TODAY: March 17, 2019

Sunday of Orthodoxy

SERVICE SCHEDULE:

Orthros & Divine Liturgy         8:30AM

Sunday School     After Communion

Epistle:      Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40 Page 136

Gospel:      John 1:43-52         Page 137

(The Epistle and Gospel Readings can be found in the Divine Liturgy Books in the pew rack.)

MEMORIALS:     

PROSFORON OFFERER: Eleni Katapodi

NARTHEX DUTY TEAM:  Group 2

TODAY’S FELLOWSHIP IS OFFERED BY: The GOYAns offer the Coffee Hour today.

THIS WEEK AT HOLY TRINITY:

Sunday, March 17

Sunday of Orthodoxy

8:30am Orthros / Divine Liturgy

Procession of Icons

The Philoptochos will pass a tray to benefit the Metropolis Ministries

40 Day Churching of Effie Kolovos and child Anna

Tuesday, March 19

7pm Circle of Adult Catechesis

7pm OCF @ UD Catholic Chapel

Wednesday, March 20

12:30pm Bible Study

5:30pm Greek School

6pm Presanctified Liturgy

Thursday, March 21

5pm Compline

6:30pm Parish Council

7pm Sights & Sounds Judges Dinner, Holy Trinity, Egg Harbor, NJ

Friday, March 22

Dance Practice (see emails for times for various ages)

7pm 2nd Salutations to the Theotokos

Saturday, March 23

Funeral Services for Maria Kountourzis (9am Visitation 10am Funeral)

Sights & Sounds at Holy Trinity, Egg Harbor, NJ

Sunday, March 24

St Gregory of Palamas

8:30am Orthros / Divine Liturgy

Memorials for Haralambos Hionas (1yr), Andreas Anastassiades (1yr), Anna Stylinou (annual), George Charatis (40day), Fr George (5yr) & Pres. Mary (2yr) Giannaris

12:30pm Anthony Mostafa Baptism

Welcome  

The Holy Trinity Family welcomes all our visitors. We hope that you enjoyed the Divine Service of the Church of the Book of Acts. You participated in the most ancient Christian Service written by Saint John Chrysostomos- the Golden Mouth. The Sacrament of Holy Communion is distributed ONLY to those Baptized and/or Chrismated Orthodox Christians who have prepared according to our Sacred Tradition. We invite you to come forward, if you wish, at the end of the Divine Liturgy to receive the blessed bread. If you have any questions about the Orthodox Church or would like to discover how to join this Ancient Christian Faith please see Fr. Christos at the coffee hour downstairs at the Hellenic Community Center or call the church office for an appointment 302-654-4446. We thank you and may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and yours abundantly always.  

Hymns For Sunday

ἈπολυτίκιονἈναστάσιμον. Ἦχοςαʹ. Αὐτόμελον.

Τοῦ λίθου σφραγισθέντος ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ στρατιωτῶν φυλασσόντων τὸ ἄχραντόν σου Σῶμα, ἀνέστης τριήμερος Σωτήρ, δωρούμενος τῷ κόσμῳ τὴν ζωήν· διὰ τοῦτο αἱ Δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐβόων σοι ζωοδότα. Δόξα τῇ Ἀναστάσει σου Χριστέ, δόξα τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου, δόξα τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ σου, μόνε φιλάνθρωπε.

Resurrectional Apolytikion. Mode 1. Automelon.

The stone had been secured with a seal by the Judeans, and a guard of soldiers was watching Your immaculate body. You rose on the third day, O Lord and Savior, granting life unto the world. For this reason were the powers of heaven crying out to You, O Life-giver: Glory to Your resurrection, O Christ; glory to Your kingdom; glory to Your dispensation, only One who loves mankind.

ΤῆςἙορτῆς. Ἦχοςβʹ.

Τὴν ἄχραντον Εἰκόνα σου, προσκυνοῦμεν ἀγαθέ, αἰτούμενοι συγχώρησιν τῶν πταισμάτων ἡμῶν, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεός· βουλήσει γὰρ ηὐδόκησας σαρκί, ἀνελθεῖν ἐν τῷ Σταυρῷ, ἵνα ῥύσῃ οὓς ἔπλασας, ἐκ τῆς δουλείας τοῦ ἐχθροῦ· ὅθεν εὐχαρίστως βοῶμέν σοι· Χαρᾶς ἐπλήρωσας τὰ πάντα ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν, παραγενόμενος εἰς τὸ σῶσαι τὸν κόσμον.

For the Feast. Mode 2.

We venerate Your immaculate icon, O good Lord, and entreat You to forgive our offences, O Christ our God. By Your own choice you were pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh, to deliver us, whom You created, from our slavery to the foe. Therefore we cry to You with gratitude: You have filled all things with joy, O our Savior, by coming to save the world.

