St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Christian Church
Publish Date: 2025-06-29
Bulletin Contents

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St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Christian Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (619) 297-4165
  • Fax:
  • (619) 297-4181
  • Street Address:

  • 3655 Park Boulevard

  • San Diego, CA 92103


Contact Information






Services Schedule

Sunday Services

Orthros/Matins: 9:00am

Divine Liturgy: 10:00am


Past Bulletins


St. Spyridon Parish News, Events, Activities and Announcements

This Sunday's Memorial
 
Stephanie Navrides - 5 years
 
 

Office Update

The church office will be closed on Friday, July 4th in observance of Independence Day. Regular hours will resume on Monday, July 7th.

 

Nursery and Cry Room is Available

A nursery and cry room is located in the Narthex behind the candle box, offering a quiet space (with toys and books) for parents with young children. There is also a rocking chair and changing table. The room is equipped with a monitor providing both video and audio, allowing you to follow the Divine Liturgy. For assistance or more information, please speak with a member of the Narthex Duty team.
 
 
Vacation Church School: July 14th - 18th, 9am - 12pm (aftercare until 4:00pm available)

This year’s theme is Super Saints - Heroes of Our Faith! Children in Preschool - 5th grade will explore the path to holiness through real heroes of Orthodoxy in a fun, engaging way! 6th - 12th grades can volunteer as Youth Leaders! VCS will include crafts, snacks, games, lessons, and songs! Registration for the entire week of Vacation Church School is only $45. Additional children are $20. Youth Leaders are free! Children of Volunteers are free! Aftercare options are available for only $10 extra per day. Register today by visiting  https://sites.google.com/stspyridon.org/stspyridonyouthministries

See the attached flyer in the Inserts & Flyers section below.

 

Festival Thank You and Appreciation Lunch - Sunday, July 13th

As we reflect on the joy and energy of St. Spyridon’s Greek Festival, the Festival Steering Committee extends a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you! Whether you worked tirelessly behind the scenes in the months leading up to the festival or welcomed guests with warm smiles throughout the weekend, your dedication, love, and philotimo were on full display. We invite you to join us on Sunday, July 13th, for a complimentary Appreciation Lunch following the Divine Liturgy.  We’ll also share some early numbers and highlights from the festival. Thank you for being such an essential part of something truly special. We couldn’t have done it without you!

 
The Festival Steering Committee - 
 
Art Balourdas, Anthea Diem, Marian Dougenis, Julie Karagianides, Alexandra Mouzas
Stella Pappas, Jimmy Pappas, , Christoforos Savvides, , Stephen Thiros, Nektarios Tradas, Stella Weil

 

Kids’ Corner

Will be open this Sunday, June 29th.

 

Little Angels Playgroup

Our next playgroup is Monday, July 7th, 9:45 - 11:00am and siblings are welcome over the summer! 

 

Philoptochos Decorated Icons

Commemorate a Feast Day by offering a decorated icon to be displayed in the Narthex for veneration. The suggested donation is $85 to: Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society. Call the church office at 619-297-4165 to reserve your decorated icon.

Icons available for decoration:

Thursday, July 17 - Saint Marina

Sunday, July 20 - Elias the Prophet

Friday, July 25 - The Dormition of Saint Anna

Saturday, July 26 - Saint Paraskevi

Sunday, July 27 - Saint Panteleimon

 

Fellowship and Coffee Hour

Please consider sponsoring a Sunday Fellowship Hour with your friends and family by providing simple refreshments (donuts or bagels, fruit, and juice).  This is a beautiful way to honor family members or celebrate special occasions. See details below in the attached flyer and QR Code to sign up or contact Sofia Samouris at 619-518-4537 or [email protected].
 
With appreciation, 
 
Anthousa Chapter of Philoptochos
 
Available Sundays:
July 6
 
August 3
August 10
August 17
August 24
 
 
Upcoming Memorials for July
 
July 13: Michael Angeles - 40 days
July 27: Christine Valasakos - 2 years
July 27: Denise Apostol - 4 years
July 27: Katherine Navrides - 4 years
July 27: Florence (Efrosini) Apostol - 39 years
July 27: Mike (Emmanuel) Apostol - 42 years
 
 

Greek Dance and Choral School

We hope you enjoyed the performances from our four dance groups Ta Spiridonakia, Helios, Pelagos and Arhondia at the Festival. We are resting our dance shoes for the summer before we restart our classes in the fall. If you are interested in joining a Greek dance group or would like to volunteer, please email [email protected] or call 714-931-2431.

