St. Andrew Church
Publish Date: 2025-03-02
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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 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  

Sunday  3/2
Forgiveness Vespers at St Nicholas in Wycoff NJ @6:00pm | reception to follow 

Monday3/3
@6:00pm Office of the Great Compline Great Lent begins   

Wednesday3/5
@6:00pm Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy 

Friday3/7
@6:00pm 1st Salutations 

Saturday3/8
@8:00am Orthros @9:00am  Divine Liturgy Commemorating Saint Theodore
3rd Saturdays of the Souls ψυχοσάββατα (Psychosavata)

Sunday 3/9
@8:15 am: +Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy + Sunday of Orthodoxy

 

 

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

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Announcements

COFFEE HOUR is hosted by Philoptochosin the Social Hall 

Coffee Hour Hosts:  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

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.

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  
Sunday  April 6 & Saturday April 12 | 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!

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Fr. John's Message

LORD'S VOICE March 2, 2025: Cheesefare Sunday

THE SUNDAY EPISTLE (Romans 13:11-14:4)

Awakening for the day of salvation

Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.

THE ARENA OF VIRTUES

As we stand at the threshold of Holy and Great Lent, my brethren, we heard the Apostle Paul calling the Christians, in view of the coming of the day of Christ, to put aside the works of sin and to take up the weapons of light. Given that the day and hour of the Second Coming of the Lord is unknown, for each of us, the moment of our meeting with Him is that of our biological death. The Apostle to the Nations calls us, in view of this certain prospect, to abandon the sinful way of life and to choose the path of virtue.

Great Lent

This is also the message that our Church sends, just before we enter the “arena of virtues.” Great Lent is a journey with internal characteristics, where we are called to know ourselves in order to meet our God who resurrected from the dead, having passed through the furnace of Passion and the Cross. In this journey, which represents the course of the whole life of the Christian, we must abandon our passions, fight against our weaknesses, and confront our evil self. We will achieve these by using the spiritual abilities provided by our Church, about which the Apostle Paul speaks today. These are the virtues.

The spiritual exercises

The virtues – spiritual exercises, in which we are called to strive during the period that opens up before us – are fasting, prayer, humility, almsgiving, love, and above all, repentance. All these spiritual elements make up the canvas of our spiritual struggle and help in our spiritual completion and final union with God. However, virtues presented as human achievements, alienated from the grace of God, lead to the opposite of the pursued results. This happens because they can exalt our egotism, making us believe in our supposed spiritual self-sufficiency. Whoever is led to this conclusion destroys what he has built within himself.

For the struggle of virtue to have results, it must be stripped of external characteristics that seek human approval and be confined to the internal field of our existence. Abba Isaiah specifically says: “He who boasts and strives for virtue and does not take care to conceal it, so that people do not perceive this good work of his, is like a house whose door and windows have been removed and, as a result, any reptile that wishes easily enters it.”The internal dimension of virtues is also declared by St. Isaac the Syrian: “Virtue is not the display of many and various acts performed through the body, but that which is contained by a most wise heart which is supported by hope in God. This heart is connected, by the right intention, to the works done according to God's will."

Acquisition of the Holy Spirit

Many of our Christian brothers and sisters often fall into the temptation of displaying the external forms of their piety, that is, their virtues, especially during periods like Great Lent. They have the illusion that the attainment of virtues by itself can ensure the salvation of the soul and union with God. They never understood that virtues are tools given by God, which become active and useful when used as fruits of Divine illumination, inspiration, and grace, given to humble hearts that have learned to work secretly.

Therefore, let us always keep in mind what Saint Seraphim of Sarov said: “Virtues are not the purpose of life; rather, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.” When the Holy Spirit envelops our existence, then the virtues will be the natural consequence, God's reward in our spiritual struggle. Amen!

Archimandrite E. Oik.

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Daily Calendar

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 

Thursday 3/6

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

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

Mon-Wed3/10-3/12 Metropolis Clergy Retreat

Thursday 3/13

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

Friday3/14

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

2nd Salutations @6:00pm

Saturday 3/15  

@11am Geannakakes Baptism

Sunday 3/16
@8:15 am:+Orthros, @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas

Memorial Service + Michael Dontas

GOYA Sights & Sounds Replay in Social Hall

Non-Parish Event (Indian Program)in our gym

 Monday 3/17

Office of the Great Compline @6:00pm

Wednesday 3/19

Pre-Sanctified Gifts Liturgy @6:00pm

 Friday 3/21

3rd  Salutations @6:00pm

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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.


    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


    Parish Council

    Parish Council

    Parish Council members took the OATH OF OFFICE on Feb 23


    His Holiness

    His Holiness

    Catechetical Homily of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, IN GREEK


    His Holiness

    His Holiness

    Catechetical Homily of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, IN ENGLISH


    Lord's Voice

    Lord's Voice

    FONI KYRIOU in Greek


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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

George, Nadia, George, Frosso, 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, Cynthia, Irene, Jackellyn, Joan, Maria, Panagoula, Sophia, Michael, Barbara, Andrew, Effie,  Hariklia, Alexandra, Angeliki, 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, Eleana, Ellen, Andrew,  Denise.. 

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.

 

 

 

 

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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.

Third Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Μᾶρκον 16:9-20

Ἀναστὰς ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρωῒ πρώτῃ Σαββάτου ἐφάνη πρῶτον Μαρίᾳ τῇ Μαγδαληνῇ, ἀφ' ἧς ἐκβεβλήκει ἑπτὰ δαιμόνια. Ἐκείνη πορευθεῖσα ἀπήγγειλε τοῖς μετ' αὐτοῦ γενομένοις, πενθοῦσι καὶ κλαίουσι. Κᾀκεῖνοι ἀκούσαντες ὅτι ζῇ καὶ ἐθεάθη ὑπ' αὐτῆς ἠπίστησαν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δυσὶν ἐξ αὐτῶν περιπατοῦσιν ἐφανερώθη ἐν ἑτέρᾳ μορφῇ, πορευομένοις, εἰς ἀγρόν. Κᾀκεῖνοι ἀπελθόντες ἀπήγγειλαν τοῖς λοιποῖς, οὐδὲ ἐκείνοις ἐπίστευσαν. Ὕστερον, ἀνακειμένοις αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἕνδεκα ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ὠνείδισε τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν καὶ σκληροκαρδίαν, ὅτι τοῖς θεασαμένοις αὐτὸν ἐγηγερμένον, οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Πορευθέντες εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα, κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει. Ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθείς, σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας, κατακριθήσεται. Σημεῖα δὲ τοῖς πιστεύσασι ταῦτα παρακολουθήσει. Ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσι, γλώσσαις λαλήσουσι καιναῖς, ὄφεις ἀροῦσι, κἂν θανάσιμόν τι πίωσιν, οὐ μὴ αὐτοὺς βλάψει, ἐπὶ ἀῤῥώστους χεῖρας ἐπιθήσουσι, καὶ καλῶς ἕξουσιν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Κύριος, μετὰ τὸ λαλῆσαι αὐτοῖς, ἀνελήφθη εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἐξελθόντες, ἐκήρυξαν πανταχοῦ, τοῦ Κυρίου συνεργοῦντος, καὶ τὸν λόγον βεβαιοῦντος, διὰ τῶν ἐπακολουθούντων σημείων. Ἀμήν.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. Psalm 75.11,1.
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them.
Verse: God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 13:11-14; 14:1-4.

Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.

Προκείμενον. Plagal Fourth Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 75.11,1.
Εὔξασθε καὶ ἀπόδοτε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν.
Στίχ. Γνωστὸς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ὁ Θεός, ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ μέγα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς ῾Ρωμαίους 13:11-14, 14:1-4.

Ἀδελφοί, νῦν ἐγγύτερον ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν. Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν· ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, καί ἐνδυσώμεθα τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός. Ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν, μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ. Ἀλλʼ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε, εἰς ἐπιθυμίας. Τὸν δὲ ἀσθενοῦντα τῇ πίστει προσλαμβάνεσθε, μὴ εἰς διακρίσεις διαλογισμῶν. Ὃς μὲν πιστεύει φαγεῖν πάντα, ὁ δὲ ἀσθενῶν λάχανα ἐσθίει. Ὁ ἐσθίων τὸν μὴ ἐσθίοντα μὴ ἐξουθενείτω, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων τὸν ἐσθίοντα μὴ κρινέτω· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτὸν προσελάβετο. Σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; Τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἢ πίπτει. Σταθήσεται δέ· δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς στῆσαι αὐτόν.


Gospel Reading

Forgiveness Sunday
The Reading is from Matthew 6:14-21

The Lord said, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Forgiveness Sunday
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 6:14-21

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· ᾿Εὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν. ῞Οταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί· ἀφανίζουσι γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀπέχουσι τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. σὺ δὲ νηστεύων ἄλειψαί σου τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου νίψαι,ὅπως μὴ φανῇς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων, ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι ἐν τῷ φανερῷ. Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσι καὶ κλέπτουσι· θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται οὐ διορύσσουσιν οὐδὲ κλέπτουσιν· ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρὸς ὑμῶν, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν.


