Saints and Feasts

October 21

6th Sunday of Luke

October 26

The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer

Saint Demetrius was a Thessalonian, a most pious son of pious and noble parents, and a teacher of the Faith of Christ. When Maximian first came to Thessalonica in 290, he raised the Saint to the rank of Duke of Thessaly. But when it was discovered that the Saint was a Christian, he was arrested and kept bound in a bath-house. While the games were under way in the city, Maximian was a spectator there. A certain friend of his, a barbarian who was a notable wrestler, Lyaeus by name, waxing haughty because of the height and strength of his body, boasted in the stadium and challenged the citizens to a contest with him. All that fought with him were defeated. Seeing this, a certain youth named Nestor, aquaintance of Demetrius', came to the Saint in the bath-house and asked his blessing to fight Lyaeus single-handed. Receiving this blessing and sealing himself with the sign of the precious Cross, he presented himself in the stadium, and said, "O God of Demetrius, help me!" and straightway he engaged Lyaeus in combat and smote him with a mortal blow to the heart, leaving the former boaster lifeless upon the earth. Maximian was sorely grieved over this, and when he learned who was the cause of this defeat, he commanded straightway and Demetrius was pierced with lances while he was yet in the bath-house, As for Nestor, Maximian commanded that he be slain with his own sword.

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

When the women Disciples of the Lord had learned from the Angel the joyful message of the Resurrection and had rejected the ancestral decision, they cried aloud to the Apostles triumphantly: Death has been despoiled, Christ God has risen, granting His great mercy to the world.

Apolytikion for Hilarion the Great in the Plagal Fourth Mode

With the streams of thy tears, thou didst cultivate the barrenness of the desert; and by thy sighings from the depths,thou didst bear fruit a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a luminary, shining with miracles upon the world, O Hilarion our righteous Father. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

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.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 103.24,1.
O Lord, how manifold are your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20.

Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gospel Reading

6th Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 8:26-39

At that time, as Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me." For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Wisdom of the Fathers

For if we, going about on the earth which is familiar and well known to us, being encompassed with a body, when we are journeying in a strange road, know not which way to go unless we have some one to lead us; how should the soul, being rent away from the body, and having gone out from all her accustomed region, know where to walk without one to show her the way?

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 28 on Matthew 8, 4th Century

Some say, 'Why do they [demons] possess people?' I answer those who wish to have this explained that the reason of these things is very deep. Somewhere one of His saints addressed God by saying, 'Your judgments are a vast abyss.' As long as we bear this in mind, we will perhaps not miss the mark.

St. Cyril of Alexandria

Commentary on Luke, Homily 44. (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; vol 3: Luke, Intervarsity Press)

Ministry News

TODAY Fellowship Hour is sponsored by the Sideris family.

Church Calendar:

Friday, October 26 - St. Demetrios - Orthros / Divine Liturgy, 7:30 am - NEW, new time

(Fr A must attend professional conference that day)

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

Sunday, November 4 – Fall General Assembly A note from the PC: The Fall General Assembly will take place following Fellowship Hour at our Mr & Mrs Bouras Memorial Hall after. 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. Please make every effort to attend these valuable General Assembly meetings.

Adult Bible Study - There is no Adult Bible study this Friday, October 26. The last three Fridays for the class on 1st Corinthians are November 2, 9 and 16. Bible Study is on Fridays from 12 – 1 pm. Please let Fr. A know if you are interested. All are welcome!

EDUCATION:

Sunday School: Sunday School is on our regular schedule. A reminder that Grades Pre-K and Grades 1-2 are dismissed at 11:15 am. Parents, please pick up your children from their classrooms. All other classes (Grades 3+) are dismissed into Fellowship Hour at 11:30 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: There will be a General meeting on Sunday, October 28 at 11:15 am after church in a Sunday school classroom.

PC CORNER:

First Vendors day eventon Saturday and Sunday, November 17 and 18. It is our first event but we expect a large number of people to attend, therefore we will need “all hands on deck” to assist in the preparation, serving, cleaning, etc. See contacts below and please volunteer your time:

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

Chairpersonship: John Kaldes (jskaldes@aol.comand phone 908-764-0220) is the temporary chair, but only until someone else comes forward to lead this important new event. Please see John if you are interested in becoming the Event Chairperson.

Iconography: We expect to have the scaffolding installed the last week of October in order to 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 execution of 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 expected to arrive sometime 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 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 installation to be a 3-5 day installation and we are targeting before the end of November.

Emails:The PC is working to improve the email delivery system in order to 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 send out. We also 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 a concerted effort to let us know if you do not receive email information from the church and/or if your email address has changed. 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.

Bulletin Inserts

Sunday School Registration Form 2018-19

For the upcoming 2018-19 school year. First day on Sunday, September 23.

Greek School Registration Form 2018-2019

For the upcoming 2018-19 school year. First day on Monday, September 24.

Ukraine encyclical

Updated encyclical on the Ukraine

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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