Come and Worship!

Just in case you don't know - Nativity is open for worship! Join us in person (masks and social distancing required) or watch online: Visit our livestream web page to see the services.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, February 21, Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee (Triodion Begins) 8:45am Orthros & 10am Divine Liturgy (click here to view the Liturgy for the Day)

Tuesday, February 23, Zoom Bible Study at 11am Click the link below to join the meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9177749823?pwd=MUlWaHE2aXh5WCtCNmJHay90NDFjUT09

Meeting ID: 917 774 9823 Passcode: 023606

Wednesday, February 24, Paraklesis at 7pm Call or email the church office with your prayer requests.

Saturday, February 27 - Drive-Thru Lamb Dinner - Order envelopes available at church or print the attached file and mail it to the office with your payment. Click here to order online.

Lamb Dinner

News and Announcements

TO ALL MEMBERS WHO WORK WITH OUR YOUTH - Those who received their certification last year are due to once again complete the two online training courses. You should have recently received an email about this from our youth safety contractor, Praesidium Armatus.

***It has come to our attention that some of you may not have received an automated email from our youth safety contractor, Praesidium Armatus, with a link to the training videos. That's ok. You can access the training materials yourself at any time by going to this website: https://armatus2.praesidiuminc.com/armatusUser/login

The site will ask for your username and password. These are the same ones you used last year to complete the training.

Please log onto the website and complete these two training courses as soon as possible, but no later than the deadline of February 28. Only after your training is completed will you be a certified youth safety worker allowed to work with children in the parish. If you completed a background check last year, there is no need to complete one again this year.

If you did not receive your certification last year and would like to receive it now, please get in touch with me, Christina Tzilos. I can be reached via email at ctzilos@gmail.com or by telephone at 248-798-3627.

NEWS FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL Call for General Assembly on Sunday, March 14. On the agenda is the 2021 budget, Proposal to establish an endowment account, proposal to fund critical repairs to the church building and proposal to change number of voting members needed for a quorum. Your presence is needed to discuss these items and take care of church business. More information has been sent out via Postal Mail to our voting members.

FAITH LIKE A MUSTARD SEED - Have you pondered how to pass Orthodox faith and heritage to your children, godchildren or grandchildren? Or, have you made observations about formal religious education and wondered if there is something that could more deeply connect children to their innate relationship with God? Beginning in March, Vicki Tarazi will be leading a Zoom Book study based on the book The Religious Potential of the Child: Experiencing Scripture and Liturgy with Young Children. Click here for the Introductory Video. Contact Vicki at bookstudy@nativitygochurch.org if you would like more information.

NATIVITY FOOD PANTRY - Specific needs: canned chicken, veggies and pasta sauce!

Canned soups, cereals, pasta/sauce, Mac and Cheese (the kind that doesn't require milk and butter), Toilet paper, Paper towels, soap.

If you need assistance feel free to reach out to Father Nick, the church office or Parish Council President, Pete Tsaprazis at any time. Your needs will be kept confidential.

Keep track of Feasts, Fasts, Saints and Celebrations in 2021- Pick up a new Ecclesiastical Calendar. Thanks to Charles R. Step Funeral Home for sponsoring them for Nativity.

TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY Did you know that Fr. Nick offers a Zoom Bible study on Tuesdays at 11:00 am? He'd love to have you join the lively discussion. Click here to join the zoom session.

"THE THREE HIERARCHS" GREEK SCHOOL RESUMES CLASSES ONLINE - You may contact Anna Liakou-Hentnik for more specific information at nativity_greek_school@yahoo.com

ALTAR BOYS Please arrive no later than 9:45 am if you plan to serve. Masks are required, social distance must be maintained. Contact Bill Smith if you have any questions.

Those in Our Prayers

Nicholas the Bishop, George the Priest, Philemon the Priest, Svetomir the Priest, Cassani the Presvytera, Adel Boles and Family, Mary Caracostas, Brandi Cauthen, Angeliki Dellas, Maria Dionyssopoulos, Constantin Dumitrescu, Kosta Efthimiou, Maria Espinosa, George Fine, Donna Hollis, John Houstoulakis, Gail Jaska, Kathy Jenaras, Maria Kalas, Helen Kaneris, Pat Karimalis, Ted Kithes, Constantine Kondyles, Panagiotis Korelis, George Kotsonis, Soula Koumariotis, Panayiota Koutoupa, Anastasia Kyriazako, Andrula Loisides, John and Julie Long, Anyssa Mahfoud, Wade Mahfoud, Anna Marcus, Bessie Marcus, Angela Mareskas, Frank Maroudis, David Meadors, Chris Milianis, Freda Mollasis, Evelyn Morris, Donka Nanovski, Pavle Nanovski, Alexander Nichoff, Carlo Nichoff, Freda Nicozisis, Marcy Papageorgakis, John Pappas, Marilyn Popyk, Penny Poulos, Maria Rifat, Helen Sitaras, Joan Stockdale, Evan Kostonas Stocklane, Mike Tjilos, Rick Tobin, Jim Tsakos, Evris and Helen Tsaprazis, John and Catherine Vardouniotis, Maryann Varverakis, Jim Vlahakis, Irene Vouharas, Sheri Wilkins, Irene Yiannati, Sandy Zembylas, Lisa Zervos, Hunsinger Family, Constandina “Michele”, Kyriakos “Chaz”, Stephanos “Roy”, Norma and Basom.

