General Information
- Phone:
- (540) 362-3601
- Fax:
- (540) 362-3638
- Street Address:
- 30 Huntington Blvd. N.E.
- Roanoke, VA 24012
Contact Information
Services Schedule
Sunday Services: Orthros 9:00am / Divine Liturgy 10:00am
Past Bulletins
- Publish Date:
- 2020-03-29
- Publish Date:
- 2020-03-15
- Publish Date:
- 2020-03-08
- Publish Date:
- 2020-03-01
- Publish Date:
- 2020-02-23
- Publish Date:
- 2020-02-16
News & Information
at least through March 29.
Complete Lent & Holy Week Schedule *(for reference only)
Worship Aids
There is a listing of various services (Divine Liturgies, Daily & Special Services) listed on the homepage of the website as well as links to churches that live stream services.
More Details
Per the Metropolitan's directive serivces will continued to be offerd but the only people allowed in the church at the time of the services will be the priest and the chanters. The doors at that time will be closed to the faithful and to the public. For all other times whoever wants to pray privately can contact Fr Nick and he will let them in for as long as they wish, provided that no crowds are formed. Fr. Nick continues to be available for special needs as well as Confession: just contact him by phone or email.
Flower Donation Opportunities for Lent and Pascha
From Matt Mandros & the Parish Council
An update on the General Assembly and other matters.
Encyclical on the Metropolitan on COVID-19
From Father Nick
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
The rejuvenation under the Life-giving Cross is the commemorated event of this Sunday’s services. According to the tradition of the Church, during this Sunday we receive spiritual fortification and are enabled to continue the Lenten journey. Yet, as we look around us, there is a good deal of doom and gloom because of the scourge of the pandemic. How are we to reconcile the two?
As news mark our attitude towards life and our environment, we tend to forget to meditate on the sources of our strength. We forget, for example, that the all-wise God allowed suffering to enter the world in order to show us that we are but creatures. It is a lesson forgotten in the succession of the generations of the children of Adam. It is forgotten, for example, that every individual or collective sin is a repetition of the sin of our forefathers and a summing of their willful turning away from God towards the self. We continuously seek to replace God and to worship ourselves in His stead. Illness plays a crucial corrective role through our memory: suffering due to illness serves the same purpose today as it did in the beginning. It is a sign of God's mercy and love. Or as the desert Fathers note: "God has not forgotten you; He cares for you" (from the Philokalia)
Yet, it is difficult to see the link between God’s memory, love and care for His children and Him permitting illness to spread among them. How can sickness be a sign of God's care for us? The link between body and spirit explains this relationship.
From across the centuries Fathers of the Church affirm the tight connection between body, soul (spirit) and disease. St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite explained that since man is dual, made up of body and soul, "there is an interaction between the soul and the body" each one acting on the other and actually communicating with the other. "When the soul is diseased we usually feel no pain," St. John Chrysostom says. "But if the body suffers only a little, we make every effort to be free of the illness and its pain. Therefore, God corrects the body for the sins of the soul, so that by chastising the body, the soul might also receive some healing... Christ did this with the Paralytic when He said: Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. What do we learn from this? That the Paralytic's disease had been produced by his sins" (Homily 38, On the Gospel of St. John).
Therefore at a time of difficulties, and in our situation of a pandemic arising and threatening our bodies, our response to the threat is indicative of our spiritual health. How we approach the neighbor, especially the suffering ones, is indicative of our overall condition. Let us keep in mind a grave error of our age, one that might prevent us from seeing the therapeutic corrective of illness, namely to consider health as a natural entitlement and lack of health as lack of faith (mirroring Pharisaic attitudes at the time of our Lord on earth). Yet, St. John Chrysostom notes that saints serve God not because they expect any kind of reward but simply because they love Him: "for the saints know that the greatest reward of all is to be able to love and serve God." With that in mind, as we rest under the care of the Cross, let us consider the opportunity arising for the service of others and proceed to see in them and through their illness the face of Christ in our midst correcting our shortfall.
In Christ
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Save the Date: Roanoke Greek Festival September 18-20, 2020
Welcome to All Visitors!
Please join us for fellowship in the Church Hall immediately following the Divine Liturgy. For those visiting an Orthodox Church for the first time, please be aware that Holy Communion is a sign of unity of faith, which is only offered to Baptized and Chrismated Orthodox Christians. All present are welcomed to come forward and receive the antidoron (or blessed bread) which is distributed at the end of the service. For those interested in learning more about the Orthodox Christian faith, please feel free to speak with Fr. Nick after the service.
Prayers and Offerings
Click this link to download the Prayer Card PDF in PDF format, or Prayer Card DOC in Word format. The PDF file may be printed and filled in by hand or the Word file may be edited and kept up-to-date. Use this when offering prosphora, for memorial services, or for prayer requests in general. If you wish to contribute online please use this link
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 10:00am- 12:00pm; Wednesday & Friday 1:00pm-4:00pm; Saturdays and other times, including Confession, by appointment. Because unexpected things sometimes come up on short notice, please call [1-518-947-1724] before coming.
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Gospel and Epistle Readings
Epistle Reading
Prokeimenon. Plagal Second Mode. Psalm 27.9,1.
O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance.
Verse: To you, O Lord, I have cried, O my God.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6.
BRETHREN, since we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"; as he says also in another place, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek."
Gospel Reading
Sunday of the Holy Cross
The Reading is from Mark 8:34-38; 9:1
The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."