Saint Luke Greek Orthodox Church. The MESSENGER. Volume II, Issue 5 May 2017

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1 Saint Luke Greek Orthodox Church The MESSENGER Volume II, Issue 5 May 2017 Beloved in Christ, Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen! We are in the bright and joyous days of Pascha, celebrating the Good News. Yes, He is Risen! And so He is alive yesterday, today, and forever! Pascha illuminates all the days of Creation. The road to Pascha, of course, culminated in Holy Week. What wonderful participation and attendance from our parishioners! Upon receiving the Light, we processed outside to sing Christos Anesti, and to share the Good News with the neighborhood and the world (did you catch the airplane flying overhead, catching a glimpse of the Light?) The looks on your faces the smiles, especially said it all. Thank God for everything and everyone who helped our chanters, choir, altar boys, myrrh-bearers, and various ministries. Now, we look forward to Pentecost, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit (June 4 this year). There is always a movement in church life towards God, in all His love and emptying of Himself for our sakes (the Church Fathers call this the kenosis of Christ). He is the Well of Life that is never exhausted, even as he gives His life to others. 1

2 With Pascha, we move to conform to Christ, so that as He is, we may become. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven (First Corinthians ). This requires a desire from us, so that our decision is freely given back to God, who transforms our prayers into a spiritual deposit into His Heavenly Treasury, for us to receive from Him one day with interest! Love one another and forgive one another, we were told throughout Holy Week. Be like the woman who washed the Lord s feet with her hair, we gave all of herself to Him. Through our self-emptying letting go of ego, pride, self-defense, and perceived righteousness let us grow into the authentic Christ. These days approaching Pentecost are for a re-orientation of priorities and goals. Is our salvation primary? Is it our desire to be like Christ? Or, to be freed from minor and major obstacles that impede our spiritual growth? Whatever your prayer may be, offer it to Christ and you will grow. May our Risen Lord bless you and your families this Paschal season and every season. Χριστος Ανεστη! Αληθως Ανεστη! Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen! With love in the Lord, + Fr. Panteleimon 2

3 The Messenger is a publication of the Saint Luke Greek Orthodox Church of East Longmeadow, MA located at 400 Prospect Street East Longmeadow, MA For mailing use PO Box 381. To contact the Church Office: ; (fax) and stlukego@aol.com. To contact the Pastor call or at frpklostri@gmail.com. All rights reserved. Saint Luke Greek Orthodox Church 400 Prospect Street East Longmeadow, MA (413) (413) (fax) Fr. Panteleimon Klostri - Proistamenos frpklostri@gmail.com Church Office saintlukego@gmail.com Pastor- Fr. Panteleimon Klostri 2017 Parish Council President - Nick Vamvilis Vice President - Judy Lelas-George Treasurer - Joe Dasco Secretary - Christos Nikolis Corresponding Secretary - Dorsey Cokkinias Assaad Hallak Anthony Antonopoulos Parris Ochsner Bea Syner Bill Sakel Harry Georgiades Philoptochos President - Maria Londo Vice President - Melissa Kaitis Treasurer - Vaceleci Zaharis Secretary - Rosanne Desautels Corresponding Secretary - Evangelia Tsikrikis Past President/Advisor - Dorsey Cokkinias Ministries Chanters -Elias Zovas and Aristidis Zaharis Choir Director - Toni Rizas Organist- Can Gao Endowment Fund Chair - John Piponidis GOYA Advisor - Kathy Kalaitzidis JOY Advisor - Sarah Kirchner O Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, intercede with our Merciful God, that He may grant our souls remission of sins Apolytikion of Saint Luke Memorials - Maria Laware Messenger -Editor - Maria Londo Stewardship Chairs - Joe and Meghan Dasco Sunday School Director - Priscilla Johnson Assistant Director - Leia Georgeopolus Outreach Committee - Harry Georgiades Facilities Committee - Jim Danalis Administrative Assistant Helen Adamo 3

4 NEWS FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL Christos Anesti! Our Pascha was beautiful and we are grateful to so many people who help keep everything running so smoothly. Thank you to the Kirchner family for the coordinating the Easter Egg Hunt, and to Marion Dasco for being our 2017 Laity Award Recipient! Once again, thank you to our wonderful parishioners who helped make Holy Week so memorable. Nick Vamvilis Parish Council President PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter season! A big thank you goes out to many people this month. We couldn t have done it without all of your helping hands. Evangelia Tsikrikis - Easter Flower Sale Bess Zaharis - Memory Booklet Stephanie Bologna - Palm Making Judy Lelas-George and Ann Flynn - Kouloria Workshop Vicki Laroche and Victor Galiatsos - Easter Bread Workshop Nicole Cantarini and Leia Georgeopoulos - Epitaphio Kelly Dimitroglou and Melissa Kaitis - Easter Food Outreach Maria Londo Philoptochos President 4