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Saints and Feasts

March 02

Forgiveness Sunday

The Holy Fathers have appointed the commemoration of Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight here, on the eve of the holy Forty-day Fast, demonstrating to us not by simple words, but by actual deeds, how beneficial fasting is for man, and how harmful and destructive are insatiety and the transgressing of the divine commandments. For the first commandment that God gave to man was that of fasting, which the first-fashioned received but did not keep; and not only did they not become gods, as they had imagined, but they lost even that blessed life which they had, and they fell into corruption and death, and transmitted these and innumerable other evils to all of mankind. The God-bearing Fathers set these things before us today, that by bringing to mind what we have fallen from, and what we have suffered because of the insatiety and disobedience of the first-fashioned, we might be diligent to return again to that ancient bliss and glory by means of fasting and obedience to all the divine commands. Taking occasion from today's Gospel (Matt. 6:14-21) to begin the Fast unencumbered by enmity, we also ask forgiveness this day, first from God, then from one another and all creation.


March 02

Hesychius 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.


March 02

Our Holy Father Nicholas Planas

 

Saint Nicholas Planas was born in 1851 A.D. on the island of Naxos in Greece. He was married as a teenager and soon after ordained to the diaconate and then the priesthood. His wife reposed soon after and so he assumed the burden of being a widowed father and a parish priest. He was known for his zeal in serving the liturgy, especially his habit of serving the Divine Liturgy every day for 50 years. Many altar boys would see him radiating light or raised off the ground while serving the liturgy. Being so revered by his parishioners, he became known as “Papa,” which is an affectionate term for a parish priest. Papa Nicholas reposed in 1932 and was formally canonized as a saint in 1992.


March 09

Sunday of Orthodoxy

For more than one hundred years the Church of Christ was troubled by the persecution of the Iconoclasts of evil belief, beginning in the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741) and ending in the reign of Theophilus (829-842). After Theophilus's death, his widow the Empress Theodora (celebrated Feb. 11), together with the Patriarch Methodius (June 14), established Orthodoxy anew. This ever-memorable Queen venerated the icon of the Mother of God in the presence of the Patriarch Methodius and the other confessors and righteous men, and openly cried out these holy words: "If anyone does not offer relative worship to the holy icons, not adoring them as though they were gods, but venerating them out of love as images of the archetype, let him be anathema." Then with common prayer and fasting during the whole first week of the Forty-day Fast, she asked God's forgiveness for her husband. After this, on the first Sunday of the Fast, she and her son, Michael the Emperor, made a procession with all the clergy and people and restored the holy icons, and again adorned the Church of Christ with them. This is the holy deed that all we the Orthodox commemorate today, and we call this radiant and venerable day the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, the triumph of true doctrine over heresy.


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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Third Mode

Let the Heavens rejoice; let earthly things be glad; for the Lord hath wrought might with His arm, He hath trampled upon death by death. The first-born of the dead hath He become. From the belly of Hades hath He delivered us, and hath granted great mercy to the world.
Εὐφραινέσθω τὰ οὐράνια, ἀγαλλιάσθω τὰ ἐπίγεια, ὅτι ἐποίησε κράτος, ἐν βραχίονι αὐτοῦ, ὁ Κύριος, ἐπάτησε τῷ θανάτῳ τὸν θάνατον, πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν ἐγένετο, ἐκ κοιλίας ᾅδου ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς, καὶ παρέσχε τῷ κόσμῳ τὸ μέγα ἔλεος.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Second Mode

O Master, Prudence, Guide of Wisdom, Instruction to the foolish and Defender of the poor, strengthen my heart and grant it discernment. Give me words, Word of the Father, for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying out to You, "O Merciful One, have mercy on me who has fallen."
Τῆς σοφίας ὁδηγέ, φρονήσεως χορηγέ, τῶν ἀφρόνων παιδευτά, καὶ πτωχῶν ὑπερασπιστά, στήριξον, συνέτισον τὴν καρδίαν μου Δέσποτα. Σὺ δίδου μοι λόγον, ὁ τοῦ Πατρός Λόγος· ἰδοὺ γὰρ τὰ χείλη μου, οὐ μὴ κωλύσω ἐν τῷ κράζειν σοι· Ἐλεῆμον, ἐλέησόν με τὸν παραπεσόντα.
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Wisdom of the Fathers

Spiritual delight is not enjoyment found in things that exists outside the soul.
St. Isaac of Syria
Unknown, 7th century

Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself, man. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation.
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
Unknown, 18th century

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