Matins at 7 am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Vespers at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Vigil at 7 pm on Saturday
Hierarchical Divine Liturgy (please arrive around 9:15 am) due to begin at 10 am on Saturday, January 14.
The Bishop will arrive and vest at 9:30 am.
Please come to the church around 9:15 am to greet him on his arrival.
(We must not have the bishop arrive to an empty church)

There will be trapeza after the Divine Liturgy. Please consider bringing wine or dessert.
On Sunday our parish is invited to St. Stephen’s church in (Milwaukie) Portland to
celebrate their Feast day: 11447 SE 27th Ave; Portland, Oregon 97222.
There will be Typika with trapeza at St. John’s that Sunday.

The Book study is at 10 am on Tuesday.

The adult education class is after Vespers on Thursday (with potluck dinner).

The schedule for this week:
Matins at 7 am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
Vespers at 5:30 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
Royal Hours at 9 am on *Friday, December 6;
Nativity Service (Vigil and Liturgy) at 9 pm on Friday/

Please bring finger food to break the fast after
Liturgy on *Friday night/Saturday morning.
If you’d like to donate money for the flowers for
the Nativity Feast, please contact Irene Dyer.

Vigil at 7 pm on Saturday.
Divine Liturgy at 10 am on Sunday with Hours and Prayers of Preparation at 9 am

Board meeting at 6 pm on Monday, January 2.
Book Study at 10 am on Tuesday (Dec. 3)
Adult education to follow Vespers on Thursday (with potluck dinner)

Looking forward:
Bishop Maxim will visit Eugene on January 13-14.
We will have the Hierarchical Liturgy at 10 am on Saturday, January 14.
The Bishop will arrive and vest at 9:30 am.
Please come to the church around 9:15 am to greet him on his arrival.
There will be trapeza after the Liturgy.
Please consider bringing wine or dessert or a side dish.

On January 15 our parish is invited to St. Stephen’s church in
(Milwaukie) Portland to celebrate their Feast day.
There will be Typika at St. John’s that Sunday.

Here is the schedule for this week, December 5 – 11:

Matins: Monday at 6 am; Wednesday & Thursday at 7 am
Vespers: Monday – Thursday at 5:30 pm
Vigil: Saturday at 7 pm
Divine Liturgy: Sunday at 10 am with Hours and Prayers of Preparation at 9 am

Book Study at 10 am on Tuesday
Adult education class to follow Vespers on Thursday (with potluck dinner)

Church Board meeting at 7 pm on Tuesday, Dec. 6

Caroling at 6:30 on Sunday, Dec. 11 at Jaquettes.

Confessions: Fr. David will be in Eugene next week. If you need to confess sooner, please contact Fr. Jerry at (541)852-0143.

Looking ahead:
Sunday, Dec. 18, 5:30 pm, St. Nicholas Celebration: Vespers, St. Nicholas story, Christmas tree decoration, potluck desserts

Saturday, Dec. 17, 10:00 am, Parish Discussion, Fr. Timothy Pavlatos, facilitator.

The December calendar
is now available at
the St. John calendar page:
http://stjohnthewonderworker.org/our-calendar/

This week’s schedule, November 28th – December 4th:

Matins at 7 am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Vespers at 5:30 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Akathist at 5:30 pm on Friday
Vigil at 7 pm on Saturday
Typika at 10 am on Sunday (Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos)

Book Study at 10 am on Tuesday
Adult Education after Vespers on Thursday

First Saturday Breakfast food preparation at 2:30 pm on Friday;
Breakfast service at 8 am – 12 noon on Saturday.
Work Party: outdoors starting at 9 am and indoors at 10 am on Saturday.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Here is the second article I want to share with you.
An excerpt from a letter of Elder Joseph the Hesychast,
it reminds us not to hide sorrow in our hearts,
because “sorrow and despondency are the joy of the evil one.”

It is very expedient for us all to be reminded of the importance
of deep repentance and confession. Godly sorrow leads to repentance and
deep repentance leads to an outpouring of Grace, expelling the sorrow.

We wish you all a joyous Thanksgiving.

With love in Christ,
Fr. David

please click the link below:

elder-joseph-struggle-and-repentance

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the course of every week, I run across several good articles that are worth sharing.
Below is a letter from Abbess Michaila that stresses the need to maintain a grateful heart,
even when we are feeling “alone, deprived, unloved, hurting from a broken heart,
or in physical pain that seems beyond our strength to bear”, in times of trial and testing,
such as the  church is currently experiencing.  It is especially important to cultivate an
atmosphere of forgiveness, thankfulness to God and gratitude for each other.

