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St. Andrew Church
Publish Date: 2023-02-26
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St. Andrew Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (973) 584-0388
  • Fax:
  • (973) 584-3573
  • Street Address:

  • 1447 Sussex Turnpike

  • Randolph, NJ 07869-1830
  • Mailing Address:

  • 1447 Sussex Turnpike

  • Randolph, NJ 07869-1830


Contact Information








Services Schedule

On Sunday we celebrate

Orthros at 8:15 am & Divine Liturgy at 9:30am

Weekday Orthros and Liturgies begin at 8am 

 

 


Past Bulletins


Services at St. Andrew

 Sunday 2/26

+ FORGIVENESS SUNDAY: +Orthros @8:15am & Divine Liturgy @9:30am

 MEMORIAL SERVICE
 
A 40 Day Memorial service will be held for the repose of the soul of +Dimitrios Diamantis, beloved brother of Ourania Koutsoubas, Nicholas Diamantis & Spiri Diamantis Howard. 
May his memory be eternal!

+Forgiveness Vespers @6pm at St. George Greek Orthodox Church 1101 River Rd Piscataway,NJ (see flyer)

 

Divine Services

 Sunday 2/26 Forgiveness Vespers @6pm St. George Church Piscataway

 Monday 2/27 @6pm Office of the Great Compline

 Wednesday 3/1 @ 6pm Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy

 Friday 3/3 @6pm First Salutations

 Saturday 3/4 @ 8am Orthros @9am Liturgy of SJC +Third Saturday of Souls (flyer)

              commemoration of the Miracle of Kollyva wrought by +Saint Theodore 

 

 Sunday of Orthodoxy is next week March 5th

 Rekindle your Saint Andrew connections by coming to church with your family on this day. Please bring your favorite icon to celebrate Sunday of Orthodoxy. It is important to rebuild the beautiful mosaic of our church family through the participation of our people of all ages that make up our worship and community.

 

Participation in services is also available via livestream - go to: Home | St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church (orthodoxws.com) and choose LIVESTREAM on the Menu bar

Prayers/Liturgy can always be found at: https://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/dcs.html

Online Giving System: Website: https://www.standrewgonj.org/ and choose PayPal / online WeShare | Consider making your donations using our   New Abundant App

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Announcements

 SUNDAY COFFEE Hour ON 2/26/23 is hosted by GOYA

Bagels are donated by Jimmy Psaras of ALFA BAGELS on Route 10 in Randolph, NJ
Coffee is donated by Aristotle Leontopoulos of Coffee Associates in Edgewater, NJ
Coffee Hour is hosted by:
  2/26 GOYA , 3/5 Philoptochos,   3/12 PTA, 3/19 DOP, 3/26 Bakaliko…

COLLECTING heavy coats ● shoes ● blankets: Our Church has partnered with St. John’s Ukrainian Church in Whippany to  collect items for the people and children of Ukraine. They frequently ship to Ukraine and have allowed our Church to drop off items. They desperately need new or gently used heavy coats ● shoes ● blankets Please drop off in our social hall through February and March.

ORTHODOX LENTEN STUDY - 1st session Friday March 3rd
Once again we will be having our Orthodox Lenten Study/Bible Study on Friday mornings 10:00 am during Lent.  Please come and talk about important Lenten themes and how they affect our lives.

Sunday of Orthodoxy is next week March 5th
Rekindle your Saint Andrew connections by coming to church with your family on this day. Please bring your favorite icon to celebrate Sunday of Orthodoxy. It is important to rebuild the beautiful mosaic of our church family through the participation of our people of all ages that make up our worship and community.

Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers - Sunday March 5th at 4pm - SS Peter & Paul Orthodox Church - South River, NJ (see flyer)

Oratorical Festival
will be held on Saturday March 11th.  Junior Division for grades 7-9, Senior Division, for grades 10-12.  For more information, please contact Athina at amv1823@gmail.com

 

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Fr. John's Message

 

CATECHETICAL HOMILY
At the Opening of Holy and Great Lent
+ BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Plenitude of the Church
May the Grace and Peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Together with our Prayer, Blessing and Forgiveness Be with All

Most honorable brother Hierarchs and blessed children in the Lord,

By the goodwill and grace of the all-merciful and all-benevolent God, already living in the blessed and reverent period of the Triodion, tomorrow we enter Holy and Great Lent, the arena of fasting and “venerable abstinence” that eliminate the passions, during which the depth and wealth of our Orthodox Tradition and the vigilant care of the Church for the spiritual progress of its children are revealed. As we are reminded by the Holy and Great Council of Crete (June, 2016), “the Orthodox Church, in strict conformity with the apostolic precepts, the synodal canons, and the patristic tradition as a whole, has always proclaimed the great significance of fasting for our spiritual life and salvation” (The Importance of Fasting and its Observance Today, para. 1).

