September 17
St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2023-09-17
Bulletin Contents
Parish News
Saints and Feasts
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Hymns of the Day
Wisdom of the Fathers
Bulletin inserts
St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church
General Information
- Phone:
- (908) 968-4004
- Fax:
- (908) 968-4002
- Email:
- [email protected]
- 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:
- 2025-04-27
- Publish Date:
- 2025-04-20
- Publish Date:
- 2025-04-06
- Publish Date:
- 2025-03-30
- Publish Date:
- 2025-03-23
- Publish Date:
- 2025-03-16
Parish News
HAPPY NAMEDAY TODAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE WITH SAINTS SOPHIA, FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE ON SUNDAY, SEPT. 17!
*************YOUTH MINISTRY SECTION:
YOUTH MINISTRY REGISTRATIONS: Each of our youth ministries will be taking registrations for the 2023-2024 ecclesiastical year.
Please sign up at the registration table during fellowship hour TODAY. We have so many exciting plans for our youth!
SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, Oct. 8, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. We are happy to announce that our youth in grades K-12 are invited to a team-building Fall Field Day to kick off our youth ministries. This is a FREE event. It will be an afternoon of outdoor field day games and refreshments. Please see Nikol Toulatos or Maria Tattoli during fellowship hour to register your youth and/or to volunteer for the event. Or you may email Nikol Toulatos at [email protected]. RSVP deadline is Sept. 30. You don’t want to miss out on this fun event! Feel free to invite a friend. (See bulletin insert)
SUNDAY SCHOOL: 1ST DAY OF CLASSES HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO SUNDAY, OCT. 1. Please see Fr. A if you want to volunteer with this vital ministry and see Nikol Toulatos during fellowship hour to register.
SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS are invited to attend a kick-off meeting on Sunday, Sept. 24 during fellowship hour with Nikol Toulatos and Fr. A. Please make every effort to attend.
GREEK SCHOOL: 1ST DAY OF GREEK SCHOOL CLASSES IS MONDAY, SEPT. 25. Please see Maria Sfondouris during fellowship hour to register.
ADULT GREEK SCHOOL is also back beginning Oct. 2 via Zoom. The classes will run each Monday from 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. by our wonderful volunteer teacher, Katerina Toulatos. If you are interested or have any questions, please see Maria Sfondouris during fellowship hour to register.
GOYA: This Sunday, Sept.17, all NJ parishes ARE NOW OPEN! The Holy Cross celebration will take place on Sept. 24 at the St. George Church in Ocean, NJ. Good luck to our St. Anna divers: Adriana Tattoli (senior girl’s diver) and Hope Trumpy (junior girl’s diver).
Please see Larisa Trumpy during fellowship hour to register for GOYA.
HOPE & JOY: Please see Kristen Diagelakis during fellowship hour to register our youth in grades K-6.
GREEK DANCE: Thanks to our dedicated dancers for all their wonderful performances! Please see Larisa Trumpy or Fr. A to be sure that all new teens join the Dance Troupe. We are hoping to add to our numbers as we continue to grow this ministry. All are welcome!
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PHILOPTOCHOS: Congratulations to the new board that was sworn in last week! All are asked to support this vital ministry of loving outreach to those in need. The Ladies have many outreach events planned this year so please get involved and continue your support.
Choir NEWS: As always, the choir looks forward to growing participation. Anyone interested in joining the choir- please contact Choir Director Diana Grina- 908-392-7449, [email protected]. The Choir will resume on Sunday, Oct. 1 so please see Diana today!
Young Adults - Please be sure that Fr. A has the email and cell numbers of all our 18-35-year-olds so that he can reach out to them.
OCTOBER WINE AND DINE: Be sure to mark your calendars for our Wine & Dine fundraiser on Saturday, October 21 at 6 p.m. For many years prior to the pandemic, this was always a highly anticipated annual fundraiser as it combines fellowship, wine education, and wonderful food and wine pairings in a reception-style, intimate in-home setting. Parishioner George Staikos, who is a sommelier and wine educator, will lead this event with his wife Christi along with the executive chef/co-owner of the Sergeantsville Inn, Daniel Brunina, who will prepare the menu for us that evening. This event will be held in the home of parishioner Dan Vlahakis in nearby Ringoes (Copper Hill Country Club) who has generously offered to host this not-to-be-missed fundraiser.
