St. John of Damascus Orthodox Church

On Thursday evening, January 28, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon led the 2021 March for Life for the faithful of the Orthodox Church in America. This March wa...s held virtually this year because of the present health situation: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=116350623643147 His Beatitude served a Molieben in Three Hierarchs Chapel at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, and then offered a reflection: https://www.oca.org//metropolitan-tikhon/address-at-the-vi After his reflection, His Beatitude joined seminarians and watched the rest of the event from St. Vladimir’s Seminary. An address was delivered by Dr. Ana Iltis, professor and director of the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society at Wake Forest University and professor of philosophy at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Orthodox Christian representatives from three organizations that support women in crisis pregnancies, Emily Wilkinson of Orthodox Christians for Life, Kathy Kovalak from ZOEforLife, and Dr. Chris Humphrey from Vision for Life, highlighted their ongoing work. His Eminence Archbishop Michael of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey - OCA offered a reflection and a closing prayer. https://www.oca.org//metropolitan-tikhon-leads-virtual-mar #prolife #chooselife #marchforlife

We are very grateful to God for the faith, love and generosity of the parishioner who donated a new litya tray for festal services at St John’s! May it glorify the Lord Who continues to do wonders!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Greetings with the feast! I am sure there are many of you who are troubled by the current events taking place in Washington DC. ... While normally during such a time we would gather as the Church and offer prayers for our Country, we are currently limited in what we can do - Limited but not prohibited. I will be at church tonight at 6pm and will offer prayers to the Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace (Is 9:6) for this land in which we have been planted. I offer the following prayer for you to add your voice at home at that time. Prayer in a Time of Civil Unrest V. Let us pray to the Lord. R. Lord, have mercy. (Or, when offered on a weekday): V. Again and again, on bended knee, let us pray to the Lord. R. Lord, have mercy. (thrice) Our Father, great and glorious God who art in heaven, yet who dost look upon the earth with pity and compassion, meting out thy justice and thy mercy upon nations and peoples and ages: look down upon our earthly and temporal homeland, the United States of America, which is now riven by strife, and send thy Spirit, the Spirit of peace, upon us like a heavenly Breeze, to restore peace to our cities, our countrysides, and our hearts. May he, the Spirit of truth who leads the saints into all truth, teach us the truth, that we may abide in it, repenting of our error and ignorance. May he, the Spirit of righteousness, lead us in the way of righteousness, that we might cast aside and reject forever all bigotry and wickedness. O Father Almighty, adorn our rulers with a spirit of wisdom; adorn our civil authorities and the police and all who enforce the law with a spirit of justice and clemency; and adorn all who dwell in our land with a spirit of love for one another. O Father without beginning, who at the breathing of thy Spirit didst cause dry land to appear out of the churning waters of chaos when the world was founded: deliver our earthly homeland from disorder, and grant us all to stand firmly on the ground of thy justice and thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is due all worship, together with thee, the God and Father, and the All-holy Spirit, the Comforter. Amen. With love and hope in Christ, Fr. Michael

The Father bore witness to You, and the Divine Spirit in the form of a dove descended on You, as You came in flesh to the Jordan, O Lord. You desired to be baptized in human form, that in Your compassion You might enlighten us who have gone astray, and deliver us from all the snares and wiles of the Dragon. Make your home in our souls, O loving God.... Vigil tonight (Jan 5) at 4pm Hours & Festival Liturgy Jan 6 at 8:30am followed by Great Blessing of Water Bring your holy water containers. We will fill them for you.

An encyclical from our Holy Synod of Bishops There is hope and the hope is Christ! May 2021 truly be a year of the Lord for you and yours!

The Weekly Bulletin for November 8th 2020 is now on our parish website: https://stjohnofdamascus.org//Nov.08.2020Synaxis-of-Archan

While the weather is a bit tumultuous today, we have had a steady stream of blessings. We were blessed to have the first baptism since all the upheaval began this past spring. The Kingdom of God has a new heir and daughter! We were also blessed to have Fr. Andrew Louth be part of the final session of our Saturday adult education class focusing on his book Introducing Orthodox Theology. We are very grateful! Glory to God!

New Website for St. John of Damascus Orthodox Church St John of Damascus Church has always been committed to reaching out and welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds to the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as lived in the Holy Orthodox Christian Church since the great Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). To assist in that mission, our parish underwent the process of updating our website to help seekers, as well as our own members and friends, navigate and participate in Chur...ch life here in North County San Diego now, in these days. The site was designed specifically to be equally accessible via desktop/laptop or mobile device. Take a look around the website and learn about the life of our community as well as the tenets of our Faith that motivate us to seek to worship the God Who has revealed Himself us and to commend ourselves, each other, and our entire lives unto Christ our God. We are grateful to our Lord for the work of Fr. Stephen Osburn Jr of Taffer Computers Web Design (https://taffercomputers.com) who created the new website and continues to assist us. Visit and get to know us at www.stjohnofdamascus.org and then experience us in person. Visitors are always welcome!

After the long hiatus our Diamond Circle seniors group was able to gather (with proper precautions) to reconnect, support each other and talk about matters in their lives as well as the parish.

It is with great sadness but hope in the Resurrection of our Lord that we share the news of the passing of His Beatitude Metropolitan THEODOSIUS. May his soul dwell with the blessed. Memory eternal!