The Trophy-Bearer A monthly publication of Saint George Greek Orthodox Church New Castle, Pennsylvania April 2018 Volume II, Issue 4 Holy Nine Martyrs of Kyzikos April 28th
ΙΕΡΟΣ ΝΑΟΣ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ SAINT GEORGE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH 315 W. Englewood Avenue - New Castle, PA 16105 Church: (724) 654 8521 - www.stgeorgenewcastle.org Fr. Michael A. Gavrilos - Parish Priest FrMichael@stgeorgenewcastle.org Parish Council Members President Helen Ritchie Vice-President Artie Christou Treasurer Nicholas Ligerakis Secretary Melissa Sotiriou Flossie Foukas Eric Karmecy Nik Foukas Christina Raineri Elias Tsiris Service Times Please Check the Monthly Calendar for Services Services Times Unless Otherwise Noted Sunday Orthros: 8:15 a.m. Sunday 9:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday Orthros: 8:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday : 9:30 a.m. Evening Services: 6:00 p.m. Confession: By Appointment Information for The Trophy-Bearer If you would like an article, or photos in The Trophy-Bearer, submit them electronically to Fr. Michael (FrMichael@stgeorgenewcastle.org) by the 15th of the month. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. -James 5:14 If you or your loved one is sick, in the hospital, or need a priest, please contact Fr. Michael so that he will be able to visit them.
Fr. Michael s Message Christ is in our Midst! We endured the fasting, the additional Church Services throughout the weeks, we have become more tired, and because of that, we might have even put off tasks that we needed to finish, however, we have completed the forty day journey of Great and Holy Lent. Now that this Lenten Journey is completed, we are met with another one week fast known as Holy Week. The event, or rather events, that bridge the gap between Great and Holy Lent and Holy Week, is the two-day celebration of the Raising of Lazarus from the tomb, and Palm Sunday. Jesus, like any good Jew at the time, was on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Right outside of Jerusalem in the city of Bethany, Jesus sees His friends Mary & Martha, who he knows along with their brother Lazarus from previous trips to this area. When Jesus met Mary & Martha in their city, they were distraught and mourning their brother who had passed away. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Lazarus was dead to the point where his body had started to rot, and no one wanted to open the tomb because they knew it would stink. This is the important part of the story, he raises Lazarus from the point of death where his body had started to decompose. He made sure that Lazarus was dead long enough so that everyone would believe in the power of Jesus Christ. With every instance of raising someone from the dead, Jesus is making his point Louder and Louder and Louder, This is what I have come to do for you, I have come to destroy everyone s enemy, I have come to destroy death, THIS IS WHAT I AM HERE FOR. Of course, word gets around of this raising of Lazarus from the dead, and it spreads like wildfire. On Palm Sunday, we see such excitement in the crowd of people gathering together to greet Him, holding palms and waving them, proclaiming: HOSANA IN THE HIGHEST! HOSANA IN THE HIGHEST! All of these people knew what happened with the raising of Lazarus from the dead, and they think this man, Jesus Christ, is a man of such power, this man is the King! This is the one that is going to reverse the fortunes of the Jewish people. This is the one who will help us chase out the oppressors. This is the one to bring back the glory days when Israel was the great kingdom of David and Solomon. This is the one, this is the person that we were waiting for. What happens next is the important part, this man, Jesus Christ, turns out to not be that kind of earthly Messiah that the Jews thought he was, and it disappoints them. They are unable to see beyond His humanity to who He truly is. They turn on Him, and by the end of the week, they have done the worst they can do, they kill Him. And yet He comes back, He demonstrates that He is the Resurrection, He is the Life! Good will prevail, the end of the story is life, this all has a happy ending! All you have to do is follow Him. This glorious two-day period, it is a preview of what is going to happen this Holy Week, and every Holy Week that is celebrated in our lives. This is Jesus telling us, This is what I can do and this is what I will do. My prayer for all of us it to continue our joy and faith, our belief in Christ through all he will endure in the week to come. We cannot be the people who received him on Sunday and spit upon him on Friday. We need to be the people who are with him through all he endures, let us be like those who waited for him by the foot of the Cross, let us be the ones who came to him at the earliest possible point to anoint his body. Let us all keep a true and observant Holy Week, and await the glorious Resurrection of Christ! With Love in Christ, Fr. Michael A. Gavrilos
1 April 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 2 3 4 5 6 7 Palm Sunday Fish Dinner following 6:30 p.m. Bridegroom Service 8:30 a.m. 9th Hour & Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 p.m. Bridegroom Service 8:30 a.m. 9th Hour & Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 p.m. Bridegroom Service 8:30 a.m. 9th Hour & Presanctified Liturgy 3:30 p.m. Holy Unction 6:30 p.m. Orthros with Anointing 8:30 a.m. Vesperal 6:30 p.m. Service of the 12 Gospels 8:30 a.m. Royal Hours 3:30 p.m. Apokathilosis 6:30 p.m. Lamentations 8:30 a.m. Vesperal 11:00 p.m. Resurrection Vigil 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Great & Holy Pascha 11:00 a.m. Agape Vespers Sts. Irene, Raphael, Nicholas 8:30 a.m. Orthros, Divine Liturgy 6:00 p.m. Vespers, Orthros, & Life-Giving Font 8:30 a.m. Orthros, Divine Liturgy 8:30 a.m. Orthros, Divine Liturgy ~~~FAST FREE WEEK~~~BRIGHT WEEK~~~FAST FREE WEEK~~~BRIGHT WEEK~~~FAST FREE~~~ 15 Thomas Sunday Parish Council Meeting 16 17 18 19 Baking for Dance Spanakopita/ Baklava 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 20 21 St. Photios Awards Banquet 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women St. George St. Mark Baking for Dance Pastitsio 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. St. George Dinner Dance Great Vespers 6:00 p.m. 29 30 Sunday of the Paralytic
