Gospel and Epistle Readings

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."

Saints and Feasts

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.

Church Life

Holy Baptism

April 11 - Jackson George, Son of Andrew and Kristyn Ventresca of Brookfield, CT. Sponsor is Marissa Bogris. God's Grace and Life. ΝΑ ΜΑΣ ΖΗΣH!!!

Parish News

GOYA Meeting: Sunday, April 11 - Our GOYA (7th-12th grade) will have our monthly meeting following Divine Liturgy.

GOYA Lenten Retreat: Saturday, April 17 - See flyer below

Parish Council Meeting: Thursday, April 15 - 7:30pm: As has always been the case, any member of the Assumption Church in good standing is welcome to attend our monthly Parish Council meetings as non-voting observers. The date and time of our monthly meetings is published on our Parish Google Calendar and in our Weekly Bulletin. At the present time, all meetings are held remotely via Zoom. Please note: An archive of Parish Council meeting minutes is available for public viewing in the Parish Conference Room. Link to 4/15 Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/95595801614?pwd=ME5STktaRE5PK1BnR014V0s1bHlnUT09

Sunday School: We have begun classes for our Catechism School Youth. We thank our teachers, parents and Catechism School supervisors, Georgia Garay and Christina Donigian for their love and dedication in order to have our Youth return to learning about our Lord, Jesus Christ and for sharing their Faith with one another and for the needed fellowship that we all miss. Please visit the Catechism School page on the www.agoc.us website for the registration form, Covid protocol and more details at: https://www.agoc.us/youth-ministries/catechism-school.

Light-a-Candle: We are now pleased to offer AGOC parishioners the option to light a Narthex candle or altar candle when you are unable to attend in-person services. Should you wish to light a candle, a member of the Parish Council will be happy to do so for you during the current or next services. Please visit our website homepage at www.agoc.us to use our latest Light-a-Candle feature.

Make New Friends the Old-Fashioned Way: Please consider joining the pen pal initiative which was brought to us by the National Philoptochos. Children of all ages (3-18), please consider connecting to someone elderly or homebound the old fashioned way (via snail mail). You can draw a picture, write a note and ask a question. This will hopefully be the beginning of a new friendship, a learning opportunity and a moment to experience true empathy and grace. Please contact Michaele Giannoutsos at michkg76@gmail.com to be connected with a member of our parish! Thank you and looking forward to hearing how much happiness this brings to both the one who sends the letter and the one that receives it.

Ahepa 2021 Macricostas Scholarship: Ahepa is pleased to offer this year's Ahepa Macricostas Scholarship. The application is available on the Ahepa page of the church website at agoc.us, in the Church Narthex or students can email TonyVEsq@millplainlaw.com for a copy. The deadline is May 16, 2021. Please note the requirements. Applications must be mailed or emailed by the deadline.

Special Services this week:

Wednesday, April 14, 6:00PM Liturgy of Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Friday, April 16, 7:00PM The Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Sunday, April 18, Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, 8:45AM Orthros, 10:00AM Divine Liturgy, 12:00PM General Assembly

Holy Week Services

Holy Week Nymphios Services - 7:00pm

Sunday, April 26 - Monday, April 27 - Tuesday, April 28. Traditionally, during Bridegroom Services (Nymphios Services) on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Nights of Holy Week we encourage girls in 3rd thru 9th grades to participate in the services as they represent the Wise Maidens Christ mentions in His parable. (Matthew 25:1-4) Please contact Presbytera Maria to participate: Yiayiamk@gmail.com

GOYA Retreat

Making Time for Silence - click for details

Join Steve Christoforou in person for a discussion about the anxiety and inauthenticity of presenting a curated version of ourselves to the world – “leave your cool card at the door.” Learn to open ourselves to God in stillness with a guided exercise in silence and prayer. In-person retreat in our Parish Hall. Limited seating available. Please rsvp at: https://forms.gle/Sm91YSNd7sY6gYh79

Links for Livestreaming Services

Pray with us by subscribing to the Assumption YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9tD5mB_u3GgO1J8ikwIW0g

Or by visiting our Assumption page on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pg/assumptiongreekorthodoxchurch/videos/?ref=page_internal

Live events will be streamed on both these services on programmed service hours.

Ladies Philoptochos Society

Tsourekia Baking: Wednesday, April 21. Our Ladies Philoptochos will be preparing a limited amount of homemade tsourekia. We will be meeting on Wednesday, April 21 at 8:30 am. We need a few (4/5) ladies in the AM to help make the dough and 10 or more to help with the forming and baking of the breads around 12:00 noon. If you are able to help, please contact Nitsa Carino at 203-470-6839.

Tsourekia will be for sale at church after April 21st.

National Obligations: Our monthly National obligations for April are 1. Sisterhood of St. Basil Academy and 2. IOCC. Information regarding all of our National obligations can be found at: https://www.philoptochos.org/commitments/

Beginning this Sunday, two small donation boxes labelled “Philoptochos” will be placed on each pangari stand. The boxes will replace passing the Philoptochos monthly tray. Please consider donating to help us fulfill our monthly obligations.

Link to National Ladies Philoptochos Society March 2021 Newsletter:

Philanthropy Witness- April 2021 (mailchi.mp) Philanthropy Witness- April 2021 (mailchi.mp)

Youth/Family Ministry

Be the Bee #172 - What is Real Christian Faith? (Sunday of Saint John Climacus)

We often think of faith as meaning either "certainty" (confidence that some idea is true) or "religiosity" (participation in a group's activities).

But the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent is dedicated to Saint John Climacus, and the top rung of his "Ladder of Divine Ascent" describes faith.

The Church presents faith in much deeper terms than we often admit.

