Sundays:
9 am - Orthros
10:15 am - Divine Liturgy
Weekday Services:
Please check the Services schedule in the bulletin or call the Church office.
No Sunday School - Christmas Break
Parish Council Oath of Office
8:50AM Orthros
10:00AM Divine Liturgy
12:00PM Philoptochos Meeting
12:30PM Greek Dance Practice
10:00AM Visitation for Ioannis Karras
11:00AM Funeral Service for Ioannis Karras
5:00PM Grecian Center Meeting
Sunday School Resumes
8:50AM Orthros
10:00AM Divine Liturgy
12:30PM Greek Dance Practice
Laura Tavulares - 1 year
Peter James Tavulares - 6 years
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. The coffee is offered by the Karafotis family.
The Blessing of the Five Loaves is offered by the Makarounas family for the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist and those who celebrate.
Today, Parish Council members will take their oath of office immediately following the Divine Liturgy.
The Ladies of Philoptochos will host its annual Vasilopita luncheon on Sunday, January 21, 2024, following the Divine Liturgy, in the Parthenon Hall. Reservations are available online here, at the Reservation Table, or by calling the church office. PRE-PAID RESERVATIONS - Adults $18.00; Children Ages 12-17 $13.00; Children 11 & under - free. At the door: Adults: $20.00; Children 12-17: $15.00; Children 11 & under $5.00. Please make your reservations by Wednesday, January 17.
Our next Winter Festival meeting will take place Monday, January 15 @ 6:00 pm. All are welcome to attend and help in the planning of this new event.
The meeting is also available by Zoom:
The 55 & Over Club will meet on Thursday, January 18, at noon, in the Apollo Hall. Please note the lunch is being held 1 week earlier due to Lent. The Club will pay for paid members; all others - lunch is $9. If you plan to attend, you must call Mary Frosinos @ 313.581.7969 to make a reservation (please leave her a voice mail).
If you would like to schedule a house blessing in January, please contact Fr. John to make arrangements (Office: 734-283-8820 ~ Cell 716-730-1982 ~ frjohn@stgeorgesouthgate.org)
If you use offering envelopes, you can pick up your new 2024 box in the hallway of the school. Please note: throw out any unused 2023 envelopes because we have consolidated numbers.
We highly encourage you to use our online giving program which is safe and easy to use as the cost of offering boxes is becoming more expensive each year. Your donations online (as well as those given in envelopes), all go towards your yearly stewardship unless you say otherwise. You can make online donations to the church here or on the home page of the church's website.
Sunday school students who currently use offering envelopes will receive new boxes for 2024 in January with NEW NUMBERS. Please make sure you throw out any unused 2023 offering envelopes. If your child currently does not use offering envelopes, but would like to start using them in 2024, please contact the office.
GOYO VIII (Greek Orthodox Youth Olympics) to be held in Grand Rapids, MI - January 27/28, 2024. Please contact Fr. John or Dimitri Gargasoulas to register.
Registration includes Saturday & Sunday ~ All Food, Drinks, Snacks, including Closing Ceremony Dinner/Dance (Saturday night with professional DJ), t-shirt for each participant and individual and team awards. DOES NOT INCLUDE HOTEL.
A block of rooms has been reserved at a lower rate valid through January 16, 2024.
Hilton Garden Inn: 2321 East Beltline Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546
You can call and book – 616-608-8800
Group name: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Click here to book your rooms.
Room rate: $119
The Toledo Walleye Hockey team will host a Faith and Family Night on Sunday, February 4, with the game at 5:15 pm. Group discounted tickets are $19 and include a Q&A with Walleye coaches and players at 2:00 pm before the game.
If you would like for us to light a candle in the Church in prayer for you and your family, please use the Prayer/Candle Request form found here or on the home page of the church website. You can pay by credit card or send a check in the mail to the Church.
Philoptochos is collecting men's clothing (including sweatshirts/pants, socks, blankets, winter coats, and boots) for Feeding Detroit and Downriver. Boxes are located in the Narthex and activity room.
The Grecian Center has scheduled public events now through early spring - see the flyers on the church bulletin board in the school hallway for any events you may be interested in OR go to its website here and see the events by scrolling down the main page.
Today we celebrate the Synaxis in honour of the most sacred Forerunner, since he ministered at the Mystery of the Divine Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rest from labour. Fish allowed.
