INSIDE THIS ISSUE Fr. Nick s Net

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1 0 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Fr. Nick s Net Parish News & Events From the Inter-Net Around the World Pg. 2 Pg. 3 Pg. 5 Pg. 6 HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH STEUBENVILLE, OHIO FEBRUARY 2011 VOLUME III ISSUE 2 ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: February Parish Calendar Parish Assembly Minutes and Agenda Godparent/Godchild Sunday Flyer Saturday of the Souls Prayer Sheet THE MISSION OF THE HOLY TRINITY PARISH IS TO SEEK AND ACHIEVE ONENESS WITH GOD IN HIS REVEALED SON, JESUS CHRIST THROUGH DAILY SACRAMENTAL AND SACRIFICIAL LIVING. WE WILL STRIVE FOR THE PEACEFUL AND LOVING UNITY WITH OUR NEIGHBORS IN CHRIST WHICH MAKES US HIS DISCIPLES.

2 Fr. Nick s Net February 2011 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Net is the Monthly Newsletter of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church PARISH INFORMATION PARISH PRIEST: FR. NICHOLAS M. HALKIAS PHONE: (740) HOME: (724) FRNICK@HOLYTRINITYSTB.ORG ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: MARY ANNE JACOBS OFFICE@HOLYTRINITYSTB.ORG PARISH ADDRESS: 300 SOUTH 4 TH STREET P.O. BOX 788 STEUBENVILLE, OH PHONE: (740) FAX: (740) OFFICE@HOLYTRINITYSTB.ORG WEB: Holy Trinity Church is a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh ( and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ( under the Spiritual Jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( PARISH MINISTRIES PARISH COUNCIL Anthony Mougianis, President Spiro Alexander Vice President Greg Matzorkis Secretary Rikki Kamarados Treasurer John Scavdis Asst. Treasurer Tom Kotsanis Asst. Treasurer Milton Kayafas Greg Matzorkis George Parikakis John Synodinos Maria Terezis Angela Mastros Philoptochos... Mary McElhaney Religious Education... Louise Kronstein Stewardship... George Parikakis GOYA... Rikki Kamarados JOY... Connie Shea/Nicole Zorne HOPE... Angela Mastros / Shanley Demitras Choir... Pete Caleodis Library / Bookstore... Mary Romios Senior Citizens... Angie Kayafas Aghia Markella Society... Marie Kamarados Chian Society... John Synodinos Pan-Icarian Brotherhood... Stacey Kotsanis AHEPA... Nicholas Kotsanis 2 The Net/ February 2011 All who have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither slave nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:27-28 St. Paul wrote these words to the Galatians to allow them to see their true identity. Many of them had society-driven identities as slaves or as slavemasters. Many of them had ethnocentric identities: Jew or Greek. Many of them had gender-specific identities: male or female. St. Paul tells the Galatians that when we put on Christ, these identities melt away under the unifying bond that Christ has for the entire world. Now, I fancy myself as a Steeler fan. I love the fact that our black and gold are going to the Super Bowl for an 8 th time, and trying to win an unprecedented 7 th Super Bowl title. (I also love that fact that black and gold are like the black robes and the gold crosses that us clergy-types wear). However, which identity is the most important? When a sports player or fan wears the jersey of their team of allegiance, do they remove the jersey of Christ the first jersey they ever put on? Just go to a sports game, and look around to see which jersey is the more important one to the fans? When we were baptized into Christ, we received an identity that far exceeds any sports team allegiance, social or professional status, or family ancestry. We made a choice at the moment. We chose that no matter what identity the Lord would give us, we would wear the identity of Christ also. This is an identity that we should never try to remove. But Father Nick, one might say, I was a baby when that happened to me. I certainly can t be held accountable for that. My Godparents said those things on my behalf. You are correct; our Godparents did say those things for us. That is all the more reason for us to search and discover what contract they signed for us what identity they gave us. Godparent/Godchild Sunday is February 13 th. This is our opportunity for each and every one of us to acknowledge our true identity. We take the time to be renewed in that identity. We can understand Who it is that we are putting on. We can appreciate all that was done for us and accept it for ourselves just as our Godparents once did for us. And just as we proudly wear our Steelers paraphernalia, we should all the more proudly put on and wear our identities in Christ so that all men will know that we belong to the first undefeated team; that unanimously defeated sin and death. God Bless You All!

