Orthros at 8:15 am & Divine Liturgy at 9:30am
Weekday Orthros and Liturgies begin at 8am
Sunday 8/31
@8:15am Orthros @9:30am Divine Liturgy +12th Sunday of Matthew
On Sunday, July 31st 2025 at 1:00pm Brooke Stone will be Baptized and Christmated according to the rites of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Godfather is Chris Tsamutalis.
On Sunday, July 31st 2025 at 1:00pm Brooke Stone will baptize her sons in the Orthodox Faith. The Godparents will be Andrew and Iris Krassas.
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Sunday 9/7
@8:15am Orthros @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday before holy Cross
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
Coffee hour today is sponsored by the Brooke Stone & Family in memory of +Clement (Clem) Lios and +Evangelie (Lillian) Troth.
Bagels are donated by Jimmy Psaras | ALFA BAGELS Route 10 in Randolph, NJ
Coffee is donated by Aristotle Leontopoulos Coffee Associates in Edgewater NJ
Hellenic Afternoon School
Thursday, September 11th at 4:30pm Agiasmo in Church
followed by open house and then first day of Class for all HAS grades
GREEK DANCE 1st Session on Thursday, September 18th
Group 1 @ 6:30pm | Group 2 @7:15 pm | GOYA @8:00pm
Religious Education classes will begin on Sunday, September 14th
All youth, ages 2.5-18 are invited to attend Sunday School which will be held immediately after Holy Communion.
If not a Greek School Family (HAS) please submit $30 for membership in our PTA.
Fillable Registration Forms please send to Church office [email protected]
Please patronize & support our local businesses: With the closures taking place on Route 80, many of our parishioners have been suffering with difficulties associated with the travel delays. Some of our parishioners have businesses that have been adversely affected as well. We ask that you keep these businesses and the families who own them in your prayers and also try to find ways to patronize them and give them your support.
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
“In an effort to really get to know and understand each other and to bring our community closer together, we invite you to listen to testimonials from parishioners and people touched by our Faith. Let us love one another, “Αγαπήσομεν Αλλήλους", also by reflecting on our journeys together. We hope these testimonials are meaningful and uplifting for you."
Click here to listen to testimonial of Ervin Mile
Click here to listen to testimonial of Nikolaos Karkanias.
If you would like to share your story with us, please contact our parish office.
Thank you and may God bless you.
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!
LORD'S VOICE 8-31-2025
THE OLD SANCTUARY, A PREFIGURATION OF THE NEW
Brethren, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.
ORTHODOX WORSHIP
Today's Apostolic narrative concerns the Christians of Hebrew origin. The Apostle's aim is to clarify the differences between the worship of God in the Old Testament and the worship of the Incarnate Word within His Church. To this end, he proceeds with a detailed account of the handmade Tabernacle of Witness, which always constituted the holiest point of the Jewish religion. He refers to the liturgical regulations and the earthly altar, the first part of the Tabernacle, called the "Holy Place." He then describes the "Holy of
Holies" and mentions the priestly ministry, which was limited to the "Holy Place," as well as the ministry of the High Priest of the year, who, once a year, entered the "Holy of Holies" to offer a blood sacrifice for himself and for the sins of the people.
Christ, the One offered and sacrificed
Next, the Apostle refers to the tent of God's worship not made by hands, where the Great High Priest, Christ, enters forever, offering a continual sacrifice, not the blood of goats and bulls, but His own Blood, which secures eternal redemption for people. This image of the eternally offered and sacrificed Christ for the love of people is the foundation of Orthodox Christian worship, the center of the liturgical life of our Church, where the Divine Liturgy and the mystery of the Holy Eucharist hold a dominant place.
In His conversation with the Samaritan woman in the well-known Gospel passage, Christ describes God as "Spirit," who is worshiped everywhere and always. That is, every Christian can express feelings of worship toward God through prayer, anywhere and at any time. At the same time, however, all Christians together form the Body of the Church and participate in the communal liturgical life, which unfolds daily in the sacred space of the church, where we collectively offer our worship to God. Though this worship is carried out with material elements, nevertheless, it transcends earthly boundaries and elevates the faithful to experience the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven. For this is precisely what Orthodox worship is: the icon and foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. This explains the brilliance of sacred churches and the vestments of the clergy. What might otherwise be considered unnecessary or even provocative luxury, or a remnant of glorious Byzantinism, reveals nothing other than the eschatological image of the glory and Kingdom of God.
Temples radiate the brilliance of heaven.
This is how we should perceive the radiant and dazzling image of divine worship, where our churches are transformed into palaces of heaven, and our clergy – often dressed in black in their
daily lives – become angels of light, glorifying the majesty of the heavenly God.
However, because voices unfamiliar with spiritual life and ecclesiastical experience often attempt to provoke scandal and to shake our faith, invoking the supposed luxury of divine worship, let us keep in mind the attitude of a contemporary Saint: “It is inconceivable to you why the Orthodox Church permits such inner brilliance: precious icons, silver oil lamps, golden chalices, expensive vestments, and other costly items. It is because all this dazzling radiance is meant to remind people of the eternal brilliance of heaven. To draw them, even if only for a moment, out of their earthly misery and to alert them to that other world, their heavenly homeland, the kingdom of eternal happiness and eternal joy. To present to them, as much as is possible on earth, in a material and symbolic way, that luxury and richness which fills the spiritual world and with which the soul of the Christian must be filled, the soul that is enclosed in the body, just as all that brilliance is enclosed within the stone walls of the church.”
Let us participate in the worship life of our Church with this understanding, with consistency and fervent inner disposition, tasting through this life the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen!
Archimandrite E. Oik.
Coffee Hour Hosts in September: 9/7 Philoptochos 9/14 DOP, 9/21 PTA, 9/28 Parish Council
Wednesday 9/3
@11am Knitting Crochet & Pillow Ministry - next on 9/10 @6pm
Sunday 9/7
@8:15am Orthros @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday before the Holy Cross
Monday 9/8
@8am +Orthros @9am Divine Liturgy +Nativity of the Theotokos
@7:30pm Parish Council Meeting next 10/6
Tuesday 9/9
@8 am +Orthros @9am Divine Liturgy + Holy & Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna
Wednesday 9/10
@6pm Knitting Crochet & Pillow Ministry - next on 9/17 @11am
Thursday 9/11
@4:30 Agiasmos in church followed by 1ST Day of Greek School Classes
Sunday 9/14
@8:15am Orthros @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Exaltation Of The Holy Cross
1st Day of Sunday School
@1pm Baptism Reyes
Thursday 9/18
1ST Day of Greek Dance
Sunday 9/21
@8:15am Orthros @9:30am Divine Liturgy +Sunday after the Holy Cross
Monday 9/22
@8 am +Orthros @9am Divine Liturgy +Phocas the Martyr, Bishop of Sinope *Relics
Tuesday 9/23
@8 am +Orthros @9am Divine Liturgy + Conception of John the Baptist
@7pm Philoptochos Meeting next 10/28
Thursday 9/25
@11:30am Agape Luncheon next 10/23
Friday 9/26
@8 am +Orthros @9am Divine Liturgy Falling Asleep of John, the Theologian and Evangelist
Saturday 9/27
Faith Kitchen - GOYA
@11am-6pm GYRO & SOUVLAKI FEST
In gratitude for God’s Blessings, please make your commitment to Christ and His Church by submitting your 2025 Stewardship Pledge.
CAR RAFFLE TICKETS Please help us with postage and pick up your raffle tickets. Please sell your raffle tickets, mail, or bring in your money with the stubs to the office, and consider selling more tickets in front of the church. sign up genius https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4FADA829ABFBC07-56695719-roadside/19642185#/roadside/19642185#/
ENROLLMENT NOW OPEN. 1ST CLASS September 11
MODERN GREEK LANGUAGE - BEGINNERS & INTERMEDIATE on Thursdays 7pm-9pm October 2 - December 11, 2025
Religious Education classes will begin on Sunday, September 14th All youth, ages 2.5-18 are invited to attend Sunday School which will be held immediately after Holy Communion. Please use QR Code to register for upcoming school year. If not a Greek School Family (HAS) please submit $30 for Membership in our PTA.
Saturday October 18, 2025
Saturday Oct 11, 2025 11am
Sunday, September 28th, 2025
Sunday, September 28th
09-28-25
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
Sylvia, Amal, Angelo, Helen, Michelle, Chrisdulla, Ennette, Eleni, Mary, Andreas, Thiano, Paraskevi, Dorothy, Sofia, Joseph, Kenneth, Vasilis, Judith, Catrina, Patricia, Eleni, Erica, Maria, Angeliki, Maria, Dimitrios, Irene, Reta, Eleni, Ioannis, Craig, Nicole, Maria, George, Nadia, George, Frosso, Kyriaki, Maria, Beatrice, Angeliki, Monica, Stephanie, Demetrios, Eleni, Alexandros, Alexandra, Juliana, Demetrios, Kathy, Michael, Maroulia, Areti, Niko, Dennis, Romeo, Zoe, Jean, Anna, Demetrios, Cynthia, Irene, Jackellyn, Maria, Panagoula, Sophia, Michael, Barbara, Andrew, Effie, Hariklia, Alexandra, …
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.
First Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Matthew 28:16-20
At that time, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Amen."
First Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 28:16-20
Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, οἱ ἕνδεκα μαθηταὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, εἰς τὸ Ὄρος, οὗ ἐτάξατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς. Καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτόν, προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ· οἱ δὲ ἐδίστασαν. Καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς, λέγων· Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Πορευθέντες οὖν, μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρός, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος· διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν. Καὶ ἰδού, ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ἀμήν.
Prokeimenon. Third Mode. Luke 1: 46-48.
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
Verse: For he has regarded the humility of his servant.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 9:1-7.
BRETHREN, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.
Προκείμενον. Third Mode. Λουκάν 1:46-48.
Μεγαλύνει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἠγαλλίασε τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρί μου.
Στίχ. Ὅτι ἐπέβλεψεν ἐπὶ τὴν ταπείνωσιν τῆς δούλης αὐτοῦ.
τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Ἑβραίους 9:1-7.
Ἀδελφοί, εἶχεν ἡ πρώτη σκηνὴ δικαιώματα λατρείας, τό τε ἅγιον κοσμικόν. Σκηνὴ γὰρ κατεσκευάσθη ἡ πρώτη, ἐν ᾗ ἥ τε λυχνία καὶ ἡ τράπεζα καὶ ἡ πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων, ἥτις λέγεται ἅγια. Μετὰ δὲ τὸ δεύτερον καταπέτασμα σκηνὴ ἡ λεγομένη ἅγια ἁγίων, χρυσοῦν ἔχουσα θυμιατήριον, καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης περικεκαλυμμένην πάντοθεν χρυσίῳ, ἐν ᾗ στάμνος χρυσῆ ἔχουσα τὸ μάννα, καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος Ἀαρὼν ἡ βλαστήσασα, καὶ αἱ πλάκες τῆς διαθήκης· ὑπεράνω δὲ αὐτῆς Χερουβὶμ δόξης κατασκιάζοντα τὸ ἱλαστήριον· περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν νῦν λέγειν κατὰ μέρος. Τούτων δὲ οὕτως κατεσκευασμένων, εἰς μὲν τὴν πρώτην σκηνὴν διὰ παντὸς εἰσίασιν οἱ ἱερεῖς, τὰς λατρείας ἐπιτελοῦντες· εἰς δὲ τὴν δευτέραν ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ μόνος ὁ ἀρχιερεύς, οὐ χωρὶς αἵματος, ὃ προσφέρει ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ ἀγνοημάτων·
12th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 19:16-26
At that time, a young man came up to Jesus, kneeling and saying, "Good Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
12th Sunday of Matthew
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 19:16-26
Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, νεανίσκος τις προσῆλθε τῷ Ἰησοῦ, γονυπετῶν αὐτόν, καὶ λέγων· Διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, τί ἀγαθὸν ποιήσω ἵνα ἔχω ζωὴν αἰώνιον; ‘O δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός. εἰ δὲ θέλεις εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωήν, τήρησον τὰς ἐντολάς. λέγει αὐτῷ· ποίας; ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπε· τὸ οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις, τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα, καὶ ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ νεανίσκος· πάντα ταῦτα ἐφυλαξάμην ἐκ νεότητός μου· τί ἔτι ὑστερῶ; ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ ῾Ιησοῦς· εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι. ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ νεανίσκος τὸν λόγον ἀπῆλθε λυπούμενος· ἦν γὰρ ἔχων κτήματα πολλά. ῾Ο δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι δυσκόλως πλούσιος εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. πάλιν δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστι κάμηλον διὰ τρυπήματος ῥαφίδος διελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. ἀκούσαντες δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐξεπλήσσοντο σφόδρα λέγοντες· τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι; ἐμβλέψας δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· παρὰ ἀνθρώποις τοῦτο ἀδύνατόν ἐστι, παρὰ δὲ Θεῷ πάντα δυνατά ἐστι.
