Sundays & Appointed Weekdays:
Matins - 8:30 am
Divine Liturgy - 10:00 am
Summer Schedule for Sundays:
Matins - 8:00 am
Divine Liturgy - 9:30 am
April 7 - April 14, 2019
Sunday, April 7th
St. John Climacus (the Ladder)
Epistle Hebrews 6:13-20
Gospel Mark 9:17-31
9:00 am Orthros
10:00 am Divine Liturgy
Monday, April 8th
6:00 pm Great Compline
Tuesday, April 9th
5:30 pm Parish Council Meeting
6:30 pm Philoptochos Meeting
Wednesday, April 10th
Observer articles due (AnnunciationObserver@gmail.com)
11:00 am Studies in the Faith
5:30 pm Greek School
6:00 pm Presanctified Liturgy and Lenten Supper (Sponsored by our Annunciation Senior League)
Thursday, April 11th
5:30 pm Greek School
7:00 pm Choir Practice
Friday, April 12th
7:00 pm The Akathist Hymn | Salutations to the Theotokos
Sunday, April 14th
St. Mary of Egypt
Epistle Hebrews 9:11-14
Gospel Mark 10:32-45
9:00 am Orthros
10:00 am Divine Liturgy
Please visit our parish website for the monthly calendar and to subscribe
http://www.AnnunciationSac.org/master-calendar/
The Sunday Bulletin from April 7, 2019
Please join us on Holy and Great Friday for a Lenten Youth Retreat. Please register on CCB or contact Yianni Magoulias for details (Magoulias@AnnunciationSac.org) https://annunciationsac.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/90/responses/new
Please see the attached letter addressed to school administrators from Fr. James asking to excuse our students from school to participate in the beautiful services of Holy and Great Friday and in our Holy Friday Youth Retreat - April 26th
Please join us for tea & treats at a Myrrh Bearer Meet & Greet! Sunday, April 14th following the Divine Liturgy. Girls 2nd grade and up. Please RSVP to Nicki Hansen (Nicki.D.Hansen@gmail.com)
Let's light our path around the church with the names of our loved ones who have passed on and our wishes for the health of our family and friends! Please donate on CCB or fill out this form and return to the Dance Support Group or Church Office. Your $10 donation per luminary helps support our growing dance ministry. https://annunciationsac.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/87/responses/new
As we prepare spiritually for Holy Week and Great Pascha, we are also preparing the necessary supplies for this feast of feasts. Your donation in any amount, is greatly appreciated. https://annunciationsac.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/88/responses/new
Do you speak a second language? Please help us read the gospel announcing the Resurrection of our Lord in different languages! Contact Yianni Magoulias to reserve your language. (Magoulias@AnnunciationSac.org)
Join us for GREEK NIGHT with the Sacramento Republic FC. Featuring pregame performances by our Greek Dance Ministry, the National Anthem sung by our Annunciation Choir, and a postgame meet & greet with Charalampos Chantzopoulos! Did we mention limited edition Republic FC scarves in GREEK?! Purchase your tickets now! http://groups.sacrepublicfc.com/s/other/GreekNight1012
The Youth Chronicle, a bulletin catered towards our youth, contains this months information about youth events at the parish as well as a 'Theolo-Tweet" about Orthodoxy.
Homily offered by Fr. James Retelas during the Divine Liturgy on April 7, 2019
Stewardship is what a person does after saying, "I believe," as proof of that belief.
Wont you join us in offering to God as He offered Himself to us?
Stella Dariotis
Stewardship Chairperson
March Stewardship Update
Pledged Families as of 3/28/19: 283
Total Pledged: $349,584.14
Annunciation Sacramento Ministries and Resources
GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth of America)
Thank you for joining us at our March Kickback and thank you to the Foondos family for hosting us!
Interested in hosting April's Kickback? Contact Yianni today!
Holy Friday Youth Retreat - Please join us on Holy and Great Friday, April 26, for a Lenten Retreat. Please contact Yianni Magoulias to register.
