Calendar

Parish Calendar

September 27 to October 4, 2026

Sunday, September 27

1st Sunday of Luke

8:15AM Orthros

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

10:45AM Church School

11:45AM Greek School OXI Day Practice (After Church School)

12:45PM Pioneers Boat Cruise

Monday, September 28

6:30PM Parish Council Meeting

Wednesday, September 30

+Fast Day

5:30PM Vespers

Friday, October 2

+Fast Day

Saturday, October 3

10:00AM Mini Greek Fest

Sunday, October 4

2nd Sunday of Luke

8:15AM Orthros

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

10:45AM No Church School Classes Today

11:00AM Mini Greek Fest

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal 4th Tone

From on high you descended, O merciful Lord. You accepted the cross and three days in the tomb to free us from the bondage of sin, O our life and resurrection. Glory to you, O Lord.

Apolytikion for Martyr Callistratus & his Companions in the 4th Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Apolytikion for St. George in the 4th Tone

As the deliverer of captives, and the protector of the poor, a physician of the sick, the defender of kings, O Great Martyr Saint George Victorious; intercede to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Tone

O unfailing protection of Christians, and our faithful advocate before the Creator: though we are sinners, do not ignore our entreaty; but in your goodness, grant your timely help to us who appeal to you in faith. Quickly make intercession; on our behalf make speedy supplication, O Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

17th Sunday after Pentecost
The Reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1

Brethren, you are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.

Gospel Reading

1st Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 5:1-11

At that time, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he was astonished, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Announcements

Greeters

Richard Kanavati and Theodora Bischof

Prosfora

William Clemons

40 Day Churching

Please join us in welcoming Alithea Despoina, beloved child of Rodrigo de Dios Mulet and Eleni Christoforides, to our St. George parish family!

Church School Information

We look forward to welcoming our children back for a year of learning, growing in faith, and building community together.

Classes Meeting After Dismissal & Antithoron:

PreK–K: Quiet Room
1st–3rd & 4th–6th: Church Sanctuary

Classes Meeting Upstairs After Holy Communion (as usual):

7th–9th: Fr. Perry’s Office
10th–12th: Conference Room

Please refer to the Church School calendar for the full schedule and important dates throughout the year. Please register your children using this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdeUDEixZZevXOrnJS3SdTxFDzN5lUIUK3XnYurs6wvcO_G3Q/viewform

Pioneers 55+ St. Croix River Boat Cruise & Buffet Lunch

Join us for a fun afternoon on the St. Croix River! The Pioneers 55+ group will enjoy a scenic riverboat cruise and buffet lunch today, September 27. Questions: Please contact Joanne Halatsis at 651-778-2485 or Carol Alexis at 612-978-2129.

Cruise: 1:30–3:30 PM
Meet: 12:45 PM at the Stillwater River Boat Building to park and gather before boarding.

May His Memory be Eternal!

Please join us in offering our prayers and deepest condolences to Vicky Paraschou and her family on the passing of her beloved father, +Vasilios "Bill" Vlahos. May his memory be eternal, and may God grant him rest with the saints.

To read his Obituary, please use this link or scan the QR Code.

https://voyagefuneralhomes.com/share-obituaries/2544.htmlid=2544&v=9&slug=bill-vlahos

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Save the Date - St. George Mini Greek Festival

Join us for the St. George Mini Greek Festival on Saturday, October 3, from 10 AM–7 PM and Sunday, October 4, from 11 AM–4 PM!

Enjoy delicious Greek pastries, gyros, chicken souvlaki, gyro salads, frappé, and beverages, plus Greek dancing, a bazaar, church tours, and a silent auction. Come grab some great food, enjoy the festivities, and cheer on your favorite runners! Bring your family and friends and enjoy a taste of Greece at St. George!

St. George Mini Greek Fest - Volunteers Needed

The St. George Mini Greek Fest is fast approaching, and we need your help to make it a success! Whether you’ve volunteered in the past or this will be your first time, we’d love to have you join us. There are a variety of opportunities available, so you can choose an area and date/time that works best for your schedule.

