NO ADDITIONAL WORSHIP SERVICES THIS WEEK
Sunday Summer Hours - from first Sunday after Memorial Day
Orthros 8:30 am
Divine L:iturgy 9:30 am
Sunday Winter Hours - from first Sunday after Labor Day
Orthros 9:00 am
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
Saturday Vespers 6:00 pm
Week Day Divine Liturgy 9:00 am
Blessed are You, O Christ our God; Who has shone forth the fishermen to be all wise, by sending upon them the Holy Spirit and through them, You gathered the whole world in Your net, O lover of Mankind, glory to You.
Prokeimenon. Grave Tone. Psalm 28.11,1.
The Lord will give strength to his people.
Verse: Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord honor and glory.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20.
Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Sunday after Holy Cross
The Reading is from Mark 8:34-38; 9:1
The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."
Today we celebrate a 1-Year Memorial for the repose of the soul of Angeline Neforos. May her memory be eternal.
The Ladies Philoptochos will have a meeting today following the Divine Liturgy. It's a New Year... let's hit the ground running!
GOYAns are selling Fall Mums again this year! Orders with payments will be taken through Sunday, September 21, with delivery on September 30. Forms are everywhere! Thank you!
Bible Study has begun again on Wednesday mornings at 10:30am. Everyone is welcome to join us!
There will be Dance Practice this Wednesday evening , September 19, for Little Angels at 6pm, and the Junior Hellenics at 6:30pm.
The Church Record Books of Baptisms, Weddings, and Deaths before 1951 have been missing since the move from the old church to our present location. In an effort to restore this valuable information, we ask if you have any certificates from this time period, that you bring them in to be copied, or mail in a copy. Thank you!!
With Fr. Emmanuel's blessing and the permission of the Parish Council, John Diamantis presents his Senior Project to you. Choosing Holy Trinity to be the benefactor of his efforts in this project, John would like to ask for donations for the purchase of new altar boy vestments. Being an altar boy since he was 7 years old, John knows the need for fresh robes for the current altar boys as well as the new incoming altar boys. Please talk to John about his project and watch for more information from him. Donation checks must be made out to Holy Trinity Church with "Altar Boy robes" in the memo. Thank you!
In conjunction with the Ambridge Festival of Churches, there will be an Ambridge Historic Churches Tour on Friday evening, September 28, from 6:30 to 9:30. Tickets for the tour are $10 per person and are available in the Church Office.
Ambridge will hold its Festival of Churches on Saturday, September 29, from 10:30am to 7pm. We will be participating but the Parish Council is looking for someone to be the Chairperson for the event. Please talk to Alex Barlamas for details.
The Pittsburgh Metropolis will hold its 2018 Clergy-Laity-Philoptochos-Youth Workers Assembly on Saturday, September 29, at Holy Cross Church of Mt. Lebanon. Registration opens at 9am, with the program beginning at 10am with the Invocation and Keynote Address. Lunch is included and the event will wrap up by 5pm. The Assembly will have three Tracks: Clergy-Laity, Philoptochos, and Youth Workers. Cost is $100 per delegate. Registration forms are in the Church Office and are due by September 24. Or register online at this very long link: events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=bq6isscab&oeidk=a07efdh8tlhefea6cbf.
ONGOING: Altar Boy Robe Senior Project
Food Items for Center for Hope Pantry and FOCUS West Central
Collecting Aluminum Cans for FOCUS West Central
Sunday, September 16 - Philoptochos Meeting following Divine Liturgy
Wednesday, September 19 - Bible Study at 10:30am
Dance Practice at 6pm for Angels and Juniors
Saturday, September 22 - Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery Dinner Banquet
Friday, September 28 - Ambridge Historic Church Tour 6:30-9:30pm
Saturday, September 29 - 9am-5pm: Metropolis Assembly of Clergy-Laity, Philoptochos and Youth Workers at Holy Cross of Mt. Lebanon; Registration due Sept. 24
Ambridge Festival of Churches 10:30am-7pm
Sunday, September 30 - GOYA Mum Delivery
GOYA Urban Air Activity
Sunday, October 7 - JOY Activity during Coffee Hour
Start of Thanksgiving Basket Collection
Sunday, October 14 - Philoptochos Meeting
Start of JOY Toy Drive
Sunday, October 21 - Fall General Assembly
GOYA Bowlathon
Friday, November 9 - Seafood Dinner
Saint Euphemia was from Chalcedon and lived in virginity. According to some, she suffered martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian, in 303; according to others, in 307. Her sacred relics are preserved in the Patriarchate in Constantinople.
