Saturday, Sept. 5 – Zachary, Prophet and Elizabeth
5:00 PM Mission Divine Liturgy at St. Raphael’s
Sunday, Sept. 6 – 15th Sunday after Pentecost
8:00 AM Matins
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
12:00 PM Chant Class
Monday, Sept. 7 – Sozon, Martyr
6:30 PM Divine Liturgy for the Vigil of the Birth of the Theotokos
Tuesday, Sept. 8 – Feast of the Birth of the Theotokos
Wednesday, Sept. 9 – Synaxis of Joachim and Anna
6:30 PM Reader Vespers
7:30 PM Firepit Social
Thursday, Sept. 10 – Menodora and Others, Martyrs
7:00 PM Mental Health Ministry
Saturday, Sept. 12 – Saturday before the Exaltation of the Cross
5:00 PM Mission Divine Liturgy at St. Raphael’s
Sunday, Sept. 13 – Sunday before the Exaltation of the Cross
8:00 AM Matins
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy: Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Cross
St. Mary’s: Sundays 8:45 AM or by appointment St. Raphael’s: Saturdays 4:15 PM or by appointment
(Please resubmit or submit names to admin@ByzantineLA.com)
The Carlin Family, Michael Hefferon, Shirley Kunze, Diana Mina, Michael Mina, Peter Mina, Fr. John Mina, Charlene Niemi, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Shannon O’Neill, Fern Bonowicz, +Anne Petach, Jenny Roman, Nicolese Salazar, and All the sick and suffering of St. Mary’s
Collection: $3,184.00; Mission: $579.39; Online: $347.00; Church Improvments: $60.00; Holydays: $40.00; Candles: $53.50; Parish Socials: $27.00; Building Fund: $45.00;
Total: $4,335.89 / Attendance – PSM: 65 SRM: 61
We celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary on September 8 as the first big festival of the Byzantine liturgical year, which began on September 1. All icons of this feast show the elderly but happy parents, SS. Joachim and Anne, and the birth is usually presented in a cozy family setting of women attendants bustling around Saint Anne. Saint Joachim is either peeking into the women’s quarter, or next to his wife. The infant Virgin was born in a normal manner, as is shown by St Anne reclining on the birthing-bed, and the baby being washed by the midwife in the lower front of the icon. Bright colors are used because of the joy that all Creation feels in its coming deliverance from Christ Who will find life in her. In the legends about this event, the parents are presented as elderly and childless, and an angel tells them separately that they will finally have a child, a girl who will be the mother of the Messiah. This follows along with other biblical stories about conceptions of children after long years of prayer, including the prophets Isaac, Samuel, and St John the Baptist. Saint Anne, however, is different from the other mothers, because her child will become the virginal dwelling place of God Incarnate! The child is given the name Mary, or Miriam, which is translated as hope. Indeed, she is the hope of all the nations of the world who labored under the power of sin and its darkness. In Exodus, Miriam saved the life of her baby brother, Moses, who would lead his people out of Egypt and darkness and into the Promised Land of milk and honey. This Miriam will do far more – her Son will lead all people out of their spiritual darkness and into the true light.
As for the feast itself, celebrations of it date from at least 400 AD in Syria and is one of the oldest feasts of Our Lady.
In much of Europe, this day is marked with thanksgiving celebrations as the harvest is brought in, cattle and sheep come down from their highland pastures, and people prepare for autumn. Both animals and people are decorated with wreaths of flowers in honor of Our Lady. Priests bless the returning livestock for a safe winter.
In rural Europe, priests bless both the incoming harvest, and the fall planting. You can sprinkle holy water on your own garden plot, asking Mary’s intercession with God for your future plantings. In Austria, people watch for the swallows to get ready to leave for the warm south on this day; they are said to return at the Annunciation (March 25).
Read more at ephx.org
“The entire law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” To love our God and our neighbor is the calling from God that is for each one of us. It manifests differently because each of us have a special vocation to make our lives the greatest gift of ourselves possible. May God be asking you to follow these commandments through a vocation to the priesthood, diaconate, religious or monastic life? Contact the Vocations Office at 602-861-9778 or email: vocations@ephx.org
Sunday, September 6 –