Don’t wait—sign up today! Visit the link below to access the SignUpGenius page and select your preferred volunteer opportunity. If you have any questions, please contact Carey Pappas at [email protected] with any questions.

https://www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13576DE0FA4CBE5C42-greek20251

St. George Mini Greek Fest - Can you help?

As we prepare for our Mini Greek Fest this October 3rd-4th, we're looking to borrow folding canopies, tables, and chairs from parishioners to help make the event a success. If you have any of the following that you would be willing to lend for the weekend, we'd be very grateful:

Folding canopies/tents (8×8, 10×10, 13×13, or similar sizes)
Folding tables (30×60, 30×72, or other sizes)
Folding chairs

All borrowed items will be returned promptly after the event. If you're able to help, please contact Stelios at 817-437-3354 or at [email protected]. Thank you for your generosity and support!

Support St. George Through Our 2026 Sponsorship Program

St. George invites businesses and parishioners to participate in our 2026 Sponsorship Program! Sponsorships help support the Mini Greek Festival and Benefit Concert, which in turn support our church and its ministries.

Our sponsorship packages offer valuable brand visibility across promotional and event materials, providing an opportunity to support St. George while connecting with our wider community. Interested in learning more? Please visit the link below for additional information and details about the available sponsorship options and their benefits:

https://www.stgeorgegoc.org/greekfest/sponsorships

For questions or more information, please contact Hometown Resources by email at [email protected] or by phone at (763) 260-3530, or email Lani Hattling at [email protected].

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Ministries Budgets Due by October 01

Ministry leaders, please submit your 2027 budget requests to Lani at [email protected] by October 01.

Loaves and Fishes Meal

Our second to last meal service for 2026 will be Monday, October 5- from 4:30pm - 6:45pm at St. Matthews in West Saint Paul. Teenagers are all welcome back, as are all adults, with or without a meal service background. You just need a willingness to serve! Use the link below to sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49ADA623A0FCC70-66040168-october

St. George Benefit Concert

An Evening of Classical & Byzantine Music, in support of St. George Greek Orthodox Church and FOCUS MN. Secure your tickets today for St. George's upcoming Classical and Byzantine Music Concert this Fall.

Join us for a beautiful night of music and community featuring:

Anna Pitsavas Wakely, winner of the 2025 Karin Larson YourClassical Prize in the Emerging Artist category, Violin
Twin Cities Byzantine Choir, directed by Joseph Karos
Christopher Atheneos, Byzantine Chanter, South Florida

Date/Time:
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 7:00pm

Location:
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
60 N Kent St
St. Paul, MN 55102

Admission/Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Patron Ticket: $50

Premium support ticket for guests who would like to further support our Ministries and Philanthropic actions. Includes concert admission. With limited seating available, now is the perfect time to purchase your ticket and ensure you don’t miss out on this exceptional musical experience! Purchase your tickets with this link: https://onrealm.org/StGeorgeStPaul/-/form/give/BenefitConcert

Greek School - Fall 2026

Registration is now open for St. George Greek School! Greek School is open to PreK–12 students and adults and is a great way to learn Greek while connecting with Greek language and culture. Everyone is welcome! The Fall session will run Wednesdays from 6:00–7:30 PM, with 7 sessions from October 28–December 16. There will be Fall, Winter, and Spring sessions throughout the year.

Registration is free, though donations are welcome to help cover textbooks, supplies, costumes, and food. Please register each student separately. Questions? Contact Joanna at [email protected]. Here is the registration link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM3le4o3R5cjqyzLhnOSxhleXfyI87sRnaH_8NCtsGyiUVA/viewform

Fr. John Strickland: Finding Meaning and Hope

Join us at St. Mary’s OCA on Friday, December 4, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. for an evening with Fr. John Strickland, priest at St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church in Poulsbo, Washington, and author of The Age of Nihilism.

Fr. John will speak on “Finding Meaning and Hope in a Time of Division and Uncertainty,” drawing from his book The Age of Nihilism.

