Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2025-07-20
Bulletin Contents

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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 408.605.0621
  • Street Address:

  • 9th and Lincoln

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 5808

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921


Contact Information




Services Schedule

 

Weekend services: the weekend schedule is fixed for most of the year. The services take place in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at All Saints Church, lower level, 9th and Lincoln.

Saturdays: 5:00pm Vespers

Sundays:   8:30am Matins

                   9:45am Liturgy

Week-day services: during the week we may celebrate the major feast days of the Church either in Carmel or in Salinas. Please check the calendar! The schedule pattern is:

Wednesdays:  6:00pm Paraklesis

Eve of feasts: 6:00pm Vespers

Feast days:    8:30am Matins

                       9:45am Liturgy


Past Bulletins


Schedule of Services

Note: Our services are posted on Zoom unless specified otherwise.   

Friday, July 18
    6pm Men's Night Out
    8pm Basics of Orthodoxy for Explorers
Saturday, July 19
    5pm Vespers - reader service
    6:30pm Vespers and Reception in Santa Cruz
Sunday, July 20 Prophet Elias
    8:30am  Matins
    9:45am Liturgy
    12:30pm Catechism Class
Monday, July 21
    6:30pm Metropolis PC Leadership Monthly Training
    7pm PPE Meeting
Wednesday, July 23
    9:30am Book Forum: Everyday Saints
    6pm Paraklesis
    6:45pm Enduring Love - Marriage Class
Thursday, July 24
    6pm Vespers + Blessing of Loaves + Liturgy for Saint Anna
Friday, July 25  Dormition of Saint Anna, Mother of the Theotokos
    8:30am Orthros + Liturgy
    6pm Vespers
    8pm Basics of Orthodoxy for Explorers
Saturday, July 26 Saint Paraskevi of Rome
    5pm Vespers
Sunday July 27 Saint Panteleimon
    8:30am Matins
    9:45am Liturgy
    12:30pm Catechism Class

Receive schedule reminders and updates by text: Simply text #yes# to 22300. Note: You must be already enrolled for phone calls from the church in order to extend to text messaging. Let Father Ion know if you would like to sign up for both services.

Zoom with video here.  For more information, go to  //www.stjohn-monterey.org/parish-calendar

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Special Services

The Memorial Service will be offered for the servants of God:

  • The victims of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 (51 years);
  • Tatiana Coman (7 years), mother of Father Ion.

 May their memory be eternal!

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You are invited

 
Men's Night Out
Men will go out for fellowship on
This Friday, July 18, 6 pm
Call Ali or email [email protected]
 
Celebration of Prophet Elias in Santa Cruz
All invited for the feast day of our sister parish
Services presided by Metropolitan Gerasimos
Vespers - Saturday, July 19, 6:30 pm
Matins and Liturgy - Sunday, July 20, 8:30am
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News & Events

NEW: MARRIAGE CLASS

A ministry led by Ali Castañeda

We will dive in the material by looking at God's desin for marriage.  The targeted audience ranges from young adults to couples who have been married for decades. The classes will take place right after the Wednesday Paraklesis service from 6:45pm. They are also an opportunity to build community.

See the bookstore for the required textbook ($30).

About the leader: Ali is a licensed marriage and family therapist, working in the field for 5 years. He holds a bachelors degree in psychology, a masters degree in counselingand advanced training with couples. Ali was received into the Orthodox Church in 2024. He and his wife Marissa are married since 2022 and they are expecting their first child this year.

Enduring Love #2: Love and Expectations

This Wednesday, 6:45pm (after Paraklesis)

Outline:

1. God's Design for Marriage
2. Love and Expectations
3. Friendship and Goals
4. Communication and Conflict
5. Sex and Romance
6. Children and parenting
7. Roles and responsibilities
8. Finances
9. Spiritual Life
10. Enduring to the End

Living the Gospel, Community


BASICS of ORTHODOXY

A Ministry led by Edward Mar

The class is a pre-requisite for those who pursue the path towards becoming catechumens. It is meeting online in order to offer to those who inquire and explore the Orthodox faith the space to learn and find answers to their many questions. The class meets on Fridays from 8pm via Zoom.

The next class: Friday, July 18, 8pm:

Basics of Orthodoxy:

#7. The Holy Trinity

Education, Living the Gospel


ADULT SUNDAY EDUCATION/ CATECHISM

A Ministry led by Father Ion

The class will meet after the Agape meal in Saint Nektarios chapel.

Living the Gospel

 


BOOK FORUM

A Ministry led by Kathy Shaw

We continue to meet on Wednesdays, from 9:30am and we are now reading Everyday Saints and Other Stories, by Archmandrite Tikhon (Shrevkunov). It can be purchased HERE.

