Newsletter July 17, 2026

The Holy Hieromartyrs Nicholas and Habib of Damascus

On July 16 in the Holy Orthodox Church, we commemorate the courageous, triumphant confessors among Hieromartyrs Nicholas, who was martyred in Mersin, Turkey, and his son, Habib, who was martyred in Hermon, Syria.

The two saints, confessors and martyrs among the glorious priests of the Orthodox faith, Nicholas and his son Habib, believers who followed the crucified Lord, were born in the famous city of Damascus in difficult days for the mother church. They glorified it with the holiness of their lives and sealed it with martyrdom.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2516

Please remember that our full calendar continues to be available at our parish web site. Here is a link:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Calendar/calendar.php

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Prosphora/Docs/prosphora sched 2026 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2026.pdf

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO TITUS 3:8-15

Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned. When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful. All who are with me send greeting to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Gospel: MATTHEW 5:14-19

The Lord said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

As the End Draws Near – Silence

Fr. Stephen Freeman

The “end” that is drawing near is Christ Himself. It is not the machinations of governments and hidden cabals that mark the last days. That evil becomes more manifest is a secondary effect of the “drawing near” of Christ. Human events in no way determine God’s timing. If we are watching such events, our eyes are being distracted and we are likely living in delusion. Writings about such things are usually accompanied with the admonition to take care for our soul.

…

There is a great spiritual battle that is being waged in the human heart. It is the battle of the true, the noble, the just, the pure, the lovely, the good report, the virtues, and the praiseworthy, all of which have true being and are upheld by the hand of God, versus the lies, the fears, the imagined danger, the ugly and the dark, all of which ultimately have no substance and will pass away like the wind. This battle is the true struggle of our time. These adversaries are the “spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places” that St. Paul describes in Ephesians 6.

Read the entire article: https://glory2godforallthings.com/2026/07/08/as-the-end-draws-near-silence-2/