St George

Homepage Icon

The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America stands with all people of good will in condemning the hateful violence and lamenting the loss of life that resulted from the shameful efforts to promote racial bigotry and white supremacist ideology in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Saints Feasts and Readings for 8/18/2017

Gospel Reading

Epistle Reading

The Antiochian Department of Christian Education will be offering two Teacher Training II courses on September 9 and 23, 2017. Teacher Training II is divided into elementary and middle school/high school sessions. Each covers techniques and tools appropriate to the ages you are teaching. Classes include "Enriching the Classroom Experience," "Child Development and the Exceptional Learner," "Creative Expressions," and " Adolescent Needs" and "Moral Issues."

Please contact the host parish for more information or to register. If you are interested in hosting a training session at your parish, please contact the office at aodce.events@gmail.com or at 717-747-5221.

Host: St. Paul Orthodox Church, Brier, WA
Date: Saturday, September 9
To register or for more information, please contact: Anne Beach at anne.slp.11@gmail.com.
Please register by September 1

Host: St. Elias Orthodox Cathedral, Ottawa, ON
Date: Saturday, September 23
To register or for more information, please contact: Kelly Hamwi at mkhlovesgod@gmail.com.

Attachment	Size
Flyer for St. Paul 9.9.17 (PDF)	849.73 KB
Flyer for St. Elias 9.23.17 (PDF)	283.39 KB

Memory Eternal! With sadness and with hope in the Resurrection, His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and the Sakkab family, wish to convey the news of the falling asleep in the Lord of Archpriest Joseph Sakkab, Emeritus, after fifty-seven years of faithful service in the holy priesthood.

Father Joseph reposed on Thursday, August 10, 2017, at the age of 95. He leaves behind his faithful wife Khouria Samira; his children, Deacon Simon, Laila, Pauline, and Fady; and nine grandchildren. Viewing will be held on Sunday at 6 p.m. at St. Philip Antiochian Orthodox Church and the funeral service will be held on Monday, August 14, 2017, at 10 a.m. at St. Philip Antiochian Orthodox Church in Edmonton, Alberta.

Read a reflection by Fr. Joseph, "Share Your Faith with Confidence."

Attachment	Size
Archpriest Joseph Sakkab Biography (PDF)	88.43 KB
Archpriest Joseph Sakkab's Final Homily (JPG)	415.28 KB

Shudder, O ye heavens! and, O earth, give ear unto these words: God descended once before for our sake; He descends again today for His Mother.
--from The Lamentations at the Bier of the Mother of God, Tone 5

O thou most Holy Virgin, who knew not wedlock, the heavens rejoice in thy glorious falling asleep, the hosts of angels are glad, and the whole earth crieth out in joy, singing to thee the funeral song, O Mother of the Lord of all, thou who hast delivered human kind from its ancestral condemnation.
--Orthros of the Feast, Tone 4

The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos: an introduction by Archpriest Ayman Kfouf
Worshipping the Virgin Mary? An Orthodox Understanding, by Christopher Holwey
Teachings and traditions for the Feast of the Dormition
St. John of Damascus on the Dormition
A Description of the Theotokos by St. Maximus the Confessor
Tender Love and the Dormition: Frederica Mathewes-Green on Ancient Faith Radio
Mary, Our Cause of Rejoicing, by His Grace Bishop Basil

Van Nuys, California. (August 4, 2017)  Faithtree Resources, a teaching ministry of St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church in Van Nuys, CA, has released their latest resource for clergy and families, a free eBook entitled: 13 Reasons: Why We Must Engage with Our Teens. (Download a free copy) 

The 20+ page resource is Faithtree’s response to the popular Netflix series "13 Reasons Why," a teen-oriented drama about a high school student who takes her own life. The series aired this year and has not only caused a national stir, but as new research indicates, may have significantly increased the number of teens now researching and contemplating their own suicides. In an article in The Atlantic, Google reported queries about suicide rose by almost 20 percent in the 19 days following the wake of the show’s release. This represents between 900,000-1.5 million more searches than usual regarding the subject.

“Our goal in creating this resource was to respond to the overwhelming demand we’ve received to help our clergy and families as they have the really hard conversations with the teens in their lives, especially in regards to this series.” said Faithtree Executive Director, Michelle Moujaes. She went on to say, “The realities our teens are facing are changing so rapidly. We as adults can really struggle to offer solid guidance and wisdom. Our team also understands that articulating our rich theology on issues like suicide, rape, bullying, loneliness and identity isn’t always easy for a lot of us. It only made sense to collaborate with a seasoned Orthodox counselor and theologian like Dr. Mamalakis to help give us the words.  This eBook lays a framework and provides strategies to help prepare our adult leaders to have those hard conversations in a way that is effective, and God willing, truly transformative.” 

Faithtree worked with Dr. Philip Mamalakis, Ph.D., LMFT, M.Div. and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology who wrote the eBook. Hundreds of clergy, parents, church school administrators, doctors, and teachers have downloaded the resource already.

To learn more about other offerings from Faithtree Resources, log on to Faithtree's website or email info@faithtree.org.

The electronic version of the widely popular Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Monasteries has been released by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA and made available free of charge to everyone.