August 4, 2013

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORDTHE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORDTHE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORDTHE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD

JESUS CHRISTJESUS CHRISTJESUS CHRISTJESUS CHRIST

August 6

IIII n the third year of His preaching, the Lord Jesus often spoke to His disciples of His approaching passion but at the same time of His glory following His suffering on the Cross. So that His impending passion would not totally weaken His disciples and that no one would fall away from Him, He, the All-wise, wanted to partial-ly show them His divine glory before His passion. For that reason, He took Peter, James and John with Him and, with them, went out at night to Mt. Tabor and there was transfigured before them: “And His face shone as the sun and His garments became white as snow” (St. Matthew 17:2). There appeared along side Him, Moses and Elijah, the great Old Testament prophets. And, seeing this, His disciples were amazed. Peter said: “Lord, it is good for us to be here: If You will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (St. Matthew 17:4). While Peter still spoke, Moses and Elijah departed and a bright cloud overshadowed the Lord and His disciples and there came a voice from the cloud saying: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear Him” (St. Matthew 17:5). He aring the voice, the disciples fell to the ground on their faces as though dead and remained that way, lying in fear, until the Lord came near to them and said: “Arise and be not afraid” (St. Matthew 17:7). Why did the Lord take only three disciples on Tabor and not all? Because Judas was not worthy to behold the divine glory of the Teacher, Whom he will betray and the Lord did not want to leave him (Judas) alone at the foot of the mountain so that the betrayer would not, by that, justify his betrayal. Why was our Lord transfig-ured on a mountain and not in a valley? So as to teach us two virtues: love of labor and godly-thoughts Why was our Lord transfigured at night? Because, the night rather than the day is more suitable for prayer and godly-thoughts and because the night, by its darkness, conceals all the beauty of the earth and reveals the beauty of the starry heavens. Why did Moses and Elijah appear? In order to destroy the error of the Jews, as though Christ is one of the prophets; Elijah or Jeremiah or some other that is why He appears as a King above the prophets and that is why Moses and Elijah appear as His

servants. Until then, our Lord manifested His divine power many times to the disciples but, on Mt. Tabor, He manifested His divine nature. This vision of His Divinity and the hearing of the heavenly witness about Him as the Son of God, should serve the disciples in the days of the Lord’s passion, in strength-ening of an unwavering faith in Him and His final victory.

FATHER GEORGE H. SHALHOUB

248-374-0591 August 4, 2013 Issue 379

�18100 Merriman Road � Livonia, Michigan 48152 � www.saintmarylivonia.com � Office: (734)-422-0010 �

Sunday Services

Confession: 8:30AM

Matins: 9:00AM

Divine Liturgy: 10:00AM

St. Mary’s Cultural

and Banquet Center

(734) 421-9220

Daily Confession by Appointment - Call the Church Office

“And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Acts 11:26

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

Fr. George Shalhoub - Pastor Fr. Jim King - Director of Youth & Pastoral Outreach Programs Archdeacon Issa Rizkallah

313-690-2030 Deacon Dr. Dennis Bojrab Salem Samaan - Parish Council Chairman Linda Lawson - Choir Director Stacey Badeen - Church Administrator Arwa Ansara -Church School Administrator Richard Shebib/Sami Azzouz - Ushers Dr. Tom Saba - Young Adults- St. John Divine Georgine Hayes - Ladies Society President Nicole Khamis - Teen Soyo President Lina Nunu - Arabic School Keith Rowe - Cultural Center General Manager 734-421-9220

The Light of Christ

AL-NOUR

PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY:

THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX BASILICA OF ST. MARY

Page 2 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

THE EPISTLE

Thou, O Lord, wilt preserve us and keep us from this generation.

Save me, O Lord, for the Godly man hath disappeared.

The Reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans Chapter 12:6-14

BBBB rethren, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, and serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew Chapter 9:1-8

AAAA t that time, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over and came to His own city. And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He then said to the paralytic—“Rise, take up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they marveled, and they glorified God, Who had given such authority to men.

