We invite you to worship with us on Sundays and on holy days to Matins at 8:30 and Divine Liturgy at 9:30-11 a.m. Join us for coffee fellowship afterwards.
OUR MISSION is to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, sanctify the faithful through the liturgy and the Holy Sacraments, grow the church by receiving new members, live the Orthodox Christian Faith, and serve humanity through Christ-centered ministries.
OUR VISION is to be a loving, caring, and welcoming Christian community where all belong and grow in the Orthodox Christian Faith through worship, witness, fellowship, and service to others.
HOLY COMMUNION is offered to those baptized and confirmed in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Faith who have prepared according to the Orthodox Tradition. Guests and visitors are welcome to worship with us and receive the antidoron (“instead of the gifts”) blessed bread at the dismissal.
Please allow Catechism School children to receive Holy Communion first, followed by the newly baptized infants. When you approach the chalice, please give your baptismal name to the priest.
GUESTS AND VISITORS: Enter your contact information in the Guest Book at the narthex if you want us to contact you and join us for fellowship hour in our church hall following the liturgy.
Friday, February 2, 2024
The Presentation of Our Lord and Savior in the Temple
Ἡ 'Υπαπαντή τοῦ Κυρίου
15th Sunday of Matthew, February 4, 2024
Κυριακὴ ΙEʹ Ματθαῖου, 4 Φεβρουαρίου, 2024. Το κήρυγμα της Κυριακής εδώ
Monday, February 5, 2024
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Friday, February 9, 2024
Saturday, February 10, 2024
16th Sunday of Matthew, February 11, 2024
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Friday, February 16, 2024
Sunday of the Canaanite Woman, February 18, 2024
Prokeimenon. Second Mode. Psalm 117.14,18.
The Lord is my strength and my song.
Verse: The Lord has chastened me sorely.
The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15.
Brethren, it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, "I believed, and so I spoke," we too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
Προκείμενον. Second Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 117.14,18.
Ἰσχύς μου καὶ ὕμνησίς μου ὁ Κύριος.
Στίχ. Παιδεύων ἐπαίδευσέ με ὁ Κύριος.
τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Κορινθίους β' 4:6-15.
Ἀδελφοί, ὁ θεὸς ὁ εἰπὼν ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψαι, ὃς ἔλαμψεν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν πρὸς φωτισμὸν τῆς γνώσεως τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἔχομεν δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν, ἵνα ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως ᾖ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ μὴ ἐξ ἡμῶν· ἐν παντὶ θλιβόμενοι, ἀλλʼ οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι· ἀπορούμενοι, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐξαπορούμενοι· διωκόμενοι, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι· καταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι· πάντοτε τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν φανερωθῇ. Ἀεὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες εἰς θάνατον παραδιδόμεθα διὰ Ἰησοῦν, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φανερωθῇ ἐν τῇ θνητῇ σαρκὶ ἡμῶν. Ὥστε ὁ μὲν θάνατος ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργεῖται, ἡ δὲ ζωὴ ἐν ὑμῖν. Ἔχοντες δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, Ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, καὶ ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν, διὸ καὶ λαλοῦμεν· εἰδότες ὅτι ὁ ἐγείρας τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ ἡμᾶς διὰ Ἰησοῦ ἐγερεῖ, καὶ παραστήσει σὺν ὑμῖν. Τὰ γὰρ πάντα διʼ ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἡ χάρις πλεονάσασα διὰ τῶν πλειόνων τὴν εὐχαριστίαν περισσεύσῃ εἰς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ.
