Saints Cyril & Methodius
Bulgarian Orthodox Mission
(web address: www.bocdc.org)
Meeting
at St. Luke Orthodox Church
6801
Georgetown Pike,
McLean, VA 22101
Righteous forefather Abraham
(Repose Commemorated October 9)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH
Orthodox Church in America
Diocese of Washington
New
Martyr Chryse (Zlata) of Bulgaria (+1795)
(Commemorated
October 13)
New
Martyr Zlata (Chryse) This "golden vessel of virginity and undefiled bride
of Christ," was born in the village of Slatena, Meglena diocese, on the
border of Bulgaria and Serbia, while Bulgaria was under the Turkish Yoke.
From her youth Zlata displayed an
unusually strong character, a firm faith in Christ, and was both chaste and
beautiful. A certain Turk was obsessed with her, and seized her one day as she
was gathering wood. He carried her off to his house, and repeatedly tried to
seduce the maiden and force her to accept Islam. Since persuasion did not work,
he began to threaten her with grievous tortures.
The glorious martyr was not frightened
by these threats, but said she would never deny Christ no matter what they did
to her. For six months the impious Hagarenes tried to make Zlata accept their
religion, but she remained steadfast. Then they ordered the saint's parents and
sisters to convince her to become a Moslem. Otherwise, they said, they would
kill Zlata and torture them.
The parents and sisters of the saint
wept and urged her to deny Christ "just for the sake of appearances,"
so that they all might be spared torments and death. St Zlata was unmoved by
their pleas, and replied, "You who incite me to deny Christ are no longer
my parents and sisters. Instead, I have the Lord Jesus Christ as my father, the
Theotokos as my mother, and the saints as my brothers and sisters!"
When the Moslems saw that they could
not weaken the resolve of the saint, they tormented her for three months,
beating her with clubs. Later, they peeled strips of skin from her body so that
the earth was reddened by her blood. Then they heated a skewer and passed it
through her ears.
Nearby was her spiritual Father, the
hieromonk Timothy of Stavronikita Monastery on Mt. Athos. She sent word to him
to pray that she would successfully complete the course of martyrdom. It was he
who recorded her martyrdom.
Finally, the Moslems fell into a fury
at having been conquered by a woman, so they tied her to a tree and cut her to
pieces with their knives. Her pure soul was received by Christ, Who bestowed on
her the double crowns of virginity and martyrdom. Certain Christians gathered
her relics secretly and buried them with reverence. St Zlata suffered for
Christ in the year 1795.
Schedule of Divine Liturgies at SS Cyril &
Methodius and at St. George
Oct. 25 - Holy Greatmartyr Demetrius of Thessalonica (ca. 306)
Nov. 1 – (Services held at Holy Resurrection Church – St. George
Church)
Nov. 8 - St. Michael the Archangel and the Bodiless Powers of Heaven
Nov. 15 – (Services held at
Holy Resurrection Church – St. George Church)
Nov. 22 - Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple; Righteous Michael of
Bulgaria
Dec. 6 - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (ca. 345)
Dec. 13 – Services held
at Holy Resurrection Church – St. George Church)
Dec. 20 - Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ
Saints Commemorated Today
18th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 1 (3rd
of Luke). Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical
Council. Holy Apostle Philip of the
Seventy, one of the Seven Deacons (1st c.). St. Theophanes the
Confessor and Hymnographer, Bishop of Nicæa (ca. 850). Ven. Theophanes, Faster,
of the Kiev Caves (Near Caves—12th c.). Ven. Leo of Optina
(1841). Synaxis of the Optina elders. Martyrs Zenaïs (Zinaída) and Philonilla,
of Tarsus in Cilicia (1st c.).
