This Sunday's Memorial
Haralambos Panagiotou - 3 years
St. Spyridon Ministry Leader Retreat – Saturday, September 21st
This Retreat is specifically for ALL Ministry Lay Leaders of our community but ALL are encouraged to attend.
Our Retreat will begin this Saturday with the Paraklesis service for health and well-being at 8:30 a.m. in the church Temple.
I am looking forward to being with you all, +A.
This Sunday's Acolyte Serving Team
St. John: Captain: Michael Angeles, Luke Billings, Luke Georggin, Theo Huntalas, Konstantino Mellos, Alexios Savvides, John Savvides, Nektarios Sissons
Parish Youth Safety
Recently, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America issued new Policies for the Safety of Children and Youth in parishes. The policies are designed to ensure that all of our youth ministry environments are physically and spiritually safe and healthy. Covered programs and events include everything from youth groups (like HOPE, JOY, and GOYA) to educational programs (like Sunday School) to athletic programs, to cultural programs (like Parish Greek school or Greek dance programs), in addition to youth retreats and camping programs.
Under the policies, all Youth Workers, anyone who participates in Youth Ministry Programs and Events, will be required to register with the Parish, complete annual training, and pass a background screen. We are working with our youth lay leaders to help them comply with the Policies.
On behalf of our Parish Council along with Fr. Andrew, we thank you for your participation and support.
Philoptochos Munchies, Mimosas and More!
Philoptochos will once again host this fun-filled and informative event on this Sunday, September 22nd immediately after Divine Liturgy in the Cypress Room. Please come and join us!
The Pan Arcadians
The Pan Arcadians will be hosting a Greek Glendi Sat, Oct 5th at Sts. Constantine and Helen at 5:30 PM. It will feature appetizers , chicken and hilopites(noodles), salad vegetables and dessert. Music and dancing provided by Takis Gryparis combo. Arcadian of the year Alex Rigopoulos and our scholarship winners to be honored. Tickets are $45.00. For reservations please call Angie Georggin at (858)748-9188.
SAVE THE DATE - GOYA
GOYANS join us on Saturday, October 12th at the UTC Mall for Amazing Race GOYA Style. Meet us at Starbucks in the UTC Mall at 4:00, ready to solve clues, complete roadblocks and race to the finish line. Bring money for dinner during the race. Parents pick your kids up at 8:00 pm at the mall. Please RSVP by October 8 at navridesfamily@gmail.com or 619-825-6750.
OXI Dinner Dance
Saturday, October 19th 6:00 PM in the Cypress Room. Live music and a four course dinner. For more information contact John Georges at sdgreekevents@yahoo.com or call 951-536-1217.
SAVE THE DATE! Hellenic Fairways Golf Tournament 2019
Hellenic Fairways Golf Tournament 2019 is Friday, October 25th at Willowbrook Golf Club in Lakeside. A portion of this year's proceeds will go to benefit the Senior Group of St. Spyridon and The Center for Community Solutions. Please see Rhad Brown, Maria Platis, Christina Frangos or Spero Tzathas if you would like to register, volunteer, or be a sponsor.
Military Appreciation Sunday
Calling all active-duty military and veterans for Military Appreciation Sunday on November 3, 2019. To submit your name and branch of service or to make an offering for fellowship, contact Soula De La Riva at soula.delariva@cox.net or (760) 521-0471.
For more information see "Inserts and Fliers" below
COLLEGE CONNECTION
Attending college or university is something a lot of young adults look forward to. Here at St. Spyridon Philoptochos we want to make sure that our college students, whether staying here in San Diego or going away, don’t loose their connection to St. Spyridon. With that in mind, we have created “College Connection”.
College Connection will reach out to our college students a couple of times per year with inspiring notes, care packages, etc. to let those students know that we are cheering them on from home.
If your son or daughter will be attending college in the fall (including community college, undergraduate or graduate school), we would like to reach out to them with some love from their St. Spyridon Philoptochos family. Please send their postal mailing address, email address while they are in college, cell phone, as well as the name of the school they are attending to Michelle Defelippi at mdefelippi@san.rr.com.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Michelle at the above email or (858) 695-9772.
Philoptochos Table in the Cypress Room
Please come by our table to pick up latest information about Philoptochos. We also ask that you please do not remove the table but if you need to move it for an event, please return back as it was. Thank you!
