THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD
DECEMBER LECTURE SERIES: OUR SAINTS
This Thursday is the fourth installement of Father Samaras' “Zoom Lectures” - All About Our Saints
Tuesday, December 27 8pm
ZOOM LINK: https://hbc.zoom.us/j/7281157184
Meeting ID: 728 115 7184
Or Phone In: 1-646-931-3860
FATHER SAMARAS
ALWAYS A SPIRITUAL FOCUS FIRST
Sunday, December 25th, 2022
Dearest Parish families members,
Today is the day! For Sunday, December 25th, this is the day when God has entered time and history. Honestly, it is mind-boggling to conceive of this fact.
Today’s message is the simplest: with the birth of Jesus Christ, we have interaction; we have the Messiah and have our possibility of salvation. With the birth of Jesus Christ, we have, thirty-three years later, his sacrifice for our mortality and sins and our chance for salvation and Heaven.
We can’t imagine Pascha without his Nativity. I think of this Greek word omousion, which means “of the same essence.” This is how we understand God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit: “of the same essence.”
I know that, on our Christmas Day, many families will be off visiting their other family members. And that we’ll miss a few people in our Church service. But we pray always for “those seen and unseen.” We pray you will be safe while traveling to visit others, and that you all come back “home” to see us soon again. Be safe and have a blessed Christmas Day. God be with all of us, together.
Faithfully, Father Samaras
Sunday, December 25th, 2022
On December 25th, we commemorate the Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ; the Adoration of the Magi; and the Shepherds who saw the Lord.
Συναξάριον Τοῦ Μηναίου. Τῇ ΚΕʹ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς ἡ κατὰ σάρκα Γέννησις τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡ Προσκύνησις τῶν Μάγων. Τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ μνήμη τῶν θεασσαμένων Ποιμένων τὸν Κύριον.
The Epistle For the Feast
Let all the earth worship You and sing to You; let them sing to Your name.
Shout to God, all the earth.
The reading is from Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians 4:4-7
Brethren, when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir of God through Christ.
The Gospel For the Feast
The reading is from the holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 2:1-12
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: 'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'"
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."
When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Ὁ Ἀπόστολος Τῆς Ἑορτῆς
Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ προσκυνησάτωσάν σοι καὶ ψαλάτωσάν σοι, ψαλάτωσαν τῷ ὀνόματί σου.
Ἀλαλάξατε τῷ Κυρίῳ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ.
Πρὸς Γαλάτας Ἐπιστολῆς Παύλου 4:4-7
Ἀδελφοί, ὅτε ἦλθεν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξαγοράσῃ, ἵνα τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολάβωμεν. Ὅτι δέ ἐστε υἱοί, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, κρᾶζον, Ἀββᾶ, ὁ πατήρ. Ὥστε οὐκέτι εἶ δοῦλος, ἀλλʼ υἱός· εἰ δὲ υἱός, καὶ κληρονόμος θεοῦ διὰ Χριστοῦ.
Τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον Τῆς Ἑορτῆς
Ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ματθαῖον ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου 2:1-12
Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ γεννηθέντος ἐν Βηθλεὲμ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐν ἡμέραις Ἡρῴδου τοῦ βασιλέως, ἰδοὺ μάγοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν παρεγένοντο εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμαλέγοντες· ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ τεχθεὶς βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων; εἴδομεν γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀστέρα ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ καὶ ἤλθομεν προσκυνῆσαι αὐτῷ.᾿Ακούσας δὲ Ἡρῴδης ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐταράχθη καὶ πᾶσα Ἱεροσόλυμα μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ,καὶ συναγαγὼν πάντας τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ ἐπυνθάνετο παρ᾿ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται.οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· ἐν Βηθλεὲμ τῆς Ἰουδαίας· οὕτω γὰρ γέγραπται διὰ τοῦ προφήτου· καὶ σὺ Βηθλεέμ, γῆ Ἰούδα,οὐδαμῶς ἐλαχίστη εἶ ἐν τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν Ἰούδα·ἐκ σοῦ γὰρ ἐξελεύσεται ἡγούμενος,ὅστις ποιμανεῖ τὸν λαόν μου τὸν Ἰσραήλ. Τότε Ἡρῴδης λάθρα καλέσας τοὺς μάγους ἠκρίβωσε παρ᾿ αὐτῶν τὸν χρόνον τοῦ φαινομένου ἀστέρος,καὶ πέμψας αὐτοὺς εἰς Βηθλεὲμ εἶπε· πορευθέντες ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσατε περὶ τοῦ παιδίου, ἐπὰν δὲ εὕρητε, ἀπαγγείλατέ μοι, ὅπως κἀγὼ ἐλθὼν προσκυνήσω αὐτῷ.οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπορεύθησαν· καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ ἀστὴρ ὃν εἶδον ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ προῆγεν αὐτούς, ἕως ἐλθὼν ἔστη ἐπάνω οὗ ἦν τὸ παιδίον·ἰδόντες δὲ τὸν ἀστέρα ἐχάρησαν χαρὰν μεγάλην σφόδρα,καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα, χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν·καὶ χρηματισθέντες κατ᾿ ὄναρ μὴ ἀνακάμψαι πρὸς Ἡρῴδην, δι᾿ ἄλλης ὁδοῦ ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν.
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
Sunday, December 25, 2022
9:00am Orthros/10:00am Divine Liturgy
Holy Nativity
Sunday, January 1, 2023
9:00am Orthros/10:00am Divine Liturgy
Circumcision of Christ / Happy New Year!
Friday, January 6, 2023
9:00am Orthros/10:00am Divine Liturgy
Holy Theophany
Friday, January 6, 2023
6:30pm Great Vespers of the Synaxis of
St. John the Baptist
Saturday, January 7, 2023
9:00am Orthros/10:00am Divine Liturgy
Synaxis of John the Baptist
2022 PARISH COUNCIL MEMBERS
President - Theo Christ
Vice President - Yvonne Anastasiou
Treasurer - Evdokia Sofos
Secretary - Dina Mastoras
Parish Council Member - Anastassios Mentis
Parish Council Member - Dialecti Voudouris