October; 2009/Monthly Bulletin of the Orthodox V Charitable Association

EditorÛAlona Sergeeva

The Protection of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and

Ever-Virgin Mary.
The Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary,
known in Church Slavonic as Pokrov ("protection"), and in Greek as
6NHSµȈțȑʌȘis a feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern
Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. The feast celebrates the protec-
tion afforded the faithful through the intercessions of the Theotokos (Virgin
Mary). It is one of the most important feasts of the Russian Orthodox
liturgical year. In Russia it is celebrated as the most important solemnity
after the Twelve Great Feasts. The feast is commemorated in Eastern Or-
thodoxy as a whole, but by no means as fervently as it is in Russia and Ukraine.

7KH5XVVLDQZRUG3RNURYOLNHWKH*UHHN6NHSµKDVDFRPSOH[PHDQLQJ)LUVWRIDOOLWUHIHUVWRDFORDN
or shroud, but it also means protection or intercession. For this reason, the name of the feast is variously
translated as the Veil of Our Lady, the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos, the Protection of the Theotokos, or
the Intercession of the Theotokos.

According to Eastern Orthodox Sacred Tradition, the apparition of Mary the Theotokos occurred during the
10th century at the Blachernae church in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) where several of her relics (her
robe, veil, and part of her belt) were kept. On Sunday, October 1 at four in the morning, Andrew Fool-for-
Christ, who was a Slav by birth, saw the dome of the church open and the Virgin Mary enter, moving in
the air above him, glowing and surrounded by angels and saints. She knelt and prayed with tears for all
faithful Christians in the world. The Virgin Mary asked her son, Jesus Christ, to accept the prayers of all the
people entreating him and looking for her protection. Once her prayer was completed, she walked to the
altar and continued to pray. Afterwards, she spread her veil over all the people in the church as a protec-
tion. St Andrew turned to his disciple, St. Epiphanius, who was standing near him, and asked, "Do you see,
brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?" Epiphanius answered, "Yes, Holy Father, I see it and
am amazed!"

An icon of the Virgin Mary praying, surrounded by people, was said to be kept in the Blachernae church. It
is said to reproduce the events as St Andrew saw them that day.

The first churches dedicated to feast of Pokrov appeared in Russia in the 12th
century. Two of these churches are known all around the world: the Moscow
Cathedral of Intercession Upon the Moat ("  "Cathedral of Pokrov upon moat"),
popularly known as the Saint Basil's Cathedral, and the Church of Intercession
upon Nerl River ("Tserkov Pokrova na Nerli") in Bogolyubovo near Vladimir.

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 Metropolitan  Hilarion  brings  main  shrine  of  
Russian  Church  Abroad  to  Russia.  
First hierarch of the Rus-
sian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia Metro-
politan Hilarion came to
Moscow and brought the
main shrine of the Russian
Church Abroad the Kursk
Root Icon of the Mother
of God.

The icon will stay in the Cathedral of Christ the Sav-

On September 19 2009 the
Divine Liturgy took place at
the request of parishioners in
the Church of the Arch-
angel Michael in Peno.
After the Divine Service,
which were attended by
more than 100 people,
panikhida was performed in
the graveyard.
ior for ten days, so that Orthodox believers can have
a chance to worship it. The icon arrived to the Cathe-
dral right from the Sheremetyevo-2 Airport.
On September 23, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All
Russia will bring the icon to the Kursk Root Hermitage,
where it was once found.
Bringing of the holy icon to Russia coincides with an-
nual celebrations dedicated to the anniversary of the
Battle of Kulikovo held on September 21, the Nativity
of the Holy Virgin. The Kursk Root Icon was once
found exactly on this day.

The minister of parishes Or- Answering the questions of journalists, Metropolitan

thodox V a priest George
Sergeev heartily thanks eve-
rybody who took an active
part in preparing the church
for the Divine Liturgy and
also all those who came to
service on that day.  
Hilarion supported the idea of making the anniversary
of the Battle of Kulikovo a state holiday. Representa-
tives of the Orthodox community have earlier pro-
moted this idea and stressed that thanks to the Kulik-
ovo victory, Russia became an independent state.
interfax

Archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl) fell asleep in the Lord.

Archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl), the legendary conductor of the choir of Holy

Trinity -St.Sergius Lavra, fell asleep in the Lord on 15 of September. Archiman-
drite Matthew (Mormyl) who has conducted that choir for more than forty years
was born in Vladikavkaz in 1938. He became a novice of the Lavra in 1961
and took his monastic vows in 1962. Archimandrite Matthew has been the pre-
centor of the choir since 1961. He graduated from the Moscow Theological
Academy, and has taught there since 1963. In 1988 he became a professor at
the Department of Liturgical Theology and Liturgical Singing.
His own school of church singing was created during this period of time, a lot of hymns were
JLYHQPHORGLHVZKLFKDUHFRQVLGHUHGWREHWKH/DYUDjV
Memory eternal, dear father Matthew

2
Baikonur to launch the second Moscow State University sputnik named after St.
Tatiana

Soyuz 2 launch vehicle will launch to the orbit Universitetsky Tatiana 2 minor spacecraft from the
Baikonur cosmodrome.

Tatiana 2 scientific-UHVHDUFKVSXWQLNLVWKH0RVFRZ6WDWH8QLYHUVLW\jVSURMHFWQDPHGDIWHUWKHKRO\SUR
tector of the University and Russian students. It was realized under auspices of the Federal Space
Agency in frames of the top-priority national project Obrazovaniye (Russian for education n IF). Its aim
is to carry out joint scientific-research and experimental construction works, press service of the Russian
5HFWRUVj8QLRQKDVWROGInterfax-Religion .
Tatiana 2 is to study a new phenomenon in the level of dozens of kilometres, energetic flashes of
OLJKWLQXOWUDYLROHWGLDSDVRQWKHQDWXUHRIZKLFKLVQRWFOHDU\HW6WDIIPHPEHUVRIWKH8QLYHUVLW\jV
Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty greatly contributed in Tatiana 2 development. Thanks to their ef-
forts, the sputnik is equipped with new on-board navigation system that does not have any analogues.

Tatiana 1 ZDVODXQFKHGRQ-DQXDU\RQWKHHYHRIWKH8QLYHUVLW\jVWKDQQLYHUVDU\)RU
years of its work, it successfully studied circumterrestrial space, registered space flow of electrons, pro-
tons and alpha particles and made measurements of ultraviolet radiation of the atmosphere.

Schismatics seize one more church in Ukraine, priests and parishioners

brutally beaten

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canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

The incident took place in the village of Zhuklia of the Chernigov Region. About 60 people including
local and neighboring priests stood up to defend the church, official website of the Ukrainian Ortho-
dox Church has reported on Tuesday.

First, twenty schismatics came to the church, but then a certain Dmitry Protsik who introduces himself
DVk%LVKRS+LODULRQlFDPHWRWKHYLOODJHk0LOLWDQWVRIWKHIDVFLVWQDWLRQDOLVWLFRUJDQL]DWLRQVlDFFRPSD
QLHGKLPLQFRDFKHVk3ROLFHPHQJDYHZD\WRWKHPDQGVLOHQWO\ZDWFKHGWKHILJKWlWKHPHVVDJHIXU
ther reads.

k3HRSOHZHUHSXQFKHGZLWKILVWVNLFNHGDQGEHDWHQZLWKKHDY\WKLQJVJDVZDVVSODVKHGLQWRWKHLU
IDFHV)RXUSULHVWVRIWKH8NUDLQLDQ2UWKRGR[&KXUFKZHUHKRVSLWDOL]HGLQDJUDYHFRQGLWLRQlWKH
website informs.

