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St. George Church
Publish Date: 2018-10-07
Bulletin Contents
Hymns of the Day
Saints and Feasts
Ecclesiastical Feast
Upcoming Church Services
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Digging Deeper into the Divine Liturgy
Announcements
Upcoming Events
Coffee Servers
Memorial Service
Sergiusbaccos
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St. George Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (734) 283-8820
  • Fax:
  • (734) 283-8866
  • Street Address:

  • 16300 Dix Toledo Highway

  • Southgate, MI 48195
  • Mailing Address:

  • 16300 Dix Toledo Highway

  • Southgate, MI 48195

Contact Information

Priest Fr. Anthony Cook

franthonyc@mac.com | 734-716-2268

Services Schedule

Sundays:

9 am - Orthros

10 am - Divine Liturgy

 

Weekday Services:

Please check the Sacred Services schedule in the bulletin or call the Church office.

Past Bulletins


Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Second Mode

When You descended unto death, O Lord who yourself are immortal Life, then did You mortify Hades by the lightning flash of Your Divinity. Also when You raised the dead from the netherworld, all the Powers of the heavens were crying out: O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory be to You.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Fr. Seraphim Dedes


Apolytikion for Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus in the Fourth Mode

Your Martyrs, O Lord, were worthily awarded by You * the crowns of incorruption, in that they contested for You our immortal God. * Since they possessed Your power, they defeated the tyrants, * dashing the demons' powerless displays of defiance. * O Christ God, at their fervent entreaties, save our souls.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Fr. Seraphim Dedes


Seasonal Kontakion in the Second Mode

O Protection of Christians that never falls, intercession with the Creator that never fails, we sinners beg you, do not ignore the voices of our prayers. O good Lady, we implore you, quickly come unto our aid, when we cry out to you with faith. Hurry to intercession, and hasten to supplication, O Theotokos who protect now and ever those who honor you.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Fr. Seraphim Dedes


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Saints and Feasts

Sergiusbaccos
October 07

Sergius & Bacchus the Great Martyrs of Syria

These holy Martyrs were Romans of high rank in the service of the Emperor Maximian, to whom it was reported that they did not take part in the festivals of the idols. When he called them into his presence, they confessed their Faith in the one God. He had them arrayed in women's clothes and paraded through the streets in mockery. They were afterwards scourged, from which Saint Bacchus died. This was about the year 296. Saint Sergius was then taken to Resapha in Syria, where he was tortured and beheaded. His tomb in Resapha became a very famous shrine, to which pilgrims came from as far away as Western Europe; Resapha was later renamed Sergiopolis in his honour.

Allsaint
October 08

Pelagia the Righteous

This Saint was a prominent actress of the city of Antioch, and a pagan, who lived a life of unrestrained prodigality and led many to perdition. Instructed and baptized by a certain bishop named Nonnus (Saint Nonnus is commemorated Nov. 10), she departed for the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem, where she lived as a recluse, feigning to be a eunuch called Pelagia. She lived in such holiness and repentance that within three or four years she was deemed worthy to repose in an odour of sanctity, in the middle of the fifth century. Her tomb on the Mount of Olives has been a place of pilgrimage ever since.

Jamesalphaeus
October 09

James the Apostle, son of Alphaeus

The holy Apostle James was one of the Twelve, and preached Christ to many nations, and finally suffered death by crucifixion.

Allsaint
October 09

The Righteous Patriarch Abraham and his nephew Lot

The holy Patriarch Abraham, born a pagan, ten generations after Noah, when the knowledge of God had perished from among men, became the beginning of God's dispensation for the universal renewal and salvation of man. He was called out of his country--the land of the Chaldees, that is, Mesopotamia--to the land of Canaan, and received the promise that through his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed; through his singular faith in the promises of God, he was justified before the giving of the Law and the coming of Grace; through his willingness to sacrifice Isaac, he portrayed the love wherewith God loved the world in sacrificing His only-begotten Son. The greatness of Abraham, and the trials that he and his righteous nephew Lot underwent, are set forth in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, chapters twelve through twenty-five. See also the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, December 11-17.

Allsaint
October 10

Eulampius & Eulampia the Martyrs

The Martyrs Eulampius and Eulampia were from Nicomedia, and contested for Christ during the reign of Maximian, in the year 296.

Allsaint
October 10

The 14 Holy Elders of Optina Monastery

On this day we also celebrate the Synaxis of the Righteous Fathers of Optina Hermitage in Russia, who struggled valiantly in the monastic life in prayer, humility, obedience, and love, and whom God deemed worthy of the lofty gifts of discernment, prophecy, clairvoyance, and eldership, that is, the grace to guide souls on the unerring path of salvation. They are Leo (who reposed in 1841), Macarius (1860), Moses (1862), Anthony (1865), Hilarion (1873), Ambrose (1891), Anatolius (1894), Isaacius (1894), Joseph (1911), Barsanuphius (1913), Anatolius (1922), Nectarius (1928), Nicon (1931), and Isaacius (1936).

Philipap
October 11

Philip the Apostle of the 70, one of the 7 Deacons

Saint Philip, who had four daughters that prophesied, was from Caesarea of Palestine. He preached throughout Samaria; it was he also who met the eunuch of Candace, the Queen of the Ethiopians, as the eunuch was reading the Prophet Esaias, and he instructed and baptized him (Acts 8:26-39). He reposed in Tralles of Asia Minor while preaching the Gospel.

Allsaint
October 11

Theophanes the Confessor, Bishop of Nicaea

Saint Theophanes, the brother of Saint Theodore the Branded, was a Palestinian by race. Both were monks at the Monastery of Saint Sabbas. They were called "the Branded" because Theophilus, the last of the Iconoclast emperors, had twelve iambic verses branded by hot irons on their foreheads and then sent them into exile, where Theodore died in the year 838. After the death of Theophilus in 842, Theophanes was elected Bishop of Nicaea. Both brothers composed many canons and hymns, thereby adorning the services of the Church.

Allsaint
October 12

Probus, Andronicus, & Tarachus, Martyrs of Tarsus

The holy Martyrs contested for Christ during the reign of Diocletian, in the year 296 or 304. Tarachus was advanced in years, of Roman birth, and had been a soldier; Probus was from Side in Pamphylia, and Andronicus from Ephesus. They were taken together in Cilicia and subjected to manifold exceedingly cruel tenures. Tarachus was beaten on his cheeks and neck with stones, his hands were burned, he was hanged on a post and smoke was put underneath him to choke him; vinegar was forced down his nostrils; after enduring further tortures, he was carved to pieces. Probus was thrashed with whips, his feet were burned with red hot irons, his back and sides were pierced with heated spits; finally he also was cut up with knives, and received the crown of martyrdom. Andronicus suffered similar tortures, and also finished his course being cut to pieces, commending his soul into the hands of God.

Symeonnewspious
October 12

Symeon the New Theologian

Saint Symeon became a monk of the Studite Monastery as a young man, under the guidance of the elder Symeon the Pious. Afterwards he struggled at the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, of which he became abbot. After enduring many trials and afflictions in his life of piety, he reposed in 1022. Marvelling at the heights of prayer and holiness to which he attained, and the loftiness of the teachings of his life and writings, the church calls him "the New Theologian." Only to two others, John the Evangelist and Gregory, Patriarch of Constantinople, has the church given the name "Theologian." Saint Symeon reposed on March 12, but since this always falls in the Great Fast, his feast is kept today.

Allsaint
October 13

Carpus, Papylus, Agathodorus, & Agathonica, the Martyrs of Pergamus

Saint Carpus was Bishop of the Church of Thyatira in Asia Minor and Papylus was his deacon, whom he had ordained. Seized as Christians and tormented in Thyatira, they were taken to Sardis, whither Agathodorus, their servant, followed them, and also confessed Christ, and was tormented with them. Together with Agathonica, the sister of Saint Papylus. they were all beheaded during the reign of Decius, in the year 250.

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Ecclesiastical Feast

Of the 3rd Sunday of Luke.

Of the Holy Great-martyrs Sergios and Bacchus.

Of the Holy Martyr Polychronios.

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Upcoming Church Services

Saturday, October 13

5:00 pm - Great Vespers

Thursday, October 18

9 & 10 am - Orthros/Divine Liturgy for St. Luke

 Saturday, October 20

5:00 pm - Great Vespers

Thursday, October 25

5:00-7:00 pm - Vespural Liturgy for St. Demetrios

 Saturday, October 27

 5:00 pm - Great Vespers

Saturday, November 3

5:00 pm - Great Vespers

Saturday, November 10

5:00 pm - Great Vespers

 

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eighth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that He had said these things to her.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Second Mode. Psalm 117.14,18.
The Lord is my strength and my song.
Verse: The Lord has chastened me sorely.

The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 11:31-33; 12:1-9.

Brethren, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands.

I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise --whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Gospel Reading

3rd Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 7:11-16

At that time, Jesus went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!"

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Wisdom of the Fathers

"If a man has no worries about himself at all for the sake of love toward God and the working of good deeds, knowing that God is taking care of him, this is a true and wise hope. But if a man takes care of his own business and turns to God in prayer only when misfortunes come upon him which are beyond his power, and then he begins to hope in God, such a hope is vain and false. A true hope seeks only the Kingdom of God... the heart can have no peace until it obtains such a hope. This hope pacifies the heart and produces joy within it."
St. Seraphim of Sarov

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Digging Deeper into the Divine Liturgy

by Fr. Anthony Cook

Part 64

The next phrase of the Creed continues from the confession of the Lord’s Resurrection on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and says:

"He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead."

We have a tendency to think of the Ascension of the Lord following His Resurrection as something of an afterword, a postscript, a simple narrative conclusion to the story, along the lines of, “and they lived happily ever after” in a fairy tale. But nothing could be further from the truth. The narrative flow of the Gospel account of the Lord’s Incarnation makes a very great deal of the humility, the willing lowering of Himself that the Lord accomplished by His birth in Bethlehem, His embrace of the privations and limitations of human life, His ministry, during which He had no place to lay His head, with that narrative flow culminating in His submission to the suffering and death of the Cross, and His descent to the uttermost extent of human brokenness, the very bowels of Hades itself. He descended from the infinite heights of eternal, timeless Divinity to the lowest depths of fallen Creation. His Resurrection is indeed an unforeseen, unhoped for, up-to-that-point-in-time impossible return from those depths, but for all the wonder and glory that attends the reality of the Lord’s Rising from the Dead, it is only one step on His return to the heights from which He condescended. If God became man, and submitted to death, and rose from the dead, and remained only “merely” human, then the ultimate import of the story would be that somehow, God was exiled from His own Divinity, and came and lived as a human being, continuing in exile. It would imply that His Incarnation was not in fact an act of His free will, but that it was undertaken only under compulsion. It would imply that He COULD not return to His Divinity. It would sound, in short, like every fairy tale and pagan myth ever told about a demigod. It is therefore essential that the Lord should ascend to heaven, and sit down at the right hand of the Father - in short, that He should return to where He had come from in the first place. For this reason, the Lord’s Ascension is not, in fact, a relatively unimportant postscript to the account of the Lord’s Incarnation - it is essential to complete the symmetry of the story, to emphasize and uphold the most essential part of the story, that He was Eternal God before He became a human being, that He remained Eternal God throughout the course of His Incarnation, even through His death and descent into Hades, and that He, being Eternal God, ascended back to where He had been.

This, of course, is how the Lord’s Ascension appears to us. There are two additional points that we should add to this account. The first point is that, of course, being Infinite, Eternal, and God from before the ages, the Lord did not, in fact, LEAVE the Divine Glory of His Eternal Godhead together with the Father and the Holy Spirit when He became a man. His Ascension is, in fact, still a part of His condescension to us, an exhibition of His Divinity as He leaves His disciples behind and assumes before them the glory which He had never left. As the hymn affirms, in His Divine Nature, unconstrained by time and space, filling and fulfilling all things, He was present always on the throne with the Father and the Spirit, and at the same time was physically in the grave, in Hades, with His soul, as God, and in paradise with the thief. He was active and present in the world, but never departed from the Father and the Spirit. His Incarnation is an extension of His Divinity into history.

The second point is that the Lord’s Ascension is, indeed, a true Ascension - for while in His Divine Nature He had never departed the heights of glory, in the Ascension, His human nature was assumed together with His Divine Nature to that Divine Glory that was His with the Father from before the foundation of the world. Because of the Ascension, the physical matter of this created world is seated, in the person of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, at the right hand of God the Father. God has become man - and human nature has been caught up in glory and become Divine, in the Lord. And therefore all of us, who are baptized into Christ, and have put on Christ, are called to ascend the heights through communion with Him, and be transformed from glory to glory, growing ever closer to Him, ever closer to His perfect Divinity.

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Announcements


From Fr. Anthony - Office Hours

The Church's office hours are 9-5 Monday-Friday, and you can stop by to speak with the office staff any time during those hours. If you have a specifically Church-related question, you should speak with Susan Solo, who is in the office Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday. If you need to meet with me, however, it's best to call first, as I may already be with another appointment, and am frequently called away to other visitations and appointments. If you prefer, I am happy to arrange a time in advance if you prefer. Please note that I am available for hospital visitations, but hospitals no longer give patient information to clergy. Please call me, or have someone in your family call me, so that I can come to visit you. 

Church Etiquette

We ask that the doors of the Narthex be closed and no one enters the Church during the following portions of the service:

Epistle, Gospel, Sermon, Great Entrance, Creed, Consecration, and Lord's Prayer.

Please be respectful of the prayer and attention of those who are in the Church as you enter.

