Mass Schedule – Trinity VI (July 3, 2016)
04, Independence Day
05, Vladimir, King & Confessor
06, Feria
07, St. Cyril & Methodius
08, Feria
09, Feria
+ Olga (or Helga), born in about 890, was the wife of Prince Igor of Russia, and after his death in 945 she was regent for their son. She appears to have ruled well by secular standards. In 957 she visited Constantinople and at that time or possible earlier she was baptized. She did not succeed in converting her son, or a significant number of their countrymen and she died in 969. Vladimir, great-grandson of Rurik (the traditional founder of the Russian state), grandson of Olga, and youngest of the three sons of Sviatoslav of Kiev, was born in 956 and was made Prince of Novgorod in 970. In 972 his father died, and the three sons fought for the crown. Yaropolk killed Oled, and Vladimir fled to his Viking kinsmen in Scandinavia. In 980 he returned with Viking support, killed Yaropolk, and took the throne. He expanded his empire by a series of conquests. In 988, he proposed a military alliance with the Byzantine emperor Basil II, and a marriage to the emperor’s sister Anna. In return, he agreed to convert to Christianity. The agreement was made, Vladimir was baptized, and when the emperor reneged on the marriage, Vladimir invaded the Crimea. The marriage was eventually solemnized and the alliance was formed and prospered. Vladimir took his Christian commitment seriously, and under his rule the Christianization of Russia proceeded rapidly. He put away his former collection of pagan wives and mistresses, destroyed idols and pagan temples, built churches and monasteries and schools, brought in Greek missionaries to educate his people, abolished or greatly restricted capital punishment, and gave lavish alms to the poor. In converting his people, however, he was willing to resort to military methods (all his life he had survived by fighting), and some of his former pagan wives and their sons raised an armed rebellion against him, in the course of which he was killed near Kiev, 15 July 1015. He and his grandmother Olga are honored as the founders of the Russian Orthodox Church. + Saints Cyril & Methodius were 9th-Century Byzantine Greek brother who were born and raised in Thessalonica, Macedonia. They were the principle Christian missionaries to the Slavic people of Moravia who introduced the Orthodox Faith to the people of that region. The Slavic people of that day and time had no written language and so it was the task of these first missionaries to first develop a Slavic alphabet, which alphabet was used to transcribe what has come to be called “Old Church Slavonic.” Both brothers are venerated in both the Eastern and Western Churches as “the Apostles to the Slavs.” They were taken into the Church’s care after the death of their father and their education was seen to by monks at the university in Constantinople. Cyril developed proficiency in Arabic and Hebrew, which skill in languages in general was handy as he put the Slavic language into a written form. In fact the character of the Slavic language came to be known as “Cyrillic.” It was through the labors of the two brothers, Cyril & Methodius, that Trinitarian Orthodoxy was planted and thrived among the slavic people.
+ All Saints Men’s Group will meets next on Tuesday, July 12, at 7:00 a.m. in undercroft.
+ The Holy Communion is celebrated Monday through Saturday at 12:15 p.m.
+ All Saints parishioner may obtain a Mass card from the Church office. A Mass card is a greeting card given to someone to inform him or her that a deceased loved one or friend was remembered and prayed for at a weekly Mass. It is a specifically Christian way to express one’s love. Call Julie McDermott at the Church office (434-979-2842) and she will help you fill out the form. The celebrant will sign the card and we will mail it from the Church to the family of the loved one.