WELCOME TO OUR VISITORS Whether you are new to Bangor or if you're just passing through -welcome! If you've come because you are curious about the Orthodox Church, its beliefs and worship, you are very welcome, too! Please don't hesitate to introduce yourself to someone you've never met and consider staying for some refreshments and fellowship after the morning service. If you would like to receive mailings or otherwise stay in touch, please leave your contact information (name, address, phone, email) with the person in the church office.
TODAY IS THE SUNDAY OF THE HOLY CROSS The Holy Cross will be put forth for veneration by the faithful this morning. When you enter the church this morning, please come forward to venerate the Holy Cross. The traditional way to venerate the Cross is with a prostration and a kiss. If your health does not allow for a prostration, a bow would be appropriate. Fresh basil and flowers on the tray have been blessed and will be distributed to be taken home after the morning services. The Sunday of the Holy Cross is the mid-point of Great and Holy Lent. Learn more about this special day: https://www.goarch.org/sunday-venerationcross-learn
SUNDAY SCHOOL meets in the fellowship hall right after Holy Communion is offered. All ages 6+ are welcome. Mrs. Bucklin is taking our young people on an adventure through the Book of Acts.
FELLOWSHIP HOUR Thanks to everyone for bringing fast friendly vegan dishes for fellowship hour this season!
COMMEMORATIONS THIS WEEK Tuesday March 25, Holy Annunciation Feast; Wednesday, March 26, Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel. Xronia Polla to all those celebrating on those days!
EVENING SERVICES DURING GREAT AND HOLY LENT A Pre-Sanctified Divine Liturgy is celebrated each Wednesday evening at 6PM. If you would like to receive Holy Communion that evening for strengthening, please fast from food and drink from an early lunch time that day. Every Friday night during Great Lent we have the Salutations service to our Panagia and on the fifth Friday, we pray the entire akathist service to the Mother of God. That service begins at 7PM.
NAME DAY COMMEMORATION Gabriya will be celebrating her Name Day this Wednesday. Those coming for the Pre-Sanctified Divine Liturgy on Wednesday evening are invited to stay for a pot-luck meal that we may rejoice with her on the Feast of the Holy Archangel Gabriel.
THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 29 Great Vespers will be prayed at 6PM.
NEXT SUNDAY - BOARD GAME GET TOGETHER Mark your calendar for next Sunday, March 30, our monthly board game activity get together here at St. George. The plan is to have the activity on the last Sunday of the month, toward the end of fellowship hour. Bring a game along or join in on someone else's game. Bring a friend, too, and the fellowship will grow! Questions? Ask our coordinator, Dhesorae.
PRAYER REQUESTS Prayer changes things--let us support one another. Areti asks prayer for her health and guidance from God as she suffered a tick bite last Sunday afternoon. Sharon's sister, Lori, is facing a surgery, date not yet determined, and asks prayer support. Victoria received a message of great joy last week learning her son, Matthew, has been blessed to study for the priesthood as an M.Div. student at St. Tikhon seminary this fall. Please remember God's servant Matthew as he prepares to follow God's leading in his life. Victoria has a knee surgery scheduled on April 25--an answered prayer! Please keep remembering the well-being and overall health of Paula, Dr. Allison's mom, in your prayers. Please keep Mona's dad, Fr. Anthony, a priest in Pakistan, in your prayers. His health remains frail. Please keep remembering two Orthodox sisters in Christ still recovering from strokes (slow, but sure), Panagiota (Jaye) and Seraphima (Linnea). Pat E continues to thank everyone who prays for her as she copes with impaired eyesight. Again, your prayers for these these brothers and sisters in Christ are of great assistance.
ALTAR GUILD MINISTRY Seeking a core group of individuals who will organize and care for existing church linens and decide on colors and designs for the same into the future. This group will change out linens according to season while assuring they remain in suitable use condition. Those with solid sewing skills are encouraged to participate but it is not a requisite. Please let Pres. know if you would like to be involved. doxa141 at gmail.com. Thank you.
ST. EPHRAIM'S PRAYER This text is often offered during Great and Holy Lent. It is appropriate to use it at the conclusion of your prayer times at home. Simply read and offer the prostrations as noted below in the text. May our hearts be softened as one this season.
THE LENTEN PRAYER OF SAINT EPHRAIM
Lord and Master of my life, cast away from me the spirit of laziness, idle curiosity, love of power and vain talk. (Prostration)
But grant me, Your servant, the spirit of moderation, humility, patience and love. (Prostration)
Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brothers and sisters. (Prostration)
(Followed by 12 bows saying silently each time, "O God be gracious to me a sinner.")
Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brothers and sisters.
For You are Blessed forever and ever. Amen.
FUND-RAISER TO BENEFIT ST. GEORGE Gabriya has crafted some beautiful crosses out of natural materials which are on display in the fellowship hall. They are available by donation. Suggested donation is $8-$15 each, depending on size.
