Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal Second Mode

Angelic powers were above Thy tomb, and they that guarded Thee became as dead. And Mary stood by the grave seeking Thine immaculate Body. Thou hast despoiled Hades and wast not tried thereby. Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst grant us life. O Thou Who didst arise from the dead, Lord, glory be to Thee.

Apolytikion for Holy Ascension in the Fourth Mode

Thou hast ascended in glory, O Christ our God, and gladdened Thy disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit; and they were assured by the blessing that Thou art the Son of God and Redeemer of the world.

Apolytikion for Fathers of the 1st Council in the Plagal Fourth Mode

Most glorified art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast established our Fathers as luminous stars upon the earth, and through them didst guide us all to the true Faith. O Most Merciful One, glory be to Thee.

Apolytikion for Kimisis Tis Theotokou in the First Mode

In giving birth, you preserved your virginity; in your dormition, you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. You were translated unto life, since you are the Mother of Life, and by your intercessions, you do redeem our souls from death.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Second Mode

O Christ our God, upon fulfilling Your dispensation for our sake, You ascended in Glory, uniting the earthly with the heavenly. You were never separate but remained inseparable, and cried out to those who love You, "I am with you and no one is against you."

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Tenth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 21:1-14

At that time, being raised from the dead, Jesus revealed himself to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Daniel 3.26,27.
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers.
Verse: For you are just in all you have done.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 20:16-18, 28-36.

IN THOSE DAYS, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesos, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And from Miletos he sent to Ephesos and called to him the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.' " And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Gospel Reading

Fathers of the 1st Council
The Reading is from John 17:1-13

At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made.

"I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you did send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are mine; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves."

Απόστολος και Ευαγγέλιον

Πρ 20:16-18, 28-36

Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, ἔκρινεν ὁ Παῦλος παραπλεῦσαι τὴν ῎Εφεσον, ὅπως μὴ γένηται αὐτῷ χρονοτριβῆσαι ἐν τῇ 'Ασίᾳ· ἔσπευδε γάρ, εἰ δυνατὸν ἦν αὐτῷ, τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς γενέσθαι εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα 'Απὸ δὲ τῆς Μιλήτου πέμψας εἰς ῎Εφεσον μετεκαλέσατο τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Ὡς δὲ παρεγένοντο πρὸς αὐτόν, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Προσέχετε οὖν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ῞Αγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους, ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος. Ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τοῦτο, ὅτι εἰσελεύσονται μετὰ τὴν ἄφιξίν μου λύκοι βαρεῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς μὴ φειδόμενοι τοῦ ποιμνίου· καὶ ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀναστήσονται ἄνδρες λαλοῦντες διεστραμμένα τοῦ ἀποσπᾶν τοὺς μαθητὰς ὀπίσω αὐτῶν. Διὸ γρηγορεῖτε, μνημονεύοντες ὅτι τριετίαν νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν οὐκ ἐπαυσάμην μετὰ δακρύων νουθετῶν ἕνα ἕκαστον. Καὶ τὰ νῦν παρατίθεμαι ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, τῷ Θεῷ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ τῷ δυναμένῳ ἐποικοδομῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι ὑμῖν κληρονομίαν ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις πᾶσιν. Ἀργυρίου ἢ χρυσίου ἢ ἱματισμοῦ οὐδενὸς ἐπεθύμησα· αὐτοὶ γινώσκετε ὅτι ταῖς χρείαις μου καὶ τοῖς οὖσι μετ' ἐμοῦ ὑπηρέτησαν αἱ χεῖρες αὗται πάντα ὑπέδειξα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὕτω κοπιῶντας δεῖ ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν ἀσθενούντων, μνημονεύειν τε τῶν λόγων τοῦ Κυρίου 'Ιησοῦ, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε· μακάριόν ἐστι μᾶλλον διδόναι ἢ λαμβάνειν. Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπών, θεὶς τὰ γόνατα αὐτοῦ σὺν πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς προσηύξατο.

Ιωα ιζʹ 1 - 13

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐπάρας ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, εἶπε· Πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα· δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν, ἵνα καὶ ὁ υἱὸς σου δοξάσῃ σέ, καθὼς ἔδωκας αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ δώσῃ αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, ἵνα γινώσκωσιν σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸ ἔργον ἐτελειώσα ὃ δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω· καὶ νῦν δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί. Ἐφανέρωσά σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὓς δέδωκάς μοι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. σοὶ ἦσαν καὶ ἐμοὶ αὐτοὺς δέδωκας, καὶ τὸν λόγον σου τετηρήκασι. νῦν ἔγνωκαν ὅτι πάντα ὅσα δέδωκάς μοι παρὰ σοῦ εἰσιν· ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἔδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας. ἐγὼ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐρωτῶ· οὐ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου ἐρωτῷ ἀλλὰ περὶ ὧν δέδωκάς μοι, ὅτι σοί εἰσι, καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστιν καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς. καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἰσί, καὶ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι. Πάτερ ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου οὓς δέδωκάς μοι, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν καθὼς ἡμεῖς. ὅτε ἤμην μετ' αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἐγὼ ἐτήρουν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου οὓς δέδωκάς μοι ἐφύλαξα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπώλετο εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθῇ. νῦν δὲ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι, καὶ ταῦτα λαλῶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἵνα ἔχωσι τὴν χαρὰν τὴν ἐμὴν πεπληρωμένην ἐν αὑτοῖς.

