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The Church Herald Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church
2053 North Road, NE
Warren, OH 44483
Church Phone: (330) 372-6240 Rectory Phone: (330) 372-9778
Pastor: The Very Rev. Protopresbyter Kenneth M. Bachofsky, D. Min.
Email: otecken@yahoo.com—Parish Web Page: www.stnicholaswarren.org
Volume 36 February 10, 2019 Number 6
Vespers is an important service of the Or-
thodox Church, and one with which too many of
our people are unacquainted.
There are three basic forms of vespers:
small, daily, and great. Small vespers is done only
in monasteries before a vigil service. Daily vespers
is the normal evening service of the Church. It is
not monastic in origin or character, but is, like the
morning service of Matins, one of the church’s
main liturgical services. Vespers and Matins form
the two “poles” around which the rest of the
Church’s daily cycle of services is arranged. In
practice, most parishes do not celebrate daily ves-
pers and Matins. A third form of vespers is Great
Vespers. It is celebrated in all Churches on the eves
of Sundays and great feasts, and is sometimes com-
bined with matins to
form a vigil. Great Ves-
pers is composed of the
same basic elements as
daily vespers, although
some of the material is
rearranged, and more
hymns related to the
feast are added. In
keeping with its festal
character, most psalms
and hymns are sung
during Great Vespers,
whereas in daily ves-
pers they are chanted
by the reader.
From the begin-
ning, the Orthodox
Church followed the Jewish system of counting
days from sunset to sunset (instead of from mid-
night to midnight, as we do). In this system, the
new day begins at sunset, so the transition from
one liturgical day to the next occurs during the eve-
ning service. This is why all the stichiri we sing at
vespers on Saturday night are devoted to Christ’s
resurrection. We are nolt merely preparing for Sun-
day; in the Church, it already is Sunday. Thus,
Great vespers commences the celebration of Sun-
day and feastdays; and because this celebration
will reach its peak and goal in the morning liturgy,
Great vespers begins our vigil (or “watch”) for the
coming of the Lord in the Eucharist, and helps to
prepare us for this event.
Unfortunately, the majority of the faithful
does not attend vespers. One reason for this is the
attitude, instilled in us by American society, that
Sunday morning is the only appropriate time for
worship. The result of this attitude among the
Orthodox is that many of uor people simply do
not acknowledge the existence of any service
other than the Divine Liturgy. Another side of
this same problem is the popular view of Satur-
day as a “day off,” a day to “take it easy” and
enjoy oneself. Saturday night in particular is
considered the night to go out and socialize, to
go to movies, dances, sports events, and other
types of entertainment. Although these things
are not wrong in themselves, they are nothing
more than forms of temporary amusement and
recreation. But the Church, on that some Satur-
day night, is offering us “re-creation:” the op-
portunity to rediscover Christ as the true source
and content of our lives, and to re-establish our-
selves in Him: and the
experience of the
hope, joy, love, peace,
and energy that comes
from worshiping the
Lord and living in
communion with Him
and with each other. A
last reason for the gen-
eral neglect of vespers
is the lack of Eucharis-
tic participation of
many Orthodox. We
mentioned above that
Great vespers helps to
prepare us for the lit-
urgy and begins our
vigil for the Eucharist.
But, tragically, the Liturgy is no longer widely
understood as an ascent to the Kingdom of
Heaven, whose goal is the eating and drinking
of the Bonquet of Immortality. Since, therefore,
the majority of the people will not be taking
communion, no preparation is undertaken, and
there is nothing to keep vigil about.
The Themes
For those who are not yet attending ves-
pers, and for those who are, we will give a short
review and explanation of the plan of this ser-
vice. The order of service is built around four
basic themes: creation, the fall of man into sin,
salvation, and the Kingdom of Heaven. These
themes are the four major stages of the history
of our salvation: the world and man were cre-
ated good; but man sinned and separated him-
self from God; then Christ came to save us from
sin and death, and when He comes again, He
Vespers: The Sunset Service
will take us into His Kingdom! Each theme is
expressed by different psalms and hymns, and
they succeed one another in this order during the
course of the service. It must be mentioned at
this point that there was a certain tendency in the
Russian musical tradition to rather arbitrarily
select and set to music only a few verses of some
of the vespers psalms, instead of arranging the
entire psalm. (In fact, this happened to the
psalms in almost every one of the Church’s ser-
vices). This has led to a “standard” parish prac-
tice that eliminates large sections of certain key
psalms. The reduction of these psalms to only a
few verses is most unfortunate.; Not only does it
empty the individual psalms of their meaning, it
also obscures the logic behind the order of ser-
vice by making it almost impossible to recognize
each theme and to follow the progression from
one theme to the next. Fortunately, there is now
a movement underway in some communities in
our Church to restore the psalms in their entirety
to vespers (and other services too), and some
new musical settings now exist for this.
