St. Andrew Church
Publish Date: 2025-02-23
Bulletin Contents

Organization Icon
St. Andrew Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (973) 584-0388
  • Fax:
  • (973) 584-3573
  • Street Address:

  • 1447 Sussex Turnpike

  • Randolph, NJ 07869-1830
  • Mailing Address:

  • 1447 Sussex Turnpike

  • Randolph, NJ 07869-1830


Contact Information








Services Schedule

On Sunday we celebrate

Orthros at 8:15 am & Divine Liturgy at 9:30am

Weekday Orthros and Liturgies begin at 8am 

 

 


Past Bulletins


Services at St. Andrew

Saturday 2/22 
@8am +Orthros, @9am Divine Liturgy First  Saturday of Souls (with Kollyva)   also on 3/1 & 3/8 

Sunday 2/23 
@8:15 am: +Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy Judgement Day (Meatfare Sunday) 

A 40 Day Memorial Service will be prayed for the repose of the soul of +Aglaia Polemis, beloved mother of: Thiano (Alex) Stavros, Irene (Nikita) Klapsis, Joanne (Kosta) Alexandris, and Nick Polemis;  grandmother of: Lea, Dimitra, Billy, Christo, Michael, Antoni, George, and Constantine; great grandmother of: Alexa, Thiano, Nicollette, Michael, Valentina, Irini, Nikita, and Rena.   
May her memory be eternal. Αιωνία η μνήμη αυτής.

Sacrament: Michael Bova will be received into the Grek Orthodox Church by the Holy Sacrament of Chrismation, sponsor will be Eleni Demakos.

Parish Council oath of office  will take place at the end of liturgy; followed by Executive Board elections.

Saturday 3-1
@8am +Orthros, @9am Divine Liturgy First  Saturday of Souls (with Kollyva) also 3/8 
 

Sunday 3/2
@8:15 am +Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Forgiveness Sunday | Cheesefare Sunday 

 

Participation in services is also available via livestream - go to: Home | St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church (orthodoxws.com) and choose LIVESTREAM on the Menu bar 

Prayers/Liturgy can always be found at: https://www.agesinitiatives.com/dcs/public/dcs/dcs.html

Online Giving System: Website: https://www.standrewgonj.org/ and choose PayPal / online WeShare | Consider making your donations using our   New Abundant App

BACK TO TOP

Announcements

COFFEE HOUR is hosted by GOYA in the Social Hall 

Coffee Hour Hosts: 3/2  Philoptochos, 3/3 Great Lent begins 3/9  PTA , 3/16  DOP, 3/23  GOYA, 3/30 Bakaliko

Bagels are donated by Jimmy Psaras of ALFA BAGELS on Route 10 in Randolph, NJ
Coffee is donated by Aristotle Leontopoulos of Coffee Associates in Edgewater, NJ

MARDI GRAS - Sunday, February 23rd 4pm - 9pm at Saint Andrew see flyer for info 

Stewardship 
We ask you to continue supporting our ministries with your financial pledge and prayfully consider rounding up your giving to tithing as we did last year.  When we offer our treasure and ourselves sacrificially, as members of the Body of Christ, we will reach our full potential in Christ both personally and as a community.  To learn more about what this means, please visit: https://standrewgonj.org/stewardship/#round-u p or speak to a member of the Parish Council or the Stewardship Ministry.  If you are not already a member of Saint Andrew, please consider a pledge starting out at 1% of your income. In gratitude for God’s Blessings, please click on and fill in the  2025 Stewardship Pledge  Please complete and send it to the church office in January 2025

For those who haven't yet fulfilled their 2024 pledge to St. Anbdrew, please send it in as soon as possible.  Thank you!

NEW! THE FAITH WORKS MINISTRY 
is a new ministry at Saint Andrew — starting December 1st
If you are interested in volunteering for Faith Works / Career Counseling or to take advantage of its valuable services, reach out to [email protected] or the Saint Andrew church office to get in touch.

Bible Study in  Fr. John’s Office on Thursdays 7:00pm on   February 27

 

Lenten Bible Q & A  Friday Mornings @10:30am  in Fr John’s Office on March 7, 14, 27. 28 & April 4

 

♪   Choir Rehearsals   ♫  ♪ will be held in church after Liturgy on the following  
Sundays: (Feb 23, March 16, April 6) All are welcome ages 8 and up

 

Sunday School Registration Link: https://forms.gle/qwhhXQoF2e8wqxji7
All questions should be directed to [email protected]

GOYA Registration Link: St. Andrew GOYA Registration 2024-2025
You must be 12 years old by October 1st and in 7th Grade

GREEK DANCE  
 Thursdays
1st Session:  Group 1 & 2 @ 6:30pm | GOYA  @7:15pm 
Registration Forms contact the Church office [email protected]  

HOPE & JOY is a Youth Group
for children in K-6th grades. 
We have great news!  Stala Jelis will be joining with Jenny Manis to organize this beautiful program.  Stala will plan the HOPE events (grades k-2) and Jenny will plan the JOY events (grades 3-6), but we will have plenty of events together where it makes sense.  We also look to the JOY children to help with some HOPE events as an opportunity to be of service to others. If your child is in 3rd grade, they can be in either group, but again, many events will be combined when appropriate.  Questions? please email us. [email protected] 

phishing / CON ARTISTS TEXTS/EMAILS :  Someone is sending out texts and emails asking for assistance and signing Fr John’s name. This is not Fr John’s  cell number or email address. His  cell number is 973-219-2941, his email is [email protected] .  Please report the text/email as junk and delete and block the sender. We contacted the FBI about this problem and was informed that they do not take a case like this. We hope no one is fooled by these criminals. Please tell your friends. Fr will never reach out to anyone asking for “assistance” in this way. Thank you for your patience and understanding. God Bless!

BACK TO TOP

Fr. John's Message

LORD'S VOICE

THE SUNDAY EPISTLE (1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2)


The stumbling block of authority

Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol's temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.


THE SACRIFICE OF OUR RIGHTS
The scandalization of people with weak faith, which can be caused by careless actions and choices of Christians, was frequently denounced by our Lord. Indeed, Christ rebuked those who cause scandal and warned them of their severe punishment
on the day of judgment, saying, "woe to the one who causes scandal" (Matthew 18:7). In today's scriptural reading for Meatfare Sunday, the Apostle Paul takes it a step further. He calls on Christians to relinquish even their self-evident rights, which do not conflict with God's will, in order to protect the weak faith of some people and to avoid causing, even unjustly, a scandal.


The danger of scandal

The reason for this remark was the habit of some Christians in Corinth to eat meat that idolaters offered at the altars of idols. This practice in itself was not forbidden, since Christ freed people from the bondage of idols and disassociated common human actions and habits from them. However, some new Christians with weak faith still considered the consumption of these foods to be connected with the idolatrous background of the newly formed Church in Corinth, which caused scandal within them. Paul calls on Christians to not eat those meats again, not because faith in Christ forbade it, but because the danger of scandal was lurking.


The need for empathy

The Apostle is asking for something that, in our logic, sounds outrageous: to give up some of our rights so that the conscience of other people may not possibly be harmed. “In an era where everyone is chasing exclusively after their own satisfaction, their own pleasure, their own happiness, their own glory; in an era where everyone is harshly and inhumanely indifferent to their neighbor, whether they are dying, living, starving, suffering, hurting, are being tormented, crying, freezing, or struggling; in an era dominated by cruelty, absolute attachment to self, narrow individual interest, or our terrible indifference to everyone else; in such an era, the words of Apostle Paul, that ‘I will never eat anything that I understand could possibly scandalize my brother,’ sound somewhat strange and peculiar” (the blessed Metropolitan of Drama Dionysios).

The new ethos of the Church

This is the new ethos promised by Christ and evangelized by the Church. The criterion of our attitude in society should not be our needs, our rights, and claims, but what our fellow man wants, what we can do to protect our brothers; how we can subject to their desires what the Saints call “personal will”; how we should live so that our life becomes a means of salvation for us and for our fellow human beings. The answer to all these is none other than the way of humble love. As it is written, “Only those who have renounced their ego truly love. When a person loves, they empty themselves, endure, and are patient and longsuffering. However, love for one's neighbor, to be genuine, must imitate God’s love for mankind, which surpassed announcements, promises, and well-wishes, and reached the point of sacrifice.

These small sacrifices of personal will for the love of our brothers, avoiding the scandal of their weak faith, and ensuring balance in our coexistence with others, are what Paul calls us to prioritize today. Of course, this is not an easy process, as it requires the limitation of our ego. Certainly, however, it is a God-pleasing act and effort that adorns a person with the heavenly ethos of the Church, the only thing capable of transforming and saving the world.


Archimandrite E. Oik.

BACK TO TOP

Daily Calendar

House Blessings on Monday 2-25 in Rockaway, on Friday 2/28 in Morris Plains  

Tuesday 2/25

@7pm Philoptochos Meeting next on:  3/25, 4/22, 5/27

Thursday 2/27

@11:30 Agape Lunch NEXT ON: 3/27 and 5/1

@4:30 PM  Hellenic Afternoon School |Greek Dance: @6:30 Groups 1 & 2  @7:15pm GOYA

@7pm Bible Study

Saturday 3/1

 @8am +Orthros, @9am Divine Liturgy SECOND Saturday of Souls (with Kollyva)   

Sights & Sounds  at Holy Trinity

Sunday 3/2

@8:15 am +Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Forgiveness Sunday | Cheesefare Sunday 

Monday3/3

Office of the Great Compline @6:00pm Great Lent begins  

Wednesday3/5

Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy @6:00pm 

Friday3/7

@10:30am Lenten Bible Q&A next on: 3-14, 3-21, 3- 28 & 4-4

1st Salutations @6:00pm 

Saturday 3/8

@8am +Orthros, @9am Divine Liturgy THIRD Saturday of Souls  [St. Theodore commemorated]

Sunday 3/9

@8:15 am: +Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy + Sunday of Orthodoxy

Monday3/10

Office of the Great Compline @6:00pm

Wednesday3/12

Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy @6:00pm 

Friday3/14

2nd Salutations @6:00pm

Saturday 3/15

@11am Baptism

Sunday 3/16 @8:15 am:

+Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas

3/16 Non-Parish Event (Indian Program) in our gym

 Monday3/17

BACK TO TOP

News - Flyers - Registrations - Other

    Saturday of Souls

    Saturday of Souls

    February 22, March 1 & March 8


    Stewardship

    Stewardship

    In gratitude for God’s Blessings, please make your commitment to Christ and His Church by submitting your 2025 Stewardship Pledge.


    Mardi Gras 2025

    Mardi Gras 2025

    Mardi Gras | Sunday, February 23, 2025 - 4pm-9pm | to purchase tickets to purchase tickets https://staptamardigras.rsvpify.com/


    Salute to Women

    Salute to Women

    Invitation: Salute To Women March 2nd 2025 Recipient is Dr. Joanne Varratos-Diamantidis EdD, MSN, RN | Dimitra Palis will be accepting checks on Sunday 2-16-25


    NNJ Oratorical Festival

    NNJ Oratorical Festival

    NNJ Oratorical Festival | at St Andrew Randolph | March 22-2025


    GID PARADE

    GID PARADE

    GID PARADE in NYC | March 30 at @1pm


    PHILOPTOCHOS

    PHILOPTOCHOS

    ANNUAL TRICKY TRAY | Friday, May 9, 2025


    SCHOLARSHIP

    SCHOLARSHIP

    Application: Andreas and Lillian Boyadjis Scholarship - due 4-15-2025


    Saturday of Souls

    Saturday of Souls

    How Many are there?


    Lord's Voice

    Lord's Voice

    Foni Kyriou in Greek


BACK TO TOP

Prayer List

Prayer for a Sick Person:

Heavenly Father, physician of our souls and bodies, who have sent Your only-begotten Son and our Lord Jesus Christ to heal every sickness and infirmity, visit and heal (me) Your servant from all physical and spiritual ailments through the grace of Your Christ. Grant (me) patience in this sickness, strength of body and spirit, and recovery of health.  Lord, You have taught us through Your word to pray for each other that we may be healed.  I pray that You heal (me) as Your servant and grant (me) the gift of complete health. For You are the source of healing and to You I give glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Please keep these names in your prayers

Irene, Kyriaki, Maria, Beatrice, Angeliki, Monica, Stephanie, Demetrios Eleni, Alexandros, Alexandra, Juliana, Demetrios, Kathy, Christos, Michael, Maroulia, Areti, Niko, Dennis, Sophia, Romeo, Zoe, Jean, Anna, Demetrios, Vasilios, Cynthia, Irene, Jackellyn, Maria, Panagoula, Sophia, Michael,  Barbara, Andrew, Effie, Hariklia, Alexandra, Angeliki, Maria, Demetrios, Mary, Stanley, Gianna, Konstantinos, Fr. George, Eftihia, Meropi, Thomas, Fotios, Alexandros, George, Johnathan, Christopher, Irene, Ioannis, Maria,  Samuel, Peter, Vasilios, Demetrios, Despina, Natalia, Demetrios, Roye,  …

If you would like us to remember you or your loved one in our prayers, please contact the office. 973-584-0388 or send us an email to [email protected]   

Names will be kept on this list for approximately three months. Please resubmit Names if needed.   Fr. John will pray for the Names above during the PROSKOMIDI “Offering of gifts” during the first part of the Divine Liturgy when our priest prepares the mystical gifts of bread and wine. Please keep these names in your prayers as well.

 

 

 

 

BACK TO TOP

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Second Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back - it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, He is not here; see the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him, as He told you." And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Second Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Μᾶρκον 16:1-8

Διαγενομένου τοῦ Σαββάτου, Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ Μαρία ἡ τοῦ Ἰακώβου καὶ Σαλώμη ἠγόρασαν ἀρώματα, ἵνα ἐλθοῦσαι ἀλείψωσιν τὸν Ἰησοῦν. Καὶ λίαν πρωῒ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων ἔρχονται ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον ἀνατείλαντος τοῦ ἡλίου. Καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς ἑαυτάς· Τίς ἀποκυλίσει ἡμῖν τὸν λίθον ἐκ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνημείου; καὶ ἀναβλέψασαι θεωροῦσιν ὅτι ἀποκεκύλισται ὁ λίθος· ἦν γὰρ μέγας σφόδρα. Καὶ εἰσελθοῦσαι εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, εἶδον νεανίσκον καθήμενον ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, περιβεβλημένον στολήν λευκήν, καὶ ἐξεθαμβήθησαν· ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐταῖς· Μὴ ἐκθαμβεῖσθε, Ἰησοῦν ζητεῖτε τὸν Ναζαρηνὸν τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, ἠγέρθη, οὐκ ἔστιν ᾧδε· ἴδε, ὁ τόπος ὅπου ἔθηκαν αὐτόν, ἀλλ' ὑπάγετε, εἴπατε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ, ὅτι προάγει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν· ἐκεῖ αὐτὸν ὄψεσθε, καθὼς εἶπεν ὑμῖν. Καὶ ἐξελθοῦσαι ταχὺ ἔφυγον ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου, εἶχε δὲ αὐτὰς τρόμος καὶ ἔκστασις, καὶ οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν εἶπον· ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 146.5;134.3.
Great is our Lord, and great is his power.
Verse: Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 8:8-13; 9:1-2.

Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol's temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Προκείμενον. Fourth Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 146.5;134.3.
Μέγας ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, καὶ μεγάλη ἡ ἰσχὺς ἀὐτοῦ.
Στίχ. Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι ἀγαθός.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Κορινθίους α' 8:8-13, 9:1-2.

Ἀδελφοί, βρῶμα ἡμᾶς οὐ παρίστησιν τῷ θεῷ· οὔτε γὰρ ἐὰν φάγωμεν περισσεύομεν, οὔτε ἐὰν μὴ φάγωμεν ὑστερούμεθα. Βλέπετε δὲ μήπως ἡ ἐξουσία ὑμῶν αὕτη πρόσκομμα γένηται τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσιν. Ἐὰν γάρ τις ἴδῃ σε τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν ἐν εἰδωλείῳ κατακείμενον, οὐχὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτοῦ ἀσθενοῦς ὄντος οἰκοδομηθήσεται εἰς τὸ τὰ εἰδωλόθυτα ἐσθίειν; Καὶ ἀπολεῖται ὁ ἀσθενῶν ἀδελφὸς ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ γνώσει, διʼ ὃν Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν; Οὕτως δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφούς, καὶ τύπτοντες αὐτῶν τὴν συνείδησιν ἀσθενοῦσαν, εἰς Χριστὸν ἁμαρτάνετε. Διόπερ εἰ βρῶμα σκανδαλίζει τὸν ἀδελφόν μου, οὐ μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου σκανδαλίσω. Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἀπόστολος; Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος; Οὐχὶ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν ἑώρακα; Οὐ τὸ ἔργον μου ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν κυρίῳ; Εἰ ἄλλοις οὐκ εἰμὶ ἀπόστολος, ἀλλά γε ὑμῖν εἰμι· ἡ γὰρ σφραγὶς τῆς ἐμῆς ἀποστολῆς ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν κυρίῳ.


Gospel Reading

Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday)
The Reading is from Matthew 25:31-46

The Lord said, "When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday)
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 25:31-46

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ, τότε καθίσει ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ, καὶ συναχθήσεται ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἀφοριεῖ αὐτοὺς ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων ὥσπερ ὁ ποιμὴν ἀφορίζει τὰ πρόβατα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων, καὶ στήσει τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων. τότε ἐρεῖ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ· δεῦτε οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. ἐπείνασα γάρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με, ξένος ἤμην, καὶ συνηγάγετέ με, γυμνός, καὶ περιεβάλετέ με, ἠσθένησα, καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με, ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην, καὶ ἤλθετε πρός με. τότε ἀποκριθήσονται αὐτῷ οἱ δίκαιοι λέγοντες· κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν, ἢ διψῶντα καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν; πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ξένον καὶ συνηγάγομεν, ἢ γυμνὸν καὶ περιεβάλομεν; πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ἀσθενῆ ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ ἤλθομεν πρός σε; καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. τότε ἐρεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἐξ εὐωνύμων· πορεύεσθε ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ οἱ κατηραμένοι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. ἐπείνασα γάρ, καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα, καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με, ξένος ἤμην, καὶ οὐ συνηγάγετέ με, γυμνός, καὶ οὐ περιεβάλετέ με, ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ οὐκ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με. τότε ἀποκριθήσονται αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγοντες· κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα ἢ διψῶντα ἢ ξένον ἢ γυμνὸν ἢ ἀσθενῆ ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ οὐ διηκονήσαμέν σοι; τότε ἀποκριθήσεται αὐτοῖς λέγων· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον οὐκ ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. καὶ ἀπελεύσονται οὗτοι εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον, οἱ δὲ δίκαιοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.


BACK TO TOP

Saints and Feasts

February 23

Judgment Sunday (Meatfare Sunday)

The foregoing two parables -- especially that of the Prodigal Son -- have presented to us God's extreme goodness and love for man. But lest certain persons, putting their confidence in this alone, live carelessly, squandering upon sin the time given them to work out their salvation, and death suddenly snatch them away, the most divine Fathers have appointed this day's feast commemorating Christ's impartial Second Coming, through which we bring to mind that God is not only the Friend of man, but also the most righteous Judge, Who recompenses to each according to his deeds.

It is the aim of the holy Fathers, through bringing to mind that fearful day, to rouse us from the slumber of carelessness unto the work of virtue, and to move us to love and compassion for our brethren. Besides this, even as on the coming Sunday of Cheese-fare we commemorate Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight -- which exile is the beginning of life as we know it now -- it is clear that today's is reckoned the last of all feasts, because on the last day of judgment, truly, everything of this world will come to an end.

All foods, except meat and meat products, are allowed during the week that follows this Sunday.


February 23

Polycarp the Holy Martyr & Bishop of Smyrna

This apostolic and prophetic man, and model of faith and truth, was a disciple of John the Evangelist, successor of Bucolus (Feb. 6), and teacher of Irenaeus (Aug. 23). He was an old man and full of days when the fifth persecution was raised against the Christians under Marcus Aurelius. When his pursuers, sent by the ruler, found Polycarp, he commanded that they be given something to eat and drink, then asked them to give him an hour to pray; he stood and prayed, full of grace, for two hours, so that his captors repented that they had come against so venerable a man. He was brought by the Proconsul of Smyrna into the stadium and was commanded, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, 'Away with the atheists.'" By atheists, the Proconsul meant the Christians. But Polycarp, gazing at the heathen in the stadium, waved his hand towards them and said, "Away with the atheists." When the Proconsul urged him to blaspheme against Christ, he said: "I have been serving Christ for eighty-six years, and He has wronged me in nothing; how can I blaspheme my King Who has saved me?" But the tyrant became enraged at these words and commanded that he be cast into the fire, and thus he gloriously expired about the year 163. As Eusebius says, "Polycarp everywhere taught what he had also learned from the Apostles, which also the Church has handed down; and this alone is true" (Eccl. Hist., Book IV, ch. 14,15).


February 23

Proterios, Archbishop of Alexandria


March 02

Hesychios the Martyr

Holy martyr Hesychius lived during the reign of king Maximian in 302. He was the first and the leader in the royal palace and the Senate, because he was magistrianus by office. When Maximian ordered that all Christians who were royal soldiers ought to be deprived of their belts (which were a sign of their royal merit) and live as civilians and without honour, many Christians preferred to live without any outward honour due to this illegal order than to be honoured and lose their soul. St. Hesychius was numbered with these Christians as well. When the king heard this, he ordered that the saint ought to be stripped of the expensive clothes, which he used to wear, and be dressed with a shabby mantle without sleeves woven from hair and to be as disgraced and disdained as to consort with women.

When this had been carried out, the king invited him and asked him: "Aren't you ashamed, Hesychius, that you lost the honour and office of magistrianus and that you have been debased to this kind of life? Or maybe you don't know that the Christians, whose way of life you preferred, have no power to restore you to your previous great honour and office?" The saint replied: "Your honour, o king, is temporary but the honour and glory which Christ gives is eternal and without end." Because of these words the king got angry and ordered his men to tie a great millstone around the saint's neck and then to throw him in the middle of river Orontus, which lies in Coele Syria and which is commonly called Oronge. Thus, the blessed man received the crown of martyrdom from the Lord.


BACK TO TOP

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Second Mode

When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then didst Thou slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the powers in the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.
Ὅτε κατῆλθες πρὸς τὸν θάνατον, ἡ Ζωὴ ἡ ἀθάνατος, τότε τὸν ᾅδην ἐνέκρωσας τῇ ἀστραπῇ τῆς Θεότητος, ὅτε δὲ καὶ τοὺς τεθνεῶτας ἐκ τῶν καταχθονίων ἀνέστησας, πᾶσαι αἱ Δυνάμεις τῶν ἐπουρανίων ἐκραύγαζον·Ζωοδότα Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν δόξα σοι.

Seasonal Kontakion in the First Mode

O God, when You come upon the earth in glory, the whole world will tremble. A river of fire will bring all before Your Judgment Seat and the books will be opened, and everything in secret will become public. At that time, deliver me from the fire which never dies, and enable me to stand by Your right hand, O Judge most just.
Ὅταν ἔλθῃς ὁ Θεός, ἐπὶ γῆς μετὰ δόξης, καὶ τρέμωσι τὰ σύμπαντα, ποταμὸς δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς πρὸ τοῦ Βήματος ἕλκῃ, καὶ βίβλοι ἀνοίγωνται, καὶ τὰ κρυπτὰ δημοσιεύωνται, τότε ῥῦσαί με, ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ἀσβέστου, καὶ ἀξίωσον, ἐκ δεξιῶν σου μὲ στῆναι, Κριτὰ δικαιότατε.
BACK TO TOP

Wisdom of the Fathers

"Christian love is the 'possible impossibility' to see Christ in another man, whoever he is..."
Alexander Schmemann
Great Lent, 20th Century

So great was the honour and providential care which God bestowed upon man that He brought the entire sensible world into being before him and for his sake. The kingdom of heaven was prepared for him from the foundation of the world (cf. Matt. 25:34); God first took counsel concerning him, and then he was fashioned by God's hand and according to the image of God (cf. Gen. 1:26-27). God did not form the whole man from matter and from the elements of this sensible world, as He did the other animals. He formed only man's body from these materials; but man's soul He took from things supercelestial or, rather, it came from God Himself when mysteriously He breathed life into man (cf. Gen. 2:7).
St. Gregory Palamas
Topics of Natural and Theological Science no. 24, The Philokalia Vol. 4 edited by Palmer, Sherrard and Ware; Faber and Faber pg. 356, 14th century

BACK TO TOP