Publish-header
Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2020-01-05
Bulletin Contents
Baptism
Organization Icon
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 in July and August:

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


Past Bulletins


Greek Orthodox Archdiocese News

Gov. Cuomo and Archbishop Elpidophoros Announce Construction to resume on St Nicholas

01/02/2020

NEW YORK – Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo officially welcomed Archbishop Elpidophoros of America to New York and announced plans to resume the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center. This was the Governor's first meeting with His Eminence since the Archbishop was elected by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as Archbishop of America to succeed Archbishop Demetrios in May. The project will be driven by a new non-profit organization with an independent, 13-member board - the Friends of St. Nicholas. The new entity has been formed to ensure that the sacred space is completed as expeditiously as possible and can begin welcoming visitors from around the world. The Friends of St. Nicholas will aim to resume construction with a two-year target to complete the church

Archiepiscopal Encyclical for the feast of Saint Basil and the New Year

12/30/2019

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, On this first day of the year of our Lord 2020, I greet you in His love with a heart filled with joy and peace. Our Incarnate Savior is with us, guiding us in His divine will, granting us wisdom, filling our hearts with hope in His eternal promises, and leading us in our sacred ministry to share the Gospel of salvation.

Archbishop Elpidophoros Stands with Jewish Community in the face of Rising Anti-Semitism

12/30/2019

NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America has joined with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the major faith leaders of New York State in condemning the recent attacks on the Jewish Community of New York, and in particular, the horrific attack at a Synagogue in the Hasidic town of Monsey, on Saturday, December 28. That statement reads as follows:

Patriarchal Proclamation for Christmas 2019

12/24/2019

Φθάσαντες τήν μεγάλην ἑορτήν τῶν Χριστουγέννων, δοξολογοῦμεν ἐν ὕμνοις καἰ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς τόν δι᾿ ἡμᾶς τούς ἀνθρώπους κενώσαντα ἑαυτόν καί τήν ἡμετέραν σάρκα ἀναλαβόντα Κύριον, ἵνα λυτρώσηται ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς «δουλείας τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου» καί ἀνοίξῃ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων Παραδείσου τάς πύλας. Ἀγάλλεται ἡ Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Χριστοῦ, βιοῦσα λειτουργικῶς τό ὅλον μυστήριον τῆς Θείας Οἰκονομίας, προγευομένη τῆς δόξης τῆς ἐσχατολογικῆς Βασιλείας καί δίδουσα χριστοπρεπῶς τήν καλήν μαρτυρίαν τῆς πίστεως, τῆς ἐλπίδος καί τῆς ἀγάπης ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ.
BACK TO TOP

Parish News & Events

WEEKLY BULLETIN

01/05/2020

 

 

Orthros: 9:00A.M.

Epistle: II Timothy 4:5-8  (pg. 1355)

Divine Liturgy: 10:00A.M.

Gospel: Mark 1:1-8 (pg.1180)

 

 

Acolytes: Paul Dobrow, Emmanuel Pittas, Nico Pittas, Alex Peppes, Alexi Argyros, Aidan William Soukas, C J Soukas,
Harrison Bouloukos

 

Ushers: Ann Barlas, Shelley Markoulis, Dimitri Markoulis, George Karkanias

 

Epistle Reader &  Greeter(s): GOYA 

 

Fellowship Hour

Daughters of Penelope

 

Narthex: Kathy Van Dine,
John Tsadilas, Dean Mellas

 

     

The Theophany of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

About the beginning of our Lord's thirtieth year, John the Forerunner, who was some six months older than Our Savior according to the flesh, and had lived in the wilderness since his childhood, received a command from God and came into the parts of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins. Then our Savior also came from Galilee to the Jordan, and sought and received baptism though He was the Master and John was but a servant. Whereupon, there came to pass those marvelous deeds, great and beyond nature: the Heavens were opened, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Him that was being baptized and the voice was heard from the Heavens hearing witness that this was the beloved Son of God, now baptized as a man (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:1-22). From these events the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery of the Trinity were demonstrated. It is also from this that the present feast is called "Theophany," that is, the divine manifestation, God's appearance among men. On this venerable day the sacred mystery of Christian baptism was inaugurated; henceforth also began the saving preaching of the Kingdom of the Heavens.

 

Religious Education: No religious education classes today.   

 

tray collection: for our saint nicholas missions team(s) ministry. we wish to send at least one team of our own MISSIONARIES TO spread the gospel in 2020. your support of missions is part of the christian witness & a SCRIPTURALLY BASED FORM OF STEWARDSHIP. “go and preach the Gospel to all nations( Matthew 28:16-20).”

