Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal Second Mode

When the angelic powers appeared at Your grave, the soldiers guarding it feared and became as dead. And standing by the sepulcher was Mary who was seeking Your immaculate body. You devastated Hades, not afflicted by it. You went to meet the virgin, and granted eternal life. You resurrected from the dead. O Lord, glory to You.

Ἀγγελικαὶ Δυνάμεις ἐπὶ τὸ μνῆμά σου, καὶ οἱ φυλάσσοντες ἀπενεκρώθησαν, καὶ ἵστατο Μαρία ἐν τῷ τάφῳ, ζητοῦσα τὸ ἄχραντόν σου σῶμα. Ἐσκύλευσας τὸν ᾍδην, μὴ πειρασθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ὑπήντησας τῇ Παρθένῳ, δωρούμενος τὴν ζωήν, ὁ ἀναστὰς ἐκ των νεκρῶν, Κύριε δόξα σοι.

Apolytikion for Sun. of the Holy Cross in the First Mode

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.

Σώσον Κύριε τόν λαόν σου καί ευλόγησον τήν κληρονομίαν σου, νίκας τοίς Βασιλεύσι κατά βαρβάρων δωρούμενος καί τό σόν φυλάττων διά τού Σταυρού σου πολίτευμα.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Fourth Mode

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!"

Τὴ ὑπερμάχω στρατηγῶ τὰ νικητήρια, ὡς λυτρωθεῖσα τῶν δεινῶν εὐχαριστήρια, ἀναγράφω σοὶ ἡ Πόλις σου Θεοτόκε, Ἀλλ' ὡς ἔχουσα τὸ κράτος ἀπροσμάχητον, ἐκ παντοίων μὲ κινδύνων ἐλευθέρωσον, ἵνα κράζω σοί, Χαῖρε νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal Second Mode. 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 Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6.

BRETHREN, since we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"; as he says also in another place, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek."

Προκείμενον. Plagal Second Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 27.9,1.
Σῶσον, Κύριε τὸν λαὸν σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν σου.
Στίχ. Πρὸς σἐ, Κύριε, κεκράξομαι ὁ Θεός μου.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Ἑβραίους 4:14-16, 5:1-6.

Ἀδελφοί, ἔχοντες οὖν ἀρχιερέα μέγαν, διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς, Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, κρατῶμεν τῆς ὁμολογίας. Οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν ἀρχιερέα μὴ δυνάμενον συμπαθῆσαι ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν, πεπειραμένον δὲ κατὰ πάντα καθʼ ὁμοιότητα, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Προσερχώμεθα οὖν μετὰ παρρησίας τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος, ἵνα λάβωμεν ἔλεον, καὶ χάριν εὕρωμεν εἰς εὔκαιρον βοήθειαν. Πᾶς γὰρ ἀρχιερεύς, ἐξ ἀνθρώπων λαμβανόμενος, ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων καθίσταται τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, ἵνα προσφέρῃ δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίας ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν· μετριοπαθεῖν δυνάμενος τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν καὶ πλανωμένοις, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς περίκειται ἀσθένειαν· καὶ διὰ ταύτην ὀφείλει, καθὼς περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ, οὕτως καὶ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, προσφέρειν ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν. Καὶ οὐχ ἑαυτῷ τις λαμβάνει τὴν τιμήν, ἀλλὰ καλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καθάπερ καὶ Ἀαρών. Οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἐδόξασεν γενηθῆναι ἀρχιερέα, ἀλλʼ ὁ λαλήσας πρὸς αὐτόν, Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε. Καθὼς καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λέγει, Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ.

Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Holy Cross
The Reading is from Mark 8:34-38; 9:1

The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."

Sunday of the Holy Cross
Κατὰ Μᾶρκον 8:34-38, 9:1

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· Εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. ὃς γὰρ ἂν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ καὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, οὗτος σώσει αὐτήν. τί γὰρ ὠφελήσει ἄνθρωπον ἐὰν κερδήσῃ τὸν κόσμον ὅλον, καὶ ζημιωθῇ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; ἢ τί δώσει ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ; ὃς γὰρ ἐὰν ἐπαισχυνθῇ με καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ τῇ μοιχαλίδι καὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπαισχυνθήσεται αὐτὸν ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων τῶν ἁγίων. Καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰσί τινες τῶν ὧδε ἑστηκότων, οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσι τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐληλυθυῖαν ἐν δυνάμει.

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.

St. Bede the Venerable

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."

St. Innocent of Alaska

The Lenten Spring, SVS Press, p. 147, 19th Century

Saints and Feasts

March 23

Sunday of the Holy Cross

With the help of God, we have almost reached the middle of the course of the Fast, where our strength has been worn down through abstinence, and the full difficulty of the labour set before us becomes apparent. Therefore our holy Mother, the Church of Christ, now brings to our help the all-holy Cross, the joy of the world, the strength of the faithful, the staff of the just, and the hope of sinners, so that by venerating it reverently, we might receive strength and grace to complete the divine struggle of the Fast.

PARISH EVENTS AND NEWS

Sunday, March 23–Sunday of the Holy Cross

PROCESSION WITH THE HOLY CROSS AT THE END OF TODAY’S DIVINE LITURGY SERVICE.

Memorials:

STEPHAN XANTHEAS - 1 Year

SOPHIA XANTHEAS - 18 Years

Coffee Hour Sponsor

ANDREW LIBERIS - 20 Years

Coffee Hour Sponsor

May their memory be eternal!

SERVICES THIS WEEK:

Monday, March 24 – GREAT VESPERS, ANNUNCIATION OF THE THEOTOKOS, 7:00 pm Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Detroit

Tuesday, March 25^th – ANNUNCIATION OF THE THEOTOKOS, Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am, Saints Constantine and Helen

Wednesday, March 26^th - PRESANCTIFIED LITURGY SERVICE 5:30 pm, to be followed by Lecture and complimentary Lenten Pot Luck in the Hellenic Cultural Center, hosted by the SUNDAY SCHOOL/HOPE & JOY. Lecture: “Holy Tradition, tradition, and Yiayia-logy – Church Rules and Etiquette” presented by Fr. Teodor Petrutiu

Friday, March 28^th - SALUTATIONS TO THE VIRGIN MARY, 6:00 pm.

Saints Constantine and Helen, Westland

VIDEO ARCHIVE: Previously recorded Sunday Divine Liturgy services are archived and available on our website! Go to https://www.stcons.org/video-streaming and you can click on the service you would like to view.

LIGHT A CANDLE AND SAY A PRAYER: When you are not able to attend church, you can purchase a candle from our church website (home page or video-streaming page), which will be lit before the following service or a service that you specify. Please give specific names, living or deceased, that you would like Father to remember in prayer. Father will light candles one hour before each service. For Sunday services, please place candle orders prior to 8:00 am Sunday morning.

PLEASE PRAY FOR: Theodore, Anastasia, Constantinos, Phyllis, Joe, Dina, Pamela, Mia, Michael, Tracy, Anna, Sue, Nicole, Nahad, Amalia, Nydia, Ann, John, Janek, Frank, George, Patrick, Joanne, Betty, Deana, Gloria, Jeannette, Michael, Theodoros, Niko, Maria, Georgia, Sevasti, Mariam, George, Gene, Pete, Lazaros, John, Christopher, George, David, Marcos, Lela, Dawn, Panagioti, Joanna, Suzanne, Nick, Fotini, Niki, George, Matthew, Stefanos, Georgia, Leonidas, Connie, Maria, Brenda, Panagiota, Nicholas, Vicki, Susan, Tom, Thomas, Jim, Gloria, Evans, Phyllis, Marti, Janet, John, Zacharias, Vanessa (Vasiliki), Jake, Maegan, Irene, Lisa, Pat, Jonathan, Dianna, Betty, Catherine, Evelyn, Gregg, Peter, Angela, Bill, Carrie, Vito, Stephanie, Lisa, Kylie, Nicholas, and Maria. If you would like to add a name to the prayer list, or if there is a name that should be removed from the prayer list, please contact the church office.

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES:

HOPE & JOY “FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS” EVENT TODAY: Our HOPE and JOY luncheon with Parent / Guardian Conversations with Father will be held TODAY, Sunday, March 23, 2025. Children of ALL AGES will be participating in service projects for Mott Children’s Hospital and Oakmont Senior Living facilities, while parents/guardians will have conversations with Father.

PRESANCTIFIED LITURGY LECTURE SERIES: Each Wednesday during Lent our parish will hold a Lecture and Lenten Pot Luck following the 5:30 pm Presanctified Liturgy services. This year’s theme is “Holy Traditions, traditions, and “Yiayia-logy”. If you are unable to attend, the service is on live feed, and the lecture can be seen on our parish facebook page, beginning approximately 7:15 pm. Previous lectures are available for viewing on our St Cons facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/stconswestland

LENTEN FISH FRYS: Our Hellenic Cultural Center delicious Lenten Fish Fry suppers are running each Friday during Lent from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm. They also offer fried calamari, and many Lenten sides, for those of us who are fasting, and not eating fish. Cost for adults is $23, for kids under 12, $16. These events are open to the public, please bring your friends out and help support our HCC!

HOLY FRIDAY YOUTH RETREAT: From the Mystical Supper to Christ’s final moments on the cross and burial in the tomb, our youth up to age 18 will spend April 18, Holy Friday afternoon from 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm in learning, reflection, and prayer (families attend Apokathelosis service together in church at 3:30 pm.) Please contact the church office by April 11th to let us know your young people’s availability to participate in this special Holy Friday Retreat. [email protected] or 734.525.6789. We will also be needing parent helpers on that day, please let us know if you can stay and help. If needed, the church will provide you with a letter signed by Father Teodor requesting an excused absence for your child from school on that day.

PALM SUNDAY FISH LUNCHEON: Our parish will hold its traditional Palm Sunday fish luncheon on Sunday, April 13^th, immediately following the Divine Liturgy service. We have a delicious meal planned of cod, calamari and shrimp and rice, along with sides. Plan to stay after service and attend with your family, as we begin Holy Week together. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for kids, and will be on sale soon. The event is Open Seating - only full tables of 8 or 10 will be reserved.

SAVE THE DATES! Our Vacation Bible School, for young people Pre K – 6^th grade, will be held the week of June 16 – 20. As you plan your summer vacation and camp schedules, save this week for the kids to have a fun time learning about their faith! More information coming soon!

NEWS AND NOTICES:

GREAT LENT/EASTER FLOWER DONATIONS NEEDED: For each Friday night Salutations to the Theotokos service, and throughout Great Lent and Holy Week, our parish icons are decorated with beautiful flowers. If you would like to make a donation towards the Icon flowers, please make a check out to Saints Constantine and Helen Church and put “Flowers” in the memo line. There will be a special tray passed on Palm Sunday to collect donations for the Good Friday Epitaphion.

MDSC CAMP REGISTRATION/APPLICATIONS OPEN: Camper registrations are open for the Metropolis of Detroit Summer Camp in Rose City. Our parish will sponsor $100 for each St. Cons child who is registered for the Metropolis Detroit Summer Camp program to assist with registration fees. If your child has registered for camp, please contact the church office at [email protected] and let us know your child’s name, and the week they will be attending MDSC camp to get your scholarship. For more information about summer camp, www.gomdsc.org

PHYSICIAN AS PATIENT/PRIEST AS PENITENT: Hellenic Health Professionals of Michigan invite you to join this interesting web presentation by Fr. Peter Bistolarides. It will be held on March 27^th at 8:00 pm. Zoom link, https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84211659895 For more information, contact Dr. Christina Vougiouklakis at: [email protected]

COLLEGE CONNECTION: The Moms’ Group is planning to mail the College Connection packages at the end of March, to students living at home or away. Please email Cathy Brylinski ([email protected]) if your student had a change of address from the fall semester. These packages, filled with supplies, treats, and small gifts are meant to encourage our college students, and let them know that we are proud of their accomplishments.

CONFESSION APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE: Fr. Teodor will be available for those who wish to make Confession following the Friday Salutations on March 28^th and April 4^th. He is also available during the week by appointment. Call the church office at 734.525.6789 or speak to Father directly to schedule your appointment.

MEMORIAL SERVICES: Please call the church office to schedule all memorials and coffee hour sponsorships at least two weeks in advance. On the day of the service, please bring a list of family names you would like Father to remember in prayer. The requested Coffee Hour Sponsorship donation is $200. Koliva will be distributed to parishioners at the coffee hour; if you wish to bring in paximadia, koulourakia, or other dry cookie it may also be distributed.

SERVICES AND SACRAMENTS:

Baptisms:

March 22 MELINA A. STERGIADIS, Parents: Antonios and Sara Stergiadis, Godparents: Rob and Sophia Marinkoski

March 22 WISDOM SOFIA BLU HOWARD, Parents: Robert Howard and Alexzandra Pehrson, Godparents: Ken and Angie Vlahadamis

Congratulations!

General Information

Contact Information

Services Schedule

Past Bulletins