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.
This great Father and Teacher of the Church was born in 329 in Arianzus, a village of the second district of Cappadocia, not far from Nazianzus. His father, who later became Bishop of Nazianzus, was named Gregory (commemorated Jan. 1), and his mother was named Nonna (Aug. 5); both are among the Saints, and so are his brother Caesarius (Mar. 9) and his sister Gorgona (Feb. 23). At first he studied in Caesarea of Palestine, then in Alexandria, and finally in Athens. As he was sailing from Alexandria to Athens, a violent sea storm put in peril not only his life but also his salvation, since he had not yet been baptized. With tears and fervour he besought God to spare him, vowing to dedicate his whole self to Him, and the tempest gave way to calm. At Athens Saint Gregory was later joined by Saint Basil the Great, whom he already knew; but now their acquaintanceship grew into a lifelong brotherly love. Another fellow student of theirs in Athens was the young Prince Julian, who later as Emperor was called the Apostate because he denied Christ and did all in his power to restore paganism. Even in Athens, before Julian had thrown off the mask of piety; Saint Gregory saw what an unsettled mind he had, and said, "What an evil the Roman State is nourishing" (Orat. V, 24, PG 35:693).
After their studies at Athens, Gregory became Basil's fellow ascetic, living the monastic life together with him for a time in the hermitages of Pontus. His father ordained him presbyter of the Church of Nazianzus, and Saint Basil consecrated him Bishop of Sasima (or Zansima), which was in the archdiocese of Caesarea. This consecration was a source of great sorrow to Gregory, and a cause of misunderstanding between him and Basil; but his love for Basil remained unchanged, as can be plainly seen from his Funeral Oration on Saint Basil (Orat. XLIII).
About the Year 379, Saint Gregory came to the assistance of the Church of Constantinople, which had already been troubled for forty years by the Arians; by his supremely wise words and many labours he freed it from the corruption of heresy, and was elected Archbishop of that city by the Second Ecumenical Council, which assembled there in 381, and condemned Macedonius, Archbishop of Constantinople, the enemy of the Holy Spirit. When Saint Gregory came to Constantinople, the Arians had taken all the churches and he was forced to serve in a house chapel dedicated to Saint Anastasia the Martyr. From there he began to preach his famous five sermons on the Trinity, called the Triadica. When he left Constantinople two years later, the Arians did not have one church left to them in the city. Saint Meletius of Antioch (see Feb. 12), who was presiding over the Second Ecumenical Council, died in the course of it, and Saint Gregory was chosen in his stead; there he distinguished himself in his expositions of dogmatic theology.
Having governed the Church until 382, he delivered his farewell speech - the Syntacterion, in which he demonstrated the Divinity of the Son - before 150 bishops and the Emperor Theodosius the Great; in this speech he requested, and received from all, permission to retire from the see of Constantinople. He returned to Nazianzus, where he lived to the end of his life, and reposed in the Lord in 391, having lived some sixty-two years.
His extant writings, both prose and poems in every type of metre, demonstrate his lofty eloquence and his wondrous breadth of learning. In the beauty of his writings, he is considered to have surpassed the Greek writers of antiquity, and because of his God-inspired theological thought, he received the surname "Theologian." Although he is sometimes called Gregory of Nazianzus, this title belongs properly to his father; he himself is known by the Church only as Gregory the Theologian. He is especially called "Trinitarian Theologian," since in virtually every homily he refers to the Trinity and the one essence and nature of the Godhead. Hence, Alexius Anthorus dedicated the following verses to him:
Like an unwandering star beaming with splendour,
Thou bringest us by mystic teachings, O Father,
To the Trinity's sunlike illumination,
O mouth breathing with fire, Gregory most mighty.
Prokeimenon. Plagal Second Mode. Psalm 27.9,1.
O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance.
Verse: To you, O Lord, I have cried, O my God.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians 3:4-11.
Brethren, when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.
