January 31, 2016

Ephraim the Syrian

(January 28th)

SSSS aint Ephraim was born in Nisibis of Mesopotamia some time about the year 306, and in his youth was the disciple of Saint James, Bishop of Nisibis, one of the 318 Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council. Ephraim lived in Nisibis, practicing a severe ascetical life and increasing in holiness, until 363, the year in which Julian the Apostate was slain in his war against the Persians, and his successor Jovian surrendered Nisibis to them. Ephraim then made his dwelling in Edessa, where he found many heresies to do battle with. He waged an especial war against Bardaisan; this gnostic had written many hymns propagating his errors, which by their sweet melodies became popular and enticed souls

away from the truth. Saint Ephraim, having received from God a singular gift of eloquence, turned Bardaisan's own weapon against him, and wrote a multitude of hymns to be chanted by choirs of women, which set forth the true doctrines, refuted heretical error, and praised the contests of the Martyrs. Of the multitude of sermons, commentaries, and hymns that Saint Ephraim wrote, many were translated into Greek in his own lifetime. Sozomen says that Ephraim "Surpassed the most approved writers of Greece," observing that the Greek writings, when translated into other tongues, lose most of their original beauty, but Ephraim's works "are no less admired when read in Greek than when read in Syriac" (Eccl. Hist., Book 111, 16). Saint Ephraim was ordained deacon, some say by Saint Basil the Great, whom Sozomen said "was a great admirer of Ephraim, and was astonished at his erudition." Saint Ephraim was the first to make the poetic expression of hymnody and song a vehicle of Orthodox theological teachings, constituting it an integral part of the Church's worship; he may rightly be called the first and greatest hymnographer of the Church, who set the pattern for these who followed him, especially Saint Romanos the Melodist. Because of this he is called the "Harp of the Holy Spirit." Jerome says that his writings were read in some churches after the reading of the Scriptures, and adds that once he read a Greek translation of one of Ephraim's works, "and recognized, even in translation, the incisive power of his lofty genius" (De vir. ill., ch. CXV). (continued on page 2)

January 31, 2016 Issue 506

�18100 Merriman Road � Livonia, Michigan 48152 � www.saintmarylivonia.com � Office: (734)-422-0010 �

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(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 Nidal Fakhoury - Parish Council Chairman

Linda Lawson - Choir Director Stacey Badeen - Church Administrator Christina Stavros - Parish Ministries

Coordinator Haitham Fakhouri - Communications Richard Shebib/Sami Azzouz - Ushers Dr. Tom Saba - Young Adults- St. John Divine

Nancy Ghannam- Ladies Society President Gloria Sultani - 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 unto His people. Bring unto the Lord, ye sons of God. Bring unto the Lord glory and honor!

The Reading is from the First Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy

Chapter 4:9-15

MMMM y child Timothy, faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have our hope set on the living God, Who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to those who believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in spirit, in faith and in purity. Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the priests. Meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them; that your progress may be manifest to all.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Chapter 19:1-10

AAAA t that time, Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see Who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”

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(continued from page 1)

Shortly before the end of his life, a famine broke out in Edessa, and Saint Ephraim left his cell to rebuke the rich for not sharing their goods with the poor. The rich answered that they knew no one to whom they could entrust their goods. Ephraim asked them, "What do you think of me?" When they confessed their reverence for him, he offered to distribute their alms, to which they agreed. He himself cared with his own hands for many of the sick from the famine, and so crowned his life with mercy and love for neighbor. Saint Ephraim reposed in peace, according to some in the year 373, according to others, 379. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessings of Homes

During this Holy Season of Epiphany, Fr. George and Fr. Jim are available to bless your home. Kindly

contact the church office at 734-422-0010 to arrange a suitable time for you and your family to have your

home blessed.

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)

Feb. 7th - 40 day memorial in loving memory of John Naser offered by his daughter Randa (Ron) Batshon, brother George Naser and the Naser family, Feb. 7th - 6 month memorial in loving memory of Marie Ansara offered by her brother Andrew Ansara, sister Violette Matta and the entire Ansara family, Feb. 14th - 40 day memorial in loving memory of Abdalla Rizqalla offered by his wife Nawal Rizqalla and family, Feb. 21st - 6 month memorial in loving memory of Nabih Tawfic Qassis offered

by his wife Juliet Qassis and family,

Thank You

“A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion

FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Pheibie Musallam, Becky Najjar,

IIII n Memory Of: Joseph Michael

Mouaikel, George Abodeely, Nawal

Fakhouri, Chakib Abboud,

HOLY BREAD OF OBLATION

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the

month of January, in loving memory

of:

Edward Ayoub

Naimeh Ayoub

Joe Caterineau

Fuad Ghannam

Najlah Ghannam

Badia Hassan

Rose Heidmous

Ibrahim Kakish

Raji and Fahdah Kakish

Butros Sackleh

Hanna Sackleh

Hilwah Sackleh

Bishara Saba

Kamel Saba

Margaret Saba

Saba Saba

Geno Zayid

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the

month of January, for the health and

well being of:

George and Lorice Khoury,

their children and grandchildren

Alex, Justin and Sharky Zayid

LLLL ord, You are the physician of our souls and body. We pray You

grant the following parishioners

good health and blessings:

