Collections are also being accepted at St. Paul’s UCC, Market Street, (diagonal from Dominoes at the red light on Market and Mill Street) Selinsgrove, or Wesley UMC, Selinsgrove, (next to the Selinsgrove High School Football field) between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Thank you remembering those who are in need right now in our community.

This month, we will sing the well-known hymn, “O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victory to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, and by the virtue of Thy Cross, preserve Thy habitation.” St. John of Shanghai (+1966) explains its meaning.

The beginning of this prayer is taken from the twenty-seventh Psalm. In the Old Testament the word “people” designated only those who confessed the true faith, people faithful to God. “Inheritance” referred to everything which properly belonged to God, God’s property, which in the New Testament is the Church of Christ. In praying for the salvation of God’s people (the Christ-ians), both from eternal torments and from earthly calamities, we beseech the Lord to bless, to send down grace, His good gifts upon the whole Church as well, and inwardly stren-gthen her.

The petition for granting “victory” … (i.e., to the bearers of Supreme auth-ority), has its basis in Psalm 143:10 and recalls the victories of King David achieved by God’s power, and likewise the victories granted Emperor Const-antine through the Cross of the Lord.

This appearance of the Cross made emperors who had formerly persecuted Christians into defenders of the Church from her external enemies, into “external bishops,” to use the expression of the holy Emperor Constantine. The Church, inwardly strong by God’s grace and protected outwardly, is, for Orthodox Christians, “the city of God.” Heavenly Jerusalem has its beginning.

Various calamities have shaken the world, entire peoples have disappeared, cities and states have perished, but the Church, in spite of persecutions and even internal conflicts, stands invincible; for the gates of hell shall not prevail against her (Matt. 16:18). Today, when world leaders try in vain to esta-blish order on earth, the only dependable instrum-ent of peace [is the Cross]… “the guardian of the whole world.” Before the time of Christ, the cross was an instrument of punishment; it evoked fear and aversion. But after Christ’s death on the Cross it became the instrument of our salvation.

Through the Cross, Christ destroyed the devil; from the Cross He descended into hades and, having liberated those languishing there, led them into the Kingdom of Heaven. The sign of the Cross is terr-ifying to demons and, as the sign of Christ, it is honored by Christians.

by Brenda Smith

On Sunday, August 21, the faithful of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit processed from our home where we currently meet to our newly purchased property a block away. It had been a gloomy morning but the skies cleared just in time. We gathered on the land for a service of Thanksgiving led by Father Basil. This was a very special day for us as we gave God thanks for blessing us with this piece of property, which in the future will be the home of the first Orthodox Church in Snyder County. We also give thanks to God for the prayer and support of all of you at Holy Trinity who helped make this a reality for us at the Chapel.

Thank you to all who have supported this effort, spiritually and financially, and to those who continue to labor with us as we make our plans for the best possible use of this property.

Please include a prayer of thanksgiving for this blessing in your daily prayers. Thanks again for your efforts, past and present.

- Fr. Basil

The items that are being requested are:

• New backpacks
• Colored pencils
• Markers
• Pencil sharpeners
• Erasers (block and pencil top)
• Construction paper
• Pencil boxes (plastic or fabric)
• 3-ring binders, 1 to 1.5 inch in size
• Filler paper for 3-ring binders
• Folders
• Rulers
• Elmer’s glue

Please bring your donations to David Smith not later than Sunday, August 14, as the department needs them early in the week. Thank you!

All are invited to bring fruits of the harvest to Chapel of the Holy Spirit services on Sunday, August 7, to be blessed following the Divine Liturgy, which begins at 10 a.m. Directions to our location can be found here.

– Troparion for the Transfiguration

In June, the Chapel of the Holy Spirit made an offer on a half-acre parcel of land in Beavertown. It was everything we were looking for: central to our mission field, attractive, easily accessible, visible, with plenty of street parking. Our offer was accepted and we close this month.

Thanks to your generosity, we have reached our initial goal of raising $40,000 plus closing costs.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

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