THIRTEENTH SUNDAY of MATTHEW
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PROSFORA: Maria Gentis
EPISTLE READING: 1 Corinthians 16:13-24
GOSPEL: Matthew 21:33-42  (Greek text, p. 120, black books)
LITURGY: 9:30 a.m. 

Sun, September 6th -  10:30 – 10:45am - Memorial Pete Bozes (1 year), father of Helen (Marrion) Demore
Tues, September 8th -  9:30 a.m. - Liturgy (Nativity of Theotokos)
Sat, September 12th - 5:00 p.m. - Vespers 

The celebration and procession of the Holy Cross will take place on Sunday, Sept. 13th. There will be no services here on Sept. 14th.

C Sarris is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: General Assembly Meeting
Time: Sep 13, 2020 11:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88026621431

Meeting ID: 880 2662 1431

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbGhP9Apmq

The Orthodox Christian tradition presents many opportunities for worship outside of Sunday morning services, especially Liturgies on the feast days of beloved saints. In light of the current crisis, the number will increase to at least one Liturgy per week in addition to the Sunday service. As the restrictions on Sunday attendance are loosening up, those with special concerns may consider attending a weekday service, where the typical attendance is in the range of 10-20. 

Tithe.ly is an online giving tool that makes it simple to safely/securely give to your church. You can download the Tithe.ly app onto your phone, or click "give online" from their website. Your gift goes directly to the church. 

Our parish strives "To lead people to God through Orthodox Christianity and to provide ways for them live and share God's love." It does so in good days and in bad, such as we now experience. Church attendance may be difficult or impossible for you, but we endeavor to spread the "good news" as best we can. Any financial help that you might offer is deeply appreciated.

As you know, COVID-19 statistics continue to go up and down; and we are adapting to the changes around us as best we can. As the State of Ohio continues to go down in cases, Cuyahoga County has remained at Level 2. This allows us to return to the Green Phase of our re-opening.

This means that while masks and social distancing requirements are still in place, parishioners of any age are once again welcome to return to services. That's some good news we can all be grateful for.

Candles are one way to express our prayers and our presence in worship. During the crisis, you may light a candle several different ways:

1.  come to the church during office hours  (M-F, 9:00 – 5:00) and purchase a candle to take with you or leave the candle, lit or not, in the candle stands  
2. email request to office@stsconstantine.com, no later than 3:00 pm on a day of regular business hours
3.  call the church office during regular hours
4. make a request through the Facebook live stream during a service. This is an honor system in which we trust that you will make a monetary gift for your candle. 
5.  Make a Tithe.Ly donation from our website button. You can add a note with any special candle request.

Sts. Constantine & Helen Cathedral invites you to a

Virtual Retreat

Saturday October 3, 2020  -  10am-12pm

Speaker: Reverend Dr. Nicholas Louh  -  “Finding Christ in the Crisis”. Registration is Free. If you wish to donate to defray expenses, please make checks out and send to:

Sts. Constantine and Helen
3352 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118

Please write “retreat” in the memo line. To register please visit this link: https://forms.gle/s5yW63tMAMqHGPdZ9

Blessings for the New Church Year!

On Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 10:00 am, the Eastern Orthodox Women's Guild of Greater Cleveland will meet at St Matthew the Evangelist Church in celebration of the church's 58th Anniversary Year.

Agenda items include a Welcome to new members and visitors, the installation of Officers, a Fall Fundraiser discussion, the 10CC School Kit Service Project, fellowship and refreshments.

St. Matthew the Evangelist is located at 10383 Albion Rd., North Royalton OH 44133. For more information, you can contact the church at 440-582-5673 or by email to info@stmattroyalton.org.

In-person youth ministry and Orthodox Education activities will be resuming in the near future, on both a virtual and - when possible - in person basis. Contact Ted at tcherpas@stsconstantine.com with any questions or suggestions.

