Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church

Bulletin - 7/11/10  

Six Encounters with Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco

Reprinted from Ora et Labora

Told by Archpriest Serge Poukh

In 1928 my parents moved from Bulgaria to Luxemburg. I was then two years old. My father spent his entire adult life as a choir-director and reader, not for nothing bearing the name of Roman the Melodist. I remember how I came to church with my mother and stood ‘like a candle’ to the end of the service. I remember how I began to serve in the altar for Fr Evgenii: I gave him the censer, went out with the candle. I remember my reading and singing on kliros. And I remember 1956.

I decided to become a proper Reader. At that time the rector of the Memorial Church in Brussels was Archbishop John of Shanghai. I revealed my desire to him before the All-night Vigil. Vladyka beamed and said: "A good intention has come to you. Come to the Liturgy tomorrow and I'll tonsure you a Reader."

Archpriest Serge Pouhk is standing; on his left -- Bishop Agapit of Stuttgart

After the Vigil I lay down to sleep, but I could not fall asleep. I turned from side to side, but could find no rest. Someone kept me from sleeping. At the time I could not make out who this could be; I found out only the next day. A voice inside me was whispering to me: “Why should you become a Reader? Why should you get tied up with the Church? You’ll no longer be able to sleep in on Sundays! You'll have to go to church earlier! You’ll have to find and read the Epistle! You’ll have to read on kliros, and you could better spend Saturday evenings at the movies or at the theater!” All these thoughts did not leave me all night.

The next day I went to church early in the morning with the intention of getting out of the tonsure. I had only just entered the church when I heard feet stamping from the left side of the altar. I quietly walked up to the doors, opened them, and saw Vladyka with his back towards me. He stamped with his right foot first here, then there and, turning slightly towards me, cried out: “Do you see him? There he is! There’s his tail!” And, continuing to stamp: “You what, changed your mind? Don't want to be a Reader?” I flinched all over. How could Vladyka have known my decision? And here I suddenly understood whoo had kept me from sleeping. Who

Vladyka’s eyes brightened, as they had done earlier and, turning to me, with an affectionate and approving voice, he said: “Look! He has disappeared and won’t come back again! Remember this once and for all: never turn away from a good intention!”

A parishioner of the cathedral, Vera Ignatevna Romanov, related the following incident to me. In the 1960s, she approached the cross at the end of the Liturgy, which was held by Archbishop John. Vladyka John unexpectedly asked her (she did not see that he asked anyone else this): “Did you eat today before the Liturgy?” Vera Ignatevna replied: “Yes.” Then Vladyka John moved his hand with the cross away from her and did not allow her to kiss it. Vera Ignatevna was at first in a state of shock from the fact that Vladyka did not allow her to kiss the cross. However, from that time on she never ate anything before the Divine Liturgy, always coming fasting.

Told by Archimandrite Ambrose (Pogodin) (+2004)

Vladyka John had the habit of visiting heterodox churches where some grace of Orthodoxy might still be present, namely in the form of holy relics of saints that were glorified before the division of the Churches. Vladyka John expressed the wish to visit Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey may once have been a very holy place. It was miraculously saved as a parish church from the general destruction under Henry VIII, and now those sacred objects that one might have expected in an ancient church are no longer there. We went simply to have a look at it as one of the tourist attractions of London. Vladyka went with us. After a certain time, the shortest possible, he left. “Here,” he said, “there is no grace.” Indeed, there are found the relics of many great persons of England, the great political builders of the country, writers, scholars, but no saints.

A young Serb was a student of theology at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. He was divided in heart: get married or become a monk? He went to Brussels, where Archbishop John was then living, and asked Vladyka: should I become a monk? Vladyka John had lived for a long time in Serbia and understood well the ways and character of young Serbs. He knew that they tend to be stubborn and irascible, and answered the student: no.

This Serb became a monk after all. When this same Serb, already a monk, had the pleasure of meeting Archbishop John in America, Vladyka blessed him with the shining face of a clairvoyant knower of Serbs... Vladyka knew that if he had told this Serb, "Yes, become a monk," that Serb would never have done it...

