Beloved brothers and sisters,
This is Community Bulletin #52 of Saint Ignatius Parish in Belfast
Contents of this Bulletin:
- This Week in the Life of the Church: Services in Church this weekend
- A Pastoral Word: What matters
- Announcements: YAM Bible Study this Saturday
This Week in the Life of the Church
God willing, this coming weekend we will meet again in the Church for the celebration of the Divine Services. It will be a particularly joyful occasion as on Sunday, 8th November we celebrate the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the other Bodiless Powers. Several people in our parish bear the names of Angels, and will be celebrating their name days.
Ahead of the Great Vespers this weekend, our youth from YAM Belfast will also continue exploration of the Gospel of St Luke in the YAM Bible Study group led by Carsten Lorenz.
The schedule for the weekend is as follows:
Saturday, 7th November:
– 3:30 pm – YAM Bible Study
– 5:00 pm – Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia followed by the confessions and fellowship
Sunday, 8th November:
– 10:00 am – Orthros
– 11:00 am – Divine Liturgy followed by the parish lunch and fellowship
Confessions
Fr Dmitry will be available for confessions on Saturday after the Great Vespers, and on Sunday between 8:30 and 9:45 am.
Location: Cullen Memorial Hall, Methodist Complex, 381 Donegall Road, Belfast, BT12 6GR
Come and see!
Saints and Feasts of the Week
*The saints named here accompany the days of the week as living witnesses of Christ. Only the principal saint or feast of each day is listed here, in keeping with the liturgical order of the Church.
- Sunday, 1st of November – 5th Sunday of Luke, Cosmas and Damian the Holy Unmercenaries of Asia
- Monday, 2nd of November – Gabriel the New Confessor of Georgia
- Tuesday, 3rd of November – Holy Martyrs Acepsimas the bishop, Joseph the presbyter, and Aithalas the deacon, of Persia
- Wednesday, 4th of November – St. Ioannikios the Great of Bithynia
- Thursday, 5th of November – Holy Martyrs Galacteon and his wife, Epistemis, at Emesa (Homs)
- Friday, 6th of November – Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople
- Saturday, 7th of November – Bishop Raphael () of Brooklyn
- Sunday, 8th of November – 7th Sunday of Luke, The Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers
Hymns of the Week
*The hymns listed here are those that shape the prayer of the Church for the week, following the liturgical order and hierarchy. They are offered as an aid to prayer and may be used, as each is able, in personal prayer or a simple prayer rule at home.
RESURRECTIONAL APOLYTIKION IN TONE FIVE
Let us believers praise and worship the Word; coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation. For, He took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh to suffer death; and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection.
APOLYTIKION OF ST. RAPHAEL OF BROOKLYN IN TONE THREE
Rejoice, O Father Raphael, adornment of the holy Church! Thou art champion of the True Faith, seeker of the lost, consolation of the oppressed, father to orphans and friend of the poor, peacemaker and good shepherd, joy of all the Orthodox, son of Antioch, boast of America. Intercede with Christ God for us and for all who honor thee.
APOLYTIKION OF THE ARCHANGELS IN TONE FOUR
Supreme Commanders of the Hosts of the Heavens, * we, the unworthy, importune and beseech you * that by your supplications ye encircle us * in the shelter of the wings * of your immaterial glory; * guarding us who now fall down * and cry to you with fervor: * Deliver us from dangers of all kinds, * as the great marshals of the heavenly hosts on high.
ORDINARY KONTAKION IN TONE TWO
O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant, O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be thou quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplication, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.
Epistle and Gospel Readings:
*The Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday that begins the current liturgical week
- Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:27-31; 13:1-8
- Gospel: Luke 16:19-31
The Sunday and daily Scripture readings may be read online via the Archdiocesan website: https://www.antiochian-orthodox.com/calendar
A Pastoral Word: What Matters
Last Sunday, in all Orthodox churches, the faithful heard the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31). It is a frightening parable. We learn at least three important things from this parable.
