Publish-header
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2017-05-21
Bulletin Contents
Allsaint
Organization Icon
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (904)-829-0504
  • Fax:
  • (904)829-0507
  • Street Address:

  • 2940 CR-214

  • St. Augustine, FL 32084-2718


Contact Information




Services Schedule

Sunday Orthros 9:00am Divine Liturgy 10:00am    Fr. John Hays, Interim Priest


Past Bulletins


Hymns of the Day

Apolytikion of Great and Holy Pascha in the Plagal 1st Tone

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life. Χριστὸς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν, θανάτῳ θάνατον πατήσας, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς μνήμασι, ζωὴν χαρισάμενος.

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal 1st Tone

Let us worship the Word who is unoriginate with the Father and the Spirit, and from a Virgin was born for our salvation, O believers, and let us sing His praise. For in His goodness He was pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh, and to undergo death, and to raise up those who had died, by His glorious Resurrection. Τὸν συνάναρχον Λόγον Πατρὶ καὶ Πνεύματι, τὸν ἐκ Παρθένου τεχθέντα εἰς σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν, ἀνυμνήσωμεν πιστοὶ καὶ προσκυνήσωμεν, ὅτι ηὐδόκησε σαρκί, ἀνελθεῖν ἐν τῷ Σταυρῷ, καὶ θάνατον ὑπομεῖναι, καὶ ἐγεῖραι τοὺς τεθνεῶτας, ἐν τῇ ἐνδόξῳ Ἀναστάσει αὐτοῦ.

Apolytikion for Constantine and Helen in the Plagal 4th Tone

• Apolytikion for the Church in the 8th Tone Blessed are You, O Christ our God. You made wise men of poor fishermen by sending down upon them Your Holy Spirit, and through them You caught the whole world, O Lover of mankind, glory to You.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal 4th Tone

Though You went down into the tomb, O Immortal One, yet You brought down the dominion of Hades; and You rose as the victor, O Christ our God; and You called out "Rejoice" to the Myrrh-bearing women, and gave peace to Your Apostles, O Lord who to the fallen grant resurrection.
BACK TO TOP

Saints and Feasts

Allsaint
May 21

Pachomios the Righteous New Martyr


Jcblind1
May 21

Sunday of the Blind Man

The Lord Jesus was coming from the Temple on the Sabbath, when, while walking in the way, He saw the blind man mentioned in today's Gospel. This man had been born thus from his mother's womb, that is, he had been born without eyes (see Saint John Chrysostom, Homily LVI on Matthew; Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V:15; and the second Exorcism of Saint Basil the Great). When the disciples saw this, they asked their Teacher, "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" They asked this because when the Lord had healed the paralytic at the Sheep's Pool, He had told him, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14); so they wondered, if sickness was caused by sin, what sin could have been the cause of his being born without eyes. But the Lord answered that this was for the glory of God. Then the God-man spat on the ground and made clay with the spittle. He anointed the eyes of the blind man and said to him, "Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam." Siloam (which means "sent") was a well-known spring in Jerusalem used by the inhabitants for its waters, which flowed to the eastern side of the city and collected in a large pool called "the Pool of Siloam."

Therefore, the Saviour sent the blind man to this pool that he might wash his eyes, which had been anointed with the clay-not that the pool's water had such power, but that the faith and obedience of the one sent might be made manifest, and that the miracle might become more remarkable and known to all, and leave no room for doubt. Thus, the blind man believed in Jesus' words, obeyed His command, went and washed himself, and returned, no longer blind, but having eyes and seeing. This was the greatest miracle that our Lord had yet worked; as the man healed of his blindness himself testified, "Since time began, never was it heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind," although the Lord had already healed the blind eyes of many. Because he now had eyes, some even doubted that he was the same person (John 9:8-9); and it was still lively in their remembrance when Christ came to the tomb of Lazarus, for they said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have caused that even this man should not have died?" Saint John Chrysostom gives a thorough and brilliant exposition of our Lord's meeting with the woman of Samaria, the healing of the paralytic, and the miracle of the blind man in his commentaries on the Gospel of Saint John.


