January 19, 2014

The Venerable Anthony the Great (January 17)

AAAA nthony was an Egyptian born in about the year 250 in the village of Koman near Heraclea. Following the death of his noble and wealthy parents, he divided the inherited estate with his sister, who was a minor, and made sure that she was cared for by some relatives. Anthony distributed half of the estate to the poor, and in his twentieth year he dedicated himself to the ascetic life for which he had yearned from his childhood. In the beginning, Anthony lived a life of asceticism in the proximity of his village, but in order to flee the disturbance of people he withdrew into the wilderness on the shore of the Red Sea. There he spent twenty years as a recluse, not associating with anyone except God. Through constant prayer, reflection and contemplation, he patiently endured unspeakable temptations from the devil. His fame spread throughout the entire world, and many disciples gathered around him, whom he set on the path of salvation by his example and words. During the eighty-five years of his ascetic life. Only twice did he go to Alexandria: the first time to seek martyrdom during a time of persecution of the Church, and the second time at the invitation of St. Athanasius the Great, in order to refute the accusation of the Arians that he too was an adherent of the Arian here-sy. Anthony reposed in the 105th hear of his life, leaving behind an en-tire army of disciples and emulators. Even though Anthony was not a scholar, he was nevertheless a counselor and teacher of the most learned men of his time, as was St. Athanasius. When certain Greek philosophers tempted him with literary wisdom, Anthony shamed them with the question: “Which is older, the understanding or the book? Which of these two was the cause of the other?” Ashamed, the philoso-phers dispersed, for they perceived that they only had literary knowledge without understanding, whereas Anthony had understand-ing. Here is a man who attained perfection insofar as man, in general, can attain on earth. Here is an instructor of instructors and a teacher of teachers, who for a full eighty-five years perfected himself; and it was only in that way that he was able to perfect many others. Filled with many years of life and great works, Anthony reposed in the Lord in the year 356. From: The Prologue of Ohrid

FATHER GEORGE H. SHALHOUB

248-374-0591 January 19, 2014 Issue 402

�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

How magnified are Thy works; O Lord;

in wisdom hast Thou made them all.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians Chapter 3:4-11

BBBB rethren, when Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke Chapter 17:12-19

AAAA t that time, as Jesus entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

PRAYER CORNER memorials

IIII am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25) Jan. 19th - 9 day memorial in loving memory of Fr. James King, Sr., offered by his son Fr. Jim and Audrey King and family, Jan. 19th - 40 day memorial in loving memory of Suheil Mahfouz Ajluni offered by the family, Jan. 19th - 6 month memorial in loving memory of Afaf Salameh offered by the family, Feb. 9th - 40 day memorial in loving memory of Fr. John Badeen offered by the family, Feb. 9th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Micheal Ayoub offered by his wife Teri Ayoub and family,

Thank You

OUR NEW ARRIVALS “A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion

FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Rose Biedron,

IIII n Memory Of: Joseph Michael

Mouaikel; George Abodeely; Ken

Biedron,

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

Edward Ayoub

Naimeh Ayoub

Azizeh and Julia Harb

Naiem and Jaleeleh Warra

Michael Abukhader

Farah Kakish

Geno Zayid

Jacob and Gertrude Abdelnour

Sarah Shay

Sammy and Gloria Jubran

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation

is offered by the families, for the

month of January, for the health and

well being of:

Jeries and Malak Abukhader and

their family

LLLL ord, you are the physician of

our souls and body. We pray

You grant the following parish-

ioners good health and blessings: Metropolitan PAUL Yazigi, Arch-

bishop Youhanna Ibrahim, Mother

Pelagia, the nuns and orphans of

Maaloula, Syria,

CCCC ongratulations and best

wishes to George and Kathy

Chalhoub on the birth of their

baby boy, Nicholas Malek. Proud

grandparents are Mike and Venise

Chalhoub and George and Janice

Saba.

CCCC ongratulations and best

wishes to Tony and May Faris on

the birth of their baby boy

Anthony James. Proud grand-

parents are Nabeel and Ilene Faris

and Jamal and Muna Musharbash.

CCCC ongratulations and best

wishes to Nader and

Christine Kharsa on the birth of

their baby girl Gianna Christine.

Proud grandparents are Aziz and

Julia Kharsa and Alfred and

Zuhaira Shina.

May God bless parents,

grandparents and children.

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-In loving memory of Fr. John

Badeen offered by his grand-

children, John, Michael (Nicole)

and Christy Badeen,

$100-In loving memory of Fr. John

Badeen offered by Awni and Sahar

Qaqish and family,

$100-In loving memory of Fr.

James King, Sr,, offered by Dan

and Kathy Abraham,

$200-In loving memory of Fr.

James King, Sr., offered by Nick

and Virginia Antakli,

$200-In loving memory of Fr. Anis

Elias offered by Nick and Virginia

Antakli,

Save the Dates

Jan. 30th - Senior Heritage

Lunch and Movie Feb. 15th - Annual Valentine’s

Party at the Cultural Center.

Feb. 28th - Ladies Society annual

Wine Tasting Event

June 5-8, 2014 - St. Mary’s

Festival

Please Excuse Our Dust

We ask all parishioners and friends

to please excuse the dust and any

inconvenience happening in our

church. The 2 front center rows of

pews will be removed to

accommodate the one hundred foot

scaffolding. Chairs will be added to

our choir loft. We ask you to utilize

them without interrupting the choir.

The scaffold will take 10 days to

install, beginning in January. Work

will commence on the Dome by the

end of January.

May God bless you

and your family.

Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

Week of January 19, 2014

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

Upcoming Events Every Wednesday: Mother-Toddler Group (10:00am-12:00pm) Teen Soyo Meetings (5:45pm-8:00pm) January 30: Senior Heritage Fellowship Lunch and Movie February 14-17: Winter Camp at the Antiochian Village

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!

Saint Anthony the GreatSaint Anthony the GreatSaint Anthony the GreatSaint Anthony the Great (January 17)(January 17)(January 17)(January 17)

Troparion Tone 4Troparion Tone 4Troparion Tone 4Troparion Tone 4

By your zeal you equaled Elijah, Father

Anthony. You imitated the life of John the

Baptist; you founded a city in the

wilderness; you established the church on

the firm foundation of your prayers. pray to

Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 5

18100 MERRIMAN ROAD � LIVONIA, MICHIGAN 48152

Return service requested

Dated Material

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID LIVONIA, MI

PERMIT NO. 413

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 2014 should inform the Nominating Committee (Fr. George Shalhoub, Andrew Ansara, Don Hayes, Nidal Fakhoury, or Maha Khalil) 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 February 2, 2014 in the Cultural Center immediately following Liturgy. Dr. Al Abdelnour, Awra Ansara, and Shaden Dababneh are eligible to run for a second term.

The General Parish meeting will be held on Sunday, February 2nd immediately following the Liturgy in the Cultural Center.