3 News & Events WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday Worship... February 9:00 am Sunday Orthros 9:45 am Sunday School 10:15 am Sunday Divine Liturgy Wednesday Paraklesis Services... February Paraklesis Services will be offered every Wednesday at 6 pm. Weekday Services... February These are the weekday services for the month of February. Please check your schedules and plan on attending. February Wednesday, February 2... Presentation of Our Lord 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Liturgy 6:00 pm Paraklesis 7:00 pm C.A.F.E.N.I.O. Wednesday, February 9 6:00 pm Paraklesis Thursday, February St. Haralambos 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Liturgy Wednesday, February 16 6:00 pm Paraklesis 7:00 pm C.A.F.E.N.I.O. Wednesday, February St. Polycarp 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Liturgy 6:00 pm Paraklesis Saturday, February First Saturday of the Souls 8:30 am Orthros 9:30 am Liturgy ANNOUNCEMENTS 40-Day Memorial... February February 20 Sam Petrides 2-Year Memorial... February February 20 Mary Petrides COMMUNITY NEWS FELLOWSHIP HOSTS... February February 6... Choir February GOYA February Family of Sam and Mary Petrides February Choir SYMPATHY Our sincere sympathy goes out to the family of Sam Petrides who passed into eternal life on December 30, May his memory be eternal! Our sincere sympathy goes out to the family of Theodore Benos who passed into eternal life on January 9, May his memory be eternal! CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations go out to Fr. Dimitri Lee on his Ordination in Washington, D.C. on January 9, He is the son-in-law of Fr. John Loejos of Cleveland, Ohio. Axios! GYRO SALE This month the sale of Gyro s will be February 8 th. Please mark you calendars! GODPARENT/GODCHILD SUNDAY... February 13 The GOYA s will be sponsoring a Soup and Sub lunch after Liturgy. The cost is $5.00. Please plan to attend this event and support this organization. PARISH ASSEMBLY... February 13 The Parish Assembly will be held on Sunday, February 13, 2011, following Divine Liturgy. Please make every effort to attend this meeting. GOYA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT The GOYA s will be participating in the Columbus Basketball Tournament to be held on Friday February 25 th through Sunday, February 27 th. The event will take place at Annunciation Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio. Please support our youth. FAITH AND FAMILY NIGHT On Friday, March 4, 2011, join us for the Wheeling Nailers hockey game in Wheeling, WV, at 7:35 pm. Brad Paisley Bobbleheads will be given away to the first 2,500 fans. Please reserve a spot today. You can find the forms in the social hall. Be a part of an evening of fun and entertainment. JOY LENTEN RETREAT On Saturday, March 12, 2011, from 12:00 noon until 4:30 pm, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 419 South Dithridge St., Pittsburgh, PA, will host the JOY Lenten Retreat Come and See. There will be activities, worship, learning, games and fun. For more information or for online registration go to 3 The Net / February 2011