Stewardship: Please be sure that you have submitted a Stewardship Commitment Card for 2023. Also, those 2022 Stewards who have forgotten to submit a card for this year can expect a gentle reminder via email and mail in the coming weeks. The refinancing of our Mortgage in August is dependent on having a strong stewardship count with all our families participating. The Stewardship Card is critical for this accounting of our "Committed" Stewards. Please reach out to t[email protected] if you have any Stewardship questions. See the Stewardship update below. Thank you.
2023 Stewardship Status: We have 148 Pledges totaling $190,930 and $154,928 received to date. We also have 9 families who have contributed $4,570 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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Regional News: Greek Festivals this weekend in Union and Ocean, NJ. See times on the Flyer on the Bulletin Board near the office.
Save the date! The Flemington Area Food Pantry's main fundraiser is happening this year on Friday, September 29th at the Pantry from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM. "The Empty Bowl" is an annual drive-up lunch event that raises funds to provide food and personal care items to approximately 1,600 income-qualified Hunterdon County families who are food insecure.
This year's $30 donation will provide a delicious take-out lunch with a restaurant soup, a mini sandwich, a dessert, water, and a handcrafted bowl. Purchase your ticket online and just drive up to the Food Pantry, located across the parking lot from the Flemington Walmart, and your tasty lunch and unique bowl will be delivered right to your car. More than 80% of the Pantry's income is derived from contributions of monetary donations and groceries. For more information, visit https://flemingtonfoodpantry.org/empty-bowl. Tickets will be available in late August. Please check back as participating restaurants are confirmed.
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.
Saints and Feasts
September 17
Sophia & her three daughters: Faith, Hope, and Love
These Saints were from Italy and contested for the Faith about the year 126, during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Faith was twelve years old, Hope, ten, and Love, nine; each was tormented and then beheaded, from the eldest to the youngest. Their mother Sophia mourned at their grave for three days, where she also fell asleep in peace; because of her courageous endurance in the face of her daughters' sufferings, she is also counted a martyr. The name Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek; as for her daughters' names, Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity), they are Pistis, Elpis, and Agape in Greek, and Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov in Russian.
September 17
Afterfeast of the Holy Cross
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Epistle Reading
Prokeimenon. Plagal 2nd Tone. Psalm 27.9,1.
O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance.
Verse: To you, O Lord, I have cried, O my God.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20.
Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Hymns of the Day
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal 2nd Tone
Angelic powers were above Thy tomb, and they that guarded Thee became as dead. And Mary stood by the grave seeking Thine immaculate Body. Thou hast despoiled Hades and wast not tried thereby. Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst grant us life. O Thou Who didst arise from the dead, Lord, glory be to Thee.
Apolytikion for Afterfeast of the Holy Cross in the 1st Tone
Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thine inheritance; grant Thou unto the faithful victory over adversaries. And by the power of Thy Cross do Thou preserve Thy commonwealth.
Seasonal Kontakion in the 4th Tone
Lifted up on the Cross by Your free will, Christ God, grant mercies to the new commonwealth that bears Your name. Gladden our faithful rulers by Your power, giving them victories over their adversaries. May Your alliance be for them a weapon for peace, an invincible standard.
Wisdom of the Fathers
The key to knowledge is the humility of Christ. The door of the Kingdom of Heaven is open, not to those who only know in their learned minds the mysteries of faith and the commandments of their Creator, but to those who have progressed far enough to live by them.
Unknown, 8th century
To deny oneself means to give up one's bad habits; to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world; not to cherish bad thoughts and desires; to suppress every evil thought; to avoid occasions of sin; not to desire or to do anything out of self-love, but to do everything out of love for God. To deny oneself, according to St. Paul means "to be dead to sin. . . but alive to God."
The Lenten Spring, SVS Press, p. 147, 19th Century
Bulletin inserts
2023 Stewardship Commitment Card
Thank you for supporting your St. Anna Parish and all her ministries, payroll, and needs.
Greek School Registration 2023-24
Please complete this form and return to the St. Anna Office. Thank you.
Field Day Flyer
PLEASE Join us on Oct. 8!