21_conshel
May 21

Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the Apostles

This great and renowned sovereign of the Christians was the son of Constantius Chlorus (the ruler of the westernmost parts of the Roman empire), and of the blessed Helen. He was born in 272, in (according to some authorities) Naissus of Dardania, a city on the Hellespont. In 306, when his father died, he was proclaimed successor to his throne. In 312, on learning that Maxentius and Maximinus had joined forces against him, he marched into Italy, where, while at the head of his troops, he saw in the sky after midday, beneath the sun, a radiant pillar in the form of a cross with the words: "By this shalt thou conquer." The following night, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him in a dream and declared to him the power of the Cross and its significance. When he arose in the morning, he immediately ordered that a labarum be made (which is a banner or standard of victory over the enemy) in the form of a cross, and he inscribed on it the Name of Jesus Christ. On the 28th Of October, he attacked and mightily conquered Maxentius, who drowned in the Tiber River while fleeing. The following day, Constantine entered Rome in triumph and was proclaimed Emperor of the West by the Senate, while Licinius, his brother-in-law, ruled in the East. But out of malice, Licinius later persecuted the Christians. Constantine fought him once and again, and utterly destroyed him in 324, and in this manner he became monarch over the West and the East. Under him and because of him all the persecutions against the Church ceased. Christianity triumphed and idolatry was overthrown. In 325 he gathered the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which he himself personally addressed. In 324, in the ancient city of Byzantium, he laid the foundations of the new capital of his realm, and solemnly inaugurated it on May 11, 330, naming it after himself, Constantinople. Since the throne of the imperial rule was transferred thither from Rome, it was named New Rome, the inhabitants of its domain were called Romans, and it was considered the continuation of the Roman Empire. Falling ill near Nicomedia, he requested to receive divine Baptism, according to Eusebius (The Life of Constantine. Book IV, 61-62), and also according to Socrates and Sozomen; and when he had been deemed worthy of the Holy Mysteries, he reposed in 337, on May 21 or 22, the day of Pentecost, having lived sixty-five years, of which he ruled for thirty-one years. His remains were transferred to Constantinople and were deposed in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had been built by him (see Homily XXVI on Second Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom).

As for his holy mother Helen, after her son had made the Faith of Christ triumphant throughout the Roman Empire, she undertook a journey to Jerusalem and found the Holy Cross on which our Lord was crucified (see Sept. 13 and 14). After this, Saint Helen, in her zeal to glorify Christ, erected churches in Jerusalem at the sites of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, in Bethlehem at the cave where our Saviour was born, another on the Mount of Olives whence He ascended into Heaven, and many others throughout the Holy Land, Cyprus, and elsewhere. She was proclaimed Augusta, her image was stamped upon golden coins, and two cities were named Helenopolis after her in Bithynia and in Palestine. Having been thus glorified for her piety, she departed to the Lord being about eighty years of age, according to some in the year 330, according to others, in 336.


BACK TO TOP

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 4th Tone. Psalm 18.4,1.
Their voice has gone out into all the earth.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 26:1, 12-20.

IN THOSE DAYS, King Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: "I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles-to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance."


Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Blind Man
The Reading is from John 9:1-38

At that time, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put clay on my eyes and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age, ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?" And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe": and he worshiped him.


BACK TO TOP

Parish News

A Word from Fr. John  - On Standing vs. Sitting in Church:  (I have adapted this article from one by Fr. David Barr.) The traditional posture for prayer and worship in the Orthodox Church has been to stand. In the Orthodox "old countries", there are usually no pews in the churches. Chairs or benches on the side walls are usually reserved for the elderly and infirm. In North America, we have tended to build our churches with pews, and since we have them, we’ve had to develop guidelines for when we may sit and when we should stand. First of all, it is fully acceptable to stand for the entire service. If you prefer to do this, though, it’s appropriate to find a place closer to the back or side of the church so as not to stand out or block someone's view. When should you definitely stand? Always during the Gospel reading, the Little and Great Entrances, the Anaphora, the distribution of Holy Communion, whenever the priest gives a blessing, and the Dismissal. In many parishes, the Divine Liturgy books in the pew have suggested times when sitting is acceptable, so you can use those instructions as a guide.

