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Holy Trinity Church
Publish Date: 2024-03-17
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Eden
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Holy Trinity Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (724) 266-5336
  • Fax:
  • (724) 266-2220
  • Street Address:

  • 2930 Beaver Road

  • Ambridge, PA 15003


Contact Information




Services Schedule

Sundays: 8:30am Orthros, 9:30 am Divine Liturgy

Weekdays: 9am Orthros & Liturgy


Past Bulletins


Worship

Worship

Join us for in-person Church. 

Please check via our public facebook page at www.facebook.com/HTAmbridge at the times listed below.   

 

Services:

Sundays

8:30am Orthros

9:30am Divine Liturgy

 

Upcoming Weekday Services:

  • Memory of the Ascetics, 9am Orthros & Liturgy followed by Memorial
    • Please prepare Kollyva for the deceased you are remembering.
  • Forgiveness VespersMarch 17th, 5pm
  • Presanctified Liturgy, March 20th, 5:30pm followed by a meal provided by Philoptochos
  • Salutations with the First Stanza of the Akathist, March 22nd, 6pm
  • Miracle of the Kollyva wrought by St. Theodore the Tyro, 9am Orthros & Liturgy followed by Memorial
    • Please prepare Kollyva for the deceased you are remembering.

 

Upcoming Memorials:

  • March 17th
    • 15yrs Ethel Anthoula Zervos

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Church News

ST. PHOTIOS NOMINEES: Amongst all of the worthy names submitted and nominees who love our church, we exclaim AXIOI to Theo & Paula Yakoumas who were selected as our 2024 St. Photios Awardees.  The banquet will take place on May 18th at 4pm at the Doubletree by Hilton Pittsburgh-Cranberry.  $95/adult, $25/child (under 12).  Reservation & Sponsorship deadline: April 28th.  

 

GOYA GATHERING - TODAY: Calling all GOYAns to gather after Liturgy to enjoy our last day before the fast together by enjoying some Pizza and Ice Cream, with a conversation surrounding St. Patrick and Great Lent.

 

PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS:

  • We will be having a meeting follow Divine Liturgy today.
  • Today is the last day to place your Anderson’s Easter Candy order.  Forms are on the Pangari and in the church hall.  Please return to Joanne Cottage.
  • Our first pot-luck dinner will be held this Wednesday,  March 20th.  If you would like to bring an item, please use the sign-up sheet in the Narthex, or talk to Paula Yakoumas
  • We are currently accepting reservations for the Metropolis of Pittsburgh Philoptochos Daffodil Luncheon being held on April 6th at the Marriott Pittsburgh Airport.  Tickets are $65.  Please see Paula Yakoumas for more details

  

BIDS FOR RESTROOM REMODELS: The Parish Council has identified the men's and women's restrooms off of the Pappan Fellowship Hall for remodeling and we are informing all parishioners to bring forward any contractors that would be interested in making a bid for the job.  Please contact Dr. Alex Vasilakis or Fr. Anastasios with your interested contractors.

 

PRESANCTIFIED SCHEDULE: We look forward to a blessed year of Leten Presanctified Liturgies on Wednesday evenings, starting at 5:30pm.  Three evenings will include readers from our 5th-12th grades and God-willing we will have a meal provided for each evening, as to offer hospitality to those who choose to worship with us.

  • March 20th - Student Readers. Meal provided by Philoptochos
  • April 3rd - Student Readers. TBA
  • April 10th - Meal provided by Young Adults
  • April 17th - Student Readers. TBA
  • April 24th - Meal provided by GOYA & Hellenic Dancers

 

SALUTATIONS & AKATHIST SCHEDULE:  If anyone has the skill to intone the prayers offered at the icons of Christ and the Theotokos at the end of the service please let Fr. Anastasios know.

  • March 22nd - First Stanza
  • March 29th - Second Stanza
  • April 5th - Third Stanza
  • April 12th - Fourth Stanza
  • April 19th - The complete Akathist Hymn

 

GREAT LENT & HOLY WEEK DONATIONS:

Please consider sponsoring the beautification of our worship during this important season of the year.  The donation list is available in the Voice (and also listed in the bulletin insert section of this email).

 

YOUNG ADULT FOOD & SUPPLY DRIVE SUCCESS:

 

Thank you to all who donated through our Young Adults drive to supply the Ladle with donations.  Kent from the Ladle said "your donations are critical in assisting those in the community in need.  The Ladle appreciated the donations as do those who receive them.  Thank you! Blessings to you, the young adult group and your congregation!"

 

 

2024 STEWARDSHIP CARDS

Thank you to our 118 families that have turned in their pledge cards totaling $185,650 pledged! 

That puts us at 56.26% toward our pledge goal of $330,000 for 2024.

