Publish-header
St. George Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2019-09-01
Bulletin Contents
This Week at Saint George
Parish News and Events
Words of Wisdom
Saints and Feasts
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Symstylt
Organization Icon
St. George Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (562) 862-6461
  • Fax:
  • (562) 862-2672
  • Street Address:

  • 10830 Downey Avenue

  • Downey, CA 90241
  • Mailing Address:

  • 10830 Downey Avenue

  • Downey, CA 90241

Services Schedule

SUNDAYS Orthros at 9:00 AM; Divine Liturgy 10:00 AM

WEEKDAY LITURGIES Orthros at 9:00 AM; Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM

 

Mission Statement

The Mission of Saint George Greek Orthodox Church is to proclaim and teach the Mystery of Salvation and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; to enhance the spiritual life of our communicants through participation in the fullness of Orthodox worship, through loving and dedicated service to God and to mankind.

Vision Statement

Saint George will provide a welcoming, loving, and caring environment for our parishioners and visitors where our God - given talents will be allowed to flourish and grow in faith, through worship, service, witness and fellowship. The programs offered by Saint George will serve the religious, educational, cultural, philanthropic and social activities of the community of all ages.

Past Bulletins


This Week at Saint George

LITURGICAL CALENDAR

Sunday, September 1, Ecclesiastical New Year- Indiction
Orthros 9:00 AM and Liturgy 10:00 AM

SCHEDULED MEMORIALS
September 22, 2019
Chris Andrews- 6 months 

  + + + + + + + + + + + + 

IMPORTANT:

All Ministries and Organizations MUST reserve meetings and events on the Church's Master Calendar. Please submit your requests for 2019-2020 as soon as possible. Please submit your requests in writing to the Church Office.

CLICK HERE FOR THE St George Google Calendar

Please sumbit items for inclusion in the Sunday Bulletin and e-bulletin no later than Wednesday for th following Sunday.

+ + + + + +
Please remember that cash offerings, when placed in the pew envelopes with your name, will be credited as part of your stewardship

Please be reminded that the First 7 Spaces (including the blue handicapped space) in front of the Hall of Fame Market and the Church Offices are leased to the Hall of Fame Market.  They are designated by a Green Curb. Our parishioners are respectfully asked not to park in those spaces.

 All blue handicapped spaces are specifically reserved for those vehicles with the proper blue tag issued by the DMV. 

BACK TO TOP

Parish News and Events

WELCOME BACK SUNDAY

On Sunday, September 15 we will welcome back our community from their summer vacations and inaugurate the Ecclesiastical new year with Registration for our Youth and other Ministries.

A "Welcome Back" Luncheon will be offered after Church.


Sunday School

 Teachers needed! We are in the processof planning a new exciting year and are needing motivated volunteers who want to engage our youngsters in the faith.

As in the past few years we are asking for people to commit a few Sundays throughout the year. The lesson plans will be provided to you.

Contact Nikki Frousakis at sgyc.chair@gmail.com


Greek School

THE ALPHA BETA HELLENIC CULTURAL SOCIETY

Registration and Agiasmos for the new school year

Wednesday, September 11, 4:30 PM

Classes will be held on Wendesdays and Fridays 4 PM-6PM


GENERAL ANNOUNCMENT

The Archdiocese of America is implemeting new policies that affect ALL persons involved in youth programs and ministries. These policies include parents within the framework of the youth protection manual. 

We are waiting on the promulgation timeline from the Metropolis. Once this is in place. Without exception ALL who are involved in youth ministry and programs will undergo training and background checks (Priests included).

----------------------------------

 Archdiocese Unveils New Youth Safety Videos & Resources

NEW YORK – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is announcing a new ten-episode video series introducing the faithful to the new Policies for the Safety of Children and Youth. These new resources also include step-by-step checklists designed to help parishioners and communities follow the new guidelines.

 “The new Policies are an important achievement. Implementing them across our Archdiocese will be a valuable gift we give to our children: the gift of encountering our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a healthy, Christ-centered environment. This is an significant priority, not just for me, but for all of the faithful of this Archdiocese,” said His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.

 These new Policies will govern all youth ministry programs and events across the Archdiocese. The Policies were endorsed by the Holy Eparchial Synod and unanimously approved by the Archdiocesan Clergy Laity Congress in 2018.

 The Policies themselves, including the videos and checklists mentioned above, can be found at goarch.org/safety.

