St. George Russian Orthodox Church

CHURCH NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2 ISSUE 6
JUNE 2010
S t . G e o r ge Ru s s i a n O r t h o d ox C h u rc h
Ru s s i a n O r t h o d ox C h u rc h O u t s i d e Ru s s i a
2nd Sunday after Pentecost:
All Saints of Russia
IMPORTANT DATES TO
REMEMBER:
JUNE 5 & 6
Sunday of All Saints of Russia:
6:00 pm Vigil
10:00 am Divine Liturgy
JUNE 18
Scrapbooking:
See Page 4 for more information
MAY 31 -JULY 12
Apostles Fast until the Feast of
Sts. Peter and Paul on July 12th.
A LOOK AHEAD:
JULY 11 & 12
Sts. Peter and Paul
SEPT. 4
Russian Festival
*Translator’s note: pravda covers a wide
range of meanings, including “truth,”
“justice” and “righteousness.” Unless
otherwise indicated, pravda has been
translated herein as “righteousness.”
ST. GEORGE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The day commemorating the
saints who have shown forth in the
Russian land points to that spiritual
heaven beneath which the Russian land
was founded and lived.
Before the holy Prince Vladimir,
there lived on the Russian land separate, pagan tribes that warred with one
another. The holy Prince Vladimir
brought them a new faith, a new consciousness and meaning of life, a new
inner spiritual state; he gave them a
new spirit of life that united everyone,
and thus a single nation was formed.
The existence of the Russian nation is tied to the begetting of spiritual
life within it, with the assimilation of
the fundamentals of a Christian worldview. It is senseless to seek the meaning
and purpose of life in earthly life,
which ends with death. One must
strive to acquire the Divine, gracefilled, eternal life, and then this temporal, earthly life will arrange itself as
well: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you (Matt. 6:33).
Faith and the Orthodox Church
united the separate tribes into one nation. Faith in the Kingdom of God
and the search for it, the search for
righteousness [pravda*] became the
most salient characteristic of the Russian people.
For the sake of the Kingdom of
God, for the sake of participation in it,
for the sake of prayer, Russian ascetics
left the vanity of the world and went
into the forests, onto uninhabited islands. They sought only the Kingdom
of God. They did not want to found
or build anything; they went away from
people, but people followed after them
for the sake of the Kingdom of God,
which was present on those islands and
in those forests around the righteous
ones, and thus lavras and monasteries
grew up.
The search for righteousness is a
basic thread in the life of the Russian
people, and it is not by chance that the
first written code of laws, which was
designed to regulate life, was called
“Russian Justice” [Russkaya Pravda].
It was not only those who withdrew from the world and from the
company of men, who thought about
heaven and the Kingdom of God; all
believing Russian people understood
the meaning of life. All who truly contributed to the development if Russia
as a nation, likewise considered that
their primary concern was to be faithful to the Divine Kingdom and to Divine Truth [Pravda].
In Russia there were princes, military leaders, landowners, people of all
ranks and occupations; and all had in
common a fundamental understanding
and striving, which were the acquisition
of the Kingdom of God and participation in it. This was the meaning of life.
Saint Alexander Nevsky spent his
entire life in struggles on behalf of the
military and the State; he rode on
horseback through the whole of Siberia to the Tartar khan in order to establish peace in Russia, and became renowned for his military victories. But
when he fell ill and death came, he
accepted it as liberation from the labors of earthly life and gave himself
over to that which was dearer than
everything to his soul and became a
monk, in order to enter the longed-for
Continued on page 2
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CHURCH NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2 ISSUE 6
Continued from page 1
Kingdom of God, not as an earthly
warrior, but as a warrior of Christ.
Prince Theodore of Smolensk likewise
accepted monasticism before his death.
In their striving for the Kingdom of
God, such spiritual leaders of the Russian people were the best exponents of
the fundamental trait of the nations’s
spiritual life, of the basic force which
guided its historical life.