† May
Their Memory Be Eternal †
The Archbishop
GREGORY; the Priests Peter, Ishmael, Leo, Homer, Victor, and Thomas; the Matushki
Mary, Platonida, and Barbara; the Readers John, Philemon, John, and Robert
Michael; and the servants of God Alexander, Sophia, Shafik, Michael, Steven,
Christo, Radka, Anna, Dale, Mary, Carmel, Thomas, Vasili, Mary Ellen, Andrew,
Irene, Stamatia, Peter, Steven, Olivera, George, Marianthe, Panaigioti,
Christophor, George, Rada, & Julia.
Those Who Are In Need of Prayer
Priests Milorad,
Photius, Anthony, and Joseph; Presbyteras Marie, Miriam, Artemis, & Marie; Magdelena,
Stephen, Matthew, Oliver, Zell, Charlie, Theresa, Catherine, & Bojanka.
Archimandrite Irénée [Rochon] Consecrated
Bishop of Quebec City
OTTAWA, ON, CANADA [OCA
Communications] -- Ten bishops participated in the episcopal consecration
of Archimandrite Irénée [Rochon] as Bishop of Quebec City and Auxiliary to His
Eminence, Archbishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada, at Annunciation Cathedral
here on Thursday, October 1, 2009.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan
Jonah, presided at the consecration. In addition to Archbishop Seraphim, other
concelebrating members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in
America participating in the consecration were His Eminence, Archbishop
Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate; His Grace, Bishop Benjamin of
San Francisco and the West; His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and
Eastern Pennsylvania; and His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and
Western Pennsylvania.
The consecration took on a
genuinely pan-Orthodox character with the participation of a number of guest
concelebrating hierarchs, including His Eminence, Metropolitan Sotirios of the
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto; His Grace, Bishop Iov of Kashira,
Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and Acting Administrator of
the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA; His Grace, Bishop Alexander of the
Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York; and
His Grace, Bishop Meleti of Khotyn, Auxiliary Bishop of the Church of Ukraine's
Diocese of Chernivtsi.
On Wednesday evening, September
30, the Rite of Nomination, Proclamation, and Acceptance by Archimandrite
Irénée took place at the cathedral immediately before Vigil for the Feast of
the Protection of the Mother of God.
Treasurer Issues 2009 Eight-month Financial Report
SYOSSET,
NY [OCA Communications] -- Father Michael Tassos, outgoing Treasurer of the
Orthodox Church in America, has issued his report of the OCA's finances for the
first eight months of 2009.
The report was initially presented at
the recent joint
meetings of the OCA Holy Synod of Bishops and Metropolitan Council
in September.
In his report, Father Michael addresses
the ongoing issue of legal fees, noting that, while legal expenses for 2009
were initially budgeted at $150,000.00, "however, as we have already spent
approximately $325,000.00 through August, we revised the budgeted figure up to
$450,000.00." Nevertheless, he notes that with adjustments to the budget
made at the recent Meeting of the Metropolitan Council the OCA should be in a
positive cash flow trend at the end of the year.
Looking to 2010, Father Michael states
that, with only a provisional budget passed by the Metropolitan Council for
2010, "nothing definitive was decided. There are many variables that still
need to be considered and it is difficult to predict what exactly is going to
happen with the economy, future legal matters, Church-wide funding, etc."
The Metropolitan Council will again discuss the 2010 budget at its first
meeting of the year, scheduled for February 2010. Father Michael continued by
stating that, "One thing I am certain of, though, is that the Orthodox
Church in America has placed its trust in the very capable financial hands of
[incoming Treasurer] Ms. Melanie Ringa. She is an exceptional individual and I
know that she will be an excellent Treasurer." Melanie Ringa will begin
her work as OCA Treasurer on November 1, 2009.
St. George Bulgarian Church update
The annual summer hiatus
of St. George Bulgarian Orthodox Church (holding services at Holy Resurrection
Carpatho-Russian Church in Potomac, MD) ends with the resumption of services on
November 1. The list of services
is included in the “Schedule of Services” published earlier in this Bulletin.