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Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta
Publish Date: 2015-12-22
Bulletin Contents
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN ALEXIOS
FROM THE CHANCELLOR'S DESK
SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Family Life Ministry
Metropolis of Atlanta STRATEGIC PLAN
FLYER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SAVE THE DATE!
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Saints and Feasts
22_anastasia3
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Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 404-634-9345
  • Fax:
  • 404-634-2471
  • Street Address:

  • 2480 Clairmont Rd. NE

  • Atlanta, GA 30329

Past Bulletins


CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN ALEXIOS

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“For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; Taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life.
He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit that He may save me. “
(St. John Chrysostom) 

My dearly beloved in the Lord,

As we prepare to celebrate our Lord’s Incarnation, I greet you with love and joy and I glorify our Lord Jesus Christ for blessing me with the great opportunity to serve you, the Faithful of our Holy Metropolis of Atlanta, and to share with you once again in the joy of His Blessed Nativity.

At this Holy season, we celebrate and proclaim that on this day, “for us and for our salvation,” was born the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. God has become one of us, as St. John Chrysostom says, “He took on our flesh to make us holy,” and gave us His Spirit so that we can be reconciled with our Creator and enter into eternal life with Him. It was Divine Love, the love of God for all of us, that made this great miracle possible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3: l6).

With His coming, we have hope for true joy, for peace among men, for eternal life in His kingdom. This is the moment when the immortal is joined with the mortal, eternal life with mortal life - the great mystery of God's becoming like us, so He can transform us to become like Him, overcoming our mortality and becoming fully alive in Him: "He establishes a path for us, whereby we may mount up to heaven." (Canon of the Nativity)

My beloved ones, God has given us this profound gift of life and salvation. Let us respond by opening our hearts to Him so He can transform us into what we were created to be, what God meant us to be, children of our Heavenly Father and partakers of His Divine Nature.

I wish all of you a blessed Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year as we enter the year of 2016. I pray that the joy of this night will fill your hearts with gratitude to God for the love that he gives us in the birth of his Son into our world.

Amen. Christ is born, let us glorify Him!

I remain, with paternal blessings and with much love in our Incarnate Lord,

+ALEXIOS
Metropolitan of Atlanta

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FROM THE CHANCELLOR'S DESK

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Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! As we will soon celebrate the blessed Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I wanted to thank all of you for your faithful service and witness during the year. I am truly grateful for the unselfish gift of your time, talent, energy and resources to serve our Lord and His Church, your parish, and our Holy Metropolis of Atlanta.

As we prepare ourselves for the Divine Gift of God's Son, what a beautiful gift we receive, the gift of love from God Himself. This great and joyous feast of the Nativity is a wonderful opportunity to reconsider our lives and the way we deal with each other. While we search the stores for the “perfect gift” for our loved ones, perhaps we should also consider giving the most costly gift of all this Christmas in honor of our Savior's birth. This gift is not expensive in terms of money, but does require a great deal of effort on our part to “love one another, as He has first loved us.” Letting go of old wrongs and hurts, forgiving mistakes and shortcomings, even as He forgives us, and humbling ourselves is not easy. What better time to forgive each other’s failings and start over again, as joy and peace fill our hearts, and God comes to us as a little baby?

And for all the faithful of your parish and those living in the Metropolis of Atlanta, I pray for safe travel to visit loved ones and all the joy and blessings of this Holy Season. I pray that the loyalty of the shepherds, the perseverance of the Wise Men, the joy of the angels, and the peace of the Christ Child will be God's gift to you this Christmas time and always. Amen.

God bless you and keep you in His tender care as we celebrate the birth of our Savior on Christmas and throughout the New Year!

Faithfully yours,
+Fr. George Tsahakis
Chancellor

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SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

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 "We Have Found the Messiah "
By Fr. Mark Leondis , Saint Mark Greek Orthodox Church Boca Raton, FL 

My Dear Faithful, 

Christ is born, glorify Him! Christ comes from heaven, meet Him! Christ is on earth; exalt Him!

I am reminded of the following verse from John 2:40-42: One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew (the first-called), who was Simon Peter's brother. He found his own brother (Simon Peter) and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. 

We are living in a society where people need Christ . . . people need the Messiah . . .they need to meet Christ. Invite your family and friends to come worship with us this Christmas. Invite family members who have fallen away from the Church and invite friends who may not have a place to worship. 

The Orthodox Faith is open to all and we need to spread this great treasure of Orthodox Christianity. 

Let us all come together to celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 

 

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Family Life Ministry

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Journey of Marriage (Pre-Marital Seminar)

IMPORTANT: All couples marrying in the Metropolis must attend a Metropolis-sponsored Journey of Marriage seminar prior to their wedding. The couple will present their certificate of completion to their parish priest after the seminar. 

  • January 16 - Tarpon Springs, FL
  • January 23 - Atlanta, GA 
  • January 23 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • January 30 - Jacksonville, FL

Check out the latest weekly offerings from the Metropolis' blog this Advent Season! www.familylifeministry.atlanta.goarch.org 

To see the full list of seminars through 2016, and to register, please visit: http://www.familylifeministry.atlanta.goarch.org/upcoming-events-2/

 

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Metropolis of Atlanta STRATEGIC PLAN

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WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THE STRATEGIC PLAN IN THE FUTURE?

