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Holy Cross Church
Publish Date: 2020-05-24
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Holy Cross Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (248) 477-1677
  • Fax:
  • (248) 477-0231
  • Street Address:

  • 25225 Middlebelt Rd.

  • Farmington Hills, MI 48336


Services Schedule

facebook: HolyCrossGreekOrthodoxChurch

DIVINE LITURGY SUNDAYS 10 A.M.

OFFICE HOURS 10 A.M.- 3 P.M.  MONDAY-WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY  (CLOSED THURSDAY)

BONNIE SITARAS: OFFICE COORDINATOR

 


Past Bulletins


Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eighth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that He had said these things to her.


Epistle Reading

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 Acts of the Apostles 16:16-34.

IN THOSE DAYS, as we apostles were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the rulers; and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's fetters were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.


Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Blind Man
The Reading is from John 9:1-38

At that time, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put clay on my eyes and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age, ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?" And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him.


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Saints and Feasts

Jcblind1
May 24

Sunday of the Blind Man

The Lord Jesus was coming from the Temple on the Sabbath, when, while walking in the way, He saw the blind man mentioned in today's Gospel. This man had been born thus from his mother's womb, that is, he had been born without eyes (see Saint John Chrysostom, Homily LVI on Matthew; Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V:15; and the second Exorcism of Saint Basil the Great). When the disciples saw this, they asked their Teacher, "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" They asked this because when the Lord had healed the paralytic at the Sheep's Pool, He had told him, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14); so they wondered, if sickness was caused by sin, what sin could have been the cause of his being born without eyes. But the Lord answered that this was for the glory of God. Then the God-man spat on the ground and made clay with the spittle. He anointed the eyes of the blind man and said to him, "Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam." Siloam (which means "sent") was a well-known spring in Jerusalem used by the inhabitants for its waters, which flowed to the eastern side of the city and collected in a large pool called "the Pool of Siloam."

Therefore, the Saviour sent the blind man to this pool that he might wash his eyes, which had been anointed with the clay-not that the pool's water had such power, but that the faith and obedience of the one sent might be made manifest, and that the miracle might become more remarkable and known to all, and leave no room for doubt. Thus, the blind man believed in Jesus' words, obeyed His command, went and washed himself, and returned, no longer blind, but having eyes and seeing. This was the greatest miracle that our Lord had yet worked; as the man healed of his blindness himself testified, "Since time began, never was it heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind," although the Lord had already healed the blind eyes of many. Because he now had eyes, some even doubted that he was the same person (John 9:8-9); and it was still lively in their remembrance when Christ came to the tomb of Lazarus, for they said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have caused that even this man should not have died?" Saint John Chrysostom gives a thorough and brilliant exposition of our Lord's meeting with the woman of Samaria, the healing of the paralytic, and the miracle of the blind man in his commentaries on the Gospel of Saint John.


Ascension
May 28

Holy Ascension

The Lord Jesus passed forty days on earth after His Resurrection from the dead, appearing continually in various places to His disciples, with whom He also spoke, ate, and drank, thereby further demonstrating His Resurrection. On this Thursday, the fortieth day after Pascha, He appeared again in Jerusalem. After He had first spoken to the disciples about many things, He gave them His last commandment, that is, that they go forth and proclaim His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. But He also commanded them that for the present, they were not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait there together until they receive power from on high, when the Holy Spirit would come upon them.

Saying these things, He led them to the Mount of Olives, and raising His hands, He blessed them; and saying again the words of the Father's blessing, He was parted from them and taken up. Immediately a cloud of light, a proof of His majesty, received Him. Sitting thereon as though on a royal chariot, He was taken up into Heaven, and after a short time was concealed from the sight of the disciples, who remained where they were with their eyes fixed on Him. At this point, two Angels in the form of men in white raiment appeared to them and said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, Who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven" (Acts 1:11). These words, in a complete and concise manner, declare what is taught in the Symbol of Faith concerning the Son and Word of God. Therefore, having so fulfilled all His dispensation for us, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended in glory into Heaven, and sat at the right hand of God the Father. As for His sacred disciples, they returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, rejoicing because Christ had promised to send them the Holy Spirit.

It should be noted that the Mount of Olives is a Sabbath's day journey from Jerusalem, that is, the distance a Jew was permitted to walk on the day of the Sabbath. Ecumenius writes, "A Sabbath day's journey is one mile in length, as Clement says in his fifth Stromatis; it is two thousand cubits, as the Interpretation of the Acts states." They draw this conclusion from the fact that, while they were in the wilderness, the Israelites of old kept within this distance from the Holy Tabernacle, whither they walked on the Sabbath day to worship God.


