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Assumption Church
Publish Date: 2017-05-21
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Assumption Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (203) 748-2992
  • Fax:
  • (203) 748-7747
  • Street Address:

  • 30 Clapboard Ridge Road

  • Danbury, CT 06811


Contact Information




Services Schedule

Orthros at 9am Sundays

Liturgy at 10am Sundays


Past Bulletins


Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 18.4,1.
Their voice has gone out into all the earth.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 26:1, 12-20.

IN THOSE DAYS, King Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: "I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles-to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance."


Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Blind Man
The Reading is from John 9:1-38

At that time, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put clay on my eyes and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age, ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?" And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe": and he worshiped him.


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Saints and Feasts

21_conshel
May 21

Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the Apostles

This great and renowned sovereign of the Christians was the son of Constantius Chlorus (the ruler of the westernmost parts of the Roman empire), and of the blessed Helen. He was born in 272, in (according to some authorities) Naissus of Dardania, a city on the Hellespont. In 306, when his father died, he was proclaimed successor to his throne. In 312, on learning that Maxentius and Maximinus had joined forces against him, he marched into Italy, where, while at the head of his troops, he saw in the sky after midday, beneath the sun, a radiant pillar in the form of a cross with the words: "By this shalt thou conquer." The following night, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in a dream and declared to him the power of the Cross and its significance. When he arose in the morning, he immediately ordered that a labarum be made (which is a banner or standard of victory over the enemy) in the form of a cross, and he inscribed on it the Name of Jesus Christ. On the 28th Of October, he attacked and mightily conquered Maxentius, who drowned in the Tiber River while fleeing. The following day, Constantine entered Rome in triumph and was proclaimed Emperor of the West by the Senate, while Licinius, his brother-in-law, ruled in the East. But out of malice, Licinius later persecuted the Christians. Constantine fought him once and again, and utterly destroyed him in 324, and in this manner he became monarch over the West and the East. Under him and because of him all the persecutions against the Church ceased. Christianity triumphed and idolatry was overthrown. In 325 he gathered the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which he himself personally addressed. In 324, in the ancient city of Byzantium, he laid the foundations of the new capital of his realm, and solemnly inaugurated it on May 11, 330, naming it after himself, Constantinople. Since the throne of the imperial rule was transferred thither from Rome, it was named New Rome, the inhabitants of its domain were called Romans, and it was considered the continuation of the Roman Empire. Falling ill near Nicomedia, he requested to receive divine Baptism, according to Eusebius (The Life of Constantine. Book IV, 61-62), and also according to Socrates and Sozomen; and when he had been deemed worthy of the Holy Mysteries, he reposed in 337, on May 21 or 22, the day of Pentecost, having lived sixty-five years, of which he ruled for thirty-one years. His remains were transferred to Constantinople and were deposed in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had been built by him (see Homily XXVI on Second Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom).

As for his holy mother Helen, after her son had made the Faith of Christ triumphant throughout the Roman Empire, she undertook a journey to Jerusalem and found the Holy Cross on which our Lord was crucified (see Sept. 13 and 14). After this, Saint Helen, in her zeal to glorify Christ, erected churches in Jerusalem at the sites of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, in Bethlehem at the cave where our Saviour was born, another on the Mount of Olives whence He ascended into Heaven, and many others throughout the Holy Land, Cyprus, and elsewhere. She was proclaimed Augusta, her image was stamped upon golden coins, and two cities were named Helenopolis after her in Bithynia and in Palestine. Having been thus glorified for her piety, she departed to the Lord being about eighty years of age, according to some in the year 330, according to others, in 336.


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Weekly Bulletin

Catechism School and Greek School Year end Program:  Today we will have our year-end program for our Catechism School and Greek School.  We wish to thank our teachers, staff and volunteers for their dedication and love for our students every week during the Ecclesiastical and School Year.  We are Blessed to have teachers who truly care to share their Faith and Love for our Lord and Church Family.  Also, we will have a presentation of Certificates for our Youth Choir and we thank our Choir Directors--- for the Adult Choir, Anne Ktorides and for the Youth Choir, Therese Papadopoulos and Cindy Ziemnicki as well as all the Choir members who make our services so meaningful and beautiful. 

Church Services: May 24th - 7:00pm - Great Vespers for the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord at Church of our Savior in Rye, NY 914-967-2838. 

May 25th - Ascension of our Lord, Orthros 9:00 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am in our Church.

Agape Coffee Fellowship:  Todays Agape Coffee Fellowship is sponsored by our Ladies Philoptochos Society. Thank you to our volunteer coffee hostess.

