Most Holy Theotokos, pray for us!

These Greek letters

stand for Mother
of God
Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Mark 10:4
Sunday, August 10, 2014 Volume 2, Issue 32
Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid!
Walking on water. You remember
the story, dont you? In the middle of
a bad storm on the sea, Jesuss disciples
must have thought they were all going to
drown.
But then suddenly, they see the Lord walking
on the water, coming towards them. They
couldnt believe it, so they thought He was a
ghost! They were terrified. Terrified first be-
cause of the storm. Now, they were terrified
because a ghost was coming towards them!
But of course, it wasnt a ghost! It was Christ,
coming to save them. Do not be afraid, or
Have courage, He says to them.
In another part of the Bible, in the Gospel of St. John, we hear these same
words. In the world, you will have trouble, it says. But do not be afraid
or Have courage, I have overcome the world.
So whenever you are afraid, remember these words. Our Lord, Jesus
Christ, comes to us all the time to give us courage. He comes to make us
strong. Have courage. Do not be afraid, because Jesus is with us!
Our Lord reaches out to save Our Lord reaches out to save Our Lord reaches out to save Our Lord reaches out to save
His disciple, Peter. His disciple, Peter. His disciple, Peter. His disciple, Peter.

Whats in an icon?
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Can you find the three
stars on the icon of the
Theotokos?
This means she was al-
ways pure. She was pure
before, during, and after
she had baby Jesus.
The spaces in this prayer below are in the wrong spots. Can you
figure out what the prayer should really say? Write it below.
Mo Stho Lythe Ot Oko
Si Nte R Ce Defo R
Us!
A n s w e r : M o s t H o l y T h e o t o k o s , i n t e r c e d e f o r u s !

WHAT DOES INTERCEDE MEAN?
AND WHY DO WE NEED IT?
Have you ever tried to help a two
year old do something? He usually
ends up saying, I want to do it by my-
self!
Sometimes we sound like that, too! We want
to do things all by ourselves. We want to do
big things, important things, hard things. But
we dont want help. We want to do it all by
ourselves.
For the first two weeks of August, we try
hard to remember that we have a helper who
is looking out for us. The Theotokos, the
Mother of God, is our helper. During the spe-
cial church services, we say again and again, Most Holy Theotokos, in-
tercede for us or Pray for us. We want her to ask her Son to help us.
Mary, the Theotokos, is so close to her Son in Heaven. She has a special
relationship with Him, and He listens especially to her. When she asks
Him for something, He listens. So, when she intercedes, she tries to
persuade Him to do something for us.
Lets not be like a two year old! Its better to ask for help, especially when
it is from the holy Theotokos!
We celebrate the feastday of the Dormition on Friday, August 15th.
The Theotokos asks her The Theotokos asks her The Theotokos asks her The Theotokos asks her
Son to help us. Son to help us. Son to help us. Son to help us.