11/19/2015

A Best Practices Resource Portal!

This web-based "Best Pracitices Portal" will have all the programs, materials, videos, podcasts, information, training, systems, processes and any other content developed by any group or Strategic Goal Implementation Task Force and will be housed and made available to everyone 24 hours a day! 

Look out for this resource in the future after the Strategic Plan Implentation Plan is complete! 

 


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FLYER ANNOUNCEMENTS

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SAVE THE DATE!

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JANUARY

- HDF (HELLENIC DANCE FESTIVAL) 2016: Held in Orlando, Florida at Rosen Shingle Creek January 15-18, 2016

- MY BIG FAT GREEK CRUISE: 8 day cruise January 16, 2016

FEBRUARY 

- THE SAINT PHOTIOS FOUNDATION 34th Anniversary of the Dedication of Saint Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine. February 5-7 2016

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Grave Mode. Psalm 63.11,1.
The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord.
Verse: Oh God, hear my cry.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 9:8-23.

BRETHREN, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various ablutions, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, through not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Hence even the first covenant was not ratified without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Gospel Reading

Tuesday of the 14th Week
The Reading is from Mark 10:2-12

At that time, the Pharisees came up to Jesus and in order to test him, asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

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Wisdom of the Fathers

Then after He had recited the ancient law...and shown it to be worthy of respect because of the giver, with authority after that He Himself too interprets and gives the law, saying, "So that they are no more two, but one flesh." Like then as to sever flesh is a horrible thing, so also to divorce a wife is unlawful. And He stayed not at this, but brought in God also by saying, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder," showing that the act was both against nature, and against law.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 62 on Matthew 19, 4th Century

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Saints and Feasts

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December 22

Anastasia the Great Martyr

This Saint, who was from Rome, was a most comely, wealthy, and virtuous maiden, the daughter of Praepextatus and Fausta. It was her mother who instructed her in the Faith of Christ. The Saint was joined to a man named Publius Patricius, who was prodigal in life and impious in disposition, but she was widowed after a short time. Henceforth, she went about secretly to the dwellings of the poor and the prisons where the Martyrs of Christ were, and brought them whatever was needed for their daily subsistence. She washed their wounds and loosed them from their fetters, and consoled them in their anguish. Also, because the Saint, through her intercessions, has healed many from the ill effects of spells, potions, poisons, and other harmful substances, she has received the name "Deliverer from Potions." Since the fame of her deeds had spread about, she was arrested by Diocletian's minions, and after enduring many torments she was put to death by fire in the year 290.

Allsaint
December 22

Tuesday of the 14th Week

Allsaint
December 22

Chrysogonos, Theodota, Evodias, & Eutychianus, the Martyrs

Allsaint
December 22

The opening of the gates of the Great Church of God

Allsaint
December 22

Forefeast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Allsaint
December 24

Eve of the Nativity of Christ

Nativity
December 25

The Nativity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

The incomprehensible and inexplicable Nativity of Christ came to pass when Herod the Great was reigning in Judea; the latter was an Ascalonite on his fathers's side and an Idumean on his mother's. He was in every way foreign to the royal line of David; rather, he had received his authority from the Roman emperors, and had ruled tyrannically over the Jewish people for some thirty-three years. The tribe of Judah, which had reigned of old, was deprived of its rights and stripped of all rule and authority. Such was the condition of the Jews when the awaited Messiah was born, and truly thus was fulfilled the prophecy which the Patriarch Jacob had spoken 1,807 years before: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of the nations" (Gen.49:10).

Thus, our Saviour was born in Bethlehem, a city of Judea, whither Joseph had come from Nazareth of Galilee, taking Mary his betrothed, who was great with child, that, according to the decree issued in those days by the Emperor Augustus, they might be registered in the census of those subject to Rome. Therefore, when the time came for the Virgin to give birth, and since because of the great multitude there was no place in the inn, the Virgin's circumstace constrained them to enter a cave which was near Bethlehem. Having as shelter a stable of irrational beasts, she gave birth there, and swaddled the Infant and laid Him in the manger (Luke 2:1-7). From this, the tradition has come down to us that when Christ was born He lay between two animals, an ox and an ass, that the words of the Prophets might be fulfilled: "Between two living creatures shalt Thou be known" (Abbacum 3:2), and "The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib" (Esaias 1: 3).

But while the earth gave the new-born Saviour such a humble reception, Heaven on high celebrated majestically His world-saving coming. A wondrous star, shining with uncommon brightness and following a strange course, led Magi from the East to Bethlehem to worship the new-born King. Certain shepherds who were in the area of Bethlehem, who kept watch while tending their sheep, were suddenly surrounded by an extraordinary light, and they saw before them an Angel who proclaimed to them the good tidings of the Lord's joyous Nativity. And straightway, together with this Angel, they beheld and heard a whole host of the Heavenly Powers praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men" (Luke 2:8-14).

Magi
December 25

The Adoration of the Magi: Melchior, Gaspar, & Balthasar

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December 25

The Commemoration of the Shepherds in Bethlehem who were watching their flocks and came to see the Lord

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