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St. Sophia Orthodox Church
a Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
195 Joseph Street,
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada V8S 3H6
email: [email protected]
website: www.saintsophia.ca
phone: (250) 704-2838
Services are in English
Saturday
Vigil – 6 p.m. – Всенощное бдение
Sunday
Hours – 10 a.m. – Часы
Divine Liturgy – 10:30 a.m. – Божественная Литургия
Vespers – 5 p.m. – Вечерня
Archpriest: Father John Adams
Deacon: Father Gordian Bruce
May 201 5 Service s Saturday May 2-­ Vigil 6:00pm; Sunday of the Paralytic Sunday May 3-­ Liturgy 10:30am Sunday Evening Vespers-­ 5pm Tuesday May 5-­ Vigil for Mid-­Pentecost 6:00pm Wednesday May 6-­ Liturgy 10:30am; Mid-­Pentecost Saturday May 9-­ Vigil 6:00pm Sunday May 10-­ Liturgy 10:30am; Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Sunday Evening Vespers-­ 5pm Saturday May 16-­ Vigil 6:00pm Sunday May 17-­ Liturgy 10:30am; Sunday of the Blind Man Sunday Evening Vespers-­ 5pm Wednesday May 20-­ Vigil for the Ascension 6:00pm Thursday May 21-­ Liturgy 10:30am; The Ascension Saturday May 23-­ Vigil 6:00pm Sunday May 24-­ Liturgy 10:30am; Sunday of the 318 Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (325 AD) Sunday Evening Vespers-­ 5pm Saturday May 30-­ Vigil 6:00pm for Pentecost Sunday May 31-­ Liturgy 10:30am Pentecost; followed by the Kneeling Vespers Thank you! Thank you to a special friend of the parish, Irene B for her generous donation in memory of her husband Magnus and his second reposal anniversary which occurred on the Holy Feast Day of Annunciation. What a beautiful Paschal decorating job of the trapeza! Thank you Evguenia, Iouri, Svetlana, and those who transformed the trapeza into a beautiful, delightful spring Garden! Rejoice and Be Glad ! Baptism On Saturday March 7th, Ksenia, the daughter of Maria and Gleb M was baptized. Her patron saint is St. Xenia of St. Petersburg. May God grant the newly illumined Ksenia, her godmother Evguenia I, and godfather Ilya T, many years! What's Next? On Sunday May 17th there will be a Parish Youth Parish Youth Sum m er BBQ Kick -­‐ off off for ages 3-­‐17, after Liturgy at the church. All parish youth are welcome! Come dressed for fun, games, great food, and fellowship. BBQ ends at 2:30pm. Sunday June 7th June 7th the Youth Choir will host their third annual fundraising event… serving juicy hot dogs, and scrumptious ice cream sundaes to the parish! Vegetarian and GF options available. HOT DOG! It's Sundae Sunday! On Saturday June 13th, is a Parish Garage Sale; Natasha Z is coordinator. The Sale will be held at her home in Oak Bay, when Oak Bay hosts its annual giant sale. Parishioners, please do not leave your donations at the church, please take directly to Natasha's.
Month of May Saint’s Days Congratulations to matushka Alexandra, Shura M, Irena, Iouri, Marcos D, Mark S, James B, James P, Christopher, and Kiff. May God grant you all many, many, years! New Russian Library Books "Книга "Отец Арсений" - это сборник литературно обработанных неизвестным
составителем свидетельств очевидцев о жизни современного святого-преподобного
исповедника отца Арсения - их духовного отца, а также их рассказы о своей жизни. Еще в
самиздатской машинописи эта замечательная книга широко распространилась и произвела
сильнейшее воздействие на большой круг читателей. Она явила образ святого нашего
времени. В отличие от большей части лагерной литературы, производящей сильное, но
тяжелое впечатление, "Отец Арсений" приобщает нас к победному, светлому духу
Христовой любви, которая не помрачается окружающим адом, но сияет еще ярче, еще
неугасимей. Книга "Отец Арсений" неоднократно переиздавалась на русском, греческом,
английском и других языках. Ее благотворное влияние на души наших современников
огромно, многие благодаря этой книге обрели христианскую веру" (Протоиерей Владимир
Воробьев). Книга рекомендована Издательским Советом Русской Православной Церкви.
