April 03
St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2022-04-03
Bulletin Contents
St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church
General Information
- Phone:
- (908) 968-4004
- Fax:
- (908) 968-4002
- Email:
- stannagoc@gmail.com
- Street Address:
- 85 Voorhees Corner Road,
- Flemington, NJ 08822
Contact Information
Services Schedule
Sunday Services: Orthros 8:30 am; Divine Liturgy 9:30 am.
Weekday Services: See parish website calendar link for updates.
Past Bulletins
- Publish Date:
- 2022-04-10
- Publish Date:
- 2022-03-27
- Publish Date:
- 2022-03-20
- Publish Date:
- 2022-03-13
- Publish Date:
- 2022-03-06
- Publish Date:
- 2022-02-27
Parish News
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2022 Stewardship Status: As of April 1, we have 113 Pledges totaling $138,345 and $76,853 received to date. We also have 13 families who have contributed $6,390 to date but have not submitted a stewardship card. It is important that all families complete a stewardship card to be considered a steward. The current Stewardship List and other stewardship information are posted on the bulletin board by the water cooler.
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Today, Orthros 8:15 am (start time through Lent) followed by Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am. Sunday of St. John of the Ladder.
Candle Light Vigil for Ukraine on Sunday, April 3 at 7 pm at the Historic Courthouse on Main St. in Flemington. Our own Connie Wygera is one of the organizers. Fr. Anastasios will attend and offer a prayer. Please join them in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who need our prayers, especially now.
Spring Parish General Assembly Next Sunday, April 10: All should have received the email this past Wednesday with the agenda. Extra copies of the letter/agenda are in the narthex. Please join us next Sunday after services as we discuss the progress of our parish as one family in Christ. (If you are a Steward and did not receive the email, see Fr. A to be sure you are put on the email distribution list.)
Palm Sunday Luncheon. On Palm Sunday, April 17, 2022, a luncheon presented by the Parish Council will be offered immediately after Liturgy in the church hall. The menu includes a fish and spanakorizo entree for adults for $16.00, and a pasta entrée for children for $5.00. We are taking in-person reservations during coffee hour. If it will be more convenient for you to make your reservation through PayPal, you may do so by making a notation in the PayPal transaction stating it is for the Palm Sunday Luncheon. If using PayPal, you also need to let Arge Mardakis know of your reservation. You can let Arge know during coffee hour or email her at mardakis@co.somerset.nj.us So that we know how much food to order, please let us know as soon as possible of your attendance. The last time we met for this event was in 2019, and we enjoyed the fellowship during this special time of year. Let’s all get together again this year. Kali Anastasi.
Please help with our Holy Week and Easter needs. The Easter Appeal Letter was sent via email. Extra copies are in the narthex. Thank you for your continued generosity!
Our Parish St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival took place on Friday, March 25. Congratulations to all 5 participants: Aris Diagelakis, Yianni Logothetis, Andreas Kousoulas, Stephanie Ticas, and Demetri Kousoulas. Today, Aris Diagelakis and Stephanie Ticas will offer their speeches; on April 10: Andreas Kousoulas. Stephanie and Andreas represented our parish at the District Level on the morning of April 2 in Wyckoff, NJ. Congratulations to all our speakers!
Holy Services: This 5th Week of Lent:
Monday, Great Compline at 5:30 pm
Presanctified Liturgy: Wednesday at 6 pm and on Friday at 8:30 am
Thursday at 6 pm - Great Compline
Friday: Akathyst Hymn at 7 pm.
Live Streaming - is back! Thanks to the generous anonymous family who donated for the new equipment.
PC CORNER
The Spring Parish Assembly is scheduled for NEXT WEEK, Sunday, April 10 after services. Please join us as we discuss the life and progress of our St. Anna Parish.
SAVE THE DATE! SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 - 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION! His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America is expected to preside at services this day along with other clergy. We are planning a wonderful 20th Anniversary Luncheon locally for all to celebrate our 20th Anniversary together! More details soon...
CHURCH BEAUTIFICATION: The pew kneelers were installed on Monday, Feb. 27. Also, stained glass has been ordered and installation will begin soon. Thank you to all the donors who have made this possible.
PARISHIONER IN NEED: During Lent, as Orthodox Christians, we are called to strengthen our prayer life, intensify our fasting, and commit ourselves to almsgiving. When we think of almsgiving, we tend to associate it with supporting those who are in financial need. However, we can think in broader terms and consider helping those who have different types of needs.
Andrea Kalliaras is a parishioner within our Metropolis who has a health need. She has been diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia that can only be cured by a stem cell transplant. We have an opportunity to help Andrea by volunteering to take a test to determine donor suitability. This 10-second cheek swab test can be done in the convenience of one's home and is free of charge. We ask that you please include Andrea in your prayers and consider participating in the donor process.
Please use the following link to learn more about Andrea's situation and to find the instructions for ordering a test kit. www.swab4andrea.com.
(See Fr. A for more info). Thank you.
Young Adults - Fr. A is organizing a dinner meeting on Tuesday, April 5 at 7:30 pm at a diner in Wayne, NJ for the region. Upcoming events will be planned. Please see him if interested in attending the planning dinner meeting. Many events are being planned for our region!
Philoptochos
Philoptochos has been reinvigorated to continue outreach where we can be of service to our St. Anna family as well as to our Hunterdon County community. Many parishioners (old and new friends) are Philoptochos members and enjoy this very important ministry of the church. If you are not a current member, Philoptochos invites you to become a member and welcomes your talents and support. For membership information and an enrollment form, please contact either Maria Tattoli at mtattoli@gmail.com or Arge Mardakis at mardakis@co.somerset.nj.us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Philoptochos is having a Tsoureki sale until TODAY, April 3rd. There is a sign-up sheet after church during fellowship. Round bread is $17 and braided bread is $12. If you would like to order you can also contact Aimeedouvris@gmail.com
Last call! Through today, April 3rd the Ladies Philoptochos is partnering with the United Way of Flemington by collecting the following items. These items will be dispersed to our local food pantries and agencies throughout Hunterdon county. A day of packaging the donations TBD.