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Saint Domnica was from Carthage. During the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, she came with four other virgins to Constantinople, where she was baptized by Nectarius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. She remained in Constantinople and became known for her extreme asceticism, the miracles that she worked, and the grace of prophecy that adorned her. She lived until the days of the Emperors Leo and Zeno, reposing in peace about the year 474.
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Saint Polyeuctus, a soldier in rank, contested during the reign of Valerian, in the year 255. He was from Melitene, a city in Armenia.
Saint Gregory, the younger brother of Basil the Great, illustrious in speech and a zealot for the Orthodox Faith, was born in 331. His brother Basil was encouraged by their elder sister Macrina to prefer the service of God to a secular career (see July 19); Saint Gregory was moved in a similar way by his godly mother Emily, who, when Gregory was still a young man, implored him to attend a service in honor of the holy Forty Martyrs at her retreat at Annesi on the River Iris. Saint Gregory came at his mother's bidding, but being wearied with the journey, and feeling little zeal, he fell asleep during the service. The Forty Martyrs then appeared to him in a dream, threatening him and reproaching him for his slothfulness. After this he repented and became very diligent in the service of God.
Gregory became bishop in 372, and because of his Orthodoxy he was exiled in 374 by Valens, who was of one mind with the Arians. After the death of Valens in 378, Gregory was recalled to his throne by the Emperor Gratian. He attended the Local Council of Antioch, which sent him to visit the churches of Arabia and Palestine, which had been defiled and ravaged by Arianism. He attended the Second Ecumenical Council, which was assembled in Constantinople in 381. Having lived some sixty years and left behind many remarkable writings, he reposed about the year 395. The acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council call him 'Father of Fathers."
This Saint had Cappadocia as his homeland. He lived during the years of Leo of Thrace, who reigned from 457 to 474. The Saint established in the Holy Land a great communal monastery, wherein he was the shepherd of many monks. While Saint Sabbas was the head of the hermits of Palestine, Saint Theodosius was governor of those living the cenobitic life, for which reason he is called the Cenobiarch. Together with Saint Sabbas, towards whom he cherished a deep brotherly love in Christ, he defended the whole land of Palestine from the heresy of the Monophysites, which was championed by the Emperor Anastasius and might very well have triumphed in the Holy Land without the opposition of these two great monastic fathers and their zealous defense of the Holy Council of Chalcedon. Having lived for 103 years, he reposed in peace.
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Saint Tatiana was the daughter of a most distinguished consul of Rome. She became a deaconess of the Church, and for her confession of the Faith of Christ, she endured many torments. As she was suffering, angels punished her tormentors with the same torments they inflicted on her, until they cried out that they could no longer endure the scourges invisibly brought upon them. She was beheaded during the reign of Alexander Severus (111-135).
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Saints Hermylus and Stratonicus contested for piety's sake during the reign of Licinius, in the year 314. Saint Hermylus was a deacon, and Stratonicus was his friend. For his confession of Christ, Hermylus was beaten so fiercely that his whole body was covered with wounds. Stratonicus, seeing him endure this and other torments that left him half dead, wept with grief for his friend. From this he was discovered to be a Christian, and when he had openly professed his Faith and had been beaten, he and Hermylus were cast into the Danube River, receiving the crown of martyrdom.
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As for the holy Martyrs of Sinai and Raithu, those of Sinai contested during the reign of Diocletian, about the year 296; those of Raithu were slain about the middle of the fifth century. On both occasions, the perpetrators of these massacres were a barbarian tribe called Blemmyes, from the parts of Arabia and Egypt.
Because of the Apodosis of the Feast of Holy Theophany also on the 14th of January, the liturgical services to the Holy Fathers slain at Sinai and Raitho are transferred to January 13th.
Ninth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:19-31
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in His side, I will not believe." Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and My God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.
Prokeimenon. Grave Mode. Psalm 63.11,1.
The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord.
Verse: Oh God, hear my cry.
The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 19:1-8.
In those days, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve of them in all. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God.
Synaxis of John the Holy Glorious Prophet, Baptist, & Forerunner
The Reading is from John 1:29-34
At that time, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
Please remember in your prayers the following:
Please contact the Church office to add your names to the Prayer List. Thank you.
for Sunday, January 7, 2024
for Sunday, January 7, 2024
for Sunday, January 21, 2024
The Toledo Walleye Faith and Family Night will take on Sunday, February 4.
Metropolis of Detroit Friends Program appeal
Winter Festival - March 2, 2024