Told by Metropolitan Laurus of Eastern America and New York (+2008)

In 1953 the Synod of Bishops visited Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. I was then a hierodeacon (monk who is a deacon). After the festal Liturgy, I went into the altar and there came upon Saint John, who was looking for something. I went up to Vladyka John and asked him: “Can I help you find something?” Saint John did not respond to my question, and silently continued his search. Then I, thinking that Vladyka John had not heard my question, asked it again. Saint John took me by the hand, led me out of the altar, and said: “In the altar I don’t converse.”

. . . . . . . . . News  From  All  The  Ends  Of  The Earth . . . . . . . .

London, U.K.: The Methodist Church, boasting 700 million members worldwide, voted to boycott all products from Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, becoming the first major Christian denomination in Britain to officially adopt such a policy. The move will inevitably put Methodists on a collision course with Britain’s Jewish community. The Board of Deputies of British Jews had already expressed concern over a 50-page report which had been compiled by a Methodist committee and sent to all its churches before the conference explaining why a boycott was justified. In December, Defra (UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) introduced new advice on labelling, recommending that packaging of products imported from the West Bank should distinguish between Palestinian areas and Israeli settlements.

Jakarta, Indonesia: Indonesian lawmakers demanded the government crack down on a violent Islamist vigilante group that has threatened "war" against Christians in Jakarta and urged mosques to set up militia forces. Parliamentarians from various parties held a press conference to demand the government outlaw the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) - a private militia with a self-appointed mission to protect "Islamic" values in the country. "The only way to stop the FPI from creating anarchy is to ban it," lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle told the news conference. "The police, military and government should be held responsible for their role in creating the FPI. Now they're incapable in controlling it," she added, referring to the group's origins in a 1990s paramilitary outfit. The FPI warned that it was ready to wage war against Christians in the outer Jakarta suburb of Bekasi over claims of "Christianization" of the mainly Muslim area. After a meeting of Muslim leaders, FPI extremists urged Bekasi authorities to introduce Islamic sharia law and warned they would attack Christians with sticks, rocks and even flagpoles unless the "Christianization" ceased. "We won't disturb the average Christian. But we're against those who preach. If they try to convert Muslims to Christianity through public preaching activities, through lies and manipulation, we'll disperse them," FPI Jakarta branch manager Abdul Qodir Aka told AFP.

Brussels, Belgium: Belgian undertakers have drawn up plans to dissolve the corpses of the dead in caustic solutions and flush them into the sewage system. The new method is said to be less expensive and more environmentally friendly than running highly polluting crematoria or using up valuable land for graves. "The idea is for the deceased to be placed in a container with water and salts and then pressurized and after a little time, about two hours, mineral ash and liquid is left over," said a spokesman for the Flemish Association of Undertakers. The departed would go into the sewage systems of towns and cities and then be recycled in water processing plants. The proposals are being studied by the EU and if approved, it would mean the procedure could be used across Europe. The European Commission is investigation whether the resulting liquid could safely be flushed into the sewage system. Authorities in the northern Belgian region have yet to decide whether to approve the process. Six states in America – Maine, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, and Maryland have recently passed legislation that allows the process to be used. Although experts insist that the ashes can be recycled in waste systems, the residue from the process can also be put in urns and handed over to relatives of the dead, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Peshawar, Pakistan: Muslim students attacked a Christian professor at the University of Peshawar after he refused their demand to convert to Islam. Psychology professor Samuel John, a father of four who has been teaching at the university in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province for 12 years, said that as he came out of his house on the university campus at 8:30 a.m. on June 14, about 20 to 25 students rushed and assaulted him. “I shouted for help, but no one came to help,” he said. When his wife learned what was happening, she ran to help him, but the students beat her as well. Both John and his wife were rushed to the hospital, where they were treated for their injuries, with John listed in critical condition. “I am still getting threats,” said the professor. “They say, ‘Leave the university or accept Islam – if you don’t convert, we will kill your family.” Police have refused to register the incident, he said. A group of five students had visited John on May 15, he said. “They said, ‘Professor, you are a good teacher and a good human being, please convert to Islam and we will provide you with everything you need,’” John said. “I was surprised and said, ‘Why do you want me to convert? I am a Christian, and Jesus Christ is my Savior – He provides me with everything.” One of the students became angry, saying, “Don’t forget that you are a family man,” John said. “I said, ‘I am not scared of anyone, God will protect me and my family.’” John subsequently faced various forms of harassment from different Islamic student groups who threw stones at his home, sent threatening letters and threatened his family over the phone, he said. John had recently been honored with an award for best results in psychology at colleges throughout Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Muslim professors and Muslim student councils were upset that a Christian professor was getting so much attention, Christian sources said. Separately, in Danna village in southern Punjab Province, Muslim administrators told three Christian students in the eighth grade to leave the school because they refused to convert to Islam. When the children's parents tried to complain to the principle, they were told to remove their children from the school, unless they were willing to convert to Islam. More than that, the families had to leave the village as the local police refused to protect them.

