Sunday & Weekday Services
9:00am - Orthros and Divine Liturgy
Fifth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Luke 24:13-35
At that time, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see." And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 67.35,26.
God is wonderful among his saints.
Verse: Bless God in the congregations.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 4:22-27.
Brethren, Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married."
5th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 8:28-34; 9:1
At that time, when Jesus came to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one would pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.
Γα 4:22-27
Ἀδελφοί, Ἀβραὰμ δύο υἱοὺς ἔσχεν· ἕνα ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης, καὶ ἕνα ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται, ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας διὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. Ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα· αὗται γάρ εἰσιν δύο διαθῆκαι· μία μὲν ἀπὸ ὄρους Σινᾶ, εἰς δουλείαν γεννῶσα, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἅγαρ. Τὸ γὰρ Ἅγαρ Σινᾶ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ, συστοιχεῖ δὲ τῇ νῦν Ἱερουσαλήμ, δουλεύει δὲ μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς. Ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ πάντων ἡμῶν· γέγραπται γάρ, Εὐφράνθητι, στεῖρα, ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα· ῥῆξον καὶ βόησον, ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα· ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα.
Ματ ηʹ 28 - 34, θʹ 1
Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἐλθόντι τῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν Γεργεσηνῶν ὑπήντησαν αὐτῷ δύο δαιμονιζόμενοι ἐκ τῶν μνημείων ἐξερχόμενοι, χαλεποὶ λίαν, ὥστε μὴ ἰσχύειν τινὰ παρελθεῖν διὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐκείνης. καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔκραξαν λέγοντες· Τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, Ἰησοῦ υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ; ἦλθες ὧδε πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς; ἦν δὲ μακρὰν ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἀγέλη χοίρων πολλῶν βοσκομένη. οἱ δὲ δαίμονες παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· Εἰ ἐκβάλλεις ἡμᾶς, ἐπίτρεψον ἡμῖν ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἀγέλην τῶν χοίρων. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ὑπάγετε. οἱ δὲ ἐξελθόντες ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὴν ἀγέλην τῶν χοίρων · καὶ ἰδοὺ ὥρμησεν πᾶσα ἡ ἀγέλη τῶν χοίρων κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἀπέθανον ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν. οἱ δὲ βόσκοντες ἔφυγον, καὶ ἀπελθόντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπήγγειλαν πάντα καὶ τὰ τῶν δαιμονιζομένων. καὶ ἰδοὺ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ἐξῆλθεν εἰς συνάντησιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν παρεκάλεσαν ὅπως μεταβῇ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐμβὰς εἰς πλοῖον διεπέρασεν καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν πόλιν.
The Lord's Prayer
My beloved in the Lord:
The Lord’s Prayer is prayed at every Divine Liturgy, sacrament and service in the life of the Holy Church. It should also be part of our personal discipline of prayer on a daily basis. It is important to say that the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer of the Son of God Himself given to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. All too often we pray the Lord’s Prayer without thinking about what the words we are saying really mean. It is a summary of the entire Gospel. In the words of this prayer are contained the height, breadth and depth of the Gospel and the purpose and meaning of our lives: that we are called to be the beloved children of the one, true and living God – the Creator of the universe who loves everyone and everything.
By the words, “Our Father” the Lord teaches us to pray not merely as individuals but as members of His the Holy Church. Saint Paul writes: “because we have received adoption as God’s children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:5-6). Through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, Orthodox Christians joyfully address the God who created the universe with stunning intimacy, as our Father. “Hallowed” is the old English word meaning “to make holy” or “to sanctify.” How do we sanctify God’s holy name? We sanctify God’s name by how we live our lives as believers, by being holy ourselves. The words, “Thy Kingdom come” should make us tremble because here we pray for the end of the world and the coming of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (Revelation 6:1-8). We pray for the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:30-46), that final day when everyone will stand before what Saint Paul calls “the dread judgment seat of Christ” (II Corinthians 5:10) to give an account for how we have lived. In saying “Thy will be done” we recognize that we find meaning for our lives only by doing God’s Will and not our own. The purpose of life cannot be found in what I want. It can be found only in what God wants. The Church Fathers have interpreted the petition for “our daily bread” in two ways: first, that we are declaring our total dependence on God for our day-to-day existence and that whatever we have to sustain our life is a gift from God; and the second, that this is a prayer for the Bread of Life, the Eucharistic Bread that is His Body that we will receive in the Sacrament of Holy Communion (John 6:53-58). Next, we ask God to forgive us as we forgiven others “who have trespassed against us.” In the Gospels of Mark 11:25 and Matthew 6:14, Christ makes it perfectly clear that we cannot ask God for forgiveness unless we are prepared to forgive others. The petition, “Lead us not into temptation…” is made absolutely clear by Holy Scriptures that: “…God cannot be tempted by evil and He tempts no one. Rather, one is tempted by one’s own desire” (James 1:13-14). When we are tempted by our own desires, we are pulled away from God’s loving Presence, making us children of evil instead of children of the God who is love (I John 4:8). By praying the Lord’s Prayer in total faithfulness, we can join Saint Paul and declare with him: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Praying that the abundant blessings of Almighty God and the prayers of the Holy Theotokos be with you and your loved ones, I humbly remain,
With paternal love and blessings in the Lord,
Protopresbyter Panagiotis
July Liturgical Calendar
Tuesday, July 27th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Saint Panteleimon the Great Martyr)
August Liturgical Calendar
Sunday, August 1st - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (6th Sunday of Matthew)
Monday, August 2nd - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Tuesday, August 3rd - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Wednesday, August 4th - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Thursday, August 5th - 7:00pm Great Vespers for the Forefeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord
Friday, August 6th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Transfiguration of our Lord)
Sunday, August 8th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (7th Sunday of Matthew)
Monday, August 9th - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Tuesday, August 10th - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Wednesday, August 11th - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Thursday, August 12th - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Friday, August 13th - 7:00pm Paraklesis
Saturday, August 14th - 7:00pm Great Vespers for the Forefeast of the Kimisis Tis Theotokou
Sunday, August 15th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Kimisis Tis Theotokou)
Sunday, August 22nd - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (9th Sunday of Matthew)
Sunday, August 29th - 9:00am Orthros & Divine Liturgy (Beheading of St. John the Baptist)
The Mystery of Holy Confession
Artoclasia Service for Sunday, July 25th
Anastasia Rizik & Family
Memorial Services for Sunday, July 25th
Adroniki Koutoulia - 1 Year Memorial
Magdalene Milonaki - 1 Year Memorial
May their memory be eternal.
Phanouropita Service for Sunday, July 25th
Argyro Damiris & Family
July Calendar
Thursday, July 29th - 12:00pm Agape Luncheon
According to tradition, Anna, the ancestor of God, lived for sixty-nine years, and her spouse Joachim, for eighty; according to one account, Saint Joachim died two years before Saint Anna. The Theotokos had been orphaned of both her parents already when she was eleven years of age, when she was living in the Temple (see Sept. 8 and Nov. 21). Saint Anna is invoked for conceiving children, and for help in difficult childbirth.
Panagia's Panigiri