Announcements

SATURDAY OF SOULS LITURGIES USHER IN GREAT LENT

This coming Saturday, March 6, is the first Saturday of Souls. On this Saturday and the two consecutive Saturdays, we remember our loved ones who have fallen asleep in the Lord with Liturgy and Memorial service following. The first two, March 6 & 13, lead us to Great Lent starting on March 15 with the third Saturday of Souls taking place on the first Saturday of Great Lent, March 20. You are encouraged and welcomed to submit names of loved ones who have passed away to be commemorated on these days. For your convenience, a form can be found in the ‘Insert’ section of the bulletin below. You can mail your list of names to the parish office or bring them to church when you attend services. Please feel free to bring a small bowl of Kollyva.

GREAT LENT TO BEGIN MARCH 15

On Monday, March 15, known as Clean Monday, Great Lent begins and with it the Lenten fast begins. Just as important for our spiritual well-being is the increase in services in which we can participate. On Mondays during lent we will gather for Compline service. On Wednesdays, we will gather for Pre-sanctified Liturgy, and on Fridays we offer the Salutations service. Please consult the parish calendar for days and times. This year make a special effort to participate in at least one of each of these services during this Great Lent. These services will help us deal the anxiety, loneliness, and despair that has filled our lives during this past year. All services will be live-streamed on www.YouTube.com/transgoc.

THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL

Often, the image of a three-legged stool is used to help us understand three important aspects of Great Lent, prayer, works of charity, and fasting. Just as each leg of the stool is equally important and provides stability, these three spiritual ‘legs’ provide stability for our spiritual well-being. Too often our sole focus during Great Lent is fasting, but fasting without the works of charity and prayer, is a diet. All three of these are important and require our attention and use.
Especially during this time, it is important for us to find comfort and solace. We are longing for our Lord’s loving embrace and these three spiritual tools open our hearts to Christ.

WEEKLY WORSHIP UPDATE

The Transfiguration parish continues to use enhanced protocols in order to gather for worship in a safe manner. The State of Massachusetts has increased the occupancy percentage for houses of worship. This change will not affect the number of faithful permitted to services due to social distancing requirements. When you enter the church, we ask that you follow the direction of the ushers. Everyone must wear a mask. These protocols have been established to help protect and keep safe all who gather for worship. The number of people receiving the vaccine is increasing daily and will allow our faithful to attend with a greater sense of safety. But please, if you think you have been exposed to someone with COVID, or you have underlying health conditions, or are not feeling well, please stay home, watch services online, and stay safe.

MAINTENANCE HELP WANTED

Interested in helping the church with its maintenance needs? We are organizing a group of people to be on the Maintenance Crew to coordinate service with vendors and to do small projects around the facility. We would appreciate hearing from you! Thanks in advance! Please contact Marc Gulezian (978-649-3387) if you are interested or have any questions.

CHECK OUT OUR INSERTS AND FLYERS

Weekly, in the section following the announcements you will find inserts and flyers about special events and ministries. Please make sure to check out this section.

PARISH OFFICE HOURS

Our parish office is currently open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 2 pm. Generally, the office is open in person. On Wednesday, it is open remotely. Even though we are open in person, if you need to come to the office, for your safety, please call and set up an appointment.

NEW CAMERA INSTALLED – WATCH SERVICES ONLINE

Through the generosity of the Helene Antonakis estate the parish has installed a live stream camera that will allow us to continue to stream services. Though we hope the learning curve will be short, please bear with us during the next few weeks as we get to know the equipment better.

We will continue to live stream services through YouTube at www.youtube.come/transgoc. A weekly listing of services can be found on our website www.transchurch.org and listed on the calendar found in this bulletin.

HELP ONLINE

Many still do not feel comfortable physically attending services, but would still like to light a candle or support the parish. Your continued generosity is greatly appreciated. We encourage your continued use of our secure online giving platform for single or repeating donations, https://transchurch.churchgiving.com. Of course, you are still welcome to mail in a check to make your donation.

1) To light a vigil candle, please contact Pat Mahoney (pmahoney7@comcast.net or 978-436-0998) or the church office (info@transchurch.org or 978-458-4321). Pat will make sure that your vigil candle is lit for you. Donation: $10. As with all donations, you can mail in a check or you can make a donation online.

2) You are able to make your stewardship, weekly basket offering, candle, memorial, special event, or general donations by using our secure website. Your donations help support the ministries of the parish. Although you may not be in the church building, essential ministries of the parish continue.

Trinity votive candles (To Sponsor a Candle please call the Church Office.)

