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St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2018-10-14
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Allsaint
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St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (908) 968-4004
  • Fax:
  • (908) 968-4002
  • Street Address:

  • 85 Voorhees Corner Road,

  • Flemington, NJ 08822


Contact Information






Services Schedule

Weekly Services

(Please note schedule subject to change.  Please call church office to confirm times.)

Sunday Services:  Orthros 8:15 am; Divine Liturgy 9:15  am.  Followed by Sunday School and Fellowship Hour in our Community Center.

Weekly Feastday / Major Saint Day Liturgies:  9 am Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy.


Past Bulletins


Saints and Feasts

Allsaint
October 14

Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council

On the Sunday that falls on or immediately after the eleventh of this month, we chant the Service to the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which gathered in Nicaea in 787 under the holy Patriarch Tarasius and during the reign of the Empress Irene and her son, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, to refute the Iconoclast heresy, which had received imperial support beginning with the Edict issued in 726 by Emperor Leo the Isaurian. Many of the holy Fathers who condemned Iconoclasm at this holy Council later died as Confessors and Martyrs for the holy Icons during the second assult of Iconoclasm in the ninth century, especially during the reigns of Leo the Armenian and Theophilus.


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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Third Mode

Let the heavens sing for joy, and let everything on earth be glad. * For with His Arm the Lord has worked power. * He trampled death under foot by means of death; * and He became the firstborn from the dead. * From the maw of Hades He delivered us; * and He granted the world His great mercy.

Apolytikion for Sun. of the 7th Ecumenical 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 St. Anna (Dec. 9) in the Fourth Mode

Today the bonds of childlessness are loosed; for God hearkened to Joachim and Anna. And though it was beyond hope, He clearly promised them that they should bear a divine child, from whom was born the Uncircumscribable One Himself Who became a mortal, and through an Angel commanded them to cry unto her: Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord is with thee."

Seasonal Kontakion in the Second Mode

O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the creator most constant: O despise not the voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, O thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

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 St. Paul's Letter to Titus 3:8-15.

Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned.

When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful.

All who are with me send greeting to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.


Gospel Reading

Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council
The Reading is from Luke 8:5-15

The Lord said this parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience." As he said these things, he cried out "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."


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Wisdom of the Fathers

For by seed here He means His doctrine, and by land, the souls of men, and by the sower, Himself .... For as the sower makes no distinction in the land submitted to him, but simply and indifferently casts his seed; so He Himself too makes no distinction of rich and poor, of wise and unwise, of slothful or diligent, of brave or cowardly; but He discourses unto all, fulfilling His part, although foreknowing the results.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 44 on Matthew 12, 4th Century

When you see life's pleasures, beware that they might not distract you, for they conceal death's snares. Likewise a fisherman casts not his hook to no purpose. As bait for his hook, the enemy uses the delusion of sensuality to arouse desire, that he might thereby catch men's souls and subject them to himself. A soul which has been caught to serve the enemy's will then serves as a snare for other souls, for it conceals the grief of sin with its apparent delight.
St. Ephraim the Syrian
A Spiritual Psalter no 43, pg. 74, 4th century

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Ministry News

Agia_anna

TODAY  Sunday School students will stay in church while the parents leave to attend a brief  parent Sunday School meeting in the classrooms. Fr. Anastasios will speak to the students in church and dismiss them for class at about 10:45 am. Classes will all dismiss at 1130 am.

 

Church Calendar:

Thursday, October 18 - St. Luke - Orthros / Divine Liturgy, 9 am

Friday, October 19 - Vigil Service for St. Gerasimos, 9 pm to 12:30 am

A vigil service is a combination of many services including Great Vespers, Orthros and Divine Liturgy typically starting in the late evening and ending after midnight. All are invited to this special celebration as we honor the memory of St. Gerasimos, whose sacred relics remain incorrupt for veneration and sanctification on the island of Cephalonia (+1570). 

Friday, October 26 - St. Demetrios - Orthros / Divine Liturgy, 8 am (new time) 

Thursday, November 1 – Sts. Cosmas and Damianos - Orthros / Divine Liturgy, 9 am

Sunday, November 4 – Fall General Assembly

Adult Bible Study - Fridays at 12 pm.  We hope to make this a weekly gathering for about an hour each week. Please let Fr. A know if you are interested.  All are welcome.  Please bring your Bible.

