Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2025-07-20
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Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (561) 833-6387
  • Fax:
  • (561) 833-6391
  • Street Address:

  • 110 Southern Blvd.

  • West Palm Beach, FL 33405


Contact Information




Services Schedule

Sunday Services:

  8:45 am     Orthros

10:00 am     Divine Liturgy

 

Sunday School Classes: 

11:15 am     After Holy Communion


Past Bulletins


This Week and Upcoming Events

 Christ is in our midst!  He is and ever shall be!

 Our services are streamed live on the internet.
at our Saint Catherine website - www.stcatherine-wpb.org
 

Join us for Orthodox Divine Liturgy every Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

Light a candle and offer a prayer at Saint Catherine (click above).
The online form sends the names of your family and friends
direct to Father Chrysostom at the altar;prayers are offered
during the Proskomidi in preparation for the Divine Liturgy! 

 

July 20, 2025

The Glorious Prophet Elias (Elijah)

Mother Maria Skobtsova, New-Martyr of France

 

Links to the service text:  Links to the service texts are through the Digital Chant Stand of our Archdiocese.  For optimal viewing select the "GR-EN Text/Music" link for Matins (Orthros) and Divine Liturgy. Apps may be downloaded for your phone or tablet. Link to the Digital Chant Stand 

Holy Communion:  Holy Communion is reserved for baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christians only.  If you are interested in becoming an Orthodox Christian, please contact Father Chrysostom Mitchell at (561) 320-1224 or [email protected].

Coffee and Fellowship:  Please join us for coffee and fellowship in the Small Hall of the Hellenic Cultural Center immediately following the Divine Liturgy.
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This Week

Sunday, July 20     6th Sunday of Matthew
     8:45 am  Orthros / 10:00 am  Divine Liturgy


Monday, July 21
     7:00 pm  Choir Practice

 

Next Week and Highlights of Upcoming Services and Events

Sunday, July 27     7th Sunday of Matthew
     8:45 am Orthros / 10:00 am Divine Liturgy


Monday, July 28
     7:00 pm  Choir Practice

Friday, August 1     Dormition Fast Begins
     6:30 pm  Paraklesis



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Stewardship: 

Thank You 2025 Stewards!  As of June 5th we have received $143,844 in Stewardship donations.  Together with your help, we can achieve our new 2025 Stewardship Goal of $216,000 for our beloved Saint Catherine.  Become a Steward today!

DONATE online
https://www.stcatherine-wpb.org/stewardship
stcatherine-wpb.org

The Donate buttons here and on our website lead to our online giving site.
Again, thank you for your support!

Youth Safety Resources:  We’re committed to connecting young people with Jesus Christ. To do that, we need to create ministry environments that are safe and health. For more on how you can help, please visit our Youth Safety website: goarch.org/safety.

Church Services Streamed:  Many of our Divine Liturgies have been recorded and can be viewed at www.youtube.com.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel; you will be notified when we begin a live stream.

Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church (Services from 2020 until now)

Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church (Selected services from 2015-2019)

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Sixth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from Luke 24:36-53

At that time, having risen from the dead, Jesus went up and stood among His disciples and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish [and some honeycomb], and He took it and ate before them. Then He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name in all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple blessing God.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. First Tone. Psalm 109.4,1.
You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Verse: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies my footstool.

The reading is from St. James' Universal Letter 5:10-20.

BRETHREN, take as an example of suffering and patience the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation. Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.


Gospel Reading

6th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 9:1-8

At that time, getting into a boat Jesus crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Rise and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" he then said to the paralytic -- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.