The Structure
1) Psalm 104. Vespers begins with the
theme of creation. As we are beginning the new
day, we are reminded of the first day of creation:
“And God said, ’Let there be light;’ and there
was light. And God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness He
called Night. And there was evening and there
was morning, one day.” (Genesis 1:3-5). In
psalm 104 we praise the goodness, beauty, order
and diversity of His creation, and His continual
care for it: “How manifold are Your works, O
Lord! In wisdom have you made them all!” 2) The Great Litany. This is the great in-
tercessory prayer of the Church, and is con-
cerned with the general welfare of the Church,
the people, and the country, asking for the
“peace from on high.”
3) The First Kathisma. (“Blessed is the
man…”) The Book of Psalms is divided into
twenty sections called “kathismi.” All twenty
kathismi are read in the Church throughout the
course of the week, and the cycle begins at Sat-
urday evening vespers with the first kathisma.
The entire first kathisma is eight psalms, but in
current practice it has been reduced to sic verses.
4) “Lord I call…” (Psalm 141-2,130)
This is the core of vespers, and it coincides with
the offering up of the evening incense: “Let my
prayer arise in Your sight as incense, and let
the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacri-
fice.” We have moved from the theme of crea-
tion into that of the Fall. Man separated himself
from God by sin, and now he finds himself far
away from his Creator: “Give heed to my cry,
for I am brought very low!...Out of the depths I
have cried to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my
voice!” From this lowest point there is a gradual
movement towards hope in the mercy of God:
“If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O
Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness
with You...O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with
the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plente-
ous redemption, and He shall redeem Israel
form all his iniquities!” Usually at eight or ten
verses from the end of this psalm, “stichiri,” or
short hymns, begin to be inserted between the
psalm verses. These stichiri are devoted to the
feast we are already beginning to celebrate.
5) The Entrance/”O gladsome Light.”
The theme of salvation comes to prominence
with the entrance of the celebrant into the sanctu-
ary and the procession to the high place behind
the altar, which accompanies the singing “O
Gladsome Light.” This is one of the most ancient
Christian hymns known, possibly dating from as
early as the second century A.D. At this point in
the service, since it was sundown, the lamps in
the Church were lit, and this hymn was sung to
Christ, the “Light of the World!” And the
“Never-Setting Sun,” Who will be with us
through the darkness of the coming night!
6) The Prokeimenon. This is a psalm
which normally introduces a reading form the
Scriptures. Its text and tone change daily. AT
Great vespers for a feast, these readings, called
“paramia” remain. There are usually three read-
ings from the Old Testament images (or “Types)
of the people or events of the feast. Although no
reading are presently called for a Sunday, the
prokeimenon is still sung.
7) Vouchsafe. The prayer “Vouchsafe, O
Lord…” has its roots in the “Song of the Three
Young Men” recorded in the Book of Daniel,
and asks that we be preserved “this night with-
out sin.” “Vouchsafe” is also the “official” tran-
sition point from one Liturgical day to the next
during the service. It should be sung, rather than
chanted, at Great vespers.
8) The Apostica. This is another combi-
nation of a psalm and hymns, alternating verses
of the psalm with stichiri, on the same pattern as
“Lord I call…”
9) St. Simeon’s Prayer/Trisagion through
“Our Father.” “Lord, now let Your servant de-
part in peace…” This is the prayer that the right-
eous elder Simeon sang when, after a lifetime of
waiting, he finally saw Christ and recognized
Him as the Messiah. Simeon saw: Christ only as
an infant in the temple, yet he could say, “...my
eyes have seen Your Salvation!...” We Chris-
tians have seen the whole drama of our Salvation
- The Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension—
accomplished; we have been baptized into
Christ, and we know that in the Church, “The
Kingdom of Heaven is in our midst.” We have
now come to the theme of the Kingdom. This
section ends with the “Our Father,” and with
the fervent hope that His Kingdom will come.
