John Simmons

Get Ready. Here It Comes!

St Nicholas Orthodox Church in Saratoga, is going to have a "Fill That Goodwill Truck!!" event on Saturday, Nov. 11th from 9:00am - 2:00pm. We are going to try to fill a Goodwill Semi-trailer with donated items. You may have seen Goodwill's trailers around town accepting donations. Well, we are going to have one at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church! If we can "Fill That Truck" we will receive up to $900. So please look around your house and see if you have any items you can donate. A list of acceptable items and ones NOT acceptable is listed on the Goodwill webpage (link below), along with other information. Try to put your items in boxes, so we can Stack 'em High and "Fill That Truck"!

Please pass the word to your friends and neighbors. Every little bit helps.

Click here to download a flyer

FAQs:

1. Space: If possible, keep your items at your home until Saturday, Nov. 11th. There is limited space at St. Nicholas in the hall. Please pack your items in boxes, so we can Stack 'em High and Fill That Truck!
2. Taxes: If you can itemize charitable donations on your income tax return form 1040 (it's harder these days), just ask the Goodwill attendant to give you a receipt (St. Nicholas will not have any).
3. What to donate: Since the amount of funds we receive is determined by weight, please concentrate on heavy things: books, shoes and boots, clothes, belts, dishes (Mark the box Fragile), etc. No furniture will be accepted, but small appliances are ok. E-Waste is also accepted. See below. (Please label the box(es) well as 'E-Waste'.)
4. Condition: Only donate things you would consider buying. No dirty, stained, cracked, or non-functional things (E-Waste is ok). Goodwill no longer fixes anything, so no broken appliances. Shoes & boots should be in good condition, no worn down heels. Please clean them before donating.
5. E-Waste: They also accept E-Waste: computer printers, monitors, hard drives, keyboards, VCRs, audio equipment, etc. Please mark the outside of the box, clearly on three or four sides, so there's no confusion. (We don't want anyone to accidentally buy a broken VCR.)
6. Parking: As you know we have limited parking at St. Nicholas. Please be patient and extra careful when parking and leaving. We don't want any of our friends and neighbors to get a ding in their fender.

Above is a flyer to pass around. Goodwill has a FAQ webpage with more information, and farther down on the page, is a list of which items can be donated:
https://donationdrive.goodwillsv.org/frequently-asked-questions/

If you'd like to help the day of the event,
please contact: Elizabeth Pilipenko: lpilipen@yahoo.com

Thank you ahead of time for your donations!
Elizabeth Pilipenko (408) 972-7999 for
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
14220 Elva Ave.
Saratoga, CA 95070
st-nicholas@earthlink.net

Don't Forget November 11th.
Let's - Fill That Truck!!!

THE FEAST OF THE PROTECTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

The feast day celebrates the appearance of the Mother of God in Constantinople at Blachernae (Vlaherna) in the tenth century. At the end of St. Andrew of Constantinople) Yurodivyi's life, he, with his disciple St. Epiphanius, and a group of people, saw the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, and several other saints and angels during a vigil in the Church of Blachernae, nearby the city gates. The Blachernae Palace church was where several of her relics were kept. The relics were her robe, veil, and part of her belt that had been transferred from Palestine during the fifth century.

The Theotokos approached the center of the church, knelt down and remained in prayer for a long time. Her face was drowned in tears. Then she took her veil off and spread it over the people as a sign of protection. During the time, the people in the city were threatened by a barbarian invasion. After the appearance of the Mother of God, the danger was averted and the city was spared from bloodshed and suffering.

The icon of the feast, shows the Theotokos standing above the faithful with her arms outstretched in prayer and draped with a veil. On both sides of her are angels. On the lower right of most icons of this feast, are saints Andrew and his disciple Epiphanius who saw this vision of the Mother of God, with the twelve apostles, bishops, holy women, monks and martyrs, spreading her veil in protection over the congregation. St. Epiphanius is wearing a tunic under his cloak and gestures in astonishment at the miraculous appearance, while St. Andrew, Fool-for-Christ, is dressed only in a cloak.

