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Annunciation Church
Publish Date: 2021-04-11
Bulletin Contents
Parish Calendar
Daughters of Penelope annual Flower Sale
Sunday School Games
Parish News & Events
Saints and Feasts
Hymns of the Day
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Climicus
Organization Icon
Annunciation Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (231) 799-0185
  • Street Address:

  • 185 East Pontaluna Road

  • Muskegon, MI 49444

Contact Information

Fr. John Sakellariou


frjohn@orthodoxmuskegon.church | 716-730-1982

Fr. Basil Aden



Services Schedule

Orthros/Matins: Sunday, 9:00 AM
Divine Liturgy: Sunday, 10:00 AM

 

 

Past Bulletins


Parish Calendar

  • Parish Calendar

    April 11 to April 18, 2021

    Sunday, April 11

    6 Month Memorial for Phyllis Afendulis

    9:00AM Matins Service (Orthros)

    10:00AM Divine Liturgy: Sunday of St. John Climacus

    Tuesday, April 13

    7:00PM Lenten Book Discussion on "Thinking Orthodox"

    Wednesday, April 14

    Deadline to Order Pascha Pastries

    8:45AM Church Repairs

    3:30PM Pastoral Meeting

    6:00PM Presanctified Liturgy

    Thursday, April 15

    11:00AM Detroit Clergy Zoom Syndesmos Meeting

    Friday, April 16

    6:00PM Salutations to the Theotokos

    Sunday, April 18

    1 Year Memorial for Constantine (Deno) Danigelis

    Parish Council Meeting

    9:00AM Matins Service (Orthros)

    10:00AM Divine Liturgy: Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

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Daughters of Penelope annual Flower Sale

    Daughters of Penelope annual Flower Sale

    Daughters of Penelope annual Flower Sale

    Time to Order your Hanging Baskets from the Daughters of Penelope! Select the type of plant and color you desire - $11 per basket. The prepaid order deadline is Sunday, April 25 and all checks can be made out to Daughters of Penelope. The pickup date will be Mother's Day, Sunday May 9 or by appointment that Saturday morning.

    Order Form

    Order Form

    The order form can be mailed or dropped off at the Church office.

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Sunday School Games

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Parish News & Events

Sunday School

Sunday school will take place after Holy Communion in the classroom for any children in the 4th grade and under.  For parents who wish to have their children attend, we kindly ask that children wear a mask. 


Pascha Bake Sale

Our parish will be offering freshly baked Koulourakia and Tsourekia for Pascha. In addition, red egg dye is available for purchase.  Orders can be placed online by clicking here and the final date to pre-order will be April 14th.  Pastries will be available for pickup after Holy Thursday evening (April 29th through Pascha day which is May 2nd).


Speak a Foreign Language?

We are looking for faithful who speak foreign languages to read the Gospel (John 20:19-25) for the Agape Service on May 2nd @ 1 PM. If you are interested, please contact Fr. John. 


Lenten Service Schedule

  • Pre-sanctified Liturgies will be held every Wednesday during Lent @ 6 PM.
  • Salutations to the Theotokos Services will be held every Friday during Lent @ 6 PM.

All services will be live-streamed and the text for the services can be found on www.agesinitiatives.com.


Iconography Update

After a long delay due to Covid restrictions, the Church will be working on adding the donor inscriptions for icons that have been graciously donated by parishioners.  If you have donated an icon and would like to have an inscription added please see or email Fr. John. Even if you have already submitted this information in the past, please contact Fr. John to make sure that we have the correct information on file or if any changes need to be made to what we currently have.

Martha Roldan has graciously offered to inscribe all the text for the donated icons. Martha has extensive experience in this timeless art and her wonderful offering can be seen at the Holy Dormition Monastery where she has prayerfully added all the text that is seen on the icons at the Monastery. 

Examples of the format that we will follow:

  • Donated in loving memory of John Smith by the Jones Family
  • Donated by the Green Family

Live Streaming

The Orthros and Divine Liturgy for Sunday will be streamed live around  8:40 AM. To access the stream please click here.

If you would like to pray along, click on the links below for Sunday's service:

If you are experiencing technical issues or have questions about the live stream during a live Sunday service, John Wehmer is available for assistance and he can be reached at home (616-847-6409) or on his cell (616-502-4800).


Metropolis of Detroit Summer Camp

Camper Registration is now open. Weekly camper capacity has been reduced, so it’ll be important to register early! The camp registrar will maintain a waitlist should your preferred week fill up.


Lenten Book Discussion - Thinking Orthodox: Understanding and Acquiring the Orthodox Christian Mind

Our final meeting will take place this Tuesday evening at 7 PM for our Lenten book discussion. Thank you to everyone who read this book.

