CHRISTMAS SERVICES
This coming week is very important to us all; the birth of the Christ Child marks the beginning of the Lord’s presence in our life and points to His future ministry, death and resurrection, all for our sake. Our liturgical life reminds us of these truths and gives us a perfect way to celebrate. Please join us!
December 24, Liturgy of St. Basil beginning promptly at 6pm (carols/reception)
December 25, Orthros, 8:30 am and Divine Liturgy, 9:30 am
THANK YOU!
We would like to offer a very special thank you to the organizers, readers, singers, and performers of our beautiful Christmas Pageant.
Thank you to all those who contributed to the St. Nicholas Giving Tree and to Nancy Agris Savage for organizing it for the 14th year!
Thank you to members of the Parish Council who put together the Pastry Breakfast!
Finally, thank you to all of our Stewards for their support and love of St. Demetrios!
Philoptochos CHRISTMAS EVE RECEPTION
Christmas Eve Reception- Thursday, December 24. Please contact Eugenia Kourlos: kourkat@comcast.net or (508) 735-8866 if you are able to prepare pastries/desserts.
St. Demetrios Inner-City Outreach
Volunteers are needed on Monday December 28 for the St. Demetrios Inner-City Outreach Team which is currently helping St. Francis House in Boston, the largest nonsectarian day shelter in the region. Help is needed in clothing distribution and in food services. Transportation is provided. Call Peter Mitsakos at 781.899.6583 or email at tpmitsakos@comcast.net. Learn more about St. Francis House at www.stfrancishouse.org.
GOYA CHRISTMAS PARTY
Join us at the Cicalis Home (50 Crescent Lane, Sudbury) on December 29th from 6-8:30 pm for our annual GOYA Christmas party. Please bring a $20 gift for Yankee Swap! Please contact Fr. Vinnie with questions and RSVP–
frvincent@stdemetriosweston.org
POINSETTIA DONATIONS
Each year our Church is beautifully decorated with Poinsettias donated by our faithful. Our Altar Boys will be distributing cards asking for your help. Thank you.
2015-2016 YOUTH BASKETBALL
The 2015-2016 season is upon us! We are looking forward to an exciting year! JOY (ages 11 to 13) Basketball practice will be every Thursday 6-7:30 pm and Boys GOYA (ages 14 to 18) practice will be 7:30-9pm. We are also looking to field a Girls GOYA team and Jr. JOY team (ages 8-10). If you are interested in having your child play or in being a coach of Girls GOYA or Jr. JOY, please contact either Jack Markis at ejmarkis@markislaw.com or the Church Office.
CHURCH SCHOOL DISMISSAL REMINDER
We ask that everyone assist us by waiting patiently in your seats for the children to receive Holy Communion first so that they may get to their classes.
In order to facilitate this process as efficiently as possible, we ask that church school teachers, children and their parents be dismissed first for communion. All other parishioners are asked to stay in their seats and wait for the ushers to dismiss their row. We appreciate your patience and your support!
ST. DEMETRIOS BOOKSTORE
Come and visit our bookstore that is now open for the new ecclesiastical year. There are many new and religious books, icons and many other items for both adults and children. The bookstore is located across our social hall, so do come in and browse.
COFFEE HOUR SIGN-UP
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored a coffee hour in the past! Coffee Fellowship will begin on Sunday, September 13th. For those who are interested, please consider joining with a friend or other family to host. The church provides the coffee, milk and paper products. Please remember that the refreshments do not need to be fancy or costly.
Please contact Pam Brody at 781-864-5327 or Eugenia Kourlos at 508-735-8866.
THANK YOU!!
DRIVERS NEEDED
We are currently looking for a few parishioners to donate their time and drive some of our parishioners in need to medical appointments. If you are interested and able to help, please call Cathy in the church office (781-237-5561) to coordinate.
WWW.GOARCH.ORG
The webpage of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has a great amount of resources for anyone looking to learn more about the faith. You can find the daily readings of the church, information about saints, what we believe, and prayers for any occasion. Additionally, you can stay up to date with news that affects us as Christians. Be sure to check www.goarch.org regularly!
PHILOXENIA HOUSE
Located near HCHC in Brookline, the Philoxenia House offers a home and hospitality to patients and those who accompany them while they are undergoing treatment in the Boston area. For several years a few of us visit the home twice a year to try to brighten their lives by planting flowers. This is a joy for us. For more information regarding this ministry please contact Betty Titus, 781.237.4748, or Eleanor Spiliakos, 978.443.3746.
WHAT IS THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
Being asked this during our festival a number of times — we as Orthodox Christians ought to respond:
“The Orthodox Christian Church is a worldwide body of believers who confess and worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as Lord and Messiah. This body has a tangible and continuous history of Christian faith and practice from the time of Christ’s Apostles. The use of the adjective ‘orthodox’ to describe the Church dates back to the earliest centuries and was applied to those Christians who maintained the tradition transmitted by Christ’s Apostles (1 Thess 2:15)”
FR. MANIKAS LIBRARY
Come and visit the Fr. Manikas Library and check out one of our many books on a variety of different topics. After Divine Liturgy, please stop by the library and see what we have to offer. See Cindi Dabrowski in the library for assistance on picking out a selection to take home and further your knowledge of our faith.
DAILY READINGS APP
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has developed and released a Daily Readings App for iOS and Android. It offers the daily Epistle and Gospel readings of the day as well as the saints that are commemorated on that day. Furthermore, it offers prayers, dates of future Feast Days and fasting guidelines.
It’s a great resource that is offered by our Archdiocese. Sign into your app store and download it today!
BE THE BEE WEBSERIES
The National Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries offers a weekly web video series on YouTube called “Be the Bee” each week a question or theme about our faith is answered in just 5 minutes! Check out this new and interesting approach to learning about our faith! Go to: www.youtube.com/user/y2am to see the entire series!