Annunication Dance Ministry
Help us light our path around our church on Holy Friday! Luminaries are on sale now every Sunday in our Annunciation Hellenic Center (and check out the flyer above). Your donation goes to support our growing dance ministry and the Build. https://annunciationsac.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/87/responses/new
Annunciation Greek School
Our Annunciation Greek School is now Ellinomatheia certified! If you would like to take the certification test, please look for more information on their website: http://greekschoolannunciation.org/ellinomatheia/
Annunciation Senior League
Our next ASL Board Meeting will be on Thursday, April 18th at 10:00 am in our Annunciation Hellenic Center Foyer.
Please join us for our next meeting on Thursday, May 2nd at 11:00 am in our Annunciation Hellenic Center! All are welcome! Please rsvp to Mary Kondos (mkondos@att.net).
Parish Communications
In the fast-pace society we live in today, internet communications are the norm.
Please follow us online and on social media.
Parish Website: http://www.annunciation.ca.goarch.org/
Parish Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annunciation.sacramento/
Parish Instagram: @AnnunciationSac
Parish Twitter: @AnnunciationSac
Parish YouTube: AnnunciationSac
Annuciation Young Professionals: https://www.facebook.com/groups/310609672670680/
Annunciation Bookstore: https://www.facebook.com/AnnunciationBookstore/
Sacramento Greek Festival: https://www.facebook.com/sacramentogreekfestival/
Hellenic Golf Classic: https://www.facebook.com/hellenicgolfclassic/
Observer Articles are due on the 10th of the month
Please visit our parish website for the monthly calendar and to subscribe
http://www.AnnunciationSac.org/master-calendar/
Prosfora Offering
Every Divine Liturgy, the priest uses a special bread, called Prosforo, to prepare the Holy Eucharist. The priest cuts the bread in a special way and prays to God, the Theotokos, the saints, the prophets, and the angels for their prayers and intercessions… The priest also prays for all those living and those who have passed away. Following the Divine Liturgy, the remainder is handed out to all the people.
This bread is a beautiful offering by an individual or a family. The Church is always in need of Prosfora.
Please contact the Church Office for the recipe and to schedule a time to bring Prosfora.
Metropolis of San Francisco Ministries and Resources
St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center
Every summer, hundreds of children and teenagers from throughout the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco gather for our summer camp program. The Orthodox Christian faith comes alive for young people as they develop lifelong friendships and memories that will last forever. Summer camp activities include: arts and crafts, faith and culture, athletics, swimming, canoeing, campfires, archery, hikes, daily worship services, a visit to the Monastery of the Theotokos the Lifegiving Spring, and Orthodox life discussions.
http://gosfyouth.org/basic-information/
Session I: July 7 – 13
Session II: July 14 – 20 (We encourage our youth, if available, to attend Session II as a parish)
Session III: July 21 – 27
Youth and Young Adult Ministries - San Francisco
Save the Date! YAL is BACK!
Metropolis of San Francisco YAL Conference | Labor Day Weekend 2019 | Southern California
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Ministries and Resourses
Hellenic College Holy Cross, Greek Orthodox School of Theology
Achrdiocesan Orthodox Christian college, graduate school, and seminary.
www.HCHC.edu
Ionian Village
Ionian Village is not just another summer camp; it is like nothing you have ever experienced. The campers and Staff come not only to understand their Orthodox Faith and Hellenic Culture in a more realistic and tangible way, but also to meet and interact with other young people just like them from all over the country. Through this interaction, their eyes are opened as to what the reality of being an Orthodox Christian in this world truly should be: to be people who live Christ-centered lives, to be people of love. " Applications open on March 1, 2019.
https://www.ionianvillage.org/summer-camp
St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival
Introduced in 1983, the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival provides Greek Orthodox teenagers the opportunity to write about and defend their faith. The purpose of the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival is to give teenagers an opportunity to learn, write, and speak about their Orthodox Christian Faith, Church, and Heritage. This process will enhance their understanding and appreciation of their identity as Greek Orthodox Christians and cultivate spiritual growth and maturity. The overall Oratorical program is called an Oratorical Festival rather than a contest to minimize the competitive spirit and emphasize a joyful learning experience.
Our 2 finalists from the Senior Division and 1 finalist from the Junior Division will be advancing to the District Level Festival at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Modesto on April 17th.
https://www.goarch.org/oratorical
CrossRoad
What does it mean to travel the road of the Cross of Christ in your life, for your life?