15th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 22:35-46
At that time, a lawyer came up to Jesus and asked him a question, to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put your enemies under your feet'? If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?" And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
15th Sunday of Matthew
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 22:35-46
Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, νομικός τις προσῆλθε τῷ Ἰησοῦ, πειράζων αὐτόν καὶ λέγων· Διδάσκαλε, ποία ἐντολὴ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ; ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔφη αὐτῷ· Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου· αὕτη ἐστὶ πρώτη καὶ μεγάλη ἐντολή. δευτέρα δὲ ὁμοία αὐτῇ· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. Συνηγμένων δὲ τῶν Φαρισαίων ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· Τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; τίνος υἱός ἐστι; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Τοῦ Δαυῒδ. λέγει αὐτοῖς· Πῶς οὖν Δαυῒδ ἐν Πνεύματι Κύριον καλεῖ αὐτὸν λέγων, εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου, κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου; εἰ οὖν Δαυῒδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστι; καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο αὐτῷ ἀποκριθῆναι λόγον, οὐδὲ ἐτόλμησέ τις ἀπ' ἐκείνης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐκέτι.
The generous themselves will be blessed, for they share their food with the poor (Proverbs 22:9).
Our next serving date at Aviator Park is February 29th. Please join us if you can to help serve or would like to donate food.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
The Homeless Ministry
Have you ever heard the quote “Enthusiasm is the great hill climber” by Elbert Hubbard? When we think of Matthew 25 and its purpose, we are filled with enough enthusiasm to climb more than a hill, but a mountain! Knowing that a small ministry like ours can provide hope, nutrition, and relief to the pantries and the shoppers fuels us to continue serving our church and God.
We will deliver the requested dairy products and canned soup to Seeds of Hope this week and Somerton Interfaith later this week. Our spirits are always lifted as we take our deliveries to the pantries. We are considering adding a third pantry to our rotation that might cater to our Elkins Park neighborhood. We’ll keep you informed once we make some inquiries.
We will meet sometime in February for our Lasagna Love community service event and are organizing our Lenten Meat Drive. We love the added events that allow us to creatively distribute to various individuals and families in the winter and spring. These few opportunities are part of the exhilarating trek that keeps our spirits high as we continue to care for our neighbors.
Food for thought: “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” Jane Austen
Saturday, February 24: PTO Designer Bag Event
Thursday, February 29: Our Homeless Ministry Serves at Aviator Park
Monday, March 4: Spring General Assembly of Our Parishioners
Friday, March 8: Philoptochos & PTO Koliva Making
Saturday, March 9: Young at Heart Coffee Fellowship
Sunday, March 17: Greek School Independence Day Program
Monday, March 18: Clean Monday, Start of Great and Holy Lent
Saturday, March 23: Parish Name-Day & Greek Independence Day Dinner Dance
Sunday, April 7: Greek Independence Day Parade in Philadelphia
Saturday, April 13: Regional Sights and Sounds Youth Arts Festival at St. Demetrios Church, Upper Darby
Wednesday, April 17: Young at Heart Coffee Fellowship
April 28—May 5: Holy Week and Holy Pascha
May 16-18: Spring OPA Greek Festival
It has come to our attention that some are ‘replying’ to the electronic Weekly Bulletin thinking they are sending a message to the parish office.
Please note that those ‘replies’ do not reach us at the parish office.
Please e-mail us directly to office@anngoc.org or frjohn@anngoc.org
Pastoral Care: 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 add someone to the prayer list.
In Our Prayers: “Pray for one another that you might be healed.” (James 5:16): Josephine, Emma, Paulette, Virginia, Effie, James, Grace, Hollie, Valerie, Virginia, Rizos, Brad, Elaine, Diane, Evangelia, Vaitsa, Donna, Anastasia, Michael, Kyriaki.
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, 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.
Happy Wedding Anniversary to those Celebrating this Week: Maria & Athanasios Maragoudakis, Ashley & Ioannis Hatzigeorgiou.
Χρόνια Πολλά & Ευλογηµένα! God Grant You Many Years! To Those Who are Celebrating Birthdays this Coming Week: Yianni Avgiris, Heather Fkiaras, Paraskevi Hagiandreu, Rebecca Johnson, Athanasios Makris, Theodoros Pappas, Eric Angelucci, Alexander Dalson, Beverly Economopoulos, Christina Matthes, Konstantinos Metsikas, Panagiotis Pitsakis, Harry Laspee, Effie Triantafellou, Yiannis Exarchos, Stacy Pappas, George Pavlou, Brenna Zervos, Stefanos Zoubroulis, Kimon Angelikas, Nicolette Cosmas, Constantine Dalson, Diamantis Diamantas, Alison Horatagis-Connelly, Athanasios Limbanovnos, Ekaterini Nanos, Eleni Vafiadis, Dimitrios Christou, Kaliopi Diamantas, Barbara Laspee, Daniel Pithis, Irene Skarvelis, Emmanuel Topakas, Maria Frangetis, Maria Kanakis, Fotios Malliaris, Lauren Markou, Anastasios McDermott, Eugenia Spyrou.
Your 2023 Church Contributions Statement should have arrived to you by email (or postal mail for those who haven’t given us an email address) last week.
If you haven't received it or have any questions about your church contributions, don't hesitate to contact us at the parish office at 215-635-0316.
Last November, you received your 2024 personalized Stewardship Pledge Card of Time, Talent, and Treasure and the 2024 Stewardship Increase Request in the mail.
Thank you to the 162 parishioners who have already returned their 2024 Pledge Card or pledged through VANCO.
If you are already a Sustaining Steward, that is, you have set up regular payments through VANCO or your bank bill payer service:
This week, find insights about the upcoming Gospel reading, where we learn about what it really means to love God and neighbor. If we say we believe in God and love Him, how can we show it? What does it mean to truly love others? Also, what is Christian self-love?
On Sunday, January 28, 2024, over 400 faithful joined His Eminence Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey at Homy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Wilmington, Delaware for the Annual Delaware Valley Region Three Hierarchs/Greek Letters Celebration.
Registration for all summer programs of the Ionian Village is now OPEN! Ionian Village will once again offer three programs, catering to high school students and young adults. Registration is available online at our website ionianvillage.org. Need-based scholarships may be offered by contacting our office. Spots are limited and are offered on a first-come first-served basis. Don’t miss your chance to participate in this life-changing ministry!
New York, New York — The over 1,300 people in prison served by Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry are used to receiving spiritual “blessings” in the mail, but February is a special month. February is the only time everyone receives an icon sprinkled with holy water.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America celebrated the Feastday of the Three Hierarchs and Greek Letters with a sold-out concert at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Concert introduced the Hellenic Education Fund, an initiative of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America to support and promote Hellenic Education in America and across our Archdiocese, including our 25 Archdiocesan Day Schools and more than 500 Afternoon schools.
Unto the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Hierarchs, Pious Priests and Deacons, Monks and Nuns, Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils, Honorable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Members of Leadership 100, Day and Afternoon Schools, Philoptochos Societies, Youth, Greek Orthodox Organizations, and entirety of the Christ-loving Plenitude of the Sacred Archdiocese of America:
We are very excited to announce the launch of our newest podcast, "From Our Homes to Yours" on Ancient Faith Radio featuring our entire team at the Center for Family Care.
The Department of Religious Education (DRE) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is overjoyed to announce its newest team member, Mrs. Hannah Williams, MTS. Since the beginning of the New Year, Hannah has taken on the newly created full-time role of Operations Coordinator for the DRE and Executive Assistant to Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzos for the Archdiocese.
I would like, first of all, to warmly thank the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece and its President, David Saltiel, for inviting me to participate as a keynote speaker in tonight’s commemoration of the Greek Jewish martyrs and heroes of the Holocaust. The connections between the Holy Archdiocese of America and the Jewish element in New York, as well as across the United States, are historical, fraternal and deeply grounded in our shared spiritual tradition. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki for the esteemed distinction of naming me an honorary member.
I'm not a spy, I'm a man of the Church
Interview by Michalis Mitsos
Fall 2023