The assimilation of the Christian
faith regenerated the Russian princes as
well. Authority is always an expression
of consciousness and will. Authority is
always guided by one or another philosophy, by one or another understanding of the meaning and purpose of life
and its activity. Before Saint Vladimir,
Russian princes were leaders of warring tribes and waged wars for the sake
of military spoil and glory. Having
become Christians, they became the
heads of separate parts of one nation.
With the acceptance of Christianity
came a sense of unity. Righteousness
was in the brotherhood of princes, and
internecine war became unrighteous.
Prince Vladimir gave the Russian
people a new meaning of life and a
new vitality. Calamities, failures and
defeats are powerless before the main
force of life, powerless before spiritual
life. The Kingdom of God, the spiritual joy of participating in it remain
untouched. The terrible storm passes,
and again a man lives. Thus, during
the most cruel tortures, the martyrs
rejoiced, sensing God’s grace.
This is the source of Russia’s vitality. Calamities do not strike her heart.
The Tartars burned the whole of Russia. Kiev fell, and in the same year
Novgorod arose; and that great commander and leader of the Russian
people, the Right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, roused the Russian
people for a struggle, not with the Tartars, who had racked Russia’s body, but
with the Catholic Swedes, who, taking
advantage of Russia’s misfortune,
wanted to seize the soul of the Russian
people and kill the spiritual might of
the Russian nation and Russia. For
Alexander Nevsky it was necessary
ST. GEORGE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
above all to preserve that spiritual
might.
The history of Moscow’s ascendancy is a clear confirmation of this
same idea. In its nascence, Moscow
was not very large, local amalgamation.
But at its head stood right-believing
princes, who had assimilated this Orthodox understanding of righteousness;
and therefore, when the holy hierarch,
Metropolitan Peter, told the prince that
Moscow would rise to prominence and
that the hierarch himself would live
and be buried there if the prince built
a home in Moscow for the Most Holy
Mother of God, the prince fulfilled this
covenant. In other words, the holy hierarch Peter told him, “If thou wilt be
faithful to Orthodoxy to the end and
wilt first of all seek the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, then all
these things - everything earthly, everything of this life, everything pertaining
to the state - will be added unto thee.”
Such was Moscow’s intent, and it
was faithful to Saint Peter’s testament;
the night muster of the military watch
on the Kremlin’s walls took place with
the words: “O Most Holy Theotokos,
save us!”
This does not mean that Russia’s
life and people were holy. No! Men
are always sinful; but when there is an
awareness of good and evil, when there
is a striving towards righteousness, restoration is possible. This is what is
important and soul-saving.
In its historical life, sinful Moscow,
the capital of sinful Russia, fell to the
bottom, but it arose again because the
consciousness of righteousness did not
die.
The heavy sufferings of the Russian people are the results of the betrayal of Russia herself, her path, her
calling. But those heavy sufferings and
the melancholy of life under the cruel
atheists' authority indicate that the
Russian people has not completely lost
the consciousness of righteousness, that
it feels spiritually and morally weighed
down by the unrighteousness of the
godless state and the godless authority.
Russian humility created faithfulness to the commandment, "Seek ye
JUNE 2010
first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness." It humbled authority
as well, and in the days of its greatest
earthly glory, Russian authority, by the
lips of Tsar Alexander I, confessed
itself as a Christian authority, and on
the monument of its glory wrote: "Not
unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy
Name."
The Russian heaven, the Russian
saints call us to be with them, as they
are with us. They call us to commune
of the spirit of eternal life, and the
world thirsts for that spirit.
In repentance, in faith, in purification, may the Russian land be renewed
and may Holy Rus' arise. Amen.
~Excerpt of a Homily by St. John of
Shanghai and San Francisco (delivered
before the fall of the Soviet Regime)
On Church Etiquette
Taken from Orthodox Life Vol. 61, Iss. 1
By Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov
Continued from previous issue
“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I
will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps.
