9TH Sunday after Pentecost (Forefeast of the Transfiguration/Martyr Eusignius of Antioch)
Welcome to Holy Archangels Orthodox Church (OCA)! We’re glad to have you worshipping the Holy Trinity with us! If you are new or are worshiping with us for the first time, please introduce yourself to our priest, Fr. Robert Miclean, after the service.
Faith: we’d be hard pressed to find a more difficult word, concept to describe. St. Paul describes faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Hope and conviction are both implicated in faith. In Ephesians, St. Paul states that “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, that no one should boast.” Our relationship and communion with God, our participation in the Life of the Holy Trinity is as St. Paul goes on to say, “a synergy,” that is, a cooperation. Faith is never something we simply ‘muster’ on our own, but is always in response to God’s outpouring of grace, the work of the Holy Spirit. God gives us the tools through His Church by which we may grow in faith, and find healing and salvation for our souls. Those tools are prayer, fasting, the Sacraments, and the disciplines of the Church. We learn and grow in faith through our obedience and participation in the life of the Church, which is a sharing in Christ’s Body and inseparable from Him. There is no ‘going it on your own’ approach to our salvation. Faith demands struggle, humility, submission for all of us. We must die to the old self, to be raised in the new. Likewise, we must struggle against our own self will and keep our focus on Christ if we are to grow in faith and continue to work out our salvation. I encourage you to make use of these tools, the Fast, and the services and Feasts before us, which are for our growth in faith and salvation.
May Christ God bless you this Dormition Fast and may the Holy Theotokos intercede for us all! In Christ’s love, Fr. Robert+
This week at Holy Archangels:
- Monday, Aug. 6, 9:30 a.m., Great Feast and Divine Liturgy of the Holy Transfiguration of our Lord
- Wednesday, Aug. 8, 7 p.m., Continuing Bible Study on the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 7, Location: St. John’s Boathouse. Please join us!
- Saturday, Aug. 11, 6 p.m., Great Vespers with the Matins Gospel. Confession following.
- Sunday, Aug 12, 9:30 Hours and Divine Liturgy followed by Trapeza.
Looking Ahead—Please mark your calendars:
- Tuesday, Aug. 14, Great Vespers for the Feast of the Dormition of our Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.
- Wednesday, Aug. 15, Great Feast and Divine Liturgy of the Dormtion of our Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Trapeza will follow.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for a safe birth for the hand-maiden of God, Mihaela
- Please pray for Azariah (Brian) as he looks for a teaching position.
- Please pray for our Mission that we may find a full-time Choir Director.
- Please pray for Fr. Robert and family as they look to sell their house and move to Annapolis. Please also pray for a safe delivery of their baby boy.
Troparion (Resurrection) Tone 8
You descended from on high, O Merciful One!
You accepted the three day burial to free us from our sufferings!//
O Lord, our Life and Resurrection, glory to You!
Troparion (Prefeast of Transfiguration) Tone 4
Come, you faithful, let us welcome the Transfiguration of Christ,
and let us joyfully cry as we celebrate the prefeast:
“The day of holy gladness has come;
the Lord has ascended Mount Tabor//
to radiate the beauty of His Divinity.”
Troparion (Holy Archangels) Tone 4
Commanders of the heavenly hosts,
we who are unworthy beseech you,
by your prayers encompass us beneath the wings of your immaterial glory,
and faithfully preserve us who fall down and cry to you:
“Deliver us from all harm, for you are the commanders of the powers on high!”
Kontakion (Resurrection) Tone 8
By rising from the tomb, You raised the dead and resurrected Adam.
Eve exults in Your Resurrection,
and the world celebrates Your rising from the dead, O greatly Merciful One!
Kontakion (Prefeast of Transfiguration)Tone 4
Today all mortal nature shines with the divine Transfiguration
and cries with exultation://
“Christ the Savior is transfigured to save us all!”
Kontakion (Holy Archangels) Tone 2
Commanders of God’s armies and ministers of the divine glory,
princes of the bodiless angels and guides of mankind,
ask for what is good for us, and for great mercy,
supreme commanders of the Bodiless Hosts.