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 May 2018 Mid-Pentecost 8:45 a.m. Orthros, Divine Liturgy 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman SPRING GENERAL ASSEMBLY Festival Baking Tirpoita/Pasta Flora 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. St. John the Theologian Festival Baking Baklava/Pasta Flora 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Sunday of the Blindman Mother s Day 20 Festival Baking Spanakopita 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Vespers, Orthros, Divine Liturgy (Apodosis of Pascha) 21 22 23 Apodosis of Pascha 5:30 p.m. 9th Hour, Vespers, Orthros, Divine Liturgy (Holy Ascension) Holy Ascension Fr. Michael in Boston for Alumni Meetings & for 10 Year Hellenic College Reunion 24 25 26 Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council Festival Baking Galaktoboureko 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Third Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist Saturday of Souls Parish Council Meeting 27 Holy Pentecost (Great Vespers to immediately follow) 28 29 30 Festival Baking Finikia & Wedding Cookies 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 31 ~~~FAST FREE WEEK~~~FAST FREE WEEK~~~FAST FREE WEEK~~~FAST FREE WEEK~~~
COVER ICON Holy Nine Martyrs of Kyzikos April 28th Nine Martyrs of Kyzikos (Cyzicus) were a group of nine martyrs who in the last decades of the third century were martyred in the city of Kyzikos in Asia Minor for upholding their faith in Jesus Christ. They included Thaumasios, Theognes, Roufos, Antipatros, Theostichos, Artemas, Magnos, Theodotos, and Philemon. The Nine Martyrs are commemorated on April 29. History While the city of Kyzikos on the coast of the Dardenelles (Hellespont) in Asia Minor had seen the spread of Christianity from the time of St. Paul's preaching, by the end of the third century Kyzikos was still basically a pagan city. During persecutions, some of the Christians fled the city, while others quietly in secret kept their faith in Christ. The situation distressed the Christians in the city who sought to uphold actively the Christian faith. Through these years as the third century ended there were among these Christians nine men: Thaumasios, Theognes, Roufos, Antipatros, Theostichos, Artemas, Magnos, Theodotos, and Philemon. The nine came from many different places and were of different ages. There were youths like Antipatros and the very elderly like Roufos. They held many different positions in society, including being soldiers, countryfolk, city people, and clergy. They all, however, declared their faith in Christ, and prayed for the propagation of Christianity throughout the countryside. These saints boldly confessed Christ and fearlessly denounced the pagan impiety. In turn, they were arrested and brought to trial. After the ruler of the city condemned them, they were tortured over several days, then locked in prison before again being brought to the judge before whom they were promised their freedom if they renounced Christ. But, as soldiers for Christ they continued to glorify the Lord. Through the years from 286 to 299 all nine martyrs were beheaded by the sword, and their bodies buried near the city. Veneration In the year 324, after the persecutions against Christians ended under the rule of Constantine the Great, the Christians of Kyzikos removed the incorrupt bodies of the martyrs from their graves and placed them in a church built in their honor. At the church many miracles occurred before the holy relics of the martyrs: the sick were healed, and the mentally deranged were brought to their senses. Through the intercession of the holy martyrs of Kyzikos the faith of Christ grew within the city and many pagans were converted to Christianity. During the rule of Julian the Apostate from 361 to 363, the pagans of Kyzikos complained that the Christians were destroying pagan temples. Answering the complaints, Julian gave orders for the rebuilding of the pagan temples and jailing of Bishop Eleusios. As Julian's rule ended quickly with his death, Bishop Eleusios was soon set free, and led by the memory of the nine holy martyrs the light of the Christian Faith shined anew. In Russia in 1678, not far from the city of Kazan, Metropolitan Adrian of Kazan, remembering the suffering of the nine martyrs in Kyzikos and believing that abundance of grace from these saints would dispel the sufferings of the people of Kazan from the feverish and trembling illness that beset the city, proposed building a church in honor of the Nine Martyrs of Kyzikos. In 1691, Metropolitan Adrian approved establishment of a monastery around the church. The Monastery of the Kyzikos Martyrs was built by the hierodeacon Stephen who had brought part of the relics of the saints with him from Palestine. St. Dimitri of Rostov, who composed the service to the Nine Martyrs, writes, "through the intercession of these saints, abundant grace was given to dispel fevers and trembling sicknesses." St. Dimitri also described the sufferings of the holy martyrs and wrote a sermon for their feast day. Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2015/04/holy-nine-martyrs-of-kyzikos.html
Saint George Greek Orthodox Church 315 W. Englewood Avenue New Castle, PA 16105