Friday, December 4, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
St. Mary’s OCA
1701 5th St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Help with Coffee Hour!

Fellowship is better because of you! We have many openings in the coming weeks and would love to have you join the fun. Grab your family, invite a friend, sign up solo, or email Andrea Faches if you would like to sponsor without set-up and serving. Bring cookies, snacks, or simple finger foods and juice for 80–100 people, and we’ll take care of the coffee! Scan the QR code or use the link to sign up! Questions? See Andrea Faches

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CA5AD2BABFF2-46964197-fellowship

Hall Construction Updates

Thank you for your continued support of our Capital Project! We are happy to announce that we have worked through the kitchen revisions and are moving forward with the project as a whole. Over the past two weeks, Summit Avenue access has reopened, and the north side canopy has been installed and roofed, with pillar finish work remaining. Electrical and gas work in the kitchen are now underway, with drywall to follow once that work is complete. Classroom demolition has also commenced, with electrical outlet installation, drywall, and skim coating to follow. Additionally, the monument sign design is complete, with the final lettering still under review. We are grateful for your continued patience and support as construction progresses!

FOCUS Food Shelf Volunteers Needed

FOCUS runs a food shelf on the 3^rd and 5^th Saturdays of the month. Our parish, along with all the other Orthodox Parishes in town, have done a great job of keeping FOCUS supplied with non-perishable food items. THANK YOU!!! Would you like to also be a part of the Saturday morning distributions? Volunteers are needed 9:30 am to noon. Having adequate numbers of volunteers keeps the event running efficiently so that we don’t have to turn away any hungry people.

You would be joining a great team, meeting the recipients face-to-face, and would have the satisfaction of spending a few hours on a Saturday morning helping our neighbors feed their families. If you have any questions, please contact Ann Woods at [email protected]. You can sign up by scanning the QR below:

2026 Stewardship Goal

$172,658 of $315,000 (through July)

Make Your 2026 Stewardship Pledge Online

https://onrealm.org/StGeorgeStPaul/-/form/pledge/stewardship2026

Make a Stewardship Donation Online

https://onrealm.org/StGeorgeStPaul/give/online

Please Note

St. George GOC broadcasts its worship services live online and has security cameras throughout the building. Your presence in the church may be recorded on audio and video.

Schedule a Meeting with Fr. Perry

If you need to schedule a meeting with Fr. Perry, please visit this link: http://www.calendly.com/frperry

Wisdom of the Fathers

For now they were well instructed beforehand...But mark both their faith and their obedience. For though they were in the midst of their work when they heard His command, they delayed not, they procrastinated not, they said not, "let us return home, and converse with our kinsfolk," but "they forsook all and followed."

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 14 on Matthew 4, 4th Century

Because such is the obedience which Christ seeks of us, as that we delay not even a moment of time, though something absolutely most needful should vehemently press on us.

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 14 on Matthew 4, 4th Century

Welcome Visitors!

Thank you for joining us in worship. Whether you are an Orthodox Christian or this is your first visit to an Orthodox Church, we are pleased to have you with us! Although Holy Communion is offered only to baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christians, all are invited to receive the Antidoron (blessed bread) at the end of the service. The Antidoron and fellowship hour are reminiscent of the Agape Feast that followed worship in the early Church.

Visitors and inquirers, please do not worry if you do not understand or follow all of our practices at your first few visits to our church (when to stand, when to kneel, venerate icons, or the priest's hand, cross yourself, etc.), it takes time to learn these traditions. Watch what others do, and when you are ready, you can follow their example.

One does not have to be of Greek descent nor speak Greek to be an Orthodox Christian and member of our parish. All people of any background are welcome to join the Orthodox Church. For those interested in learning more about the Christian Faith or becoming a member of our church, please see Fr. Perry after services or contact him at [email protected] or (651) 222-6220.

We hope you will join us in our hall upstairs this morning after services for fellowship and refreshments!

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Becoming an Orthodox Christian

For those interested in becoming an Orthodox Christian, here is the basic process: 1. Come to Divine Liturgy, 2. Complete our MEOCCA Catechism Program in the spring or the fall (register by emailing [email protected] or visit this link https://meocca.org/our-faith/cooperative-catechism), 3. Meet with Fr. Perry (schedule a meeting at this link https://calendly.com/frperry/). Fr. Perry will go through more specific details when you meet. We hope that you will make St. George your spiritual home.

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Orthodox Worship

To our beloved guests, welcome to St. George. As you visit an Orthodox Church for the first few times, it’s important to remember that Orthodox Worship Services were designed to challenge us. For example, the services may be longer and at a slower pace than we are used to. The length of the service helps us grow in wakefulness and vigilance. "Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, 'What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak'” Matthew 26:40-41.

In our ever-changing, fast-paced world, we struggle to maintain the attention span of a goldfish. The worship of the early Church is the remedy to this problem. The Divine Liturgy and our other worship services are an invitation to turn off the noise, slow down the pace, and, like Mary (the sister of Martha), sit at the feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you struggle with your attention span in the first few services (or for years!), stick with it. Through our continued effort, God grants us growth in the ability to experience quiet, stillness, and prayer. Through our endurance, and above all, by His Grace, our regular participation in worship helps us to “lay aside the cares of life that we may receive the King of all."

Saints and Feasts

September 29

Kyriakos the Hermit of Palestine

This Saint was born in Corinth in 448. He went to Palestine to the Lavra of Euthymius the Great, but because of his youth was sent by Saint Euthymius to Saint Gerasimus; after the death of Saint Gerasimus he returned to the Lavra of Saint Euthymius. Later he took on a more rigorous life of asceticism in the wilderness of Natoufa, where there was nothing to eat except the exceedingly bitter wild herb called squills, which, however, through his prayers, God made sweet for him and his disciple. He lived 107 years and reposed in the year 555.

October 01

The Feast of the Holy Skepi of the Theotokos

The Feast of the Protection commemorates the appearance of the most holy Theotokos in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople in the tenth century, as recorded in the life of Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ's sake. While the multitudes of the faithful were gathered in church, Epiphanius, the friend of Saint Andrew, through the Saint's prayers, beheld the Virgin Mary above the faithful and spreading out her veil over them, signifying her unceasing protection of all Christians. Because of this we keep a yearly feast of gratitude, imploring our Lady never to cease sheltering us in her mighty prayers.

The Feast is celebrated on October 1. In the 1950s, the Church of Greece began to observe the Feast on October 28.

October 02

Cyprian the Holy Martyr, Justina the Virgin-martyr of Nicomedea

Saint Justina who was from Damascus, lived in virginity for the sake of Christ. Saint Cyprian, who was from Antioch, began as an initiate of magic and worshipper of the demons. A certain foolish young man who had been smitten with Justina's beauty hired Cyprian to draw her to love him; when Cyprian had wed every demonic device he knew, and had failed, being repulsed by the power of Christ Whom Justina invoked, he understood the weakness of the demons and came to know the truth. Delivered from demonic delusion, he came to Christ and burned all his books of magic, was baptized, and later ascended the episcopal throne in his country. Later, he and Justina were arrested by the Count of Damascus, and having endured many torments at his hands, they were sent finally to Diocletian in Nicomedia, where they were beheaded about the year 304.

October 03

Dionysios the Areopagite

This Saint was from Athens, a learned man, and a member of the famous judicial court of Mars Hill (in Greek Aeros Pagos, hence the name Areopagite (see Acts 17:19-34). When Saint Paul preached in Athens, he was one of the first there to believe in Christ, and, according to some, became the first bishop of that city. Others say -- and this may be more probable--that he was the second Bishop of Athens, after Saint Hierotheus, whom Dionysios calls his friend and teacher "after Paul" (On the Divine Names, 3:2). With Saint Hierotheus he was also present at the Dormition of the most holy Theotokos; the Doxasticon of the Aposticha for the service of the Dormition is partly taken from a passage in Chapter III of On the Divine Names. According to ancient tradition, he received a martyr's end (according to some, in Athens itself) about the year 96.