St.

Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church

ECUMENI CAL PATRI ACHATE
SHRINE OF THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY
2701 NORTH NARRAGANSETT AVENUE CHICAGO, IL 60639 773-889-4282
stnicholasalbanianchicago.org

Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council

Sunday, October 16th, 2016

more to do with him, knowing that such a

person is perverted and sinful; he is selfcondemned.
When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you,
do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I
have decided to spend the winter there. Do
your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos
on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let
our people learn to apply themselves to good
deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and
not to be unfruitful.
All who are with me send greeting to you.
Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be
with you all. Amen.

Epistle Reading
St. Paul's Letter to Titus 3:8-15
Prokeimenon. Mode 4.
Daniel 3.26,27
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our
fathers.
Verse: For you are just in all you have done.

TITUS, my son, the saying is sure. I desire

you to insist on these things, so that those who
have believed in God may be careful to apply
themselves to good deeds; these are excellent
and profitable to men. But avoid stupid
controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and
quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable
and futile. As for a man who is factious, after
admonishing him once or twice, have nothing

Additional Readings for Today

Luke 24:36-53, Luke 8:5-15

VIZITA BARITORE

PASTORAL VISIT

Nga 19 deri m 30 Tetor 2016, do t kemi nderin

dhe knaqesin e veant pr viziten e Tij
Baritore q do t zhvilloje Hiresia e Tij Episkop
Ilia, Kryebariu i Kishs son. Me kt rast ftojm
t gjith besimtart e kishs son t shprehin
nderimin dhe respektin pr Peshkopin tone
duke qen t pranishm n kish ditn e Djel
23 dhe 30 Tetor pr t mar bekimet e Hiresise
se Tij.

From 19th to 30th of October 2016 we will

have the special honor and pleasure due to the
Pastoral Visit of His Grace Bishop Ilia Katre of
Philomelion, Archi Pastor of our Church. Due to
this occasion we invite all parishioners to
express their honor and gratitude to our bishop
by being present in church on coming Sundays
October 23rd and 30th to receive His blessings.

Phillip Theophan Androniku

Andromaqi Florenti
Beniamin Silvani Savini

Gospel Reading
The Gospel according to Luke 8:5-15
The Lord said this parable: "A sower went
out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell
along the path, and was trodden under foot,
and the birds of the air devoured it. And some
fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered
away, because it had no moisture. And some
fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it
and choked it. And some fell into good soil and
grew, and yielded a hundredfold." And when
his disciples asked him what this parable
meant, he said, "To you it has been given to
know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for
others they are in parables, so that seeing they
may not see, and hearing they may not
understand. Now the parable is this: The seed
is the word of God. The ones along the path are
those who have heard; then the devil comes

and takes away the word

from their hearts, that they
may not believe and be
saved. And the ones on the
rock are those who, when
they hear the word, receive
it with joy; but these have no
root, they believe for a while
and in time of temptation fall away. And as for
what fell among the thorns, they are those who
hear, but as they go on their way they are
choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of
life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for
that in the good soil, they are those who,
hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and
good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."
As he said these things, he cried out "He who
has ears to hear, let him hear."
Additional Readings for Today
Luke 24:36-53, St. Paul's Letter to Titus 3:8-15

MESSAGE FROM Fr. KOSTANDIN

T dashur motra dhe vllezr me
Krishtin. Po afron dita e fests kryesore e
Kishs sosn, dita e bekuar Shn Nikolls
(Kollit), 6 Dhjetor.
JU ftojm te gjithve t merni pjes
n festimet q do t zhvillohen n kish q t
gjith s bashku t lutemi dhe t marim
pjes n Adhurimin Hyjnor, n Mbrmsoren
qe do t mbahet n Kish, t Hnn m 5 Djetor, ne 7.00
PM dhe n vazhdim t Martn m 10.00AM n
Liturgjin Hyjnore. N t dy kto dit do t kemi
knasin e pamas sepse pran nesh do t jet I
pranishm Hiresia e Tij Episkop Ilia Katre, I cili do t na
japi bekimet e Tija. Dshirojm qe pjesemarrja jua t
jet sa m e madhe pr t treguar respektin ndaj
Shenjtorit t Kishs son dhe Hirsis s Tij, Episkop Ilia.
Duam t vem n dukje pr t gjit besimtart e Kishs
son q t mos e humbin kt rast pr t marr bekimet

e Perndise dhe t kemi mundsin t

qendrojm t gjith s bashku .
Le t mos harrojm se atmosfers
festive t ktij viti i shtohet dhe perkujtimi i
mrekullis s lotimit t ikones s Nns s Zotit
ton Jisu Krisht, te Pmbibekuares dhe
Virgjereshes Zonjes Mari.
Le t jet ky nj rast ku t gjithe s
bashku t prkujtojm ato momente t ksaj ngjarjeje
historike pr komunitetin e Kishs Orthodokse
Shqiptare t Shn Nikolls .
Bekimet e Perndis mbi ju t gjithe dhe ju
Mirpresim. Ejani t gjith pran Perndis pr t
shijuar nektarin e pacmuar t dashuris s Tij.
Me shum dashuri prulsisht i Juaji At
Kostandini dhe Kshilli Drejtues i Kishs dhe Ladies
Auxiliary ju ftojm t na prkrahni dhe t na mbshtesni
n kt ngjarje t shnuar t Kishs son.
Ju Faleminderit

COMMEMORATION OF THE
HOLY FATHERS OF THE
SEVENTH ECUMENICAL
COUNCIL
Commemorated on October
11/21 (if it is a Sunday), or on
the Sunday which follows
October 11/21
The Seventh Ecumenical Council, convoked by
the Empress Irene and met at Nicaea from September
24 to October 13, 787. Patriarch Tarasios presided. The
council ended almost fifty years of iconoclast
persecution and established the veneration of the holy
icons as basic to the belief and spirituality of Christ's
Church. As the Synaxarion says, "It was not simply the
veneration of the holy images that the Fathers defended
in these terms but, in fact, the very reality of the
Incarnation of the Son of God.
The second Council of Nicaea is the seventh and
last Ecumenical Council recognized by the Orthodox
Church. This does not mean that there may not be
ecumenical Councils in the future although, in holding
the seventh place, the Council of Nicaea has taken to
itself the symbol of perfection and completion
represented by this number in Holy Scripture (e.g. Gen.
2:1-3). It closes the era of the great dogmatic disputes
which enabled the Church to describe, in definitions
excluding all ambiguity, the bounds of the holy
Orthodox Faith. From that time, every heresy that
appears can be related to one or other of the errors that
the Church, assembled in universal Councils, has
anathematized from the first until the seventh Council
of Nicaea."
In Orthodox practice, the holy God-bearing
Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council are
commorated on October 11/21 (if it is a Sunday), or on
the Sunday which follows October 11/21. According to
the Slavic MENAION, however, if the eleventh falls on
Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the service is moved
to the preceding Sunday.
On the Sunday that falls on or immediately after
the eleventh of this month [N.S., 21st O.S.], we chant
the Service to the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh

Ecumenical Council, which gathered in Nicaea in 787

under the holy Patriarch Tarasius and during the reign
of the Empress Irene and her son, Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, to refute the Iconoclast heresy, which
had received imperial support beginning with the Edict
issued in 726 by Emperor Leo the Isaurian. Many of the
holy Fathers who condemned Iconoclasm at this holy
Council later died as Confessors and Martyrs for the
holy Icons during the second assault of Iconoclasm in
the ninth century, especially during the reigns of Leo
the Armenian and Theophilus.

OUR ORTHODOX TRADITION

CELEBRATING A NAME DAY
There are a host of traditions for celebrating a
name day, many of them cultural. The following list is
just a start and is certainly not comprehensive.
Go to Church: If the church has a service on the name
day, try to attend. This will impress upon your children
the very nature of a name daythat it is a religious
holiday celebrating a holy saint.
Display the Icon: Make sure that the saints icon is
prominently displayed in your icon corner that day. You
can even have your child hold the icon during Morning
and Evening Prayers while other family members
venerate it.
Read about the Saint: Find an account of the saints life.
This could the Bible, Orthodoxwiki.com, or reach to Fr.
Kostandin. Faith Radio also has a podcast that tells the
life of the Saint of the Day. Listen to it as a family.
Sing the Troparion for the Saint: Try to learn it.
Have a Special Treat: Make a cake, cookies, or another
special treat in honor of the name day. Let the person
celebrating the name day choose the treat and have the
first piece. Sing God Grant You Many Years as you cut
it.
Prepare a Special Meal: Let the child celebrating the
name day choose the evening meal.
Talk with Godparents: Try to talk with your or your
childs godparents on the name day. Show them
respect.