Below the Theotokos, in the center of the icon, stands a young man with a halo, he is clothed in a deacon's sticharion. In his left hand, he is holding an open scroll with the text of the Kontakion for Nativity in honor of the Mother of God. This is St. Romanus the Melodist, the famous hymnographer whose feast is also celebrated on the same day, October 1. He is with his choir attended by the Emperor Leo the Wise together with the Empress and the Patriarch of Constantinople.

"How mistaken are those people who seek happiness outside of themselves, in foreign lands and journeys, in riches and glory, in great possessions and pleasures, in diversions and vain things, which have a bitter end! In the same thing to construct the tower of happiness outside of ourselves as it is to build a house in a place that is consistently shaken by earthquakes. Happiness is found within ourselves, and blessed is the man who has understood this. Happiness is a pure heart, for such a heart becomes the throne of God. Thus says Christ of those who have pure hearts: "I will visit them, and will walk in them, and I will be a God to them, and they will be my people." (II Cor. 6:16) What can be lacking to them? Nothing, nothing at all! For they have the greatest good in their hearts: God Himself!

(St. Nektarios of Aegina, Path to Happiness, 1)

"The Lord loves all people, but He loves those who seek Him even more. To his chosen ones the Lord gives such great grace that for love they forsake the whole earth, the whole world, and their souls burn with desire that all people might be saved and see the glory of the Lord.”

(St. Silouan the Athonite, Writings, IX.8)

"As it is impossible to verbally describe the sweetness of honey to one who has never tasted honey, so the goodness of God cannot be clearly communicated by way of teaching if we ourselves are not able to penetrate into the goodness of the Lord by our own experience."
(St. Basil the Great, Conversations on the Psalms, 29)

"Having God, fear nothing, but cast all of your care upon Him, and He will take care of you. Believe undoubtingly, and God will help you in accordance with His mercy.”

(St. Barsanuphius the Great, Instructions, 166)

Here are some "Transfiguration" Fun Facts!

• The “Taboric” light (the light seen on Mt. Tabor) is also called “uncreated light".
  • Adam and Eve were covered by it until the fall. Some holy fathers indicated that the loss of the uncreated light which clothed them is why they became aware of their nakedness.
  • This was also what was seen in the burning bush by Moses, and later, on the face of Moses after coming down from Mt. Sinai.
  • It has also been seen many times since.
• Why do Orthodox Icons look so different? The main two reasons is :
  • A perspective painting creates a realistic portrayal of 3D space, but one in which the observer is outside the picture, and the infinite is hidden past the vanishing point. An Icon uses inverse perspective which places infinity inside of the viewer, who is included in the picture.
  • Icons use gold and other highly reflective colors that symbolize uncreated light.
• Uncreated light has been experienced throughout Church History. Some recent examples:
  • St. Seraphim of Sarov: https://luminousdarkcloud.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/st-seraphim-of-sarov-and-the-vision-of-the-uncreated-light/
  • Fr. Adrian Rymarenko (later Archbishop Andrei of New York) saw Elder Nectary of Optina completely covered in a flame while he read from the Gospels.
  • St. John of San Francisco was in the altar after a liturgy. His solitude was accidentally disturbed by someone who went to give him a message, who saw him bathed in light....about a foot off the ground.
  • Fr. George Calciu (whom I met) experienced the uncreated light in Romanian Concentration camps. He said that it cast no shadow, and was accompanied by healing of body and soul.
  • (Here is an account that includes Fr. George's experience of the uncreated light by Frederica Mathewes-Greene.  I was present at the talk described).

The uncreated light is experienced by many saints after profound repentance and purification. So we can be encouraged to do the work and run the race of repentance, knowing that enlightenment is ready.