Baby diapers size 6
Baby wipes, baby wash, baby lotion, baby shampoo
pull-ups, any size
Desitin, vaseline
feminine care products
incontinence products
If people would like to make a monetary donation please visit:
"Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him.." Psalm 41:1
Please contact Aimee Douvris with any questions:
Book Study: All are still welcome to join!
Book Study Reading Schedule (7 to 8 pm each of these Thursdays via Zoom - please email Fr. A for the Zoom link.)
April 7 - pgs 171-179; 188-196
April 14 - pgs 218-237
Key dates for Sunday School: Sunday, April 10: Walk Through Holy Week Retreat (during Sunday School and Fellowship Hour for all to enjoy). Saturday of Lazarus, April 16 (Palm Folding and Fellowship after services). May 22: Last Day of Sunday School. High School Senior Recognition Day.
OPEN GYM: for all youth on selected Sundays from 12:30 to 2 pm, including today!! GOYA - it's time to get together to prepare for the outdoor Olympics (Coed Volleyball) at Monmouth U. on Memorial Day Weekend! All youth are invited.
Family Hike Day! Saturday, April 9 from 10 am to 12 pm. Sourland Mountain Preserve in Hillsborough. Please contact Maria Tattoli. The email was sent out on March 25 to all. Please join us!
Beginning on Wednesday, March 9th, the remote classes started 30 minutes earlier. The 5:00 class will start at 4:30 pm and end at 5:30 pm. Additionally, the 6:00 class will start at 5:30 pm and end at 6:30 pm. This time change will be in effect from 3/9/22 through 4/13/22.
GREEK DANCE: has begun! (STARTED MONDAY, MARCH 28) after Greek School for 7th to 12th graders. See Fr. A today if interested. The more the merrier!
Please contact Larisa or Fr. A for more information about the Junior Greek Dance practices (OPA! Festival is always the 2nd weekend in September.)
Kidney Donor Needed for 18-year-old: Melina Galias of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Egg Harbor Township, NJ has been on dialysis since June 2021. She has been accepted to Drexel University but needs a kidney transplant. Please register with VirtualHealth Kidney Donor Program on behalf of Melina. A donor must be older than 18 and in good overall health. A living donor is sought with O or B blood types. For more info re: registration --> virtua.org/KidneyDonation or call Jennie Roggio at 856-796-9376. Thank you.
From St. George GOC, Hamilton, NJ: We are looking for a part-time office administration assistant in the Hamilton church. (See Fr. A for full job description). Interested applicants should email a cover letter and resume to St. George’s Admin@stgeorgehamilton.com email address.
Saints and Feasts
April 03
Joseph the Hymnographer
Saint Joseph was from Sicily, the son of Plotinus and Agatha. Because Sicily had been subjugated by the Moslems, he departed thence and, passing from place to place, came with Saint Gregory of Decapolis (see NOV. 20) to Constantinople, where he endured bitter afflictions because of his pious zeal. Travelling to Rome, he was captured by Arab pirates and taken to Crete, whence he later returned to Constantinople. He became an excellent hymnographer and reposed in holiness shortly after 886 (according to some, it was in 883). The melismatic canons of the Menaion are primarily the work of this Joseph; they bear his name in the acrostic of the Ninth Ode. He also composed most of the sacred book known as the Paracletike, which complements the Octoechos For this reason, Joseph is called par excellence the Hymnographer.
April 03
Sunday of St. John Climacus
The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written by a great man of prayer experienced in all forms of the monastic polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility. It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its entirety in monasteries during the Great Fast.
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Epistle Reading
Prokeimenon. Plagal 4th Tone. 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 Hebrews 6:13-20.
BRETHREN, when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore to himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel Reading
Sunday of St. John Climacus
The Reading is from Mark 9:17-31
At that time, a man came to Jesus kneeling and saying: "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again." And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise."
Hymns of the Day
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal 4th Tone
From on high didst Thou descend, O Compassionate One; to burial of three days hast Thou submitted that Thou mightest free us from our passions. O our Life and Resurrection, Lord, glory be to Thee.
Apolytikion for Sun. of St. John Climacus in the Plagal 4th Tone
With the streams of thy tears, thou didst cultivate the barrenness of the desert; and by thy sighings from the depths,thou didst bear fruit a hundredfold in labours; and thou becamest a luminary, shining with miracles upon the world, O John our righteous Father. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal 4th Tone
To you, Theotokos, invincible Defender, having been delivered from peril, I, your city, dedicate the victory festival as a thank offering. In your irresistible might, keep me safe from all trials, that I may call out to you: "Hail, unwedded bride!"
Wisdom of the Fathers
Seest thou how He now proceeds to lay beforehand in them the foundation of His doctrine about fasting? ... See, at any rate, how many blessings spring from them both. For he that is praying as he ought, and fasting, hath not many wants, and he that hath not many wants, cannot be covetous; ...
Homily 57 on Matthew 17,4,5. B#54, pp.355,356., 4th Century
... he that is not covetous, will be also more disposed for almsgiving. He that fasts is light, and winged, and prays with wakefulness, and quenches his wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles his soul when lifted up. Therefore even the apostles were almost always fasting.
Homily 57 on Matthew 17,4,5. B#54, pp.355,356., 4th Century