We meet for divine worship every Sunday morning starting with Orthros (Matins) 8:30, Divine Liturgy 9:30-11AM, followed by a fellowship hour in our community center. All are invited!
Please see Community Calendar for a complete listing of all weekday feast-days and worship services.
On August 11, we commemorate the holy Great Martyr Efplus the Deacon; the contest of the holy Martyrs Neophytos, Gaius, Gaianus, Zeno, Mark, and Macarios; the Devout St. Passarion and St. Niphon, who died in peace. By the intercessions of Your Saints, O God, have mercy on us. Amen.
This Martyr was from Catania in Sicily and contested during the reign of Diocletian. He presented himself of his own accord to Calvisianus the Governor, who put him to exceedingly harsh torments. As Euplus was on the rack, Calvisianus commanded him to worship Mars, Apollo, and Aesculapius; he answered he worshipped the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was beheaded in the year 304.
Concerning the Dormition of the Theotokos, this is what the Church has received from ancient times from the tradition of the Fathers. When the time drew nigh that our Savior was well-pleased to take His Mother to Himself, He declared unto her through an Angel that three days hence, He would translate her from this temporal life to eternity and bliss. On hearing this, she went up with haste to the Mount of Olives, where she prayed continuously. Giving thanks to God, she returned to her house and prepared whatever was necessary for her burial. While these things were taking place, clouds caught up the Apostles from the ends of the earth, where each one happened to be preaching, and brought them at once to the house of the Mother of God, who informed them of the cause of their sudden gathering. As a mother, she consoled them in their affliction as was meet, and then raised her hands to Heaven and prayed for the peace of the world. She blessed the Apostles, and, reclining upon her bed with seemliness, gave up her all-holy spirit into the hands of her Son and God.
With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim. But one Jew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately received from divine judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they buried there with honor the all-immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the source of Life. But on the third day after the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Theotokos into the Heavens.
These things has the Church received from the traditions of the Fathers, who have composed many hymns out of reverence, to the glory of the Mother of our God (see Oct. 3 and 4).
Prokeimenon. Grave Mode. Psalm 28.11,1.
The Lord will give strength to his people.
Verse: Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord honor and glory.
The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 1:10-17.
Brethren, I appeal to you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispos and Gaius; lest any one should say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Προκείμενον. Grave Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 28.11,1.
Κύριος ἰσχὺν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ δώσει.
Στίχ. Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν καὶ τιμήν.
τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Κορινθίους α' 1:10-17.
Ἀδελφοί, παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ λέγητε πάντες, καὶ μὴ ᾖ ἐν ὑμῖν σχίσματα, ἦτε δὲ κατηρτισμένοι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ νοῒ καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ γνώμῃ. Ἐδηλώθη γάρ μοι περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί μου, ὑπὸ τῶν Χλόης, ὅτι ἔριδες ἐν ὑμῖν εἰσιν. Λέγω δὲ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἕκαστος ὑμῶν λέγει, Ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι Παύλου, Ἐγὼ δὲ Ἀπολλώ, Ἐγὼ δὲ Κηφᾶ, Ἐγὼ δὲ Χριστοῦ. Μεμέρισται ὁ Χριστός; Μὴ Παῦλος ἐσταυρώθη ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἢ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Παύλου ἐβαπτίσθητε; Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ ὅτι οὐδένα ὑμῶν ἐβάπτισα, εἰ μὴ Κρίσπον καὶ Γάϊον· ἵνα μή τις εἴπῃ ὅτι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα ἐβάπτισα. Ἐβάπτισα δὲ καὶ τὸν Στεφανᾶ οἶκον· λοιπὸν οὐκ οἶδα εἴ τινα ἄλλον ἐβάπτισα. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλέν με Χριστὸς βαπτίζειν, ἀλλʼ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι· οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου, ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ.