To access the virtual meeting:

Meeting ID
meet.google.com/xgb-efvp-mbs
 
Phone Numbers
(‪US‬)‪+1 628-400-7981‬
PIN: ‪179 208 696#‬
 
Reading discussion schedule:
  • Tuesday, April 13:  Chapters 15 - End

Holy Week and Pascha

Saturday, April 24, Lazarus Saturday & making of Palm Crosses 

  • 9:00 AM - Orthros  & 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy

Sunday, April 25, Palm Sunday Morning & Evening - On this day, Palm Sunday, we celebrate the bright and glorious Feast of the Entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

  • 9:00 AM - Orthros  & 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy and Blessing of the Palms followed by a Philoptochos Luncheon.
  • 6:00 PM - The Bridegroom Service.

Monday, April 26, Holy and Great Monday - On this day we commemorate the blessed Joseph the All-comely and the withering of the fig tree by the Lord.

  • 6:00 PM - The Bridegroom Service.

Tuesday, April 27, Holy and Great Tuesday - On this day we commemorate the parable of the tenvirgins , because the Lord related this parable to His disciples as He was going toward Jerusalem to His holy Passion.

  • 6:00 PM - The Bridegroom Service.

Wednesday, April 28, Holy and Great Wednesday - On this day the divine Fathers ordained a commemoration to be kept of the woman who was a harlot and anointed the Lord with precious ointment, inasmuch as this took place a short time before the saving Passion.

  • 6:00 PM - The Bridegroom Service.

Thursday, April 29, Holy and Great Thursday - On this day, according to the order which our holy Fathers inherited from the Holy Apostles and the Holy Gospels, we celebrate four events: the washing of the feet of the Disciples; the Last Supper which is the institution of the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist; the Lord’s Agony in the Garden; and His Betrayal.

  • 6:00 PM - The Holy Passion (The Reading of the Twelve Gospels).

Friday, April 30, Holy and Great Friday - On this day we celebrate the dread, holy and saving Passion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ: the spitting, the blows with the hand, the buffetings, the mockery, the reviling, the wearing of the purple robe, the reed, the sponge, the vinegar, the nailing, the lance, and above all, the Crucifixion and Death which He condescended to endure willingly for our sake—and also the confession unto salvation of the good Thief.

  • 10:00 AM - The Royal Hours.
  • 12:00 PM - Decoration of the Epitapho.
  • 3:00 PM   - The Descent from the Cross.
  • 6:00 PM  -  The Lamentations.

 Saturday, May 1, Holy and Great Saturday - On this day we celebrate the burial of the divine Body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His descent into Hades, through which mankind was recalled from corruption to be lifted up again to eternal life.

  • 10:00 AM -  Vesperal Divine Liturgy (The First Proclamation of the Resurrection).
  • 11:00 PM -  Resurrection/Paschal Service & Meal following the service

Sunday, May 2, Great and Holy Pascha -  On this day we celebrate the Life-giving Resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, which is called Pascha, which translated from the Hebrew means Passover.

  • 1:00 PM - Agape Vespers followed by Pascha luncheon & Egg Hunt. All kids are invited to participate in the Easter egg hunt following the Agape Service. Kids who want to participate should bring a basket.

Updated Guidelines

  • Anyone who is currently experiencing any symptoms of illness must stay at home.
  • Pews will be taped off to allow for distancing between individuals/families. Chairs will also be added around the walls of the Church.
  • Parishioners are required to wear masks.  It is recommended that parishioners bring their own masks. Mask will be provided at the candle stand for those who need one. Chanters and clergy are exempt from wearing masks since they are socially distanced. 
  • Please reverence icons by making the sign of the Cross and bowing instead of kissing them.
  • Parishes are not to have choirs until further notice.
  • There will be no liturgical books in the pews.
  • Parishioners are welcomed to receive andithiron after Holy Communion and at the dismissal of the Liturgy. Waxpaper will be provided.
  • Traditional trays/baskets will not be passed. A wooden donation box will be set up for parishioners who wish to make a Sunday offering as they exit the Church.
  • If you have any questions, please see a parish council member.
Holy Communion Guidelines
It is clearly understood that Holy Communion is the very Body and Blood of Christ which cannot be tainted by any harmful thing and that those who receive it with proper intent of mind and heart cannot be harmed by it. Clergy will follow the following guidelines so that the Holy Sacrament is safely administered:
  • Since there will be no Choir, we ask chantors to proceed for Holy Communion first followed by parishioners who be directed by a member of the parish council.
  • Please allow for at least 6 feet per parishioner. The center aisle of the Church will be marked with tape to help in keeping the appropriate distance between parishioners.
  • To receive communion, parishioners are asked to tilt their heads back so that the Holy Sacrament can be dropped into the mouth. It has been allowed that those receiving the Holy Eucharist can stay seated to make the above recommendations easier. 
  • Parishioners are asked not to touch or direct the communion cloth. An altar boy will hold the communion cloth under the chin.
  • Further instructions will be given in Church.

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Saints and Feasts

Climicus
April 11

Sunday of St. John Climacus

The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written by a great man of prayer experienced in all forms of the monastic polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility. It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its entirety in monasteries during the Great Fast.

Basil
April 12

Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium

This Saint lived during the time of the Iconoclasts, and because of his exceptional and virtuous life became Bishop of Parium. He suffered many hardships, afflictions, and persecutions from the heretics his whole life long, and finally reposed in peace.

