Sunday Morning Orthros/Matins 8:15am, Divine Liturgy 9:30am; Saturday Great Vespers 5:00pm (October thru May); Weekday Services (see Online Calendar, Sunday Bulletin & Monthly Newsletter); Confession (by appointment).
As the deliverer of captives, and the protector of the poor; a physician of the sick, the defender of kings; O Great Martyr St. George Victorious, intercede to Christ our God, to save our souls.
This Saint was of high birth among the Goths beyond the Danube River. He was taken by Athanaric, pagan ruler of the Goths, and after being tortured, was burned to death for his confession of Christ. According to some, this took place during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great; according to others, under the Emperor Gratian.
Saint Euphemia was from Chalcedon and lived in virginity. According to some, she suffered martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian, in 303; according to others, in 307. Her sacred relics are preserved in the Patriarchate in Constantinople.
Prokeimenon. 4th 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.
Sunday after Holy Cross
The Reading is from Mark 8:34-38; 9:1
The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."
As we commemorate this most blessed Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, we sing as an exclamation of faith and a witness of the Gospel to all the world, “The Cross is raised on high, and urges all the creation to sing the praises of the undefiled Passion of Him who was lifted high upon it.” (Hymn of Vespers) Today, as Orthodox Christians we raise high the Cross as an emblem of victory and an invincible shield. We raise high the Cross of Christ our Lord, proclaiming the salvation that has come through Him. We raise high the Cross, affirming that God’s love for us is greater than the power of death. And in raising high the Cross, we raise up Christ so that all the world may see our Resurrected Lord and believe.
September 15, 2019 Sunday after Holy Cross
TODAY: Sunday School
Church Picnic (Highland Park Shelter, 1227 Montreal Ave, St. Paul, MN 55116)
Greek Dance 4:30pm
Epistle Reader: Stephen Kanavati Prosfora: anonymous
Fellowship: Church Picnic Greeters: Andrea Walkush, Jon Kennedy
Tuesday 09-17 Parish Council Meeting 6:30pm
Intro to Orthodoxy Catechism Class – Humankind: Creation, Fall, Messiah 7-9pm
Wednesday 09-18 Bible Study 1:30pm
Thursday 09-19 AHEPA Meeting 7:00pm
Saturday 09-21 Divine Liturgy in Eau Claire, WI 9:30am
Youth Trip to Afton Apple Orchard 2-4pm
Sunday 09-22 ORTHROS (8:15am) & DIVINE LITURGY – 1st SUN of LUKE 9:30am
Sunday School, Philoptochos Meeting
Greek Dance Practice 4:30pm
Memory Eternal- Presvytera Miriam Paraschou fell asleep in the Lord on August 23. John Georgolopolos fell asleep in the Lord on August 27. May God grant them eternal rest and strength and hope to their families.
Crown Them with Honor & Glory: Congratulations to Margret Rubis & Athanasios Poulios who were united in the Mystery/Sacrament of Marriage on Sept 7. Sponsor is Savvas Nikolaides.
Church Picnic Today: following liturgy at Highland Park Shelter. Everyone welcome!
Philoptochos News: Today Philoptochos is passing a tray for the Hellenic College Holy Cross Scholarship Fund. The Exaltation of the Holy Cross commitment provides tuition scholarships to worthy and dedicated students, both men and women at Hellenic College and seminarians at Holy Cross to assist with tuition expenses. Thank you for your generosity! Next meeting is Sunday, Sept 22 following Divine Liturgy in the conference room. Join us to hear what we have planned for the upcoming year! New members welcome!
Youth Event: St. George Youth and their families are invited to the Afton Apple Orchard on Saturday, Sept 21, 2-4pm for an afternoon of outdoor fun including: apple picking, wagon rides, and feeding animals at the petting zoo. Admission fee covered by the St. George Youth. Please meet by the entrance at 2pm for voucher. For more info, call or text Vicky at 763.742.0429 or view this link https://youtu.be/g4F-YB-bkvQ.