 

OCPM - Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry

Sunday, July 27, is Prison Ministry Awareness Sunday - our annual day of remembrance for our brothers and sisters behind bars. Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry serves inmates and their families, and provides resources, training, and support so that lives are transformed and God is glorified. To show your support visit https://theocpm.org/.

 

Metropolis YAL Conference - Save the Date

Metropolis YAL Conference will be held over Labor Day weekend, August 28 – September 1, 2025, in Seattle, Washington. The theme of the Conference, Renew, is inspired by the scripture “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

The YAL Conference will be co-chaired by Eva-Marie Kailas and Joseph Dumont, along with Vice Chair Julia Pappas, under the direction of YAL Ministry Advisors Hon. Steven and Stacia Counelis and YAL Spiritual Advisor Rev. Father Nicholas Metrakos. The program will be uniquely designed around the lives of college students and young professionals, helping young adults explore faith, vocation, and purpose specific to where they are on their journey. Registration details coming soon.

 
 
Church Parking Lot

We kindly ask that you please follow these parking guidelines when using the church lot:

  • To ensure Emergency Vehicle access, please do not park in the exit driveway onto Indiana Street.
  • Double-parking must be avoided so as not to inconvenience other parishioners.
  • Please ensure that no exits are blocked and that no vehicles are blocked in.
  • Please park only in marked spaces to help us maintain a smooth flow of traffic when entering and exiting the lot.

Thank you for your consideration and for helping to keep our parking area safe and accessible for all parishioners.

 

Agape Meals

 Our Philoptochos Agape Meal program provides meals to our St. Spyridon community members who may need help with a meal(s) during a time of need. If you are interested in preparing a home-cooked meal for our parishioners, please reach out to Marian Dougenis at [email protected] or mobile 619-520-3660. Thank you.
 
 
The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece Exhibit
 
Encounter the latest discoveries from Messenia, an epicenter of Mycenaean civilization in Late Bronze Age Greece, displayed for the first time outside Europe. Archaeology and cutting-edge science reveal the world of the Griffin Warrior, whose grave held offerings of incomparable artistry. Princely burials in monumental tombs reflect a society that came to be ruled by the Palace of Nestor in ancient Pylos. Carved sealstones, goldwork, elaborate weapons, and wall paintings accompany inscribed tablets that document the final year of a powerful kingdom.
 
Getty Villa Museum 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 (Villa Museum Galleries) from June 27, 2025 - January 12, 2026. Free Admission.
 

Your Legacy and Your Church  

...to whom much is given; from them much more is required (Luke 12:48).  

Please remember to include your Saint Spyridon parish in your estate plan and bequest. 

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Third Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Mark 16:9-20

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. After this He appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table and He upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. 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 St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 11:21-33; 12:1-9.

Brethren, whatever anyone dares to boast of -- I am speaking as a fool -- I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one -- I am talking like a madman -- with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands.

I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise -- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.


Gospel Reading

Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles
The Reading is from Matthew 16:13-19

At that time, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."


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Wisdom of the Fathers

We must admire not only the inner meaning of all the things that are celebrated in the Church of the Orthodox Christians, but also the sacramental actions through which this meaning is expressed: how through divine baptism we become sons of God by grace, though we have done nothing before this, and do nothing after except keep the commandments; and how these awesome mysteries - I refer to holy baptism and holy communion - cannot take place without the priesthood, as Saint John Chrysostom says. Here, too, we see the significance of the power given to Saint Peter, chief of the apostles; for if the gates of the kingdom of heaven are not opened by priestly action, no one can enter (cf. Matt. 16:19). As the Lord says: 'Unless a man is born of water and Spirit...' (John 3:5); and again: 'Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you' (John 6:53).
St. Peter of Damaskos
Book 1: A Treasury of Divine Knowledge, Philokalia Vol. 3 edited by Palmer, Sherrard and Ware; Faber and Faber pgs. 208-209, 8th century

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Archdiocese News

Archbishop Elpidophoros Celebrates the Sixth Year of his Tenure

06/22/2025

Today marks the six-year anniversary of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America’s enthronement. On that momentous day of June 22nd, 2019, His Eminence was consecrated in the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York, NY. In attendance were numerous Orthodox hierarchs and clergymen, laity from across the archdiocese, and faith leaders and civil authorities representing various national and international churches, institutions, and governments.  


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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Second Mode

When you descended into death, O life immortal, you destroyed Hades with the splendor of your divinity, and when you raised the dead from the depths of darkness, all the heavenly powers shouted: O giver of life, Christ our God, glory to you.

Apolytikion for Apostles Peter and Paul in the Fourth Mode

First in prominence among the Apostles, and teachers to the Universe, intercede to the Master of all for peace in the world and for our souls great mercy.