33:11)
The Orthodox Church does not
have separate children’s services, youth
services, adult services, etc. - but only
one service to God to which all are
called. Children should participate in
church services from the youngest age,
in other words, from birth. But just as
with all other things, parents must
gradually teach the child to follow the
rules of behavior in church. Of
course, one cannot expect a three-yearold to stand perfectly still for two hours
straight, but one also should not allow
the toddler to run around the sanctuary, yell, grab things, etc. Parents must
gently but firmly guide the child’s energy into the proper channel, and
sometimes simply teach the little boy or
little girl to control outbursts of youthful energy. You must not think that
misbehaving is natural for children,
and therefore should not be stopped.
Defecation into one’s pants is also
natural for children, but we teach them
not to do that. Parents must teach
their children to observe church
Continued on page 3
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CHURCH NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2 ISSUE 6
JUNE 2010
Building Project Report:
Building plans are on hold awaiting either the sale of the land on LovelandMadiera, or on further funds to be raised to permit us to start building.
~Marianna Friesel
Continued from page 2
etiquette from the youngest age, and
not get discouraged if this process takes
some time.
Those who come to church without children should not glare at the
children who are “not letting them
concentrate,” but instead should be
glad that there are children in God’s
temple, and pray for those children and
for themselves.
Mothers and grandmothers!
Please refrain from gooing and gaaing,
even if a baby is very cute. This creates noise in the church and provokes a
natural response from the child who
also begins to goo and gaa. The only
difference is that mothers and grandmothers usually make a lot more noise
than their children do, especially when
they begin to loudly chant, “Hush,
hush, hush!”
When giving a prosphoron and
pieces of antidoron (blessed bread) to
the children, make sure that crumbs do
not fall on the floor. It is absolutely
unacceptable to allow crumbs of a
prosphoron or a piece antidoron fall on
the floor. Often, the best way to avoid
crumbs is for the adult to break off a
piece of blessed bread and place it directly into the child’s mouth.
“Receive the Body of Christ, taste the
Fountain of Immortality”
Much has been written about
Communion, but it seems fitting to
point out a few things. In the Russian
Church Communion is offered to Orthodox Christians who have gone to
confession and received a blessing to
partake of Communion. In our parish,
confessions are heard after the evening
service and also before the beginning of
the Liturgy. During the Liturgy we do
not have confessions. If you are waiting for confession, please notify the
priest of your intent. While in the altar, the priest has no way of knowing if
ST. GEORGE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
someone is waiting for confession. Ask
a deacon or an acolyte to tell the priest
that you are waiting. On some rare
occasions it may be appropriate to
lightly knock on the northern door of
the Altar in order to get the priest’s
attention.
Menstruating women and men
who had a nocturnal emission must not
approach Communion. Additionally,
married people must abstain from
spousal relations before Communion.
These rules, however, are not really
rules of church etiquette as much as
they are canonical rules. If you have
questions about them, make sure to
speak with your pastor.
Veneration of holy icons should be
done before, nut not after Communion. After Communion, one should
immediately proceed to the table where
the acolytes have prepared wine mixed
with water and pieces of prosphora.
One should carefully eat a piece of
prosphoron and drink some wine
mixed with water immediately after
Communion in order that no small
piece of the Holy Gifts remains in the
mouth.
When approaching Communion,
cross your arms on your chest and do
not make the sign of the cross, lest you
accidentally bump the Chalice.
Parents who carry their small children to the Chalice should hold them
on the right arm and hold the child’s
arms with their left hand. If your child
has a runny nose and he is drooling,
you must wipe his nose and mouth
before approaching the Chalice.
The Chalice must be approached
orderly, that is to say, in order. First the
clergy approach, then the monastics if
they are present, then men, then
women, and finally children. The
practice of letting children go first for
Communion, though not bad in itself,
does not reflect the meaning of the
Liturgy. Children should be allowed to
be first in line to the zoo or to buy ice
cream. But in Church, a somewhat
different principle of order is in place.
“Let us depart in peace...”
After the service has ended, you
must first piously exit the church, and
only then share the latest news with
your friends. Even though the service
has ended, the temple remains the
temple, and we must remember this.