One of them, Archimandrite Bartholomew, Father Superior of the Monastery of the Nativity of Our
/DG\kZDVWDNHQE\KLVVSLULWXDOFKLOGUHQWRD.LHYKRVSLWDOZLWKRSHQKHDGLQMXU\PLOLWDQWWRRNRII
KLVFURVVDQGXVHGLWWREHDWKLPRQWKHKHDGl

7ZRPRUHSULHVWVWXUQHGWRKRVSLWDOVDQGZHUHGLDJQRVHGZLWKkEUDLQFRQFXVVLRQl3UHVVVHFUHWDU\RI
the Chernigov Diocese Archpriest Zakhary Kerstyuk received the most serious injuries. He was hospital-
L]HGLQDJUDYHFRQGLWLRQDQGGLDJQRVHGZLWKkFORVHGFUDQLRFHUHEUDOLQMXU\EUDLQFRQFXVVLRQQXPHU
RXVLQMXULHVRIVRIWWLVVXHVFKHVWDQGGLDPHWULFDOVHFWLRQRIWKHVSLQDOFROXPQl Interfax

Orthodox Church consecrated in China

Orthodox Church of St. Innokenty of Irkutsk was consecrated last Sunday in the city of Labdarin
(Inner Mongolia autonomous district in north China.)
Descendants of Russians who settled in this distant district of China in the 19th century will become
parishioners of the Labdarin Church. According to different estimations, there are 9,000 to 15,000
Orthodox believers in China. Majority of them live in Beijing, Shanghai, Heilongjiang Province, Xinji-
ang and Inner Mongolia autonomous districts.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Interfax

3
 6FLHQWLVWWRUHFRQVWUXFW6W<DURVODYWKH:LVHjVDS
pearance

Scientists from Ukraine, Sweden, Great Britain and the USA

has launched a project on anthropological research and DNA
analysis of the Holy Prince Yaroslav the Wise.

7RWKDWHQGWKH3ULQFHjVVDUFRSKDJXVKDVEHHQUHFHQWO\
opened in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. It is planned to carry
out a histological analysis and a research of pathological de-
viations in constitution of the male skeleton bones in order to check the narration of
chronicles about illnesses and traumas Yaroslav the Wise was said to have.

Experts are going to make some anthropometrical probes that will allow defining sex
and age of other people whose skeletons are also kept in the tomb as well as their kin-
VKLS7KH\ZLOODWWHPSWWRUHFRQVWUXFWWKH3ULQFHjVDSSHDUDQFHXVLQJFRPSXWHUJUDSKLF

Yaroslav the Wise was born in Kiev in 978 A.D. and became a Great Prince in 1019
A.D. He ruled the Kievan Rus for 35 years bringing his principality to the tops of mili-
tary power. Interfax

Before performing a baptism, the priest approached the young fa-

A Baptist missionary was
walking in Africa when he
heard the ominous padding of
a lion behind him. "Oh Lord,"
prayed the missionary,
"Grant in Thy goodness that
the lion walking behind me is
a good Christian lion."
ther and said solemnly, "Baptism is a
serious step. Are you prepared for it?"
"I think so," the man replied. "My wife has made appetizers and we
have a caterer coming to provide plenty of cookies and cakes for all
of our guests."
"I don't mean that," the priest responded. "I mean, are you pre-
pared spiritually?"
"Oh, sure," came the reply. "I've got a keg of beer and a case of
whiskey."

And then, in the silence that

followed, the missionary
heard the lion
praying too: "Oh Lord," he
prayed, "I thank Thee for
the food which I
am about to receive."
One minister says that it doesn't bother him at all if his members
look at their watches during his sermons. It does affect him,
however, when someone not only looks at his watch, but also holds
it up to his ear to see if it's still running.

The other day a fellow asked the pastor, "Can I smoke and still get to heaven?" Pastor replied
"Sure, and if you smoke, you might get there a lot sooner."

God grant many years to all our
parishioners who celebrate their
birthdays and anniversaries in the
month of October! We wish you
all good health, long life and
happiness!!!
With the Saints give rest, o Christ, to the
souls of Thy servants, where there is neither
sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life
everlasting. Memory eternal to people, which
were our parishioners and departed to God
in the month of October!!!.