4 News & Events Pittsburgh.goarch.org/register. You may also to: or call PARISH COUNCIL OFFICERS Congratulations to the 2011 Parish Council Officers President Anthony Mougianis Vice President Spiro Alexander Secretary Greg Matzorkis Treasurer Rikki Kamarados Assistant Treasurer John Scavdis Assistant Treasurer Tom Kotsanis RELIGIOUS EDUCATION RELIGIOUS EDUCATION... February There is no scheduled Religious Education meeting for the month of February. C.A.F.E.N.I.O.... February 2 & 16 C.A.F.E.N.I.O. is held on the 1 st and 3 rd Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 pm directly following Paraklesis. C.A.F.E.N.I.O. Our Adult Forum for learning more about the Scriptures, Orthodoxy, and how to be better Christians in our present day. We are using the book Islam Unveiled. SENIOR CITIZENS BREAKFAST BIBLE STUDY... February 14 The Senior Citizen s Breakfast Bible Study meeting is held on the 2 nd Monday of the month at 10:00 am. CHANTING CLASS... February 14 & 28 Chanting classes are held on the 2 nd and 4 th Monday of the month at 7:00 pm in our upstairs fellowship hall and will continue until Holy Week. This class explores our ancient Byzantine hymns and teaches the theory behind its music and theology. GREEK SCHOOL... February 7, 14 & 21 Greek school is scheduled for 5:30 pm every Monday except the last Monday of the month. FAMILY FUN NIGHT... February 28 Family Fun Night is scheduled for Monday, February 28 th at 5:30 pm. Join us for lots of games, fellowship and fun. PARISH GROUPS PHILOPTOCHOS... February 3 The Ladies Philoptochos Society had the cutting of the annual Vasilopita on Sunday, January 2 nd which benefits St. Basils Academy. The community was very generous. On January 6 th the ladies met at The Ville Restaurant for their monthly meeting. The members voted to give $ to the office for the use of the copier and supplies. The monthly charity was given to the Trinity Tear Fund at the Tony Teramana Cancer 4 The Net/ February 2011 Center. The ladies also gave $ to the GOYA to defray some of the cost of the upcoming basketball tournament. On January 11 th we held our Gyro sale. It was very successful. We would like to thank all those who helped, especially the men, without them the Gyro sale would not be possible. Once again, we would like to thank Mr. Janoski, of Janoski Farms in Clinton, PA, for donating the tomatoes and onions for the Gyro sale. The ladies will be baking Easter bread. We will be giving more information regarding this in the coming months. Our next meeting will be on February 3 rd. The meeting will take place at 12:00 noon at The Ville Restaurant at the Fort Steuben Mall. You will be ordering from the menu. Please make your reservation by February 1 st to Neove Young at or Louise Munis at With love in Christ, Mary J. McElhaney, President PARISH COUNCIL... February 8 Parish Council meetings are held the 2 nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm at the church. AHEPA... February 15 The AHEPA Society holds its monthly meeting the 3 rd Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm at the church. CHOIR... February Rehearsals are held weekly when possible and the times vary. Choir members are notified through our Notify Now system. Anyone who would be interested in joining the Choir is welcome to do so. Please contact Pete Caleodis if you are interested. SENIOR CITIZENS... February 24 The Senior Citizens group meetings are held on the last Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm at various locations. Please check the weekly bulletin for the location. DECEMBER MONTHLY FINANCIALS December weekly income $7, December weekly expenses $7, A Kindergarten teacher was walking around observing her classroom of children while they were drawing pictures. As she got to one girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

5 From the Inter-Net What is the Triodion? The Triodion is a liturgical book of our Church. It is used by the clergy, chanters and faithful from the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee until Holy Saturday morning of Holy Week. not proud; in humility, he returned to his home after he realized his sin. So, too, we must not be proud, but return to our home, the Church, and seek our Father in Heaven to welcome us back to the fold. The Triodion gets its name from a part of the morning service of Matins (Όρθρος). Mid-way through Matins, the chanters and people begin chanting the Canon (various hymns that are chanted about the feastday or Saint). They usually have 8 odes (i.e., eight sets of hymns). However, in the Lenten period, there are only three sets of odes; because of the three odes (or τρείς ωδζς) the book took on the name Triodion. Brethren, let us not pray like the Pharisee, for those who exalt themselves will be humbled. Let us be humbled before God through fasting like the Tax Collector, as we cry aloud, God, forgive us sinners. With this first hymn of the Publican and Pharisee, we begin the journey to Pascha and our Lord s Resurrection. Our Church prepares us in such a way as to greet our Lord s Resurrection with our spiritual world changing for the better. It gives us the humility of the tax collector, the repentance of the prodigal son, the thoughts of the Last Judgment, and the rule of fasting. The Church instructs us to repent during the entire year, especially in this time of fasting. When you repent, you change your mind about your life. You change from your sinful ways to a new path of love and forgiveness. The repentance of the Prodigal Son is what we must be able to imitate. He was The Final Judgment is Meatfare Sunday s theme, since the Fathers of the Church want to stress Christ s command of, as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. (Mth. 25:40) We are all made in the Image of God. When we are merciful, in any way, this will help us to be closer to Christ. We will have served Him. Cheesefare Sunday has the theme of fasting. Our Lord, once again, says it clearly: When you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Mth. 6:16-18) We must also remember the other important aspect of Cheesefare Sunday: the exile from Paradise. The importance of Christ s preaching is that evil can not dissolve, except by fasting and prayer. In the way Adam and Eve disobeyed God s order, we do the same also by our actions. Great Lent and fasting is not a custom that we decide to invoke during the weeks leading up to Pascha; rather, it is a time to pray more fervently through the wonderful services of our Church (such as the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, Great Compline and the Salutations to the Theotokos). -Taken from: 5 The Net/ February 2011