5 GOYA News and Notes From Friday, April 7th to Saturday April 9th, GOYAns participated in the 30 Hour Famine. On April 30th, we have a trip planned to see a Greek Independence Day Parade in Boston. Our May meeting is scheduled for May 21st. We thank all who support GOYA as we continue to pursue our ministry. Philip Dimitroglou GOYA President 5

6 Stewardship Message Dear Fellow Parishioners: Xristos Anesti!! You are the light of the world. let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:14+16 An Orthodox Christian Steward is an active participant in the life of the Church. St. Luke s encourages all who accept the light of our Father to become practicing stewards. Each year we ask that you examine your personal circumstances and make a commitment of time, talent and treasure to support our Parish and its many outreach ministries. To date, we have received pledges from 130 families. This is a decline from last year at this time. We would love to hear from all of our members as our goal is to receive 100 % participation. Christ is Risen! This proclamation is in our hearts and in our minds; this is the Good News and Joy! Please continue to be involved with the life and Good News and Joy at St. Luke. Sincerely, Joe and Meghan Dasco co-chairs Stewardship Committee 6

7 Coffee Hour On behalf of the entire parish, I d like to thank all those who have volunteered to host a coffee hour thus far this year. I know that it takes time and effort out of our busy lives to prepare or purchase the goodies served, to set up, and to clean up; so please know it is much appreciated. Judy Below are the open dates for the next few months: May 21, 28 June 4, 11, 25 7

8 Dancing With Heart Christos Anesti! We hope that everyone enjoyed Easter with family and friends. As with every holiday, it seems like we spend days preparing and then when the day arrived it is over before you know it! Well, it s back to the drawing board for our committees as time will be moving along very quickly between now and our event. It seems impossible that at the time I am writing this article, it s only 5 weeks away!! Even though we have been working hard since January, there s still much to do. But the outlook is positive! Ticket sales are going great and support from the community is wonderful. St. Luke will be making many new friends in the community via this event and that s a good thing! We hope that you have been enjoying the DWH blurbs that have been in our weekly vestals. As you can see, we have a varied group of dancers, each of whom is going to bring his/her own touch to their performance. We, on the committee, are just as anxious as you for the night of the 20 th to arrive we have not been privy to the choreographed performances!!! Our photographers have been doing a great job keeping tabs on the progress of the dancers via pictures and videos. They are probably the only ones who know the who, what, and how of the performances. But, mums the word from them!!! Thank you, John and Peter, for spending many an hour on this event. We can t wait to see your final product. Our program/sponsor book is coming along slowly. We know our packets were sent out a while ago, and might be on the bottom of your to do pile. If you have misplaced the mailing and need another set, please let us know. What a wonderful sign of support it would be to have as many parishioners as possible become patrons! In closing, we d like to thank everyone who has said yes to help us out with this event, as well as everyone who has participated in our program book. We stepped out of our comfort zone to put this event on a dance competition not a dinner or Greek dance. There have been some hills and gullies along the way, but I think we re on an uphill trend from now on in! Dancing With Heart Planning Committee Co-Chairs Dorsey Cokkinias Judy Lelas-George 8

9 Procession of Holy Friday Anastasi and on next page continued with Holy Saturday morning and Egg Hunt following Agape Service 9

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11 Knitting Ministry The Knitting group continues to meet the first and third Wednesdays every month at 10:30 am. We continue to knit hats and blankets for newborn babies, prayer shawls, and scarves for women who participate in the Rays of Hope Walk. If you know how to knit or crochet please join us. If you don t know how to knit or crochet, we can teach you! St John Chrysostom Strong Thomas Coulouras and Damian Zaharis participated in the St John Chrystostom Oratorical Festival, at the parish level on April 9th and Damian participated at the district level on April 29th. Damian placed first and has now advanced to the Metropolis level scheduled on Sat, May 13th 9am at the Metropolis Center. 162 Goddard Ave Brookline MA All are welcome to come and listen to the wonderful speeches and support him. Congratulations to both Thomas and Damian for their beautiful efforts and contribution to the faith. 11