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia: A manuscript found in a remote Ethiopian monastery could be the oldest illustrated Christian work in the world, experts have claimed. Originally thought to be from around the 11th century, new carbon dating techniques place the Garima Gospels between 330 and 650 AD. The 1,600 year-old texts are named after a monk, Abba Garima, who arrived in Ethiopia in the fifth century. Illustrations of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all included in the book along with what may be the first ever Christian illustration of a building, the Temple. The Garima Gospels were written on goat skin in the early Ethiopian language of Ge'ez and are thought to be the earliest example of book binding still attached to the original pages. The book is believed to be wonderworking. Mark Winstanley, who helped to carry out the conservation, said: “If someone is ill they are read passages from the book and it is thought to give them strength. Although the monks have always believed in the traditional account about Abba Garima, the new date means it could actually be true."

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Parrots are now taught to recite the Quran and perform Muslim prayers; a trend taking place in Saudi Arabia with big money to be made. “Now when people know that someone has a parrot, the first question the parrot owner will be asked is whether the parrot has memorized some verses from the Quran, and if it hasn’t they say the bird is not worth the money,” said Abd Al Rahman al-Arwan, one of the amateurs raising parrots. If the parrot memorizes ayas (verses) from the Quran with pellucid clarity, the price range will be around 12-13 thousand Riyals, and if the bird has suras (chapters) stored in its memory, its price will go up to 20 thousands, however the price can go much higher if the bird can recite Suras and ham it up with performing prayers. “It comes gradually each day I teach the parrot one aya, and so on for the following days, until it memorizes the whole sura. At times I teach the parrot by comparing with my replies, I can ask the parrot “who is your god?” to teach him to say Allah, and I repeat the question, or the parrot asks me the same question and I answer “Allah”, he added. The highest price paid for a parrot so far is 40,000 Saudi Riyals or around $10,600.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. July Bulletin Covers sponsor is Jenny Yacko.

2. This Sunday, July 11th, the two votive candles on the Holy Altar Table are offered by Helen Urban, Madge Petri and Anne Springman in memory and for the remission of sins of their parents Michael and Anna Feryo. May their memory be eternal!

3. With the blessing of Metropolitan Nicholas, Father Sergii is taking his annual vacation. On Sunday, July 18, we have a Reader Service (Typika), on July 25 the Divine Liturgy will be served by Fr Christopher Sarafin of Protection of the Virgin Mary Church in Merrillville. On August 1 — Reader Service (Typika). We should be in church all three Sundays without exception. Also, on July 25, those who have not confessed their sins for a while may do so with Fr Christopher. Come a little bit earlier and through our reader (Michael Petyo) let him know of your desire. It would be nice to have a little Coffee Hour for him, as well. If there is any emergency and priest’s presence is necessary, please call Father Peter Bodnar at 947-0827 or Father Christopher Sarafin at 733-0018.

4. One Sunday, July 25th, when Father Christopher comes to serve in our church, we are going to host a Coffee Hour to welcome Father into our parish.