 

                                       Parish General Elections Today, January 5, 2020   11:45am-2pm

 

 

Holiday Services continue

Monday, January 6th:  Theophany

9am Orthros and 10am Divine Liturgy of Saint basil, Agiasmos (Great Blessing of the Waters)

 

Tuesday, January 7th:  Synaxis of John the Baptist

9am Orthros and 10am Divine Liturgy

 

COMING UP VERY VERY SOON IN 2020 (see your bulletin’s inserts):

 PAN ORTHODOX VESPERS AND IOCC WINE TASTING BENEFIT EVENT saturday  FEBRUARY 8, 2020

 

 

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land   may 25- June 3, 2020. deposit due soon!

 

Young Emerging Adults (YEA): Next gathering is tomorrow, Monday, January 6th at 7:30pm at the home of Irene and Anton Ayvas. All young people ages 18-40 are invited! Contact Irene Ayvas iayvas@yahoo.com

 

KALI PAREA (seniors’ fellowship): Our first meeting/luncheon of the New Year will take place on Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - 12Noon in the Fellowship Hall. Luncheon will be served and we will cut the Vasilopita. It is also the Synaxis of John the Baptist are expected to attend worship, which starts with Orthros at 9AM and Divine Liturgy at 10AM.

Wishing you all the joy of family, the gift of friends and the best of everything in 2020.

 

Vasilopita, Sunday, January 12th, 2020: Please join us for our Vasilopita celebration in the Fellowship Hall after church. May this wonderful tradition of our Faith be a source of goodness and joy for all our Saint Nicholas families.

 

House/ Business Blessings 2020: To have your home and/or business blessed for 2020 please complete a blue request form and insert in the drop box in the narthex or mail it to the parish office.

 

Why do we have our Homes/ Businesses Blessed after Theophany?

We celebrate Theophany on January 6th each year. Theophanymeans the appearance or manifestation of God. At Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, according to the gospels of Mark & John, Jesus was there, the voice of the Father was heard and something in the form of a dove alighted on Jesus’ head. The Holy Trinity- (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) was present.  As Orthodox Christians, it is imperative that God is in our homes ALL year round. By inviting our pastor to bless our homes and businesses we are inviting Christ Himself to be in our midst as our pastor prays with us.  Saint John Chrysostom asserted that the first church is the home.   The active presence of Jesus Christ   creates a nurturing, loving home. A church home is the foundation of who we are and in Whom we believe. Thus Holy water blessings (Agiasmos) bring Christ into our homes and businesses.

 

 

Greeters and Readers: Our Lord (and we) is looking for YOU to be a “V.I.P.” as a Greeter and Reader! Because you are valuable as a “Volunteer in Parish”, please call Katherine Corniotes at 201.327.3645.

 

Our Shut Ins Need Christ TooIf you are aware of people who cannot come to church for worship or to receive the sacraments and/or they just need a visit from Fr. Bill or our Ladies Philoptochos (or both), please do not wait; contact Fr. Bill ASAP or any Ladies Philoptochos member.

Saint Nicholas Outreach: As a result of Saint Nicholas’ successful 2018 Fundraising activities, of which 10% is allocated for Outreach, we were able to fund one in-house ministry in 2019, St. Nicholas: Ladies Prayer Event, $1,000; in addition we are making the following donations at this time; OCMC (Ghana), $3,100; Special Olympics of NJ, $2,350; St. Michael's Home, $2,000; Spectrum for Living $1,275; St. Basil Academy, $1225; Anonymous, $1,000; Hellenic Relief Fund, $900; Wyckoff (Ambulance), $775; Hellenic College Holy Cross, $600; Orthodox Christian Fellowship, $600; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital $575; Eva's Village $475; Carl Inserra Leukemia Fund $450; Holy Protection Monastery (Aghia Skepi), $425; IOCC $400; THON $350; The NY Ronald McDonald House (Greek Division) $325; Wyckoff (Fire Dept.# 2) $275. The total outreach achieved was $18,100. Thank you Saint Nicholas parishioners. All glory to God!

 

Giving Tree/Mortgage Burning Campaign: byGod’s Graceour parish plans to be mortgage free this year and you can help to make it happen! Various giving levels are available: you can leaf your donation, or show your love - donate a dove… be the first on your block to donate a rock…be a hunk and give a tree trunk!   You can memorialize your loved one by donating to the Giving Tree and including a scriptural message. Contact Fr. Bill at 201 652 4774 ext. 12 or frbill@stnicholasnj.org


BACK TO TOP

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

Having learned the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from the Angel, and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, the women disciples of the Lord spake to the Apostles exultantly: Death is despoiled and Christ God is risen, granting great mercy to the world.

