Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2025-08-24
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Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (201) 652-4774 for emergencies: 201 870 2676
  • Fax:
  • (201) 652-0789
  • Street Address:

  • 467 Grandview Avenue

  • Wyckoff, NJ 07481


Contact Information






Services Schedule

 

Sundays in the fall, winter & spring:

Matins: 9 a.m. &  Divine Liturgy 10a.m. except during the summer

 

Summer hours for Sundays only in July and August:

Matins: 8:30a.m.  & Divine Liturgy 9:30a.m.


Past Bulletins


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 the 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!" The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to 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.


Epistle Reading

11th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 9:2-12

Brethren, you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to our food and drink? Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of a share in the crop. If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits? If others share this rightful claim upon you, do not we still more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.


Gospel Reading

11th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 18:23-35

The Lord said this parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his lord delivered him to the torturers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."


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events, announcements and activities

WELCOME!  If you are a visitor or a guest, please let us know you better by completing the blue welcome card.  You are invited to join us next door for the fellowship hour. We are happy to have you with us!     Holy Communion (Eucharist) is the highest point of the Divine Liturgy. Holy Communion is reserved for Baptized/Chrismated Orthodox Christians. Please comply with the ushers’ instructions. Patience until ushers directs you out of the pews.  “All things are done in proper order.” – Saint Paul

 

Trisagion: A 1 year Trisagion for Efthimia Hamosfakidis, beloved spouse of Anthony. Adored mother of Marina (Tony) and Billy (Gina). Cherished grandmother of Billy, Anastasia, Dimitri, Nicholas, Anthony. Beloved sister of  Christos and Paulina. Much loved Thia to many nieces and nephews.
May her memory be eternal.

 

For Young Emerging Adults (YEA), Inquirers & Everyone:  Scripture Talk is a virtual/remote Bible study with a different Orthodox priest participating in the weekly discussion. Join us every Tuesday, 7-8pm EST, on Zoom. We are currently discussing the Gospel of Matthew. Visit www.ScriptureUnveiled.com for the Zoom meeting information. All inquirers and questions are welcome, no commitment is mandatory and participants are free to simply listen or to participate.

 

Kali Parea (Senior Fellowship):  We hope you all had a restful and pleasant summer.

Our ministry will have its first luncheon meeting of the season on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025 at 12 Noon.- 2:30PM  at the Wyckoff (James A. McFaul) environmental Center Trails/Picnic Park, 150 Crescent Ave., Wyckoff, NJ (201) 891-5571. Kali Parea will serve a light lunch, and we ask that you bring a drink.  We will meet in the Pavilion (picnic area) for lunch and then you’re welcome to walk the trails, and or share fellowship.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

 

Our 2025 Saint Nicholas Greek Festival is Near! We are excited to announce the dates for this year's Saint Nicholas Greek Festival September 19-21, 2025 Friday & Saturday: 12pm-11pm and Sunday: 12pm-7pm. Spread the word to help make our annual Greek festival a success once again!

Look out for future e-mails regarding volunteering, donations, and other details.
Questions? Please contact: 
John Tsadilas: [email protected]; George Bayiokos: [email protected]

Angelo Lefer: [email protected]; Kathy Van Dine: [email protected]; Charlie Pflager: [email protected]; Church office: [email protected]  

 

Volunteer Sign-up for our Saint Nicholas Greek Festival! We can't believe our Festival is next month and its success relies on YOU, OUR AMAZING VOLUNTEERS! Here's how you can sign up:

Step 1: Click on the link to open the spreadsheet

Step 2: FIND the Station you want to volunteer for at the bottom of the spreadsheet (each tab is a separate station). Once you FIND it, CLICK on it.

Step 3: Enter the requested information

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KjgmFpuOFINMUU4c45zYPfxisJm12DunZ1z1ttawN6A/edit?usp=sharing

Any questions or assistance with filling out your information, please reach out to Kathy Van Dine at [email protected] THANK YOU!! The Festival Committee

Planned Giving Supports Christ’s Work Through Legacy  Gifts:  Eternity is a very long time! So you can perpetuate any Christ centered ministry or program of our parish through a directed gift/donation to our church through your last will & testament, an endowment or a trust. Contact Fr. Bill for info. Inquiries are confidential.

 

FOR PERSONAL SPIRITUAL GROWTH:  We thank all those who have made their Stewardship commitment for 2025! Offer your Stewardship pledge & join the 286 households that have already done so… Let’s reach 300! Your pledged/fulfilled 2025 stewardship offering provides the majority of funding for our parish ministries and empowers followers of Christ to aid people on their path to grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Pledge Cards are available in the Narthex. You can also make your 2025 pledge online by visiting our parish website https://www.stnicholasnj.org/

 

The Key to Unity and Spiritual Growth is Love

I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.  I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains – but if I have no love, I am nothing.  I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned – but if I have no love this does me no good.  Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth.  Love never gives up; and it never fails.  Love is eternal (I COR 13:1-8).

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Second Mode

When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then didst Thou slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the powers in the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.