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 3

PRAYER CORNER memorials

IIII am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25) Aug. 4th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Basem (Faris) Kakish offered by his wife Wejdan Kakish and family, Aug. 11th - 40 day memorial in loving memory of Emily Craig offered by the family, Aug. 11th - 6 month memorial in loving memory of Micheal Ayoub offered by his wife Teri Ayoub and family, Aug. 18th - 40 day memorial in loving memory of Suhail Saba, Sr. offered by his wife Irene Saba and family,

Thank You

“A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion

FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Major Timothy Lawson,

IIII n Memory Of: Joseph Michael

Mouaikel; George Abodeely; Ken

Biedron, Gabe Kassab,

HOLY BREAD OF OBLATION

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation

is offered by the families, for

the month of August, in loving

memory of:

Pam Khoury Ajlouny

Abdallah Harb

Raji and Fahdeh Kakish

Joe Catarineau

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation

is offered by the families, for

the month of August, the health and

well being of:

Jad Alex Harb

LLLL ord, you are the physician of

our souls and body. We pray

You grant the following parish-

ioners good health and blessings: baby Aydan Hujdurovic, Dr. Muaid

Shihadeh, Najla, Rose Biedron,

Elias Rizk, Michelle Milkie, Elaine

Salim, Waad Al-Khal, Suad

Ajlouny, Andrew Ansara,

Abdelnour Abdelnour, Ghassan

Khalil,

TTTT he following parishioners and

friends of the Basilica of St.

Mary have given special donations

to the Church in the past few

weeks:

$50-In loving memory of Lafi

Khalil offered by Dr. Elie and

Farideh Khoury,

$100-Anonymous donation

towards Food for the Hungry,

$500-In loving memory of Lafi

Khalil offered by his daughters,

Amal (Warren) David, Nadia (Ed)

Youmans, Suhair (Steve)

Ghannam, and Rana (the late

Nabil) Matar,

From the Heart

In the garden of the heart friendship’s flower

opens wide when we shower it

with kindness as our love shines

from inside.

O Lord, thou will hear the desire of the meek; thou will strengthen

their heart, thou will incline thy ear. Psalm 10:17

Today plant the seed of

friendship within our heart. With showers of kindness and warmth

of love your friendships will grow. Upcoming Events for

St. Mary Parishioners

Sept. 6th-Ladies Society Fashion

Show

Sept. 22nd-St. Mary’s annual

Golf Outing

Oct. 13th-St. Mary’s Grand

Banquet

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the

Basilica of St. Mary extend

their deepest sympathy to

Alexandra (Fouad) Salameh, Issam

(Mona) Salameh, Muna (Jim)

Rizkallah, Rula (Remon) Oudeh,

the grandchildren and the entire

family on the passing of their

beloved mother, Afaf Salameh.

May her memory be eternal.

SAVE THE DATES

St. Mary’s Annual Golf Outing will

be held on Saturday, September

21st at Western Golf Club.

St. Mary’s Annual Grand Banquet

will be held on Sunday, October

13th.

More information to follow.

Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

Week of August 4, 2013

Please visit our website for details about all the Basilica of St. Mary events and activities. www.saintmarylivonia.com

Upcoming Events Every Saturday: Great Vespers (5:00-5:45)

Every Wednesday: Mother-Toddler Group (10:00am-11:00am) August 5: All day at Buffalo Wild Wings - Bring in a Flyer from CSM . The camp will receive 20% of the bill. Flyers are now available. August 6: Camp St. Mary - Cass Lake & the Transfiguration of Christ August 9: Antiochian Village Campers Return August 13: Last Day of Camp St. Mary - Over Night at Lake Michigan August 15: Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos @ the Monastery September 7: Alter Boy training boy’s Ages 7-20 years old

If you have any questions regarding any of these events, please call

Fr. Jim King at the Department of Youth and Outreach office.

The life of the Basilica depends on you. Get involved today!

CAMP SAINT MARY

Help us raise money for

Camp St. Mary

at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Bring in a flyer on

August 5th and

Camp St. Mary will receive

20% of your bill.

Where:6 Mile and Newburgh

Time: All DAY Please come and support

Camp St. Mary

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 5

18100 MERRIMAN ROAD � LIVONIA, MICHIGAN 48152

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Dated Material

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visit our website: www.saintmarylivonia.com

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary