Hymns of the Day

Apolytikion of Great and Holy Pascha in the Plagal First Mode

Christ is risen from the dead, by death hath He trampled down death, and on those in the graves hath He bestowed life.

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

When the tidings of the resurrection from the glorious angel was proclaimed unto the women disciples and our ancestral sentence also had been abolished to the Apostles with the boasting did they proclaim that death is vanquished ever more and Christ Our God has risen from the dead and granted to the world His great mercy.

Apolytikion for Mid-Pentecost in the Plagal Fourth Mode

At Mid-feast give Thou my thirsty soul to drink of the waters of piety; for Thou, O Saviour, didst cry out to all: Whosoever is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Wherefore, O Well-spring of life, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Fourth Mode

Though You went down into the tomb, You destroyed Hades' power, and You rose the victor, Christ God, saying to the myrrh-bearing women, "Hail!" and granting peace to Your disciples, You who raise up the fallen.

Saints and Feasts

May 14

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

One of the most ancient cities of the Promised Land was Shechem, also called Sikima, located at the foot of Mount Gerazim. There the Israelites had heard the blessings in the days of Moses and Jesus of Navi. Near to this town, Jacob, who had come from Mesopotamia in the nineteenth century before Christ, bought a piece of land where there was a well. This well, preserved even until the time of Christ, was known as Jacob's Well. Later, before he died in Egypt, he left that piece of land as a special inheritance to his son Joseph (Gen. 49:22). This town, before it was taken into possession by Samaria, was also the leading city of the kingdom of the ten tribes. In the time of the Romans it was called Neapolis, and at present Nablus. It was the first city in Canaan visited by the Patriarch Abraham. Here also, Jesus of Navi (Joshua) addressed the tribes of Israel for the last time. Almost three hundred years later, all Israel assembled there to make Roboam (Rehoboam) king.

When our Lord Jesus Christ, then, came at midday to this city, which is also called Sychar (John 4:5), He was wearied from the journey and the heat, and He sat down at this well. After a little while the Samaritan woman mentioned in today's Gospel passage came to draw water. As she conversed at some length with the Lord and heard from Him secret things concerning herself, she believed in Him; through her many other Samaritans also believed.

Concerning the Samaritans we know the following: In the year 721 before Christ, Salmanasar (Shalmaneser), King of the Assyrians, took the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel into captivity, and relocated all these people to Babylon and the land of the Medes. From there he gathered various nations and sent them to Samaria. These nations had been idolaters from before. Although they were later instructed in the Jewish faith and believed in the one God, they worshipped the idols also. Furthermore, they accepted only the Pentateuch of Moses, and rejected the other books of Holy Scripture. Nonetheless, they thought themselves to be descendants of Abraham and Jacob. Therefore, the pious Jews named these Judaizing and idolatrous peoples Samaritans, since they lived in Samaria, the former leading city of the Israelites, as well as in the other towns thereabout. The Jews rejected them as heathen and foreigners, and had no communion with them at all, as the Samaritan woman observed, "the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9). Therefore, the name Samaritan is used derisively many times in the Gospel narrations. After the Ascension of the Lord, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the woman of Samaria was baptized by the holy Apostles and became a great preacher and Martyr of Christ; she was called Photine, and her feast is kept on February 26.

May 14

Isidore the Martyr of Chios

This Saint was a soldier from Alexandria. He came with the Roman fleet to Chios, where he was betrayed as a Christian to Numerian, Commander of the Fleet. Because he boldly pro-fessed himself to worship Christ as God and refused to worship any other, he was tormented and beheaded in 251, during the reign of Decius.

May 15

Pachomius the Great

Saint Pachomius was born of pagan parents in the Upper Thebaid of Egypt. He was conscripted into the Roman army at an early age. While quartered with the other soldiers in the prison in Thebes, Pachomius was astonished at the kindness shown them by the local Christians, who relieved their distress by bringing them food and drink. Upon inquiring who they were, he believed in Christ and vowed that once delivered from the army, he would serve Him all the days of his life. Released from military service, about the year 313, he was baptized, and became a disciple of the hermit Palamon, under whose exacting guidance he increased in virtue and grace, and reached such a height of holiness that "because of the purity of his heart," says his biographer, "he was, as it were, seeing the invisible God as in a mirror." His renown spread far, and so many came to him to be his disciples that he founded nine monasteries in all, filled with many thousands of monks, to whom he gave a rule of life, which became the pattern for all communal monasticism after him. While Saint Anthony the Great is the father of hermits, Saint Pachomius is the founder of the cenobitic life in Egypt; because Pachomius had founded a way of monasticism accessible to so many, Anthony said that he "walks the way of the Apostles." Saint Pachomius fell asleep in the Lord before his contemporaries Anthony and Athanasius the Great, in the year 346. His name in Coptic, Pachom, means "eagle."