Sunday School Teachers’ workshop “Educating Ourselves & Our Children in Godliness” at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in West St. Paul, Saturday, Sept 21. See posting in social hall or contact Christina Worrall at Worrall.christina@gmail.com or 571.334.2306.
Patristic Wisdom: “And see how He also makes His discourse unexceptionable: not saying at all, "whether you will, or no, you must suffer this," but how? "If any man will come after me." St. John Chrysostom
Volunteers Needed for Clergy Laity Assembly: as much help as possible is needed to pull off this special event. Please review the volunteer opportunities before and during the event, and sign up via Sign-up Genius for a shift (or two) as you're able: https://tinyurl.com/yxmw9uqe. We are grateful for your participation!
Metropolis of Chicago Clergy Laity Assembly: The assembly is co-sponsored by St. George (St. Paul) and our sister parish St. Mary’s (Minneapolis). Thursday, September 26 – Sunday, September 29. Today is the last day to register as an observer by signing up at the Metropolis CLA website: www.chicago.goarch.org/clergy-laity-2019. There is no charge for observers to attend! Observers are welcome participate in meals for an a la carte fee. We are excited about welcoming 300 plus guests to our conference!
Metropolis Clergy Laity Request: In order to save on audio/visual costs for the presentations, our committee has asked us to reach out and see if anyone from church has laptops or projectors that we can borrow for the assembly beginning on Thursday, September 26. Delivery direct to the Hyatt (3200 East 81st Street, Bloomington, MN 55425) preferred - if possible. We would need necessary charging cables and cords. If you have one that you can loan us, please contact Fr. Perry.
DIVINE SERVICES (Orthros & Hierarchical Divine Liturgy) – presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael will take place at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church (3450 Irving Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408) on Sunday September 29. Orthros will begin at 8:30am followed by Divine Liturgy at 9:30am. St. George will be CLOSED. As the co-hosts, we will be joining His Eminence, our co-sponsor St. Mary’s, and the rest of the Clergy Laity participants from throughout the Metropolis for the Divine Liturgy.
MCP Fundraising Gala Today: 4-7pm on the terrace of the Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street N, Stillwater. Tickets for the Medical Crisis Program Annual Fundraising Gala are $35 per person, available online www.lomcp.com. or at the door. See posting in social hall for details.
Thank you to the volunteers who hosted last week’s MEOCCA luncheon!
Bible Study:Join us Wednesday, Sep.18 for our next Bible Study at church from 1:30-3pm. Our next class will discuss the major themes from Luke 1:1-80. All are welcome! Questions to Kathy Ryan 651-292-9948 or kathy.aeiou@gmail.com.
Intro to Orthodoxy: Our 12-week catechism class on the basics of Eastern Orthodox Christianity continues on Tuesday evenings 7-9pm this coming Tuesday, September 17th. The class is open to everyone, especially inquirers and those interested in converting to Orthodoxy. Classes are held here at St. George. Register online atwww.meocca.org. Feel free to join us for individual classes.
Upcoming Young Adult League (YAL) Events: Friday, September 27, 9-11pm Orthodoxy on Tap at Hyatt Regency; Saturday, September 28, 1:30-4pm, Service Project at FOCUS MN House; Saturday, September 28, 6-10pm, Taste of Northeast and Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit. See insert and posting in social hall for details. Young adults do not need to register for the Clergy-Laity Assembly to attend, but RSVP to Fr. Jason Houck at frjason@stmarysgoc.org.
“Make a Joyful Noise: Engaging Orthodox Youth Through Church Music” a workshop presented by the Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians-Chicago Metropolis, will be held on Saturday, Sept 28 during the Metropolis Clergy-Laity-Philoptochos Assembly. It is appropriate for clergy, Sunday School teachers or directors, youth directors and anyone that works with the youth of our Holy Orthodox Church. Learn how to invite, excite, and unite our youth through music!
St. George Greek School: begins Sunday, October 6, 11:45am – 1pm.All are welcome!Modern Greek language classes for kids and adults, beginner and advanced, are held in the lower level classrooms. There is also a preschool class. An open house is scheduled for Sunday, September 22 from 11:45-12:45 to meet teachers and register for classes. If you have any questions, please contact Stella Hofrenning or Angela Mortari.