Adult Choir Meeting:  TODAY, October 14 at 11:30 am.  Fr. A is inviting all adults that are interested in joining the choir to meet and discuss this ministry.  This is a follow up to the Sat., Sept. 15 Choir Kick-Off Meeting which also included the youth.  

Sunday School:  TODAY Sunday School students will stay in church while the parents leave to attend a brief  parent Sunday School meeting in the classrooms. Fr. Anastasios will speak to the students in church and dismiss them for class at about 10:45 am. Classes will all dismiss at 1130 am.

Greek School  -Anyone interested in an adult Greek class should contact Maria Sfondouris or Father Anastasios with their interest and possible day of the week to hold classes.   We welcome all new students!  Contact:  msfondouris@gmail.com  

Philoptochos: General meeting on Sunday, October 28at 11:15 am after church in a Sunday school classroom.

PC Corner:  On Sunday November 4 we have our Fall General Assembly. This will take place after church at our Mr & Mrs Bouras Memorial Hall after coffee hour. The GA is the forum where every steward can engage with the PC members and be informed about the life of our church, review and approve the 2019 budget, participate in the elections and learn about the activities of our ministries

 

Our first Vendors day event will take place on Saturday November 17 and Sunday November 18. We need everyone to participate and make this event successful. It is our first event but we expect a large number of people to visit our event therefore we will need all of you to assist us with preparation, serving, cleaning, etc. See contacts below:  

Vendors:  Sofia Manoussakis (S_Manoussakis@yahoo.com)and Kristen Diagelakis (kristen81081@aol.com)have volunteered to lead the vendors effort. Please contact them if you know of any vendors who might like to participate.  

Advertising:  Diana Grina (dianag2003@yahoo.com)is leading the advertising effort. 

Food preparation and serving:  Margaret Panageas (MPanageas.mp@gmail.com)  is chairing the food preparation and serving and anything associated with the Philoptohos 

John Kaldes (jskaldes@aol.comand phone 908-764-0220) is the temporary chair, but only until someone else comes forward.  Please see him if you are interested in becoming the Event Chair.  We need all of you to make this event successful for our church and ministries!

 

The Iconography is progressing well. We expect to have the scaffolding installed the last week of October and start the iconography on the back wall and on the Dome. In addition we have received a large donation for the glass partitions and this helps with the overall iconography program. The lettering "SAINT ANNA GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH"  is completed in the front of the church around the first arch.

 

The Iconostasion is on the ship and we expect it to arrive some time around 24-25 of October in NYC harbor. We do not know how long it will take to clear US Customs but we have provided every possible document and he have hired a customs broker to help us. After it clears Customs we will schedule the arrival of the Wood Carver from Greece to do the installation. We expect that the iconostasion should be installed sometime in the second half of November. It should be a 3-5 day installation

 

EMAILS. We are working to improve our email delivery system and ensure that everyone receives our notices and bulletins. In a recent review we noticed that some emails bounce back therefore some of you are not getting the information we sent out. We noticed that some of you have changed emails but we have not received the change and therefore we can't fix the issue. Please make an effort in the next few weekends to let us know if you do not receive email information from the church and or if you have changed your email. This way we can update our system.

 

Fellowship Hour:  Contact John Giannouris at (610) 680-7507 or john.giannouris@comcast.netif you are interested in sponsoring Fellowship Hour.  Thank you.  

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Bulletin Inserts

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Stewardship

STEWARDSHIP:  Stewardship is the sharing of the talents and treasures that God has provided for us.  An Orthodox Christian Steward is an active participant in the life of the Church. The parish encourages all who accept the Orthodox Faith to become practicing Stewards.

 

2018 Stewardship Status: We have 141 Pledges totaling $140,025 for an average of $993 and $107,741 received to date. We also have 7 families who have contributed $5,800 to date but have not submitted a stewardship card.  It is important that all families complete a stewardship card to be considered a steward.  Current Stewardship List and other stewardship information is posted in bulletin board by water cooler.         

We need everyone’s participation to exceed this year’s stewardship pledge target of $175,000.  If the remaining 36, families that were stewards in 2017 give at the same level as last year we could exceed our budget and reach a record high number of stewards

 

If you have not done so already, we ask that you prayerfully consider your Stewardship commitment and submit a 2018 pledge card as soon as you can.

  

…Remember a rich man is not one who has much, but one who gives much...

 

 
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