May 15

Achillius the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Larissa

Saint Achillius was one of the 318 God-bearing Fathers who were present at the First Ecumenical Council; after returning to Larissa he cast down many pagan temples, delivered many from the demons, and raised up churches to the glory of God. He reposed about the middle of the fourth century.

May 16

Theodore the Sanctified

This Saint, who was born in the Upper Thebaid of Christian parents, joined the community of Saint Pachomios at about the age of fourteen years, and became the greatest of his disciples. Because of Theodore's utter humility and unquestioning obedience, Pachomios called him more and more to his aid in governing the monasteries he had established. Although some found fault with this, because Theodore was younger than they, Pachomios continued to put his confidence in him, to such a degree that once he told the brotherhood, "Theodore and I fulfil the same service for God; and he also has the authority to give commands as father." Pachomios was succeeded as governor of the monks by Saint Orsiesius in 346, and Orsiesius later took Theodore as his fellow abbot. At Theodore's death in the year 368, the monks mourned him so bitterly that the sound of their crying was heard on the other side of the river.

May 17

The Holy Apostles Andronicus and Junia

These Apostles are mentioned by Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, where he writes: "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the Apostles, who also were in Christ before me" (Rom. 16:7).

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Seventh Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:1-10

At that time, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 103.24,1.
O Lord, how manifold are your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30.

IN THOSE DAYS, those apostles who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea, and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
The Reading is from John 4:5-42

At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him.

Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony. "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ the Savior of the world."

Parish News and Events

Man's Club Hellenic College/Holy Cross Outing:

Tomorrow we visit the Philoxenia House and Holy Cross Campus. There are two meeting places: at church at 12:45pm or at Holy Cross campus (50 Goddard Ave, Brookline) in the back of the administration building at 2pm. If you cannot find the group, call Fr. Costin at 978-837-8623.

We will walk together to Philoxenia House and visit for half hour with a family of residents that came from Greece. At 3pm we will return to campus and Bruce Beck will join us for a campus tour, including the museum, library, classroom buildings, chapel, residence halls and the administrative building, where we will have a chance to visit the bookstore.

At 5pm we will go to the chapel for Vespers, followed by dinner at 6pm in the cafeteria. We should be back by 8pm.

It is not too late to join! Call Fr. Costin at 978-837-8623.

Prayer List:

Please pray for our brothers and sisters: Gloria, Niko, Christina, Kostas, Malina, John, Simona, Louise, Pete, Vincent.

Trisagion service today in memory of Irina Popescu’s Grandmothers,Olimpia Istratescu (2 years) and Victoria Bobitiu (20 years). May their memory be eternal.

Bible Study: Thursday, May 25 at 5:30 pm.

UPCOMING FESTIVAL WORKSHOPS:

Koulourakia: 5/16, 11am--6pm; 5/17,9:30am--5pm; 5/18, 9:30am--6pm; and 5/19 (if needed) (Elaine Fiasconaro and Bunny Wescott) Many hands are needed for this workshop. Please call Bunny at 978-462-3084 to sign up for the days and times you can come.

Vegetarian Dolmathes: May 28 11:45 am and June 4 11:45 am (Andrea Jones)

Kataifi: 5/31 (Stacy Kevorkian, Jen Cooper and Susan George);

Kourambethes: 6/9 at 10:00 a.m. (Gina Dussi);

Baklava: 6/12, 6/13 and 6/14 (Diane Hansen and Maria Andriotakis Connor);

Pastichio: 6/15, 6/16 and 6/17 (Stacey Kevorkian, Jen Cooper and Susan George);

Spanakopita: 6/21 6 pm, 6/22 6 pm and 6/23 10 am as needed to fininsh (Gina Dussi);

Meatballs: 6/28 prep 5 pm; 6/29 rolling 5 pm (Eddie Connor and Joanna Tsiantas)

Karithopita: 7/19 5pm (Gina Dussi and Joanna Tsiantas);

Rice Pudding: 7/26 (Eric Hansen);

Galotabourek: 7/27 during the day (Andrea Jones and Maria Andriotakis Connor);

Plaki: 7/27 5 pm (Gina Dussi and Melinda Patrick).

Food Festival Committee: This week we will be meeting on Tuesday, May 16th at 6:30 pm. The agenda is as follows:

Workshop Status – and soliciting new volunteers to support. Decision on finikia & Greek yogurt?
Supply Ordering Status - final decisions, if not already implemented and in process
GFF Ad Book Status – John P.
New equipment orders/rentals/borrowing – souvlaki grill (Taso/Jim G.), gyro grill, fryer/Greek fries (Ed C.), loukoumathes machine (Eric, Taso)
Promotions – signage, banners, ads, notices, radio spots, flyers, etc.
Permitting and licensing - Melinda
Rental of Alcove area to Lakonia Greek Products – Tina
Small musical act for Saturday evening (St. Basil’s) - Tina

The dates for the 2017 Greek Food Festival are Friday, July 28th--Sunday, July 30th.

Attention Graduating Seniors: Parish Scholarship applications are now available. Be sure to fill one out and bring it in by May 21st.

