Volume 2017
Christ is among us!
Number 15
He is and will be!
The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Welcome to Saint Nicholas Catholic Church of Roebling, NJ. We greet you and welcome you to our parish church.
Our Church is a holy place. Our Church is where we get together in Jesus’ Name. It is holy because we come
here to worship, to be nourished in faith through Sacred Scripture and preaching, to open our hearts and minds to
celebrate the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ and to dedicate ourselves to a life of holiness and service to the
Lord and others. The church building itself reflects this faith and calls us to enter into communion with God. We
invite you to share our faith in Jesus Christ, to experience our worship and to live a life dedicated to the service of
God and one another in Jesus’ Name.
Mystery of Reconciliation
Daily before Divine Liturgy
Schedule of Divine Liturgies for the week of
April 9 – April 15, 2017
Sunday
8:00 a.m.
Great Tuesday
7:00 p.m.
Great Friday
7:00 p.m.
Great Saturday
7:00 p.m.
The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
Health & Blessing of the Parishioners
Pre-sanctified Liturgy
Confession
Vespers, Procession and Entombment of the Holy Shroud
Resurrection Matins and Divine Liturgy of St. John
Chrysostom and also Paschal Foods will be blessed following
the Divine Liturgy
[For a schedule of the Divine Liturgy at Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Trenton go to the
website; [www.avmbcc.org}
Readers: Nick Ladomirak, until after Pascha.
The Akathist Hymn
The Akathist Hymn is a profound, devotional poem or chant, which sings the
praises of the Holy Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary. It is chanted in all Eastern
Churches throughout the world.
Devotional Hymns to the Theotokos are as ancient as the first Christian Church. The
Byzantine Empire from its very inception at Constantinople during the fourth
century, closely allied itself to the Virgin Mary and always sought Her protection or
intercessions. This we see from the Prayer Services to the Theotokos between the
fifth and eighth centuries, and the reference to Constantinople as the ‘Queen City.’
The Akathist Hymn, which in its present form was added to to by many
Ecclesiastical Hymnographers, existed for the most part even before it was formally
accepted by the Church in AD626. The Kontakion “To the Invincible Chanpion…
we ascribe the victory” was added then, and came to be recognized as the Akathist
Hymn, because of the following described miracle attributed to the intercession of
the Theotokos.
While the Emperor of Byzantium, Heracleios, was on an expedition to fight the
aggression of the Persions on their own grounds, there appeared outside the walls of
Constantinople barbaric hordes, mostly Avars. The siege lasted a few months, and it
was apparent that the outnumbered troops of the Queen City were reaching
desperation. However as history records, the faith of the people worked the
impossible. The Venerable Patriarch Sergius with the Clergy and the Official of
Byzantium, Vonos, endlessly marched along the great walls of Constantinople with
an Icon of the Theotokos in hand, a;nd bolstered the faith of the defenders of
freedom. The miracle came soon after. Unexpectedly, as the chronicler narrates, a
great storm with huge tidal waves destroyed most of the fleet of the enemy, and full
retreat ensued.
The faithful of Constantinople spontaneously filled the Church of the Theotokos at
Blachernae on the Golde4n Horn and with the Patriarch Sergius officiating, they
prayed all night singing praises to the Virgin Mary without sitting. Hence the title
fo the hymn “Akathistos,” in Greek meaning ‘not seated.’