 For more information please contact Father Earl Cantos, the Archdiocesan Youth Safety Compliance Officer, at 480.440.2277 or by email at youthsafety@goarch.org.


Parishioner Services

Parishioner Services Chairperson: Sasha Vithoulkas

Cell—(562) 714-5324          Home—(562) 869-3533

 Memorial Services must be booked by calling the office and scheduling the date with Father John.  After Father John approves the date, then arrangements for the event may be made through the Parishioners Services Chairperson  Sasha Vithoulkas. Makaries, Altar- flowers, and koliva please contact Sasha Vithoulkas directly.  

Ladies who wish to make prosfora please contact Soula Katsenes (562) 372-7776.

Use of the hall FOR WHATEVER REASON must be coordinated through the Church Office.


BACK TO TOP

Words of Wisdom


+ B A R T H O L O M E W
By God's Mercy
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch


To All the Plenitude of the Church
Grace, Peace and Mercy from the Maker of All Creation Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ


Dearest brother Hierarchs and beloved children in the Lord,


With the goodness and grace of the all-bountiful God, today marks the 30th anniversary since the Holy Great Church of Christ established the feast of Indiction and first day of the ecclesiastical year as "the day of environmental protection." We did not only address our Orthodox faithful, nor again just Christian believer or even representatives of other religions, but also political leaders, environmentalists and other scientists, as well as intellectuals and all people of good will, seeking their contribution.

The ecological activities of the Ecumenical Patriarchate served as the inspiration for theology to advance prominently the truth of Christian anthropology and cosmology, the Eucharistic worldview and treatment of creation, along with the spirit of Orthodox asceticism as the basis for understanding the reason for and response to the ecological crisis. The bibliography related to theological ecology or ecological theology is extensive and on the whole constitutes an admirable Orthodox witness before the major challenges of contemporary humanity and earthly life. Concern for the ecological crisis and for the global dimensions and consequences of sin - of this alienating internal "reversal of values" in humankind - brought to the surface the connection between ecological and social issues as well as for the need to address them jointly. Mobilizing forces for the protection of the integrity of creation and for social justice are interconnected and inseparable actions.

The interest of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the protection of creation did not arise as a reaction to or as a result of the contemporary ecological crisis. The latter was simply the motivation and occasion for the Church to express, develop, proclaim and promote its environmentally-friendly principles. The foundation of the Church's undiminished concern for the natural environment lies in its ecclesiological identity and theology. Respect and care for creation are a dimension of our faith, the content of our life in the Church and as the Church. The very life of the Church is "an experienced ecology," an applied respect and care for creation, and the source of its environmental activities. In essence, the interest of the Church for the protection of the environment is the extension of the Holy Eucharist in all dimensions of its relationship to the world. The liturgical life of the Church, the ascetic ethos, pastoral service and experience of the cross and resurrection by the faithful, the unquenchable desire for eternity: all of these comprise a communion of persons for which the natural reality cannot be reduced to an object or useful matter to meet the needs of an individual or humanity; by contrast, this reality is considered as an act, deed the handiwork of a personal God, who calls us to respect and protect it, thereby rendering us His "coworkers," "stewards," "guardians," and "priests" of creation in order to cultivate a Eucharistic relationship with it.

Care for the natural environment is not an added activity, but an essential expression of church life. It does not have a secular, but rather a purely ecclesiastical character. It is a "liturgical ministry." All of the initiatives and activities of the Church are "applied ecclesiology." In this sense, theological ecology does not merely refer to the development of an ecological awareness or the response to ecological problems on the basis of the principles of Christian anthropology and cosmology. On the contrary, it involves the renewal of the whole creation in Christ, just as this is realized and experienced in the Holy Eucharist, which is an image and foretaste of the eschatological fullness of the Divine Economy in the doxological wholeness and luminous splendor of the heavenly kingdom.

Most honorable brothers and most precious children in the Lord,

The ecological crisis reveals that our world comprises an integral whole, that our problems are global and shared. In order to meet these challenges, we require a multilayered mobilization, a common accord, direction and action. It is inconceivable for humankind to recognize the severity of the problem and yet continue to behave in oblivion. While in recent decades the dominant model of economic development in the context of globalization - highlighting the fetishism of financial markers and magnification of financial profit - has exacerbated ecological and economic problems, the notion still prevails widely that "there is no other alternative" and that not conforming to the rigid validity logic of the world's economy will lead to unbridled social and financial situations. Thus, any alternative forms of development, along with the power of social solidarity and justice, are overlooked and undermined.

