Sundays and Feast Days Divine Liturgy 9:30 am
Today is the beginning of our salvation and the revelation of the mystery of the ages. O the Son of God becomes on this day the Virgin’s Son and Gabriel proclaims this gift from God. Together with him we cry out to the Theotokos singing: Hail to you who are filled with grace. The Lord is with you.
Saint Pimen was from Egypt and shone forth in the ascetical life in Scete in the fourth century; he was renowned for his discretion. Many of his sayings and deeds are preserved in the Paradise of the Fathers and the Sayings of the Fathers.
Little is known of the holy Martyr Phanurius, except that which is depicted concerning his martyrdom on his holy icon, which was discovered in the year 1500 among the ruins of an ancient church on Rhodes, when the Moslems ruled there. Thus he is called "the Newly Revealed." The faithful pray to Saint Phanurius especially to help them recover things that have been lost, and because he has answered their prayers so often, the custom has arisen of baking a Phaneropita ("Phanurius-Cake") as a thanks-offering.
Saint Moses, who is also called Moses the Black, was a slave, but because of his evil life, his master cast him out, and he became a ruthless thief, dissolute in all his ways. Later, however, coming to repentance, he converted, and took up the monastic life under Saint Isidore of Scete. He gave himself over to prayer and the mortification of the carnal mind with such diligence that he later became a priest of exemplary virtue. He was revered by all for his lofty ascetical life and for his great humility. Once the Fathers in Scete asked Moses to come to an assembly to judge the fault of a certain brother, but he refused. When they insisted, he took a basket which had a hole in it, filled it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. When the Fathers saw him coming they asked him what the basket might mean. He answered, "My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and I am come this day to judge failings which are not mine." When a barbarian tribe was coming to Scete, Moses, conscious that he himself had slain other men when he was a thief, awaited them and was willingly slain by them with six other monks, at the end of the fourth century. He was a contemporary of Saint Arsenius the Great (see May 8).
Saint Job of Pochaev was born about 1551 in southwest Galicia of a pious Orthodox family. In his tenth year the Saint departed for the Ugornitsky Monastery of our Saviour in the Carpathian Mountains. Tonsured after two years, he was ordained hieromonk about 1580. Renowned for his meekness and humility, Job was invited by the great zealot for Holy Orthodoxy in the Carpatho-Russia, Prince Constantine Ostrozhky, to be Abbot of the Monastery of the Cross in Dubno. In his zeal for the preservation and propagation of the Orthodox Faith, and to counteract the propaganda of the Uniates, he printed and widely disseminated Orthodox spiritual and liturgical books. About 1600 he removed to the Mountain of Pochaev where at insistence of the brethren, he became Abbot of the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos, which he enlarged and made to flourish. Through his labours, a large printing works was founded at Pochaev and greatly assisted in the nurture of the Orthodox faithful in that region. His monastery became the center of the Orthodox Church in western Ukraine. The Saint reposed, having taken the schema with the name of John, in 1651, at the advanced age of one hundred.
Prokeimenon. Third Mode. Psalm 46.6,1.
Sing praises to our God, sing praises.
Verse: Clap your hands, all you nations.
The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 15:1-11.
Brethren, I would remind you in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast -- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 19:16-26
At that time, a young man came up to Jesus, kneeling and saying, "Good Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Prayer List:
Please pray for our brothers and sisters: Gloria, Niko, Christina, Kostas, Malina, John, Simona, Louise, Pete, Vincent, Rose.
Liturgy times: Summer services will start promptly at 9:30 a.m. in order to finish by 11:00 a.m. Please plan accordingly.
Council Members on duty today: Charlie Neos and Joanne Perreault
The 100th Anniversary Cookbook Committee needs your recipes! Please fill out a recipe form found in the Narthex OR go to www.typensave.com to type in your recipe following the simple instructions. User name is AGOC and the password is eggnog847. Questions should be directed toward Andrea Jones (andreajones1@comcast.net) or Ruth Riley (rsrileyfineart@gmail.com). We hope to have one recipe for every parishioner. Thank you!
100th Anniversary Committee Meeting:
“Our next meeting of the 100th Anniversary Committee is Sunday August 27th following Liturgy in Nicholson Hall. Outstanding items for discussion are:
February speaker – information update. Sponsored by the Men’s Club.
June event – information update. Presently listed as GOYA month. The August event may move to June in a different venue.
August event – Presently showing as an inter-Diocesan Picnic. May become a non-picnic GOYA event
November 2018 Gala banquet – information update.
December 2018 forward and onward –December schedule with the Pageant, Lessons and Carrols, Christmas Eve, Talent Show, Christmas Day, Christmas and New Year’s Eves is busy. Confirm dates.
If anyone cannot attend and has updates and/or meeting minutes, please send them to me on or before August 26th. Thank you.”
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Center for Family Care: Our archdiocese has developed a family program called SOAK UP the SON. Each week a new activity is presented so you and your family can stay in contact with God. This is especially important during the summer months when there are no Sunday School classes. You can access SOAK UP the SON at this web address: www.family.goarch.org.
Aug. 16-31: Fr. Costin on vacation. Office closed. For emergencies please call Jim Sperelakis at 978 479-6372
Fellowship Hour:
“The call for host/sponsors has been heeded, we have several available dates to sponsor Fellowship hour as follow:August 27th, October 1-29th, November 12th and December 31st. Please e-mail AndreaJones1@Comcast.net , phone at home 978 465-1021or text 978 621-6123 to schedule your coffee hour. This is a time to gather and enjoy our Church family.
Thank you to Chris and Mary Malonis for providing us with Fellowship hour refreshments last week.
Sunday, August 27th: Open
Sunday, September 3rd: 100th Anniversary Cookbook “100 Years in the Kitchen” recipe collection continues through the end of the month of September. Please bring your favorite appetizer/mezes along with the recipe to share.
Sunday, September 10th: Men’s Club is hosting “Welcome Back to Sunday School breakfast.”
Sunday September 17th: Greek Ladies Aid Society Elevation of the Holy Cross
Card used in the pews to recite the Creed in Greek on the first Sunday of the month
Events and persons in charge, monthly calendar