Special Prayers:  Please pray for the spiritual and physical health of the whole world, and especially Cynthia Markos Nichols who is recovering from surgery. In addition, we have ongoing prayer requests for Jane Anderson, Betty Day, Chresanthe Lemieux, Jim Manos, Faye Peterson, Steve Sarris, Despina Xynidis, the work of our parish, missionary families, and catechumens.

Upcoming Services and Events:

  • Every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.  - Bible Study (after Great Vespers this week, shorter format)
  • Sunday, May 21
    • Philoptochos meeting after liturgy
    • Sunday, May 21
      • Grab plastic gloves next Sunday after Services & join in ROLLING DOLMADES for the SpiritFest!  
      • The Feast of the Holy Ascension of Christ -
        • Wednesday, May 24th at 6:00 PM Great Vespers, followed by Bible Study
        • Thursday, May 25th at 9:00 AM Orthros & 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy
        • The Office will be closed on the Feast.
        • Feast of Pentecost SpiritFest & FoodFair Celebration June 3rd & 4th

We're inviting the entire local community to “Come & See” the showcase of Orthodox Christianity expressed in our local parish life and ministries. Stop by the table to volunteerpick up color flyers for distribution, share the news around town, and help fill the Grocery List of Sponsorships. Contact Margo Kelley (htgocpresident@gmail.com) or Dick Billeter (dickbilleter@yahoo.com) to offer in any way to this loving labor.

  • 249th Greek Landing Day Events -
    • June 25th at 6:30 p.m. St. Photios Shrine Greek Landing Day Sunset Cruise-Tickets available!
    • June 26th Orthros, Divine Liturgy, and Memorial Service at St. Photios National Shrine, followed by fellowship offered by our “Koimissis Tis Theotokos” Philoptochos​

Holy Trinity Stewardship:   At the Divine Liturgy, the priest offers the gifts on our behalf to God, he says: "Your own gifts, from Your own gifts we offer to you." As part of God's creation, man returns a portion of the gifts he has received from God to Him in thanksgiving and appreciation.The Bible says: "the Lord loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). Stewardship is Christian, biblical and equitable, for each is asked to give according to his or her love for God, conscience and means. By Stewardship we support Christ's work not as a duty, but as a privilege. The Christian way to give is because we have a desire to give; we give because we love the Lord.

Reminders about Approaching for Holy Communion:According to ancient practice going back to the very earliest experience and canons of Christianity, only Baptized/Chrismated Orthodox Christians who have prepared to receive Holy Communion are allowed to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Orthodox Church. Those partaking of Communion are asked to wait in their pews for the direction of the usher guiding Communicants row-by-row up the center aisle. Families with children are encouraged to Commune together. The usher will first guide from the back of the church those Newly Baptized/Illumined and Families with Infants, followed by the Sunday School Children processing with their teachers.

May 14, 2017 Offerings:   Candles $128.55, Tray $177 Stewardship $66574

Do you have changes to your contact information?    Please email any updates or changes to the church at holy3goc@gmail.com or leave a message at the church office, 904.829.0504.

Visiting the Church Outside of Office Hours:Though at this time we do not have volunteers coordinated to assist in receiving visitors to the Church outside of Office Hours (M-F 9am-1pm), we hope to always welcome parishioners and the many visiting out-of-towners to the best of our ability. Please call the office to arrange a visit. If there is no answer, call the emergency number on the voicemail, (602) 617-2467, to discuss options that may exist.

Ministries & Committees:  All are welcome and encouraged to apply common interests, skill sets, and life experience to the many areas of service in the life of the Church. 

Contact the Church office to add your e-mail address and phone number to the ministry/committee contact list(s), or even to seek Father John’s blessing to begin a new ministry beneficial to church members involved or in need.

Weekly Offering:  Every week, at each celebration of the Divine Liturgy, members of our parish and those joining in the Eucharistic celebration are invited to support the ministry of our parish through a financial contribution.  Your offering can be made at the collection basket as you exit the service.

 


 

 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 


 

 

BACK TO TOP