 Education, Community


WELCOMING AND HOSPITALITY: SERVING THIS SUNDAY

A Ministry led by Miriam Aguilar

Thank you for your effort and participation in bringing a dish to share for our Agape Meal. If you cannot participate when it is your turn, kindly make other arrangements for someone to cover for you and let your team leader know.

Sunday, July 20
  Parish Council Representative: George Georgalis
  Greeter: Rania Zavitsanos
  Agape Meal: GOLD TEAM – Thank you to Christine T, Presbytera Ana, Mary, and Eleni.

Sunday, July 27
   Parish Council Representative: Thimi Saites
   Greeter: Jesse Juarez / Mary Kanalakis
   Agape Meal: ORANGE TEAM - Thank you to Melanie, Miriam, Marissa, and Irene.

Community


OUTREACH MINISTRIES

Ministries led by Despina Hatton

LADIES I-HELP

  • Thursday, July 31. Cooking: 4pm. Dinner with the ladies: 5:30pm.
  • Tuesday, August 5. Cooking: 4pm. Dinner with the ladies: 5:30pm.

FOOD BANK:

  • Tuesday,August 12.  9:00 -10:30am @St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Seaside.

Community


ONLINE RESOURCES

Most of our services and some ministry meetings are available online. Zoom with video here. Liturgical texts at Ages Initiatives here.


PHONE AND TEXT MESSAGING?

Have you been receiving communication from the church via text? If not, it is because you have not signed up yet. It is brief, fast and simple. Simply text #yes# to 22300. Note: You must be already enrolled for phone calls from the church in order to extend to text messaging. Let Father Ion know if you would like to sign up for both services.


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Saints and Feasts

July 20

The Glorious Prophet Elias (Elijah)

Elias of great fame was from Thisbe or Thesbe, a town of Galaad (Gilead), beyond the Jordan. He was of priestly lineage, a man of a solitary and ascetical character, clothed in a mantle of sheep skin, and girded about his loins with a leathern belt. His name is interpreted as "Yah is my God." His zeal for the glory of God was compared to fire, and his speech for teaching and rebuke was likened unto a burning lamp. From this too he received the name Zealot. Therefore, set aflame with such zeal, he sternly reproved the impiety and lawlessness of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He shut up heaven by means of prayer, and it did not rain for three years and six months. Ravens brought him food for his need when, at God's command, he was hiding by the torrent of Horrath. He multiplied the little flour and oil of the poor widow of Sarephtha of Sidon, who had given him hospitality in her home, and when her son died, he raised him up. He brought down fire from Heaven upon Mount Carmel, and it burned up the sacrifice offered to God before all the people of Israel, that they might know the truth. At the torrent of Kisson, he slew 450 false prophets and priests who worshipped idols and led the people astray. He received food wondrously at the hand of an Angel, and being strengthened by this food he walked for forty days and forty nights. He beheld God on Mount Horeb, as far as this is possible for human nature. He foretold the destruction of the house of Ahab, and the death of his son Ohozias; and as for the two captains of fifty that were sent by the king, he burned them for their punishment, bringing fire down from Heaven. He divided the flow of the Jordan, and he and his disciple Elisseus passed through as it were on dry land; and finally, while speaking with him, Elias was suddenly snatched away by a fiery chariot in the year 895 B.C., and he ascended as though into heaven, whither God most certainly translated him alive, as He did Enoch (Gen. 5:24; IV Kings 2: 11). But from thence also, after seven years, by means of an epistle he reproached Joram, the son of Josaphat, as it is written: "And there came a message in writing to him from Elias the Prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the way," and so forth (II Chron. 21:12). According to the opinion of the majority of the interpreters, this came to pass either through his disciple Elisseus, or through another Prophet when Elias appeared to them, even as he appeared on Mount Tabor to the disciples of Christ (see Aug. 6).


July 20

Mother Maria Skobtsova, New-Martyr of France

Saint Maria Skobtsova of Paris lived a life devoted to serving the poor and the marginalized. She was born Elizaveta Pilenko in 1891 in Riga, Latvia to devout Russian Orthodox parents. Her father died when she was fourteen, and her grief led her to atheism. As a young teenager she became involved in the socialist and intellectual circles in St. Petersburg. By eighteen she was a published poet and married to a Bolshevik. Her desire to actively serve the needy - more than simply discuss social change - led her back to a faith in Christ. She then became the first woman accepted to study at the Theological Academy of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, she was elected Mayor of Anapa but had to flee Russia for Paris in 1923. Elizaveta was inspired to devote her life completely to serving the poor after her daughter, Nastia, died of meningitis in 1926. After her second marriage ended in 1932, Metropolitan Evlogii of Paris tonsured her a nun with the name Maria and blessed her to live a "monasticism in the world" devoted to social service.

Initially devoted to the Russian emigres in Paris, she founded a sanatorium along with homes to serve single mothers, families, and single men. By 1937, 120 dinners were served each day. Much of the work she did herself: begging for food, cooking the soup, and even embroidering the icons for their chapel.