0414martin-rome
April 13

Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome

Saint Martin was born in Tuscany. He had been the papal delegate at Constantinople; upon the death of Pope Theodore, Saint Martin was elected his successor. At this time the Emperor Constans II, also known as Constantine Pogonatus (reigned 641-668), was seeking support of his confession of faith called the Typos, which espoused the Monothelite heresy, that is, that there is only one will and energy in the Incarnate Son of God. But the newly-consecrated Pope not only did not accept the Typos, but convened the Lateran Council of 649 (attended by 105 of his bishops, and Saint Maximus the Confessor, who was then in Rome), which anathematized the Typos and the Monothelite heresy. Because of this Saint Martin was seized by an imperial force in 653 and brought to Constantinople, where he was charged with sending money to the Saracens and conspiring with them, and blaspheming against the most holy Mother of God. Though innocent of these accusations, he was exiled to Cherson on the Black Sea, where, after many sufferings and privations, he received the crown of his courageous confession in the year 655.

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April 14

Aristarchus, Pudens, Trophimus the Apostles of the 70

Saint Aristarchus is mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians (4:10), and also in the Epistle to Philemon (v. 24). By his ascetical manner of life, this Saint proved to be another Saint John the Baptist. He became Bishop of Apamea in Syria, and brought many to the Faith of Christ. Saints Pudens and Trophimus are mentioned in II Timothy 4:20-21. Also, Acts 21:29 mentions that Trophimus was from Ephesus. According to sources that Saint Dorotheus of Tyre (celebrated on June 5) found written in Latin in Rome, these Apostles were beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero (54-68).

Crescens
April 15

Crescens the Martyr

This Martyr was from Myra of Lycia, born of an illustrious family. Of his own accord he went amidst the idolaters and admonished them to leave off their futile religion and worship the only true God, Who is worshipped by the Christians; for this he was arrested. When asked by the ruler what his name and lineage were, the Saint would answer only that he was a Christian; counseled to offer sacrifice to the idols, he refused. For this, he was hung up and beaten, was scraped, and then was cast into fire, in which he gave up his holy soul into the hands of God, though not even the hair of his head was harmed by the flames.

Agape
April 16

Agape, Chionia, and Irene, the Holy Martyrs

When the Emperor Diocletian was at Aquileia, he learned that these Saints were Christians, and had them brought before him. Because they would not deny Christ, he had them imprisoned, and when he went into Macedonia, he committed them to Dulcitius the Prefect, who, however, lost his understanding and became incapable of doing them any harm. Diocletian then gave Count Sisinius charge over them. He had Saints Agape and Chionia burned; he ordered that Saint Irene be put in a brothel, but by the providence of God this was not accomplished, and she was shot with an arrow. These holy sisters suffered martyrdom in Thessalonica in the year 295.

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April 17

Symeon the Holy Martyr and Bishop of Persia

This Martyr was Bishop of the royal cities Seleucia and Ctesiphon in Persia. As the number of Christians increased in Persia, building churches and appointing clergy, the Magi, guardians of the Persian religion, and the Jews, who also envied them, accused Symeon to Sapor II, King of Persia, saying that Symeon was a friend of the Roman Emperor and his spy. Then began Sapor's persecution of the Christians of Persia, about the year 343. The Magi together with the Jews destroyed the churches. Saint Symeon was brought before Sapor, and, refusing to worship the sun, was imprisoned. On Holy and Great Friday of that year, Saint Symeon was brought out of prison with a hundred others, bishops, priests, and deacons. As each was taken to be slain, Saint Symeon exhorted him to be of good courage; he was slain last of all. It is said that 1,150 Martyrs were slain; an innumerable multitude of Christians were slain throughout Persia during this persecution, among them Saints Acepsimas, Joseph, and Aethalas (see Nov. 3).

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Third Mode

Let the heavens sing for joy, and let everything on earth be glad. * For with His Arm the Lord has worked power. * He trampled death under foot by means of death; * and He became the firstborn from the dead. * From the maw of Hades He delivered us; * and He granted the world His great mercy.

Apolytikion for Sun. of St. John Climacus in the Plagal Fourth Mode

With the streams of thy tears, thou didst cultivate the barrenness of the desert; and by thy sighings from the depths,thou didst bear fruit a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a luminary, shining with miracles upon the world, O John our righteous Father. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Fourth Mode

To you, Theotokos, invincible Defender, having been delivered from peril, I, your city, dedicate the victory festival as a thank offering. In your irresistible might, keep me safe from all trials, that I may call out to you: "Hail, unwedded bride!"
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eleventh Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 21:14-25

At that time, Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead, and he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go." (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, "Follow me."

Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So, the word went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die; but Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Third Mode. Psalm 46.6,1.
Sing praises to our God, sing praises.
Verse: Clap your hands, all you nations.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 6:13-20.

BRETHREN, when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore to himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel Reading

Sunday of St. John Climacus
The Reading is from Mark 9:17-31

At that time, a man came to Jesus kneeling and saying: "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again." And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise."

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