In the life of the Church, all matters have a solid theological foundation and soteriological reference. Orthodox Christians share the “common struggle” of ascesis and fasting “giving thanks in everything” (Thess. 5.18). The Church invites its children to run the race of ascetic exercises as a journey toward Holy Pascha. It is a central experience of the life in Christ that genuine asceticism is never despondent, since it is imbued with the expectation of resurrectional delight. Our hymnology speaks of the “spring of fasting.”

In this sense, far from the trappings of Neoplatonist dualism and the alienating efforts to “mortify the body,” genuine asceticism cannot conceivably aim at the eradication of an “evil body” for the sake of the spirit or the liberation of the soul from the torment of its shackles. As emphasized, “in its authentic expression, ascesis is not directed against the body but against the passions, whose root is spiritual because the intellect is the first to fall to passion. Thus, the body is hardly the great opponent of the ascetic.”

The ascetic endeavor pursues the transcendence of egocentrism, for the sake of love that “does not seek its own” and without which we remain enslaved within ourselves, in the “insatiable ego” and its unquenchable desires. Being self-centered, we shrink and lose our creativity, as has been said: “Whatever we give is multiplied; and whatever we retain for ourselves is lost.” For this reason, the wisdom of the Fathers and the experience of the Church associate the period of fasting with the “showering of mercy,” with good deeds and philanthropy, which are the evidence of surpassing self-love and acquiring existential fullness.

Such wholeness is at all times the characteristic of life in the Church. The liturgical life, ascesis and spirituality, pastoral care and good witness in the world, are expressions of the truth of our faith, interconnected and mutually complementary elements of our Christian identity, which share the eschatological Kingdom as a point of reference and orientation, as well as the completeness and fulfilment of the divine Economy. While church life in all its expressions reflects and depicts the coming Kingdom of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it is the mystery of the Divine Eucharist that above all, as underlined by the late Metropolitan John of Pergamon, recently of blessed memory, “expresses the Church in its fullness” (The Image of the Heavenly Kingdom, Megara 2013, p. 59). “Pure communion,” the rendering of our existence into that of the church, as participation in the Holy Eucharist,’ is the “end” of fasting, the “crown” and “prize” of ascetical struggles (see John Chrysostom, Homilies on Isaiah VI: On the Seraphim, PG 56.139).

Today, in an age of desacralization of life, when humankind “attributes great importance to entirely insignificant things,” our Christian mission is the practical elevation of the existential depth of our Orthodox “triptych of spirituality,” as the inseparable unity of liturgical life, ascetic ethos and solidarity, the essence of the revolution of values in the fields of ethos and civilization constituted by faith in Christ and the divinely-granted freedom of the children of God. We consider it of paramount importance that we should live Holy and Great Lent as a revelation and experience of the true meaning of freedom “for which Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5.1).

With these thoughts and sentiments of love and honor, we wish you, our most honorable brothers in Christ and spiritual children of our Mother Church throughout the world, a smooth course in the arena of fasting, invoking on all of you the grace and mercy of Christ our God, who always delights in the ascetic struggles of His people. To Him belongs the blessed and glorified power of the Kingdom, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen

Holy and Great Lent 2023
ARCHBISHOP BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople
Your fervent supplicant for all before God

 

 

 

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Daily Calendar

Saturday 2/25
2nd Saturday of Souls +Orthros @8am & Divine Liturgy @9am

Sunday 2/26
Forgiveness Sunday +Orthros @8:15am & Divine Liturgy @9:30am
Forgiveness Vespers @6pm at St. George Greek Orthodox Church Piscataway (see flyer)

+Monday 2/27 Clean Monday – Lent begins
@6pm Office of the Great Compline

Tuesday 2/28
@7pm Philoptochos Meeting

Wednesday 3/1
@6pm Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy

Thursday 3/2
@4:30pm Hellenic Afternoon School Classes
Greek Dance ●Group 1 @6:30pm   ●Group 2 @7:15pm   ● GROUP  3 /GOYA @8:00pm

Friday 3/3
@10am  Orthodox Lenten Study/Bible Study
@6pm Salutations

Saturday 3/4
3rd Saturday of Souls  +Saint Theodore +Orthros @8am & Divine Liturgy @9am
GOYA Sights and Sounds in Westfield