CrossRoad is an engaging 10-day summer institute for Orthodox Christian high school juniors and seniors of all jurisdictions that takes place every summer on the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, Massachusetts. Students from the United States and Canada are invited to take part in an exciting summer vocations exploration program designed to help them discern their life callings and match their God-given gifts with the needs of the world. Applications are due February 1, 2019.
http://www.crossroadinstitute.org/
NEW YORK – With a well-attended retreat at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda, Maryland, Y2AM (Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministry), has concluded another successful season of “Be the Bee” retreats.
Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 103.24,1.
O Lord, how manifold are your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 6:13-20.
BRETHREN, when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore to himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Προκείμενον. Fourth Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 103.24,1.
Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου Κύριε, πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας.
Στίχ. Εὐλόγει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον.
τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Ἑβραίους 6:13-20.
Ἀδελφοί, τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός, ἐπεὶ κατʼ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ, λέγων, Ἦ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε, καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ σε. Καὶ οὕτως μακροθυμήσας ἐπέτυχεν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. Ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσιν, καὶ πάσης αὐτοῖς ἀντιλογίας πέρας εἰς βεβαίωσιν ὁ ὅρκος. Ἐν ᾧ περισσότερον βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς κληρονόμοις τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ, ἐμεσίτευσεν ὅρκῳ, ἵνα διὰ δύο πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος· ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν, καὶ εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος· ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲκ ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
Sunday of St. John Climacus
The Reading is from Mark 9:17-31
At that time, a man came to Jesus kneeling and saying: "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again." And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise."
Sunday of St. John Climacus
Κατὰ Μᾶρκον 9:17-31
Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἄνθρωπός τις προσῆλθε τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγων, διδάσκαλε, ἤνεγκα τὸν υἱόν μου πρός σε, ἔχοντα πνεῦμα ἄλαλον. καὶ ὅπου ἂν αὐτὸν καταλάβῃ, ῥήσσει αὐτόν, καὶ ἀφρίζει καὶ τρίζει τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ξηραίνεται· καὶ εἶπον τοῖς μαθηταῖς σου ἵνα αὐτὸ ἐκβάλωσι, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν. ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῷ λέγει· ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος, ἕως πότε πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔσομαι; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν; φέρετε αὐτὸν πρός με. καὶ ἤνεγκαν αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτόν. καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν εὐθέως τὸ πνεῦμα ἐσπάραξεν αὐτόν, καὶ πεσὼν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκυλίετο ἀφρίζων. καὶ ἐπηρώτησε τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ· πόσος χρόνος ἐστὶν ὡς τοῦτο γέγονεν αὐτῷ; ὁ δὲ εἶπε· παιδιόθεν. καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς πῦρ ἔβαλε καὶ εἰς ὕδατα, ἵνα ἀπολέσῃ αὐτόν· ἀλλ᾿ εἴ τι δύνασαι, βοήθησον ἡμῖν σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι, πάντα δυνατὰ τῷ πιστεύοντι. καὶ εὐθέως κράξας ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ παιδίου μετὰ δακρύων ἔλεγε· πιστεύω, κύριε· βοήθει μου τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ὅτι ἐπισυντρέχει ὄχλος, ἐπετίμησε τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ λέγων αὐτῷ· τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἄλαλον καὶ κωφόν, ἐγώ σοι ἐπιτάσσω, ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ μηκέτι εἰσέλθῃς εἰς αὐτόν. καὶ κράξαν καὶ πολλὰ σπαράξαν αὐτὸν ἐξῆλθε, καὶ ἐγένετο ὡσεὶ νεκρός, ὥστε πολλοὺς λέγειν ὅτι ἀπέθανεν. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς κρατήσας αὐτὸν τῆς χειρὸς ἤγειρεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀνέστη. Καὶ εἰσελθόντα αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν κατ᾿ ἰδίαν, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτό. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τοῦτο τὸ γένος ἐν οὐδενὶ δύναται ἐξελθεῖν εἰ μὴ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ νηστείᾳ. Καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνῷ· ἐδίδασκε γὰρ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀποκτανθεὶς τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστήσεται.
The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written by a great man of prayer experienced in all forms of the monastic polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility. It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its entirety in monasteries during the Great Fast.
The righteous George struggled in behalf of the holy icons, and reposed in peace about the year 821.