SAINT NICHOLAS ARCHBISHOP OF MYRA IN LYCIA in the First Mode

 

The truth of things has revealed you to your flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance; for this cause, you have achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty.  O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Mode

In your holy birth, Immaculate One, Joachim and Anna were rid of the shame of childlessness; Adam and Eve of the corruption of death. And so your people, free of the guilt of their sins, celebrate crying: "The barren one gives birth to the Theotokos, who nourishes our life."
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Wisdom of the Fathers

Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself, man. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation.
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
Unknown, 18th century

Wherefore then did He not do this, nor forgive the debt before the account? Desiring to teach him, from how many obligations He is delivering him, that in this way at least he might become more mild towards his fellow servant .... He gave more than he asked, remission and forgiveness of the entire debt.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 61 on Matthew 18, 4th Century

When then you are minded to be revengeful, consider that against yourself are you revengeful, not against another; that you art binding up your own sins, not your neighbors ....
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 61 on Matthew 18, 4th Century

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Archdiocese News

Fr. Peter Spiro features at U.S. Attorney General's summit on human trafficking

08/21/2025

Father Spiro was honored to participate as a featured speaker at the U.S. Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Summit, a three-day gathering of national leaders dedicated to eradicating human trafficking across the United States. 

Hear more from the Freedom Ministry.


Green Patriarch: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the protection of the environment

08/19/2025

The world has recently witnessed alarming environmental degradation—with climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and the pollution of natural resources—accompanied by a widening gap between rich and poor and the ongoing failure to implement ecologically sound and sustainable policies. Yet for nearly four decades now, one religious leader has discerned the signs of the times and called people's attention to this social and ecological situation. 


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Saints and Feasts

August 24

Cosmas of Aetolia, Equal to the Apostles

Our holy Father Cosmas was from the town of Mega Dendron (Great Tree) of Aetolia. At the age of twenty, he went to study at the school of the Monastery of Vatopedi on the Holy Mountain. Later, he came to the Athonite Monastery of Philotheou where he was tonsured. With the blessing of his abbot, he departed for Constantinople where he learned the art of rhetoric, and thereafter, he began to preach throughout all the regions of northern Greece, the Ionian Islands, but especially in Albania, for the Christian people there were in great ignorance because of the oppression and cruelty of the Moslems. Finally, in 1776, after having greatly strengthened and enlightened the faithful, working many signs and wonders all the while, he was falsely accused by the leaders of the Jewish people and was executed by strangulation by the Moslem Turks in Albania.


August 24

Eutyches the Hieromartyr & Disciple of St. John the Theologian

Saint Eutyches was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian and a fellow laborer of the holy Apostle Paul. He preached the Gospel in many places, pulled down the idols' temples, and suffered imprisonments and many torments at the hands of the idolaters. He finally reposed in peace in deep old age in his native city of Sebastia, near Tarsus.


August 24

The Translation of the Relics of Dionysios of Zakynthos, Bishop of Aegina

 

When Saint Dionysios died in 1622 A.D., his last wish was that he be buried in the Church of Saint George on the Strofades Islands where he lived as a monk. Three years after his interment there his body was found to be incorrupt. In 1717 his body was transferred from the Strofades Islands back to his home island of Zakynthos where it resides to this day.


August 24

The Translation of the Holy Relics of Saint Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow

On this day we also commemorate the translation of the holy relics of Saint Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, which took place in the year 1646.

Our holy and wonderworking Father Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, was born in Volhynia, tonsured a monk at twelve years of age, and later ordained a priest. He lived in solitude for a time in a desert place north of Lvov and founded the Holy Transfiguration Monastery; afterwards he was sent to Constantinople, where the holy Patriarch Athanasius consecrated him Metropolitan of Kiev in 1308, and he returned to Vladimir, where the Metropolitans of Kiev had their residence at that time (see Saint Jonas on June 15). In 1325, he moved to Moscow, where he founded the Dormition Cathedral, and after his repose in December 21, 1326, was buried there. He was also an iconographer, and two of his icons, the Dormition and the Petrovskaya, are found in the Dormition Cathedral (see Oct. 5).


August 25

Return of the Body of Bartholomew the Glorious Apostle

Concerning the Apostle Bartholomew, see June 11


August 25

Titus the Apostle of the 70

Saint Titus was a Greek by race, and an idolater. But having believed in Christ through the Apostle Paul, he became Paul's disciple and follower and labored with him greatly in the preaching of the Gospel. When Paul ordained him Bishop of Crete, he later wrote to him the Epistle which bears his name. Having shepherded in an apostolic manner the flock that had been entrusted to him, and being full of days, he reposed in peace, some ninety-four years of age.