12th Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 17:12-19
At that time, as Jesus entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus's feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus: "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him: "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."
TODAY the annual Vasilopita celebration will take place following the Liturgy.
TODAY there will be a 1-year memorial for Anthony Staikos and a 16-year memorial for Georgia Staikos, parents of George Staikos, and Papou and Yia Yia of Angelica, Anthony and Christopher. In addition, there will be a 16-year memorial for Arthur Rodakis, brother- in-law to Anthony Staikos. May their memory be eternal.
TODAY Fellowship Hour is sponsored by the Staikos family in memory of their loved ones.
Church Calendar:
Friday, January 17: St. Anthony - Orthros / Liturgy, 9 am
Friday, January 17: St. Athanasios - Great Vespers, Paramus Church, 7 pm
Saturday, January 18: Sts. Athanasios & Cyril Patriarchs Alexandria–Orthros/Liturgy, 9 am
Saturday, January 25: St. Gregory the Theologian - Orthros / Liturgy, 9 am
Saturday, January 25: Metropolis Greek Letters / 3 Hierarchs Celebration – Cathedral of St. John The Theologian, Tenafly, 6 pm (RSVP required – please see Fr. A to attend)
Thursday, January 30: Three Hierarchs - Orthros / Liturgy, 9 am
HOUSE AND BUSINESS BLESSINGS: Here are the available dates this month. If you would like your house and/or business blessed with the Holy Water of Epiphany please contact Fr. A. Additional dates can be worked out with him.
Wednesday, Jan. 15
Thursday, Jan. 16
Monday, Jan. 20 (MLK Jr Holiday)
Wednesday, Jan. 22
Thursday, Jan. 23
Wednesday, Jan. 29
Thursday, Jan. 30
GOYA
Congratulations to our Girls Volleyball team for an amazing season! They finished with an undefeated season and placed third in the Championships. We are all so proud of your efforts and teamwork!
Our next GOYA meeting will take place on Sunday, January 19 following Sunday School.
Fellowship Hour Sponsors
Please consider sponsoring Fellowship Hour in the new year! There is a need for sponsors, particularly in the next two months. Sign up at the Church office, or by contacting John Giannouris at john.giannouris@comcast.netor (610) 680-7507.
Youth Safety Registration
Remember, in order to be able to participate in any Youth Activities like GOYA, Sports, Schools, Athletics, etc the Archdiocese of North America requires that you must be REGISTERED, TRAINED and SCREENED for the Youth Safety program. Our Parish has until January 15, 2020 to register all of our youth program administrators. If we do not have enough people registered, trained and screened to run the programs, we run the risk of not being able to maintain our Church Youth Programs. Please register TODAY at Fellowship Hour. If you are unable to register, please send the following information to John Kaldes (PS President and Youth Safety Coordinator). Please send: First name, Last name, Middle Initial,Address, Zip code, Phone number, Email Address Email: jskaldes@aol.com
Archdiocese Issue with Listserv and Gmail Address As Sender: Currently, there have been some issues with sending messages to Listserv lists from gmail addresses. A workaround is being used, but if you are not receiving messages or bulletins, please let the Church office know.
Cyber Security Watch Bulletin (provided by the Departments of Internet Ministries and Information Technology): Cybercrime has been infiltrating our parishes and religious communities lately. Recently, parishes around us are being targeted by a phishing scam where the attacker poses falsely as the parish priest and asks the recipient for money
usually in the form of gift cards. Please note that a clergyman will NEVER reach out to his parishioners via email to request financial assistance, or in this case, gift cards. If email requests ever seem questionable:
LEARN MORE by visiting blogs.goarch.org/internet-ministries by contacting the Departments of Internet Ministries and Information Technology with your questions at techsupport.goarch.org.
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.
Pick up your 2020 Stewardship Cards at the table in the Narthex today!
We need everyone’s participation to meet this year’s stewardship and ministry goals!
…Remember a rich man is not one who has much, but one who gives much