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

When the women Disciples of the Lord had learned from the Angel the joyful message of the Resurrection and had rejected the ancestral decision, they cried aloud to the Apostles triumphantly: Death has been despoiled, Christ God has risen, granting His great mercy to the world.

Τὸ φαιδρὸν τῆς Ἀναστάσεως κήρυγμα, ἐκ τοῦ Ἀγγέλου μαθοῦσαι αἱ τοῦ Κυρίου Μαθήτριαι, καὶ τὴν προγονικὴν ἀπόφασιν ἀπορρίψασαι, τοῖς Ἀποστόλοις καυχώμεναι ἔλεγον· Ἐσκύλευται ὁ θάνατος, ἠγέρθη Χριστὸς ὁ Θεός, δωρούμενος τῷ κόσμῳ τὸ μέγα ἔλεος.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Mode

Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. Let us cry out to the Savior, "Have mercy on us, for through You alone are we reconciled."

Φαρισαίου φύγωμεν ὑψηγορίαν, καὶ Τελώνου μάθωμεν, τὸ ταπεινὸν ἐν στεναγμοῖς, πρὸς τὸν Σωτῆρα κραυγάζοντες· Ἵλαθι μόνε ἡμῖν εὐδιάλλακτε.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

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 St. Paul's Second Letter to Timothy 3:10-15.

TIMOTHY, my son, you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at lconion, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Προκείμενον. Fourth Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 103.24,1.
Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου Κύριε, πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας.
Στίχ. Εὐλόγει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Τιμόθεον β' 3:10-15.

Τέκνον Τιμόθεε, παρηκολούθηκάς μου τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, τῇ ἀγωγῇ, τῇ προθέσει, τῇ πίστει, τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ, τῇ ἀγάπῃ, τῇ ὑπομονῇ, τοῖς διωγμοῖς, τοῖς παθήμασιν, οἷά μοι ἐγένετο ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, ἐν Ἰκονίῳ, ἐν Λύστροις, οἵους διωγμοὺς ὑπήνεγκα· καὶ ἐκ πάντων με ἐρρύσατο ὁ κύριος. Καὶ πάντες δὲ οἱ θέλοντες εὐσεβῶς ζῇν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ διωχθήσονται. Πονηροὶ δὲ ἄνθρωποι καὶ γόητες προκόψουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον, πλανῶντες καὶ πλανώμενοι. Σὺ δὲ μένε ἐν οἷς ἔμαθες καὶ ἐπιστώθης, εἰδὼς παρὰ τίνος ἔμαθες, καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ βρέφους τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδας, τὰ δυνάμενά σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν διὰ πίστεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today
The Reading is from Luke 18:10-14

The Lord said this parable, "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today
Κατὰ Λουκᾶν 18:10-14

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τήν παραβολὴν ταύτην· Ἄνθρωποι δύο ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν προσεύξασθαι, ὁ εἷς Φαρισαῖος καὶ ὁ ἕτερος τελώνης. ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο· ὁ Θεός, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἅρπαγες, ἄδικοι, μοιχοί, ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης· νηστεύω δὶς τοῦ σαββάτου, ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα ὅσα κτῶμαι. καὶ ὁ τελώνης μακρόθεν ἑστὼς οὐκ ἤθελεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐπᾶραι, ἀλλ᾿ ἔτυπτεν εἰς τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ λέγων· ὁ Θεός, ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ. λέγω ὑμῖν, κατέβη οὗτος δεδικαιωμένος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἢ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος· ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται.

Wisdom of the Fathers

It is possible for those who have come back again after repentance to shine with much lustre, and oftentimes more than those who have never fallen at all, I have demonstrated from the divine writings. Thus at least both the publicans and the harlots inherit the kingdom of Heaven, thus many of the last are placed before the first.

St. John Chrysostom

AN EXHORTATION TO THEODORE AFTER HIS FALL, 4th Century

When lately we made mention of the Pharisee and the publican, and hypothetically yoked two chariots out of virtue and vice; we pointed out each truth, how great is the gain of humbleness of mind, and how great the damage of pride.

St. John Chrysostom

CONCERNING LOWLINESS OF MIND., 4th Century

Saints and Feasts

February 21

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today

The Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our Lord, they "did all their works to be seen of men" (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid. 23: 13, 14, 15, etc.), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre's sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble-mindedness.

Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty-day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labors by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self-esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humility confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest heights.

All foods are allowed the week that follows this Sunday.

February 23

Polycarp the Holy Martyr & Bishop of Smyrna

This apostolic and prophetic man, and model of faith and truth, was a disciple of John the Evangelist, successor of Bucolus (Feb. 6), and teacher of Irenaeus (Aug. 23). He was an old man and full of days when the fifth persecution was raised against the Christians under Marcus Aurelius. When his pursuers, sent by the ruler, found Polycarp, he commanded that they be given something to eat and drink, then asked them to give him an hour to pray; he stood and prayed, full of grace, for two hours, so that his captors repented that they had come against so venerable a man. He was brought by the Proconsul of Smyrna into the stadium and was commanded, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, 'Away with the atheists.'" By atheists, the Proconsul meant the Christians. But Polycarp, gazing at the heathen in the stadium, waved his hand towards them and said, "Away with the atheists." When the Proconsul urged him to blaspheme against Christ, he said: "I have been serving Christ for eighty-six years, and He has wronged me in nothing; how can I blaspheme my King Who has saved me?" But the tyrant became enraged at these words and commanded that he be cast into the fire, and thus he gloriously expired about the year 163. As Eusebius says, "Polycarp everywhere taught what he had also learned from the Apostles, which also the Church has handed down; and this alone is true" (Eccl. Hist., Book IV, ch. 14,15).

February 25

Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople

This Saint was the son of one of the foremost princes in Constantinople, and was originally a consul and first among the Emperor's private counselors. Then, in 784, he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople by the Sovereigns Irene and her son Constantine Porphyrogenitus. He convoked the Seventh Ecumenical Council that upheld the holy icons, and became the boast of the Church and a light to the clergy. He reposed in 806.

February 26

The Holy Great Martyr Photine, the Samaritan Women

Saint Photine was the Samaritan Woman who encountered Christ our Saviour at Jacob's Well (John 4:1-42). Afterwards she laboured in the spread of the Gospel in various places, and finally received the crown of martyrdom in Rome with her two sons and five sisters, during the persecutions under the Emperor Nero.

February 26

Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza

Saint Porphyrius had Thessalonica as his homeland. He became a monk in Scete of Egypt, where he lived for five years. He went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, after which he spent five years in much affliction in a cave near the Jordan. Stricken with a disease of the liver, he departed to Jerusalem, where he was ordained presbyter and appointed Keeper of the Cross at the age of 45. Three years later he was made Bishop of Gaza. He suffered much from the rulers and pagans of Gaza; but with the friendship of Saint John Chrysostom, and the patronage of the Empress Eudoxia, he razed the temple of the idol Marnas in Gaza and built a great church to the glory of God. He reposed in 450.

Memorials and Trisagion

Three Month Memorial for Stefanos Chatziangelidis
Beloved Grandfather of Stefanos (Sissy) Chatziangelidis.
Loving Great-grandfather of Vyron and Ilias.

Two Year Memorial for Evangelia Tatari
Beloved sister of Magdalini and Georgia Vamvouka,
sister-law of Evangelos Skoures, aunt of Pantelis Skoures

May their memory be eternal.

Stewardship and Online Giving

Thank you Faithful Stewards! - 2020 Giving Statements were sent by Email to members who have addresses in their member profile. Paper copies will be mailed early next week. If you do not receive your giving statement or if corrections are needed, contact the Parish Office.

We can set up your electronic giving - it's safe, easy and means more accuracy and less work for our offering counters and office staff. Just print out the attached enrollment form and return it to Kathy in the Parish Office.

abundant giving

Introducing Abundant Online Giving

Nativity's new online giving service! You can donate by App (available for Apple or Android devices) by web (link on our web page) by ACH/EFT (Kathy will set it up for you) or by texting the keyword "nativitygochurch" to 73256 followed by your desired gift amount. This program connects directly with our parish data system - so your stewardship gifts are imported directly into your record. Contact Kathy in the church office if you have questions.

Nativity's Gmail Calendar

Nativity Calendar

February 21 to March 8, 2021

Sunday, February 21

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee: Triodion Begins Today

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, February 22

Fast Free

The Finding of the Precious Relics of the Holy Martyrs in the Quarter of Eugenius

Tuesday, February 23

Fast Free

Polycarp the Holy Martyr & Bishop of Smyrna

11:00AM Zoom Bible Study

Wednesday, February 24

Fast Free

First & Second Finding of the Venerable Head of John the Baptist

7:00PM Paraklesis

Thursday, February 25

Fast Free

Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople

Friday, February 26

Fast Free

Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza

Saturday, February 27

Fast Free

Procopius the Confessor of Decapolis

3:00PM Drive-Thru Lamb Dinner

Sunday, February 28

Fast Free

Memorials and Trisagion

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, March 1

Fast Free

The Holy Righteous Martyr Eudocia the Samaritan

Tuesday, March 2

Fast Free

Hesychius the Martyr

11:00AM Zoom Bible Study

Wednesday, March 3

Strict Fast

The Holy Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus

7:00PM Paraklesis

Thursday, March 4

Fast Free

Gerasimus the Righteous of Jordan

Friday, March 5

Strict Fast

Fast Free

Conon the Gardener

Saturday, March 6

Saturday of Souls

8:45AM Orthros and Divine Liturgy

Sunday, March 7

Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday)

8:45AM Orthros

10:00AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, March 8

Dairy Allowed

Theophylact the Confessor, Bishop of Nicomedia

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