Apolytikion for the Church in the First Mode

The Hymn of Saint Spyridon

At the first of the Synods, you appeared as a champion, * and Wonderworker, our God-bearing Father Spyridon. *  Wherefore, you addressed the dead one in the grave, * and a serpent you changed to gold. *  And while chanting * in service your sacred prayers, * you joined the angels concelebrating, most holy one.*  Glory to Christ who glorified you, * glory to Him who crowned you, * glory to the One who works through You, * healings for everyone.

                                                                                  

Τής Συνόδου τής πρώτης ανεδείχθης υπέρμαχος, * καί Θαυματουργός Θεοφόρε Σπυρίδων πατήρ ημών. *  διό νεκρά σύ έν τάφω προσφωνείς, * καί όφιν είς χρυσούν μετέβαλες. * καί έν τώ μέλπειν τάς αγίας σου ευχάς, *  Αγγέλους έσχες συλλειτουργούντας σοι Ιερώτατε, * Δόξα τώ σέ δοξάσαντι Χριστώ * δόξα τώ σέ στεφανώσαντι. * δόξα τώ ενεργόυντι, διά σου πάσιν ιάματα.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Second Mode

A protection of Christians unshamable, intercessor to our Holy Maker, unwavering, please reject not the prayerful cries of those who are in sin. Instead, come to us, for you are good; your loving help bring unto us, who are crying in faith to you: hasten to intercede and speed now to supplicate, as a protection for all time, Theotokos, for those who honor you.
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Saints and Feasts

June 29

Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles

The divinely-blessed Peter was from Bethsaida of Galilee. He was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew the First-called. He was a fisherman by trade, unlearned and poor, and was called Simon; later he was renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who looked at him and said, "Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter)" (John 1:42). On being raised by the Lord to the dignity of an Apostle and becoming inseparable from Him as His zealous disciple, he followed Him from the beginning of His preaching of salvation up until the very Passion, when, in the court of Caiaphas the high priest, he denied Him thrice because of his fear of the Jews and of the danger at hand. But again, after many bitter tears, he received complete forgiveness of his transgression. After the Resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit, he preached in Judea, Antioch, and certain parts of Asia, and finally came to Rome, where he was crucified upside down by Nero, and thus he ascended to the eternal habitations about the year 66 or 68, leaving two Catholic (General) Epistles to the Church of Christ.

Paul, the chosen vessel of Christ, the glory of the Church, the Apostle of the Nations and teacher of the whole world, was a Jew by race, of the tribe of Benjamin, having Tarsus as his homeland. He was a Roman citizen, fluent in the Greek language, an expert in knowledge of the Law, a Pharisee, born of a Pharisee, and a disciple of Gamaliel, a Pharisee and notable teacher of the Law in Jerusalem. For this cause, from the beginning, Paul was a most fervent zealot for the traditions of the Jews and a great persecutor of the Church of Christ; at that time, his name was Saul (Acts 22:3-4). In his great passion of rage and fury against the disciples of the Lord, he went to Damascus bearing letters of introduction from the high priest. His intention was to bring the disciples of Christ back to Jerusalem in bonds. As he was approaching Damascus, about midday there suddenly shone upon him a light from Heaven. Falling on the earth, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" And he asked, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." And that heavenly voice and brilliance made him tremble, and he was blinded for a time. He was led by the hand into the city, and on account of a divine revelation to the Apostle Ananias (see Oct. 1), he was baptized by him, and both his bodily and spiritual eyes were opened to the knowledge of the Sun of Righteousness. And straightway- O wondrous transformation! - beyond all expectation, he spoke with boldness in the synagogues, proclaiming that "Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 9:1-21). As for his zeal in preaching the Gospel after these things had come to pass, as for his unabating labors and afflictions of diverse kinds, the wounds, the prisons, the bonds, the beatings, the stonings, the shipwrecks, the journeys, the perils on land, on sea, in cities, in wildernesses, the continual vigils, the daily fasting, the hunger, the thirst, the nakedness, and all those other things that he endured for the Name of Christ, and which he underwent before nations and kings and the Israelites, and above all, his care for all the churches, his fiery longing for the salvation of all, whereby he became all things to all men, that he might save them all if possible, and because of which, with his heart aflame, he continuously traveled throughout all parts, visiting them all, and like a bird of heaven flying from Asia and Europe, the West and East, neither staying nor abiding in any one place - all these things are related incident by incident in the Book of the Acts, and as he himself tells them in his Epistles. His Epistles, being fourteen in number, are explained in 250 homilies by the divine Chrysostom and make manifest the loftiness of his thoughts, the abundance of the revelations made to him, the wisdom given to him from God, wherewith he brings together in a wondrous manner the Old with the New Testaments, and expounds the mysteries thereof which had been concealed under types; he confirms the doctrines of the Faith, expounds the ethical teaching of the Gospel, and demonstrates with exactness the duties incumbent upon every rank, age, and order of man. In all these things his teaching proved to be a spiritual trumpet, and his speech was seen to be more radiant than the sun, and by these means he clearly sounded forth the word of truth and illumined the ends of the world. Having completed the work of his ministry, he likewise ended his life in martyrdom when he was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero, at the same time, some say, when Peter was crucified.