The book “Father Arseny” is a collection of amazing stories about the life of a Soviet-­‐era saint, Father Arseny, who spent many years in Stalin’s GULAG yet did not stop his Orthodox missionary work behind the barbed wire. Church Cleaners Thank you month of April Church Cleaners and Gardeners. There were many extra services this month. May God reward your loving efforts! On The Lord's Prayer -­‐ St. Nikolai Velimirovic Part 7 (continuing from April 2015 Issue) FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US It is easier for a man to trespass against Thy laws then to understand them, O Father. But it is not easy for Thee to forgive us all our trespasses if we are not forgiving towards those who trespass against us. For Thou didst establish the universe upon measure and order. How could this balance be retained in the universe if Thou observes one measure towards us, and we observe another measure towards our neighbours? Or if Thou givest bread to us while we give a stone to our neighbors? Or if Thou forgives us our sins while we are hanging our neighbours for theirs? How then could the measure and order in the universe be preserved, O lawful Father? Yet behold, Thou forgives us more then we can forgive our brothers. We defile the earth every day and night with our crimes, while Thou greetest us every day through the undimmed eye of Thy sun, and every night sendest Thy merciful forgiveness through the stars, those shining sentinels at the gate of Thy court, our Kingly Father! Thou makest us ashamed every day, O most Merciful. For when we are expecting punishment Thou sendest to us Thy mercy; when we are expecting Thy thunders Thou sendest to us a quiet evening; and when we are expecting darkness Thou sendest to us the sunshine. Thou art always sublime above our sins, and always magnificent in Thy silent patience. Woe to the fool who hopes to trouble Thee with a sacrilegious word! He is like the boy who angrily cast a grain of sand into the sea in order to drive the whole sea from its place. But the sea only silently folds over the skin of its surface, revealing thereby the meagerness of angry weakness in the face of the ocean’s immense power. Behold, all our sins are common, and we all are responsible for the sins of all. Therefore, there are not on earth pure righteous men. For all the righteous must take upon themselves some of the sins of the sinners. It is difficult to be an immaculately righteous man, because there is no righteous one who does not bear upon his back at least one sinner. But how is it, O Father – give me to understand how it is that the more a righteous man bears the sinners’ sins, the more righteous he is? Our Heavenly Father, who art sending bread from morning to evening to all Thy children and art receiving their sins in payment, make less heavy the burden of the righteous ones, and illumine the darkness of sinners. The earth is full of sins, but full of prayers, too; it is full of the prayers of the righteous and of the despair of sinners. Is not despair the beginning of prayer? Thou must be the Victor after all. Thy Kingdom will be founded upon the prayers of the righteous. Thy Will will become the law for men as it is the law for the angels. Well then, why should our Father hesitate to forgive trespasses to mortals, thereby giving them an example of forgiveness and mercy? http://www.atlantaserbs.com/learnmore/library/LordsPrayer.html Jesus' Tears The Gospel of John verse 11:35 is one of the shortest verses in the Bible. It consists of two words: Jesus wept. The verse is brief, but it should be read slowly. Just two words, but each one is precious. In the first verses of his Gospel the apostle John writes that The Word became flesh (Jn. 1:14). He continues to witness to this here also, in relating the events surrounding the resurrection of righteous Lazarus. Jesus wept, and that means that truly the Son of God became the Son of Man, like us in everything except sin. This includes the ability to weep. Jesus wept. These two words show that God arranged the salvation of people not coldly and indifferently, not because he had to, was forced to, but because he desired this fervently. Christ’s tears reveal the Lord’s inner world: He loves His creation, He grieves that death deforms people, separates them from one another, brings anguish and melancholy into the world, and deprives people of happiness. Jesus' tears remind us that God is not a stranger to the world, that He is not an indifferent Absolute, as the Greeks once thought. Their monotheistic philosophy described God as a totally passionless Being. Rightly supposing that God is completely perfect, they came to the conclusion that He could not change in any way. After all, any change would mean a departure from the Ideal. The philosophers considered feelings to be a kind of change. A feeling God is a God Who