A New Bible Study Group will start soon and take place twice a month, focused on Orthodox Christian parenting, possibly Wednesday evenings depending on the feedback of our community. We will have two volunteers to help take care of our little ones. All are welcome! For more information, contact either Katherine Cabieses at (240) 705-1520 or katherineecabieses@gmail.com, or Stephen Kanavati at (651) 335-2124 or skanavat@gmail.com. Please fill out the following form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ix8qnQRNPnmZxFF-JRSpRk2h6kBk9SEiblJAHe-6Hks/edit?usp=sharing
Wisdom from the Teachers of the Church: "I force not, I compel not, but each one I make lord of his own choice; wherefore also I say, 'If any man will.' For to good things do I call you, not to things evil, or burdensome; not to punishment and vengeance, that I should have to compel.” St. John Chrysostom
Taste of Northeast: September 27-28, 2019hosted by St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral in northeast Minneapolis. See postings in social hall or visit https://stmarysoca.org/.
Focus MN: St. George GOC is not able to accept food or clothing donations for FOCUS until October. However, if you would like to help sort or distribute items at their headquarters at 550 Rice Street, St. Paul, MN 55103, they welcome volunteers on Wednesdays from 11am-2pm or Thursdays, 4pm-7pm.
Prosopon Iconography Workshop: October 6-12 at St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral in northeast Minneapolis. For details on “St. Romanos the Melodist, Basic & Advanced Workshop”, see brochure posted in social hall or contact Marilyn Johnson at 612.378.0606 or mjohnson@umn.edu.
Save the Date: Next Game Night is Saturday, October 26, 7pm, here at St. George. The Orthodox Game League invites adults 18+ to learn a new game, play a classic, teach a game, and have fun! Flyer in social hall; contact Nikki Beauchamp 612.910.2943 for details.
Festival Lawn Signs: thanks to all who advertised the Greek Festival with lawn signs! Please check your garages for old signs and return them to the social hall so that we can place them in storage for next year.
2020 Basketball Tourney: will be hosted by our parish here in Saint Paul, MN on February 7-8-9, 2020. The parish council approved at February meeting and planning committee is formed. The last time we hosted was 2012. For more info or to volunteer, contact tournament co-chairs Milam Paraschou and Dan Simon.
Note from Treasurer: expense requests received by 5pm Friday are processed over the weekend. General Operations, Fundraiser (e.g. Greek Festival) and Memorial/Dedicated Expense Forms are available in the conference room and church office. Allow 1-2 weeks for payment. Please plan ahead since non-budgeted expenses require PC approval and immediate payment to service providers is not available. Thank you!
Interested in Hosting? if your family or group would like to host a Sunday Social Hour following Divine Liturgy, please contact Rita Kanavati at ritakanavati@comcast.net or sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ca5ad2babff2-social. Please note that if you have signed up but are unable to host, you are responsible for finding your own replacement. Likewise, if the date you would like to host is already taken, you are responsible for contacting the assigned hosts to see if they are willing to reschedule. Please contact the office if you need assistance!
Welcome Visitors! Thank you for joining with us in prayer and fellowship. The timeless worship of the Orthodox Church is deeply rooted in the practices early Christian Church. Everything in an Orthodox Christian Church communicates the majestic presence of God the Holy Trinity. It is literally heaven on earth. It is a sad consequence of the divisions in Christianity that we cannot extend a general invitation to receive Holy Communion. However, visitors are invited to receive the blessed bread (antidoron) at the conclusion of the liturgy. We pray and work for the reconciliation and unity of all Christians. If interested in learning more about Orthodoxy, contact Fr. Perry at frperry@stgeorgegoc.org. We are proud of our Greek heritage, but one does not have to be of Greek descent, nor speak Greek to be an Orthodox Christian and member of our church.
Glad Tidings deadline: The 10th of each month. Glad Tidings email: gladtidings@stgeorgegoc.org. Sunday Bulletin Deadline: Wednesday Noon each week. Email: office@stgeorgegoc.org.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Friday-Saturday, Sept 27-28, 2019