THE WONDERWORKER JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017

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1 THE WONDERWORKER JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 As You were baptized in the Jordan, O Lord, The Worship of the Trinity became manifest. For the voice of the Father gave added witness, Naming You His beloved Son. And the Spirit in the form of a dove Confirmed the certainty of that word. O Christ, Who revealed Yourself as God and brought light to the world, Glory to You. (Troparion of Theophany) Our Church celebrates on January 6 the Feast of the Holy Theophany of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ. This Feast calls us to enter into the mystery of the baptism of Christ, an event where the Worship of the Trinity was manifested and Jesus Christ was identified publically as the Son of God. As the hymn of Theophany states, this manifestation brought light to the world. Theophany is also a feast of renewal and regeneration. In the words of Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), Christ s baptism in Jordan renews our nature, for it is the prelude to our baptism in the font; and it renews and regenerates, not our human nature only, but the whole material creation. It is a perfect Feast for the beginning of the year as it calls us to renew our entire lives as we embark upon the New Year. After the Feast, we will start blessing our homes with water that is blessed during the services for Theophany as an act of this renewal of the whole material creation. A sign-up sheet for house blessings is posted in the Fellowship Hall. The parishioner(s) will provide a small bowl of water on a table; an icon of Christ, His Mother, or St. John the Baptist will be placed near the bowl; and a candle will be lit next to the icon. The priest will bring the blessed water and everything else needed for the blessing. All persons living in the home are encouraged to be present along with any invited family members and friends. May the Lord our God continue to bless and guide our St. Nicholas parish in the New Year and in all the days to come! In Christ, Rev. Father Jarrod Russell ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH 15 FRANCIS ST. PO BOX 264 JAMESTOWN, NY (716) FAX: (716) JAMESTOWN.ORG PARISH PRIEST Rev. Father Jarrod Russell Cell: (501) frjarrod@gmail.com Sunday Liturgy Services 10:00 am Orthros (Matins), Divine Liturgy 11:00 am Sunday School Fellowship Hour Following Divine Liturgy For dates and times of weekday services and Vespers, please refer to the calendar in this edition or on the website. LIVE YOUR ORTHODOX FAITH

2 SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS CONCERT Parishioners enjoyed a medley of Christmas Carols performed by the Sunday School children! January 2017 Our Life in the Church Theophany of our Lord Stewardship January 29, Godparent Brunch Godparents, please make sure your Godchildren attend this special service and brunch with you. SCHOLARSHIP FUND The Johnson Scholarship Fund has been renamed to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Scholarship Fund. Many thanks to Katie Johnson Hoffman for starting this fund in memory of her parents and their love of education. Many of our Youth have benefitted from this Scholarship and will continue to do so. All high school seniors who attend Saint Nicholas Church are encouraged to apply for this scholarship. Please see any Sunday school teacher or Parish Council member for the application. February 2017 The Presentation of our Lord Scout Sunday Triodion Begins: Passports begin Publican and Pharisee Prodigal Son Meatfare Sunday Forgiveness (Cheesefare) Sunday Great and Holy Lent Begins March 2017 Lessons: Journey through Great Lent 12 th - St. Patrick s Day Sunday of Orthodoxy: Bring Icons St Gregory Palamas Sunday of the Holy Cross: Bring Crosses Sunday of St. John Climacus

3 MARRIAGE BLESSING Saturday, October 29 Marriage Blessing of Billy and Katrina Cummings Sponsor: Brittany Crandall BAPTISMS Friday, October 21, Katrina Cummings Sponsor: Brittany Crandall Saturday, November 5, Alexander Crandall Sponsor: Billy Cummings Saturday, December 10 Riley Rose Cummings and Caeley Anne Cummings Sponsor: Brittany Crandall CONGRATULATIONS! MAY THEY HAVE A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE!

4 Council Corner By Tim Anderson, Council President December 16, 2016 Dear Fellow Parishioners, I would like to start by thanking everyone for a successful General Assembly meeting in November. There is a lot of hard work that goes into the meeting and adding Stewardship Sunday and a luncheon onto the day was a big success. Thank you to everyone who played a part in positive, engaging discussions about the future of our church. The Council continues to work to maintain and enhance the needs of our church. If you are looking for any way to help out or have any questions regarding anything connected to the business and maintenance of the church, please contact a Council Member. We have also initiated a Greeter Ministry where each Council member has taken a turn in greeting parish members entering the church, helping with the collection, and helping out with our coffee hour in the Fellowship Hall. If you are interested in helping out as a greeter, please contact a Council member. As always, the Council looks forward to serving the needs of our church with the guidance of our Lord! With love in Christ, Tim Anderson, Council President Jeffrey Sarro, October 11 James Cummings, November 10 PARISHIONERS NEWS DEATHS MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE ETERNAL SEVEN DAY PRAYER CANDLES located on the solea of the alter are available for you and your loved ones at $5.00 each. If you are unable to come to church to light your own candle, call the church for assistance. A Note from the Choir By Jim Cheronis, Choir Coordinator December 16, 2016 The St. Nicholas Choir is alive and well, and seems to be growing! We are pleased to welcome some folks who are new participants and who love to sing the hymns. We encourage all parishioners to sing along during the services and consider joining the choir even if you are not totally sure of the melodies. If you are interested in joining the choir, please see the Choir Coordinator. Choir Coordinator Jim Cheronis will be completing the Beginning Choral Conducting Course in December. Then in January we will begin setting up choir practices. Thank you to all who show up every Sunday to offer your beautiful voices to God.