September 13th we will start with a zoom for 6th-12th grades to meet their teachers at 7:30pm and prepare them for the speaker Fr. Dimitris Moraitis who will be on zoom with us on September 20th in the afternoon--time TBA.  Any PreK-5th grade parent or student who would like to also meet their teacher and hear an intro for Fr. Dimitri can come to the 6:30pm zoom meeting.  Any questions for Fr. Dimitri can be offered on September 13th at this time to help him prepare.  Parents can also attend and can then pass on the information to their children at their level.  Fr. Dimitri will speak on the miracles at St. Paraskevi Shrine and also specifically on the blind man who received his sight on September 20th. This man who received his sight may also be called in to talk with students and parents.  Parents, please check your e-mails for the zoom invites.

Future zoom events:

October 4th -- Speaker Fr. Chris Shadid, Director of Antiochian Village
October 18th -- or week thereof (tentative) Papa Ephraim Abbot of St. Nilus Island Skete in Alaska

Contact Maria at orthodox_education@stsconstantine.com with any questions or suggestions.

Reusable, reversible, washable cloth masks made by our own Philoptochos ladies are available for sale in the church lobby! Masks have a gentle nose clip for proper fit, and a side opening to add extra filtering if one chooses. Make checks payable to Philoptochos or purchase with $10.00 cash (sorry, we cannot make change at this time). For more information, email Christina at ctcallos@gmail.com.

FAITH IN ACTION - Upcoming Activities

Bible Study

You can join us for 30 minutes for Bible Study - all are welcome. If you are interested in an invite, or for current dates and topics, please email peter.poulos@case.edu.

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Prayer Team

You can join the prayer team and keep others in your daily prayers. If you are interested, you should either email pmp17@case.edu or text (216) 288-1972 ahead of time to receive the link. You will need to provide your name and email address to receive the Zoom invite. If you have any requests for our prayer team, or if you have questions about other activities, please send them to peter.poulos@case.edu

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St. Herman's Dinner 

As a change of pace for the St. Herman's community, instead of assembling sandwich dinner bags, we are going to raise money to buy Guy's pizza from the downtown Cleveland store and then deliver it to St. Herman's for a dinner meal. As part of the meal, we also want to buy styrofoam containers, chocolate bars, and a small water bottle. We can then caravan the supplies to St. Herman's to arrive by 4:45 P.M. with the pizza (hot out of the oven) so that Carl Cook from St. Herman's can assemble the styrofoam meal package to be handed out.

If you are interested in donating money for the food and/or helping to purchase any of the food, please let us know.

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Zelma George Family Shelter

If you are interested in supporting the families of the Zelma George Family Shelter, please email peter.poulos@case.edu to discuss volunteer opportunities.

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Thank you and keep the faith!

“Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”  (James 2:18)

Live streaming of our services will be available on both Facebook and YouTube. Please note that we have been experiencing some recent technical difficulties with our streaming capabilities; we are working with our internet provider to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and are hopeful we can provide you with the best viewing experience possible again soon.

We have worked hard to make improvements to lighting, sound, and video quality as we strive to bring the church into the homes of our community during this unusual time. Our pages/channels are listed here. Please join, like, subscribe, and follow for future services.

1. You can find, like, and subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/stsconstantine

2.  the new Facebook page is located at https://www.facebook.com/stsconstantineCLE/live/  Look for the live stream on that page on Sunday mornings. 

3. As a member, you may also see the live stream automatically on your own Facebook feed on Sunday mornings (if you follow the group). 

You can utilize the AGES Initiatives Daily Services website for accompanying texts or assistance in singing or reading the hymns:  http://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/servicesindex.html 

If you haven't gotten an email from us lately, perhaps  we don't have an current email address for you. Please contact the office at office@stsconstantine.com or by phone at (216) 932-3300 to keep your contact information up to date.

Parishioners can also take advantage of the following online aids:

- Spend time at the appropriate moments to participate in the services via video. You can find online services at https://www.goarch.org/live-broadcasts

https://www.goarch.org/tv

- Utilize the Archdiocesan Online Chapel for texts of services, daily readings, and lives of the Saints: https://www.goarch.org/chapel

- There are many edifying bible studies and educational podcasts available via Ancient Faith Ministries (https://www.ancientfaith.com/ ) or Orthodox Christian Network ( http://myocn.net )

- Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis offers a wonderful daily message through his “Prayer Team” ministry. Sign up using the following link: https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin