Saint Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church - ACROD
Publish Date: 2025-09-14
Bulletin Contents
Announcements
Bulletin Inserts
Hymns of the Day
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Saints and Feasts

Organization Icon
Saint Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church - ACROD

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (732) 254-7155
  • Street Address:

  • 24 Burke Road

  • Freehold, NJ 07728

Contact Information

Parish Administration His Eminence Metropolitan Gregory of Nyssa
Diocesan Bishop


Rev. Father Thomas K. Kovalak
Parish Priest - Administrator


Very. Rev. Protopresbyter Father Stephen Loposky
Dean - Emergency Contact


Services Schedule

Sunday 

Hours:              9:00 AM

Divine Liturgy:  9:30 AM

 

Confessions Prior to all Divine Liturgies

Past Bulletins


Announcements

Welcome to St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church - Freehold, NJ

 Mission Parish of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

  

Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory Forever!
   
"For God so love the world that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
John 3:16-17

Icon of the Exaltation (Elevation) of the Precious Cross - (11Z12)ion of t

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Holy Cross

Upcoming Church Schedule:

Sunday September 14, 2025 

The Hours - 9:00AM

Divine Liturgy - 9:30AM

                  Saint John of Kronstadt said so eloquently :

"The Cross is the icon of the crucified Christ, the Son of God. That is why also its sign and even its shadow alone causes terror to the demons, because it is the sign of Christ, because it is the protection of the Crucified. For this it is enough for someone to dip the Cross into the water, to sanctify it. After this the water becomes therapeutic and expels demons."                                    

John of Kronstadt - OrthodoxWiki

SPECIAL INTENTIONS:

For the continued healing of Susie Vira.

Upcoming Surgery of Ben Illies

Please remember to pray for the Seminarians of our Diocese who are beginning a new school year at Christ the Saviour Seminary in Johnstown PA! 

Please keep in your minds and hearts our parishioners, family, and friends in need of our prayers.  May God grant them peace, health and happiness for many blessed years! 

Please pray for Catechumens and inquirers, for those preparing for Marriage, for Expecting Mothers, Seminarians, and for those serving in the Armed Forces and Civil Authorities. 

Please pray for Jacob Cochran, son of Father David and Pani Andrea.

Please pray for our Seminarians John Bonnewicz-Coffey, a vocation of St. Nectarios Mission, Lakeland, FL; Clay Wood, Holy Cross Church, Columbus, OH; Brad Shaffer, St. Alexis Church, Battle Ground, IN; Nicholas Cizin, Holy Ghost Church, Manville, NJ; John R. Fedornock III, Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Johnstown, PA; Clay Spyridon Raburn, St. Nectarios Mission, Lakeland, FL. Deacon Peter Sodini of St. Michael Church, Niles, IL; Deacon Maximus Cannaverde, St. Nicholas Church, Murphy, NC; Sem. Alex Hurtsellers, St. Elizabeth Mission, Woodstock, GA.  Sem. Robert Leonardo, St. Johns Church, Rahway, NJ.

 

 

Parish News:

Battle Creek Walk for Life 2023 - Campaign

  • Walk For Life to benefit Zoe House, an Orthodox Program serving expectant mothers in need. Sunday, September 28 at 3pm. Please see flyer below for details. 
  • At your convenience, please complete the 2025 parish stewardship and census form.
  • Our Church is issuing a financial appeal for the Parish Refresh Project.  Please consider donating to this vital cause.  The funds will go towards repairs and improvements of the church property and removal of the dilapidated rectory building.

Date September 28, 2025 for a special Community Outreach Parish Event.  We invite all of our parishioners to join us as we participate in a WALK FOR LIFE which will benefit ZOE FOR LIFE, a Christian Orthodox Program serving mothers in crisis pregnancies who CHOOSE LIFE for their pre-born children.

Stay tuned for more information about this event!

ZOE for Life!® | A Christian Ministry

 

The Fall Young Adult Retreat will take place from Friday, October 17- Sunday, October 19th, 2025 at Camp Nazareth, Mercer, PA. The Fall Retreat is sponsored by American Carpatho-Russian
Orthodox Diocese, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh Y2M, The OCA Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church USA. It is open to ages 18-35.

Our guest speaker will be Very Rev. Dr. Nicholas Ferencz will speak about “To Believe or Not to Believe, that is the Question.” Along with some outdoor activities, fellowship and worship.

The Retreat will begin with the arrival and registration on Friday, Octboer 17 th at 7:00pm and will conclude on Sunday, October 19th at Noon following the Divine Liturgy at 9:00am and Brunch following.  Please see bulletin insert for further details.

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT:

Zoe for Life is a Christian Orthodox Community Outreach program that serves local mothers who need assistance and want to choose life for their unborn babies. 

Zoe for Life depends fully on donations and help from the public. This program is sucessfully helping mothers everyday by providing supplies, emotional support, doctor and medical care, and shelter for young mothers who need help as they choose LIFE for thier babies.

Pray for the unborn! 

O Holy Theotokos, pray for us!

Please add this prayer to your prayer rule so that the Holy Spirit can grow our parish mission.

A Prayer for St. Paul the Apostle Missions

God of truth and love; Father Son and Holy Spirit, hear our prayer for those who do not know Thee, that they may come to a saving knowledge of the truth and that Thy Name may be praised among all peoples of the world.

Sustain, inspire and enlighten Thy servants who bring them the Gospel. Bring fresh vigor to wavering faith; sustain our faith when it is still fragile.

Continually renew missionary zeal in ourselves and in the Church; raise up new missionaries who will follow Thee here and to the ends of the world. Make us witnesses to Thy goodness; full of love, strength and faith – for Thy glory and the salvation of the entire world.

Through the prayers of St Paul, St Peter, St Mark, St Thomas and all the holy apostles, and the holy equals of the apostles, Mary Magdalene, Photini and Thecla, Nina of Georgia, Constantine and Helen, Patrick, Columcille and Columbanus of Ireland, Cyril and Methodius, Vladimir of Kiev, Sava of Serbia, Cosmas of Aetolia, Nicholas of Japan, and Innocent, Enlightener of North America, and all the missionary saints, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.  

 

O Holy Master, Almighty Father and pre-eternal God, Who alone made and directs all things; Who rises up quickly against the evil of the impious ones; Who, by providence, teaches Thy people preservation of justice and the obliteration of evil on earth; Who condescends to raise up warriors for the protection of the people of God: we entreat Thee with compunction, that as Thou didst give David power to defeat Goliath, and as Thou didst condescend through Judas Maccabeus, to seize victory from the arrogant pagans who would not call on Thy Name; so too, grant protection to us, Thy servants against the enemies rising against us as we go forth to do spiritual battle against the evil one and those who do his will rather than Thine.

Please support our diocesan seminary bookstore:  

If you have any religious items to purchase such as icons, jewlery, books, and various Orthodox decor, please visit: www.orthodoxgoods.com

Also, please continue to pray for vocations:

O Lord, the High Priest of God's people, You have shown us that it is Your will that men be called to the service of Your Holy Church. From the ranks of fishermen, You called Andrew and Peter and James and John, and made them and their successors in every age to be the "fishers of men." We, your people in this age, call upon Your great love to inspire for our churches, young men to be Your future priests. Touch their lives with Your Holy Spirit; give them the courage to answer Your call and the strength to work all the days of their life for Your service. Continue to shower upon our Diocesan Seminary Your choicest blessings and make us aware of her needs so that it may continue to be a place where the souls of those called to Your service may be trained and prepared to teach and preach, to pray and labor, to forgive and heal - to care in every way as priests of Your fold, O Good Shepherd. You told us with Your precious lips, "Without me, you can do nothing." As we call upon Your Name for more vocations, O Great High Priest, hear us and have mercy.

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Bulletin Inserts

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Hymns of the Day

Apolytikion for Elevation of the Holy Cross in the First Tone

O Lord save Your people and bless Your inheritance, * grant victory to all Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, * and protect Your people by Your Cross!

