ARK - ΚΙΒΩΤΟΣ Μ ΗΝΙ ΑΙΟ ΔΕΛ ΤΙΟ ΤΗ Σ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗΣ ΟΡΘΟΔ ΟΞΗ Σ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙ ΑΣ ΤΗ Σ ΚΟΙΜΗΣΕ ΩΣ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΟΤΟ ΚΟ Υ

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1 December / Δεκέμβριος 2016 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 12 the H ARK - ΚΙΒΩΤΟΣ M ONTHL Y BULLE TIN OF THE ASS UM PTION OF OUR MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS GREEK ORTHODOX CH U RCH Μ ΗΝΙ ΑΙΟ ΔΕΛ ΤΙΟ ΤΗ Σ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗΣ ΟΡΘΟΔ ΟΞΗ Σ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙ ΑΣ ΤΗ Σ ΚΟΙΜΗΣΕ ΩΣ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΟΤΟ ΚΟ Υ Assumption Greek Orthodox Church 111 Island Pond Road Manchester NH Phone: (603) Fax: (603) info@assumptionnh.org Join us on Facebook INSIDE THIS ISSUE Monthly Calendar (Greek)... 2 Ministries List... 3 Parish News... 4 Philoptochos News... 4 Youth News... 5 Stewardship Monthly Calendar (English)

2 εκέμβριος 2016 ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ ΤΡΙΤΗ ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗ ΠΕΜΠΤΗ ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ ΣΑΒΒΑΤΟ 1 Ελληνικό Σχολείο & Ελληνικός Χορός 3:30-7:30 µµ η Κυριακή Λουκά Αγίας Βαρβάρας Ορθρος: 9:00 πμ Κατηχητικό: 9:45 πμ Θεία Λειτ: 10:00 πμ Γεωρ. Τζιμόπουλος Memorial Λαxείο 5 Αγίου Νικολάου Εσπερινός 6:00 μμ Ι.Ν. Αγ. Νικολάου Portsmouth NH 6 Αγίου Νικολάου Θεία Λειτ: πμ (δεν έχει Όρθρο) Ι.Ν. Αγ. Νικολάου Manchester NH 7 Συνάντηση Φιλοπτώχου 6:30 µµ 8 Ελληνικό Σχολείο & Ελληνικός Χορός 3:30-7:30 µµ 9 10 Εκπαιδευτικό Σεμινάριο Διοικητικού Συμβουλίου 10:00 πμ Contoocook NH η Κυριακή Λουκά Ορθρος: 9:00 πμ Κατηχητικό: 9:45 πμ Θεία Λειτ: 10:00 πμ 12 Αγίου Σπυρίδωνα Όρθρος: 8:30 πμ Θεία Λειτ: 9.30 πμ Συνάντηση Διοικητικού Συµβουλίου 7:30 µµ Ελληνικό Σχολείο & Ελληνικός Χορός 3:30-7:30 µµ Εικόνα Γοργοϋπηκόου στον Ι.Ν. Ταξιαρχων Watertown 6:00 μμ Πρόβα Εορτής Χριστουγέννων 3:00-5:00 μμ 18 Κυριακή πρό της Γεννήσεως Ορθρος: 9:00 πμ Pageant prep: 10:00 πμ Θεία Λειτ: 10:00 πμ Χριστουγεννιάτικη Γιορτή Νεότητας Frappe & Chocolate Sale Ορθόδοξος Λόγος 6:30 8:00 μμ Στο Xωλ Eκκλησίας Πρόβα Χορωδίας 6:30 µµ 22 Ελληνικό Σχολείο & Ελληνικός Χορός Χριστουγεννιάτικο Πάρτυ 4:00 6:00 µµ 23 Μεγάλες και Βασιλικές Ώρες των Χριστουγέννων 9:30 πμ 24 Παραμονή Χριστουγέννων Εσπερινος: 6:00 μμ Θεία Λειτ: 6:30 μμ Εκλογές Ενοριακού Συμβουλίου 25 Χριστούγεννα Ορθρος: 9:00 πμ Family Sunday: 10:00 πμ Θεία Λειτ: 10:00 πμ Σχολείο Κλειστό Παραμονή Πρωτοχρονιάς Αγίου Βασιλείου Εσπερίνος 6:00 μμ Ι.Ν. Αγ. Βασιλείου Newport NH 2