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Holy Cross Notices

i Dear F

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ATTENTION:  

 FOR THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF OUR PARISHIONERS AND COMMUNITY,

THERE WILL BE NO IN PERSON WORSHIP SERVICES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 

SERVICES WILL BE LIVESTREAMED.

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK

Holy Cross Livestream Services

 

 You can also click on the link below to be redirected to the Archdiocese site listing all live internet broadcasts of church services, including our sister churches in the Metropolis of Detroit. 

 https://www.goarch.org/live-broadcast  

 

STEWARDSHIP PLEDGE:  Although our doors are closed, keep in mind our Church bills still need to be paid. Please continue to support our Chuch during this difficult time via your Stewardship pledge and donations. Mail is picked up regularly and deposits are being made. Please mail your checks directly to

Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, 25225 Middlebelt Rd., Farmington Hills MI 48336  

 CHURCH OFFICE: The church office is closed until further notice. However, Bonnie has 24/7 access to our office email at holycross1969@gmail.com and can access our answering machine remotely and can notify Father when needed.  The church office phone number is 248-477-1677 ext. 3. 

VIGIL CANDLES: If you would like us to light a vigil candle for you, please call the Church Office and leave a message or email holycross1969@gmail.com with your name(s) and we will make sure to light a vigil candle for you and say a prayer. You can send in your donation by mail (please write vigil candle in the memo line). 

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UPCOMING: 

MEMORIALS: MAY 24, 2020

TASIA DEMOPOULOS- 40 YEARS

ALIA DEMOPOULOS- 9 MONTHS

MEMORIALS: MAY 31, 2020

GUS SPANOS- 40 DAYS

ASCENSION THURSDAY: MAY 28, 2020

DIVINE LITURGY @10:00 AM LIVESTREAM

SATURDAY OF SOULS: JUNE 6, 2020

DIVINE LITURGY @10:00 AM LIVESTREAM

FOLLOWED BY MEMORIALS

PENTECOST SUNDAY: JUNE 7, 2020

DIVINE LITURGY @ 10:00 AM LIVESTREAM

 

Links to eBulletin, Facebook, Metropolis
Facebook: HolyCrossGreekOrthodoxChurch
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 SHOP AT ACE HARDWARE? 5% minus tax = (!)
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church or #214538.  5% line discount off everyday pricing in the store Ace Rewards as well as 6% Tax Exempt will come off automatically.  2% Ace Rewards
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SHOP AT KROGER?
Register your card in a few steps. Each May the registration needs to be renewed,
so if you were part of the program last year and haven't renewed, please do so. Go to:
http://www.krogercommunityrewards.com
Holy Cross' ID # 83567
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Prayer Requests

Please continue to pray for the health and healing of the following friends:

Marge Lazarou

Father Constantine and Presvytera Pauline Pavlakos

Dina Rand

Mary Poniros

Caliope Muzithras

Andy Psilis

*The family and friends of Debbie Kondziolka thank you for your prayers for health and recovery and are happy to share that after 44 days in hospital she is now home and continuing to recover.

If you would like to add your name or a loved one's name to the prayer list, please email the office 

holycross1969@gmail.com

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Seniors 2020

Grad_cap

Congratulations to the Class of 2020! 

 

 

 

High  School Graudates:

 Stephen Alexander Blough, son of Cathy and Michael Blough, is a graduate of Northville High School (NHS) Class of 2020. Stephen graduated Summa Cum Laude and with Honors as a member of the National Honors Society. He was also named an Academic All-State Athlete as a Varsity Lacrosse player his Junior year and was a 4 year drum-line member, playing the 5-drum tenors for two. 

Stephen will attend the University of Michigan College of Engineering in the fall and plans to study Electrical & Computer Engineering. He was also the recipient of a Regents Merit Scholarship in recognition of his academic achievements.
 
 Niki Maria Sitaras, daughter of Jim and Bonnie Sitaras, is a graduate of Walled Lake Western High School Class of 2020. Niki graduated Cum Laude, and is a member of the National Honors Society. Niki is a 4 year Varsity Soccer Player, and a 4 year member of the drum line of the Marching Band playing the 6-drum tenors and leader of the drum line her Junior and Senior year. Niki is the recipient of the Most Outstanding Sophomore Award her sophomore year and the Most Outstanding Percussionist Award her junior year for Marching Band.
 
