Annoucnements for August 30 – September 5
Sunday, August 30th, 2009Today: Matins, Divine Liturgy, Pot-Luck
Tuesday: 6:00 pm Vespers
Thursday: 6:00 pm Vespers; Choir
Saturday: 6:00 pm Vespers, Panikhida
Sunday: 8:30 am Matins; 9:30 am Divine Liturgy & Brunch
Please Note:
There’s been a proposal that we hold a Fall Parish-Wide Work Party for Saturday, September 12 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. This is the first one since Lent and will be the only one until early December. We very much appreciate all the work that individuals and small groups have done since Pascha. Please take this opportunity to come, work with each other, get to know those parishioners who you don’t really know (yet), and help beautify our church, our grounds, and tidy-up the hall. Thanks.
The Semi-Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, September 27. The Agenda will be available next week. Plan to attend. (The 27th will also be a Pot-Luck Sunday.)
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From the Lives of the Saints:
St John the Baptist — Commemoration of his martyrdom, August 29, 2009
According to tradition, the frenzied Herodias buried his holy head in an unclean place. But Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, buried John’s head in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. John’s body was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia.
After the murder of the Forerunner, Herod continued to govern. The judgment of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way in such a way that her body was in the water, but her head was trapped above the ice. Similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now she flailed helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck.
Her corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of the Baptist. Eventually Herod suffered the wrath of the Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first to Gaul, and then to Spain.
The Beheading of St John the Baptist, a Feast day established by the Church, is also a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. In some Orthodox cultures pious people will not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat food that is round in shape on this day.