If you haven’t submitted your pledge card, please feel free to fill the one out in the Bulletin Inserts section of this online bulletin (which you can print and bring in or email to the office or Fr. Anastasios). 

 

BOILER & AIR-CONDITIONING PROJECT PROGRESS

The boiler portion of the project is complete. The Air-Conditioning portion has begun.  If you would like to help offset the cost of the work completed or the upcoming work, please send checks to the office with "HVAC Project" in the memo line; stocks can be transferred to our community as donations; and Online Giving through the item titled "Building Fund: HVAC Project."  

 

YOUTH SAFETY - Please register at https://ncsrisk.org/goarch/.  This includes all Youth Safety Workers as well as Parish Council 

 

PRAYER CHAIN - Members of Holy Trinity are being brought together in efforts to pray for those in need of prayers.  Please contact Joanie Ondrako at 724-601-6298, Fr. Anastasios, or the Office to join the prayer team, a group of people who will pray for the names given each day.

Prayer requests can be submitted anonymously and will be on the prayer list as long as your request is wanted, even up to a year.  To request a prayer, click here.

 

ONLINE GIVING & STEWARDSHIPIs OPEN! Online giving can be found by clicking here!  Please consider your continued support of our church through becoming one of our online giving families.  You can make general contributions and stewardship contributions.

 

REGULAR GIVING: The church is still accepting donations in normal ways through the mail and drop-off.  Thank you to all of those who have continued to contribute in these challenging times.

 

YOU CAN NOW DONATE SECURITIES TO THE CHURCH  

In response to inquiries regarding the donation of securities to Holy Trinity, a new brokerage account has been established with PNC Investments to receive stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.  Donating appreciated securities is often preferable to donating cash as the donor may benefit from the current tax code, creating the opportunity for donors to consider even larger gifts.  Currently, this account can receive securities in lieu of cash for the fulfillment of stewardship pledges as well as directed gifts for special projects.  If after consulting with your financial advisor, you are interested in this form of giving, please contact any parish council member or the office for more information.

 

Live-Stream: If you don't have a Facebook account, don't worry! You can still access our services right on our website (HTGOC.ORG) or a larger video directly on Facebook, learn more by watching the following video: https://youtu.be/QJPpkshi2d4

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Bulletin Inserts

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Our Calendar

  • Holy Trinity Ambridge

    March 17 to March 31, 2024

    Sunday, March 17

    Coffee Hour: Philoptochos

    Philoptochos Meeting

    GOMoP Camp Sunday

    15yr Memorial - Ethel (Anthoula) Zervos

    GOYA Gathering

    8:30AM Orthros

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    5:00PM Forgiveness Vespers

    Monday, March 18

    Clean Monday - Καθαρά Δευτέρα

    Wednesday, March 20

    5:30PM PreSanctified Liturgy

    7:00PM Potluck: Philoptochos

    Friday, March 22

    6:00PM Salutations w/ Akathist Part 1

    Saturday, March 23

    Miracle of the Kollyva

    9:00AM Orthros & Liturgy - Miracle of the Kollyva

    Sunday, March 24

    Lenten Coffee Hour: GOYA

    GOYA Spaghetti Luncheon

    Sunday of Orthodoxy

    8:30AM Orthros

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    Monday, March 25

    🐟Annunciation

    Voice Deadline

    9:00AM Orthros & Liturgy - Annunciation

    Tuesday, March 26

    GOMoP Clergy Family Retreat

    Wednesday, March 27

    GOMoP Clergy Family Retreat

    Thursday, March 28

    GOMoP Clergy Family Retreat

    Friday, March 29

    6:00PM Salutations w/ Akathist Part 2

    Sunday, March 31

    Lenten Coffee Hour: Choir

    8:30AM Orthros

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

  • Regional Orthodox Calendar

    March 24 to March 24, 2024

    Sunday, March 24

    4:30PM Greater Pittsburgh Pan-Orthodox Great Vespers of Annunciation & Sunday of Orthodoxy

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal 4th Mode

You descended from on high, O compassionate One, and condescended to be buried for three days, so that from the passions You might set us free. Our life and resurrection, O Lord, glory be to You.
Ἐξ ὕψους κατῆλθες ὁ εὔσπλαγχνος, ταφὴν καταδέξω τριήμερον, ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἐλευθερώσῃς τῶν παθῶν. Ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ Ἀνάστασις ἡμῶν, Κύριε δόξα σοι.

Apolytikion for the Church in the Plagal 4th Mode

Blessed are You, O Christ our God; Who has shone forth the fishermen to be most wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them, You drew the world into Your net, O Lover of Mankind, glory to You.

