February 07
Holy Trinity Church
Publish Date: 2021-02-07
Bulletin Contents
Holy Trinity Church
General Information
- Phone:
- (609) 653-8092
- Fax:
- (609) 653-0375
- Street Address:
- 7004 Ridge Ave
- Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
- Mailing Address:
- 7004 Ridge Ave
- Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
Contact Information
Services Schedule
Sunday Services: Orthros 8:15 am.
Divine Liturgy 9:30 am.
Past Bulletins
- Publish Date:
- 2021-01-31
- Publish Date:
- 2021-01-24
- Publish Date:
- 2021-01-17
- Publish Date:
- 2021-01-10
- Publish Date:
- 2021-01-03
- Publish Date:
- 2020-12-27
Hymns of the Day
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Second Mode
When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then didst Thou slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the powers in the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Apolytikion for Afterfeast of the Presentation in the First Mode
Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, O Virgin Theotokos, for from thee hath risen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those in darkness. Rejoice, thou also, O righteous Elder, as thou receivest in thine arms the Redeemer of our souls, Who also granteth unto us the Resurrection.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Seasonal Kontakion in the First Mode
Your birth sanctified a Virgin's womb and properly blessed the hands of Symeon. Having now come and saved us O Christ our God, give peace to Your commonwealth in troubled times and strengthen those in authority, whom You love, as only the loving One.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Narthex Press
Saints and Feasts
February 07
16th Sunday of Matthew
February 07
Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsacus
Saint Parthenius was born in Melitopolis on the Hellespont, the son of a deacon named Christopher. Because of the miracles that he wrought even as a young man, he was ordained a priest and then Bishop of Lampsacus in the days of Saint Constantine the Great, from whom he received great gifts and authority both to overturn the altars of the idols and to raise up a church to the glory of Christ. Working many miracles throughout his life, he reposed in peace an old man and full of days.
February 07
Luke of Mount Stirion
Saint Luke was the descendant of a family from Aegina which, because of the frequent invasions of the Saracens, left Aegina and dwelt in Phocis, where the Saint was born in 896. From his earliest childhood Luke ate neither flesh, nor cheese, nor eggs, but gave himself over with his whole soul to hardship and fasting for the love of heavenly blessings, often giving away his clothing to the poor, for which his father punished him. After his father's death he secretly left home to become a monk, but the Lord, inclining to the fervent prayers of his mother, made him known, and he returned to her for a time to care for her. For many years he lived as a hermit, moving from place to place; he spent the last part of his life on Mount Stirion at Phocis, where there is a city named Stiris. The grace of God that was in him made him a wonder-worker, and his tomb in the monastery of Hosios Loukas, famous for its mosaics, became a source of healings and place of pilgrimage for the faithful. According to some he reposed in the year 946; according to others, in 953.
February 07
Theopemptos the Martyr & his Companions
February 07
George the New Martyr of Crete
February 07
Richard, King of Wessex
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Epistle Reading
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 6:1-10.
Brethren, working together with him, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Gospel Reading
16th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 25:14-30
The Lord said this parable: "A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." As he said these things he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Wisdom of the Fathers
There is an old saying: 'Excesses meet.' Too much fasting and too much eating come to the same end. Keeping too long a vigil brings the same disastrous cost as ... sluggishness... Too much self-denial brings weakness and induces the same condition as carelessness. Often I have seen men who would not be snared by gluttony fall, nevertheless, through immoderate fasting and tumble in weakness into the very urge which they had overcome. Unmeasured vigils and foolish denial of rest overcame those whom sleep could not overcome. Therefore, 'fortified to right and to left in the armor of justice,' as the apostle says (2 Cor. 6:7), life must be lived with due measure and, with discernment for a guide, the road must be traveled between the two kinds of excess so that in the end we may not allow ourselves to be diverted from the pathway of restraint which has been laid down for us nor fall through dangerous carelessness into the urgings of gluttony and self-indulgence.
Conferences, Conference Two: On Discernment no. 16; Paulist Press pg. 76, 5th century
PARISH NEWS
PARISH NEWS
Pangari Schedule: Ria Pierelli, Nick Yiannos & Donna Efstatos.
A two year Memorial Service will be held today, for our dearly beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Athena Kramvis, mother of George Kramvis, and his brother, Costa, of South Africa. May her memory be eternal.
Philoptochos will continue to sell Shop Rite Gift Cards. Please see attached flyer with information on how to purchase.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Please do not socialize and congregate in the foyer of the gym after the Divine Liturgy.