3 Reverend Father Gregory Trakas Office Hours Tuesday & Thursday 12-3 PM or by appointment Parish Council President... James Folopoulos Vice President... Nick Karagianis Secretary... Mike Rokas Treasurer... Ted Rokas Arthur Bakolas Costa Georgopoulos Harold Guidicelli Peter Lazos Charles Mardanes Kathy Papakostas Penny Papastathis Helen Rainey Philoptochos Board 2016 President...Lucie Skouteris Vice President...Maria Chronas Recording Secretary...Andrea Moutsioulis Corresponding Secretary... Sophia Annas Treasurer..Georgia Palaskas Assistant Treasurer..Nancy Mardanes Natl. & Local Boards Liaison Mariana Gasis Advisor...Esther Kereakoglow Martha Galanis Artemis Lazos Staff Evangelia Gregorious Secretary...Janet Malin Chanter.Vasilios Rokas Choir Director.Joan Virga YOUTH MINISTRIES Directors GOYA... Stavroula Bakolas JOY... Julie Karagianis Mommy & Me Ranya Karatzoulidis PARISH SCHOOLS Sunday School Directors N. Condodemetraky & T. Kapellakis Teachers.Nicole Condodemetraky Theohare Kapellakis Ranya Karatzoulidis Rita Gallos Joni Stamoulis Greek School Director George Kitsis Teacher.Alexandra Bruttaniti Advisor.Connie Stamoulis Fr. Gregory Trakas Nick Karagianis Sophia Annas Helen Rainey Ellen Healy Newsletter Editors James Folopoulos Janet Malin Nancy Mardanes Kathy Papakostas Address Changes Please notify the Church office if you are moving so that we may update our database. Thank you! Pastoral Home Visitation If a loved one is in the hospital, in a nursing home, or house-bound for any reason, please contact Fr. Gregory Trakas at the Church office to arrange a visit. The Ark is published monthly by the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 111 Island Pond Road, Manchester, NH

4 Parish News Sunday December 11 th is the last day to enter your name for the Parish Council elections. Then, on Sunday December 18 th we will be holding elections in the church hall, right after services. Members in good standing are encouraged to run and also to vote. Friday, December 30 th is the last day to submit your 2016 Stewardship Pledge and remain a member in good standing for the year. Stewardship is the primary source of income for our church. Thank you for making the Annual George Tzimopoulos Memorial Raffle again a great success! Congratulations to all our winners. We appreciate your continued support! Philoptochos News Our Autumn Bazaar was a great success, and we couldn t have done it without the help of many. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who assisted in a variety of ways - with setup, cleanup, and working the kitchen, food line, drinks station, penny sale and raffle tables. We appreciate the donations of your time, money, raffle baskets, and gifts for the penny sale. I m so pleased that we all came together for the good of our organization and our parish. We are still accepting donations for the flowers to decorate the church for the Christmas season. Please contact a Philoptochos Board member if you want to contribute. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Lucie Scouteris, President New Horizons Soup Kitchen Unless otherwise announced, there will not be a New Horizons Soup Kitchen this month, since our turn falls on Christmas Day. We are always looking for volunteers to join our group. This is such a rewarding experience! Please join us for less than two hours of fellowship with the group from the Assumption Church. If you have any questions, please call the church office. Thank you! Choir Calling all parishioners! We are looking for volunteers to join our talented choir. All ages are welcome! All that is required is your passion and love for our church! Please contact our Choir Director, Joan Virga at or the church office. 4

5 Youth Ministry News On Sunday, December 18th, our Youth Ministry will present its annual Christmas Pageant, "Christ is Born" in church immediately following the Divine Liturgy. We invite our Youth Ministry children of all ages to participate (please see enclosed flyer for details)! A Christmas Celebration Coffee Hour, sponsored by our Youth Ministry families, will follow the Pageant in our church hall. All families are kindly asked to bring in a baked good or favorite breakfast snack. Items can be dropped off any time after 9:00 am that morning. The Christmas celebration festivities will include a special visit from Santa, who will gratefully accept "Gifts of Giving" from all our children, to benefit the Philoxenia House (please see enclosed flyer for details). Families are welcomed to take a family photo with Santa and their children presenting their gifts. Our Youth Ministry will be accepting additional "Gifts of Giving" donations throughout the month of December. Your donation can be either monetary or any of the items on the "Wish List" which can be found on the Philoxenia House flyer located on page 7. Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a Joyous & Healthy New Year! IMPORTANT DATES & EVENTS TO REMEMBER December 1 st through 31 st - Philoxenia House "Gifts of Giving" Collection Drive Saturday, December 17 th, 3:00-5:00 PM - Pageant Rehearsal. All children participating in the Youth Christmas Pageant are asked to meet their teachers in church for rehearsal. Their parents are welcome to help set up church hall for the Christmas Celebration Coffee hour Sunday, December 18th - Youth Ministry Christmas Celebration ~ 10 AM - All children to meet in the school building to prepare for the Pageant ~ 11:30 AM - Christmas Pageant will begin, in church, following the Diving Liturgy ~ 12:00 PM - Special coffee hour sponsored by the Youth Ministry families in the church hall. Everyone is welcome! Frappe & Chocofretta fundraiser for Youth group ~ Youth Christmas Celebration will take place during the coffee hour. Festivities will include holiday craft making, singing of Christmas carols, a special visit from Santa and presentation of "Gifts of Giving" to Santa by our Youth Ministry children Thursday, December 22 nd, 4:00-6:00 PM - Greek School Christmas Party in school building Sunday, December 25 th - Holy Nativity - Merry Christmas! (Family Sunday) Thursday, December 29th - Greek School is closed Sunday, January 1 st - St. Basil the Great Feast, Happy New Year! (Family Sunday) Sunday, January 8 th - Vasilopita Celebration Sunday. Sunday School classes resume. 5