Sunday 3/5 
Sunday of Orthodoxy +Orthros @8:15am & Divine Liturgy @9:30am

Monday 3/6
@6pm Office of the Great Compline
Pre-Marriage Counseling 1/3

Tuesday 3/7   House blessings in Hackettstown  12-5pm

Wednesday 3/8
@6pm Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy 

Thursday 3/9
@4:30pm Hellenic Afternoon School Classes
Greek Dance ●Group 1 @6:30pm   ●Group 2 @7:15pm   ● GROUP  3 /GOYA @8:00pm

Friday 3/10
@10am Orthodox Lenten/Bible Study
House Blessings in Budd Lake 12-5pm
@6pm Salutations

Saturday 3/11  Oratorical Festival

Sunday 3/12

Sunday of Gregory of Palama +Orthros @8:15am & Divine Liturgy @9:30am

Monday 3/13
@6pm Office of the Great Compline
Parish Council Meeting @7:30pm  

Tuesday 3/14
House Blessings in Lake Hopatcong, Hopatcong, Landing  Andover/Byram..  12-5pm

Wednesday 3/15
@6pm Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy

Thursday 3/16

@4:30pm Hellenic Afternoon School Classes

Greek Dance ●Group 1 @6:30pm   ●Group 2 @7:15pm   ● GROUP  3 /GOYA @8:00pm

 

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News - Flyers - Registrations - Other

    EFFECTIVE PARISH ASSESSMENT

    EFFECTIVE PARISH ASSESSMENT

    All parishioners of Saint Andrew Church are invited to take the EPS survey. Please help us asses your needs and wants for our Parish to be more effective for you.


    PLEDGE 2023

    PLEDGE 2023

    When filling out your 2023 PLEDGE, we ask that you prayerfully consider your Christian Stewardship Commitment, commensurate with your resources and your gratitude for the bounties and blessings our Lord has bestowed on you.


    Stewardship

    Stewardship

    Christian Stewardship is about becoming good caretakers ...


    Saturday of Souls

    Saturday of Souls

    February 18th, 25th, & March 4th | In praying for those who have “fallen asleep in the Lord,” we continue to ask that God may have mercy on them in His divine judgment so they may gain the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven.


    Altar Boy Retreat

    Altar Boy Retreat

    Saturday, February 25, 2023 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM St. George Greek Orthodox Church 1033 W. Park Ave., Ocean, NJ 07712


    FORGIVENESS VESPERS - Feb 26th at St. George

    FORGIVENESS VESPERS - Feb 26th at St. George

    Forgiveness Vespers - Feb 26th at 6pm held at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Piscataway


    Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers - SS Peter & Paul

    Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers - SS Peter & Paul

    Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers - Sunday March 5th at 4pm - SS Peter & Paul Orthodox Church - South River, NJ


    LORD'S VOICE

    LORD'S VOICE

    Foni Kyriou 2-19-23


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Prayer List

Prayer for a Sick Person:

Heavenly Father, physician of our souls and bodies, who have sent Your only-begotten Son and our Lord Jesus Christ to heal every sickness and infirmity, visit and heal (me) Your servant from all physical and spiritual ailments through the grace of Your Christ. Grant (me) patience in this sickness, strength of body and spirit, and recovery of health.  Lord, You have taught us through Your word to pray for each other that we may be healed.  I pray that You heal (me) as Your servant and grant (me) the gift of complete health. For You are the source of healing and to You I give glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Please keep these names in your prayers

Argirios, Panagiotis, Gavin, Christos, John, Michelle, Katie,  Nicole, Ioanna Angela, Stefanos,  Eugenia, Sarah, Vasilios, Alexandros, Nikolaos, Kyriaki,  James,  Florence,  Konstantinos, Ekaterini, Antonia, Georgia, Olga,  Angeliki,  Vasilis,  Hariklia, Alex, Peter, Alexandra, Dimitra, Kenneth, Andy, Dutch, Danny, Irene, Pamela, Anita, Maria,  Sophia, Ioannis, Maurice, Pat, Bonita, Maria,  Deryl, Mary, Elena, Konstantinos, Zenovia, Joanne, Anna, Panayiota, Thomas, Robert, Eleni, Leslie, Martin,  Paula, Valerie, David, Barbara, Cesar, Angeliki, Maria, Demetri, Karen, Andrew, Stan, Vasiliki,  Marios, Theodore, Fr. Konstantine,  Mary, Eftihia, Ioannis, David Andreas, Robert, Antonis, Susan, Alexandros, Gregory, Sophia, Tara, children and families of Ukraine, Ioanna, Landon, Lueda, Christine, Vasiliki, Anastasia, Aikaterini, Cynthia, Demetrios, Robin,  Paraskevi, Theodore, Eleni, Athena, Katerina, Sophia,