8th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 14:14-22
At that time, Jesus saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
8th Sunday of Matthew
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 14:14-22
Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἐξελθὼν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶδε πολὺν ὄχλον, καὶ ἐσπλαγχνίσθη ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐθεράπευσε τοὺς ἀρρώστους αὐτῶν. ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντες· ἔρημός ἐστιν ὁ τόπος καὶ ἡ ὥρα ἤδη παρῆλθεν· ἀπόλυσον τοὺς ὄχλους, ἵνα ἀπελθόντες εἰς τὰς κώμας ἀγοράσωσιν ἑαυτοῖς βρώματα. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν ἀπελθεῖν· δότε αὐτοῖς ὑμεῖς φαγεῖν. οἱ δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· οὐκ ἔχομεν ὧδε εἰ μὴ πέντε ἄρτους καὶ δύο ἰχθύας. ὁ δὲ εἶπε· φέρετέ μοι αὐτοὺς ὧδε. καὶ κελεύσας τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνακλιθῆναι ἐπὶ τοὺς χόρτους, λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας, ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐλόγησε, καὶ κλάσας ἔδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς τοὺς ἄρτους, οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ τοῖς ὄχλοις. καὶ ἔφαγον πάντες καὶ ἐχορτάσθησαν, καὶ ἦραν τὸ περισσεῦον τῶν κλασμάτων δώδεκα κοφίνους πλήρεις. οἱ δὲ ἐσθίοντες ἦσαν ἄνδρες ὡσεὶ πεντακισχίλιοι χωρὶς γυναικῶν καὶ παιδίων. Καὶ εὐθέως ἠνάγκασεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ ἐμβῆναι εἰς τὸ πλοῖον καὶ προάγειν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πέραν, ἕως οὗ ἀπολύσῃ τοὺς ὄχλους.
Our classrooms are in need of a fresh coat of paint to be ready for our Sunday School and Greek School students in September!
Members of the Greek School board, along with our caretaker Vasili, have been busy over the summer cleaning out the classrooms and preparing them for painting. Please stop by and check out the progress after the liturgy today!
The painting has started this week, and we would appreciate any help you can offer! Many hands make light work! Please contact the parish office for a schedule and more details, 2015-635-0316.
Please bring the names of your loved ones (living) to be lifted up in prayer during these services. Bilingual booklets are available so we can sing/pray these services together.
Great Vespers will be prayed on Wednesday, August 14, at 6:30 pm. Please let us know in advance of you would like to offer artoklasia -the blessing of the bread, wine & oil- for health and salvation of your family in honor of the Dormition Feast.
The Feast Day Orthros & Divine Liturgy will be celebrated on Thursday, August 15th starting at 8:30 am. Join us for a luncheon afterward offered by Philoptochos.
Research has shown that many college students form the habits and social groups that they will maintain for the entirety of their college career in the first six weeks of their freshman year.
If you have a freshman going to college this August, be sure to connect them with the local OCF chapter HERE.
We are blessed here at Annunciation/Evangelismos Church with many Christ-centered Youth Ministries, headed by faithful and caring parishioners who have completed background clearances based on Pennsylvania state laws.
We invite you to visit our website and learn more about each Annunciation Youth Ministry: PTO, Catechism School, Little Apostles, JOY/HOPE, GOYA, Greek School, Greek Folk Dance.
You will see that the following goals are at the core of every Youth Ministry:
Why Youth Registration?
We request every young person participating in youth ministry (regardless of how much or how little) to be registered through the parish office. The information allows us to have home/emergency information on hand as well as birth dates and interests of each youth involved.
We kindly ask you to register now to give us time to organize our volunteers and be ready to welcome our youth in September.
The online 2019-2020 Youth Ministries Registration Form takes just a few moments to complete from any computer or mobile device. Youth Ministry events will be included as soon as they are scheduled on our web calendar.
Annunciation Youth Ministries are led by parent volunteers and we encourage you to get involved in Youth Ministry with your child. Please review the various Youth Ministries on our website and don’t hesitate to reach out to Fr. John if you are able to assist.
Take advantage of “Back to School” sales and help Annunciation reach our goal of 50 backpacks this year!
You don't have time to shop? Please consider making a donation and we'll do the shopping for you!
Let's all work together to help others!
Our choir will be starting rehearsals again on Thursday, August 29th at 7 pm.
Now is the time for all interested to come and join in the singing of our beautiful hymns and praises – Come on Thursday and see what we’re all about – how we make learning the hymns we sing easy!
Our first Sunday singing will be September 8. We hope many more of you will join us!
Stacy Lagakos, Choir Director
(856) 816-0116 or swl@mayerpollock.com
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Friday, September 6, 2019
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
5 pm Greek School agiasmos and the first day of classes for Greek School.
