Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2024-10-13
Bulletin Contents
Worship Guidelines
Hymns of the Day
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Saints and Feasts
Wisdom of the Fathers
News and Announcements
This Week's Events

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Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 707-642-6916
  • Street Address:

  • 1224 Alabama Street

  • Vallejo, CA 94590

Contact Information

Fr. Ninos Oshaana
Priest

[email protected] | 408-910-1144

Services Schedule

A full listing of all our services and events is provided in this bulletin.  

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“Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.” -Matthew 18:20

 

Since the time of the Apostles, the Divine Liturgy has offered us communion with our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ through hymns, prayers, the hearing of the Scriptures and the great miracle of the Holy Eucharist for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Upon entering this holy church, you are entering into worship with the angels and saints who continually worship God in heaven and are sanctified by His presence. Through your prayerful and heartfelt participation, through your sincere repentance and desire for union with Christ, the Divine Liturgy we celebrate today can be for you a powerful experience of "the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit" (2 Corinthians 13:14). Join in this holy and grace-filled work by following the service in the Divine Liturgy book in your pew or by simply being present, praying in your heart, “Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

 

Past Bulletins


Worship Guidelines

We enter the temple of God with reverence, humbly and quietly so as not to disturb those who are in prayer and as an expression of faith and awareness of the presence of the Lord, his saints and angels. No loud talking, irrelevant conversations, joking, etc. should take place in the Narthex or in the Sanctuary at anytime. To stand during worship is to affirm that we are in the presence of the Almighty God. The elderly, the sick and children may be seated as needed. There are specific parts of the service during which no one should be moving about. These parts of the service are: 

The Small Entrance, the Epistle and Gospel; the Cherubic Hymn, Great Entrance, Nicene Creed, the hymn Se Ymnoumen, the prayers: "Take, eat, this is my Body..." and, "we offer to you these gifts...", the prayer of institution: "And make this bread the precious Body of your Christ...", the Lord's Prayer,  Holy Communion, the sermon, dismissal prayer, any special services, e.g, memorial services. Whenever the Priest is facing the people or outside of the altar, everyone should stand wherever they are.

Dressing for God: The church is not just any ordinary place. We dress as modestly and respectfully as we can, because we are in the presence of God Himself. If invited by any earthly king or queen, we would dress in our finest clothes. Therefore, we should dress similarly when accepting an invitation from the Lord of Heaven. The way Orthodox Christians dress, both in and outside the temple, reflects their way of life and dedication to and fear of God. We dress modestly at all times, not in a flashy or provocative way that brings attention to ourselves.  

GENTLEMEN: Collared, button-up shirts, clean dress pants, sweaters or vests, ties and coats. Avoid jeans and shorts.

LADIES: Modest dresses and blouses, knee-length skirts or longer, clean dress pants. Avoid jeans or shorts, short skirts, skin-tight clothing, and strapless or sleeveless tops, high-heels shoes as they make noise on our floors. Head coverings may be worn, according to the biblical tradition and are available in the narthex.

Only Orthodox Christians may participate in Holy Communion. Please be in church at the beginning, say the pre-communion prayers the previous evening or in the morning, fasting from food this morning (unless there is a medical reason) and had a recent confession. Allow the altar boys to place the red cloth under your chin. Do not wipe your mouth with it but consume everything that may be on your lips. Ladies please avoid wearing lipstick or lip-gloss when receiving Holy Communion.

 

 

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 7th Tone

By Your cross O Lord, You destroyed death; to the thief You opened paradise. The myrrhbearers’ sorrow You transformed into joy, and You sent Your apostles forth to proclaim that You had risen from the dead, Christ our God, bestowing on all the world Your great mercy.

Apolytikion for Sun. of the 7th Ecumenical Council in the 8th Tone

Supremely blessed are You, O Christ our God. / You established the holy Fathers upon the earth as beacons, / and through them You have guided us all to the true Faith, / O greatly merciful One, glory be to You.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Tone

O Protection of Christians that never falls, / intercession with the Creator that never fails, / we sinners beg you, do not ignore the voices of our prayers. / O good Lady, we implore you, quickly come unto our aid, when we cry out to you with faith. / Hurry to intercession, / and hasten to supplication, / O Theotokos who protect / now and ever those who honor you.
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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 4th Tone. Daniel 3.26,27.
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers.
Verse: For you are just in all you have done.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to Titus 3:8-15.

Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned.

When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful.