FEBRUARY WEEKDAY SERVICES
Please call or email Ginny Kramvis for registering for weekday services. Seating is limited to 20 people. (609-513-2357 or ekramvis@comcast.net)
† February 8, Monday, Divine Liturgy 9:00 / 10:00 am., St. Theodore the Commander
† February 10, Saturday, Divine Liturgy 9:00 / 10:00 am., St. Haralambos
† February 17, Wednesday, Divine Liturgy 9:00 / 10:00 am., Theodore of Tyro
UPCOMING EVENTS
February 7-14: Souper Bowl of Caring
February 16: Philoptochos Zoom Gathering
February 21: OCMC NJ Virtual Missions Benefit
March 21: Parish Oratorical Festival
RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION
Holy Communion is offered to those baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves for the reception of the Sacrament by prayer and fasting. Blessed Bread is available for all our visitors at the very end of the Divine Liturgy. Our Sunday School students receive Holy Communion first and then we will approach from the center aisles, starting with the front pews, one pew at a time.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Virtual Sunday School continues this week! ZOOM links will be sent out via email on Saturdays. Please contact Sarai Taraborrelli if you have any questions. The Sunday School email address is Holytrinitysundayschool2020@gmail.com.
PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
There will be a parish council board meeting on Monday, February 8th, via Zoom at 7:00 pm.
BIBLE STUDY
We will have Bible Study on Tuesday, February 9th, via Zoom at 7:00 pm. A link will be sent prior to Bible Study.
STEWARDSHIP 2021
Stewardship packets for the year 2021 have been sent. Please fill out and return to the church office as soon as possible. If you have not received a packet, and would like one please contact the office (609-653-8092 X5). For those who are able, let us strive to give more generously than last year, so that we may continue to strengthen our Holy Trinity Church during these difficult times.
PARISH REOPENING INFORMATION
We are happy to announce that we have received permission to reopen our Church. It will be great to see you all in person after many weeks of physical separation.
We are urging all of us to refrain from being judgmental towards those who are not yet ready or able to attend services. Oftentimes, we do not know the personal situations experienced by our sisters and brothers.
Here are many of the guidelines that we all need to follow during this first phase of reopening.
- Sunday morning Divine Liturgies will take place in the gymnasium and we will only be able to enter through the front door outside of the gym foyer.
- We will not be permitted to go to other parts of the facility, except to use the restroom nearby (one person at a time).
- Only 75 people can register for attendance each Sunday on a first come first served basis. Overflow registrants will be first in line for the following Sunday.
- Each of us will receive an email from “Sign Up Genius” each week. Please be sure to provide all the contact information that is requested.
- While consecutive Sundays will appear on the “Sign Up Genius”, please only register for one Sunday at a time so that we can give everyone a chance to attend.
- Chairs in the gymnasium will be spaced in a safe manner. Please do not move the chairs, nor move around inside the gym to converse with other people.
- Masks must be worn at all times. Please bring a mask from home.
- Upon arrival, each of us will be asked a few general health questions. If we are sick or have been near a sick person, we will not be permitted to attend the Divine Liturgy.
- If someone experience symptoms sometime after the Divine Liturgy, THEY MUST NOTIFY THE CHURCH OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.
- Everyone must sanitize their hands upon arrival.
- We are not lighting individual candles. Two large candles will be lit in front of the altar on behalf of all of us.
- A collection tray will be placed at the pangari, but will not be passed around in Church. Please bring exact change as no change will be handled.
- All cell phones must be turned off completely in order to preserve our wifi connection.
- A few chairs will be set up in the back of the gym for parents with young children.
- For those who do not use email or the internet, I am encouraging them to seek out a family member or fellow parishioner who can register for them. A separate letter in the Greek language will explain this to our seniors.
- We are not permitted to have a coffee hour, nor to socialize with one another after the Services.
WEEK DAY LITURGIES
Week Day Liturgies will be celebrated in the Church and participants can only enter through the front door of the Church.
- We are limited to 20 people at a time for these services. Seating spots will be marked with a blue dot on the pews.
- We are giving preferential consideration to our senior citizens (who may be uneasy about larger crowds) and to those who are celebrating their name days on a given day.
- Attendees must contact Ginny Kramvis two days in advance of the Week Day Liturgy so that we do not go over the 20 person limit (609-513-2357). In addition, a relative or friend can email Ginny at ekramvis@comcast.net.
- All of the other guidelines as described above for Sunday Liturgies, also apply to the Week Day Liturgies.
MEMORIALS
If you are planning a family memorial, please contact the church office far in advance of the date, so that we can properly register your family for church attendance.
PARKING
Due to safety regulations, please do not park cars along the curb in front of the church and the community center during church services and other events. Thank you!