Parish News

This Week:

Schedule of Services for the Week of June 8, 2025
Sunday 6/8 8:00 a.m. Orthros/Divine Liturgy - Holy Pentecost
NOTE Earlier Start Today Sunday, June 8th: Orthros 8:00AM/Divine Liturgy at 9:00 AM.
We Need The Parking Lot Cleared Before Opa Opens To The Public.

Today, Sunday June 8th: Sunday School Graduation ceremony.

OPA FESTIVAL JUNE 6-8: Sign up To Volunteer Here: SIGNUP LINK

* JUNE 12th, 6 pm: Volunteer Appreciation Pizza Party at Alfresco's Flemington: Please reserve your spot by June 9th HERE

*Festival Website: Opafestival.com

* Parishioner Sponsors: Please donate to help offset the costs of the festival. DOWNLOAD THE FORM HERE.
*For Opa News: Please add [email protected] to your mailbox.
*Contact Festival Chair Diana Grina with any questions or for help signing up.

Senior Parea: We will be meeting this Tuesday, June 10th, at 12:00 in the fellowship hall. Please RSVP for food planning purposes to Olympia Tzovolos, (908) 285-3983, or Aimee Douvris, (908) 339-2511, [email protected]. We will meet again in the fall. Have a wonderful summer.

New Women's Group Book Club. Our first gathering is this Wednesday, June 11th at 6:30pm, on the book "EVERYWHERE PRESENT: CHRISTIANITY IN A ONE-STOREY UNIVERSE" by Fr. Stephen Freeman (available in the Bookstore and on Audible). Come for an evening of conversation, fellowship and spiritual nourishment. If you can read it ahead of time, terrific; if you don't finish it, come anyway. Bring your book, a drink and a snack.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines:

2025 Philoptochos End of Year Celebration:
When: Sunday, June 22nd, 11:30 to 2:00
Where: Nick & Anna Bouras Fellowship Hall
Bring something to share! Use theSign-Up Genius Link:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D4BAAA629A1F49-57082821-2025

His Eminence Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey will be visiting our Saint Anna parish to celebrate Orthros and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday, July 13, 2025. A flyer is attached to this bulletin.

Holy Metropolis of New Jersey Camp Good Shepherd: Registration for Camp Good Shepherd is now open. The camp is open to ages 8-18 and will be at Camp Linwood Macdonald (Sandyston, NJ) on July 13-19, 2025. Please see the attached flyer for more information; call 908-301-0500; or click on this link: https://www.nj.goarch.org/camp-good-shepherd.

General Updates:

We are pleased to inform the Parish that we will have a new full time Psalti starting in early July. His name is Jordan Michael Zanetis. We look forward to him joining us and working with our volunteer chanters. The Parish Council would once again like to thank our chanters for their dedication and service to our St. Anna Parish. We are excited that they will be able to continue their training and chanting journey under Jordan's leadership, leveraging his experience as a byzantine chanting instructor.

PHILOPTOCHOS CORNER:
We are continuing the "Hunterdon County Global Health for Guatemala" drive through the end of June!
Items needed: Empty pill bottles, trial size personal hygiene products, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, lotions, shampoo, OTC cold & allergy medications. Especially for Kids: crayons, coloring books, small toys, and more...
There is a Collection Box in the hallway with a complete "what's needed item list". Thank you as always for your generosity to those in need!

As the school year comes to the end, Kyria Lisa, Kyria Kelly, Despinis Nikoleta, Kyrio Petro Kyria Katerina and Kyria Maria would like to thank our Greek school families for their support and dedication to our St. Anna Greek School.

Procedure for Holy Communion:
Enter into the center aisle. Please wait until a member of the Parish Council calls your pew. The order is as follows:
- Any Newly illumined (newly Baptized, Chrismated)
- Choir
- Pew by pew per PC direction. Please wait until your pew is called.
- Those remaining in the narthex.

"Take and Bake" Fundraiser: We have frozen 1/2 trays of Pastitsio/ $60 and Spanakopita/ $50 for sale. Please see attached flyer and contact any Parish Council member for purchase. The items are ready for pickup. Quantities are limited, first come first serve!

Sunday Fellowship Hour Sponsors: Please sponsor a fellowship hour to support the Saint Anna parish. The requested fellowship hour sponsorship donation is $50. Please see the signup list by the church office to sign up.

2025 Stewardship Status: We have 110 Pledges totaling $185,455 and $135,808 received to date. We also have 3 families who have contributed $1,400 to date but have not submitted a stewardship card. Families must complete a stewardship card to be considered a steward. Click HERE for the card. Current Stewardship List and other stewardship information is posted in bulletin board by water cooler.

Sunday School To register your child for the fall, please email Nikol Toulatos at [email protected]. Thank you all for a wonderful year!

ST. ANNA BOOKSTORE - Visit us and see what is new. Recommendations:
For adults: "Thinking Orthodox"
For children: "Children’s Bible Reader"
Questions? Send email to [email protected]

PARISH LINKS:

FORMS: The following forms are on the website and can be downloaded from the following links:
2025 STEWARDSHIP PLEDGE CARD
KOLIVA REQUEST FORM (for memorials already scheduled with Father Jimmy)
PHILOPTOCHOS MEMBERSHIP FORM

St Anna Website: https://www.stannagoc.org/

St Anna Greek Orthodox Church Calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/[email protected]&ctz=America/New_York

For general questions: [email protected]

To be added to the weekly bulletin email: [email protected]

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal 4th Tone. Psalm 18.4,1.
Their voice has gone out into all the earth.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11.

WHEN THE DAY of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontos and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."

Gospel Reading

Holy Pentecost
The Reading is from John 7:37-52; 8:12

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This is really the prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man!" The Pharisees answered them, "Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed." Nikodemos, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee." Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Hymns of the Day

Apolytikion for Pentecost in the Plagal 4th Tone

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. O Befriender of man, glory be to Thee.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal 4th Tone

Once, when He descended and confounded the tongues, the Most High divided the nations; and when He divided the tongues of fire, He called all men into unity; and with one accord we glorify the All-holy Spirit.