Church New Year - The First Ecumenical Council decreed that the Church’s year should begin on September 1st.  The month of September was, for the Jews, the beginning of the civil year, the month of the gathering of fruits and the bringing to God of sacrifices of thanksgiving.  For a long time, the civil year in the Christian world was reckoned in the same way as the Church’s year, from September 1st but it was later changed to January 1st,  first in western Europe and then also in Russia in the time of Peter the Great.

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy - "O Lord Jesus Christ, help us to purify ourselves by Thy Blood and Thy Spirit, that we may be made worthy of Thy royal gifts.  To Thee   be glory and praise for ever.  Amen." 

Sunday Divine Liturgy - "When the women disciples of the Lord learned from the angel the joyous message of Thy Resurrection; they cast away the ancestral curse and elatedly told the apostles:  Death is overthrown!  Christ God is risen, granting the world great mercy."  (Troparion - Tone 4)

Great Vespers with Litya - "Your Nativity, O Virgin, has proclaimed joy to the whole  universe!  The Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, has shown from you, O Theotokos!  By annulling the curse, He bestowed a blessing.  By destroying death, He has granted us eternal life."  (Troparon - Tone 4)

Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos - Divine Liturgy - "By your Nativity, O most pure Virgin, Joachim and Anna are freed from barrenness;  Adam and Eve, from the corruption of death.  And we, thy people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you:  The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the Nourisher of our Life."  (Kontakion - Tone 4) 

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy - "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."   (Mat 6:33-34)

General Confession following Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy.

Afterfeast of the Natrivity of the Mother of God - Divine Liturgy - "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior!  For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed." 

Enlightener Deadline - Please be sure to give Barbara articles for next month's Enlightener by this date.

Great Vespers with Litya - “Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy Holy Resurrection, we glorify.”

Elevation of the Precious Cross - Divine Liturgy - Ardently desiring to find the Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Saint Constantine sent his mother, the pious Empress Helen to Jerusalem, providing her with a letter to Saint Macarius, Patriarch of Jerusalem.  After a long search, the miraculous discovery of the Cross was made by Empress Helen and Saint Macarius.  Soon christians came in a huge  throng to venerate the Holy Cross, beseeching Saint Macarius to elevate the Cross, so that even those far off might reverently contemplate it.  Then the Patriarch and other spiritual leaders raised up the Holy Cross, and the people, saying "Lord have mercy," reverently prostrated before the Venerable Wood.  This solemn event occurred in the year 326.   

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy - "O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.  To Thee, O Lord, will I call.   O my God, be not silent to me."  (Prokeimenon Psalm 28)

Sunday Divine Liturgy - "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the heavenly God.  He will say to the Lord:  My Protector and my Refuge; my God, in whom I trust."    (Alleluia Verses Psalm 91) 

Trustees' Meeting for September. 

Great Vespers for Sunday Divine Liturgy - Tomorrow we commemorate the New Martyrs of Alaska on the anniversary of the arrival of the Russian missionaries in Alaska in 1794.   We remember the New Martyrs Saint Peter the Aleut, Protomartyr of America, and Saint Juvenal.

Sunday Divine Liturgy - Commemoration of the New Martyrs of America - "Today Alaska rejoices and America celebrates, for the new world has been sanctified by martyrdom.  Kodiak echoes with songs of thanksgiving.  Iliamna and Kenai observe the festival of faith.  The Apostle and martyr Juvenaly is glorified, and Peter the Aleut is exalted by his voluntary sacrifice.  In their devotion and love for the Lord, they willingly endured persecution and death for the Truth.  Now in the Kingdom of heaven they intercede for our souls!"    (Troparion Tone 4)

Long time parishioner of St. John's, Edward Junda, fell asleep in the Lord on September 27, 2017. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for many years and served meticulously as a controller and treasurer of the church. Ed knew and was friends with everyone and was always available to gladly help at any time. He and his beloved wife, Rose, who predeceased him in 2007, were devoted to St. John's Church and their presence was visible at every service and event. His and his wife's past efforts and love of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America have enabled us to continue our chapter's existence to this day. We who knew him as a fellow member of the Passaic "O" Club are grateful for his diligence as treasurer of the club, a positon in which he served for decades.  They both were dedicated to the organization and made many friends whom they cherished throughout the New Jersey District and nationally. As long as he was able, he continued to visit our parish; and we all missed him when he was no longer able to be in our presence.  He was predeceased by a son, John,in 2014. Ed is survived by a son, Joseph and his wife, Jennifer and grandchilden, Kyle and Brielle; a daughter-in-law, Nancy and grandchildren, Anastasia and Alexander; and brother, Michael Junda of Newnan, Ga.     "Do Thou the Lord, give rest to the soul of Thy departed servant, Edward, in a place of brightness, a place of refreshment, a place of repose, where all sickness, sorrow, and sighing have fled away.  Pardon every transgression which he hath committed whether by word or deed, or thought."   Memory Eternal!   Viewing is on Sunday Oct. 1, 2017, from 4 to 8 p.m., with Panikhida at 7 p.m., at J.C. Fila Lexington Memorial Home, 340 Lexington Ave., Clifton, NJ.  Funeral is Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, at 10 a.m., at St. John's R.O. Church in Passaic.  Interment is in East Ridgelawn Cemetery, Clifton.  Pictures of Edward are posted in the Photo Gallery.   Full obituary can be found here: http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starledger/obituary.aspx?pid=186810426

Great Vespers with Litya for the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos - The Feast of the Protection commemorates the appearance of the most holy Theotokos in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople in the early sixth century, as recorded in the life of Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ’s sake.  While the multitudes of the faithful were gathered in church, Epiphanius, the friend of Saint Andrew, through the Saint’s prayers, beheld the Virgin Mary above the faithful and spreading out her veil over them, signifying her unceasing protection of all Christians.  Because of this we keep a yearly feast of gratitude, imploring our Lady never to cease sheltering us in her mighty prayers.   (From the Great Horologion.)