Apolytikion for Eve of Epiphany in the Fourth Mode

River Jordan was turned back by Elisseus' mantle once, when the fiery man of zeal Elias had been taken up; then were its waters divided hither and thither. The running streams became dry passage unto him, truly as a sign and type of Baptism, whereby we pass to the other side of the shifting stream of this fleeting life. Christ hath appeared in the Jordan River, to sanctify the waters.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Mode

In the running waters of the Jordan River, on this day the Lord of all crieth to John: Be not afraid and hesitate not to baptize Me, for I am come to save Adam, the first-formed man.
BACK TO TOP

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Seventh Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:1-10

On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal Second Mode. Psalm 27.9,1.
O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance.
Verse: To you, O Lord, I have cried, O my God.

The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to Timothy 4:5-8.

TIMOTHY, my son, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.

For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.


Gospel Reading

Sunday before Epiphany
The Reading is from Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophets, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' John was baptizing in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."


BACK TO TOP

Wisdom of the Fathers

It is the sole and peculiar property of the Substance that transcends all, to be able to bestow on men the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and make those that draw near unto It partakers of the divine nature.
St. Cyril of Alexandria
Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Homily 10., 4th Century

But this exists in Christ, not as a thing received, nor by communication from another, but as His own, and as belonging to His substance, for He baptizes in the Holy Spirit.
St. Cyril of Alexandria
Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Homily 10., 4th Century

BACK TO TOP

Saints and Feasts

Baptism
January 05

Sunday before Epiphany


Baptisma1cp
January 05

Eve of the Theophany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ


Allsaint
January 05

The Holy Martyrs Theopemptus and Theonas

When the persecution of Diocletian broke out in 290, Saint Theopemptus, a bishop, was taken for his confession of Christ, and convicted Diocletian to his face for his error and ungodliness. Remaining unhurt after cruel tortures, he was given poison to drink, which had been prepared by a sorcerer named Theonas. Protected by divine grace from this also, he drew Theonas to Christ, and after other torments, was beheaded. Saint Theonas was cast into a pit and buried alive.


Allsaint
January 05

Righteous Syncletike of Alexandria

Saint Syncletike was from Alexandria in Egypt. She lived eighty-three years in virginity and asceticism, and became the leader and teacher of many nuns. What Saint Anthony the Great was to men, she became to women: a model of mortification of the flesh, of patience in afflictions, and of wise instruction; for this, she is known a "Amma," a title corresponding to "Abba." Towards the end of her long life, she was stricken with an exceedingly painful disease, which she endured with faith and magnanimity. She reposed in the middle of the fourth century. It is said of Saint Syncletike that she was the virgin who hid Saint Athanasius from the Arians for more than a year in the environs of Alexandria, and it is to Saint Athanasius that her life is ascribed (PG 18:1488-1557).


Allsaint
January 05

Gregory of Akrita


Allsaint
January 05

Apollinaria of Egypt


Allsaint
January 06

Theophan the Recluse


06_epiphany
January 06

The Theophany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

About the beginning of our Lord's thirtieth year, John the Forerunner, who was some six months older than Our Saviour according to the flesh, and had lived in the wilderness since his childhood, received a command from God and came into the parts of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins. Then our Saviour also came from Galilee to the Jordan, and sought and received baptism though He was the Master and John was but a servant. Whereupon, there came to pass those marvellous deeds, great and beyond nature: the Heavens were opened, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Him that was being baptized and the voice was heard from the Heavens hearing witness that this was the beloved Son of God, now baptized as a man (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:1-22). From these events the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery of the Trinity were demonstrated. It is also from this that the present feast is called "Theophany," that is, the divine manifestation, God's appearance among men. On this venerable day the sacred mystery of Christian baptism was inaugurated; henceforth also began the saving preaching of the Kingdom of the Heavens.


06_epiphany
January 06

The Theophany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

About the beginning of our Lord's thirtieth year, John the Forerunner, who was some six months older than Our Saviour according to the flesh, and had lived in the wilderness since his childhood, received a command from God and came into the parts of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins. Then our Saviour also came from Galilee to the Jordan, and sought and received baptism though He was the Master and John was but a servant. Whereupon, there came to pass those marvellous deeds, great and beyond nature: the Heavens were opened, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Him that was being baptized and the voice was heard from the Heavens hearing witness that this was the beloved Son of God, now baptized as a man (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:1-22). From these events the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery of the Trinity were demonstrated. It is also from this that the present feast is called "Theophany," that is, the divine manifestation, God's appearance among men. On this venerable day the sacred mystery of Christian baptism was inaugurated; henceforth also began the saving preaching of the Kingdom of the Heavens.


07_john2
January 07

Synaxis of John the Holy Glorious Prophet, Baptist, & Forerunner

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.


BACK TO TOP