By 1942, Maria's work turned to assisting the Jewish population. She helped Father Dimitri Klepinin issue fake baptismal certificates for Jews that came to their aide. In a mass arrest in July of that year, 12,884 Jews were taken to a sports stadium before being transferred to Auschwitz. Maria spent three days visiting the prisoners, bringing them food, and even rescuing some of the children by smuggling them out in trash cans. She also aided Jews in escaping to Southern France which was unoccupied by the Nazis.

Maria was arrested in February, 1943, and was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. For two years, she raised the spirits of her fellow prisoners, helping them remember their human dignity. She led discussion groups on literature, history, and theology, despite her weakening health. On March 31, 1945, a short time before the camp was rescued, Saint Maria was taken to the gas chambers; some prisoners say she took the place of a fellow Jewish prisoner.

On January 18th, 2004, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized Mother Maria Skobtsova as a saint along with her three fellow workers who also died in German concentration camps: her son Yuri, Fr. Dimitri Klepinin, and Ilya Fondaminsky. They are all commemorated in the Orthodox Church on July 20th.


July 22

Mary Magdalene, Myrrhberer & Equal-to-the-Apostles

Saint Mary was from Magdala in Galilee on the Sea of Tiberias, and for this was named Magdalene. When the Lord Jesus cast out seven demons from her, from which she had been suffering, she became His faithful and inseparable disciple, following Him and ministering unto Him even to the time of His crucifixion and burial. Then, returning to Jerusalem together with the rest of the Myrrh-bearers, she prepared the fragrant spices for anointing the body of the Lord. And on the Lord's day they came very early to the tomb, even before the Angels appeared declaring the Resurrection of the Lord. When Mary Magdalene saw the stone taken away from the tomb, she ran and proclaimed it to Peter and John. And returning immediately to the tomb and weeping outside, she was deemed worthy to be the first of the Myrrh-bearers to behold the Lord arisen from the dead, and when she fell at His feet, she heard Him say, "Touch Me not." After the Lord's Ascension, nothing certain is known concerning her. Some accounts say that she went to Rome and later returned to Jerusalem, and from there proceeded to Ephesus, where she ended her life, preaching Christ. Although it is sometimes said that Saint Mary Magdalene was the "sinful woman" of the Gospel, this is nowhere stated in the tradition of the Church, in the sacred hymnology, or in the Holy Gospels themselves, which say only that our Lord cast seven demons out of her, not that she was a fallen woman. "Madeleine" is a form of Magdalene.


July 24

Christina the Great Martyr of Tyre

Saint Christina was from Tyre in Syria, the daughter of a pagan named Urban. Enlightened in her heart to believe in Christ, she broke her father's idols, made of gold and silver, and distributed the pieces to the poor. When her father learned this, he punished her ruthlessly, then cast her into prison. The rulers subjected her to imprisonments, hunger, torments, the cutting off of her breasts and tongue, and finally impalement, in the year 200, during the reign of the Emperor Septimius Severus.


July 25

Dormition of Saint Anna, mother of the Theotokos

According to tradition, Anna, the ancestor of God, lived for sixty-nine years, and her spouse Joachim, for eighty; according to one account, Saint Joachim died two years before Saint Anna. The Theotokos had been orphaned of both her parents already when she was eleven years of age, when she was living in the Temple (see Sept. 8 and Nov. 21). Saint Anna is invoked for conceiving children, and for help in difficult childbirth.


July 26

Saint Paraskevi the Righteous Martyr of Rome

Saint Paraskeve, who was from a certain village near Rome, was born to pious parents, Agatho and Politia. Since she was born on a Friday (in Greek, Paraskeve), she was given this name, which means "preparation" or "preparedness" (compare Matt. 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, and John 19:31, where 'Friday' is called "the day of the preparation"). From childhood she was instructed in the sacred letters and devoted herself to the study of the divine Scriptures, while leading a monastic life and guiding many to the Faith of Christ. During the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, she was apprehended because she was a Christian and was urged to worship the idols, but she answered with the words of Jeremias: "Let the gods that have not made heaven and the earth perish from off the earth" (Jer. 10:11). Because of this she endured exceedingly painful torments, and was beheaded in the year 140. The faithful pray to her for the healing of eye ailments.


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Sixth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Luke 24:36-53

At that time, having risen from the dead, Jesus went up and stood among His disciples and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish [and some honeycomb], and He took it and ate before them. Then He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name in all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple blessing God.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 1st Mode. Psalm 109.4,1.
You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Verse: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies my footstool.

The reading is from St. James' Universal Letter 5:10-20.

BRETHREN, take as an example of suffering and patience the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation. Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any 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; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.


Gospel Reading

6th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 9:1-8

At that time, getting into a boat Jesus crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Rise and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" he then said to the paralytic -- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.


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