Troparion (main hymn) of Transfiguration:

“Thou was transfigured upon the mount O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. Make Thine everlasting light shine also upon us sinners. Through the prayers of the Theotokos, of giver of light, glory to Thee!”

---Reader John

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What is a Parish Feast Day?

All Orthodox churches are dedicated to the worship of God, of course, and when Christians first became able to build churches they built them on holy sites associated with events in scripture, the life of Christ, or over the tombs of the martyrs. And if there was no holy site at hand, nonetheless a church would be dedicated in the name of Christ, the Mother of God, a Saint, or an event marked on the church calendar. We continue this tradition to this day. It is interesting to reflect how our church calendar is a sort of memory system, keeping the rich and growing history of God's self-revelation before our eyes.
In short, our churches always have their own special feast day. This is sometimes called the altar feast, or the parish feast day, or the patronal feast. Churches specifically dedicated to the Holy Trinity, for example, have their feast day at Pentecost. A church dedicated to St. Nicholas (like ours!) might celebrate its feast on December 6 - or, since this date falls in the Nativity Fast, on the 'Spring Feast' of St. Nicholas on May 9th. Churches dedicated to the Resurrection do not celebrate their parish feast at Pascha, but on September 13th, the commemoration of the dedication of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. Some churches have double dedications. For example, the famous Russian Cathedral in London, the long-time home of the late Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), is dedicated to the Mother of God and has its altar feast on the Dormition, but it also has a further dedication to All Saints, and so, the Sunday of All Saints is also a special day for them. It is known as the Cathedral of the Dormition and All Saints.

The celebration of a parish feast ought to be something special, full of prayer and good fellowship. It is kind of like a birthday party. It is something that every parishioner should participate in, giving thanks to God for our place of worship, for His innumerable mercies to us, for the intercession and protection of our Patron and Father Among Saints, Nicholas the Wonder-worker, on our walk through life, for our parish family, and for our family and friends.

With Christ, Man’s Nature Ascends Also

Archpriest Georges Florovsky

“We who seemed unworthy of the earth, are now raised to heaven,” says Saint John Chrysostom. “We who were unworthy of earthly dominion have been raised to the Kingdom on high, have ascended higher than heaven, have came to occupy the King’s throne, and the same nature from which the angels guarded Paradise, stopped not until it ascended to the throne of the Lord.” By His Ascension the Lord not only opened to man the entrance to heaven, not only appeared before the face of God on our behalf and for our sake, but likewise “transferred man” to the high places. “He honored them He loved by putting them close to the Father.” God quickened and raised us together with Christ, as Saint Paul says, “and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephes. 2:6). Heaven received the inhabitants of the earth. “The First fruits of them that slept” sits now on high, and in Him all creation is summed up and bound together. “The earth rejoices in mystery, and the heavens are filled with joy.”

“The terrible ascent....” Terror-stricken and trembling stand the angelic hosts, contemplating the Ascension of Christ. And trembling they ask each other, “What is this vision? One who is man in appearance ascends in His body higher than the heavens, as God.”

Thus the Service for the Feast of the Ascension depicts the mystery in a poetical language. As on the day of Christ’s Nativity the earth was astonished on beholding God in the flesh, so now the Heavens do tremble and cry out. “The Lord of Hosts, Who reigns over all, Who is Himself the head of all, Who is preeminent in all things, Who has reinstated creation in its former order—He is the King of Glory.” And the heavenly doors are opened: “Open, Oh heavenly gates, and receive God in the flesh.” It is an open allusion to Psalms 24:7-10, now prophetically interpreted. “Lift up your heads, Oh ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty....” Saint Chrysostom says, “Now the angels have received that for which they have long waited, the archangels see that for which they have long thirsted. They have seen our nature shining on the King’s throne, glistening with glory and eternal beauty.... Therefore they descend in order to see the unusual and marvelous vision: Man appearing in heaven.”