Fellowship Hour

Fellowship Hour today is offered by Nikki Georgopoulos in memory of her beloved husband Vasilios. Σε ευχαριστουμε!

Services this Week

This week we celebrate the Great Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. Since our preparation for Christmas begins with the Nativity Fast (beginnng today!), this Feast Day is, in a sense, the liturgical "kick off" of our season of preparation. As a special celebration for this feast, we will have an Agrypnia or Vigil beginning on Friday, November 20 at 7:00 pm.The Vigil consists of Vespers (together with the Litya/Procession and Artoklasia), Orthros (with the Psalms and full Kanon of the Feast), and Divine Liturgy. Praying for a length of time in a darkened church is a special experience. If you cannot stay for the entire Vigil, please come, at least, to part of it. 

On-Line Book Club

This week on Thursday, November 19, we begin our next book: John McKinney, Hiking the Holy Mountain: Tales of Monks and Miracles on the Trails of Mount Athos, Greece. As the Los Angeles Times hiking columnist, John McKinney had a professional purpose for his trip: to hike around the Holy Mountain and write about Mt. Athos as a hiking destination, a spiritual adventure for outdoor enthusiasts. What he encountered there instead was an epiphany that changed his life and a colorful collection of wise Greek monks who taught him that on this amazing path we call life, we're often compelled to change direction. His friend Spiro joined him on the journey and they were truly the hiking odd couple. Spiro was a tenderfoot, John an expert hiker. Spiro was a devout Greek Orthodox Christian and fluent in Greek, whereas John's faith was shaky and his Greek was terrible. Spiro believed in the wonderworking powers of the saints and icons, while John was a skeptic who doubted all miracles. By turns reverent and irreverent, John narrates his progress and setbacks on the trail and within himself, as well as a series of miraculous events, including the adoption of his son that took place on--and off--the Holy Mountain. Hiking the Holy Mountain is a powerful  one-of-a-kind story of saints and icons, ancient traditions and modern-day faith and family. Both as travel narrative and as spiritual reflection, Hiking the Holy Mountain takes the reader to a place where heaven and earth meet, where one encunters miracles on a mountain trail, where holy men shoot ouzo with wandering pilgrims, and where saints hear the supplications of those reluctant to pray. This is the best kind of travel writing because it recognizes the fact that the most important terrestrial journeys explore the geography of the soul. And it is the best kind of spiritual writing because it points us to the God who meets us as we traverse the trails of life on earth. (Ben Daniel, author of Thoughtful Christianity) If you would like to join us on the journey, please see Father so we can get you the invitation to join the meeting. We will be starting up again next Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 pm.

Re-Catechism Sessions

We continue our examination of The Church in the World: How to Approach Modern Questions with an Ancient Faith, based on the recent publication For the Life of the World: Towards a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church. The text presents an Orthodox approach to contemporary questions. The text will provide material for a robust discussion, both about the approach taken by the authors and about the Orthodox view of these questions. You can find a copy of the text (you can choose either English or Greek!) at https://www.goarch.org/social-ethos.

Our next meeting will be thisTuesday, November 17 at 7:00 pm on Zoom. We will continue our discussion of the text Poverty, Wealth, and Civil Justice. If you do not have zoom or internet access, there is the ability to join on telephone. If you would like to join but do not have internet access, please speak with Father.

Sunday School to Open

We are reopening our Sunday School. Classes will take place in the Church Hall and will start after the children receive Communion. The normal precautions will be in place. More details will be coming.

Reverse Advent Calendar

Join in our Reverse Advent Calendar Challenge. Beginning today, November 15, the beginning of the Christmas Fast, put one non-perishable food item or toiletry into a box or basket (one per family) for those in need. If you run out of ideas, there are suggestions later in this bulletin. Bring the filled box or basket to either the Vesperal Liturgy of Christmas (Dec. 24), the morning Liturgy of Christmas (Dec. 25) or the Sunday after Christmas (Dec. 27) and place them before the icon of the Nativity; they will then be prayed over and blessed to remind us that our generosity isn't mere human giving, but an important part of our salvation!

Our Virtual Festival

Because of present circumstances we are not able to have our annual Greek Food Festival, which provides a large part of our budget for the endfing of the year. We are trying to replace this income with our monthly meals. Another way is to buy a virtual piece of the Festival. This is our normal way of raising needed funds for the Festival and trying to make it as profitable as possible. If you are a regular buyer of a piece of the Festival, please consider doing that again this year; if you aren't this year would be a great one to do that. You received the information in the mail; you can also find it in the Bulletin inserts part of this Bulletin. Thank you once again for your faithfulness and generosity.

You should have also received the raffle tickets for our Virtual Festival in the mail. Please make an effort to mail back the stubs with your check. We are at a disadvantage this year, since the people who normally buy the raffles at the Festival will not be doing that this year. Please make an extra effort to get them back in time!

Light a Virtual Candle

Have you wanted to light a candle in church, but weren't able to be there for some reason? Maybe you were not feeling well enough to go, or it was a weekday and the church was closed. Now you can light a virtual candle on our website. What a great way to participate in prayer in the church when you are watching the Liturgy on line! Go any time of the day or night to http://www.holytrinitynh.org/media/light-a-candle.

Please Remember the Poor

Because we have been away from our church building for so many months, our supply of food for the food pantry has dwindled to almost nothing. Please remember once again to do your Lazaros shopping when you are out! If even a few people bring a few things, we will have an abundance to help those in need.

We are also in need of donations of toiletries for the Blessing Bags. Please bring moderate sized toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, etc. There are a couple of bags available to take. You probably noticed an increase in the number of people begging at intersections. These bags are the perfect way of showing them love without necessarily promoting any addictions. Please take them and keep them in your car for just such an occasion!

On-Line Giving

Because of the strange circumstances we find ourselves living through, our Parish, although blessed by God in many ways, suffers from a particular shortage of income during the summer months. Your consistent offering of your Stewardship each month will be an enormous help to get us through this summer slump. The easiest and most consistent way to do this is by having your Stewardship given automatically each month. Please go to our website (www.holytrinitynh.org); in the upper right hand corner (of each page!) you will find the link to make your monthly contribution. You can also use this link for other contributions to the parish, such as candles and trays, especially if you prefer not to handle cash. Thank you for your generosity and making sure we are able to serve you throughout the whole year to the glory of God!