Firstly, life does not end here on earth. Our souls remain conscious and continue to experience feelings even after their separation from our bodies. I hope that all of us in the Church, whether inquiring into the Orthodox faith or already received into it, know this already. Yet we need to be reminded of it.
When we depart this life, we do not cease to exist. We fall asleep. Our soul separates from the body and enters the spiritual realm, experiencing either blessedness and communion with God, or suffering and separation from Him. There, the soul awaits the universal Resurrection of the dead, when we shall all rise bodily and stand before God at the Last Judgement. Then will come the fullness of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, or eternal punishment.
Secondly, it is how we live here on earth that determines what awaits us after our departure from this world. When the rich man appeals to Abraham from Hades, Abraham replies: “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish” (Luke 16:25). Notice that Christ does not explicitly describe Lazarus as a righteous man or provide us with a list of the rich man’s sins. Perhaps both had done some good and some evil during their lives. We do not know.
What we know is that the rich man enjoyed every comfort in this life, yet failed to show even the simplest mercy to the suffering man lying at his gate. Lazarus, meanwhile, endured terrible suffering, but was received into blessedness. The parable reminds us that earthly prosperity is not evidence of salvation, just as earthly suffering is not evidence of God’s rejection.
Thirdly, after our departure from this life, we lose the opportunity for repentance which God has granted us during our earthly existence. This is perhaps the most frightening lesson of the parable. The rich man, finding himself in Hades, suddenly understands the reality of everything he should have believed and acted upon during his lifetime. He now knows that life continues after death, that our actions have eternal consequences, and that God’s commandments must be taken seriously.
But this recognition comes too late for him to change the life he has already lived. St Paul writes: “For hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24–25). Our earthly life is precisely the time when we are called to believe, to hope, and to act upon what God has revealed to us, even though we do not yet see the fullness of what awaits us.
If we hear and believe, we must act upon that faith: repent of our sins, turn away from evil, and do good in accordance with God’s commandments. Otherwise, the words of Abraham in this parable will apply to us: “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
Perhaps the rich man and Lazarus represent two extremes. Most of us are somewhere between them. The parable is not simply about being rich or poor. It is not about whether you are successful or unsuccessful in your career, whether you have many children, few children, or none at all, whether you enjoy good health or suffer from illness. It is about what we do with everything that God has given us.
Think about the rich man. What would it have cost him to send a servant, just once, to bring Lazarus a proper meal? Almost nothing! A few pennies, perhaps. But he did not do it.
We do not need to become poor or sick to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Nor do wealth, success, health, or prosperity prevent us from entering it. What we need is to love God and the people around us, and to be willing to sacrifice something of ourselves for their benefit and for the glory of God. Whatever our circumstances, we are called to use God’s gifts with love, mercy and thanksgiving, while repenting our sins and changing our lives to come closer to God.
Announcements
- Faith & Fellowship Meeting this week – Join our regular Faith & Fellowship meeting this Wednesday, 4th November, at 7:00 pm on Zoom. After praying Little Compline we will begin our new series of talks on the Book of Genesis. Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/StIgnatiusFellowship
- Meeting 3 of the YAM Bible Study – all young adults of our parish and beyond are warmly invited to the third session of our YAM Bible Study on the Gospel of St Luke, taking place on Saturday, 7th November, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm (before the Great Vespers) Not yet a YAM Member? Complete the registration form here to join: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/xVHJZQvcTJ
- Have you visited our Parish Library yet? Our library offers a growing collection of Orthodox books for adults and children: spiritual classics, lives of the saints, theology, Church history, and books for young readers. A good spiritual book can deepen our understanding of the faith and accompany us in our spiritual life.
You can browse the catalogue and request books online through the parish website. All the information about borrowing books, together with the online request form, can be found here: https://saintignatiusbelfast.org/library
Our librarians, Michael and Porphyrios, will be happy to help if you are looking for something to read. You can contact them at: library@saintignatiusbelfast.org
