Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church

08/25/2023

Troparion & Kontakion

The Transfer of the Relics of the Apostle Bartholomew took place at the end of the sixth century. His apostolic activity and martyr’s end are remembered by the Church on June 11. The Apostle Bartholomew suffered for Christ in Armenian Albanus (now Baku) in the year 71, where his holy relics were. Numerous miracles occurred from the relics of the holy Apostle, and many of the unbelieving were converted to Christ. Under the emperor Anastasius (491-518) the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were transferred into the newly constructed city of Anastasiopolis (or Dura) and remained there until the end of the sixth century.

When the city of Anastasiopolis was captured by the Persian emperor Chozroes, Christians took up the chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and fled with it to the shores of the Black Sea. Having overtaken them, pagan priests threw the chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew into the sea. Four other chests containing the relics of the holy Martyrs Papian, Lucian, Gregory and Acacius were also thrown into the sea.

By the power of God the chests did not sink into the depths of the sea, but miraculously floated upon the waves and reached Italy. The chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew came to land at the island of Lipari, and the remaining chests continued their journey and came to land at various places in Italy. The chest with the relics of the Martyr Papian halted at Sicily, the Martyr Lucian at Messina, the Martyr Gregory at Calabria, and the Martyr Acacius at Askalon.

The arrival of the relics of the holy Apostle Bartholomew was revealed to Bishop Agathon of the island of Lipari, who went with clergy to the shores of the sea, took the chest from the waters and solemnly transferred it to church.

Myrrh flowed from the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, healing people of various illnesses. The holy relics remained in the church of the island of Lipari until the middle of the ninth century when the island was captured by pagans. Christian merchants took up the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and transferred them to the city of Beneventum, near Naples, where they were received with great veneration and placed in the main church of the city.

08/15/2023

https://meet.google.com/rgm-gsmk-vtq

Hello all,
The link for this Wednesday's Bible Study at 7:15 is above. We are
continuing to study the account of Our Lord's Passion in The Gospel of
Mark.
A Blessed Feat of The Dormition to all!
In Christ,
Dn Greg

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08/04/2023

The Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Odesa Ukraine was bombed last week by a missile strike on the city's center.
St. Peter & St. Paul Orthodox Church in Northeast Philadelphia is home to many Ukrainian faithful whose homeland remains under attack.
Our church will be collecting and sending money directly to Odesa to help support recovery from this disaster.
If you would like to help, please send your donation via check or Venmo as directed below. 100% of all contributions will be sent directly to Odesa. Thank you.
Mailing Address:
St. Peter & St. Paul Albanian Orthodox Church
9230 Old Bustleton Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19115
Venmo Account:
St Peter St Paul Alb Orth Ch James Schaeffer

08/03/2023

Matthew 20:17-28 (Gospel)

17
Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,
18
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death,
19
and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
20
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.
21
And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”
22
But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.”
23
So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
24
And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.
25
But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.
26
Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
27
And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave –
28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

08/03/2023

1 Corinthians 14:6-19 (Epistle)

6
But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching?
7
Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?
8
For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?
9
So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.
10
There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance.
11
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.
12
Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.
13
Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
14
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15
What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
16
Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?
17
For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.
18
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;
19
yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

08/03/2023

Venerable Isaac the Ascetic of the Dalmatian Monastery at Constantinople
Commemorated on August 3

Troparion & Kontakion

Saint Isaac (May 30) was a soldier before he became a monk. After he was tonsured, he attained such a degree of spiritual perfection that he was accounted worthy of beholding divine visions.

When Saint Isaac heard about how the Emperor Valens had fallen into the A***n heresy and was persecuting the Orthodox Christians, he left his monastery and traveled to Constantinople to confront the emperor. At that time Valens was planning a campaign against the Goths. Saint Isaac tried to change the emperor’s mind several times, but was unable to convince him. He prophesied that Valens would die in flames because of his actions. The emperor ordered that Saint Isaac be thrown into prison, and promised to deal with him when he returned from his expedition. On August 9, 378 Valens was defeated at Adrianople and died in a fire after hiding in a barn, just as the saint had predicted.

Emperor Theodosius the Great, who had a great love for the saint, released him from prison and banned A***nism. Saint Isaac attended the Second Ecumenical Council (381), where he defended the Orthodox Faith against the A***n heresy.

Saint Isaac hoped to return to his monastic life in the wilderness, but a wealthy man built a monastery for him at Constantinople, and he became its first igumen. The monastery was later named for his disciple Dalmatus.

When Saint Isaac was approaching the end of his earthly life, he named Saint Dalmatus to succeed him as igumen. He lived to a ripe old age and reposed in the year 383.

07/25/2023

https://meet.google.com/zdr-hebz-ycg

Hello all,
The link for this Wednesday's Bible Study at 7:15 is above.
In Christ,
Dn Greg

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07/11/2023

https://meet.google.com/krw-syct-vsb

Hello all,
The link for this Wednesday's Bible Study at 7:15 is above.
In Christ,
Dn Greg

Real-time meetings by Google. Using your browser, share your video, desktop, and presentations with teammates and customers.

06/30/2023

Matthew 12:1-8 (Gospel)

1
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
2
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
3
But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
4
how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
5
Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?
6
Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.
7
But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
8
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

06/30/2023

Romans 11:25-36 (Epistle)

25
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27
for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
28
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
29
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30
For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,
31
even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.
32
For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34
“For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?”
35
“Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?”
36
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

06/30/2023

Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Twelve Apostles
Commemorated on June 30

Troparion & Kontakion

The Synaxis of the Glorious and All-Praiseworthy Twelve Apostles of Christ appears to be an ancient Feast. The Church honors each of the Twelve Apostles on separate dates during the year, and has established a general commemoration for all of them on the day after the commemoration of the Glorious and First-Ranked among the Apostles Peter and Paul.

The holy God-crowned Emperor Constantine the Great (May 21) built a church in Constantinople in honor of the Twelve Apostles. There are instructions for celebrating this Feast which date from the fourth century. For lists of the Apostles' names, see: Mt.10:2, Mark 3:14, Luke 6:12, Acts 1:13, 26.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Andrew the First-called is also commemorated on November 30. He was the brother of Saint Peter (June 29).

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle James is also commemorated on April 30. He and his brother John are the sons of Zebedee, and were called “sons of Thunder” (Mark 3: 17).

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle and Evangelist, virgin, and beloved friend of Christ, John the Theologian is also commemorated on September 26 and May 8. He and his brother James are the sons of Zebedee, and were called “sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17).

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Philip is also commemorated on November 14.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Bartholomew is also commemorated on June 11 and August 25.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Thomas is also commemorated on October 6 and on the Sunday after Pascha.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle and Evangelist Matthew is also commemorated on November 16.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle James, the son of Alphaeus, is also commemorated on October 9.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Jude is also commemorated on June 19. He is also known as Thaddeus (but should not be confused with Saint Thaddeus of the Seventy, who is commemorated on August 21), and was the brother of Saint James (October 23).

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Simon the Zealot is also commemorated on May 10.

The holy, glorious, all-laudable Apostle Matthias is also commemorated on August 9.

06/29/2023

Matthew 11:27-30 (Gospel)

27
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
28
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”