Once outside or in the parish dining
hall, you may talk and socialize (of
course, as long as you are not visiting a
monastery, where very different rules
apply).
“But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be
yours as well” (Matt. 6:33)
Despite the importance of some
rules of Church etiquette, we should
remember that the meaning of Christian life is not in following rules, but in
a closer union with God. Rules merely
serve a supportive, utilitarian role. The
meaning of a saw or hammer is not in
owning and caressing them, but in the
building that can be built with their
help. Therefore, in conclusion, I would
like to mention one more important
rule: if you notice that someone has
broken a rule of Church etiquette out
of ignorance, do not take a whip and
chase that person out of the temple,
especially if you are ann older person,
and the man or woman who you plan
to drive out is much younger than you.
First, learn to heal and raise the dead,
only then to drive out of temples. It is
absolutely unacceptable to take upon
yourself the role of a Church policeman: teaching and correcting parishioners’ mistakes is the job of a bishop
or a priest, to whom the bishop delegated this responsibility in a particular
parish.
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CHURCH NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2 ISSUE 6
Treasurer's report
From Pascha to Pentecost
(4 April – 23 May 2010)
Pledges $ 11,265
Building Fund
$ 3,934
Candles $ 3,509
Donations
$ 1,990
Bricks $ 1,770
Prosfora
$
505
Member Dues $
390
Bookstore
$
127
Total Income: $ 23,490
JUNE 2010
Parish Upcoming
Events...
❖Scrapbooking:
Inviting all scrapbookers to bring
your pictures and supplies for a fun
evening at the church on Friday, June
18th from 6:00-9:00 pm.
❖We will be having a Sisterhood Meeting on Sunday, June 27th following
lunch to discuss the Russian Festival
plans. Please plan to attend!
Announcement:
Clergy $ 7,002
Candles $
741
Utilities $
526
Total Expenses:
$ 8,269
Net Income: $ 15,221
Thank you Tatiana Myers and
Martha Baier for organizing the
“Bricks” campaign.
Thank you Sandy Thompson for
organizing the Sisterhood bake sale,
which raised $235.
A third thank you to John Oakley,
whose web-work has led to increased
PayPal traffic. We received $1,700 in
March and April, many of them small
donations from folks outside our parish.
On the expense side of the
ledger, in May we paid $1,082 for a
list of verified Slavic households in the
Cincinnati area. The list will be used as
both an Outreach and fundraising tool.
God be with you,
~Keith (Nikifor) Hartzler, Treasurer
ST. GEORGE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
❖All who borrows books from our
church library please return them not
later than in three weeks.
Even if we have thousands of
acts of great virtue to our
credit, our confidence in being
heard must be based on God's
mercy and His love for men.
Even if we stand at the very
summit of virtue, it is by
mercy that we shall be saved.
~St. John Chrysostom
Sunday Lunch Schedule
June 6 June 13
June 20
June 27
Tsilbulsky/Sweeney
Pinkerton/Smirnova
Myers/R. Kanaris
Bassett/Mehas
Buy a Brick &
Build the New Church
We plan to make a brick
p a t h w a y a ro u n d t h e n e w
church. These bricks will have
the names of people that we
want others to pray for
engraved in them. So as people
walk around the church now, or
in 100 years, there will be the
names of our loved ones that
the pious will pray for. The
bricks cost $90 for a 4"x8"
brick, or $165 for a 8"x8"
brick. The smaller brick has
room for 3 lines of text. The
larger brick has 6 lines. Each
line can have a maximum of 14
letters or numbers. All of the
money from the sale of these
bricks will be used to build the
church. To buy a brick, fill out
one of the forms in the church
or on-line and turn them and
the money in to Tanya Myers or
Martha Baier. It's a wonderful
way to remember your loved
ones and do a good work at the
same time!
Any changes or additions to
the newsletter
Give to Fr. Pavel or
Mat. Bethany by June 20, 2010
St. George Russian
Orthodox Church
(513) 791-6540
www.stgeorgeroc.org
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