Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 1st Tone

PAGE 91: While the stone was sealed by the Jews, and the soldiers were guarding thy most pure body. Thou didst rise on the third day, O Savior, granting life to the world. For which caused the heavenly powers cried aloud unto thee, O Giver of life, Glory to thy Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to thy kingdom! Glory to thy providence, O thou who alone art the lover of mankind.

All Saints of North America in the 1st Tone

We offer unto Thee, our Father in Heaven, the first fruits of sanctity sown in this new land; the blessed Elder Herman of Alaska, the martyrs Father Juvenaly and Peter the Aleut, the holy hierarchs Metropolitan Innocent, Patriarch Tikhon, Archbishop John, Bishops Nicolai and Raphael, the righteous priest Yacov and Alexis, and all Thy saints, known and unknown, who have shown forth in America. Fill Thy Church with heavenly joy, grant peace to Thy land and to Thy Holy Church, and sanctify all those who worship Thee. Through the intercessions of the Theotokos and all Thy saints, O Most Merciful One.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Tone

O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant: O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned, but be thou quick, o good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee. Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplications, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 1st Tone. Psalm 32.22,1.
Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us.
Verse: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 2:10-16.

Brethren, glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Gospel Reading

2nd Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 4:18-23

At that time, as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed him. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.

Saints and Feasts

June 18

All Saints of America

Although it is a relatively young church, the Orthodox Church in America has produced saints in nearly all of the six major categories of saints: Apostles (and Equals of the Apostles); Martyrs (and Confessors); Prophets; Hierarchs; Monastic Saints; and the Righteous. The first Divine Liturgy in what is now American territory was celebrated on July 20, 1741, the Feast of the Prophet Elias, aboard the ship Peter under the command of Vitus Bering. Hieromonk Hilarion Trusov and the priest Ignatius Kozirevsky served together on that occasion. On September 24, 1794, a group of monks from Valaam arrived on Kodiak Island in Alaska. The mission was headed by Archimandrite Joasaph, and included Hieromonks Juvenal, Macarius, and Athanasius, the Hierodeacons Nectarius and Stephen, and the monks Herman and Joasaph. St Herman of Alaska, the last surviving member of the mission, fell asleep in the Lord in 1837. Throughout the Church's history, the seeds of faith have always been watered by the blood of the martyrs. The Protomartyr Juvenal was killed near Lake Iliamna by natives in 1799, thus becoming the first Orthodox Christian to shed his blood for Christ in the New World. In 1816, St Peter the Aleut was put to death by Spanish missionaries in California when he refused to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Missionary efforts continued in the nineteenth century, with outreach to the native peoples of Alaska. Two of the most prominent laborers in Christ's Vineyard were St Innocent Veniaminov and St Jacob Netsvetov, who translated Orthodox services and books into the native languages. Father John Veniaminov, after his wife's death, received monastic tonsure with the name Innocent. As the nineteenth century was drawing to a close, an event of enormous significance for the North American Church took place. On March 25, 1891, Bishop Vladimir went to Minneapolis to receive St Alexis Toth and 361 of his parishioners into the Orthodox Church. This was the beginning of the return of many Uniates to Orthodoxy.

St Tikhon (Belavin), the future Patriarch of Moscow, came to America as bishop of the diocese of the Aleutians and Alaska in September 1898. As the only Orthodox bishop on the continent, St Tikhon traveled extensively throughout North America in order to minister to his widely scattered and diverse flock. St Tikhon returned to Russia in 1907, and was elected as Patriarch of Moscow ten years later. St Raphael of Brooklyn was the first Orthodox bishop to be consecrated in North America. Archimandrite Raphael Hawaweeny was consecrated by Bishop Tikhon and Bishop Innocent (Pustynsky) at St Nicholas Cathedral in New York on March 13, 1904. As Bishop of Brooklyn, St Raphael was a trusted and capable assistant to St Tikhon in his archpastoral ministry.

In the twentieth century, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, countless men, women, and children received the crown of martyrdom rather than renounce Christ. Sts John Kochurov and Alexander Hotovitzky both served the Church in North America before going back to Russia. St John became the first clergyman to be martyred in St Petersburg. St Alexander Hotovitzky, who served in America until 1914, was killed in 1937.

In addition to the saints listed above, we also honor those saints who are known only to God, and have not been recognized officially by the Church. As we contemplate the lives of these saints, let us remember that we are also called by God to a life of holiness.

Upcoming Services, Events, and Information

This WEDNESDAY: Daily Vespers @ 6:30 PM followed by catechumen class.

Please, if you have not done so, SIGN THE ONLINE COFFEE HOUR SCHEDULE IMMEDIATELY!

FROM THE LIBRARY: Please remember to return church library books that are due or past due. Visit the library today for information about the summer reading program for children.

HaPpY FaThErS DaY to all the dads!

Remember in your prayers those in need Nicholas, Brian, Tamara, Theodore, Aubrey, Elizabeth, Alexandra, Mary, James, Daren, Florence, Josephine, Pelagia, Tara, Lani, Douglas, Mary, Anastasia, Reader Miguel, Jesse, Timothy, Andrea, Patricia, Pasquale, Robert, Jesse, Angelina, Kevin, Peter, Mary, Jude, Maria, Salwa, Alexander, Patricia, Jennifer, Newly-departed Daniel, the catechumens, Thomas, Theophylact, Richard, Alexandra.

If you have an announcement for the bulletin, please send an email to bulletin@stjamesorthodox.org by THURSDAY.

St. James Orthodox Church is a mission of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

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