All who are with me send greeting to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Gospel Reading

Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council
The Reading is from Luke 8:5-15

The Lord said this parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience." As he said these things, he cried out "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

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Saints and Feasts

October 13

Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council

On the Sunday that falls on or immediately after the eleventh of this month, we chant the Service to the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which gathered in Nicaea in 787 under the holy Patriarch Tarasius and during the reign of the Empress Irene and her son, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, to refute the Iconoclast heresy, which had received imperial support beginning with the Edict issued in 726 by Emperor Leo the Isaurian. Many of the holy Fathers who condemned Iconoclasm at this holy Council later died as Confessors and Martyrs for the holy Icons during the second assult of Iconoclasm in the ninth century, especially during the reigns of Leo the Armenian and Theophilus.

October 13

Carpos, Papylos

Saint Carpus was Bishop of the Church of Thyatira in Asia Minor and Papylus was his deacon, whom he had ordained. Seized as Christians and tormented in Thyatira, they were taken to Sardis, whither Agathodorus, their servant, followed them, and also confessed Christ, and was tormented with them. Together with Agathonica, the sister of Saint Papylus. they were all beheaded during the reign of Decius, in the year 250.

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Wisdom of the Fathers

When you see life's pleasures, beware that they might not distract you, for they conceal death's snares. Likewise a fisherman casts not his hook to no purpose. As bait for his hook, the enemy uses the delusion of sensuality to arouse desire, that he might thereby catch men's souls and subject them to himself. A soul which has been caught to serve the enemy's will then serves as a snare for other souls, for it conceals the grief of sin with its apparent delight.
St. Ephraim the Syrian
A Spiritual Psalter no 43, pg. 74, 4th century

Since there are certain people who find great fault with us for adoring and honoring both the image of the Savior and that of our Lady, as well as those of the rest of the saints and servants of Christ, let them hear how from the beginning God made man to His own image. For what reason, then, do we adore one another, except because we have been made to the image of God? As the inspired Basil, who is deeply learned in theology, says: "the honor paid to the image conveys to the original.," and the original is the thing imaged from which the copy is made.
St. John of Damascus
The Orthodox Faith, 4.16. Catholic University of America Press in Washington D.C. Translated by Frederic H. Chase, Jr. volume 37, page 370., 8th Century

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News and Announcements

Town Hall & General Assembly

As has been previously announced in the weekly emails, we will be having our Town Hall meeting to discuss the 2024 financial reports on Sunday, October 27th after the Divine Liturgy, in preparation of our General Assembly on Sunday, November 10th, where we will discuss plans for 2025 and the future of the parish.


Prayer List - Email [email protected] to add

Keep in your prayers the servants of God: Maro, Roger, Joshua, Andreas, Michael, Dorothy, Amy, Evangelos, Mary, Alberto and Rosa, Stephanie Val, Michael, Gregory, Nick, Julie, Nitsa, Sayge, Stamatoula, Emilio, Sitheri, Ghassan, Maria, Daniel, Porphyrios, Paul, Mac, Irvin, Katrina, Lygeri, Iris, Georgia, Jana, Serafim, Iris, Suzanna, Despina, Gregory, Eleni, Eleni, Charlotte, Kathryn, Nikolaos, Zeenah, Nektarios, Ron

Catechumens: Jhanel, Nikan, Jeffrey, Itzayana, Mason, Rohelio, Benjamin, Joe, Daniel, Johann, Nailaya, Garrett, Zoe, Alyvia, Warren, Bruno, Nhi, Savannah


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This Week's Events

  • Upcoming Events

    October 13 to October 28, 2024

    SUN
    MON
    TUE
    WED
    THU
    FRI
    SAT
    13
    Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council
    8:30AM Matins
    10:00AM Divine Liturgy
    14
    Martyrs Nazarius, Gervasius, Protasius, & Celsus
    15
    Lucian the Martyr of Antioch
    4:00PM Matthew 25
    16
    ☦️ Longinus the Centurion
    9:00AM Hours
    9:30AM Liturgy
    5:00PM Akathist
    6:00PM Faith Discussion
    17
    Hosea the Prophet
    18
    ☦️ Luke the Evangelist
    19
    Joel the Prophet
    5:00PM Great Vespers
    20
    6th Sunday of Luke
    8:30AM Matins
    10:00AM Divine Liturgy
    21
    Hilarion the Great
    22
    Averkios, Equal-to-the-Apostles and Wonderworker, Bishop of Hierapolis
    4:00PM Matthew 25
    23
    🍇 James the Apostle, brother of Our Lord
    9:00AM Hours
    9:30AM Liturgy
    5:00PM Akathist
    6:00PM Faith Discussion
    24
    Arethas the Great Martyr and His Fellow Martyrs
    25
    ☦️ The Holy Martyrs Marcian and Martyrius the Notaries
    26
    The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer
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