†Vigil Light at the Side Altar (Icon of the Theotokos): In Memory of those who have died during the pandemic and for the health of those recovering. - Chuck and Amelia Karayianis

†Vigil Light at the Icon of Christ: In Loving Memory of Deborah Victoria Skrekas and George Skrekas

†Vigil Light at the Theotokos: In Loving Memory of Ioannis "John" Zaralidis from his family

†Vigil Light at the Icon of the Forerunner: In Loving Memory of Spero C. Tournas from his grandchildren

†Vigil Light at the Foot of the Holy Cross: For the Good Health of Peggy Giovane

Weekly Inserts

Saturday of Souls

Saturday of Souls Listing for 2021

Weekly Calendar

We will be live streaming services through our YouTube channel whenever possible - www.youtube.com/TransGOC Please see the online calendar for the full schedule.

Saturday, March 6
First Saturday of Souls - Liturgy, 9:30 am

Sunday, March 7 JUDGEMENT SUNDAY (MEATFARE SUNDAY)
†Orthros, 8:30 am
†Liturgy, 9:30 am
Monthly Trisagion
40 Day Memorial for Andrew Pappas
10 Year Memorial for Soterios Papadopoulos

Wednesday, March 10
Bible Study (online), 10:00am
Parish Council Meeting, 6:30 pm

Saturday, March 13
Second Saturday of Souls - Liturgy, 9:30 am
LTLC Meal 5:00 pm

Sunday, March 14 FORGIVENESS SUNDAY
†Orthros, 8:30 am
†Liturgy, 9:30 am
Daylight Savings Time

Monday, March 15
Great Lent Begins
Compline, 6:30 pm

Wednesday, March 17
Bible Study (online), 10:00 am
Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, 6:00 pm

Friday, March 19
Salutations Service, 6:30 pm

Saturday, March 20
Third Saturday of Souls - Liturgy, 9:30 am

Sunday, March 21 SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY
†Orthros, 8:30 am
†Liturgy, 9:30 am

TODAY’S PARISH COUNCIL: Jimmy Demetri, Stephanie Dubay & Michael Fokas

UPCOMING EVENTS

March 22
Compline, 6:30 pm

March 24
Bible Study (online), 10:00 am

March 25
FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION
†Orthros, 8:30 am at Holy Trinity
†Liturgy, 9:30 am at Holy Trinity
Greek Independence day

March 26
Salutations Service, 6:30 pm

March 29
Compline, 6:30 pm

March 31
Bible Study (online), 10:00 am
Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, 6:00 pm

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 146.5;134.3.
Great is our Lord, and great is his power.
Verse: Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 8:8-13; 9:1-2.

Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol's temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Gospel Reading

Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday)
The Reading is from Matthew 25:31-46

The Lord said, "When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal Second Mode

The angelic powers appeared at your tomb, the soldiers guarding it became as dead men, and Mary stood at your grave seeking, seeking your most pure body. But you made hell a captive; you were untouched by its might. You came to the virgin and granted life. O Lord, who rose from the dead, glory to you.

Seasonal Kontakion in the First Mode

When you come to the earth, O God, in your glory, all creation will tremble, and a river of fire will flow before your throne of judgment. The books will be opened and the secrets of all will be revealed. On that day, O just Judge, deliver me from eternal flames and make me worthy to stand at your right.

Wisdom of the Fathers

He indicates the dispositions of each, calling the one kids, the other sheep, that He might indicate the unfruitfulness of the one, for no fruit will come from kids; and the great profit from the other, for indeed from sheep great is the profit, as well from the milk, as from the wool, and from the young, of all which things the kid is destitute.

St. John Chrysostom

Homily on Matt. XXV, 4th Century

For when one has pity on the poor, he lends to God; and he who gives to the least gives to God--sacrifices spiritually to God an odour of a sweet smell.

St. Cyprian of Carthage

The Lord's Prayer, 33. B#41, p.102, 3rd century

Saints and Feasts

March 07

The Holy Martyred Bishops of Cherson: Basileus, Ephraim, Eugene, Capito, Aetherius, Agathodorus, and Elpidius

These holy Bishops were sent to Cherson on the Black Sea by Hermon, Bishop of Jerusalem, in the days of Diocletian, about the year 300, to preach the Gospel. Ephraim and Basileus were sent first. Basileus raised to life the dead son of a local ruler, because of which many were baptized. Those who remained in their unbelief, however, dragged him through the streets until he died. Ephraim, refusing to offer sacrifice to idols, was beheaded. After them, Euguene, Agathodorus, Capito, and Elpitius were sent by the Bishop of Jerusalem as heralds of the Faith, but they also were slain by the ungodly. Last of all, the Bishop of Jerusalem sent Aetherius; he was drowned during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great.

