The first day of September is celebrated as the Ecclesiastical or Church New Year by Orthodox Christians.  The Ecclesiastical New Year serves as the core for our entire liturgical life each and every year  it begins and ends with the life of Mary.  The Nativity of Mary is the first Great Feast of the year, and her Dormition or “falling asleep” is the last.  It is also a day marked by prayers for the environment, reminding us to be good stewards of the world around us. 

We are accustomed to think of January 1st as the beginning of the year,   but the tradition of computing the start of a new year with autumn was common to the lands of the Bible and to all the lands around the Mediterranean.  The summer harvest was at an end, the crops were stored, and people prepared for a new agricultural cycle.  It was an appropriate time to begin a new year.  As the Synaxarion notes, this was also the day Christ entered a synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah.   “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and He went to the synagogue, as His custom was, on the sabbath day. And He stood up to read; and there was given to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-22)

Many of the hymns for the first day of the Church year state that the coming year is God's. These hymns take their idea from Psalm 65, a psalm of praise to the Creator who richly sustains the earth with His abundant goodness. "Bless, O Lord, the crown (the beginning) of the year with Your goodness!"    (Psalm 65:11)

Important to remember are the two major Holy Days in September:  The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos that falls  on Thursday, September 8.  Without a doubt your birthday is important to you. Come to church on September 8 and pray to the Holy Mary, Mother of God, and show her that her birthday is important too.  The second major Holy Day is Wednesday, September 14:   Exaltation of the Precious Cross. This is a strict fast day.   Remember:  “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  (1 Cor 1:18-19)  Do not be one of those “who are perishing,” join us at Divine Liturgy.

Happy Birthday to all those celebrating their birthday in September: Betty Czech, September 1; Fr. Maryan Chaykivsky, Sept 19; Irina Chaykivsky, Sept 24; Jennifer Bzik, September 28; and Janice Pecoraro and Joanne Bzik, both on September 30.

On behalf of St. John’s, Helen Baron, our Food Pantry Coordinator, would like to thank you all for your contributions throughout the summer. God grant you all Many Years! Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Many stores have special fall sales that are worth looking into for non-perishable foods (canned or packaged) to help fill our baskets for our less fortunate neighbors