Lenten Coin Boxes for OCMC:

This year our Sunday School children and families collected just over $181 which has been sent to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center in St. Augustine Florida to help them spread the Orthodox faith around the world. Thank you to everyone who made a contribution.

Greek Ladies Aid Society: Dues are now due! Please see Irene Falite or Dorothy Davis to sign up and pay your $15.00. 100% of all dues go towards our philanthropic activities throughout the year.

Paper Icon Drive: Donate your used paper icons today! Our fellow Orthodox Christians in Kenya have a great need for more icons, so please consider helping out by bringing in any flat icons on paper or card stock by June 1st. There will be a designated basket in the narthex. These will be sent to Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Seattle, WA, which will in turn send all that they collect to the Church in Kenya.

Exit Dance 30th Anniversary Performance: Fontaine Dollas Dubus and the Exit Dance Co. which she founded in 1987 with several other dancers, will be performing Friday and Saturday evening May 19 & 20 at 8:00 PM at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Market Square, Newburyport. Congratulations to Fontaine and all the Exit Dance performers!

Parishioner of the Year Award: The Parish council has chosen two most deserving sisters to share the honor this year. Congratulations go to Irene Katsoulis and Daphne Tikellis! They will be honored at the 31st Annual Metropolis of Boston Ministry Awards Banquet at Lombardo’s, Randolph, MA, 5:30 pm reception, 6:30 pm dinner, June 11th. Please contact us to reserve tickets!

100th Anniversary Committee:

The meeting dates for the next upcoming meetings are as follows:

Sunday, May 28, 2017 - 11:45 AM

Tuesday, June 06, 2017 - 6:30 PM

We will be meeting going forward on the second Tuesday and the last Sunday of the month.

Annunciation Online: Please "Like" our Facebook page so that you may be kept up on services, events and activities: https://www.facebook.com/AnnunciationGreekOrthodoxChurch/

Please return church keys: As many of you are aware, there have been several break-ins and thefts from Newburyport churches. We’re looking to upgrade our exterior keys. If you have a key, make sure to let a Council member know over the next few weeks! Also, please never leave doors unlocked with the key even when you are in the complex. Instead, block them open with the little wrenches provided, and don’t forget to unblock when you leave!!!!

Thermostat settings: The Parish Council has determined an acceptable temperature range for the thermostats in the building complex. 60-75 in winter, 65-80 in summer. Please respect these settings!

Council Members on duty today: Maria Connor and Joanne Perrault

Prosphoro Schedule:

May 14 - Anna Chetsas

May 21 - Lisa Housianitis

May 28 - Tina Klidaras

Parish Events of the Week

This week at Annunciation:

Monday, May 15: 11:00 am: St. Basil's Lunch, all are welcome!

6:00 pm: Chanting

Tuesday, May 16: 11:00 am: Koulouria Workshop

6:30 pm: Food Festival Commitee

Thursday, May 18: 9:30 am: Koulouria Workshop

7:00 pm: Stewardship

Friday, May 19: 9:30 am: Koulouria Workshop if needed

Fellowship Hour Hosts

Fellowship Hour:

We enjoy visiting with our Church Family over a cup of coffee and treats following Sunday Liturgy. Please sign up to host a Fellowship/Coffee Hour and keep the coffee brewing every Sunday.

We are in need of hosts! The Fellowship Hour Coordinator has prepared a calendar scheduling out though the end of the summer of 2017. Please email AndreaJones1@Comcast.net, phone at home 978 465-1021or text cell 978 621-6123 to schedule your coffee hour.

Sunday, May 14th: Popescu and Mihailescu family, cake provided by the Men's Club (Mother's Day)

Sunday, May 21st: Chetsas Family (40 day Memorial Leon Chetsas)

Sunday, May 28th: OPEN

Bulletin Inserts

Creed and Lord's prayer in Greek with English transliteration

Card used in the pews to recite the Creed in Greek on the first Sunday of the month

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese News

Metropolitan Philotheos of Meloa Falls Asleep in the Lord

05/10/2017

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America mourns the passing of Metropolitan Philotheos of Meloa who fell asleep in the Lord early this morning following a short illness

https://www.goarch.org/-/metropolitan-philotheos-of-meloa-falls-asleep-in-the-lord

Archdiocesan Council Holds Spring Meeting in Chicago

05/06/2017

The Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, under the chairmanship of Archbishop Demetrios of America, convened in Chicago’s Marriott Downtown Hotel for its regularly scheduled spring meeting May 4 and 5.

https://www.goarch.org/-/archdiocesan-council-holds-spring-meeting-in-chica-1

Archbishop Demetrios Attends National Day of Prayer at White House

05/05/2017

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, at the invitation of President Donald J. Trump, attended today the 66th Annual National Day of Prayer Commemoration, held this year at the Rose Garden of the White House.

https://www.goarch.org/-/archbishop-demetrios-attends-national-day-of-prayer-at-white-house

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