ARE YOU IN THE GROOVE? We are officially half way through Great and Holy Lent. A roster of 10 recipes that you can cycle through and repeat during Great Lent can help relieve the stress of "what will we eat?" Meal planning is a great help during the season. One favorite vegan cooking site that has great recipes, many of them demonstrated on YouTube, is https://plantbasedcookingshow.com/. Another popular site is https://rainbowplantlife.com/.
FAVORITE VEGAN PRODUCTS Ithaca hummus (various flavors). Fermented veggies (beets, carrots, cabbage) add to salads or sandwiches or eat them plain in place of salad. Pre-made cut "slaw," (add your own dressing, stir fry or use for vegetable soup). Vegenaise (mayo substitute) found in the refrigerated section at most grocery stores. Any of the "Violife" brand vegan cheeses. Nut Pod brand creamers. Powdered egg substitute for baking (Ener-G or Bob's Red Mill). You can find all these items at Tiller and Rye, right across the bridge in Brewer, or Natural Living Center in Bangor (near the mall).
EASY-PEASY THICK & HEARTY POTATO SOUP Immersion blender works well with this recipe. Peel and chunk six med-lg potatoes, clean and chop white portion of two large leeks or one large yellow onion, clean and chop three stalks of celery, peel and chunk two or three fresh carrots, peel and chop two or three large garlic cloves. Have a couple boxes of vegetable broth handy or some vegetable bouillon paste. You can use vegetable oil to saute the vegetables or plain water. Saute the leeks or onion, celery, and carrots in a stock pot until the onion no longer looks raw but slightly translucent. Add the garlic so it doesn't get overdone (burnt) during the sauteing. Add one box or 4 cups of vegetable broth. Basically add enough broth to cover the veggies in the pot plus a little extra. You can add more broth if you want, simply adjust the seasonings. Season (to taste) with Celtic sea salt, black pepper, and dried thyme leaves. It's OK to be generous with the herbs. Boil the vegetables in the broth and seasonings until very soft. Using the immersion (stick) blender, blend all those vegetables into a thick soup. If necessary, add more broth. The potatoes will thicken in the pot so be careful not to scorch the soup. Before serving, add the juice of one fresh lemon for some zip. If you like a little extra heat, cayenne pepper is a nice addition to the soup, it all depends on individual tastes. Serve with garlic toast (rustic bread slices spread with some fast-friendly margarine and sprinkled with a little salt, granulated garlic and thyme on one side can be quickly browned in a fry pan on the stove and goes very nicely with the soup. A salad, a slaw or some jarred fermented vegetables make it a complete meal.
A NICE WAY TO HELP ST. GEORGE For an unspecified time, a family has offered to buy our bookshop stock as a donation so the church does not need to fund the stock purchases. That means whenever you buy from our bookshop St. George benefits a good bit. So please shop here and if there is a book or something else (icon, prayer rope, neck cross, bread seal, or the like) you're looking for, please let Pres. know so it can be ordered. RECENTLY RECEIVED NEW ITEMS: Egg Wraps in many designs and colors! These are "shrink wraps" for Paschal eggs. One wrap will cover 7 medium sized eggs. Each wrap is $3.50. Other items: Small portable icons of Christ & Panagia including small dyptichs. Auto visor clips featuring the Holy Cross and various Saints, 4.95 ea. Tiny knot prayer ropes in maroon color ($5 ea). Plastic bread stamps for prosforo baking. Keychains and tapestry pouches. Check the icon display area and you'll find a new nook with additional books! You'll also find we have censers, self-light charcoal briquettes and aromatic Orthodox incense. Beautiful prayer ropes (30 knot and 100 knot in varied colors) from Ukraine--30 knot bracelet is $14; 100 knot rope is $45. Thanks for shopping here--and let Pres. know if you are looking for specific items or want to order a particular book. COMING SOON: Paschal egg dye (red) from Greece.
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE - Donations can be made online.
With the help of God, we have almost reached the middle of the course of the Fast, where our strength has been worn down through abstinence, and the full difficulty of the labour set before us becomes apparent. Therefore our holy Mother, the Church of Christ, now brings to our help the all-holy Cross, the joy of the world, the strength of the faithful, the staff of the just, and the hope of sinners, so that by venerating it reverently, we might receive strength and grace to complete the divine struggle of the Fast.
March 23
The Holy Righteous Martyr Nicon and His 199 Disciples
Saint Nicon was from Neapolis (Naples) in Italy. His father was an idolater and his mother a Christian. At first he was a soldier, but later he went to the East, where he was baptized and in time became a bishop. After some years, he returned to the West and came to Sicily, where he and many of his disciples were put to death by beheading because they would not worship the idols.
Prokeimenon. Sixth Tone. Psalm 27.9,1. O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance.
Verse: To you, O Lord, I have cried, O my God.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6.
BRETHREN, since we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"; as he says also in another place, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek."
Sunday of the Holy Cross
The Reading is from Mark 8:34-38; 9:1
The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."