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: American Carpatho-Russian Diocese


Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Lifted up of Your own Will upon the Cross, * You bestow Your mercy upon the new people that bear Your Name. * Make the Orthodox people glad in Your Strength, giving them victory over their enemies. * May Your Cross assist them in spiritual struggles, * weapon of peace and unconquerable standard of victory.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: American Carpatho-Russian Diocese


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Seventh Tone. Psalm 98.9,1.
Exalt the Lord our God.
Verse: The Lord reigns; let the people tremble.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 1:18-24.

Brethren, the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Gospel Reading

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross
The Reading is from John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30

At that time, when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God."

When Pilate heard these words, he was the more afraid; he entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin." When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Then when Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

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Wisdom of the Fathers

A MARVELOUS thing is longsuffering; it places the soul as in a quiet harbor, fleeing it from tossings and evil spirits. And this everywhere Christ hath taught us, but especially now, when He is judged, and dragged, and led about ....
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 84 on John 18 and Homily 85 on John 19, 4th Century

But why was it that Pilate made the enquiry not in their presence, but apart, having gone into the judgment hall? He suspected something great respecting Him.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 84 on John 18 and Homily 85 on John 19, 4th Century

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Saints and Feasts

September 14

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross

Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, when she was already advanced in years, undertook, in her great piety, the hardships of a journey to Jerusalem in search of the cross, about the year 325. A temple to Aphrodite had been raised up by the Emperor Hadrian upon Golgotha, to defile and cover with oblivion the place where the saving Passion had been suffered. The venerable Helen had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed, and the earth removed, revealing the Tomb of our Lord, and three crosses. Of these, it was believed that one must be that of our Lord, the other two of the thieves crucified with Him; but Saint Helen was at a loss which one might be the Wood of our salvation. At the inspiration of Saint Macarius, Archbishop of Jerusalem, a lady of Jerusalem, who was already at the point of death from a certain disease, was brought to touch the crosses, and as soon as she came near to the Cross of our Lord, she was made perfectly whole. Consequently, the precious Cross was lifted on high by Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem; as he stood on the ambo, and when the people beheld it, they cried out, "Lord have mercy." It should be noted that after its discovery, a portion of the venerable Cross was taken to Constantinople as a blessing. The rest was left in Jerusalem in the magnificent church built by Saint Helen, until the year 614. At that time, the Persians plundered Palestine and took the Cross to their own country (see Jan. 22, Saint Anastasius the Persian). Late, in the year 628, Emperor Heraclius set out on a military campaign, retrieved the Cross, and after bringing it to Constantinople, himself escorted it back to Jerusalem, where he restored it to its place.

Rest from labour. A Fast is observed today, whatever day of the week it may be.

September 14

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross

Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, when she was already advanced in years, undertook, in her great piety, the hardships of a journey to Jerusalem in search of the cross, about the year 325. A temple to Aphrodite had been raised up by the Emperor Hadrian upon Golgotha, to defile and cover with oblivion the place where the saving Passion had been suffered. The venerable Helen had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed, and the earth removed, revealing the Tomb of our Lord, and three crosses. Of these, it was believed that one must be that of our Lord, the other two of the thieves crucified with Him; but Saint Helen was at a loss which one might be the Wood of our salvation. At the inspiration of Saint Macarius, Archbishop of Jerusalem, a lady of Jerusalem, who was already at the point of death from a certain disease, was brought to touch the crosses, and as soon as she came near to the Cross of our Lord, she was made perfectly whole. Consequently, the precious Cross was lifted on high by Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem; as he stood on the ambo, and when the people beheld it, they cried out, "Lord have mercy." It should be noted that after its discovery, a portion of the venerable Cross was taken to Constantinople as a blessing. The rest was left in Jerusalem in the magnificent church built by Saint Helen, until the year 614. At that time, the Persians plundered Palestine and took the Cross to their own country (see Jan. 22, Saint Anastasius the Persian). Late, in the year 628, Emperor Heraclius set out on a military campaign, retrieved the Cross, and after bringing it to Constantinople, himself escorted it back to Jerusalem, where he restored it to its place.

Rest from labour. A Fast is observed today, whatever day of the week it may be.

September 14

Commemoration of the 6th Ecumenical Council

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