12 Does This Interest You???? St. Luke has been very fortunate to have had parishioners volunteer to head or chair the various ministries of our church. As is done each year, the 2017 parish council met to review the ministries of the church and assign each council member to act as a liaison for certain ministries. As this process took place, one possible ministry that came to my mind was that of publicity. It would be wonderful to have someone who would be willing to take on the task of delving into the workings of St. Luke, whether they are everyday and/or special happenings, and spread the word about them. St. Luke does many important and wonderful things not only as a parish for our parish, but as a parish for other entities. Think about it.how many times have you seen parishes being recognized for helping others.being recognized for celebrating milestones being recognized for awards earned by the church or its individual parishioners.or accomplishments reached by the church or its parishioners. Many wonderful things go on behind the walls of this church let s celebrate them!!! How can we spread the word about these wonderful happenings? There is the Reminder, the Republican, the Orthodox Observer, the Greek radio program, our website, our Face Book page, our serve list, and the local TV stations to begin with. Why not put the name of St. Luke out as a vibrant member of the local community as well as the Greek Orthodox community. Perhaps by spreading the word, we will get the opportunity to help others in ways we cannot imagine. Our plea is to see if there is any one person, a couple of people, or a group of people who would like to take this on as their ministry. Some people feel comfortable with speaking publically; some feel comfortable with writing together they can get the word out. We don t know the talent and expertise of all our parishioners, but we hope that there might be someone in our midst who feels passionate enough about spreading the word about St. Luke to accept this task If you are that someone, please contact a member of the parish council or Father Panteleimon. Thank you Judy 12

13 Attention Ministry Heads. Our annual ministry calendar meeting is quickly coming up in June. Please confer with your committee and firm up any dates related to your ministry that you feel should be included. (special meetings, affairs, activities etc) We also would like to verify monthly meeting days and times if at all possible. (for example, Parish Council meetings/second Tuesday of the month) Everything we do is important, and in doing this, we hope to avoid any conflicts. Be on the lookout for the date and time of this meeting. Thanks in advance for your consideration. judy 13

14 2017 St. Luke Laity Award Nominee Many organizations recognize their members for their tenure and years of loyalty, dedication, and tireless service. Within the Metropolis of Boston, this honor and recognition comes in the form of the Laity Award. Many of the present group of parishioners belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Luke were not around back in 1976 when this church was just an idea in the minds of a small group some were not even born!! Today, many members of this small group, as well as the many others who joined them, are no longer with us. However, the tireless hours of love, commitment, and hard work they offered are evident in the land, the church, the liturgical items, and the icons that surround us today.all making up the Greek Orthodox Church o f St. Luke. One of the people in this hard working group was Marion Dasco. And Marion continues to work for St. Luke today 41 years later! Marion and her committee were very influential in the building and designing phase of St. Luke. Her love for art and the abundant knowledge she had for it paved the way for her to become an integral part of decision making as it relates to the art and design of the church. Marion spent hours upon hours visiting other churches, researching various types of iconography, matching the icon styles with iconographers, and, in turn, meeting with these iconographers. She also held many meetings with Father Elias, and credits him with the long hours he spent with her in the pursuit of a church that met the needs of the community. She, Father Elias, and Bishop Anthimos met over and over again during this phase to ensure that the icon screen was in alignment with the guidelines of the church. Her expertise, long hours, and love for St. Luke brought us what we have today the icon screen (which she helped to design); the icon on the back wall of the altar; and the icon that adorns the ceiling (Pantocrator) of our church. Upon completion, Marion organized and submitted documentation of the artwork for insurance purposes. Marion also actively researched the architectural features of a true Greek Orthodox Church. She was so involved in this aspect that she and Demo planned a trip to Greece to visit Demo s family hmmmm. They and their 4 children, as well as the relatives, spent much of this trip visiting and photographing every church they came upon!! Marion was also very integral in pursuing liturgical items as well as the necessary furnishings in and around the altar in order that St. Luke could be Consecrated. Every item had to be taken to the general assembly for approval. She prepared, got samples and spoke to each issue raised at the GA. The church entity at that time could not afford to purchase all the items needed for Consecration, so Marion helped to pursue many a parishioner and friend to donate for this purpose and she was successful! 14

