January 8, 2017

THE THEOPHANY (EPIPHANY) OF OUR LORDTHE THEOPHANY (EPIPHANY) OF OUR LORDTHE THEOPHANY (EPIPHANY) OF OUR LORDTHE THEOPHANY (EPIPHANY) OF OUR LORD

AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRISTAND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRISTAND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRISTAND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

(January 6)

WWWW hen our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His teaching and salvific work. He Himself signified this “beginning of the beginning” by His Baptism in the Jordan river. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “The beginning of the world is water; the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan.” At the time of the Baptism of the Lord in water, the mystery was declared to the world - the mystery that was prophesied in the Old Testament; the mystery that was known only in fables in ancient Egypt and India; the mystery of the Divine Holy Trinity. The Father was revealed to the sense of hearing, the Spirit was revealed to the sense of sight, and the Son was revealed to the sense of touch. The Father uttered His witness about the Son, the Son was baptized in the water, and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, hovered above the water. When John the Baptist bore witness to Christ, saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29),” and when John immersed and baptized the Lord in the Jordan, the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation were shown. That is to say, the Lord took upon Himself the sins of mankind and died under them (immersion) and rose again (the coming out of the water); and we must die to the old sinful man and rise again as cleansed, renewed and regenerated. This is the Savior and this is the path of salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Illumination. The event in the Jordan river illuminates us by manifesting God to us as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided. That is one way that we are illumined. And the second way is that every one of us through baptism in water is illumined, in that we become adopted by the Father of Lights through the merits of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

From: The Prologue of Ohrid

January 8, 2017 Issue 555

�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 Deacon Samer Hanna

Nidal Fakhoury - Parish Council Chairman

Linda Lawson - Choir Director Stacey Badeen - Church Administrator Sonya Kassis - Parish Ministries

Coordinator Haitham Fakhouri - Communications

Richard Shebib/Sami Azzouz - Ushers

Dr. Tom Saba - Young Adults-

St. John Divine

Nancy Ghannam- Ladies Society

President Nicole Rumman & Natalie Samaan

Teen Soyo Co-Presidents

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

Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous!

The Reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians

Chapter 4:7-13

BBBB rethren, to each one of us is given the grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore He says, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? The One who descended is the same also Who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the Body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, toward the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Chapter 4:12-17

AAAA t that time, when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He went and dwelt in Caper’na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb’ulun and Naph’tali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“The land of Zebu’lum and the land of Naph’tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-the people

who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We Would Love To Visit You! It’s House Blessing Season

House blessings have begun as we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany. All those who wish to have their house blessed, please call the church office at 734-422-0010 to make an appointment for one of the clergy to come and visit you and your family to pray together and bless your home.

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 3

Please visit www.saintmarylivonia.com for details about events and ac�vi�es happening

at the Basilica of Saint Mary. If you have any ques�ons regarding Youth and Outreach Events,

please contact Fr. Jim or Sonya Kassis at (734) 422-0010.

Parish Ministries Updates

The Basilica of Saint Mary

2016-Year in Review

Happy New Year! Christ is Born! Glorify Him! For many of us, the new year is a �me to reflect on the past and prepare for the

future. This past year has brought us many wonderful memories and events to look back on fondly. Please enjoy these reminders

of a wonderful year and please pray for us in the year ahead, that we may always Glorify God in our work, and bring His message

to our children by engaging them with the church in all manner of ways. We look forward to seeing all the children back in

Sunday School on January 8th. May 2017 be filled with many blessings, health and joy for you and your families!

July: Camp St. Mary October: Trunk-N-Treat

August: Vaca+on Church School October: Girl Scouts

July: Project Mexico

September: Church School (CGS)

October: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox

Bishops of the United States of America

October: Fashion Show

November: YES Service Weekend

June: Parish Life Conference June: Family Fun Fest November: SOYO Thanksgiving Dinner

Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

PRAYER CORNER memorials

IIII am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25) Jan. 8th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Aouni Fakhouri offered by his wife Sabah Fakhouri and family,

Jan. 15th - 40 day memorial in loving

memory of Michel Kehdy offered by the

family, Jan. 15th - 1 year memorial in loving

memory of Rimon Warra offered by his

wife Maha Warra and family, Jan. 15th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Abdalla Rizqalla offered by his wife Nawal Rizqalla and family, Jan. 21st (Sat.)- 40 day memorial in loving memory of Cecilia Issa offered by her daughter Dr. Wafa (Dr. Tony) Sultani and family,

Thank You

“A Vigil Light is Burning”

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

Wolenter,

IIII n Memory Of: Joseph Michael Mouaikel, George Abodeely, Nawal

Fakhouri,

HOLY BREAD OF OBLATION

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the

month of January, in loving memory

of:

Fuad Ghannam

Suad Ghannam

John Naser

Abdalla Rizqalla

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the

month of January for the health and

well being of:

Nabiha Kazaleh

Mike Simone

LLLL ord, You are the physician of our souls and body. We pray You

grant the following parishioners

good health and blessings:

Metropolitan PAUL Yazigi,

Archbishop Youhanna Ibrahim,

Sahar, baby Mary Bardakjian,

Delaini Walrich, Lucas Tams, Marie

Abouassaly, George Mourani,

Linda, Nancy Rizqalla, Haifa Zayed,

TTTT he following parishioners and

friends of the Basilica of St.

Mary have given special donations

to the Church in the past few

weeks:

$100-For the health and well being

of Nabiha Kazaleh, on the occasion

of her birthday offered by Sylvia

and Natalie Kazaleh,

$100-In loving memory of Suad

Ghannam offered by her husband

Saied Ghannam,

$200-In loving memory of Alethea

Shaheen offered by Essam Sackllah

and family,

$500-For the health and well being

of Aziz, Judy, Nicollette, Fuad and

Trevor Naser offered by Aziz and

Judy Naser,

$1000-For the health and well

being of Linda Yazji offered by her

husband Dr. Ghiath Yazji,

OUR NEW ARRIVALS

CCCC ongratulations and best wishes to Tony and May Faris on

the birth of their baby girl Natalya.

Proud grandparents are Nabeel and

Ilene Faris and Jamal and Muna

Musharbash.

May God bless parents,

grandparents and child.

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica of

St. Mary extend their deepest

sympathy to children Norma (Essa)

Sackllah, Jim (Justine) Shaheen,

Frank (Theresa) Shaheen, Joyce

(Roger) Clem, Nancy (Ken) Grosso

and the entire Shaheen family on

the passing of Althea Shaheen.

May her memory be eternal.

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica of

St. Mary extend their deepest

sympathy to daughters Dr. Wafa

(Dr. Tony) Sultani, Rania (Jack)

Eid and the entire family on the

passing of Cecilia Issa, age 81 in

Syria.

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica of St.

Mary extend their deepest

sympathy to Maria

Dionyssopoulos, children Dr.

Stephanie (Dr. Jeffrey) Jaghab,

Stavros (Eleni) Dionyssopoulos,

Katina (Edward) Spyrka and the

entire family on the passing of their

beloved husband/father Vassilios

Dionyssopoulos.

May his memory be eternal. 2017 Calendar

Our traditional calendar,

celebrating the events of our family

and prayers in the past year, is on

its way. You will soon be receiving

it the mail.

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

Parish Council News

Anyone interested in running for the Parish Council for 2017 should inform the Nominating Committee (Fr. George Shalhoub, Andrew Ansara, Don Hayes, Nidal Fakhoury, or Emeel Ajluni) immediately. Those nominated must meet the following qualifications as stated in Article VI, Sec., 2 of our Constitution: “A candidate must be twenty-one (21) years of age or over and must have been a voting member of the Parish for a period of two (2) years and has fulfilled the Canonical requirements of the Faith.”

HE/SHE MUST BE A PLEDGED MEMBER AND HAVE FULFILLED THEIR PLEDGE FOR TWO (2) YEARS.

Please make sure all nominations are in prior to, or at the General Parish meeting on January 22, 2017 in the Cultural Center immediately following Liturgy. Due to term limitations, Arwa Ansara and Shaden Dababneh will be stepping down. Jason Amash, Robert Harb and Tony Musallam are eligible to run for a second term.

The General Parish meeting will be held on Sunday, January 22, 2017

immediately following the Liturgy in the Cultural Center.