If you would like us to remember you or your loved one in our prayers, please contact the office. 973-584-0388 or send us an email to info@standrewgonj.org   

Names will be kept on this list for approximately 3 months. Please resubmit Names if needed.   Fr. John will pray for the Names above during the Proskomide “Offering of gifts” during the first part of the Divine Liturgy when our priest prepares the mystical gifts of bread and wine. Please keep these names in your prayers as well.

 

 

 

 

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Fourth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Luke 24:1-12

On the first day of the week at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking spices, which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise." And they remembered His words and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the Apostles; but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home wondering at what had happened.

Fourth Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Λουκᾶν 24:1-12

Τῇ μιᾷ τῶν Σαββάτων, ὄρθρου βαθέος ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὸ μνῆμα, φέρουσαι ἃ ἡτοίμασαν ἀρώματα, καί τινες σὺν αὐταῖς. Εὗρον δὲ τὸν λίθον ἀποκεκυλισμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου, καὶ εἰσελθοῦσαι οὐχ εὗρον τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ διαπορεῖσθαι αὐτὰς περὶ τούτου, καὶ Ἰδού, δύο ἄνδρες ἐπέστησαν αὐταῖς ἐν ἐσθήσεσιν ἀστραπτούσαις· ἐμφόβων δὲ γενομένων αὐτῶν καὶ κλινουσῶν τὰ πρόσωπον εἰς τὴν γῆν, εἶπον πρὸς αὐτάς· Τί ζητεῖτε τὸν ζῶντα μετὰ τῶν νεκρῶν; οὐκ ἔστιν ᾧδε, ἀλλ' ἠγέρθη. Μνήσθητε ὡς ἐλάλησεν ὑμῖν, ἔτι ὢν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ, λέγων, ὅτι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθῆναι εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτωλῶν, καὶ σταυρωθῆναι, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστῆναι. Καὶ ἐμνήσθησαν τῶν ῥημάτων αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑποστρέψασαι ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου, ἀπήγγειλαν ταῦτα πάντα τοῖς ἕνδεκα καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς λοιποῖς. Ἦσαν δὲ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ Μαρία καὶ Ἰωάννα καὶ Μαρία Ἰακώβου, καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ σὺν αὐταῖς, αἳ ἔλεγον πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ταῦτα. Καὶ ἐφάνησαν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ λῆρος τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἠπίστουν αὐταῖς, ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἀναστὰς ἔδραμεν ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον, καὶ παρακύψας βλέπει τὰ ὀθόνια κείμενα μόνα, καὶ ἀπῆλθε, πρὸς ἑαυτόν θαυμάζων τὸ γεγονός.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. Psalm 75.11,1.
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them.
Verse: God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 13:11-14; 14:1-4.

Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.

Προκείμενον. Plagal Fourth Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 75.11,1.
Εὔξασθε καὶ ἀπόδοτε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν.
Στίχ. Γνωστὸς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ὁ Θεός, ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ μέγα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς ῾Ρωμαίους 13:11-14, 14:1-4.

Ἀδελφοί, νῦν ἐγγύτερον ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν. Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν· ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, καί ἐνδυσώμεθα τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός. Ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν, μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ. Ἀλλʼ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε, εἰς ἐπιθυμίας. Τὸν δὲ ἀσθενοῦντα τῇ πίστει προσλαμβάνεσθε, μὴ εἰς διακρίσεις διαλογισμῶν. Ὃς μὲν πιστεύει φαγεῖν πάντα, ὁ δὲ ἀσθενῶν λάχανα ἐσθίει. Ὁ ἐσθίων τὸν μὴ ἐσθίοντα μὴ ἐξουθενείτω, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων τὸν ἐσθίοντα μὴ κρινέτω· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτὸν προσελάβετο. Σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; Τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἢ πίπτει. Σταθήσεται δέ· δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς στῆσαι αὐτόν.