15 Marion and Father Michael, both astute in art and creativity, also worked together to continue to pursue ideas that would beautify the church. As is her personality, when there is a cause that strikes Marion s fancy, she pursues it with heart and soul and time and energy! Still a very valuable resource in this area, Marion continues to be the keeper of the icons. She is currently working on the identification and value of gifted icons. Tirelessly she has researched and found out the when, where, why, and how of an icon depicting the Crucifixion which we are in possession of. From there, she researched what had to be done to restore the icon, where reliable conservators were located, and spoke to them about the options available. We, working with her now, can see that when she has a path to follow, she follows it to completion! Throughout the years, Marion has filled other roles for St. Luke. She was a member of the choir for many years as well as a long standing member of Philoptochos. She has chaired many activities such as the Epitaphio; many parish wide dinners such as the Palm Sunday luncheon; and co-chaired Father Michael s farewell event to name a few in recent years. Marion was and has been active in the early three day festivals of St. Luke as well as the more recent Taste of Greece. She was one of the chair people of the first Giving Tree which back then raised all the money needed to purchase ingredients for baking and cooking as well as items needed to be rented. She and her husband have always been very generous to St. Luke in their giving to special projects such as the educational addition Marion s children say that she instilled in them her love and passion for the church. Growing up, they were actively involved in choir, the Taste, Sunday school, altar, GOYA, to name a few. And in years following, her grandchildren did the same. Marion describes her work for St. Luke as a labor of love. She is a true example of one who displays great faith, loyalty, and dedication to her church. 15

16 THE LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY OF ST. LUKE May 1, 2017 Dear Parishioners: This is a very exciting time of year for our High School Seniors. They are completing their obligations at Sunday School as well as at their high schools. These students are looking forward to continuing their education as well as to becoming adult citizens within our parish. Each year, the Scholarship Committee of the Philoptochos provides a monetary scholarship to our graduating high school seniors who have regular church attendance and/or have been actively involved in the life of our Church. The Philoptochos also recognizes any other college or degree program graduate with a small token. At this time we are looking for donations for our seniors and names of graduates in our parish. Last year the Committee was able to provide $ in total scholarship money and gifts for the graduates. We are again looking for your generosity to honor these diligent St. Luke students. Please complete the bottom portion of this letter and mail it to the Church. Checks should be made payable to Philoptochos of St. Luke with a note in the memo for Scholarship Committee. In addition if you know of a graduate who should be included in this recognition, please complete the form below or call the church office. Thank you for your generosity and recognizing our students. Philoptochos Board - Name (or Anonymous) Amount of Donation Name of graduate that you know of who has been active in the life of our Church 16

17 Important Dates May 20- Memorial Cemetery Visits 9-12pm (schedule to be ed) May 20 - Dancing with Heart May 21- Saints Constantine and Helen (Vespers on the 20th in Chicopee 5pm) May 24- The Leavetaking of Pascha May 25- Ascension On Sunday, April 9, as we honored our long-time Choir Director Cindy Rodolakis, for her nearly four decades of service to Saint Luke. 17

18 MEMORIALS In memory of Aurora Stavris Marianne Sergides Geeorge and Magda Galiatsos Karen Louis Luke and Lorraine Ahladas St Luke Choir John and Anita Themistos Peter and Rita Rozantes Phyllis LaVallee Ann Flynn In memory of Linda Gilmore-mother of Kelly Dimitroglou Marianne Sergides Lanie and Peter Alexopoulos John and Anita Themistos Phyllis LaVallee Luke and Lorraine Ahladas In memory of Despina Sarantidis and Thomas Moropolos Domna Moropoulos In memory of Panagiotis Kakoulidis Elaine and Christina Sgueglia In memory of Mary Varelas George and Kathleen Poulopoulos In memory of Basillis Pappas Ann Flynn In memory of Charles Parakilas Ann Flynn In memory of Jeremiah Shea Ann Flynn 18

19 Baptisms Nicholas John, son of Leigh and Nicole Cantarini was baptized on April 29,2017 Godmother - Leia Georgeopolus Ma y t h e L o rd a l w a ys k e e p h i m c l o s e. Congratulations! Thank you I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to so many of you, for your loving wishes and support, during this time as we were helping my father. He has safely moved and now shares a room with his beautiful wife and is adjusting well. He is enjoying many visits from family and getting out for coffee regularly with his brother. Their room has many touches that make us all feel we are back in their lovely home. A special thank you to Chris Nikolis for taking my keys one Sunday morning and parking my car! This enabled me to be able to not leave Dad and enter church. Another special thank you to Kiki Trial. You brought me to tears with the kind gesture of sitting with him, while I participated in the Holy Friday procession with Theodore, who wanted us to go together. Thank you, it was so sweet and is so appreciated. Much love and Christos Anesti! Presvytera Eleni 19

20 Saint Luke Greek Orthodox Church 400 Prospect Street, P.O. Box 381 East Longmeadow, MA NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD MA PERMIT NO P