Ladies Philoptochos Society News: Please join us for our End of Year dinner on Monday, June 19, 2017, 6:30 pm at THE IRON RAIL - 10 Rail Road Street. New Milford, CT - $35 per person. RSVP to: Nitsa 203.470.6839, Caryn 203.512.5698 or Fevri 203.778.9196 by June 16th.  Hope to see you all there!

Ladies Philoptochos Stewardship:  We are delighted to say that as of today we have 111 ladies that submitted their Philoptochos' stewardships. Thank you for supporting all the wonderful things National Philoptochos does, most of all thank you for supporting our chapter and the many things we accomplish throughout the year. We will be collecting stewardships throughout the year, it is not too late! See any Philoptochos board member for a membership form or pick one up at church.

The Greek Experience Festival:  KEEP DATES OPEN – JUNE 9th -10th -11th - Get to know your fellow parishioners by working together for the benefit of our Church.  We need each and every one of you to VOLUNTEER.  Everyone’s HELP is needed at Festival time.  This is our Community’s big fundraiser.  Come be a part of it all.  There is work (and fun) for all.  Please do your best to sell and / or buy as many raffle tickets as possible.  To volunteer, please see any Parish Council member, or contact one of the Chairpersons below:

Advertising

Allison Arvanitis  203.748.2992

Boutique                

Valerie Rountos  203.664.1302

Children’s Food/Activities 

Philip Herzegovitch  203.746.8940  - Nick Chryssikos  914.248.5293

Greek Dancing   

Presvytera Maria Karloutsos  203.797.0685

Kafenio

Anastasia Osdranus  203.792.3268 - Ioanna Biniaris  203.743.7188 Kristalla Christou  203.770.4645

Loukoumades      

Rose Koulouris  860.350.4338

Parking

Harry Manesis  203.982.9615 - Mark Vendetti  860.318.6433

Pastry 

Nitsa Carino  203.470.6839 - Caryn Flannery 203.512.5698 (scheduling) Dina Athanasiou  574-329-1616  -  Fevri Gkanatsios  203-512-9789

Raffle  

Elena Koutoumbas  203.788.6047  - Peter Soumakis 845.878.6028

Set-up/breakdown   

Jim Rountos  203.744.0756 - Greg Kallas  203.733.1983

Soda/Bar         

Nick Kaplanis  203.788-1986  - Tony Kaplanis  203.312.8165

Souvlakia   

Konstantine & Erin Karloutsos  203.244.5912 

Taverna      

John & Valerie Rountos  203.664.1302

Youth Folk Singers    

Dino Kolitsas  203.263.5410

50/50 Raffle     

Patrick Pyers - 860.355.3566 - Chrysse Terrill 203.948.9674 - Shannon Kaplanis 203.312.8165

Clean-up/Tables/Trash  

EVERYONE!!!

Festival Pastry Baking:  The Pastry Committee is very thankful for the many parishioners who have volunteered and donated towards the baking of our delicious pastries. We have been baking all the pastries here at Church to have uniformity in size and quality. We need your support. Please come for as many hours as you can - the more hands, the sooner we will finish!  Lunch will be provided on all baking days!

Baking days are:      

  • Thursday, June 1st at 10 am till we finish / 6:00 PM (baking melomakarono, revani, kourambeithes)
  • Tuesday, June 6th at 10:00 am till finished, (baking Baklava, kadaifi, karidopita, revani)
  • Thursday, June 8th, Packaging the pastries: 5:00 – 8:00 pm. 

The baking at the Church has been very successful. Your help is welcome and needed. Come to help and learn to make these delicious pastries. We have a wonderful time & fun as we work together for our Church.  Also, monetary donations are greatly appreciated; please make checks out to AGOC - noting that it's for "baking supplies" checks can be mailed to Church or to Pastry Chairpersons - or leave your check at the candle stand.

Upcoming EventsDates to Remember:  Sunday June 18th – Graduate Recognition Sunday Our High School and College Graduates are honored and also a special Agape Coffee Fellowship will be offered by their proud parents.  Parents please email Fr. Nickolas with your graduates name and to participate in this annual event.

AHEPA NEWS:  Ahepa declared May 19, 2017 a "Day of Remembrance," for the victims of the early 20th century genocide in Asia Minor that devastated the Pontian Greek community. AHEPA’s statement reminds that, "It is our obligation to remember a tragic part of our Hellenic history…A centuries-old civilization was extinguished…Our ancestors were given a choice of 'Islam, tribute or the sword' by their Ottoman overlords…” In 2007, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) declared: “…it is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks." 

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