St. Mary of Egypt
ORTHODOX CHURCH

Parish News
February 16, 2025
The Prodigal Son
TO OUR VISITORS
Welcome! We hope your time with us is healing and worshipful. Please note that, although we have much respect for other Christian traditions, Holy Communion is reserved for properly prepared members of the Orthodox faith. Everyone is invited to partake of the blessed bread after the conclusion of the Liturgy. May God’s blessing be upon you!
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Hymns in Today’s Liturgy
Resurrectional Apolytikion (Tone 1) While the stone was sealed by the Jews, and the soldiers were guarding Thy most pure body, Thou didst arise on the third day, O Savior, granting life to the world. For which cause the heavenly powers cried aloud unto Thee, O giver of life. Glory to Thy Resurrection, O Christ, glory to Thy kingdom, glory to Thy providence, O Thou Who alone art the lover of mankind.
Apolytikion of Mary of Egypt (Tone 8) Through thee, the divine likeness was securely preserved, O mother Mary; for thou didst carry the cross and follow Christ. By example and precept thou didst teach us to ignore the body, because it is perishable, and to attend to the concerns of the undying soul. Therefore, doth thy soul rejoice with the angels.
Kontakion of the Prodigal Son (Tone 3) Foolishly I sprang away from Thy great fatherly glory, and dispersed in wicked deeds the riches that Thou didst give me. With the Prodigal I therefore cry unto Thee now: I have sinned against Thee, O compassionate Father. But receive me in repentance; make me as one of Thy hired servants, O Lord.
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​THE EPISTLE
I Corinthians 6:12–20
Brethren, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food; but God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two shall become one flesh.” But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
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THE GOSPEL
Luke 15:11–32
The Lord spoke this parable: “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry. Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
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UPCOMING AT ST MARY OF EGYPT
​Monday
Book Study 19:00 @ Online​​​​​
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Tuesday
Christian Education / Catechism 19:00 @ St. Mary​
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​Saturday
Orthros & Divine Liturgy for Saturday of Souls 09:00 @ St. Mary
Great Vespers 18:00 @ St. Mary
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Sunday
Orthros & Divine Liturgy 09:00 @ St. Mary
Special Parish Meeting 12:00 @ St. Mary
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Special Parish Meeting: We will have a special parish meeting on Meatfare Sunday, 2025‑02‑23, to discuss the sale of our current property and the purchase of 14.15 acres on which to place a new church building.
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Pareto Principle: The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, when applied to moving, implies that 80% of the time spent moving is spent on the last 20% of things to move. Given that we may need to be out of our current building as soon as mid-March, we need to have the basement cleared in the next two weeks so that we can then concentrate on emptying the upstairs. If you have personal items in the basement, please remove them as soon as possible.
House Blessings: House blessings are available now until 3 March (Cheesefare Sunday). To schedule one for your home, please contact Charles.
2025 Stewardship: Please fill out both the Pledge Form and the Time & Talent Survey you should have received via e-mail as soon as possible. If you have not completed your pledge form, please do so as soon as possible. If you did not receive them, please e-mail Fr. Peter.
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Saturday of Souls: We will have Orthros & Divine Liturgy for the Saturday of Souls 2025‑02‑22 beginning at 09:00. If you have names of the departed (Orthodox or not) that you would like remembered, please e-mail them to Charles by 2025‑02‑20.
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Meatfare Sunday: Meatfare Sunday is 2025‑02‑23. Please plan to bring a meat dish to share during our potluck meal that day; Group D will provide side dishes. There will be a sign-up sheet posted in the parish hall. Please plan to stay for our special parish meeting that day.
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Cheesefare Sunday: Cheesefare Sunday, a.k.a. Forgiveness Sunday, is on Texas Independence Day, 2025‑03‑02. Please plan to bring a cheese or dairy dish to share during our potluck meal that day. There will be a sign-up sheet posted in the parish hall. Please plan to stay for Forgiveness Vespers immediately following Liturgy that day.