This hope will be fully realized when Christ
comes again, but our prayer is already answered
“in anticipation” when we eat and drink at His
Table, in His Kingdom, at the Divine Liturgy!
10) The Troparion. This troparion is the
theme song of the feast, and sets the tone for our
celebration. On Sundays, there are eight
(“Octoechos” or “Eight Tones”) different
troparia to the Resurrection, one for each musi-
cal tone.
We encourage all Orthodox Christians to
rediscover the service of vespers, and to experi-
ence its richness!
- By: Barbara Sevansky -
Our Worship Schedule
Sunday, Feb-
ruary 10th
9:30 a.m. The
Reading of
the Third
Hour.
10 :00
a.m. The Sun-
day of Zac-
cheus, Tone
4, (Page 90).
The Hiero-
martyr Hara-
lambos, Vir-
gin Martyrs:
E n n a t h a ,
Valentina & Paula are commemorated.
Epistle—I Timothy 4:9-15
Gospel—Luke 19:1-10
Wednesday, February 13th 4:00 p.m. The
Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers
for the sick and anointing of the Myro of the
faithful!
Saturday, February 16th 4:00 p.m. The Evening
Vesper Service followed by Bible Study Class.
Sunday, February 17th 9:30 a.m. The Reading
of the Third Hour.
10:00 a.m. The Lenten Triodion: Sunday
of the Publican & Pharisee, Tone 5 (Pages 93
&175). The Great Martyr Theodore of Tyro,
Venerable Roman of Ternov and Relics of Me-
nas of Alexandria are commemorated.
Epistle—2 Timothy 3:10-15
Gospel—Luke 18:10-14
Wednesday, February 20th 4:00 p.m. The
Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers
for the sick and anointing of the faithful!
Saturday, February 23rd 4:00 p.m. The Evening
Vesper Service followed by Bible Study Class.
Sunday, February 24th 9:30 a.m. The Reading
of the Third Hour.
10:00 a.m. The Lenten Triodion: Sunday
of the Prodigal Son, Tone 6 (Pages 96 & 175).
The 1st & 2nd Discovery of the Head of St. John
the Baptist, and St. Erasimus is commemorated.
Epistle—1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel—Luke 15:11-32
Wednesday, February 27th 4:00 p.m. The
Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers
for the sick and anointing of the faithful.
Happy Birthday!
Nina Christley…………………….
Trisagion Service
There will be a Memorial Service offered
this morning, at the conclusion of the Divine Lit-
urgy. This Trisagion is offered for the repose of
the souls of +Gus Tsimpinos, on the anniversary
of his repose and the newly departed,
+Eleftherios Karakatsanis in ovservance of the
40th day of his repose. All are invited to attend
to lend their voices to ours. The blessed Koliva
can be shared in the Fellowship Hall after the
service.
With the Saints, O Lord, grant rest to
Your departed servants: +Gus Tsimpinos and
+Eleftherios, where there is no pain, sorrow nor
mourning but only Life-Everlasting! Eternal be
their Memories!!!
Home Blessing
T h e
T h e o p h a n y
Home Bless-
ing season is
now coming
to an end. If
Father Ken
has not yet
c o n t a c t e d
you, you are assured it is by accident. The best
way to proceed now is to give Father Ken a call
so that a day and time for your Home Blessing
can be scheduled. It is always his intention to
bring the Blessings of the Jordan River to each
home of our faithful parishioners!
Father Ken would like to express his sin-
cere thanks to everyone for their hospitality, pa-
tience and generosity! It has been a very pleasant
Theophany season because of your cooperation.
May the Blessings of the Lord, from the Jordan
River be with all of you in peace, good health,
joy and salvation, this year and many more to
come!!!
take outs was $2,768.55 dollars. The weekly ex-
penses came to $812.43. This gave us a net profit of
$1,956.12 for the week. What a great blessing this is
for us!