August 25

John the Cappadocian, Epiphanius and Menas, Patriarchs of Constantinople


August 25

Holy Father John of Karpathos


August 27

Anthousa the Martyr


August 28

Moses the Black of Scete

Saint Moses, who is also called Moses the Black, was a slave, but because of his evil life, his master cast him out, and he became a ruthless thief, dissolute in all his ways. Later, however, coming to repentance, he converted, and took up the monastic life under Saint Isidore of Scete. He gave himself over to prayer and the mortification of the carnal mind with such diligence that he later became a priest of exemplary virtue. He was revered by all for his lofty ascetical life and for his great humility. Once the Fathers in Scete asked Moses to come to an assembly to judge the fault of a certain brother, but he refused. When they insisted, he took a basket which had a hole in it, filled it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. When the Fathers saw him coming they asked him what the basket might mean. He answered, "My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and I am come this day to judge failings which are not mine." When a barbarian tribe was coming to Scete, Moses, conscious that he himself had slain other men when he was a thief, awaited them and was willingly slain by them with six other monks, at the end of the fourth century. He was a contemporary of Saint Arsenius the Great (see May 8).


August 28

33 Martyrs of Nicomedea


August 29

Beheading of the Holy and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

The divine Baptist, the Prophet born of a Prophet, the seal of all the Prophets and beginning of the Apostles, the mediator between the Old and New Covenants, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, the God-sent Messenger of the incarnate Messiah, the forerunner of Christ's coming into the world (Esaias 40: 3; Mal. 3: 1); who by many miracles was both conceived and born; who was filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb; who came forth like another Elias the Zealot, whose life in the wilderness and divine zeal for God's Law he imitated: this divine Prophet, after he had preached the baptism of repentance according to God's command; had taught men of low rank and high how they must order their lives; had admonished those whom he baptized and had filled them with the fear of God, teaching them that no one is able to escape the wrath to come if he do not works worthy of repentance; had, through such preaching, prepared their hearts to receive the evangelical teachings of the Savior; and finally, after he had pointed out to the people the very Savior, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world" (Luke 3:2-18; John 1: 29-36), after all this, John sealed with his own blood the truth of his words and was made a sacred victim for the divine Law at the hands of a transgressor.

This was Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Galilee, the son of Herod the Great. This man had a lawful wife, the daughter of Arethas (or Aretas), the King of Arabia (that is, Arabia Petraea, which had the famous Nabatean stone city of Petra as its capital. This is the Aretas mentioned by Saint Paul in II Cor. 11:32). Without any cause, and against every commandment of the Law, he put her away and took to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, to whom Herodias had borne a daughter, Salome. He would not desist from this unlawful union even when John, the preacher of repentance, the bold and austere accuser of the lawless, censured him and told him, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife" (Mark 6: 18). Thus Herod, besides his other unholy acts, added yet this, that he apprehended John and shut him in prison; and perhaps he would have killed him straightway, had he not feared the people, who had extreme reverence for John. Certainly, in the beginning, he himself had great reverence for this just and holy man. But finally, being pierced with the sting of a mad lust for the woman Herodias, he laid his defiled hands on the teacher of purity on the very day he was celebrating his birthday. When Salome, Herodias' daughter, had danced in order to please him and those who were supping with him, he promised her -- with an oath more foolish than any foolishness -- that he would give her anything she asked, even unto the half of his kingdom. And she, consulting with her mother, straightway asked for the head of John the Baptist in a charger. Hence this transgressor of the Law, preferring his lawless oath above the precepts of the Law, fulfilled this godless promise and filled his loathsome banquet with the blood of the Prophet. So it was that that all-venerable head, revered by the Angels, was given as a prize for an abominable dance, and became the plaything of the dissolute daughter of a debauched mother. As for the body of the divine Baptist, it was taken up by his disciples and placed in a tomb (Mark 6: 21 - 29). Concerning the finding of his holy head, see February 24 and May 25.


August 29

Theodora of Thessaloniki


August 30

Alexander, John, and Paul the New, Patriarchs of Constantinople

Saint Alexander was sent to the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea as the delegate of Saint Metrophanes, Bishop of Constantinople (see June 4), to whose throne he succeeded in the year 325. When Arius had deceitfully professed allegiance to the Council of Nicaea, Saint Alexander, knowing his guile, refused to receive him into communion; Arius' powerful partisans threatened that they would use force to bring Arius into the communion of the Church the following day. Saint Alexander prayed fervently that God might spare the Church; and as Arius was in a privy place relieving nature, his bowels gushed forth with an effusion of blood, and the arch-heresiarch died the death of Judas. Saint Alexander was Bishop from 325 until 337, when he was succeeded by Saint Paul the Confessor, who died a martyr's death at the hands of the Arians (see Nov. 6). The Saint John commemorated here appears to be the one who was Patriarch during the years 562-577, surnamed Scholasticus, who is also commemorated on February 21. He was from Antioch, where he had been a lawyer (scholasticus); he was made presbyter, then was sent to Constantinople as representative (apocrisiarius) of the Patriarch of Antioch, and was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian. Saint Paul was Bishop of Constantinople during the years 687 - 693, in the reign of Emperor Justinian II, and presided over the Quinisext Council in 692.


August 30

6 Martyrs of Melitene


August 30

The Holy New Martyrs of Serbia


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