Divine Liturgy for the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos - “Today the faithful celebrate the feast with joy illumined by your coming, O Mother of God. Beholding your pure image we fervently cry to you: “Encompass us beneath the precious veil of your protection; deliver us from every form of evil by entreating Christ, your Son and our God that He may save our souls.”   (Troparion Tone 4)

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy - "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."      (Rom 8:38-39)

Holy Apostle Thomas - Thomas was a poor fisherman. When he heard Jesus he followed Him and became one of the twelve Apostles. Because he doubted the Resurrection of the Lord Christ, the Risen Lord appeared to His disciples after His passion on the Cross, to convince Thomas. The Lord said to Thomas: “Reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side; and be not faithless, but believing”, and Thomas cried: “My Lord and my God” (John 20) After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Thomas went to India. There he converted many and established a Church. Before he was martyred, he returned to Jerusalem for the funeral of the most Holy Mother of God. Arriving late, he grieved bitterly and, at his request, the tomb of the Most Pure was opened, but the body was not there; the Lord had taken His Mother to His heavenly home. Thus St. Thomas first, by his unbelief, confirmed the faith in the Resurrection of the Lord and then, by his late arrival, revealed to us the wondrous glorification of the Theotokos.

The Holy Apostle Jacob (James), the son of Alphaeus and one of the twelve Great Apostles, was the brother of the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew. He was a witness of the words and miracles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and a witness of His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, it fell to the Apostle James to preach in Egypt where he suffered for his Savior and was eventually crucified.   However, his labors and his zeal were crowned with great success and he founded many churches, and priests and bishops.

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy - Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council - The Church remembers the 350 Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, summoned by the Empress Irene, and who met at Nicaea from September 24 to October 13, 787. Patriarch Tarasius (commemorated on February 25) presided. The council ended almost fifty years of iconoclast persecution and established the veneration of the holy icons as basic to the belief and spirituality of Christ's Church. It upheld the possibility of depicting Christ, Who became man and took flesh at His Incarnation. The Father, on the other hand, cannot be represented in His eternal nature, because “no man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).

Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical council - "Most glorious are You, O Christ our God! You have established the Holy Fathers as lights on the earth! Through them you have guided us to the true faith! O greatly Compassionate One, glory to You!"    (Troparion Tone 8)

Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke - Born in Antioch, he applied himself in his youth to the study of Greek philosophy, medicine and art. At one time, he travelled to Jerusalem and there saw and heard the Savior face to face. He was a witness of His wonderful works. Believing in the Lord, St. Luke was included among the Seventy and set forth to preach the Gospel. Together with Cleopas, he saw the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). After the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, Luke returned to Antioch and there became a worker with the Apostle Paul. After the death by martyrdom of the great Apostle Paul, Luke travelled all over Italy, Dalmatia, Macedonia and elsewhere preaching. He also at this time wrote three icons of the Theotokos and of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and is regarded as the founder of Christian iconography. In his old age, he wrote both his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He was 84 years old when he was tortured and hung from an olive tree in the town of Thebes.

Memorial Saturday  -   Our God “is not the God of the dead but the God of the living.” (Mk. 12:27) Our greatest joy is our belief in Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection of all in Him. And the Church’s constant prayer for the departed members is thus the affirmation that they are still alive in Christ, that we are all united in God’s love, that, in the words of St. Paul – “neither death, nor life…shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38) (Rt. Rev. Alexander Schmemann)

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy followed by General Confession.    No unity with God is possible except by an exceedingly great love. This we can see from the story of the woman in the Gospel, who was a sinner; God in His great mercy granted her the forgiveness of her sins and a firm union with Him, “for she loved much.” (Luke 47) (From The Art of Prayer)

Trustees' Meeting following Coffee Hour  -  "So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don’t give up, we will in due time reap the harvest. Therefore, as the opportunity arises, let us do what is good to everyone, and especially to the family of those who are trustingly faithful."    (Gal 6:9-10)

Holy Apostle James Brother of the Lord  -  The Holy Apostle James, the Lord’s Brother - James was devoted to the Lord Jesus. As soon as he heard Christ’s teaching, he began to live by it. He often kept a vigil of prayer at night. The Lord included him among His Seventy apostles, appearing to him after His glorious Resurrection. He was bishop in Jerusalem for thirty years, and governed the Church of God with great faith and enthusiasm. He composed the first Liturgy, which was far too long for later Christians and was shortened by St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. He brought many Jews And Greeks to the Christian faith, and even unbelieving Jews marveled at his justice. At the age of 63, he was told by the Jewish elders to climb up on a rooftop and preach against Christ. He climbed up but once there, preached to the people about Christ as the Son of God and the true Messiah, and of His Resurrection and eternal glory in heaven. This infuriated the elders and they threw him off the roof and beat him to death. Thus he died a martyr’s death and entered into the Kingdom of his Lord.

Great Martyr Demetrios the Myrrh-Flowing and Wonder Worker - He was a Christian and the son of the military commander of Thessalonica in the early fourth century. When his father died, Demetrios was appointed by Emperor Maximian to follow him. Instead Demetrios preached Christianity and confessed his beliefs. He was then placed in a cell. An angel of God appeared to Demetrios telling him to be brave. Soldiers soon came into his cell and killed him with spears. Christians buried him, and his relics began producing a healing fragrant myrrh. A small church was built over his relics, and when a nobleman was healed there of an incurable disease, the nobleman built a much larger church there. He is commemorated each year on October 26.

Great Martyr Demetrios the Myrrh-Flowing and Wonder Worker - He was a Christian and the son of the military commander of Thessalonica in the early fourth century. When his father died, Demetrios was appointed by Emperor Maximian to follow him. Instead Demetrios preached Christianity and confessed his beliefs. He was then placed in a cell. An angel of God appeared to Demetrios telling him to be brave. Soldiers soon came into his cell and killed him with spears. Christians buried him, and his relics began producing a healing fragrant myrrh. A small church was built over his relics, and when a nobleman was healed there of an incurable disease, the nobleman built a much larger church there. He is commemorated each year on October 26.

Sunday Divine Liturgy  -  "May the Lord hear thee in the day of trouble!   May the Name of the God of Jacob protect thee!"  (Psalm 19:2)