June 30

Synaxis of the Twelve Holy Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James & John the sons of Zebedee, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude the brother of James, Simon & Matthias

The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, the First-called; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who was also the Evangelist and Theologian; Philip, and Bartholomew (see also June 11); Thomas, and Matthew the publican, who was also called Levi and was an Evangelist; James the son of Alphaeus, and Jude (also called Lebbaeus, and surnamed Thaddaeus), the brother of James, the Brother of God; Simon the Cananite ("the Zealot"), and Matthias, who was elected to fill the place of Judas the traitor (see Aug. 9).


July 01

Cosmas & Damian the Holy Unmercenaries

These Saints, who are different from those that are celebrated on the 1st of November, were from Rome. They were physicians, freely bestowing healing upon beasts and men, asking nothing from the healed other than that they confess and believe in Christ. They ended their life in martyrdom in the year 284, under the Emperors Carinus and Numerian.


July 02

John Maximovitch, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco

The Holy Hierarch John Maximovitch was born in the Kharkov region in 1896, and reposed in Seattle in 1966. In 1921, during the Russian Civil War, his family fled to Belgrade, joining the ranks of Russian exiles in Serbia, where he later became a monk and was ordained priest. In 1934 he was made Bishop of Shanghai, where he served until the Communists came to power. Thereafter he ministered in Europe, serving as Bishop first in Paris then in Brussels, until he became Archbishop of San Francisco in 1962. Throughout his life he was revered as a strict ascetic, a devoted man of prayer, and a truly wondrous unmercenary healer of all manner of afflictions and woes. He served the Divine Liturgy daily, slept little more than an hour a day, and kept a strict fast until the evening. It is doubtful that any one man gave so much protection and comfort as he to the Russian Orthodox people in exile after the Revolution of 1917; he was an unwearying and watchful shepherd of his sheep in China, the Philippines, Europe, and America. Through his missionary labors he also brought into the Church many who had not been "of this fold." Since his repose in 1966, he has been especially glorified by God through signs and miracles, and his body has remained incorrupt.


July 03

Hyacinth the Martyr of Caesarea & Theodotos and Theodota the Martyrs

The Martyr Hyacinth, who was from Caesarea of Cappadocia, was the chamberlain of the Emperor Trajan. On being constrained by the Emperor to partake of the sacrifices offered to idols and not wishing to do so, he was shut up in prison without food, where he gave up his spirit to God in the year 108.


July 04

Andrew of Crete Author of the Great Canon

Saint Andrew was from Damascus; his parents' names were George and Gregoria. He became a cleric and secretary of Theodore and Patriarch of Jerusalem; from this, he is called "the Jerusalemite." He was present at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, which was convoked in 680 during the reign of Emperor Constantine IV (668-685). He became deacon of the Great church in Constantinople, that is, the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, then Archbishop of Crete. He reposed in 720 or 723. Beside his other sacred writings, he also composed various hymns, among which is the famous Great Canon, which is chanted during Great Lent (see the Thursday of the Fifth Week of the Fast).


July 05

Athanasios of Mount Athos

Saint Athanasius had Trebizond for his homeland. He first entered the monastic life on the mountain called Kymaeos or Kyminas, which is in Mysia of Bithynia, then he went to Mount Athos and founded a large monastery, which is known as the Great Lavra. He became so renowned for his virtue that from Rome, Calabria, Georgia, and elsewhere, rulers, men of wealth and nobility, abbots, and even bishops came to him and were subject to him. When the time for his departure was at hand, God revealed to him how it would take place, so that he was able to instruct his spiritual children not to be troubled when it should come to pass. A new church was being built for the sake of the many who came to him, and only the dome had not been finished. Together with six of the brethren, the Saint went to the top of the church to help the workmen. The dome collapsed, and they fell. Five were killed at once, and the Saint died three hours later. His holy body remained incorrupt and he worked many miracles after his death. He reposed about the end of the tenth century.


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