Metropolitan PAUL Yazigi,

Archbishop Youhanna Ibrahim,

Louis, Hiba, Samar, Wadih David,

Rosie, Saseen Ghajer, George and

Gloria Khamis, Jamal Kakish,

David, Radwan,

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-Towards Food for the Hungry

offered anonymously,

$100-In loving memory of Easa

Khoury offered by Peter and

Wisam Khoury,

$250-For the health and well being

of newly baptized Christian

Makhoul offered by his godfather

Dr. Ahed Nahhas,

$500-For the health and well being

of newly baptized Noelle Anne

offered by parents Dr. Tom and

Lillian Saba,

$500-For the health and well being

of Rose Hajjar offered by her

parents, Elias and Joy Hajjar,

$500-In loving memory of mother

Najla Ghannam offered by the

family,

$700-For the health and well being

of newly baptized Christian

Makhoul offered by his parents

George and Lamia Makhoul,

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica

of St. Mary extend their deepest

sympathy to parents Ghanem and

Mona Ghanem, siblings Marian

Montoya, Rima (Robert) Montoya,

the late Charlie Jaghab, Christy

Ghanem, uncle George Naser and

the entire Ghanem family on the

passing of Essa “Justin” Ghanem.

May his memory be eternal. Ladies Society

The Ladies Society’s next meeting

will be held on Tuesday, February

2nd at 7pm in the library.

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica

of St. Mary extend their deepest

sympathy to Nick and Donna

Maloof and the entire Maloof

family on the passing of father

George Maloof in Grand Rapids,

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica

of St. Mary extend their deepest

sympathy to wife Maha Warra,

children Joni (Tanya) Warra, Abla,

Nadia, Julia, Rima, mother Zahia

Warra and the entire Warra family

on the passing of Rimon Warra.

May their memories be eternal.

Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

Please visit www.saintmarylivonia.com for details about events and ac�vi�es happening

at the Basilica of Saint Mary. If you have any ques�ons regarding Youth and Outreach Events,

please contact Fr. Jim or Ms. Chris�na Stavros at (734) 422-0010.

@ the Basilica of Saint Mary

On January 21—the Orthodox Church commemorates one of the greatest saints who ever lived, a saint whose tongue was

cut out and whose right hand was cut off because he spoke and wrote defending the Truth against here�cs—folks who were

spreading false teachings about Jesus. He also wrote an amazing and profound work called Four Hundred Chapters on

Love—which meditates on Love and how God is Love. This Saint’s name is Maximos the Confessor. His life and his work

demonstrated that he was a true disciple of Jesus Christ. What is remarkable is that every year, within days of remembering

Saint Maximos, as Americans, we also remember another man on January 18 who defended the Truth, in our own �me, in

our own country. This man is Dr. Mar�n Luther King Jr. With his hand, he wrote, and with his mouth, he preached, defending

the full humanity and dignity of the black/negro/African-American people whose oppression and discrimina�on was

systema�cally, poli�cally, and socially prac�ced in the United States even though our cons�tu�on assures freedom and

equality for all American ci�zens. As a Bap�st Chris�an minister, Dr. King drew on his Biblical belief in God, who created

man in His own image—and that being bearers of God’s image, each human being—no ma;er his skin color, race, creed,

religion— is equally endowed with the fullness of dignity to live in freedom with all others. People who hated the Truth and

hated their fellow men found his message to be threatening and they murdered Dr. King, hoping that his message would die

with him.

It occurred to me a couple of years ago that these two men—St. Maximos and Dr. King—have something in common. Not

only did these men preach the Truth in the face of adversity and pay the price with their own bodies. Each of these men took

Christ at His Word, believing that Love—God’s kind of Love (AGAPE)—is the way to freedom, a type of freedom that can

never be taken away. Each of them knew that perfec�on demands a vision for the fullness of Kingdom of God which is in

Christ. This vision allowed them to love their enemies and pray for those who were against them. It allowed them to speak

the Truth in love even when those who would hear their message made threats. Their message did not die with the

response of in�mida�on, aggression, and violence that came from their enemies. Their message has not died even though

they are long gone from this earth. No, their persistence in preaching the Truth in Love bore fruit then and con�nues to bear

fruits of Truth, Righteousness, and Love—even un�l now.

The only way that we can be victorious in Christ, even over death, is by insis�ng on Love—loving all people—as God does,

even those who hurt us, slander us, even kill us. This does not mean giving up on the Truth—it means upholding it and

preaching it, in love. Jesus said “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Ma;. 5:44ff). If we truly desire

to be His disciple, to be free, and to be a bearer of Christ and truly love on another, this is what we must do-love our

enemies. Glory to Jesus Christ for example which shows us that through the Cross, JOY has come into the world! We can be

free from the tyranny of hatred and the fear of death. We can be free to LOVE and have ABUNDANT LIFE because CHRIST IS

RISEN! He said, “I have come that you might have LIFE, and have it ABUNDANTLY!” (John 10:10) Alleluia!

What do these three have in common?

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The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Parish Council News

Anyone interested in running for the Parish Council for 2016 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 January 31, 2016 in the Cultural Center immediately following Liturgy. Due to term limitations, Michel Khoury and Walid Matta will be stepping down. Bashar Ashkar, Andria Bojrab, and Mark Khoury are eligible to run for a second term.

The General Parish meeting will be held on Sunday, January 31st immediately following the Liturgy in the Cultural Center.