March 08

Theophylact the Confessor, Bishop of Nicomedia

Theophylact was from the East; his native city is unknown. In Constantinople he became a close friend of Tarsius, who afterwards became Patriarch of Constantinople (see Feb. 25).Theophylact was made Bishop of Nicomedia. After the death of Saint Tarsius, his successor Nicephorus (see June 2) called together a number of Bishops to help him in fighting the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo the Armenian, who reigned from 813-820. Among them was Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (celebrated Dec. 26), who had attended the holy Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 - he was exiled three times for the sake of the holy icons, and for defying the Emperor Theophilus' command to renounce the veneration of the icons, was scourged from head to foot until his whole body was one great wound, from which he died eight days later, about the year 830; Joseph of Thessalonica (see July 14); Michael of Synnada (see May 23); Emilian, Bishop of Cyzicus (see Aug. 8); and Saint Theophylact, who boldly rebuked Leo to his face, telling him that because he despised the long-suffering of God, utter destruction was about to overtake him, and there would be none to deliver him. For this, Theophylact was exiled to the fortress of Strobilus in Karia of Asia Minor, where, after 30 years of imprisonment and hardship, he gave up his holy soul about the year 845. Leo the Armenian, according to the Saint's prophecy, was slain in church on the eve of our Lord's Nativity, in 820.

March 09

The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastia

These holy Martyrs, who came from various lands, were all soldiers under the same general. Taken into custody for their faith in Christ, and at first interrogated by cruel means, they were then stripped of their clothing and cast onto the frozen lake which is at Sebastia of Pontus, at a time when the harsh and freezing weather was at its worst. They endured the whole night naked in such circumstances, encouraging one another to be patient until the end. He that guarded them, named Aglaius, who was commanded to receive any of them that might deny Christ, had a vision in which he saw heavenly powers distributing crowns to all of the Martyrs, except one, who soon after abandoned the contest. Seeing this, Aglaius professed himself a Christian and joined the Martyrs on the lake, and the number of forty remained complete. In the morning, when they were almost dead from the cold, they were cast into fire, after which their remains were thrown into the river. Thus they finished the good course of martyrdom in 320, during the reign of Licinius. These are their names: Acacius, Aetius, Aglaius, Alexander, Angus, Athanasius, Candidus, Chudion, Claudius, Cyril, Cyrion, Dometian, Domnus, Ecdicius, Elias, Eunoicus, Eutyches, Eutychius, Flavius, Gaius, Gorgonius, Helianus, Heraclius, Hesychius, John, Lysimachus, Meliton, Nicholas, Philoctemon, Priscus, Sacerdon, Severian, Sisinius, Smaragdus, Theodulus, Theophilus, Valens, Valerius, Vivianus, and Xanthias.

March 10

Quadratus the Martyr & his Companions

These Martyrs contested for piety's sake in Corinth during the reign of the Emperor Valerian (253-260).

March 11

Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem

This Saint was born in Damascus. As a young man he became a monk at the Monastery of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch in Palestine, where he met John Moschus and became his close friend. Having a common desire to search out ascetics from whom they could receive further spiritual instruction, they journeyed together through Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt, where they met the Patriarch of Alexandria, Saint John the Almsgiver, with whom they remained until 614, when Persians captured Jerusalem (see also Saint Anastasius the Persian, Jan. 22). Saint Sophronius and John Moschus departed Alexandria for Rome, where they remained until 619, the year of John Moschus' death. Saint Sophronius returned to the Monastery of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch, and there buried the body of his friend. He laboured much in defence of the Holy Fourth Council of Chalcedon, and traveled to Constantinople to remonstrate with Patriarch Sergius and the Emperor Heraclius for changing the Orthodox Faith with their Monothelite teachings. After the death of Patriarch Modestus in December of 634, Sophronius was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. Although no longer in the hands of the Persians, the Holy Land was now besieged by the armies of the newly-appeared religion of Mohammed, which had already taken Bethlehem; in the Saint's sermon for the Nativity of our Lord in 634, he laments that he could not celebrate the feast in Bethlehem. In 637, for the sins of the people, to the uttermost grief of Saint Sophronius, the Caliph Omar captured Jerusalem. Having tended the flock of his Master for three years and three months, Saint Sophronius departed in peace unto Him Whom he loved on March 11, 638.

Saint Sophronius has left to the Church many writings, including the life of Saint Mary of Egypt. The hymn "O Joyous Light," which is wrongly ascribed to him, is more ancient than Saint Basil the Great, as the Saint himself confirms in his work "On the Holy Spirit" (ch. 29). However, it seems that this hymn, which was chanted at the lighting of the lamps and was formerly called "The Triadic Hymn," was later supplemented somewhat by Saint Sophronius, bringing it into the form in which we now have it. Hence, some have ascribed it to him.

March 12

Theophanes the Confessor

Saint Theophanes, who was born in 760, was the son of illustrious parents. Assenting to their demand, he married and became a member of the Emperor's ceremonial bodyguard. Later, with the consent of his wife, he forsook the world. Indeed, both of them embraced the monastic life, struggling in the monastic houses they themselves had established. He died on March 12, 815, on the island of Samothrace, whereto, because of his confession of the Orthodox Faith, he had been exiled by Leo the Armenian, the Iconoclast Emperor.

March 13

Removal of the relics of Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople

The main feast day of this Saint is June 2. The translation of his holy relics took place in 846, when Saint Methodius (see June 14) was Ecumenical Patriarch.

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