5. Remember to bring non-perishable food items next Sunday for Hobart Food Pantry.

6. Last Sunday, we spoke about importance of proper preparation for the Holy Communion. As promised, in the narthex under the icon of Saint Herman of Alaska, we have a stack of books with PRAYER RULE FOR THE HOLY COMMUNION. Please take one per family. If you need more — we’ll make more. The book contains what is necessary to prepare oneself for Communion. The book has both: Rule of Preparation for Communion and the Prayers of Thanksgiving after Communion (beginning on p. 20). The Rule of Preparation begins with the usual introductory prayers ‘O Heavenly King…’, Trisagion through ‘Our Father…’, ‘Come, let us worship…’. Then there are three Psalms, troparia and Psalm 50. Then there begins the Canon for Holy Communion. The most important part of the Rule of Preparation are the prayers of preparation. On page 20 of the book, we have Prayers of Thanksgiving after Communion. There are five prayer of thanksgiving followed by the troparion and kontakion to the saint whose Liturgy we celebrated. Most of the time, Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is celebrated, so we read the troparia to him on the bottom of p. 22: ‘Grace shining forth from thy lips…’, ‘Glory…’, ‘From the heavens…’, ‘Now…’ and ‘O unfailing protection of Christians…’. Having read these troparia, we go to the bottom of the last page and begin with ‘Lord, have mercy’ (12 times) and then read till the end of the page.

The traditional Rule of Preparation might seem overwhelming for those who see it for the first time (there are people in the parish for whom this Rule is a norm to the extent that they even add other canons and an akathist to it). Do not be afraid. Remember, we love God only so much as much we love to pray. The very first time you read the Rule, you can begin, let’s say, on the top of page 17 and read through till the end in the middle of page 19. It is only two and a half pages well spaced. Then the next time you prepare for Communion add a prayer, then another one, and so on. Just remember that throughout the Orthodox world everybody does it and it is the same prayer rule for all.

7. Another little stack of books in the narthex contains The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis. The author was a prominent British writer in the middle of the 20th century. To the mainstream American culture, his name was introduced by The Chronicles of Narnia movie, based on a Lewis’ novel. The Great Divorce is an easily-read piece of fiction. Although it is about Heaven and Hell, the book is quite enjoyable. To whet your curiosity about the book, let us only say that the book shows why some people would choose Hell over Heaven. The author was a Roman Catholic, and the book has only very few and insignificant references to Latin theological concepts. For example, purgatory is mentioned only as a place and not a theological doctrine (Purgatory is a solely Roman Catholic doctrine and is concerned with the Latin notion that God derives satisfaction from our suffering). We have only four copies of the book. If you can, please get the book at the library or a bookstore. Otherwise, take one of our copies but please be sure to return it back on that shelf in the narthex once you have read it, so that others might read it, too.

8. Our Rummage Sale is scheduled for Saturday, July 24. Patricia Yacko is in the charge of the project. She will need help pricing the items and assisting during the sale. Please talk to her and find out when you may come to help. Only two weeks is left. If you have anything good to sell — bring it over.

9. Our parish will participate in the annual Hobart Lake Front Fest August 19 - 22. In the narthex we have a list of products we need. Please take a look at it and see what you can provide.

10. We would like to thank wholeheartedly all our faithful who by their very generous donations helped us to raise money to purchase much-needed vestments for the church.

11. We are anticipating a visit of our ruling hierarch Metropolitan Nicholas on Saturday evening, October 23. His Eminence will be in our church to consecrate and enthrone relics into our Holy Altar Table. As we receive more details we will make them public.

12. Preparing the calendar for July, we didn’t indicate which days were fasting and which were not. This month we fast every Wednesday and Friday, as usual. Next major fasting period, Dormition Fast, begins August 1.

In June, Lauren Freeman graduated from High School. All our faithful were invited to the Open House to celebrate the event and to wish her well as she going to college and to other things which require dedication and self-control. May God bless her and may the Mother of God cover her with the veil of Her Protection.