Εβρ 1:10-14, 2:1-3 

Κατ' ἀρχάς σὺ, Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανοί· αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτούς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται· σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσι. Πρὸς τίνα δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἴρηκέ ποτε· κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχ θρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου; οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν; Διὰ τοῦτο δεῖ περισσοτέρως ἡμᾶς προσέχειν τοῖς ἀκουσθεῖσι, μή ποτε παραῤῥυῶμεν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ δι' Ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς λόγος ἐγένετο βέβαιος, καὶ πᾶσα παράβασις καὶ παρακοὴ ἔλαβεν ἔνδικον μισθαποδοσίαν, πῶς ἡμεῖς ἐκφευξόμεθα τηλικαύτης ἀμελήσαντες σωτηρίας; ἥτις ἀρχὴν λαβοῦσα λαλεῖσθαι διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκουσάντων εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐβεβαιώθη.

Μαρ βʹ 1 - 12

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, εἰσῆλθε ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Καπερναοὺμ δι' ἡμερῶν καὶ ἠκούσθη ὅτι εἰς οἶκόν ἐστι. καὶ εὐθέως συνήχθησαν πολλοὶ, ὥστε μηκέτι χωρεῖν μηδὲ τὰ πρὸς τὴν θύραν· καὶ ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον. καὶ ἔρχονται πρὸς αὐτὸν παραλυτικὸν φέροντες, αἰρόμενον ὑπὸ τεσσάρων. καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι προσεγγίσαι αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον, ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην ὅπου ἦν, καὶ ἐξορύξαντες χαλῶσι τὸν κράβαττον ἐφ' ᾧ ὁ παραλυτικὸς κατέκειτο. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ παραλυτικῷ· Τέκνον, ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου. ἦσαν δέ τινες τῶν γραμματέων ἐκεῖ καθήμενοι καὶ διαλογιζόμενοι ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν· Τί οὗτος οὕτως λαλεῖ βλασφημίας; τίς δύναται ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός; καὶ εὐθέως ἐπιγνοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ ὅτι οὕτως αὐτοὶ διαλογίζονται ἐν ἑαυτοῖς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τί ταῦτα διαλογίζεσθε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν; τί ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον, εἰπεῖν τῷ παραλυτικῷ, ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι, ἢ εἰπεῖν, ἔγειρε καὶ ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ περιπάτει; ἵνα δὲ εἰδῆτε ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀφιέναι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἁμαρτίας - λέγει τῷ παραλυτικῷ· Σοὶ λέγω, ἔγειρε καὶ ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. καὶ ἠγέρθη εὐθέως, καὶ ἄρας τὸν κράβαττον ἐξῆλθεν ἐναντίον πάντων, ὥστε ἐξίστασθαι πάντας καὶ δοξάζειν τὸν Θεὸν λέγοντας ὅτι οὐδέποτε οὕτως εἴδομεν.

2nd Sunday of Great Lenten - Saint Gregory Palamas

My beloved friends in the Lord:

             This Sunday is the Sunday of Saint Gregory Palamas. Saint Gregory taught that the whole ascetical tradition of the Holy Church that he defended is about stripping off the layers of falsehood to reveal the true self that lies buried underneath – and this true self is the human person as it was created by God. Is this our Orthodox Faith about self-sacrifice. We sacrifice the old man, not just for the sake of it, but to become the new man. As Saint Paul says, we crucify the old self with its passions, and we are transformed into the radiant beauty of the transfigured and deified self.

             Allow my humble person to share with you a little story that comes from Saint John of the Ladder – a story about someone who walked this path, and began to discover his true self. Sant John tells of a rich and powerful man named Isidore who wished to become a monk. But when he first arrived in the monastery he was arrogant and troublesome. And so the abbot stepped in to deal with him and said to him, “Isidore, the first thing you must learn in the monastery is obedience, so here’s what I want you to do, go down to the gate of the monastery and every time someone passes through that gate I want you to do a prostration in front of him and say ‘Father pray for me for I have an evil spirit.’” So Isidore went down to the gate and did this for a whole day. And the next day he did the same thing, and the next day, and the next, until a year had passed, and then another and another. Only after 7 years, the abbot said to Isidore, “Now you’re able to become a monk.” And Saint John of the Ladder says that he asked Isidore, “What were you thinking about all of those years?” And Isidore said, “The first year I felt as though I had been sold into slavery. The second year my heart was no longer full of grief and I began to think that God would reward me. But in the third year I began to see that I am unworthy to be here and to receive the Mysteries with these Fathers. And then I began to sincerely ask each and every person who passed through that gate for their prayers.” And Isidore asked Saint John to intercede for him with the abbot. He no longer wished to be a monk, but wanted to pass the remainder of his life doing what he had been doing those past 7 years.

             Like the treasure buried in a field for which we sell everything else that we have Isidore found his true calling and began to find his true self. Through the prayers of our father among the Saints, Gregory Palamas, may all of us through God’s Grace do likewise during this season of Great Lent.   

             Praying that we faithfully traverse the journey of the Great Lent so that it may lead us to a greater level of spiritual awareness and closeness with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I humbly remain,

 With paternal love and blessings in Christ,

+Protopresbyter Panagiotis

The following services will be celebrated in March

9:00am - Orthros and Divine Liturgy

Memorials

* Chrissoula Potaris - 2 year memorial

* Koralia Katsiadakis - 3 year memorial

* Nikolaos Kamitsis - 6 year memorial

May their memory be eternal!

Church Calendar

* Sunday School - Will begin as soon as the number of COVID cases decreases significantly.

  200 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑ!

ΖΗΤΩ Η 25η ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ! ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΛΛΑΣ!

 DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS

FELLOWSHIP HOUR HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

ABSOLUTELY NO GATHERINGS IN THE CHURCH HALL.