For our part, however, we are obliged to assume greater measures for the application of the ecological and social consequences of our faith. It is extremely vital that our archdioceses and metropolises, as well as many of our parishes and sacred monasteries, have fostered initiatives and activities for the protection of the environment, but also various programs of ecological education. We should pay special attention to the Christian formation of our youth, so that it may function as an area of cultivation and development of an ecological ethos and solidarity. Childhood and adolescence are particularly susceptible life phases for ecological and social responsiveness. Aware of the urgency of environmental education, the Ecumenical Patriarchate devoted the Third in its series of international Halki Summits to the subject of "Theological Education and Ecological Awareness" (Istanbul, May 31st to June 4th, 2019) with a view to incorporating ecology and environmental awareness into programs and curricula of theological schools and seminaries. The solution to the great challenges of our world is unattainable without spiritual orientation.

In conclusion, then, we wish all of you a favorable and blessed ecclesiastical year, filled with works pleasing to God. We invite the radiant children of the Mother Church throughout the world to pray for the integrity of creation, to be sustainable and charitable in every aspect of their lives, to strive for the protection of the natural environment, as well as the promotion of peace and justice. And we proclaim once more the truth that there can be no genuine progress, when the "very good" creation and the human person made in the image and likeness of God suffer. Finally, through the intercession of the first-among-the-saints Theotokos Pammakaristos, we invoke upon you the life-giving grace and boundless mercy of the Creator and Provider of all.
September 1, 2019

+Bartholomew of Constantinople
Your fervent supplicant before God

BACK TO TOP

Saints and Feasts

Symstylt
September 01

Symeon the Stylite

Our righteous Father Symeon was born about the year 390 in a certain village named Sis, in the mountain region of Cilicia and Syria. Having first been a shepherd, he entered the monastic discipline at a young age. After trying various kinds of ascetical practices, both in the monastery and then in the wilderness, he began standing on pillars of progressively greater height, and heroically persevered in this for more than forty years; the greater part of this time he spent standing upright, even when one of his feet became gangrenous, and other parts of his body gave way under the strain. He did not adopt this strange way of life out of vainglory, a charge that some of his contemporaries made against him at the first: because he was already famous for his asceticism and holiness before ascending his first pillar (in Greek, style, whence he is called "Stylite"), many pious people came to him wishing to touch his garments, either for healing or for a blessing; to escape the continual vexation they caused, he made a pillar about ten feet high, and then higher and higher, until the fourth and last was about fifty feet high. The Church historian Theodoret of Cyrrhus, an eyewitness of his exploits who wrote of him while Symeon was yet alive, called him "the great wonder of the world." God gave him the grace to persevere in such an astonishing form of asceticism that multitudes came to see him from Persia, Armenia, South Arabia, Georgia, Thrace, Spain, Italy, Gaul, and the British Isles. Theodoret says that he became so famous in Rome that the Nomadic Arabs by the thousands believed in Christ and were baptized because of him; the King of Persia sent envoys to inquire into his way of life, and the Queen asked to be sent oil that he had blessed. He also was a great defender of sound doctrine, and confirmed the Orthodoxy of the Holy Council of Chalcedon for many who had been beguiled by the teachings of the Monophysites, including the Empress Eudocia, widow of Theodosius the Younger. After a life of unheard-of achievements and struggles, he reposed in peace at the age of sixty-nine, in the year 459.

Allsaint
September 01

Synaxis of the Recovery of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Miasenae

The Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos of Miasenae is celebrated today because of the wonder that was wrought when her holy icon, which was cast into the lake call Zaguru in order to prevent it from being desecrated by the Iconoclast, miraculously arose intact from the depths of the lake after many years.
Fortyvirgins
September 01

The 40 Holy Ascetic Virgin Martyrs of Thrace and their Teacher Ammon the Deacon

BACK TO TOP

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eleventh Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 21:14-25

At that time, Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead, and he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go." (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, "Follow me."

Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So, the word went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die; but Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Eleventh Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Ἰωάννην 21:14-25

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἐφανερώθη ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ λέγει τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρῳ· Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων; λέγει αὐτῷ· ναί, Κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ· βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου. λέγει αὐτῷ πάλιν δεύτερον· Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με; λέγει αὐτῷ· ναί, Κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ· ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου. λέγει αὐτῷ τὸ τρίτον· Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, φιλεῖς με; ἐλυπήθη ὁ Πέτρος ὅτι εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὸ τρίτον, φιλεῖς με, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Κύριε, σὺ πάντα οἶδας, σὺ γινώσκεις ὅτι φιλῶ σε. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· βόσκε τὰ πρόβατά μου. ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ὅτε ἦς νεώτερος, ἐζώννυες σεαυτὸν καὶ περιεπάτεις ὅπου ἤθελες· ὅταν δὲ γηράσῃς, ἐκτενεῖς τὰς χεῖράς σου, καὶ ἄλλος σε ζώσει, καὶ οἴσει ὅπου οὐ θέλεις. τοῦτο δὲ εἶπε σημαίνων ποίῳ θανάτῳ δοξάσει τὸν Θεόν. καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀκολούθει μοι. ἐπιστραφεὶς δὲ ὁ Πέτρος βλέπει τὸν μαθητὴν ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀκολουθοῦντα, ὃς καὶ ἀνέπεσεν ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπε· Κύριε, τίς ἐστιν ὁ παραδιδούς σε; τοῦτον ἰδὼν ὁ Πέτρος λέγει τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ· Κύριε, οὗτος δὲ τί; λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἐὰν αὐτὸν θέλω μένειν ἕως ἔρχομαι, τί πρὸς σέ; σὺ ἀκολούθει μοι. ἐξῆλθεν οὖν ὁ λόγος οὗτος εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὅτι ὁ μαθητὴς ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει· καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ὅτι οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν αὐτὸν θέλω μένειν ἕως ἔρχομαι, τί πρὸς σέ; Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μαθητὴς ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ τούτων καὶ γράψας ταῦτα, καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀληθής ἐστιν ἡ μαρτυρία αὐτοῦ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ ὅσα ἐποίησεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, ἅτινα ἐὰν γράφηται καθ᾽ ἕν, οὐδὲ αὐτὸν οἶμαι τὸν κόσμον χωρῆσαι τὰ γραφόμενα βιβλία. ἀμήν.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 146.5;134.3.
Great is our Lord, and great is his power.
Verse: Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to Timothy 2:1-7.

Timothy, my son, first of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Ecclesiastical New Year
Πρὸς Τιμόθεον α' 2:1-7

Τέκνον Τιμόθεε, παρακαλῶ οὖν πρῶτον πάντων ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις, προσευχάς, ἐντεύξεις, εὐχαριστίας, ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ὑπὲρ βασιλέων καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν ὑπεροχῇ ὄντων, ἵνα ἤρεμον καὶ ἡσύχιον βίον διάγωμεν ἐν πάσῃ εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ σεμνότητι. Τοῦτο γὰρ καλὸν καὶ ἀπόδεκτον ἐνώπιον τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Θεοῦ, ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Εἷς γὰρ Θεός, εἷς καὶ μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς ᾿Ιησοῦς, ὁ δοὺς ἑαυτὸν ἀντίλυτρον ὑπὲρ πάντων, τὸ μαρτύριον καιροῖς ἰδίοις, εἰς ὃ ἐτέθην ἐγὼ κήρυξ καὶ ἀπόστολος,- ἀλήθειαν λέγω ἐν Χριστῷ, οὐ ψεύδομαι,- διδάσκαλος ἐθνῶν ἐν πίστει καὶ ἀληθεία.

Gospel Reading

Ecclesiastical New Year
The Reading is from Luke 4:16-22

At that time, Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.

Ecclesiastical New Year
Κατὰ Λουκᾶν 4:16-22

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Ναζαρά, οὗ ἦν τεθραμμένος, καὶ εἰσῆλθε κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν, καὶ ἀνέστη ἀναγνῶναι. καὶ ἐπεδόθη αὐτῷ βιβλίον ῾Ησαΐου τοῦ προφήτου, καὶ ἀναπτύξας τὸ βιβλίον εὗρε τὸν τόπον οὗ ἦν γεγραμμένον· Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ᾿ ἐμέ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέ με, εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέ με, ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν, κηρῦξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, ἀποστεῖλαι τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει, κηρῦξαι ἐνιαυτὸν Κυρίου δεκτόν. καὶ πτύξας τὸ βιβλίον ἀποδοὺς τῷ ὑπηρέτῃ ἐκάθισε· καὶ πάντων ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἦσαν ἀτενίζοντες αὐτῷ. ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν. καὶ πάντες ἐμαρτύρουν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐθαύμαζον ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις τῆς χάριτος τοῖς ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ.

BACK TO TOP