Sunday, September 02, 2018
Tone 5 / Eothinon 3
14th Sunday after Pentecost & 14th Sunday of Matthew
Martyr Mamas and His Family
Today we Commemorate: John the Faster, patriarch of Constantinople; Venerable Anthony & Theodosius of the Kiev Far Caves; 3,628 Martyrs who suffered at Nicomedia
Today’s Hymns and Readings:
Ordinary Entrance Hymn:
Come, let us worship, and fall down before Christ. Save us, O Son of God, Who art risen from the dead; who sing to Thee. Alleluia.
Resurrectional Apolytikion, Tone 5:
Let us believers praise and worship the Word; coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation. For, He took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh to suffer death; and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.
Apolytikion of St. Mamas, Tone 4:
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee * received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. * For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants * and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. * O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.
Apolytikion of our Patron St Nicholas, Tone 3:
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, a model of meekness, and a teacher of self-control. Therefore you have won the heights by humility, riches by poverty, Holy Father, Bishop Nicholas, intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion of The Nativity of The Theotokos, Tone 4:
By thy holy nativity, O pure one, Joachim and Anna were delivered from the reproach of barrenness; and Adam and Eve were delivered from the corruption of death; thy people do celebrate it, having been saved from the stain of iniquity, crying unto thee: The barren doth give birth to the Theotokos, who nourisheth our life.
Trisagion
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, Have mercy on us.
The Epistle
(For the 14th Sunday after Pentecost)
Thou, O Lord, wilt keep and preserve us. Save me, O Lord, for the godly man has failed.
The Reading from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (1:21-2:4)
Brethren, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; He has put his seal upon us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
The Gospel
(For the 14th Sunday of Matthew)
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (22:2-14)
The Lord spoke this parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thoughts For the Day
“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
— St. Paul, Philippians 4:6 (RSV)
“When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator.”
+ St. Basil the Great, from Homily V.
“Wherever God is — there is peace. And the opposite is self-evident: where there is envy, enmity, impatience, self-love — there is the devil. Wherever the devil is — there, everything is ruinous, proud and hostile.”
+ St. Anatoly of Optina
“Are you fighting against your passions? Fight, fight, and be good soldiers of Christ! Do not give in to evil and do not be carried away by the weakness of the flesh. During the time of temptation, flee to the Physician, crying out with the Holy Church, our mother: “O God, number me with the thief, the harlot, and the publican (i.e., with the repentant), and save me!”
+ St. Anatoly of Optina
“Whenever we enter the church and draw near to the heavenly mysteries, we ought to approach with all humility and fear, both because of the presence of the angelic powers and out of the reverence due to the sacred oblation; for as the Angels are said to have stood by the Lord’s body when it lay in the tomb, so we must believe that they are present in the celebration of the Mysteries of His most sacred Body at the time of consecration.”
+ St. Bede the Venerable