When it is time for Holy Communion, please remain in your pews until the young people of the Sunday school have finished receiving Communion. When they are finished, the Parish Council will usher you forward by row.

Choir Spaghetti Luncheon

Today is National Church Music Sunday! Please support our Choir by joining us for a Spaghetti luncheon following Divine Liturgy today in the Parthenon Hall.

Our Students' Feast Days

We wish our students celebrating their Feast Days this month 'Chronia Polla.' May God grant them many years. See the list on the display board in the school hallway!

Christmas Play Sign-up

Please sign-up your child for this year's Christmas Play (Sun., Dec. 23) on the wall across from the Church office. All parts are first come, first serve basis. Rehearsals start Sun., Nov. 4, from 12:30-1:15 pm, in the Activity Room (except Sun., Nov. 25). Your child MUST ATTEND at least 4 rehearsals. Final Dress rehearsal will be Sat., Dec. 22, in the Grecian Center at noon. Please call Alesia Grinstead with questions at 734.341.4116.

Orthodox Life

We continue this Tuesday with our parish Bible Study, from 6 to 7 pm. We will meet in the Library of the Church. We hope to see you all there! Please note, we will not meet on Tuesday, Oct. 25 due to the Greek School OXI event.

Holy Trinity Monastery Benefit Dinner

If you are interested in the Benefit Dinner for the Monastery, please see the flyer on the candle counter for tickets. It will be held this Saturday, October 13, at Annunciation Cathedral in Detroit.

Fall General Assembly

Next Sunday, October 14, we'll have our Fall General Assembly, following the Divine Liturgy, in the Apollo Hall. To participate, families must have paid their 2018 Stewardship in full or at least $250; for Seniors to participate, you must have paid your 2018 Stewardship in full or at least $170. Please speak with Susan in the Church office if you need to know where you stand regarding your stewardship for 2018.

Welcome Back! Luncheon

The Philoptochos is hosting a "Welcome Back" luncheon on Sunday, October 21, immediately following the Divine Liturgy. Cost: 12 years and up - $15.00/pp; 11 and under - Free! Please make your reservations online or at the Reservation Table near the Library.

Coffee Servers

Please sign-up outside the Church office next to the bulletin board to help serve Coffee on Sunday mornings during Coffee Hour.

FOCUS Detroit Bags of Food for Needy Schoolchildren - Volunteers and Donations Needed!

Please note the new day and time - the third Thursday of each month!

Please use the link below to get to the sign-up sheet for this monthly event. You will notice that you can now sign-up all the way through May if you'd like. Please remember to list how many from your family will be coming to help out. Our goal is to provide enough supplies for all the bags ourselves! Please consider donating any of the following: Boxes of individual oatmeal packets - Cereal bowls or small individual cereal boxes - Fruit cups - Individual Cheez-Its or Goldfish bags - Mac & Cheese Cups - Chef Boyardee/Spaghettios pop top cans or cups - Ramen Noodles - Fruit snacks (the kind with real fruit juice and added Vitamin C 100%) - Cereal bars or ganola bars. Please call Eleni Gikas at 313.300.4903 to let her know what you plan to donate, or if you prefer to make a cash donation. All donated items can be dropped off in the Activity Room.

Our next meeting date will be on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, at 6:00 pm.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044facaa23a0f94-food1

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Upcoming Events

Today

After Liturgy - Choir Spaghetti Luncheon

Tuesday, October 9

5:30-7:30 pm - Greek School

6:00 pm - Orthodox Life

Saturday, October 13

4:30-5:45 pm - Byzantine Chant-Kids

Sunday, October 14

1:00 pm - Fall General Assembly

Tuesday, October 16

5:30-7:30 pm - Greek School

6:00 pm - Orthodox Life

Thursday, October 18

Noon - Seniors Luncheon

6:00 pm - FOCUS Food Bag Prep

7:00 pm - Parish Council Meeting

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Coffee Servers

TODAY: Choir Spaghetti Luncheon

10/14: Lauren Tougas

10/21: Philoptochos "Welcome Back" Luncheon

10:28: Aphrodite K., Magda V.

 

Volunteers are needed!

Please sign-up outside the Church office next to the bulletin board. 

We need coffee servers during the coffee hour on Sundays. Please consider serving our Lord in this capacity. Thank you!

 

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Memorial Service

Christos Kostapapas - 40 days

Evangelia Athanasia - 1 year

May the Lord our God grant rest to their souls where the righteous repose, in a place where there is no pain, no sorrow, and no suffering, but rather everlasting life.

May their memory be eternal.

Due to the Choir Spaghetti Luncheon today, the Kostapapas family has made a donation to the Choir in his memory in lieu of coffee and donuts.

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