SA SAINT NT ANT NTHONY ORTHODOX CHURCH Antiochian Orthodox Christian Ar An Archdiocese www. www.orthodoxbutler.org ADDRESS: 400 S. Sixth Avenue, Butler, PA 16001 PASTOR: Rev. Bogdan Gabriel Bucur 724.287.6893 (church); 412.390.8208 (priest); frbogdan@orthodoxbutler.org TH THE P PRESENTA TATI TION O OF TH THE L LORD I D IN TH THE TE TEMPLE 2 Fe Februa uary 20 2020 20 FI FIRST ANTIPHON My My heart overflows ws wi with a good wo word: I speak my poem to the king: my tongue is the pen of a re ready w writ riter. r. R.: Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us! Gr Grace is po pour ured into thy lips ps: therefore God hath blessed thee forever. (R.:) Gl Glory… Now and ever… (R.:) SECOND AN SE ANTIPHON Gi Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most mighty, with Thy glory and Th Thy ma majesty. Bend Th Thy bo bow, , and nd pros osper, , and nd reign. n. (R.:) O Son of God, Who wast borne in the arms of righteous Simeon: save us who sing to Thee, “Alleluia”! Th Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enem en emies es; ; the scepter of of Thy king ngdom om is rig righteous. . (R.:) Gl Glory… Now and ever… (Only begotten…) THI THIRD AN ANTIPHON • He Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s ho th house. TROPARION OF THE MEETING OF THE LORD (see below) • Ev Even the rich among the people shall entreat thy fa face. . TROPARION OF THE MEETING • I I shall commemorate thy name in every generation. TROPARION OF THE MEETING LI LITTLE ENTRANCE Th The Lord has mad ade known His salvat ation; He has re revealed H His ju is just stice in in t the sig sight o of al all na nations ns. Sa Save us, O Son of God Who ar art risen from the dead ad, as we sing to Thee: Al Alleluia! TROPARION OF THE RESURRECTION (Tone 8): From the heights Thou didst descend, O compassionate One, and Thou didst submit to the three- day burial, that Thou might deliver us from passion; Thou art our life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to Thee! TROPARION OF THE MEETING OF THE LORD (Tone 4): Rejoice thou who art full of grace, O Virgin Theotokos! For from thee hath risen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those in darkness. Rejoice thou also, O righteous Elder, as thou receivest in thine arms the Redeemer of our souls, Who also grants us the Resurrection!
KONTAKION FOR THE MEETING OF THE LORD (Tone 1): Thou, O Christ God, Who by Thy Birth, didst sanctify the Virgin’s womb, and, as is meet, didst bless Simeon’s arms, and didst also come to save us; preserve Thy fold in wars, and confirm them whom Thou didst love, for Thou alone art the Lover of mankind. TO TODAY’S EPISTL TLE RE READ ADING My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He has regarded the humility of His servant. Th The Reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 7:7-17) Br Brethren, n, it is beyond dispute that the inf nferior is blessed by the su superio rior. r. Here re ti tith thes are received by mortal men; there, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might ev even en say that Lev evi himsel elf, who rec ecei eives es tithes es, paid tithes es through Abraham, for he e was still in th the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met t him. Now if perfection had been att ttainable th through the Levitical priesth thood (for under it the people received th the law), what further need wo would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Me Melchizedek, rather than one na named after the orde der of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, d, there is ne necessarily a chang nge in n the law as well. . For the one ne of whom these things are spoken n belong nged to an another tribe, from which no one has as ever served at the al altar ar. For it is evident that at our Lo Lord rd was s de descende ded d from Judah, and d in connection with that tribe Moses said d nothing about priests. This be becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has be become a priest, not according to a legal requirement concern rnin ing b bodil ily d desc scent b but by t the power of an indestruc po uctible life. For it is witnessed of him, “Thou u art a pr priest forever, after the or order of of Melchizedek.” .” TO TODAY’S GOSPEL READING Th The Reading is from the Ho Holy y Go Gospel according to Luke (Luke 2:22-40) In In tho hose days, th the parents ts of Jesus brought t Him up to to Jerusalem to to present t hi him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is sa said in in t the l law o of t the Lord, “a pair Lo r of turt rtledoves, s, or r two young pigeons. s.” Now there re was s a man in Jeru rusa salem, whose se na name was Simeon, n, and nd this man was righteous and nd devout, , looking ng for the cons nsolation n of Israel, , an and the Holy Spirit was as upon him. And it had ad be been revealed to him by by the Holy Spirit that he sh should not see death b before he had seen the Lord’s C Christ. A And inspired by the Spirit it he c came in into t the T Temple; a and w when t the p pare rents s bro rought in in t the c chil ild J Jesu sus, s, to d do f for h r him a accord rdin ing t to the cu custom of the law, , he took ook Him up in n his arms and nd blessed God od and said, , “Lor ord, , now now lettest thou ou Th Thy servant depart in peace, according to Th Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Th Thy salvation, wh which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Ge Gentiles, and for glory to Thy people Israe an ael.” And His fat ather an and his mother mar arveled at at what at was as sai aid ab about Him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His is mother, “Behold, this child is set for th the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign th that t is spoken against t (and a sword will pierce th through your own soul also), that th thoughts out t of many hearts may be revealed.” And th there was a a prophetess, Anna, a, the dau aughter of Phan anuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was as of a a great ag age, hav aving
li lived with her husba band seven years from her virginity, and as a widow until she was eighty-fo four. Sh She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And co coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of Him to all who were look oking for the redemption of fo f Jerusalem. And when they had perfo formed everything according to the law of of the Lor ord, , they returned into o Galilee, , to o their ow own city, , Nazareth. . And the child grew and be became strong, filled with wisdom; and the fa favor of f Go God was upon Hi Him. SP SPECIAL HYMN TO THE BIRTHGIVER OF GOD: O Theotokos, thou hope of all Christians; keep and shelter and preserve them that set their hope in thee. In the shadow and letter of the Law, let us the faithful contemplate a prefiguring: Every male child that opens the womb is holy unto God. Therefore, we magnify the first-born Word, the Son of the Father Who is without beginning, the first-born Child of a Mother who has not known wedlock. A A WORD RD AB ABOUT THE ME MEETING OR PRESENTAT ATION OF THE LORD RD The feast of the “Meeting” or “Presentation” of the Lord (also known as “Candlemas”) is one of the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church. We have sermons on the Feast by Methodius of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360), Gregory the Theologian (+ 389), Amphilocius of Iconium (+ 394), Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400), and John Chrysostom (+ 407). Church hymnographers have adorned this Feast with their hymns: St Andrew of Crete in the seventh century; St Cosmas Bishop of Maium, St John of Damascus, and St Germanus of Constantinople in the eighth century; and St Joseph of Thessalonica in the ninth. But who is it that is "presented" in the Temple? The Lord—Jesus Christ—as a baby, only 40 days old. According to the Law of Moses, each family had to "present" its first-born son to the Temple: that is, the child was consecrated to God, in the same way that the first yield of the crop was presented to God—a solemn way of thanking God for His gifts, and for asking His blessing upon one's efforts. When something is offered up to God, it is thereby made sacred (it is “consecrated”) and rendered fit to remain there, in the holy place. How can a consecrated offering—the child—be returned to “regular” life, outside the Temple? Parents would “buy it back” by offering instead a young lamb; poor people would bring two turtledoves. The feast is also called “Meeting of the Lord.” Who “meets” Him? Symeon, an
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