Εύλογητός εἶ Χριστὲ ὁ Θεος ἡμῶν ὁ πανσόφους τοὺς ἁλιεῖς ἁναδείξας καταπέμψας αὐτοῖς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῶν τῆν οἰκουμένην σαγηνεύσας φιλάνθρωπε δόξα Σοι.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal 2nd Mode

O guide to wisdom, provider of prudence, disciplinarian of fools, and defender of the poor, fortify and discipline my heart, O Master; You, give me a word, O Word of the Father. For behold, I will not hinder my lips from crying to You: O merciful Lord, have mercy on me who have fallen.
Τῆς σοφίας ὁδηγέ, φρονήσεως χορηγέ, τῶν ἀφρόνων παιδευτά, καὶ πτωχῶν ὑπερασπιστά, στήριξον, συνέτισον τὴν καρδίαν μου Δέσποτα. Σὺ δίδου μοι λόγον, ὁ τοῦ Πατρός Λόγος· ἰδοὺ γὰρ τὰ χείλη μου, οὐ μὴ κωλύσω ἐν τῷ κράζειν σοι· Ἐλεῆμον, ἐλέησόν με τὸν παραπεσόντα.
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal 4th Mode. Psalm 75.11,1.
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them.
Verse: God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 13:11-14; 14:1-4.

Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.

Προκείμενον. Plagal 4th Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 75.11,1.
Εὔξασθε καὶ ἀπόδοτε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν.
Στίχ. Γνωστὸς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ὁ Θεός, ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ μέγα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς ῾Ρωμαίους 13:11-14, 14:1-4.

Ἀδελφοί, νῦν ἐγγύτερον ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν. Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν· ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, καί ἐνδυσώμεθα τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός. Ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν, μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ. Ἀλλʼ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε, εἰς ἐπιθυμίας. Τὸν δὲ ἀσθενοῦντα τῇ πίστει προσλαμβάνεσθε, μὴ εἰς διακρίσεις διαλογισμῶν. Ὃς μὲν πιστεύει φαγεῖν πάντα, ὁ δὲ ἀσθενῶν λάχανα ἐσθίει. Ὁ ἐσθίων τὸν μὴ ἐσθίοντα μὴ ἐξουθενείτω, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων τὸν ἐσθίοντα μὴ κρινέτω· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτὸν προσελάβετο. Σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; Τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἢ πίπτει. Σταθήσεται δέ· δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς στῆσαι αὐτόν.


Gospel Reading

Forgiveness Sunday
The Reading is from Matthew 6:14-21

The Lord said, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Forgiveness Sunday
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 6:14-21

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· ᾿Εὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν. ῞Οταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί· ἀφανίζουσι γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀπέχουσι τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. σὺ δὲ νηστεύων ἄλειψαί σου τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου νίψαι,ὅπως μὴ φανῇς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων, ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι ἐν τῷ φανερῷ. Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσι καὶ κλέπτουσι· θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται οὐ διορύσσουσιν οὐδὲ κλέπτουσιν· ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρὸς ὑμῶν, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν.


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Saints and Feasts

Eden
March 17

Forgiveness Sunday

The Holy Fathers have appointed the commemoration of Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight here, on the eve of the holy Forty-day Fast, demonstrating to us not by simple words, but by actual deeds, how beneficial fasting is for man, and how harmful and destructive are insatiety and the transgressing of the divine commandments. For the first commandment that God gave to man was that of fasting, which the first-fashioned received but did not keep; and not only did they not become gods, as they had imagined, but they lost even that blessed life which they had, and they fell into corruption and death, and transmitted these and innumerable other evils to all of mankind. The God-bearing Fathers set these things before us today, that by bringing to mind what we have fallen from, and what we have suffered because of the insatiety and disobedience of the first-fashioned, we might be diligent to return again to that ancient bliss and glory by means of fasting and obedience to all the divine commands. Taking occasion from today's Gospel (Matt. 6:14-21) to begin the Fast unencumbered by enmity, we also ask forgiveness this day, first from God, then from one another and all creation.


Alexismanofgod
March 17

Alexis the Man of God

Saint Alexis was born in old Rome of illustrious parents named Euphemianus and Aglais, and at their request was joined to a young woman in marriage. However, he did not remain with her even for one day, but fled to Edessa, where he lived for eighteen years. He returned to Rome in the guise of a beggar and sat at the gates of his father's house, unknown to all and mocked by his own servants. His identity was revealed only after his death by a paper that he had on his person, which he himself had written a little before his repose. The pious Emperor Honorius honoured him with a solemn burial. The title "Man of God" was given to him from heaven in a vision to the Bishop of Rome on the day of the Saint's repose.