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Memorials and Trisagions

Memorials

40 Days ~ Panagiotis (Peter) Thomidis
Father of Theodosios (Edrian) Thomidis and Sophia (Dr. Reed) Stone
Grandfather of Ana and Alexander Thomidis and Xenios Stone

12 Years ~ Xoungia (Xenia) Thomidis
Mother of Theodosios (Edrian) Thomidis and Sophia (Dr. Reed) Stone
Grandmother of Anna and Alexander Thomidis and Xenios Stone

Trisagion

40 Days ~ Dr. Panayiotis “Panos” Livadiotis
Husband of Linda
Father of Maria, Theodora, Christina (Luke) and Theophane
Grandfather of Wolf, Georgie, Athena and Lucia Maria

 

The coffee hour is given in loving memory of Peter and Xenia by their family
and prepared and served by Philoptochos.

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Saints and Feasts

July 20

6th Sunday of Matthew


July 20

The Glorious Prophet Elias (Elijah)

Elias of great fame was from Thisbe or Thesbe, a town of Galaad (Gilead), beyond the Jordan. He was of priestly lineage, a man of a solitary and ascetical character, clothed in a mantle of sheep skin, and girded about his loins with a leathern belt. His name is interpreted as "Yah is my God." His zeal for the glory of God was compared to fire, and his speech for teaching and rebuke was likened unto a burning lamp. From this too he received the name Zealot. Therefore, set aflame with such zeal, he sternly reproved the impiety and lawlessness of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He shut up heaven by means of prayer, and it did not rain for three years and six months. Ravens brought him food for his need when, at God's command, he was hiding by the torrent of Horrath. He multiplied the little flour and oil of the poor widow of Sarephtha of Sidon, who had given him hospitality in her home, and when her son died, he raised him up. He brought down fire from Heaven upon Mount Carmel, and it burned up the sacrifice offered to God before all the people of Israel, that they might know the truth. At the torrent of Kisson, he slew 450 false prophets and priests who worshipped idols and led the people astray. He received food wondrously at the hand of an Angel, and being strengthened by this food he walked for forty days and forty nights. He beheld God on Mount Horeb, as far as this is possible for human nature. He foretold the destruction of the house of Ahab, and the death of his son Ohozias; and as for the two captains of fifty that were sent by the king, he burned them for their punishment, bringing fire down from Heaven. He divided the flow of the Jordan, and he and his disciple Elisseus passed through as it were on dry land; and finally, while speaking with him, Elias was suddenly snatched away by a fiery chariot in the year 895 B.C., and he ascended as though into heaven, whither God most certainly translated him alive, as He did Enoch (Gen. 5:24; IV Kings 2: 11). But from thence also, after seven years, by means of an epistle he reproached Joram, the son of Josaphat, as it is written: "And there came a message in writing to him from Elias the Prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the way," and so forth (II Chron. 21:12). According to the opinion of the majority of the interpreters, this came to pass either through his disciple Elisseus, or through another Prophet when Elias appeared to them, even as he appeared on Mount Tabor to the disciples of Christ (see Aug. 6).


July 20

Mother Maria Skobtsova, New-Martyr of France

Saint Maria Skobtsova of Paris lived a life devoted to serving the poor and the marginalized. She was born Elizaveta Pilenko in 1891 in Riga, Latvia to devout Russian Orthodox parents. Her father died when she was fourteen, and her grief led her to atheism. As a young teenager she became involved in the socialist and intellectual circles in St. Petersburg. By eighteen she was a published poet and married to a Bolshevik. Her desire to actively serve the needy - more than simply discuss social change - led her back to a faith in Christ. She then became the first woman accepted to study at the Theological Academy of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, she was elected Mayor of Anapa but had to flee Russia for Paris in 1923. Elizaveta was inspired to devote her life completely to serving the poor after her daughter, Nastia, died of meningitis in 1926. After her second marriage ended in 1932, Metropolitan Evlogii of Paris tonsured her a nun with the name Maria and blessed her to live a "monasticism in the world" devoted to social service.

Initially devoted to the Russian emigres in Paris, she founded a sanatorium along with homes to serve single mothers, families, and single men. By 1937, 120 dinners were served each day. Much of the work she did herself: begging for food, cooking the soup, and even embroidering the icons for their chapel.