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8 Explanation of Christmas & New Year s Services + Friday, December 23 rd - Great Royal Hours of Christmas Two days prior of the Dominical Feasts of Christmas, Epiphany and Easter, our church offers the service of the Great Royal Hours. These feasts are called Dominical because they pertain to our Lord (in Latin: Dominus). This service of Hours is called Royal because during the time of the Eastern Roman Empire of Byzantium, the emperor and his entire court would attend this service as a sing of their submission to Christ. Finally, they are called Great to distinguish them from the Small Hours (1 st, 3 rd, 6 th, 9 th and Typica) which are read daily in monasteries. Each Hour has a special significance from the life of Jesus: the 1 st hour (6:00 am) glorifies the Lord for the new day; the 3 rd (9:00 am) is dedicated to the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples during Pentecost; the 6 th hour (12:00 pm) is the time Jesus was nailed on the Holy Cross and the 9 th hour is when He gave up His spirit. The service of the Great Royal Hours is attached to these three Dominical Feasts in particular, in order to stress their tremendous importance for our salvation. Since this service is only three times per year, you should not to miss it! The service of the Great Royal Hours consists of Prayers, Hymns, Psalms and Old Testament Prophecies. In December, all of them are foretelling the coming of Christ. Also we read the Apostolic and Gospel passages of the Feast of Christmas. There is no Holy Communion at this service, so you can eat in the morning. Rather, it is a service of quiet meditation and repentance in anticipation of the Nativity. We will hold this service at 9:30 AM December 23 rd and celebrate it by candlelight. This will be a wonderful and peaceful way to usher in the Feast of Holy Nativity. + Saturday, December 24 - Christmas Eve For each of the three Dominical Feasts above, we celebrate two Divine Liturgies - one on the eve and one in the morning of the feast. So, on the evening of December 24 th, we will celebrate a Vesperal Divine Liturgy. The Vespers of Christmas include beautiful Old Testament Prophecy Readings. We will start at 6:00 pm and finish at 8:00, so all those with young children can participate. At the end of the service we will sing a few Christmas Carols. + Sunday December 25 th - Christmas Day On Christmas Day, at 9:00 AM, we will chant the Orthros (Matins) Service of Christmas. The Orthros of Christmas, together with that of Easter, are two of the most beautiful services of the entire year! I suggest you come early so you do not miss it! At 10:00 AM, we will celebrate the Divine Liturgy, as we should every Sunday. + Saturday, December 31 st - New Year s Eve January 1 st is the feast day of St. Basil. Ring in the New Year by putting God first. On December 31 st, we will celebrate Great Vespers in the small, historical and very quaint church of St. Basil at 45 Winter Street, Newport NH. The next morning, January 1 st, we will celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil in our church. Wishing you all Merry Christmas and a Blessed, Joyful and Healthy New Year! + Fr. Gregory 8

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10 Sacraments & Services When planning a baptism or wedding, please check church availability BEFORE booking your reception hall. Thank you! Baptism December 17 Mason, son of Nathaniel Brown & Krystalo Goudouros Baptism December 18 Leonidas, son of Christos & Katerina Zisis Donations & Offerings Donations Fr. Gregory Trakas Betty Xintaras Mr. & Mrs. John Stergiou Donations in Memory of + Vasiliki Bakolas + Iris Belinsky + Shirley Camberis + Anastasia Galanis + Ann Coombs + Demetrios Krideras + Kaliope Locke Planning Memorials When planning for a memorial, please contact the church office at There is a certain kind of altar wine and incense we use, so please call for details 10