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Coffee Hour: Coffee Hour is our time of fellowship after the Liturgy. This week, group C (led by Amal Hanania) will oversee coffee hour; group D (led by Amal Hanania) will provide side dishes for our Meatfare Sunday potluck next week. If you are not currently in a coffee group and would like to join, please contact Amal.
Lenten Services: Our Lenten services are listed on our Google calendar. These may change depending on what happens with our building.
Confession: As we approach Great Lent, we all need to prayerfully consider going to Confession. Fr. Peter is available before or after services (preferably Vespers on Saturdays) so please let him know when you want to do this. Confessions prior to Pascha need to be done before Palm Sunday. Our Archdiocese strongly recommends that all Orthodox Christians should partake in the Mystery of Confession at least four times a year.
Christian Education: Christian Education classes are held after coffee hour. The adult class meets in the front classroom, the SOYO class (ages 11–18) in the first room at the foot of the stairs in the basement, and the younger class (ages 3–10) in the back classroom.
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Pan-Orthodox Vespers: We have been tasked with bringing canned sodas for the first Pan-Orthodox Vespers this year, 2025‑03‑09 17:00, at St. George in Fishers. There will be a sign-up sheet in the hall.
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Community Dinner: We will be having our next community dinner 2025‑03‑07 17:00–19:00; we need people to make fish, rice, green beans, rolls, fruit, and dessert for 50 people. As always, we need people to volunteer to help with set-up, serving, and cleanup on that day. We especially need men to help set up chafing dishes, etc. For questions, contact Amal at amal@stmaryegypt.org.
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Community Box Pantry: Thanks to everyone who recently donated items for the pantry. We currently have a need for hot cocoa, canned pasta, pasta sauce, helper meals, dry soup mixes, rice/Rice-a-Roni, peanut butter, and oatmeal. We have plenty of ramen for now. Remember: all donated items must be non-perishable, unexpired, and unopened. Also, no dented cans please. If you have questions, please contact Amal.
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PARISH PRAYER REQUESTS
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Living: Archpriest Athanasius; Archpriest Zachariah; Archpriest James; Sdn. Alexander; Sdn. Mark; Abraham; Amber; Andrea; Bonnie; Connie; Deborah; Demetrios; Elen; Elena; Eric; Evgeni; Ezra; Hannah; Joanna; Kathy; Katya; Larry; Lee; Natalia; Robert; Robert; Roye; Sunday; Tanya; Terry; Thomas; Vicki; Wanda; Amira (02‑23); Sergei (02‑25);
Departed: Abp. Anastasios (02‑23); Rdr. Dennis (02‑18); Juliana (02‑18); Yvonne (03‑21)
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​Please, notify Charles of any new prayer requests by Wednesday for inclusion in the bulletin.
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SYNAXARION
On 16 February, in the Holy Orthodox Church, we commemorate the Martyr Pamphilos, priest of Cæsarea in Palestine and his companions; and Venerable Flavian the hermit.
On this day, we make remembrance of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which occurs in the noble Gospel and which our deified Fathers reinstituted in the Triodion.
O thou who art like me, a prodigal, come forward with confidence and tranquility;
For unto all has been opened the door of Divine Mercy.
In the parable our Savior tells, Jesus illustrates three things: the condition of the sinner, the canon of repentance and the knowledge of God’s compassion. For in the person of the prodigal son, we view the wretched condition that sin creates for us, distant from God and His Sacraments. However, we become aware of ourselves and awaken, hastening with hope to return to Him through repentance. Our Savior wants to call back to His mansions all those who have been overtaken by despair, lacking hope of forgiveness for their grave sins. The Father encourages all of his lost children to remove the desperation from their hearts, and revive their energies for virtuous deeds.
Through Thine ineffable love for mankind, O Christ our God, have mercy upon us. Amen.