Orthodoxy in Brief — St. Katherine Orthodox Church

Pastoral Reflections

"I Believe...."

My beloved in the Lord:

Today is the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. In today’s Gospel lesson, we read what is called “The High Priestly Prayer” of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the prayer that our Lord offered over His disciples, and indeed over the whole world, before His Passion. His prayer was a prayer for unity of the faithful and a unity of the Faith. In His prayer, He also was teaching us about the relationship between Him and His Father.

Our Lord tells us that eternal life is to know God the Father, and Jesus Christ, and to know them eternally. He asks the Father to glorify Him with the glory which the Son had with the Father from before the world was created. This not only speaks to the eternal Divinity of the Son of God but of the timelessness of God. His prayer is for us to share the timelessness of eternity, with the bounds of time that control us in our earthly life.

Today we remember the 318 Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, who in the year 325, authored the Nicene Creed, which we confess at every Divine Liturgy. In the English language, the Nicene Creed is just over 200 words which describe succinctly what it is we believe about the Holy Trinity. The reason this Gospel is read today is because it talks about the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, which is stated in the Nicene Creed.

In order to be an Orthodox Christian, there are a few things that one needs to believe. The first is that God created the heavens and the earth. Someone greater than us created the world and created the first people in the world. God made everything and He made it perfect. He created the first human beings as perfect people also. He did not create them with inherent flaws. He did endow them with the gift of free will.

The second thing one needs to believe is that the world fell through sin. Mankind used its free will to go away from God, and this event is called the “Fall.” The “Fall” opened a multitude of bad things for the world – sickness, strife, and eventually death.

God, because of His love, wanted to redeem the world, to give mankind another chance. But in order to accomplish this, two things needed to happen. Someone had to pay the debt for our first sin and mankind was again presented with a choice – to be faithful or to stray. In order for our debt of sin to be paid, God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, who came to the earth as a perfect human being (and perfect God), and died on the Cross for our sins. This happened during the reign of Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate is mentioned by name in the Nicene Creed in order to historically date the event of the Crucifixion. The Resurrection is a matter of faith. It is the choice given to Adam and Eve, to, of their own free will, believe in the love and goodness of God, or not to. Faith is not imposed on us – Faith is offer to us through our own free will.

We just celebrated Holy Ascension and next week, we will celebrate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven and offered the gift of grace to the Disciples and Apostles, which He continually offers us today. The third part of the Nicene Creed concerns the Holy Spirit, the “Creator of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets,” and still speaks through faithful and pious people to the present day.

The last part of the Nicene Creed concerns the Holy Church – that it is to be “One, Holy, Catholic (meaning universal) and Apostolic (it is to keep continuity from the time of the Apostles until the present and into the future).” We acknowledge Baptism as the means by which we enter the Holy Church, and we spend our lives learning, preparing and looking “for the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.”

The Divine Liturgy is offered almost entirely in the plural – it is “we” and “us” who pray to the Lord. The Nicene Creed, however, is prayed in the first person because to believe is a personal choice, it is something that “I” must do, that no one can do for me or impose on me.

“I believe in One God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible….”

Praying that the abundant blessings of Almighty God and the prayers of the Holy Theotokos be with you, I humbly remain,

With paternal love and blessings,

Protopresbyter Panagiotis

June & July's Liturgical Calendar

June

* Sunday, June 6th – 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Sunday of the Blind Man)

* Thursday, June 10th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Holy Ascension)

* Sunday, June 13th – 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council)

* Saturday, June 19th – 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Saturday of Souls)

* Sunday, June 20th – 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Holy Pentecost)

* Sunday, June 27th – 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (All Saints)

July

* Sunday, July 4th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Saint Andrew of Crete)

* Sunday, July 11th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Saint Euphemia the Great Martyr)

* Sunday, July 18th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Sunday of the Holy Fathers)

* Sunday, July 25th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Dormition of Saint Anna mother of The Theotokos)

* Tuesday, July 27th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Saint Panteleimon the Great Martyr)

The Mystery of Holy Confession

The Holy Church gives us the gift of confession so that we may cleanse our souls from sin. Those who would like to have their confessions heard, please contact Father Panagiotis at the Church office to schedule an appointment.

Memorials, Artoclasies, Special Services & Events

Memorials

* Sunday, June 13th - 40 day memorial for Sophia Daskalakis

6 month memorial for Vasilios Papadopoulos

1 year memorial for Souzana Papadopoulos

1 year memorial for Demetra Dascaloudis

May their memory be eternal

Church Calendar

June

* Sunday, June 6th - Community Breakfast after Divine Liturgy

* Tuesday, June 8th - 7:30pm Parish Council Meeting

* Sunday, June 13th - 12:00pm General Assembly Meeting

* Saturday, June 19th - 4pm - 8pm Greek BBQ (see attached flyer)

* Thursday, June 24th - 12:00pm Agape Lunch

* Monday, June 28th - 7:00pm Philoptochos Elections

Wisdom of the Fathers

For there is One God, and One Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus. For He still pleads even now as Man for my salvation; ...

St. Gregory the Theologian

4th Theological Oration, 4th Century

... for He continues to wear the Body which He assumed, until He make me God by the power of His Incarnation; although He is no longer known after the flesh -- I mean, the passions of the flesh, the same, except sin, as ours.