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Office volunteers are needed to cover the parish office for a few days during the summer.
Light office work such as answering the phone, assisting Fr. John, greeting visitors, sorting mail, and small projects as assigned.
Please review the available days HERE and sign up. The 9-3 time slot is flexible.
Thank you!
Registration is OPEN for Greek School for the year 2019-20
Children Pre-K to 6th Grade & Adult Classes
Sign up HERE
ALL REGISTRANTS MUST BE PAID IN FULL BY SEPTEMBER
*NEW* Offering Beginner Adult Classes
Every Friday from 7 pm to 9 pm
Οι εγγραφές είναι ΑΝΟΙΧΤΕΣ για το Ελληνικό Σχολείο για το έτος 2019-20
Παιδικές Τάξεις Προ-Κ έως 6ης & Μαθήματα Ενηλίκων
Εγγραφείτε ΕΔΩ
Τα δίδακτρα πρέπει να καταβληθούν πλήρως τον Σεπτέμβριο
*Προσφέρουμε Μαθήματα Ενηλίκων Beginner Greek
κάθε Παρασκευή από τις 19:00 έως τις 21:00
Our Greek School is looking for a music/vocal instructor who would be interested in volunteering twice a month with our 4th to 6th grade Greek School students. Please contact Debbie Sourias for more information debbie.thomadi@gmail.com or 215.407.1872.
July 28, to September 1, 2019
Please register now!
Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 5 PM.
October 18-20, 2019
Celebrations, Milestones, Gratitude, Comfort & Support
If you or someone you know is sick, homebound elderly, or scheduled for surgery, please call the church office to let us know so Fr. John can make a pastoral visit, or to add someone to the prayer list.
Suffering and persecuted Christians in the Middle East and the non-Christian world, George, Yiannis, Antonios, Anthony, Debora, Despina, Nikolaos.
Names will be kept on this list for approximately 3 months. Please resubmit Names if needed. Fr. John will include the submitted names at the Psokomide “Offering of Gifts” during the first part of the liturgy when he prepares the mystical gifts of bread & wine. Please lift these names up to the Lord in your personal prayer life as well.
Prayer for healing: Heavenly Father, physician of our souls and bodies, who have sent our Lord to heal every sickness. Visit and heal us. Grant patience in this sickness, the strength of body and spirit, and recovery of health. Lord, You have taught us to pray for each other that we may be healed. We pray that You heal, guide and protect your servant (s) (pray by name for those who are sick) and grant them the gift of complete health. You are the source of healing and to You we give glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
Justice, Kenneth & Melissa; Kontogeorgos, George & Cheryl; Kosmatos, Anthony & Nicole; Litvinas, Benjamin & Alexandra.
Constantino Niamonitos, Stella Nikolopoulos, Christopher Ramey, Catherine Avgiris, Katharine Verros, Evangelos Exarchos, Zoe Kaldes, Petra Lambrou, Alexandra Litvinas, Aprille Pappas, Philip Chapalas, Harvey Fishman, Panagiota Mazer, Andrew Oratis, Mikele Haviaras, George Apessos, Gia Georgiou, Brian Hirst, Despina Kaldes, Cheryl Kontogeorgos, Dianira Lebotesis, Charles McClintock, Peter Millili, Stella Morris, Jennifer Petronis, Kevin Rega, Mikalia Calliagas, Nicholas Calliagas, Maria Cardenas, Demetra Damian, Lucas Voutsinos.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expresses his disgust and outrage at the murderous attack in El Paso, Texas, USA, in which twenty of our fellow citizens were killed and twenty-six others were injured, as well as the bloodshed in Dayton, Ohio, in which several of our fellow citizens were reportedly killed and injured.
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation has released a new agreed statement entitled, The Vocation and Mission of the People of God: “A Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation”. The document was finalized at the most recent meeting of the Consultation which took place in late May of this year at the Saint Methodios Faith and Heritage Center in Contoocook, New Hampshire. The Consultation is co-chaired by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the Catholic Archbishop of Newark, and by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is pleased to announce that the audit of the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 has been completed. (See financial statements here). The completion of these financial statements confirms that progress in financial accountability is improving as this is the earliest after a year end in over 15 years that audited financial statements have been made available.