Philoptochos and Fellowship
We hope you continue to enjoy the long standing tradition of gathering for fellowship in the hall following the Divine Liturgy throughout the year. Philoptochos is thankful for the continued support from all the families and organizations that offer every week. We kindly ask others to consider offering fellowship at least once per year, so think of name days, celebrations, memorials, fundraisers, etc. Offering fellowship should be kept simple (bagels, cream cheese, fruit and cookies) as it is a light snack to enjoy with family and friends following the Divine Liturgy. Therefore, the cost of fellowship should be approximately $100-$150. Lastly, the donations collected from the coffee hour support our many ministries so please consider this when offering your donation.
To see which dates are available and sign up online visit our SignUp Genius page. To sign up over the phone, by email, or in person, contact Christina Vassos at cmvassos@gmail.com or 619-818-6882. Thank you!
Agape Meals
Philoptochos has an outreach program where people can cook or deliver (or both) a meal to one of their fellow parishioners who may facing a difficult or stressful time in their life (illness, new baby, etc). If you would like more information on how you can participate, or know of someone in our community who could use a meal or two, please contact Stella Weil at (858)694-0570 or 4weils@sbcglobal.net. Please join us as we come together as a community to help one another. Thank you.
Decorated Feast Day Icons
Philoptochos invites you and your family to commemorate a special Feast Day by offering a donation towards the cost of a beautifully decorated icon which will be displayed in the church Narthex for all to venerate. This is a perfect way to honor both your family member(s) as well as an important day in the life of the Church. A suggested donation of $75 is much appreciated.
Please contact Stella Weil at 4weils@sbcglobal.net or (858) 694-0570 to reserve your icon/date or if you have any questions. Thank you.
10/23 - St. James the Apostle
10/26 - St. Demetrios
11/1 - Sts. Cosmas and Damianos
11/8 - Synaxis of the Archangels
11/9 - St. Nektarios
11/13 - St. John Chrysostom
11/21 - Entrance of the Theotokos
11/25 - St.Katherine the Great
11/30 - Andrew the First Called Apostle
12/4 - St. Barbara
12/6 - St. Nicholas
12/12 - St. Spyridon the Wonderworker
12/25 - Holy Nativity of the Lord
Your Legacy and Your Church
...to whom much is given; from them much more is required (Luke 12:48).
Please remember to include your Saint Spyridon parish in your estate plan and bequest.
Receive Back 0.5% From “Amazon Smile” Foundation
We are pleased to announce that St. Spyridon GOCnow participates in AmazonSmile. When you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church. That’s right, every eligible purchase you or someone else makes at AmazonSmile 0.5% will be donated back to our parish!!!
Register by visiting AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com) and select “St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church” before you make your first purchase (be sure to select St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church - San Diego, California).
For more information about AmazonSmile, go to http://smile.amazon.com/about
We hope you’ll consider this easy way to support your beloved parish. Everyone is eligible to participate so tell your friends and relatives and spread the word about this wonderful program.
Live Stream Broadcast
If you know someone who may be in the hospital or home bound or for whatever reason just cannot get to church, don’t forget about the Live Stream Broadcast of our Divine Services. You can watch our Live Broadcast by going to our parish website and clicking on the “Live Broadcast” tab on the top tool bar. Remember, our Live Stream Broadcast is for those who absolutely cannot physically make the divine services of the church and is not a substitute for being present. Also, please be aware that conversations, crying babies, etc. can be heard on the broadcast. We have a wonderful cry room facility, which is located off the Narthex behind the candle stand, and is comfortable and provided for your convenience.
The Live Stream divine services of Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of San Diego, CA may not be recorded, retransmitted or reproduced without the express written consent of the Parish Council of Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of San Diego, CA. Thank you for your consideration.
Donations toward the digital ministries of the parish are warmly welcomed. If you would like to help support the ministries of Saint Spyridon please contact the church office. Again, thank you.
Military Appreciation Sunday Sunday, November 3, 2019
WeShare Online Giving
SOMERSET, NJ – Sixteen clergy from various places throughout the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America completed training on September 10-12, 2019 for expanding the ministry to support our clergy. The Archdiocesan Center for Family Care recently received a generous grant from Leadership 100 to train facilitators to lead clergy peer learning groups throughout the country.
NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros met with leaders of the Archdiocese Benefits Committee Monday, Sept. 9, in his office at the Archdiocese. His Eminence initiated the meeting with Fr. James T. Paris, Chairman of the ABC; Fr. James Greanias, Vice-Chairman of the ABC, and Mrs. Anna Vrettos, Director of the ABC.
Third Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Mark 16:9-20
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.
Prokeimenon. Plagal First Mode. Psalm 11.7,1.
You, O Lord, shall keep us and preserve us.
Verse: Save me, O Lord, for the godly man has failed.
The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:1-4.
Brethren, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
But I call God to witness against me - it was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
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.
The Hymn of Saint Spyridon
At the first of the Synods, you appeared as a champion, * and Wonderworker, our God-bearing Father Spyridon. * Wherefore, you addressed the dead one in the grave, * and a serpent you changed to gold. * And while chanting * in service your sacred prayers, * you joined the angels concelebrating, most holy one.* Glory to Christ who glorified you, * glory to Him who crowned you, * glory to the One who works through You, * healings for everyone.
Τής Συνόδου τής πρώτης ανεδείχθης υπέρμαχος, * καί Θαυματουργός Θεοφόρε Σπυρίδων πατήρ ημών. * διό νεκρά σύ έν τάφω προσφωνείς, * καί όφιν είς χρυσούν μετέβαλες. * καί έν τώ μέλπειν τάς αγίας σου ευχάς, * Αγγέλους έσχες συλλειτουργούντας σοι Ιερώτατε, * Δόξα τώ σέ δοξάσαντι Χριστώ * δόξα τώ σέ στεφανώσαντι. * δόξα τώ ενεργόυντι, διά σου πάσιν ιάματα.
This saint was known for the many miracles he worked and for his apostolic zeal in shepherding the flock of Sinope. He contested for the Faith during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, in the year 102, when he was burned to death in a bath-house. A homily in his honour was composed by Saint John Chrysostom. The translation of his holy relics is celebrated on July 23.
This came to pass fifteen months before the birth of Christ, after the vision of the Angel that Zacharias, the father of the Forerunner, saw in the Temple while he executed the priest's office in the order of his course during the feast of the Tabernacles, as tradition bears witness. In this vision, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and said to him, "Thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John" (Luke 1:13). Knowing that Elizabeth was barren, and that both he and she were elderly, Zacharias did not believe what the Angel told him, although he had before him the example of Abraham and Sarah, of Hannah, mother of the Prophet Samuel, and of other barren women in Israel who gave birth by the power of God. Hence, he was condemned by the Archangel to remain speechless until the fulfilment of these words in their season, which also came to pass (Luke 1:7-24).
This saint was from the city of Iconium. When she was eighteen years of age, she was instructed in the Faith of Christ and the hope of the resurrection by the Apostle Paul, whom also she followed, forsaking her betrothed and espousing a life of virginity for the sake of the Heavenly Bridegroom. Having preached Christ in various cities and suffered many things, she reposed in Seleucia of Cilicia at the age of 90.
Our righteous Mother Euphrosyne, who lived during the reign of Saint Theodosius the Younger (408-450), was the daughter of Paphnutius of Egypt. Forsaking her father and his wealth, she renamed herself Smaragdus, and pretending to be a eunuch of the imperial palace, she dressed herself as a man and entered a monastery of men where her identity remained unknown until her repose thirty-eight years later.
This Apostle was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the elder. First a fisherman by trade, he became an Apostle and the beloved Disciple of Christ. Only he of all the Disciples followed Him even to the Cross, and was entrusted with the care of our Saviour's Mother, as it were another son to her, and a brother of Christ the Teacher. After this, he preached throughout Asia Minor, especially in Ephesus. When the second persecution against the Christians began in the year 96 during the reign of Domitian, he was taken in bonds to Rome, and there was cast into a vat filled to the brim with boiling oil. Coming forth therefrom unharmed, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Returning again to Ephesus after the death of the tyrant, he wrote his Gospel (after the other Evangelists had already written theirs) and his three Catholic Epistles. In all, he lived ninety-five years and fell asleep in the Lord during the reign of Trajan in the year 100. He was called Theologian because he loftily expounded in his Gospel the theology of the inexpressible and eternal birth of the Son and Word of God the Father. It is for this cause that an eagle-a symbol of the Holy Spirit, as Saint Irenaeus says-is depicted in his icon, for this was one of the four symbolic living creatures that the Prophet Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 1:10).
These Martyrs contested for the Faith during the reign of Diocletian, in the year 288. Saint Callistratus was arrested as a Christian, and after being tormented, was enclosed in a sack and cast into the sea. The sack burst, and the Saint came to dry land safe and sound. Forty-nine soldiers, seeing this, also confessed Christ, and with him were cast into prison, then beheaded.
Saint Chariton was born in the city of Iconium during the reign of Aurelian, about the year 274. He was arrested, tortured, and condemned to death because of his Christian Faith, but finally set free by imperial edict. He came to Palestine, where he took up the ascetic life. He also brought many Jews and pagans to the Faith. Having dwelt in the desert of Judea for many years, and established several monasteries throughout the region, he reposed in peace.