The cabbage has already been taken care of
already. Now Kitchen Crew workers will be needed
on Tuesday morning for rolling the Holupki and in
the evening for cooking/mashing the potatoes.
Wednesday crew members will pinch and cook the
Perohi and of course, Thursday is the heating of the
food, serving the dinners, as well as packing the take
-outs.
Your stewardship of time and talent will be
greatly appreciated this week, and until the conclu-
sion of this season. May the Lord bless you abun-
dantly for your time, talent and enthusiastic dedica-
tion to this fund raiser of our parish!
Lenten Retreats
Informa-
tion concerning
the upcoming
Diocesan Lenten
Retreats has been
released by the
Diocesan Chan-
cery. The central
region, which
includes our
Y o u n g s t o w n
Deanery, Lenten
Retreat has been
scheduled for
Saturday, April 6,
2019. It will be held at St. Nicholas Church, 903 Ann
Street in Homestead, Pennsylvania. It will be held
from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
The adult/teen Lenten Theme is: “Focusing
On the Ladder of Divine Ascent and Our Spiritual
Journey: One Step At a Time” with the speaker be-
ing Metropolitan Gregory. The children’s Lenten
Theme is “Windows to Heaven—Icon of Divine As-
cent & The Feasts of the Lord” by Father David Ur-
ban.
There will be a Free Will Offering collected
at registration that will include a continental Break-
fast and light Lenten Lunch. Information Packs with
the schedule and additional information are available
on the table in the Parish Atrium. Those wishing to
attend are to kindly inform Father Ken. We will try
to have a car pool for transportation to the retreat.
Our Gifts to the Lord!
One of the many acts of worship conducted at
each Sunday Divine Liturgy, is performed in our
Samaritan Outreach
The next event on
the schedule for our St.
Nicholas Samaritan Out-
reach will be a Free Din-
ner! This has been sched-
uled for Tuesday, Febru-
ary 26, 2019 at the
American Legion Hall in
Windham, Ohio. We are
now soliciting your stew-
ardship of time and talent
for this ministry of our
parish. We need help set-
ting up, cooking and cleaning after the meal. If
you are able to assist us in any of these responsi-
bilities please either contact: Father Ken, Sis
Albers or Jeff Yenchochik during the Sunday cof-
fee socials.
So far, the menu for this dinner will be:
Beef and Noodles, Vegetables, Potatoes, Dessert
and a Beverage. The food will be cooked in the
Church kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. The food
will be transported to the hall that Tuesday and
dinner will be served from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m.
Take out dinners will be packed after everyone has
been served their meal.
You are asked to aid us in this ministry of
feeding those in need in some of the parts of our
area that have the least ability to receive needed
aid! We offer this ministry to the Glory of the Lord
and in honor of our beloved Patron, St. Nicholas of
Myra, Patron of those in need!
There will be a
short meeting of our St.
Nicholas Book Club
after the Divine Liturgy.
We ask that everyone
interested in joining us
please stay in the front
two pews for the meet-
ing. We will not pick
out the new book to
read, especially during
Great Lent, which is the
perfect time to devote to
spiritual reflection.
If anyone is interested in learning more of
their Orthodox Christian Faith and how to better
implement it in their lives, consider join us for this
meeting and the St. Nick’s Book Club! The more
that we have the greater insights we can share!
Our Church Kitchen
Our Internationally Renowned Perohi &
Holupki Dinners were served, in our Fellowship
Hall this week! We are forever grateful to the
Lord, for His blessings, our valued customers and
especially our dedicated Kitchen Crew! This is
always the key to our success in this fund raiser of
our parish!
The income from the sale of dinners and
TEST PAGE 5 TEXT
generous donations made during the Church Offer-
ing! This is an excellent way of expressing our
love, devotion to the Lord, as well as our thanks-
giving, for the many blessings received from His
Hands!
We would like to share with you the Church
Offerings from last Sunday’s Church Offering:
Regular Offering $1,150.00/ Candle Offering
$81.00/ Church Dues $600.00/ Donation 460.00/
Total Church Offerings = $1,891.00.