5 DECEMBER 3RD YOUTH BOWLING At FREWSBURG Bowling Lanes. Photos by Fr. Jarrod Russell George and Kathy Theofilactidis were so delighted by the fellowship taking place, that they were moved to cover the cost of the whole event! THANK YOU!

6 Syracuse Dance Festival Saint Nicholas parishioners who attended this event in November 2016 had a fantastic time! The Syracuse church family warmly welcomed all visitors with open arms, offering wonderful fellowship, prayer, food, music and dancing. Our group learned so much about dance origins, technique, costumes and presentation. Our dancers are looking forward to incorporating some of these new things during the 2017 Yassou Festival performances!

7 Ladies Erene Society Submitted by Christine Cheronis, President The Ladies Erene Society has had a busy fall/winter season with several fundraisers including the annual Christmas Luncheon and Bazaar. This year the ladies also held a luncheon fundraiser during the General Assembly meeting in November. Both events were very successful and a big THANKS goes out to all those ladies who took time out of their day(s) to help bake, set up, work the events and clean up afterwards. The winners of the raffle were: Connie Mignoli, icon basket; Barb Hill, musical snow globe; Mary Ann Spanos, Christmas swag decoration; Cindy Humble, Christmas red glass bowl; Brittany Crandall, Christmas wreath. Thank you also to all the donors of prizes for the Raffle. The fundraisers that the ladies hold help to allow the ladies to meet their mission of helping others either through donations to organizations who meet the mission of the Philoptochos Society or by allowing the ladies to help our own parishioners who are in need. Christina Anderson and Helen Voulgaris in the kitchen Much of the discussion at the Erene Society meetings centers on How Can We Do More? How can we help more people and How can we get more people involved in our organization? In order to help more people, the Ladies Erene Society will begin a new initiative in 2017 called St. Erene s Kitchen. This committee will create meals for those individuals who may not have the ability to get a home-cooked meal or may need a nutritious meal brought to them occasionally. The Ladies will be coordinating with Father Jarrod who will deliver meals to parishioners as he visits them through-out the year. In addition to the St. Erene s Kitchen Committee, several other committees have been established to give the ladies more focus on what organizations should receive funding from the Erene Society and so a special Donations committee will review all requests, research the organizations and make recommendations to the ladies society at each meeting. The focus will be on local organizations and those associated with the National Philoptochos Society. A Finance committee is also being created that will determine the annual budget and assist in future financial planning. Additional committees are Fundraising and Friendly Visitor Committees. Our Ladies Erene Society is ready to make a difference in 2017! We need the ladies of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to join us and help us help others. Meetings will be held on the 1 st Thursday of each month. Our next meeting is January 5 th at 5:30pm at the Fellowship Hall of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. Pizza and drinks will be served. We encourage all the women of our church to attend as they are able. If you are unable to attend the monthly meetings but would like to participate in a committee, please contact Christine Cheronis at: ccheronis@gmail.com or (814) We wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and may God Bless You!

8 Prosoforon Making Calendar JANUARY /1/17 Joanne Christ 1/8/17 Maria Stanton 1/15/17 Kathleen Morrison 1/22/17 Chris Cheronis 1/29/17 Angie Turner FEBRUARY /5/17 Tiffany Theofilactidis 2/12/17 Sabrina Piaschyk 2/19/17 Joanne Christ 2/26/17 Maria Stanton Breadmakers: NOTES Please make 2 loaves of bread for each Sunday. If you are unable to make the bread the date you are scheduled, please contact Joanne Christ, at (716) MEMORIALS November and December 2016 We gratefully acknowledge these donations received by the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the **Ladies Erene Society** and the *St. Nicholas Scholarship Fund* in loving memory of: James Cummings Brittany and Chad Crandall Athena Constantine Christina and Greg Anderson Valerie and Charlie Heggarty Dawn Henderson Michelle and Fred Landy Gina Rae Leake Deborah and Richard Alcorn Felicia Dulaney Gale and Laurie Dulaney Mr. and Mrs. Kim Childs Helen Childs John Zabrodsky Elizabeth and Dan Bracey Janice and Kevin Pearson Ethel Enserro Rebecca Bloomquist * * Margaret A. Combs and family Konstantina Tsilogiannis Evelyn Tsitso Most Assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. John 5:24 MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE ETERNAL

