The Prokeimenon in the 1st Tone: Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us / as we have set our hope on Thee!

v: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous! Praise befits the just!

And in the 7th Tone: The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in Him.

The Reading from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Ephesians

BRETHREN: to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”
(Now this, “He ascended” – what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ [Eph 4:7-
13]

IN THOSE DAYS: while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to
Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance,
saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus.”
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all.
And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months,
reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. [Acts 19:1-8]

The Alleluia is in the 5th Tone: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

v: I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Thy truth from generation to
generation.

v: For Thou hast said: “Mercy will be established forever; Thy truth will be prepared in the heavens.”

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

AT THAT TIME: when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving
Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the
Gentiles:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matt 4:12-
17]
AT THAT TIME: the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me,
for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing
with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He
remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me,
‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy
Spirit.’
And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” [John 1:29-34]
The Custom of Blessing Homes
The custom of blessing homes during the Theophany season is of special beauty and significance. It is not
simply a sentimental tradition without meaning, nor is it a custom whose meaning we have forgotten, like an old
friend whose face we remember, but whose impact on our life has been forgotten.

The yearly blessing of homes at the Feast of the Theophany touches our daily lives with the sanctifying waters
of the Jordan in which Our Lord was baptized. In blessing a home, the Church asks God to drive away every
evil influence from our home and those who live in it, and to renew with extra vigor the influence of the Holy
Spirit in our domestic lives. The Church Fathers speak of the home as a small church, and just as we must chase
away the influences of the Evil One from our parishes and parish families, so too must we do so - at least
annually - in our domestic family.

When an Orthodox Christian believer moves into a new home, he dedicates his new home as the abode of a
follower of Christ. He asks that God, the source of all goodness and the Giver of every perfect gift, to bless his
house and all that is within it; he recalls that Jesus Christ, His Son, came to bring Salvation to it, even as He
brought Salvation to the house of Zacchaeus; he prays that the Holy Spirit may abide in it, guiding those who
dwell in it in the Paths of righteousness.

On the Feast of Theophany we rededicate our home for its original purpose, just as we must periodically
rededicate our life to Christ. We do it especially on this Feast because this is the day on which we remember in
the Church Year the coming of Christ who began His Ministry when He descended into Jordan to be Baptized
by St. John the Forerunner and Baptist. He enters again into our lives reminding us that we must "repent, for the
Kingdom of God is at hand."

An Orthodox Christian must dedicate not only himself and his house to the Lord, but his daily work and all his
efforts as well. All things are to be done to the glory of God. That is why in the Orthodox Church, not only
religious objects, such as icons, crosses, churches and vestments, are blessed, but also homes, fields, animals
and all objects which are used in our daily life for the good of man. In this the Church expresses its faith that the
Holy Spirit's sanctifying action extends over the whole Creation.

***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***

In 2018, we will be blessings homes during Paschal-tide (40 days after Pascha)

Why not during January…?

The “normal” annual house blessing season is very short in 2018, due to the earliness of Pascha (April 8th*).
*There is only year in this century on which Pascha falls earlier (and even then, only by one day): April 7, 2086

Matushka Holly is expecting to deliver our 5th child at some point in the next 2 weeks.
 Given the extra-wintry weather and the at-times great distances necessary to travel between our many
parishioners (with some even out of state) for house blessings, it was advised by the Dean that we plan for an
alternate time, so… We will be delaying our normal house blessing schedule until after Great Lent.

My apologies for any inconvenience, but my family and I thank you all for your patience and understanding!