The financial officers of our parish issued a
plea for parishioners to contribute their $75.00 dol-
lar, per adult, head stipend last month. This is one
of the financial requirements required for each
adult of our parish. The other financial requirement
is the weekly offerings. We would like to thank
those who have paid this obligation thus enabling
our parish to submit our financial obligations to the
Diocese in a timely manner.
If you have not yet paid your Annual
“Dues” Stipen, please check your records and take
care of this responsibility as soon as possible. Your
kind cooperation is greatly appreciated!
May our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
magnify your gracious gifts 100 fold, for the con-
tinuing salvic work being done here at our beloved
St. Nicholas Church and the extension of His Heav-
enly Kingdom!!!
Camp Nazareth News
N o w
that we are
facing some
w i n t e r
w e a t h e r
what better
way to get
over the
“ w i n t e r
blues” than thinking about activities for the sum-
mer! We want to inform our parishioners about
some important activities that have been planned
for Camp Nazareth!
First of all: the Second Annual Diocesan
Senior Retreat that has been scheduled for May 13-
16, 2019 at Camp Nazareth! The theme of this ex-
citing conference is: “How’s Your ’Eyesight’?”
Keeping Your Focus on God as a Senior”!
This is geared to seniors’ needs and inter-
ests 55+ and will offer something for everyone. The
event promises laughter, joy and relaxation, along
with fun activities and delicious meals! The sched-
ule will include Church services, social hours,
meals, presentation, free-time, evening entertain-
ment, and more! Place this on your calendar and
sign up at acrod.org or call the camp at 1(724) 662-
4840. Info packs are on the table in the Atrium!
Secondly, The annual “Kick-Off” to the
2019 Camping Season is the celebration of Family
Day! This has been scheduled for Sunday, June 2,
2019 beginning to the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
beginning at 10:00 a.m. that morning. Following
the services there will be a delicious meal in the
Main Dining Hall of the Main Lodge, along with
other activities during the afternoon!
In conjunction with this “Kick-Off” week-
end will be the Annual Camp Nazareth Family
Camp! For one low price the entire family can stay
at the camp this weekend! This will be held from
May 31st until June 2nd. This year’s theme is:
“Being in a Believing Family” There are examples
of families that kept believing even when it was
difficult. Come and learn about them and help your
family believe and rejoice in God!
Register online at CAMPNAZA-
R E T H . O R G / e m a i l : C A M P N A Z A -
RETH@ACROD.ORG/ or call: (724) 662-4840.
The Third Item: Applications for various
positions on the Camp Nazareth Summer Staff are
now being accepted. Staff positions such as, coun-
selors, head counselor, kitchen workers, janitorial,
etc. If anyone from our parish 18 years of age and
older are interested please contact Father Stephen
by email or phone. These applications should get to
him by March 15th so that interviews for potential
staff members can be scheduled.
And Finally, The Youngstown Deanery
Camping Session has been scheduled for July 28th
until August 3rd! Online registration will begin on
March 1st! This is for all of our youth from 8 to 18
years of age!
Parents, get ready to sign up your children!
The camping fee for 2019 will be: Diocesan Mem-
ber $320.00 and Non Diocesan Member $370.00.
There are Full Summer Camping Scholarships
available through our Church School and other
sponsors. If you need a scholarship, please contact
Father Ken.
Take advantage of the “Early Bird Special”
by registering your child and paying by May 15,
2019 and receive a discount, per child, (one time
only, not per week)! Registrations received after
June 15th will incur an additional $20.00 late fee!
Scholarships Available
Applications for two scholarships adminis-
tered by the Department of Philanthropy of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America are now
available to students from Orthodox Churches af-
filiated with the Assembly of Bishops. The Malta
Scholarship is for undergraduate studies, and the
Paleologos Scholarship is awarded for graduate
work of a non-theological nature.
Each of these scholarships was established
through generous gifts from dedicated Greek Or-
thodox Christians who wanted to provide financial
assistance towards the education of young people
from the Orthodox Christian community.
Applications can be downloaded from the
website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese fo
America at: www.goarch.org/-/scholarships. For
more information, please email: scholar-
ships@goarch.org, or call: (212) 774-0283. The
deadline for submitting an application for these
scholarships is May 3, 2019!
This information is also posted on the bulle-
tin boards of our parish complex. Please consult
this for additional information.
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