suffers from feelings—which, as the Greeks thought, means He is not God. So, Jesus' tears show that God does not fit into the framework of human deductive reasoning. He after all loves us, co-­‐suffers with us, and worries about us with a deeply personal, fatherly interest, while remaining perfect God—all powerful and almighty. Never say to your crying little sons that men never cry. This is not true. The best of men have wept. The Best of the best also wept. Jesus' tears teach us not to be ashamed to weep. If Christ was not ashamed, even less so should we be ashamed. If only our tears would always be as pure, noble, and compassionate. Such weeping is pleasant to God. But there are tears of envy, hatred, unforgiven offenses, dark depression, or drunken declarations. Such tears have nothing in common with Jesus' tears. We have no need for them. Christ’s tears tell us that God wants to co-­‐suffer with us to the full extent. It was not enough for Him to weep from the heavens over our disaster. No, He came down to us, entered the crowd of weepers and wept with them, providing an example, establishing the commandment that the apostle Paul would later clothe in words. We can also suppose that having seen the funereal setting, seeing the human grief, He was transported to the future with His divine mind to when His most pure body, killed by Jewish malice, would also be laid in the grave, and His disciples both men and women would be crushed with grief. Perhaps His tears were over this as well. The Lord Christ’s actions reach through the ages. Weeping with Martha and Mary at the tomb of Lazarus, He weeps also with us at the burials of our family and friends. We are not alone, no matter how the devil tries to suggest otherwise. However there is a time to weep and a time to laugh (Eccl. 3:4). The Lord raises Lazarus and wipes away both His own and our tears. For, all is well that ends well. It will be well for us—He will resurrect our close ones, too. And He will resurrect us. http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/78394.htm Priest Leonid Kudryachov 1 Rom. 12: 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. The Six Psalms and the Extinguishing of Candles The faithful should be aware of the fact that the reading of the "Six Psalms" is one of the most important points in the All-­‐night Vigil, a time when all should put aside other thoughts, stand quietly, and concentrate on these penitential prayers. The reading does not constitute a pause in Divine Services, a time during which to go for a walk outside or to talk to one's neighbor. It is one of the holiest moments in the entire All-­‐night Vigil. The Six Psalms comprise an entire scale of experiences which illumine the Christian life of the New Testament -­‐ not merely its overall joyous mood, but also the sorrowful path to that joy. This is why according to the rubrics of the Church, the candles in the church are to be extinguished. The falling darkness symbolizes that dead of night during which Christ, praised in the angelic song "Glory to God in the Highest," came to earth. The semi-­‐darkness of the church facilitates great prayerful concentration. Midway through the Six Psalms, at the beginning of the 4th of the psalms, the one most filled with sorrow and extreme bitterness, the priest leaves the Altar and, standing before the Royal Doors, continues to quietly read the 12 appointed morning prayers. At that point, the priest symbolizes Christ, who, having heard the sorrow of fallen mankind, not only descended, but to the very end also shared in the suffering of which Psalm 87 speaks. The morning prayers quietly read by the priest include prayers for the Christians standing in the church, with requests that they be forgiven their sins, that they be given true faith and sincere love, that all of their works be blessed, and that they be made worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. -­‐V. Potapov http://www.stjohndc.org/Russian/english.htm Pearls of Wisdom Our soul is a Divine Breath. Our body is His Creation. In our whole being we are the icon of God. -­‐ Gerontissa (Elder) Gabrielia During the reading of the Six Psalms the candles are to be extinguished. This is done so that we, able to see nothing with our eyes, might listen to the Six Psalms attentively and with fear of God and so that everyone standing in the dark might shed a tear and release a tender sigh. For at night, and if there is no lighted candle nearby, it is difficult for people to see one another. We pronounce the Six Psalms with all attentiveness… as conversing with our invisible Christ God Himself, and praying over our sins. -­‐Archbishop Benjamin of Nizhegorod and Arzamas On the Glorious Ascension: That our flesh should be seated in the heavens and be worthy of worship by the Angels, Archangels, Seraphim and Cherubim is truly a great, astonishing