December 8, 2013

St. Nicholas

December 6

SSSS t. Nicholas was born in a Christian family who made sure that he got the best education. After his parents died, Nicholas decided to become a monk. He soon realized, though, that God’s will for him was different. He came back to his hometown, and eventually was made Archbishop of the city of Myra. Very quickly, Nicholas became known for being a very generous, compassionate, and merciful person. He started several orphanages and hospitals, constantly gave money to the poor, and helped travelers and countless other people. If you had to pick one word to describe St. Nicholas, it would probably be “generous”! St. Nich-olas spent his life helping other people with whatever they needed, no matter how big or small. In the Old Testament, God gave the people this commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Our Lord Jesus Christ also spoke this phrase several times in the New Testament, which tells us how important it is to care about other people! St. Nicholas tried as hard as he could to follow this commandment. We can take many lessons from him to help us also follow God’s command-ment to love others!!

Facts About St. Nicholas

• St. Nicholas died in 330 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine the Great

• The relics of St. Nicholas were taken to Italy in the 11th century, and are still there today in the city of Bari

• St. Nicholas is considered the patron saint of travelers, sailors, and children

• Our Church remembers St. Nicholas on December 6th

• The “Nicholas” in Greek means “victory of the people:

• We call St. Nicholas “the Wonderworker” because many miracles have happened through him.

• The city of Myra, where St. Nicholas was the Archbishop, is in Turkey today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICECHRISTMAS EVE SERVICECHRISTMAS EVE SERVICECHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE

8:30 PM MATINS8:30 PM MATINS8:30 PM MATINS8:30 PM MATINS

9:30 PM DIVINE LITURGY9:30 PM DIVINE LITURGY9:30 PM DIVINE LITURGY9:30 PM DIVINE LITURGY

FOLLOWED BY BREAKFASTFOLLOWED BY BREAKFASTFOLLOWED BY BREAKFASTFOLLOWED BY BREAKFAST

FATHER GEORGE H. SHALHOUB

248-374-0591 December 8, 2013 Issue 397

�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

The Lord will give strength to His people.

Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of God,

ascribe to the Lord honor and glory.

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

Chapter 2:14-22

BBBB rethren, Christ is our peace, Who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the Cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end. And He came and preached peace to you, who were far off, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in Whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke Chapter 13:10-17

AAAA t that time, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrite! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As Jesus said this, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by Him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday

Each year on the second Sunday of December, we honor our choir members and chanters in

appreciation for their dedication and commitment to the beauty of our church services. Please take the time to say thank you to our choir and chanters for their time and talents.

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) Dec. 8th - In loving memory of Evelyn Naser offered by her husband George Naser and family, Dec. 22nd - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Rene Roth and Matel Habib Sabbagh offered by Dr. and Mrs. Said Sabbagh, Dec. 29th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Naimeh Ayoub offered by the family,

Thank You

OUR NEW ARRIVALS

“A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion

FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Jenine and Isla Brown,

IIII n Memory Of: Joseph Michael

Mouaikel; George Abodeely; Ken

Biedron, Chakib Abboud,

HOLY BREAD OF OBLATION

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation

is offered by the families, for the

month of December, in loving

memory of:

Suhail Saba, Sr.

Jalil and Najla Azzouz

Fadwa Qaqish

Jacob Abdelnour

Balsam Yatooma Mansor

Odeh, Hanna and Anthony Zarou

Fuad Naser

Aziz and Hilweh Naser

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, Waad Al-Khal,

Adriana Mansour, Fareedah Mansur,

Annie, Rose Biedron, Rose Marie

Khoury, Tarik Daoud, Eleanor

Fahoome, Sarah Knowlton, Najah,

Zahy Afnan and family,

CCCC ongratulations and best

wishes to Tom and Michelle

Toma on the birth of their baby

boy, Alexander Thomas. Proud

grandparents are Ramzi and Nahla

Shaya and Sahira Toma.

May God bless parents,

grandparents and child.

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

newly baptized Jad Alex Harb, named

after his blessed grandfather Jad Harb,

offered by Jim and Judy Deeg,

$100-In loving memory of Odeh,

Hanna and Anthony Zarou offered by

Baihiea Zarou,

$100-In loving memory of Fuad, Aziz

and Hilweh Naser offered by Salwa

Naser,

$250-For the health and well being of

newborn Alexander Thomas offered by

parents Tom and Michelle Toma and

big brother, Thomas,

$500-For the health and well being of

newly baptized Claire Elise offered by

parents Dr. Tom and Lillian Saba,

$500-For the health and well being of

newly baptized Rayden Rami Khoury

and Ava Brynn Khoury offered by

their grandmother Dalal Khoury,

$1000-For the health and well being of

newly baptized Jad Alex Harb offered

by his godparents Dr. Raed and Tina

Musallam,

$1000-Towards the hardship fund in

loving memory of Evelyn Naser

offered by family and friends,

$5000-Honorary Founders Michel and

Hilda Ansara towards our 40th

Anniversary,

$9150-In loving memory of Evelyn

Naser offered by family and friends,

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the

Basilica of St. Mary extend

their deepest sympathy wife

Jamileh, children Fred, Ricky and

Lina, grandchildren, brother, and

nieces and nephews, Muna Farhat,

Lami Taweel, Ramzi Taweel, Raji

Taweel and the entire Taweel

family on the passing of Fadel

Taweel in Virginia.

May his memory be eternal.

Save the Dates Dec. 13th - St. Mary’s annual

Christmas Concert beginning at

7:00pm in the church featuring our

choir, chanters and friends from the

Orthodox community. Freewill

offering.

Dec. 15th - 2013 Nativity

Play-5pm in the church

Feb. 15, 2014 - Annual Valentine’s

Party at the Cultural Center.

Singer will be Faisal Wazani.

June 5-8, 2014 - St. Mary’s

Festival

December is

St. Ignatius month. All members of

St. Ignatius are asked to wear their crosses during the month.

Senior Heritage Fellowship With the upcoming holiday and every

one’s busy schedule, we will not be

having a luncheon this month. Our next

meeting will be held on Thursday,

January 30, 2014.

We wish everyone a very Merry

Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

Week of December 8, 2013

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) December 13: Holy Land Christmas Concert 7:00 pm in the Basilica December 14: PB&J Outreach. Be at church at 6:50 AM December 15: Christmas pageant - 5:00pm in the church

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!

13th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner 13th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner 13th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner 13th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Thank you to all our sponsors!

Without your donations, this dinner would be not possible.

Thank you to all that worked so hard to put this dinner on.

It was a great success.

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

CHRISTMAS PLANTS

IIII n order to decorate our Church with Poinsettias for the Christmas Season, we kindly ask that you

respond by completing the form below and enclose it in your weekly giving envelopes or by placing

it in the collection basket on Sunday.

Name: ______________________________________Amount:_____________ In memory of: _________________________________________________________ Health and well being of:_________________________________________________