Niki will attend Grand Valley State University in the fall to pursue a degree in Occupational Therapy and Psychology. She will audition for the tenor line for the Laker Marching Band. Niki is the recipient of the Laker Merit Scholarship and the MSPSP (Michigan State Premier Soccer Program) Scholarship.
 
 Angelia Thanos, daughter of Dino and Diane Thanos, is a graduate of South Lyon East High School Class of 2020. Angelia is an Honor Roll student and a 4 year Varsity Poms. 
 
Angelia will attend Michigan State University in the fall to pursue a degree in Business. 
 
 Samuel David Zervos, son of Angelo and Katherine Zervos, is a graduate of Farmington High School Class of 2020. Sam will be graduating with Honors. As a junior, Sam was the recipient of the Brykalski-Coolman Award, given to a junior student athlete for outstanding accomplishments academically and athletically. Sam is a 3 Year Varsity Football Player, Honorable Mention All League his junior and senior years; a 2 Year Varsity Basketball Player and Captain his Senior Year; and DECA State Finalist. 

Sam will attend the University of Michigan College of Engineering in the fall. 

 

College Graudates:

 Eleni P. Heller, daughter of James and Maria Varveris Heller, is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. Eleni graduated with a BS in Chemistry. Eleni plans to attend the University of Alabama in Birmingham to pursue a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience in the fall. 

 

 

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Ladies Philoptochos News

Philoptochos_seal_new
 
NEXT PHILOPTOCHOS MEETING: 
TBD
 
 
ANNUAL SALAD LUNCHEON & FASHION SHOW CANCELLED!
 
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  MAY COFFEE HOUR HOSTS:
 
  CANCELLED 
 
COFFEE HOUR SIGN UP
Call Bonnie Sitaras or Debbie George
Thank you to all who sign up in offering hospitality/filoxenia!
 

 

 

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Altar Boy List

HOLY CROSS ALTAR BOYS 2019 - 2020            

Captains:  Sam Zervos, Yianni Giannakis, Alex Matthews

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TEAM 1                          TEAM 2

Nicholas Barnaby             

Benjamin Barnaby     Cristo Stilianos

Mateo Pesaros            Pano Stilianos

Stavros Fekaris           Dino Thanos            

Dimitri Sitaras             Niko Thanos                  

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Team 1                          Team 2

December 1,15,29       December 8, 22

January 12, 26            January 5, 19

February 9, 23             February 2, 16

March 8, 22                 March 1, 15, 29

April 5,  Holy Week 12-19    April 26

May 3, 17, 31               May 10, 24

June 14, 28                 June 7, 21

July - August (Open)

September 13, 27        September 6,20

 

On Holy Days, if you come on Time you can serve :

for robes on holy days it’s first come-first serve.

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PLEASE NOTE ALTAR BOYS & PARENTS-

This is a great commitment to the Lord and it is an important RESPONSIBILTY to be on Time for the Divine Liturgy!

Liturgy begins at 10 a.m. SO please be on time !

DO NOT come into the Holy Altar  after 10:05 a.m.

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Memorial Donations to Holy Cross

OUR THANKS

To those who in lieu of flowers gave monetary

contributions to the Church in memory of :

 

GUS SPANOS 

M/M Evans Lucas & Calli Lucas

M/M James Sitaras & Family

M/M John George

Hountalas Families

M/M George Fekaris & Family

M/M Peter Zervos

M/M Konstantinos Voutsinas

James Huffman & Barbara Clements

M/M Dan Dallas

M/M Edward Power

AHEPA V.I. Chebithes Chapter 391

Mr. Elias Nicholas

Ms. Karen Madias

M/M Patrick Quinn

Mrs. Helen Woznicki

M/M Louis Sinagra

M/M Robert Woznicki

M/M Bill Williams

WILLIAM POWER JR.

M/M John George

M/M James Sitaras

M/M Edward Power

M/M Marty Gehan

Mrs. Elaine Ioanou

M/M Peter Morris

M/M James Heller

Drs. Pamela Georgeson & Mark Decco

Mrs. Tula Georgeson

M/M George Katsias

M/M Evans Lucas

M/M Peter Zervos

M/M Michael Blough

BARBARA SAAD

M/M Evans Lucas & Calli Lucas

JAY GALYON

M/M Evans Lucas

JAMES STEWART SR.

M/M Michael Blough

HARRY SITARAS

M/M Michael Blough

ANGIE PERESKY

M/M Michael Blough

 ALIA DEMOPOULOS

M/M Michael Blough

 

MAY THEIR MEMORY BE ETERNAL

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Events, Announcements and Flyers

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