and marvelous thing. On contemplating that, I am often struck with amazement, and I entertain exalted thoughts about mankind, for I see God's great and abundant care for our existence. -­‐St. John Chrysostom O man, become a bit more sober, come to your senses. As a rational creature, recognize that God in the Highest has descended from Heaven for you, to raise you up from the earth and take you to Heaven. -­‐St. Ephraim of Syria By ascending to Heaven before (the eyes of) his holy disciples, Christ also showed all believers the way. Christ the Head ascended unto Heaven; His holy members, the true Christians, will ascend as well. The path had been closed to men, but by Christ's death, it was opened. In Christ's death, the veil of the temple was rent in twain (Matthew 27: 51), and the path and entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven was opened to the faithful (Hebrews 10: 19-­‐20). -­‐St. Tikhon of Zadonsk Practical Tip Before services, after veneration of the icons and waiting for the priest to begin, please be silent. It is distracting for those in the altar or nave to hear whispered worldly chitchat or outbursts of laughter from others. Please visit with friends in the vestibule, not in God's House. The habit of any kind of talking before service begins puts the service behind, as the priest must wait until there is absolute quiet before he may commence. Links St. Sophia Orthodox Church, Victoria BC
http://saintsophia.ca/ Official site of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/indexeng.htm
Official site of the Montreal and Canadian Diocese
http://mcdiocese.com/en/ The Rudder: Streaming Orthodox Christian sacred music 24/7
http://www.myocn.com/rudder/ The Silver Prince: By Alexey Tolstoy; Translated by Nikita S. Galitzine
http://bookstore.trafford.com/Products/SKU-­‐000167307/The-­‐Silver-­‐Prince.aspx St. Sophia Parish’s FREE Lenten Cookbook Recipes “Come and Dine”
http://comeanddinerecipe.blogspot.ca/ Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Vancouver BC
http://russianorthodoxchurch.ca/en/ St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Vancouver BC
http://www.stnicolaschurch.ca/home_eng.html "Be the Bee” on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=i60S6r_sf8o Pravoslavie.Ru
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/ All-Merciful Saviour Monastery Vashon Island, Washington USA
http://vashonmonks.com/wp/ Morning Offering by Abbot Tryphon
http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/ Holy Trinity Monastery Jordanville, New York
http://www.jordanville.org/ Western America Diocese Official Site
http://www.wadiocese.org/en/ The Children's Word
http://myocn.net/orthodox-­‐christian-­‐news/orthodox-­‐christian-­‐childrens-­‐newsletter/ Coffee With Sr. Vassa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQPAtvsh9U “W
e knew not whether we
were in heaven or earth…
We only know that God dwells
there among men, and their
service is fairer than
the ceremonies of
The
”
other nations.
Orthodox
Church
W
ith these words, envoys sent from
Russia by Prince Vladimir in the
year 987 recorded their impression of
Constantinople’s awesome Orthodox Cathedral,
Hagia Sophia. They had been sent to search for
the true religion. Within a year of their report,
Prince Vladimir and the Russian people were
baptized in Christ by Orthodox missionaries.
Today, as in Prince Vladimir’s time, the Orthodox
Church – fully aware that man is a union of body
and soul – uses all the beauty of creation to move
her faithful children to prayer and worship: icons,
beautiful singing, sweet-smelling incense, and
majestic services.
The Greek word ‘Orthodoxia’ means ‘correct
praise’ or ‘correct teaching’ and in the Orthodox
worship the praise and teaching are closely
interwoven.
Jesus Christ founded His Church through the
Apostles. By the grace received from God at
Pentecost, the Apostles established the Church
throughout the world. In Greece, Russia, and
elsewhere, the True Apostolic Church continues
to flourish, preserving the Faith of Christ pure
and unchanged.
)
“Christ the Power of God,
and the Wisdom of God”
– First Corinthians
Troparion in the Second Tone
We bow down before Thine all pure image, O Good One,
asking forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ God; for
Thou wast well pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh of
Thine own will, that Thou mightest save what Thou hadst
created from slavery to the enemy. Wherefore, we cry out to
Thee in thanksgiving: Thou hast filled all things with joy,
O our Saviour, Who hast come to save the world.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
O uncircumscribable Word of the Father, knowing the
victorious image, uninscribed and divinely wrought, of Thine
ineffable and divine dispensation towards man, of Thy true
incarnation, we honour it with veneration.