                     4
The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, was a native of Syrian Antioch, a companion of the
holy Apostle Paul (Phil.1:24, 2 Tim. 4:10-11), and a physician enlightened in the Greek
medical arts. Hearing about Christ, Luke arrived in Palestine and fervently accepted the
preaching of salvation from the Lord Himself. As one of the Seventy Apostles, St Luke was
sent by the Lord with the others to preach the Kingdom of Heaven during the Savior's
earthly life (Luke 10:1-3). After the Resurrection, the
Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Sts Luke and Cleopas on
the road to Emmaus.

Luke accompanied St Paul on his second missionary

journey, and from that time they were inseparable.
When Paul's coworkers had forsaken him, only Luke
remained to assist him in his ministry (2 Tim. 4:10-11).
After the martyric death of the First-Ranked Apostles
Peter and Paul, St Luke left Rome to preach in Achaia,
Libya, Egypt and the Thebaid. He ended his life by
suffering martyrdom in the city of Thebes.

Tradition credits St Luke with painting the first icons of

the Mother of God. "Let the grace of Him Who was
born of Me and My mercy be with these Icons," said
the All-Pure Virgin after seeing the icons. St Luke also
painted icons of the First-Ranked Apostles Peter and Paul. St Luke's Gospel was written in
the years 62-63 at Rome, under the guidance of the Apostle Paul. In the preliminary verses
(1:1-3), St Luke precisely sets forth the purpose of his work. He proposes to record, in
chronological order, everything known by Christians about Jesus Christ and His teachings.
By doing this, he provided a firmer historical basis for Christian teaching (1:4). He carefully
investigated the facts, and made generous use of the oral tradition of the Church and of
what the All-Pure Virgin Mary Herself had told him (2:19, 51).

In St Luke's Gospel, the message of the salvation made possible by the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the preaching of the Gospel, are of primary importance.

St Luke also wrote the Acts of the Holy Apostles at Rome around 62-63 A.D. The Book of
Acts, which is a continuation of the four Gospels, speaks about the works and the fruits of
the holy Apostles after the Ascension of the Saviour. At the center of the narrative is the
Council of the holy Apostles at Jerusalem in the year 51, a Church event of great signifi-
cance, which resulted in the separation of Christianity from Judaism and its independent dis-
semination into the world (Acts 15:6-29). The theological focus of the Book of Acts is the
coming of the Holy Spirit, Who will guide the Church "into all truth" (John 16:13) until the
Second Coming of Christ. www.oca.org

Troparion - Tone 3

Holy apostle Luke, entreat the merciful, to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions.  
 

5
 Schedule of Services
For october 2009
03 Saturday n Spirit River 10:AM

04 Sunday - Tone 8 - North Star 10:AM

06 Tuesday o Lodge (9:30 AM) Auxillary (10:15 AM)

11 Sunday - Tone 1 - Thanksgiving service Skaro 10 AM

18 Sunday - Tone 2 - Serediak 10:AM

25 Sunday - Tone 3 - Shishkovtzi 10:AM

 

Orthodox feasts (prazdniki)

in october

6 October - St.  Innocent  Metropolitan  of  Moscow.  

8 October - Repose  of  Venerable  Sergius,  abbot,  of  Radonezh  (1392).  

9 October - St.  Tikhon,  Patriarch  of  Moscow  and  all  Russia

14 October - The  Protection  of  Our  Most  Holy  Lady  the  Theotokos  and  Ever-­Virgin  Mary.  

19 October - Holy  and  Glorious  Apostle  Thomas  

23 October - Venerable  Ambrose  of  Optina  (1891).  

31 October - Holy  Apostle  and  Evangelist  Luke  

If  you  have  any  questions  or  proposals,  please,    Contact  us:  

 
Priest    Father  George  Sergeev    780-895-21-49
Email: www.sergal07@yahoo.com. / PO Box 483 Lamont Alberta TOB 2R0
 
 President  Yakim  Lopushinsky  (780-895-26-67
 Vice  -ăPresident  Jim  Nemirsky 780-896-23-47    
   Secretary  John  Tkachuk    780-576-30-73
 Treasurer  Fred  Pewarchuk    780-895-21-59

Or  visit  our  website²www.orthodoxfive.org  

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