WE LIGHT THE FOURTH CANDLE on the Advent Wreath this morning at the end of Divine Liturgy. How many Sundays to Christmas?

STORY CIRCLE for all the faithful of St Herman’s, children and adults, telling the story of St Nicholas will take place this morning, Dec 8, towards the end of coffee hour, led by Sonia!

THE FEAST OF ST HERMAN OF ALASKA, our parish’s patron saint, is this Friday, Dec 13. We will serve St Herman’s Feast with Vigil (with Litya) this Thursday, Dec 12, at 6 pm. We’ll serve the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom on Friday, Dec 13, at 630 am (hours at 610 am).

ST HERMAN’S PARISH SCHOOL OF ORTHODOX THEOLOGY has a break tomorrow, Dec 9. It finishes out the semester on Mon, Dec 16 & 23 with presentations on St Justinian and St Maximos the Confessor by Paul H and Stuart K. Fr Paul will also talk on the vision of creation and time that follows from the theology of the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation. Parishioners not formally registered for the class are nonetheless welcome to come to the class and to participate in the discussions.

CATECHISM CLASS concludes the Fall Semester with its last class next Saturday, Dec 14.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING Mitch M and McKenna D into the Church on Sunday, Dec 22, during the Divine Liturgy.

EARLY START FOR DIVINE LITURGY. Note that we will begin the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy at 9 am on Dec 22, 29, and Jan 5.

FOCUS MN is our fourth quarter charity.

ST HERMAN’S BOOK CLUB meets Saturday, Dec 28, at 9 am.

BASEMENT REMODEL began this last week. The basement walls were painted a new color. The stage will not be painted until Monday because it is a special paint for walking on, and it needs extra time to dry. New floor coverings will be installed next, once the materials have been delivered. Thank you to Igor and his crew for handling our basement remodel.

THE PARISH COUNCIL seeks someone to help with our St Herman’s Gift Shop. Please talk to Corinne.

PARISH ANNUAL MEETING. Is it too early to announce that the parish council expects to assign our annual parish meeting to Sunday, Feb 2, after an abbreviated coffee hour? Our annual meetings take place upstairs in the nave.

ST HERMAN’S RECEIVED a $10,000 donation from the Myron Meinhardt Family Trust. Myron was a dear and faithful parishioner who retired to Florida after his wife, Teresa, passed away a few years ago. We were honored to serve his funeral at St Herman’s last Spring.

POINSETTIAS FOR CHRISTMAS. Faithful are encouraged to bring Poinsettias to adorn the Church during Advent, and especially for Christmas. Poinsettias don’t last as long as we’d like. So, let’s keep bringing Poinsettias to the Church during Advent to replace any that begin to fade, and then on Christmas, a whole bunch of us bring a whole bunch of Poinsettias to fill the whole Church! White poinsettias also are welcome for Theophany.

ST HERMAN’S HOLY SUPPER on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec 24, is served downstairs at about 4 pm following the early afternoon Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St Basil, which begins at 2 pm. The Holy Supper consists of 12 Lenten dishes around the creche. We sing Christmas carols, and read Mary Tkach’s account of how she celebrated Christmas Eve growing up. Our Holy Supper is a potluck. A list of dishes people can bring has been posted on the bulletin board downstairs. Please indicate on the sign-up sheet what dish/es you plan to provide.

MEOCCA NEWS:

ST HERMAN’s hosts the next monthly noon meeting of the MEOCCA Clergy on Thursday, Jan 9. Might someone like to provide a tasty luncheon for us (we normally have 10 – 12 clergy at our meetings)? Talk to Fr Paul.

HIS EMINENCE, Archbishop Daniel will honor us with an archpastoral visit on Sunday, Feb 16 (the Sunday of our famous Chili Cook-off!). He will be accompanied by our Diocesan Vice-Chancellor, Fr Esteban Vasquez. Both will be guest lecturers at our Parish School of Orthodox Theology on Monday, Feb 17, from 7 – 9 pm. All are welcome to come to that class.

The LORD says that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. In the writings of the apostle Paul we find that the matter of salvation does not depend on us at all and that before our birth, God has determined for us one fate or another. What is the relationship between divine provision and our free will? Answer: the fact that the Kingdom of God is ‘taken by force’ presupposes personal effort. When the apostle Paul says, ‘it is not of him that wills,’ this means that one’s efforts do not produce what is sought. It is necessary to combine them, to strive and to expect all things from grace. It is not one’s own efforts that will lead to the goal, because without grace, efforts produce little. Nor does Grace without effort bring what is sought, because grace acts in us and for us through our efforts. Both combine in a person to bring progress and carry him to the goal. God’s foreknowledge is unfathomable. It is enough for us with our whole heart to believer that it never opposes God’s grace and truth, and that it does not infringe man’s freedom. Usually this resolves as follows: God foresees how a man will freely act and makes dispositions accordingly. Divine determination depends on the life of a man, and not his life upon the determination.

St Theophan the Recluse, in The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox, p. 609