The Vine الكرمة

1. The Vine الكرمة WEEK OF THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER Our Lady of Peace - Calgary Our Lady of Good Help - Edmonton MARCH 2009  Day 1: Saint Domnina & the Guardian Angel Day 2: Our father, saint John Maron, patriarch of Antioch Day 3: Saint Thomas the theologian (Aquinas) Day 4: Paul and his sister Juliani (or Youliani), martyrs & Saint Gerasimos the tourist Day 5: Saint Albert the Great Day 6: Saint Conan of Aisor (Asia minor) Day 7: Saint Narsis, bishop of Jerusalem Rev. Fr. Esper Antoun Rev. Fr. Michel Kassas Our Lady of Peace Our Lady of Good Help 504, 30th Ave. N.W 9809, 76th Avenue Calgary, AB T2M 2N6 Edmonton, AB T6E 1K6 Phone: 403-289-8954 Phone: 780-433-8571

2. WEEK OF THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER A Reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Romans 6:12-23) Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Lets be attentive to the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark. (Mark 1:35-43) Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. This is the Truth, Peace be with you.

3. WEEK OF THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER INTENTION PRAYERS 1- Almighty and Everlasting God, You have given the human race Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled Your Will by becoming Man And giving His life on the Cross. Help us to bear witness to You By following His example of suffering And make us worthy to share in His Resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son. We pray to the Lord. R/ Lord Have Mercy. 2- Almighty and Everlasting God, teach us to accept all afflictions after the example You have given. Let us place our death in Yours and our weakness in Your abandonment, Take hold of us with Your love, that same foolish love that knew no limits, and let us offer ourselves to the Father with You so that we may rise with You to eternal life. We pray to the Lord. R/ Lord Have Mercy. 3- MARY, Mother of Jesus, you were Jesus’ gift for us from the Cross. He gave you to us as our mother. Intercede for all our needs. We pray to the Lord. R/ Lord Have Mercy. 4-God, heavenly Father, look upon us and hear our prayers during this holy Season of Lent. By the good works You inspire, help us to discipline our bodies and to be renewed in spirit. We pray to the Lord. R/ Lord Have Mercy. 5- Almighty and Everlasting God, during this Lenten Season, nourish us with Your Word of life and make us one with You in love and prayer. Fill our hearts with Your love and keep us faithful to the Gospel of Christ. Give us the grace to rise above our human weakness. Give us new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass. We pray to the Lord. R/ Lord Have Mercy. Our Lady of Peace Parish Calgary and Our Lady of Good Help Parish Edmonton. would like to present their sincere thank you to all the Parishioners, volunteers, workers who made the Historian Events real. However, we thank His Excellency Bishop Joseph Khoury and all the priests of the Maronite Diocese in Canada for their blessed presence and all the priests from other dominations I. May God lead our way to his Kingdom. God Bless you all.

4. WEEK OF THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER Holy Mass Schedule MARCH 2009 Sunday 1st March 2009 (The Leper) Our Lady of Peace Calgary 11:00 am Our Lady of Good Help Edmonton 11:00 am (English) 12:00 Noon (Arabic) Sunday 8th March 2009 (The Haemorrhaging Woman) Our Lady of Peace Calgary (To be Announced) Our Lady of Good Help Edmonton 10:00 am (English) 11:00 Noon (Arabic) Sunday 15th March 2009 (Prodigal Son) Our Lady of Good Help Edmonton 10:00 am (English) 11:00 Noon (Arabic) Sunday 22nd March 2009 (The Paralytic) Our Lady of Good Help Edmonton 10:00 am (English) 11:00 Noon (Arabic) Sunday March 29th 2009 (Bartimaeus the Blind) Our Lady of Good Help Edmonton 10:00 am (English) 11:00 Noon (Arabic) Saint John Maron First Maronite Patriach Saint John Maron, monk of the Monastery of St. Maron and Bishop of Batroun and Mount Lebanon, was elected the first Patriarch of the Maronite Church during the second half of the seventh century AD (c 686 AD), when the See of Antioch lay vacant. He was the first Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, and the 63rd in succession to St. Peter, who founded the See of Antioch in the first century AD. This marked the beginning of the ecclesiastical, national, and organizational structure of the Maronite church. Our Lady of Good Help – Edmonton Our Lady of Peace – Calgary www.mcparish.org www.mcparishcalgary.org