Allsaint
March 17

Patrick the Enlightener of Ireland

Saint Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish, was seized from his native Britain by Irish marauders when he was sixteen years old. Though the son of a deacon and a grandson of a priest, it was not until his captivity that he sought out the Lord with his whole heart. In his Confession, the testament he wrote towards the end of his life, he says, "After I came to Ireland - every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed - the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was so moved that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many at night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountain; and I would rise for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm." After six years of slavery in Ireland, he was guided by God to make his escape, and afterwards struggled in the monastic life at Auxerre in Gaul, under the guidance of the holy Bishop Germanus. Many years later he was ordained bishop and sent to Ireland once again, about the year 432, to convert the Irish to Christ. His arduous labours bore so much fruit that within seven years, three bishops were sent from Gaul to help him shepherd his flock, "my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the Lord - so many thousands of people," he says in his Confession. His apostolic work was not accomplished without much "weariness and painfulness," long journeys through difficult country, and many perils; he says his very life was in danger twelve times. When he came to Ireland as its enlightener, it was a pagan country; when he ended his earthly life some thirty years later, about 461, the Faith of Christ was established in every corner.


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Wisdom of the Fathers

Spiritual delight is not enjoyment found in things that exists outside the soul.
St. Isaac of Syria
Unknown, 7th century

Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself, man. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation.
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
Unknown, 18th century

For he who is praying as he ought, and fasting, has not many wants, and he who has not many wants is not covetous. He who fasts is light, and winged, and prays with wakefulness, and quenches his wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles his soul when lifted up nothing is mightier than the man who prays sincerely.
St. John Chrysostom
Fourth Century

A vainglorious ascetic is cheated both ways: he exhausts his body and gets no reward. It is not he who depreciates himself who shows humility, but he who maintains the same love for every man who reproaches him.
St. John Climacus

Spiritual delight is not enjoyment found in things that exists outside the soul.
St. Isaac of Syria
Unknown, 7th century

Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons. . . We do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family.
His Grace Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia
20th Century

The basis of all good things is the liberation of the soul from the captivity of the enemy. The light and life that accompany this freedom is attained by settling steadfastly in a single place and always fasting. That is, by regulating your life wisely and prudently, practicing restraint of the flesh, and remaining in a quiet place. He who puts these two rules into practice will eventually attain all the virtues.
Abba Isaac

The value of fasting consists not in abstinence only from food, but in a relinquishment of sinful practices, since he who limits his fasting only to an abstinence from meat is he who especially disparages it. The change in our way of life during these blessed days will help us to gain holiness. Therefore we should let our soul rejoice during the fast.
St. John Chrysostom
Fourth Century

Here it were well to sigh aloud, and to wail bitterly: for not only do we imitate the hypocrites, but we have even surpassed them.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

For I know, yea I know many, not merely fasting and making a display of it, but neglecting to fast, and yet wearing the masks of them that fast, and cloaking themselves with an excuse worse than their sin.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

One must not trust one's feelings, since because of his limitedness a man cannot know everything, and therefore his judgment is also relatively limited. "Even if you see with your own eyes that someone sins, do not judge, for the eyes also may be deceived."
St. John Climacus

If we have true love with sympathy and patient labor, we shall not go about scrutinizing our neighbor's shortcomings. As it is said, "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). . . True love screens anything of this kind, as did the saints when they saw the shortcomings of men. Were they blind? Not at all! But they simply would not let their eyes dwell on sins.
St. Dorotheos of Gaza

That great man Moses, when fasting, conversed with God, and received the law. Great and holy Elijah, when fasting, was thought worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up like Him who ascended into heaven. And Daniel, when fasting, although a very young man, was entrusted with the mystery, and he alone under-stood the secret thing of the king. . .
St. Athanasios of Alexandria

It is required that not only with the body should we fast, but with the soul. Now the soul is humbled when it does not follow wicked opinions, but feeds on becoming virtues. For virtues and vices are the food of the soul, and it can eat either of these two. Bend your appetite toward virtues, as Paul says, "Being nourished by the word of truth."
St. Athansios of Alexandria

. . .humble men like this are not men who have been converted, who have repented. They are men who are being converted, who are repenting. The Lord's call to repentance does not mean that we are to be converted once only, nor that we should repent from time to time (though one ought to begin with that). It means that our whole life should be a conversion, a constant repentance.
Archimandrite Vasileios
Hymn of Entry, 20th Century

0ne must in every way flee from judging, and pray in secret for those who have sinned. "This form of love is pleasing to God." Judging is bound up with impudence and is incompatible with true repentance: "To judge is to impudently appropriate to oneself the rank of God."
St. John Climacus

What He said is like this: Bury not gold in the earth, nor do any other such thing, for you do but gather it for the moth, and the rust, and the thieves. And even if you should entirely escape these evils, yet the enslaving of thine heart, the nailing it to all that is below, you will not escape: "For wheresoever thy treasure may be, there is thine heart also." ...
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

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