6 Around the World Turkey considers demands of Orthodox Patriarchate Turkey for decades has ignored demands of the Patriarchate due to mistrust stemming from rivalry with Greece. But deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc's visit coincided with government promises to consider reopening a seminary that trained generations of Ecumenical Patriarchs and returning properties confiscated by the state to Christian and Jewish minority foundations. Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, is striving to join the European Union, but faces criticism that it discriminates against non-muslim citizens and Alevis, a Muslim minority sect. The European Commission's 2010 progress report cited restrictions on the training of clergy and other religious practices. The Islamic-rooted government seeks to promote religious freedom, loosening tight state controls that are a legacy of Turkey's secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Arinc entered the Patriarchate from a side gate and passed by a decorated Christmas tree in the rain-washed marble courtyard before sitting under an icon of Jesus Christ together with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Dogan news agency video showed. The main entrance remains welded shut out of respect for Patriarch Gregory V, who was accused of conspiring against the Ottoman Empire and was hanged from it in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, was the capital of Christian Byzantium before falling to Muslim Turkish forces in Two ministers visited the patriarchate in the past two years, but Arinc is the highest ranking government official to visit since Prime Minister Adnan Menderes in Menderes was later hanged after a military coup. "Today is a very happy day for us," said Bartholomew. "It has strengthened our hopes." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government recently "surprised" the Patriarchate by granting Turkish citizenship to 14 senior clerics from North and South America as well as Hong Kong, South Korea and Crete and separately returned control of a 19th-century orphanage to the Patriarchate, said Father Dositheos Anagnostopulos, a spokesman for the Patriarchate. About eight more clerics were still waiting for Turkish citizenship, a requirement for anyone who succeeds the elderly Bartholomew. The patriarch had complained to Erdogan in August that the closure of the Halki seminary in 1971 prevented raising new leaders for the church and made it difficult for the dwindling Greek community of several thousand to produce any candidates. "It is our duty to meet the just demands of our citizens who have lived in this country for centuries," Arinc said. "We will try to meet them from a legal point of view." He stressed that no decision has been made yet but the government was "determined" to give rights to minorities. Turkey's government is also taking steps toward the return of property confiscated from minorities in the 1970s. But it is not clear whether they would be allowed to reclaim property that has been sold or whether they would be compensated for the loss of such properties. Bartholomew hailed the government's reforms as "openings for democracy and further westernization of Turkey" but said the measures fell short of expectations. "They are not 100 percent satisfactory. We expect new and more progressive steps on these issues," Bartholomew said. "Of course, we expect the reopening of the seminary. It is the 40th anniversary of its closure this year." The Halki Theological School on Heybeliada Island, near Istanbul, was closed to new students in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. The school closed its doors in 1985, when the last five students graduated. "The visit by the deputy prime minister to our Patriarchate has both excited us and raised our hopes for a solution to our problems," said Laki Vingas, a member of the Greek Orthodox community. -Taken from: 6 The Net/ February

7 The Net-Minders The Parish of Holy Trinity would like to thank the following benefactors for making this Monthly Newsletter possible: PLACE YOUR NET-MINDER LISTING HERE PLACE YOUR NET MINDER LISTING HERE 7 The Net / February 2011

8 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church P.O. Box South Fourth Street Steubenville, OH NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE P A I D STEUBENVILLE, OH PERMIT NO. 83 Submissions for THE NET are to be submitted by the 20 th of each month About the Icon on the Cover ST. POLYCARP THE HOLY MARTYR & BISHOP OF SMYRNA This apostolic and prophetic man, and model of faith and truth, was a disciple of John the Evangelist, successor of Bucolus (Feb. 6), and teacher of Irenaeus (Aug. 23). He was an old man and full of days when the fifth persecution was raised against the Christians under Marcus Aurelius. When his pursuers, sent by the ruler, found Polycarp, he commanded that they be given something to eat and drink, then asked them to give him an hour to pray; he stood and prayed, full of grace, for two hours, so that his captors repented that they had come against so venerable a man. He was brought by the Proconsul of Smyrna into the stadium and was commanded, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, 'Away with the atheists.'" By atheists, the Proconsul meant the Christians. But Polycarp, gazing at the heathen in the stadium, waved his hand towards them and said, "Away with the atheists." When the Proconsul urged him to blaspheme against Christ, he said: "I have been serving Christ for eighty-six years, and He has wronged me in nothing; how can I blaspheme my King Who has saved me?" But the tyrant became enraged at these words and commanded that he be cast into the fire, and thus he gloriously expired about the year 163. As Eusebius says, "Polycarp everywhere taught what he had also learned from the Apostles, which also the Church has handed down; and this alone is true" (Eccl. Hist., Book IV, ch. 14,15). -Taken from: