September 24
St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2023-09-24
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
Artoklasia: the blessing (literally "breaking") of the 5 Loaves (Artoklasia) is offered today by Adriana and John Tolis in honor of their daughter, Polixeni, who celebrates her Nameday on Sat., Sept. 23. Chronia Polla!
Services this week: Great Vespers in Tenafly on Monday, Sept. 25 at 7 pm presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Apostolos of NJ.
Tuesday here at St. Anna GOC: Orthros at 8:30 AM followed by Divine Liturgy for the Feastday of St. John the Theologian. Happy Nameday to all who celebrate!
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 am - 1:30 pm. 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 TODAY 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 pm - 8:30 pm 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: The Holy Cross celebration is canceled for Sunday due to the weather. 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!
COLLEGE CARE PACKAGES: If you have a college-aged child living at home or away at school, let us know so we can connect with them this school year with 1-2 care packages. The objective of this ministry is to stay connected with our St. Anna youth and to gently remind them that church is home. Please email Maria Tattoli at [email protected] to include your child. Deadline: Oct. 15.
YOUNG ADULT LEAGUE (YAL): For Orthodox Christians ages 18-35. The Metropolis of Pittsburgh is hosting a YAL conference on Oct. 13-15 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown. Registration is open. For more details, go to: https://y2am.pittsburgh.goarch.org/ya/2023-yal-conference
PHILOPTOCHOS: TODAY, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th @ 11:00 AM
Please join us as we kick off an exciting new year at our first Philoptochos General Member meeting! We will be discussing plans for events and outreach, and how we will reach the fundraising goal of "Being Philoptochos", translated to: "Being Friends of the Poor"!!! Grab your coffee and join us for fellowship and discussion in the first classroom on the left! ALL ARE WELCOME! Old and New members!! Hope to see you there!
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!
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:
*******************
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 24
Thecla the Protomartyr & Equal to the Apostles
This saint was from the city of Iconium. When she was eighteen years of age, she was instructed in the Faith of Christ and the hope of the resurrection by the Apostle Paul, whom also she followed, forsaking her betrothed and espousing a life of virginity for the sake of the Heavenly Bridegroom. Having preached Christ in various cities and suffered many things, she reposed in Seleucia of Cilicia at the age of 90.
September 26
The Falling Asleep of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian
This Apostle was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the elder. First a fisherman by trade, he became an Apostle and the beloved Disciple of Christ. Only he of all the Disciples followed Him even to the Cross, and was entrusted with the care of our Saviour's Mother, as it were another son to her, and a brother of Christ the Teacher. After this, he preached throughout Asia Minor, especially in Ephesus. When the second persecution against the Christians began in the year 96 during the reign of Domitian, he was taken in bonds to Rome, and there was cast into a vat filled to the brim with boiling oil. Coming forth therefrom unharmed, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Returning again to Ephesus after the death of the tyrant, he wrote his Gospel (after the other Evangelists had already written theirs) and his three Catholic Epistles. In all, he lived ninety-five years and fell asleep in the Lord during the reign of Trajan in the year 100. He was called Theologian because he loftily expounded in his Gospel the theology of the inexpressible and eternal birth of the Son and Word of God the Father. It is for this cause that an eagle-a symbol of the Holy Spirit, as Saint Irenaeus says-is depicted in his icon, for this was one of the four symbolic living creatures that the Prophet Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 1:10).
October 01
The Feast of the Holy Skepi of the Theotokos
The Feast of the Protection commemorates the appearance of the most holy Theotokos in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople in the tenth century, as recorded in the life of Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ's sake. While the multitudes of the faithful were gathered in church, Epiphanius, the friend of Saint Andrew, through the Saint's prayers, beheld the Virgin Mary above the faithful and spreading out her veil over them, signifying her unceasing protection of all Christians. Because of this we keep a yearly feast of gratitude, imploring our Lady never to cease sheltering us in her mighty prayers.
The Feast is celebrated on October 1. In the 1950s, the Church of Greece began to observe the Feast on October 28.
October 01
Romanos the Melodist
Saint Romanos flourished during the reign of Anastasius (491-518). He was from Emesa of Syria, and apparently was born of Jewish parents, for a hymn written in his honour in Greek says he was "of Hebrew stock," and it has furthermore been noted that he uses many Semitic idioms in his writings. He was baptized an Orthodox Christian, and at some time became a deacon in the Church of Beirut. He was the first composer of the kontakia, the foremost of which is that of the feast of Christ's Nativity, On this day the Virgin .... In composing many of his kontakia. Saint Romanos was inspired by the hymns of Saint Ephraim of Syria.
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Epistle Reading
Prokeimenon. 4th Tone. Psalm 67.35,26.
God is wonderful among his saints.
Verse: Bless God in the congregations.
The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to Timothy 3:10-15.
TIMOTHY, my son, you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at lconion, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Reading
1st Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 5:1-11
At that time, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he was astonished, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Hymns of the Day
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Grave Tone
Thou didst abolish death by Thy Cross; Thou didst open Paradise to the thief; Thou didst transform the myrrh-bearers' lamentation, and didst bid Thine Apostles to preach that Thou art risen, O Christ God, granting great mercy to the world.
Apolytikion for Theotokos Myrtidiotissis in the 4th Tone
O come, all you people, and let us in faith clap our hands * and sing sacred songs to her who is the Mother of God, * and longingly cry aloud: * "Rejoice, O protection of all those who entreat you; * rejoice, the salvation of those who honor you with longing; * rejoice, O Lady who restored * the paralyzed man to health."
Apolytikion for Protomartyr Thekla in the 3rd Tone
All aflame with love for your Creator, * from the teachings of the sacred preacher, * you disregarded as fleeting all things mundane. * And being bold in the face of the penalties, * you gave yourself as a beautiful gift to God. * Thekla, glorious companion of the Apostle Paul, * we pray you entreat your Bridegroom, Christ, * and ask Him to grant us His great mercy.
Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Tone
O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the creator most constant: O despise not the voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, O thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.
Wisdom of the Fathers
For now they were well instructed beforehand...But mark both their faith and their obedience. For though they were in the midst of their work when they heard His command, they delayed not, they procrastinated not, they said not, "let us return home, and converse with our kinsfolk," but "they forsook all and followed."
Homily 14 on Matthew 4, 4th Century
Because such is the obedience which Christ seeks of us, as that we delay not even a moment of time, though something absolutely most needful should vehemently press on us.
Homily 14 on Matthew 4, 4th 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!
2023 Fall Wine and Dine
Please join us for this wonderful evening at Dan Vlahakis's residence at Copper Hill Country Club.