Ἦχοςπλ. δʹ.

Εὐλογητὸς εἶ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ πανσόφους τοὺς ἁλιεῖς ἀναδείξας, καταπέμψας αὐτοῖς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην σαγηνεύσας, φιλάνθρωπε, δόξα σοι.

Mode pl. 4.

Blessed are You, O Christ our God. You made the fishermen all-wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them You drew the world into Your net. O Lover of mankind, glory to You.

Κοντάκιον. Ἦχοςπλ. δʹ. Αὐτόμελον.

Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατηγῷ τὰ νικητήρια,  Ὡς λυτρωθεῖσα τῶν δεινῶν εὐχαριστήρια,  Ἀναγράφω σοι ἡ Πόλις σου Θεοτόκε.  Ἀλλ' ὡς ἔχουσα τὸ κράτος ἀπροσμάχητον,  Ἐκ παντοίων με κινδύνων ἐλευθέρωσον,  Ἵνα κράζω σοι· Χαῖρε νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε.

Kontakion. Mode pl. 4. Automelon.

O Champion General, I your City now inscribe to you Triumphant anthems as the tokens of my gratitude, Being rescued from the terrors, O Theotokos. Inasmuch as you have power unassailable, From all kinds of perils free me, so that unto You I may cry aloud: Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Today we commemorate our devout  father Alexios the man of God.

March 17

The rare title, "Man of God," was bestowed on St. Alexios for the manner in which he gave himself over to Jesus Christ, forsaking a bride even at the altar in order to fulfill to the letter the admonition read to him while he was contemplating enlistment in the service of the Lord. He kept his true identity a secret for an entire lifetime rather than run the risk of betraying the Master through his own emotions and there is no telling how much mental anguish he suffered in silence for the sake of his commitment. When he felt the call he answered with a hesitation for which he judged himself too harshly and which he bore in mute secrecy.Alexios was born in 380 AD in the eternal city of Rome during the reign of Theodosios the Great and was raised in a royal household by his parents, Ephemios and Aglaia, who discerned a predilection for the Church in their son, a religious fervour they could not share and which they sought to discourage for fear they would lose him. They lost no time in arranging for his marriage and in impressing upon him the debt he owed to his parents, for which he should respect their wishes in all things. He had reluctantly suppressed the call he felt to the Lord's service and had agreed to the marriage when he had a vision one day of St. Paul, who said he should answer the call to God at all costs, reading to him the passage in Matthew which says: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me."The bewildered Alexios was torn between his sense of duty to his parents and that urging to serve the Lord, and swayed between both, at long last deciding to go through with what he had promised his family. The feeling that he should go the other way gnawed at him even as he stood at the altar, and when the ceremony had been completed he looked upon the Cross of Jesus and without a word walked away from bride, family and friends to do what he had to do.He stepped into the anonymity of a Syrian monastery where for the next eighteen years he assumed another identity, and never looked back at Rome. Having made a choice they had opposed, he suspected his parents had disinherited him and that his bride had had the marriage annulled, but this was not the case. As a matter of fact, the bride had gone to live with his parents in the fond hope that Alexios would someday return, and the parents spared no expense in trying to locate their son, but after eighteen years with no word from him they presumed him to be dead.In his eighteen years in the monastery, Alexios was transformed into a respected holy man whose solemn dedication to Jesus was the subject of many discussions among not only the monks but the community which he served. Unlike other monks, he was a man of few words and left the preaching and sermonising to other brother monks while he concentrated on writing on many issues concerning the faith. The vision that he had had many years before of St. Paul still haunted him and he had a burning desire to go to Tarsus, Paul's birthplace. He boarded a boat bound for the short trip up the coast, but while at sea a violent storm arose and blew the vessel miles off course also leaving her a derelict at the mercy of the wind and tides. They were finally picked up by a ship bound for Rome and Alexios found himself back in the city of his birth. Nostalgia seized him and he went to the family estate, primarily to get a glimpse of his folks, but when they failed to recognise him he felt compelled to remain and was given the task of spiritual counsellor, not only to the estate, but to the neighbouring families as well. The abandoned bride was still living with the parents and she also failed to recognise him, for which he was grateful, for he found contentment in being able to serve the Lord while not revealing his true identity, which he considered would be a disservice to the Saviour after all the years of anonymity. He went about his duties with grace acquired and enjoyed the respect of families for miles around. When he felt death drawing near, Alexios wrote a letter to his family in which he expressed his love for them, which he could not do in life. The letter was read posthumously not only by his family but by the bishop of Rome, who had him interred in the chapel of St. Peter's. He died for Christ on 17 March 440AD, after thirty-four years of celibacy and anonymity.