Gospel Reading

Forgiveness Sunday
The Reading is from Matthew 6:14-21

The Lord said, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Forgiveness Sunday
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 6:14-21

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· ᾿Εὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν. ῞Οταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί· ἀφανίζουσι γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀπέχουσι τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. σὺ δὲ νηστεύων ἄλειψαί σου τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου νίψαι,ὅπως μὴ φανῇς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων, ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι ἐν τῷ φανερῷ. Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσι καὶ κλέπτουσι· θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται οὐ διορύσσουσιν οὐδὲ κλέπτουσιν· ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρὸς ὑμῶν, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν.


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Saints and Feasts

Eden
February 26

Forgiveness Sunday

The Holy Fathers have appointed the commemoration of Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight here, on the eve of the holy Forty-day Fast, demonstrating to us not by simple words, but by actual deeds, how beneficial fasting is for man, and how harmful and destructive are insatiety and the transgressing of the divine commandments. For the first commandment that God gave to man was that of fasting, which the first-fashioned received but did not keep; and not only did they not become gods, as they had imagined, but they lost even that blessed life which they had, and they fell into corruption and death, and transmitted these and innumerable other evils to all of mankind. The God-bearing Fathers set these things before us today, that by bringing to mind what we have fallen from, and what we have suffered because of the insatiety and disobedience of the first-fashioned, we might be diligent to return again to that ancient bliss and glory by means of fasting and obedience to all the divine commands. Taking occasion from today's Gospel (Matt. 6:14-21) to begin the Fast unencumbered by enmity, we also ask forgiveness this day, first from God, then from one another and all creation.


Allsaint
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.


Photini
February 26

The Holy Great Martyr Photine, the Samaritan Women

Saint Photini lived in 1st century Palestine and was the woman that Christ met at Jacob's Well in Samaria as recorded in the Gospel according to John (4:4-26). After her encounter with Christ, she and her whole family were baptized by the Apostles and became evangelists of the early Church. Photini and her children eventually were summoned before the emperor Nero and instructed to renounce their faith in Christ. They refused to do so, accepting rather to suffer various tortures. After many efforts to force her to surrender to idolatry, the emperor ordered that she be thrown down a well. Photini gave up her life in the year 66.

St. Photini is commemorated on three occasions during the year: February 26 (Greek tradition), March 20 (Slavic tradition), and the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman on the 5th Sunday of Pascha.


17_theodore3
March 04

First Saturday of Lent: The Commemoration of the Miracle of Kollyva wrought by Saint Theodore the Tyro

Julian the Apostate, knowing that the Christians purify themselves by fasting most of all during the first week of the Fast -- which is why we call it Clean Week -- planned to defile them especially at that time. Therefore he secretly commanded that during those days the markets be filled with foods that had been defiled with the blood of animals offered in sacrifice to idols. But by divine command the Martyr Theodore (see Feb. 17) appeared during sleep to Eudoxius, then Archbishop of Constantinople. The Saint revealed to him the tyrant's plan, then told him to call the faithful together immediately on Monday morning and prevent them from purchasing those foods, but rather to make kollyva to supply their needs. The bishop asked what kollyva might be, and the Saint answered, "Kollyva is what we call boiled wheat in Euchaita." Thus, the purpose of the Apostate was brought to nought, and the pious people who were preserved undefiled for the whole of Clean Week, rendered thanks to the Martyr on this Saturday, and celebrated his commemoration with kollyva. These things took place in 362. Wherefore, the Church keeps this commemoration each year to the glory of God and the honour of the Martyr.


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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

Having learned the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from the Angel, and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, the women disciples of the Lord spake to the Apostles exultantly: Death is despoiled and Christ God is risen, granting 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 Plagal Second Mode

O Master, Prudence, Guide of Wisdom, Instruction to the foolish and Defender of the poor, strengthen my heart and grant it discernment. Give me words, Word of the Father, for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying out to You, "O Merciful One, have mercy on me who has fallen."
Τῆς σοφίας ὁδηγέ, φρονήσεως χορηγέ, τῶν ἀφρόνων παιδευτά, καὶ πτωχῶν ὑπερασπιστά, στήριξον, συνέτισον τὴν καρδίαν μου Δέσποτα. Σὺ δίδου μοι λόγον, ὁ τοῦ Πατρός Λόγος· ἰδοὺ γὰρ τὰ χείλη μου, οὐ μὴ κωλύσω ἐν τῷ κράζειν σοι· Ἐλεῆμον, ἐλέησόν με τὸν παραπεσόντα.
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Wisdom of the Fathers

Spiritual delight is not enjoyment found in things that exists outside the soul.
St. Isaac of Syria
Unknown, 7th century

Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself, man. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation.
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
Unknown, 18th century

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