We'll learn by looking at how Abraham was faithful to God, while the disciples weren't. Because real faith is about placing ourselves in God's hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YpQiHIfEIc

Downloadable Workbook:

https://mailchi.mp/goarch/bethebee172

Birthday Celebrations

4/17 - Michaele Giannoutsos

Your Assumption Church Community wants to celebrate with you! Please let us know of any upcoming events in your life, birthdays, name days, anniversaries so we can (virtually) share the joy! Your submissions will be announced in future weekly bulletins. Email details to: office@agoc.us

Creation Care Ministry

Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.

-Laura Ingalls Wilder

Stewardship Ministry

We are grateful to the 80 families and individuals who have submitted Pledge Cards for our Assumption Church in 2021. Help us reach our goal of 100% participation this year! Pledge Cards are not only important for financial planning and contact information, but more importantly we would like to use the TIME commitment choices to better bring our community together. If you have already given towards your Stewardship for 2021, we thank you! but we kindly ask you to fill out your Pledge Card to continue to move our community forward.

We have currently raised $95,194.00 of our stewardship goal of $275,553.00 (as of 3/31/21). If your name has been omitted by mistake, please accept our apologies and notify the Church Office immediately so that we can correct the error. You can also click HERE to download and print out a Pledge Card which can either be mailed to church or scanned and emailed to stewardship@agoc.us.

2021 Stewards who have Submitted Pledge Cards (as of March 21st)

Effrosyni Aroni
Peter & Dina Athanasoulis
Stavros & Zoy Beretis
Nikidora Bochinis
Denise Chamoures
Mercene Chamoures
Peter & Susan Chipouras
Daphne Chivily
Barbara Christos
Nicholas & Stacy Chryssikos
Lloyd & Nike Cutsumpas
Olvas & Linda Dallaku
Robert & Evelyn Didato
James & Xenia Eliades
Ricky Flannery
Jennifer Flannery
Caryn Flannery
Diane Foley
Jennifer Gazis
Gregg & Grace Geanuracos
William & Mary Giannakakos
Michaele & Steve Giannoutsos
Nikolaos & Fevri Gkanatsios
Phil & Michel Herzegovitch
Greg & Renata Amaral Kallas
Georgia Karambatsos
Fr. Nikolas & Pres. Meghan Karloutsos
Fr. Peter & Pres. Maria Karloutsos
Konstantine & Erin Karloutsos
Michelle Stavros & James Keenan
Nick & Josephine Kleopoulos
Peter & Lisa Koukos
George & Judy Koukos
Maria Koulouris
Dimitri & Rose Koulouris
Konstantinos & Anna Marie Koulouris
Stanley & Anne Ktorides
Antonios Loukrezis
Constantine & Krystalia Mastrogianni
Patricia Maxwell
Tina & Peter McCauley
Dorothy Missailidis
Peter & Annette Nikolis
Steve & Maria Ortiz
Evelyn Panasis
James & Barbara Pappas
David & Elizabeth Pappas
Karas Paulette
Stephanie & Douglas Polistena
Cheryl & Patrick Pyers
Paul & Margot Racano
Donna Rondano
James & Magdalene Rountos
Steven & Paraskevi Rountos
Steven & Shannon Rountos
Maria & Steven Rountos
Angelo & Maria Rountos
John & Valerie Rountos
Spiro & Maria Rountos
Christopher S. Rountos
Nicholas Skeadas
Anthony & Barbara Soldano
Thalia & Pascal Storino
Imkje Tarazi
Chryse & Scott Terrill
Despina Topalis
Aris & Carol Topalis
Vasilis Topalis
Connie Stavros & Robert Tracey
Mike & Megan Trimandilis
Elias & Freda Tsekerides
Nicholas & Joanna Tzakas
Bobby & Vasiliki Valassis
Panaiota Vali Constantine
Greg & Olga Verses
Anthony Vlahos
Eve & Dino Zacharakos
Martin & Cindy Ziemnicki

Calendar

Month at a Glance

April 11 to May 9, 2021

Sunday, April 11

Sunday of St. John Klimakos

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

Wednesday, April 14

6:00PM Liturgy of Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Thursday, April 15

7:30PM Parish Council Meeting

Friday, April 16

7:00PM The Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Saturday, April 17

11:00AM GOYA RETREAT

Sunday, April 18

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

12:00PM General Assembly

Wednesday, April 21

12:00PM Tsourekia Baking

6:00PM Liturgy of Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Saturday, April 24

Lazarus Saturday

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

11:30AM Make Palms for Sunday

Sunday, April 25

Palm Sunday

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

7:00PM Nymphios Service - Bridegroom Service

Monday, April 26

7:00PM Nymphios Service - Bridegroom Service

Tuesday, April 27

7:00PM Nymphios Service - Bridegroom Service

Wednesday, April 28

5:00PM Efheleon (Holy Unction)

Thursday, April 29

Holy Thursday - Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

8:00AM Divine Liturgy

9:30AM Egg Dying after Divine Liturgy

7:00PM The Crucifixion of Our Lord

Friday, April 30

Holy Friday

10:00AM Reading of Hours

11:30AM Lenten Meal

3:00PM The Apokathilosis Service

7:00PM Service of Lamentations

Saturday, May 1

Great and Holy Saturday - Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

11:00PM The Canon (Hymns of Pascha)

Sunday, May 2

Great and Holy Pascha

12:00AM The Resurrection Gospel - Christos Anesti - Divine Liturgy

11:00AM AGAPE VESPERS

Friday, May 7

Renewal Friday: Theotokos of the Life-giving Spring

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

Sunday, May 9

Thomas Sunday

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

General Information

Contact Information

Services Schedule

Past Bulletins