under each of the prosphora, a slip of paper with numbered lines will be available so you can write down the names of the living and your beloved deceased. Then, the prosphora and the names will be brought to the altar and the priest will take a particle out of the bread and commemorate the names you have written down. The server will then return the prosphora to the desk so you can take it with you. It is customary to leave a $1 donation for your prosphora.
Words of Holy Men and Women
“If I am an orthodox, I have to understand that there are no random people in my life and that every person that God sends me is the person I need, even if he is irritable, angry, but my reaction to him shows that I am not too different from him. As the saints say, the most important thing is that we need to see what is happening within us. And then it becomes clear that the main enemy sits within us – these are my passions, my irritability, my anger, the spirit of anger, which I often do not notice. And the man whom God sends wakes up those features that are hidden inside me, that is, it shows me my sins. But this is a great happiness because seeing my sins means seeing the beginning of my salvation, the beginning of the correction, the beginning of cleansing.”
Archimandrite Giorgos Sastan
Prayer of the Week
Troparion of Saint Michael the Archangel and the Heavenly Hosts
O Commanders of the heavenly hosts,
We the unworthy beseech you, through your entreaties you will fortify us,
Guarding us in the shelter of the wings of your ethereal glory,
Even as we fervently bow before You, crying,
“Deliver us from all danger as commanders of the powers on high.”
The Reader Schedule
The Readers for today are Randy Crawford and Rob Bliss.
Next week, November 25, the Reader is Stan Scioscia.
Agape Schedule -(Coffee Hour)
Today is Judith Bodenhausen.
Next week, November 25 is Randy & Ann Crawford.
We are grateful for all who serve in the various ministries of the parish!
Please pray for Justin, our catechumen, who will become our brother in Christ at Pascha!
www.stmichael.org
Fr. Peter Fermeglia – Rector
P.O Box 727, Concord, CA 94522
(415)496-9023