Although the historical accounts differ somewhat, the Deposition that is celebrated today took place most likely during the reign of Emperor Arcadius (395-408), when the precious Cincture of the Mother of God was brought from Zela of Cappadocia to Constantinople, and placed in the Church of the Theotokos in the section of Chalcopratia.
Saint Cyprian was born of pagan parents in Carthage of Roman Africa about the year 190. An eloquent teacher of rhetoric, he was converted and baptized late in life, and his conversion from a proud man of learning to a humble servant of Christ was complete; he sold his great possessions and gave them to the poor, and because of his zeal and virtue, was ordained presbyter in 247, then Bishop of Carthage in 248. He was especially steadfast in defending the sanctity and uniqueness of the Baptism of the Church of Christ against the confusion of those who would allow some validity to the ministrations of heretics; his writings continue to guide the Church even in our own day. Having survived the persecution of Decius about the year 250, he was beheaded in confession of the Faith during the persecution of Valerian in 258, on September 14; that day being the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, his feast is kept today.
For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was reissued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the fifteen years. This imperial decree, which was issued before the season of winter, was named Indictio, that is, Definiton, or Order. This name was adopted by the emperors in Constantinople also. At other times, the latter also used the term Epinemisis, that is, Distribution (Dianome). It is commonly held that Saint Constantine the Great introduced the Indiction decrees in A.D. 312, after he beheld the sign of the Cross in heaven and vanquished Maxentius and was proclaimed Emperor in the West. Some, however (and this seems more likely), ascribe the institution of the Indiction to Augustus Caesar, three years before the birth of Christ. Those who hold this view offer as proof the papal bull issued in A.D. 781 which is dated thus: Anno IV, Indictionis LIII -that is, the fourth year of the fifty-third Indiction. From this, we can deduce the aforementioned year (3 B.C.) by multiplying the fifty-two complete Indictions by the number of years in each (15), and adding the three years of the fifty-third Indiction. There are three types of Indictions: 1) That which was introduced in the West, and which is called Imperial, or Caesarean, or Constantinian, and which begins on the 24th of September; 2) The so-called Papal Indiction, which begins on the 1st of January; and 3) The Constantinopolitan, which was adopted by the Patriarchs of that city after the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453. This Indiction is indicated in their own hand on the decrees they issue, without the numeration of the fifteen years. This Indiction begins on the 1st of September and is observed with special ceremony in the Church. Since the completion of each year takes place, as it were, with the harvest and gathering of the crops into storehouses, and we begin anew from henceforth the sowing of seed in the earth for the production of future crops, September is considered the beginning of the New Year. The Church also keeps festival this day, beseeching God for fair weather, seasonable rains, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. The Holy Scriptures (Lev. 23:24-5 and Num. 29:1-2) also testify that the people of Israel celebrated the feast of the Blowing of the Trumpets on this day, offering hymns of thanksgiving. In addition to all the aforesaid, on this feast we also commemorate our Saviour's entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He was given the book of the Prophet Esaias to read, and He opened it and found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for which cause He hath anointed Me..." (Luke 4:16-30).
It should be noted that to the present day, the Church has always celebrated the beginning of the New Year on September 1. This was the custom in Constantinople until its fall in 1453 and in Russia until the reign of Peter I. September 1 is still festively celebrated as the New Year at the Patriarchate of Constantinople; among the Jews also the New Year, although reckoned according to a moveable calendar, usually falls in September. The service of the Menaion for January 1 is for our Lord's Circumcision and for the memorial of Saint Basil the Great, without any mention of its being the beginning of a new year.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Greek Standard Text
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Greek Standard Text
Hymn of the Apostle Saint Andrew: As first called of the Apostles and brother of Peter the Preeminent, O Andrew, intercede with the Master of all to grant peace to the whole world, and great mercy to our souls.
Απολυτίκιο του Αποστόλου Ανδρέου: Ως των Αποσόλων πρωτόκλητος, και του κορυφαίου αυτάδελφος, τον Δεσπότην των όλων Ανδρέα ικέτευε, ειρήνην τη οικουμένη δωρήσασθαι, και ταις ψυχαίς ημών το μέγα έλεος
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Greek Standard Text