These Saints were from Italy and contested for the Faith about the year 126, during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Faith was twelve years old, Hope, ten, and Love, nine; each was tormented and then beheaded, from the eldest to the youngest. Their mother Sophia mourned at their grave for three days, where she also fell asleep in peace; because of her courageous endurance in the face of her daughters' sufferings, she is also counted a martyr. The name Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek; as for her daughters' names, Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity), they are Pistis, Elpis, and Agape in Greek, and Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov in Russian.
This Saint took up the monastic life from his youth, and later became Bishop of Gortynia in Crete. He travelled to Rome, and to Thebes in Upper Egypt, where through his prayers he ended a drought; there also, after working many miracles, he reposed in deep old age. His holy relics were returned to Gortynia and buried at the place called Raxos.
In 278, during the reign of Probus, Saints Trophimus and Sabbatius came to Antioch, and seeing the city celebrating the festival of Apollo at Daphne lamented the blindness of the people, and presented themselves as Christians to Atticus the Governor. Saint Trophimus was stripped of his clothing, and was stretched out and beaten until the earth was red with his blood. Then he was hung up, scraped on his sides, and imprisoned in torments. Saint Sabbatius was tortured so savagely that he gave up his spirit in his sufferings. Trophimus was sent to Synnada, wearing iron shoes fitted with sharp iron nails within; he was further tormented without mercy, then cast into prison. Dorymedon, a counsellor, and a pagan, came to the prison and cared for Trophimus. When a certain feast came, Dorymedon was asked why he did not sacrifice to the idols; he proclaimed himself a Christian, for which he was imprisoned, pierced with heated spits, frightfully punished, and finally beheaded with Saint Trophimus.
The holy Martyr Eustathius before his baptism was an illustrious Roman general named Placidas in the days of the Emperor Trajan. While hunting in the country one day, he was converted to the Faith of Christ through the apparition of an uncommonly majestic stag, between whose antlers he saw the Cross of Christ, and through which the Lord spoke to him with a human voice. Upon returning home, he learned that his wife Tatiana had also had a vision in which she was instructed to become a Christian. They sought out the Bishop of the Christians and were baptized, Placidas receiving the name Eustathius, and Tatiana the name Theopiste; their two sons were baptized Agapius and Theopistus. The family was then subjected to such trials as Job endured. Their servants died, all their goods were stolen, and on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem they were scattered abroad, each not even knowing if the others were still alive. By the providence of God, they were united again after many years, and returned to Rome in glory. Nevertheless, when they refused to sacrifice to the idols-a public sacrifice from which no Roman general could be absent-the Emperor Hadrian, who had succeeded Trajan, had them put into a large bronze device in the shape of a bull, which was heated with fire until they died. When their holy bodies were removed, they were found to be without harm. They suffered martyrdom about the year 126.
Saint Quadratus was a disciple of the Apostles, and became Bishop of Athens. According to the Synaxaristes, he contested for the Faith in the year 117, in the reign of Hadrian (117-138), but according to others, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180).
The Prophet Jonah, the son of Amathi, of the town of Geth-hopher (IV Kings 14:25), was of the tribe of Zabulon; he prophesied during the years 838-810 before Christ. God commanded him to go to Nineveh, the great city of the Assyrians, and to proclaim that its destruction was nigh at hand because of the sins of its people. But he, as a Prophet who knew the great compassion of God, feared that at his preaching the Ninevites would repent; that God, accepting their repentance in His love for man, would not fulfill Jonah' threats; and that he would be branded a false prophet. So he disobeyed the divine command, and boarded a ship and departed elsewhere. Yet, the sudden and fearful sea-storm and the revelation of Jonah' disbedience caused the sailors to cast him into the sea. A great sea-monster appeared straightway by divine providence, and swallowed him up. For three days and nights he was found in its belly and he prayed, saying the words, "I cried aloud in my affliction unto the Lord my God..." (Jonah 2:3, the Sixth ode of the Holy Psalter). The sea-monster then vomited him up on dry land and he again heard God's command. Wherefore, he went and preached, saying, "In three days, Nineveh shall be destroyed." The people became terrified and all repented. The great, the small, babes at the breast, and even the irrational beasts themselves fasted, and thus, having found mercy from God, they were spared His wrath. Jonah' book of prophecy is divided into four chapters, and is placed fifth in order among the twelve minor Prophets. His three-day sojourn in the sea-monster's belly is an image of our Saviour's three-day burial and His life-bringing Resurrection (Matt. 12:39-40). His name means "dove."