9 Divine Liturgy in Olean Thirty members of our St. Nicholas Church family living in Olean, Salamanca, & Wellsville, NY and Bradford, Coudersport, & Kane, PA gathered at St. Stephen s Episcopal Church in Olean for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, November 12, It was a beautiful service that included a sermon on the Stewardship of Time, an important issue for our beloved faithful living far from the Church. The luncheon, coordinated by Betty Pappas, was enjoyed by everyone after the service. Those in attendance expressed their deep appreciation to Jim Cheronis for chanting, to Chris Christodoulou for assisting with the service, to Chris Cheronis for baking the Prosforon, and to Angie Turner for preparing the bulletin. The next Divine Liturgy in Olean is scheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday, February 25, 2017, the second Saturday of Souls, and will include a Memorial Service. All parishioners are encouraged to attend. SUNDAY BULLETIN Angie Turner is coordinating the Sunday Bulletin with Fr. Jarrod. If you have events, special meetings, memorials, or information that you would like to have announced, please contact Angie Turner., (814) , or angturn@hotmail.com Parish Priest: President: Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary: Council Members: Chanter: Choir Coordinator: PARISH COUNCIL 2017 Father Jarrod Russell Timothy Anderson Todd Singleton Damian Piaschyk Angie Turner Christine Cheronis Joanne Christ Basil Gedz Stephanie Lampropolos Ron Zorich James Cheronis James Cheronis Adult Acolytes: Chris Christodoulou, Christian Duro, Louis Tsitso Acolytes: Tristen Kum, James Christ, Jr., Nicholas Brown, Benjamin Brown, Theonas Singleton PHILOPTOCHOS ERENE SOCIETY President: Vice President: Treasurer: Recording Secretary: Corres. Secretary: Treasurer Assistant: Caretaker: Memorials: Olean Area: Bookstore: Newsletter: Coordinator: Christine Cheronis Helen Voulgaris Christina Anderson Kim Tatoian Joanne Christ PARISH LIASONS Spiro Tsitso Chris Christodoulou Ethel Enserro Betty Pappas Kathleen Morrison Fr. Jarrod Russell Angie Turner Elizabeth Frederick SUNDAY SCHOOL PROGRAM Sabrina Piaschyk Chris Cheronis Christine Tsitso

10 The Theophany (EPIPHANY) Of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ When our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His teaching and salvific (leading to salvation) work. He Himself signified this "beginning of the beginning" by His baptism in the Jordan River. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, "The beginning of the world is water; the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan." At the time of the Baptism of the Lord in water, the mystery was declared to the world the mystery that was prophesied in the Old Testament; the mystery that was known only in fables in ancient Egypt and India the mystery of the Divine Holy Trinity. The Father was revealed to the sense of hearing; the Spirit was revealed to the sense of sight, and the Son was revealed to the sense of touch. The Father uttered His witness about the Son, the Son was baptized in the water, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovered above the water. When John the Baptist bore witness to Christ, saying: "Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world" (St. John 1:29), and when John immersed and baptized the Lord in the Jordan, the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation were shown. That is to say, the Lord took upon Himself the sins of mankind and died under them (immersion) and rose again (the coming out of the water); and we must die to old sinful man and rise again as cleansed, renewed and regenerated. This is the Savior and this is the path of salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Illumination. The event in the Jordan River illuminates us by manifesting God to us as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided. That is one way that we are illuminated. And the second way is that every one of us through baptism in water is illumined, in that we become adopted by the Father of Lights through the merits of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. Saint Nikolai Velimirovic, The Prologue of Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies for Every Day of the Year, Volume I, 26 (Sebastian Press: Western American Diocese 2008).

11 SAINT NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH SATURDAYS OF SOULS Divine Liturgies for the Saturdays of Souls will be as follows: February 18, 2017 at 9:30 am at St. Nicholas February 25, 2017 at 10:30 am at St. Stephen s Episcopal Church, Olean, New York March 4, 2017 at 9:30 am at St. Nicholas Please note that the Olean service begins later. PLEASE WRITE THE FIRST NAMES OF YOUR DECEASED LOVED ONES. Parishioners are encouraged to bring Koliva (boiled wheat) for each service. Please mail this completed form to the Church prior to the service or bring the completed form to the service. Memory Eternal For those interested in making the Koliva, the recipe is in the Yassou and More cookbook. Uncooked wheat kernels are available, for your use, in the church freezers, in 1 lb packages, no charge.

12 THE WONDERWORKER St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church PO Box 264 Jamestown, NY Address Service Requested Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit #336 Label SAVE THE DATE! JANUARY 28, 2017 YOUTH GYMNASTICS ACTIVITY at the LAKEWOOD YMCA Details to follow in the Sunday Bulletins BOOK STORE / GIFT SHOP: We have several new items available for you. Check us out for the special events to remember your family members, God children, and grandchildren. Our Library has been very successful. Just a reminder, to return the borrowed items within two weeks. We can also place special orders if you would like an icon or book that we do not have. The new, revised edition of YASSOU FAVORITES & MORE Is also available. It can be shipped directly to your home or gift recipient for a small mailing fee. Contact Kathleen Morrison, thru the church, for any questions or special requests. Thank you everyone for your ongoing support. January / February 2017