By 1942, Maria's work turned to assisting the Jewish population. She helped Father Dimitri Klepinin issue fake baptismal certificates for Jews that came to their aide. In a mass arrest in July of that year, 12,884 Jews were taken to a sports stadium before being transferred to Auschwitz. Maria spent three days visiting the prisoners, bringing them food, and even rescuing some of the children by smuggling them out in trash cans. She also aided Jews in escaping to Southern France which was unoccupied by the Nazis.

Maria was arrested in February, 1943, and was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. For two years, she raised the spirits of her fellow prisoners, helping them remember their human dignity. She led discussion groups on literature, history, and theology, despite her weakening health. On March 31, 1945, a short time before the camp was rescued, Saint Maria was taken to the gas chambers; some prisoners say she took the place of a fellow Jewish prisoner.

On January 18th, 2004, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized Mother Maria Skobtsova as a saint along with her three fellow workers who also died in German concentration camps: her son Yuri, Fr. Dimitri Klepinin, and Ilya Fondaminsky. They are all commemorated in the Orthodox Church on July 20th.


July 21

John and Symeon the Fool for Christ

These Saints were from the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia and flourished during the reign of Justin the Younger (565-578). After a pilgrimage to Jerusalem they were moved with a desire to forsake the world; they were tonsured monks by the Abbot Nicon, and soon after left the monastery to struggle together in the wilderness near the Dead Sea. When they had passed a little more than thirty years together in silence and prayer, Symeon, having reached the heights of dispassion, departed for Emesa in Syria, where he passed the rest of his life playing the fool, saving many souls from sin while hiding his sanctity with seemingly senseless behavior. He reposed in 570; by the providence of God, John, who had remained in the wilderness, departed soon after.


July 22

Mary Magdalene, the Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal to the Apostles

Saint Mary was from Magdala in Galilee on the Sea of Tiberias, and for this was named Magdalene. When the Lord Jesus cast out seven demons from her, from which she had been suffering, she became His faithful and inseparable disciple, following Him and ministering unto Him even to the time of His crucifixion and burial. Then, returning to Jerusalem together with the rest of the Myrrh-bearers, she prepared the fragrant spices for anointing the body of the Lord. And on the Lord's day they came very early to the tomb, even before the Angels appeared declaring the Resurrection of the Lord. When Mary Magdalene saw the stone taken away from the tomb, she ran and proclaimed it to Peter and John. And returning immediately to the tomb and weeping outside, she was deemed worthy to be the first of the Myrrh-bearers to behold the Lord arisen from the dead, and when she fell at His feet, she heard Him say, "Touch Me not." After the Lord's Ascension, nothing certain is known concerning her. Some accounts say that she went to Rome and later returned to Jerusalem, and from there proceeded to Ephesus, where she ended her life, preaching Christ. Although it is sometimes said that Saint Mary Magdalene was the "sinful woman" of the Gospel, this is nowhere stated in the tradition of the Church, in the sacred hymnology, or in the Holy Gospels themselves, which say only that our Lord cast seven demons out of her, not that she was a fallen woman. "Madeleine" is a form of Magdalene.


July 22

Markella, the Virgin-martyr of Chios

Saint Markella was born in the 14th century on the island of Chios and was the daughter of the mayor of her town. She was raised in the Christian faith by pious parents, but lost her mother at a young age. This was especially difficult for her father who fell into depression. The young Markella was devoted to Christ and strove to preserve her virginity, fighting off numerous temptations from the Devil. Seeing he could make no progress with Markella, the Evil One turned his attention to her father, and enflamed within him an unnatural lust for his daughter.

One day he declared his desire for her at which she ran away in tears and fear. Arriving at the edge of the water and with nowhere to run, a rock opened up for Markella to enter so that her lower half could be enclosed within the rock. When her father arrived in pursuit of her, he was furious to have been deprived of his desire and beheaded his daughter there. The miraculous rock remains on Chios in the church dedicated to Saint Markella the Virgin-Martyr and is said to spring healing waters.


July 23

Phocas the Holy Martyr, Bishop of Sinope

This saint was known for the many miracles he worked and for his apostolic zeal in shepherding the flock of Sinope. He contested for the Faith during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, in the year 102, when he was burned to death in a bath-house. A homily in his honour was composed by Saint John Chrysostom. The translation of his holy relics is celebrated on July 23.


July 23

Ezekiel the Prophet

The Prophet Ezekiel ("God is strong") was the son of Buzi and a priest by rank. He was taken captive and brought to Babylon during the reign of Jechonias. In the fifth year of this captivity, about 594 or 593 B.C., he began to prophesy. Having prophesied for about twenty-eight years, he was murdered, it is said, by the tribe of Gad, because he reproached them for their idolatry. His book of prophecy, divided into forty-eight chapters, is ranked third among the greater Prophets. It is richly filled with mystical imagery and marvelous prophetic visions and allegories, of which the dread Chariot of Cherubim described in the first Chapter is the most famous; in the "gate that was shut," through which the Lord alone entered, he darkly foretold of the Word's Incarnation from the Virgin (44:1-3); through the "dry bones" that came to life again (37:1-14), he prophesied both of the restoration of captive Israel, and the general resurrection of our race.


July 23

Pelagia the Righteous of Tinos


July 23

The Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos of Pochaev

The Icon of the Mother of God of Pochaev - Metropolitan Neophytus, a bishop belonging to the see of Constantinople, was traveling through Volhynia in Ukraine where he was given hospitality by a pious woman, Anna Goyskaya. The bishop gave this woman an icon of the holy Theotokos, which began to work miracles, including the healing of her blind brother. In 1597 the icon was given to the monks residing in Pochaev near the border of Galicia, where the Mother of God had appeared in 1340, leaving an imprint of her footprint in the rock, from which a stream gushed forth. In 1675 when the Lavra of Pochaev was besieged by the Moslem Turks, it was saved by the miraculous intervention of the Mother of God through her wonderworking icon. Even though the Lavra of Pochaev came into Uniate hands for over a century, miracles continued to be worked through the holy icon. Since its return to the Orthodox Catholic Church in 1831, the icon has been a grace-bestowing support for Orthodox Christians, especially those in western Ukraine and the Carpathian region.


July 23

Icon of the Mother of God

The Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All That Sorrow" - As with so many other icons of the Theotokos, wonderworking copies of this icon have been found throughout Orthodox Russia, each with its own history and moving collection of miracles. In this icon, the most holy Mother of God is depicted standing full stature sometimes with, sometimes without the Divine Child in her arms; she is surrounded by all manner of the sick and the suffering, to whom Angels of the Lord bear gifts of mercy, consolation, and suitable aid from the most holy Theotokos. The icon "Joy of all that Sorrow" was inspired by the hymn of the same name; see page 222 in Great Compline. Through one copy of this icon, the sister of Patriarch Joachim was healed at the end of the seventeenth century in Moscow, from which time the feast was established. Another copy of the icon was found in Saint Petersburg; on July 23, 1888, during the severe thunderstorm, lightning struck a chapel at a glass factory, burning the interior walls of the church, but leaving the icon unsinged. From the violent disturbance of the air, the icon was knocked to the floor, the poor-box broke open, and twelve copper coins adhered to the icon in various places; afterwards many miracles were worked by the grace of the holy icon.


July 24

Christina the Great Martyr of Tyre

Saint Christina was from Tyre in Syria, the daughter of a pagan named Urban. Enlightened in her heart to believe in Christ, she broke her father's idols, made of gold and silver, and distributed the pieces to the poor. When her father learned this, he punished her ruthlessly, then cast her into prison. The rulers subjected her to imprisonments, hunger, torments, the cutting off of her breasts and tongue, and finally impalement, in the year 200, during the reign of the Emperor Septimius Severus.


July 24

Boris and Gleb, the Passion-bearers

The holy Passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, named Romanus and David in sacred Baptism, were the pious sons of the holy Great Prince Vladimir. In 1015 they were slain at the command of their brother Svyatopolk-Saint Boris, on July 24 on the Alta River, near Pereyaslavl, and Saint Gleb, on September 5 on the bank of the Smyadinya River, near Smolensk. Although both had understood their brother's designs against them, they refused to take up arms against him and bring civil war upon their land, preferring to fulfill the commandment, "Resist not evil" (Matt. 5:39). The holy relics of Saint Boris were then buried in Vyshgorod, to which the holy relics of his brother were transferred five years later. Miracles were worked through the holy relics of the meek and guileless brothers during the consecration in Vyshgorod of a church in their honor on this day in 1021.


July 25

Dormition of St. Anna, mother of the Theotokos

According to tradition, Anna, the ancestor of God, lived for sixty-nine years, and her spouse Joachim, for eighty; according to one account, Saint Joachim died two years before Saint Anna. The Theotokos had been orphaned of both her parents already when she was eleven years of age, when she was living in the Temple (see Sept. 8 and Nov. 21). Saint Anna is invoked for conceiving children, and for help in difficult childbirth.


July 25

Olympias the Deaconess


July 26

Paraskevi the Righteous Martyr of Rome

Saint Paraskeve, who was from a certain village near Rome, was born to pious parents, Agatho and Politia. Since she was born on a Friday (in Greek, Paraskeve), she was given this name, which means "preparation" or "preparedness" (compare Matt. 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, and John 19:31, where 'Friday' is called "the day of the preparation"). From childhood she was instructed in the sacred letters and devoted herself to the study of the divine Scriptures, while leading a monastic life and guiding many to the Faith of Christ. During the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, she was apprehended because she was a Christian and was urged to worship the idols, but she answered with the words of Jeremias: "Let the gods that have not made heaven and the earth perish from off the earth" (Jer. 10:11). Because of this she endured exceedingly painful torments, and was beheaded in the year 140. The faithful pray to her for the healing of eye ailments.


July 26

Hermolaos the Holy Martyr & his Companions

Saint Hermolaus and those with him were priests of the Church in Nicomedia, living in hiding after the Emperor Maximian had burnt to death the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia (see Dec. 28). It was Hermolaus who converted Saint Panteleimon to Christ. When Saint Panteleimon was seized as a Christian and was asked by Maximian who it was that had turned him from the idols, the Saint, enlightened by God that the time of his teacher's martyrdom also was at hand, revealed to Maximian that it was Hermolaus the priest. Saint Hermolaus was taken with Saints Hermippus and Hermocrates, and when they had confessed Christ to be the only true God, they were beheaded in the year 305. Saint Hermolaus is one of the Holy Unmercenaries.


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Wisdom of the Fathers

Through the toil of prayer and the anguish of your heart commune with those who are grieved at heart, and the Source of mercy will be opened up to your petitions.
St. Isaac of Syria
Unknown, 7th century

The Lord looks with affection on the humble. . .Learn, you who are sick, to gain health through prayer. Should you be diffident because of your grave sins, seek the prayers of others, call upon the Church to pray for you, and in His regard for her, the Lord will give what He could refuse to you.
Saint Ambrose
The Healing of the Paralytic, P. L. 15 (col. 138), Expos., in Toal, IV: 182, 183., Fourth Century

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Saint Catherine News and Events

    Home/Business Blessings

    Home/Business Blessings

    Fr. Chrysostom would like to come and bless your home and/or business as we begin the new calendar year and celebrate Epiphany. Please let him know if you would like him to visit your home or business.


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Metropolis of Atlanta News

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This Sunday (July 20th) our Church commemorates two great Saints: one ancient, and one from our own time. Concerning the first, we only need to read the universal Epistle of Saint James: “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest” (James 5:16-18).

Concerning the second, Mother Maria Skobtsova, New-Martyr of France, we must return to the beginning of the Epistle: “Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord…” (James 5:11) Mother Maria’s life is a testament to the power of endurance through faith. She was born Elizaveta Pilenko, in 1891, in Latvia. Though she was raised by pious Orthodox Christian parents, she lost her faith as a teenager, after her father fell asleep in the Lord. She then sought to find the answers to life's problems through art and politics--becoming an accomplished poet and marrying a prominent Bolshevik. However, her hunger for fulfillment led her to the conclusion that action was more important than thought, and her practice of serving the needy eventually brought her back to Christ.

Following the Russian Revolution, she fled to Paris, where a series of tragedies changed her life. The death of her young daughter deepened her faith, and when her second marriage ended, the Metropolitan of Paris, suggested that she be tonsured as a nun (giving her the name Maria), which would allow her to continue her charitable work in the world. She founded a home which served meals for the homeless, single mothers, and those struggling with abuse or addiction. By 1937, her home was serving 120 dinners a day, and she herself was cooking the soup, begging for food, and creating the icons for their chapel. Of course, within a few years’ time the Second World War would begin, and Mother Maria would find herself in an occupied land. However, she chose not only to remain in Paris, but to continue her charitable work, in ways that were dangerous to her life.

She began to assist the Jews of France by creating fake baptismal certificates for them. When nearly 13,000 French Jews were arrested, Mother Maria visited them for three days in the sports stadium where they were being imprisoned, bringing them food, and even rescuing children, by smuggling them out of trash cans. For all these noble works (including helping Jews escape into unoccupied southern France) Mother Maria was arrested in February 1943 and deported to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Mother Maria did not allow these circumstances to alter her fundamental spirit: she continued leading group discussions on literature and theology for her fellow prisoners. On March 31, 1945 (that year, Holy Saturday), shortly before the camp was to be liberated by the Allies, Mother Maria was taken to the gas chambers; some suggest that she took the place of a Jewish prisoner.

My dear brothers and sisters, in some respects these twin feasts concern Saints who were unafraid to defy those who held earthly power. This was as true of Elijah, who rebuked the immorality of the royal family of Israel, as it was for Mother Maria in her own time. How, we ask ourselves, were they able to accomplish their Godly work, without giving in to fear? Would we ourselves be able to do this? And I humbly suggest that we turn back to St. James's words about the prophets, completing the thought that I allowed to be left unfinished: “You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). In the face of life's struggles, this may be difficult to remember, but surely Elijah held fast to his belief in a compassionate and merciful God, as he prayerfully waited for God to provide food through the ravens; and Mother Maria likewise never abandoned her understanding of what it meant to be a Christian, imitating Christ’s willingness to lay down his life for our brothers and sisters.

May these two great Saints continue to intercede for us and remind us of God's great compassionate love for us, both now, and always.

+SEVASTIANOS
Metropolitan of Atlanta

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Archdiocese News

Archbishop Elpidophoros Celebrates Door Opening and Blessing of Slavic Vicariate Church, Spring and Exhibition in Hot Springs

07/14/2025

On July 10, 2025, in the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, a new church of the Slavic Vicariate, dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring” held its Door Opening which was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. During his visit to Arkansas, the Archbishop also blessed the thermal spring and the exhibition space “Eastern Christianity”.


Archbishop Elpidophoros Visits St. Markella Church

07/14/2025

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America yesterday, July 13, 2025, visited St. Markella Greek Orthodox Church in Wantagh, New York to preside over a Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod in Chalcedon. Serving alongside His Eminence was parish priest Rev. Fr. George Kolios.  


Archbishop Elpidophoros mourns the victims of the Richmond Road Baptist Church shooting

07/14/2025

On July 13, 2025, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America grieved the victims of a Lexington, Kentucky shooting, issuing the following statement via his social media accounts.


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