11 Stewardship Sophia Annas Barbara Garos Brown Mr. & Mrs. William Bruttaniti Nicholas Costakis Mr. & Mrs. Richard Dryer Georgia Gancarz Stamie Guerra Mr. & Mrs.Harold Guidicelli Mr. & Mrs. Nick Hart Mr. & Mrs. Aristidis Kalamaplikis Mr. & Mrs. Lazaros Kalampalikis Mr. & Mrs. George Kalantzis James Kamberis Mr. & Mrs. Stathis Kapellakis Mr. & Mrs.Anastasios Karatzoulis Amalia Kostakis Mr. & Mrs. Peter Lazos Mr. & Mrs. Demetrios Nakos Adamandia Nardi Panagiota Papastathis Mr. & Mrs. John Stergioulis Mr. & Mrs. Peter Tentas Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Tsekrekas Betty Xintaras Mr. & Mrs. Peter Xintaras Angelo Zisis This is the last month to submit on your 2016 Stewardship Pledge Stewardship is our God-given OBLIGATION and the PRIMARY source of income for our church! Seek first God s Kingdom and His Righteousness and all other things shall be added to you. (Matt 6:33) And some seeds fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. (Luke 8:8) Give to Cesar what is Cesar s and to God what is God s. (Mark 12:17) He who sows bountifully, will also reap bountifully. God loves a cheerful giver. (St. Paul 2 nd Corinthians 9:6-8) Rich is not the one who has much, but the one who gives much. For what one gives away, he keeps for all eternity. (St. John Chrysostom) Thank you for your love to the House of the Lord and Panagia! May our Lord bless you a hundredfold and remember you in His Kingdom. 11

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14 Nov 6 - Evangelia, daughter of Dr. Vasilios & Callaway Lazos Nov 13 - Alexis, daughter of Demetrios & Julie Nakos BUSINESS CARD ADVERTISING Anyone with a business that would like to advertise in our monthly bulletin, please contact the Church office. A business card format, about 2 ½ x 1 ½ will run for a period of 12 months for one set fee of $ a year. This will help to defray the ever-increasing costs of printing and mailing these bulletins to our homes as well as advertising your business to our parishioners and through word of mouth, to their friends. This is a great opportunity for all! 14

15 December 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Greek School & Greek Dance 3:30 7:30 PM th Sunday of Luke Orthros: 9:00 AM Sunday School: 9:45 AM Div. Lit: 10:00 AM George Tzimopoulos Memorial Raffle 5 Feast of St. Nicholas Vespers Service 6:00 PM at St. Nicholas Church Portsmouth NH 6 Feast of St. Nicholas Div. Lit: 10:00 AM (No Orthros) St. Nicholas Church Manchester NH 7 Philoptochos Meeting 6:30 PM 8 Greek School & Greek Dance 3:30 7:30 PM 9 10 Parish Council Seminar 10:00 AM Contoocook NH th Sunday of Luke Orthros: 9:00 AM Sunday School: 9:45 AM Div. Lit: 10:00 AM 12 Feast of St. Spyridon Orthros: 8:30 AM Div. Lit: 9:30 AM Parish Council Meeting: 7:30 PM Greek School & Greek Dance 3:30 7:30 PM Holy Icon of Virgin Mary installed at Taxiarhae Church Watertown 6:00 PM Pageant Rehearsal 3:00-5:00 PM Choir Rehearsal 6:30 PM 18 Sunday before Nativity Orthros: 9:00 AM Sunday School: 10:00 AM Div. Lit: 10:00 AM Orthodox Word 6:30 8:00 PM Church Hall 22 Greek School & Greek Dance Christmas Party 4:00 6:00 PM 23 Great Royal Hours of Christmas 9:30 AM 24 Nativity Eve Vespers: 6:00 PM Div. Lit: 6:30 PM Christmas Pageant Frappe & Chocolate Sale Parish Council Elections 25 Holy Nativity Orthros: 9:00 AM Family Sunday: 10:00 AM Div. Lit: 10:00 AM School is closed New Year s Eve Feast of St. Basil Vespers Service 6:00 PM at St. Basil Church Newport NH 15

16 ASSUMPTION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH 111 Island Pond Road Manchester, NH NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID MANCHESTER, NH PERMIT NO Dec. 6 - St. Nicholas Vespers, Portsmouth NH 16