I will send an excerpt from a letter
of Elder Joseph the Hesychast in a second message.
With love in Christ,
Fr. David

———————————————————————————

Dear Friends in Christ,

We would like to share with you briefly the edifying account of a saint: Nikiforos the Leper. (A beautifully adorned, inspiring book about him has just been published by the Monastery of the Life Giving Spring, in Dunlap, California.) He was born on the island of Crete at the close of the ninteenth century, in a poor but pious village, and was orphaned when very young. At the age of thirteen, his grandfather-guardian sent him to the city of Chania to learn a trade, so as to be able to support himself. Young, lost in a big city, without having known the embraces of his own parents, he soon faced a yet greater sorrow. He began to notice spots on his skin and recognized it as the most dread disease of leprosy. Thirteen years old, alone, with no one in whom he could confide. What to do?? He hid the sores for a number of years, under the torment of hoping no one would notice. The fear was real. Had the authorities discovered him he would have been sent to the Spinalonga leper colony, known as the grave of the living dead. Persecution, isolation, life-long confinement…When his sores on his face and hands became more visible, he fled to Alexandria, Egypt. Affliction and worry were his constant companions. Enlightened by God, our pious young sufferer, now aged 24, revealed his secret to the hierarch of Alexandria who was also from Crete. Wasting no time, this fatherly shepherd contacted his friend, the future saint Anthimos, who was the priest of the leper colony on Chios. As a note, Fr. Anthimos, as was found out later, paid a hefty fee of 30 gold coins which were required in order to receive this young leper (a requirement for anyone who was not a native of Chios). Fr. Anthimos had painstakingly earned this money for the foundation of a much-desired monastery, but instead gave it for our future saint.

Fr. Anthimos had lovingly transformed this leper colony into a spiritual paradise. Instead of the blasphemous screams of the lepers, he nurtured the tormented inhabitants into a devout community of Christians. It was here that our young sufferer was sent. Fr. Anthimos tonsured him a monk and gave him the name Nikiforos; and the latter became his true spiritual son. Who can say that God doesn’t hear?? Look at the blessings in the life of this young man. Even though he endured such a heavy burden of sorrows—being orphaned, alone, an outcast, considered unclean and unfit for human society, in physical pain and affliction from the disease—yet our Lord brought him to the feet of a true man of God. From Fr. Anthimos, Nikiforos learned how to pray, even in the midst of his physical afflictions, which unfolded as a life-long martyrdom. Rotting skin, maimed limbs, nearly blind…. And through his pain, he became an icon of meekness, an example of patience equal to Job, and a comfort to all those around him. After his death, his relics (even small particles of them) are fragrant. Who can judge? Did the Lord not love him, for allowing such a painful and dread disease? How can we not see that his afflictions were a most sacred ladder leading to heaven? And now, following in the footsteps of Christ, this “outcast” has the uncanny gift of being so approachable, and ready to intercede for others like us in our comparatively small pains and sorrows, as if taking our own “unbearable” pain upon himself.

It seemed fitting to share this life as we head into the month wherein our nation celebrates Thanksgiving.

Living in an affluent country, most give thanks (assuming they do) from their abundance. Our forbears who celebrated the first Thanksgiving pulled together out their meager want what little they had and thus offered their thanks to the Lord. Would we, if we had even just half of our current creature comforts, offer sincere thanks? Along with our gratitude, do we humbly acknowledge that we have been given more than our fair share? And, striking to the heart of the matter, are we able to maintain a grateful heart during those times when we feel alone, deprived, unloved, hurting from a broken heart, or in physical pain that seems beyond our strength to bear? A prayer of gratitude at such times shines with the brilliance of the widow’s mite, valued so highly by our Lord.

One can only imagine that St. Nikiforos had cultivated a grateful heart in the midst of his extreme trials.

This is evident by the letter of recommendation offered by the hierarch of Alexandria to St. Anthimos, describing the young man’s noble character, and also by the grace that emanated from him as he consoled all those around him.

Wishing you the intercessions of this comforting saint, who in his life was hidden like a treasure from the eyes of the world. May his prayers penetrate our hardened hearts that we may offer genuine gratitude each day for the blessings therein, including those that are hidden from our earthly understanding but known to our Lord, the true Knower of Hearts.

With abundant blessings,

Abbess Michaila

 

Friends of the Monastery

St. Paisuis Orthodox Monastery

of the Serbian Orthodox Church

P.O. Box 1075, Suffered, Az. 85548

Tel: (928) 348-4900

End of October, 2016

Matins: Monday at 6 am, Wednesday at 7 am.
Vespers: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday at 5:30 pm.
Akathist of Thanksgiving: Thursday at 5:30 pm.
Vigil: Saturday at 7 pm. Fr. Athanasius will be available for confessions.
Divine Liturgy: Sunday at 10 am. with Hours and Prayers of preparation at 9 am.
Book study: Tuesday at 10 am.

Adult education classes will resume the following week.

Services for this week:
Matins at 7 am on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Vespers at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
An Akathist reading at 5:30 pm on Monday.
Vigil at 7 pm on Saturday.
Divine Liturgy at 10 am Sunday morning.

Classes:
“Life in Christ” Book study at 10 am on Tuesday.
Adult Education Class after Vespers on Thursday.

Church Board meeting is at 7 pm on Tuesday.

There will be NO Vigil this Friday, November 11;
and NO Divine Liturgy at 9 am on Saturday, November 12.
There still will be Vespers at 7 pm on Saturday, November 12, and
Typika at 10 am on Sunday, November 13.

Fr. James Baglien had to CANCEL due to the flu.