Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2025-05-25
Bulletin Contents

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Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 408.605.0621
  • Street Address:

  • 9th and Lincoln

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 5808

  • Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921


Contact Information




Services Schedule

 

Weekend services: the weekend schedule is fixed for most of the year. The services take place in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at All Saints Church, lower level, 9th and Lincoln.

Saturdays: 5:00pm Vespers

Sundays:   8:30am Matins

                   9:45am Liturgy

Week-day services: during the week we may celebrate the major feast days of the Church either in Carmel or in Salinas. Please check the calendar! The schedule pattern is:

Wednesdays:  6:00pm Paraklesis

Eve of feasts: 6:00pm Vespers

Feast days:    8:30am Matins

                       9:45am Liturgy


Past Bulletins


Schedule of Services

Christ is Risen!

Note: Our services are posted on Zoom unless specified otherwise.   

Friday, May 23
    6 pm Vespers - CANCELLED
Saturday, May 24
    5 pm Vespers
Sunday, May 25 Sunday of the Blind Man + Third Finding of Head of St. John
    8:30 am Matins

    9:45 am Liturgy
    12:30 pm Catechism Class
    12:20 pm Sunday School
Monday, May 26
    6 pm Vespers
Wednesday, May 28
    9:30 am Book Forum: Holy Fools
   
6 pm 9th Hour (closing the Paschal cycle)

    6:10 pm Vespers + Liturgy
Thursday, May 29 HOLY ASCENSION Saint Luke of Crimea
   
8:30 am Matins

    4 pm IHELP Ladies (5th Thursday)
    6 pm Vespers

Friday, May 30
    6 pm Vespers
    NEW: 8 pm Basics of Orthodoxy (Zoom)

Saturday, May 31 
    5 pm Vespers
Sunday, June 1 
    8:30 am Matins
    9:45 am Liturgy
    12:15 pm Sunday School
    12:15 pm Parish Assembly

Zoom with video here.  For more information, go to  //www.stjohn-monterey.org/parish-calendar

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Special Services

The Leave-take of Pascha will be celebrated at the Monastery with 4pm Vespers on Tuesday and 3am Matins and Liturgy on Wednesday early in the morning. Please contact Father Ion if you would like to carpool - leaving Tuesday early morning, returning Wednesday.

Join the disciples for the HOLY ASCENSION - 9th Hour, Vespers and Liturgy on Wednesday evening and Matins on Thursday morning. All in Saint Nektarios chapel.

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You are invited

PARISH ASSEMBLY

The Spring Parish Assembly is scheduled for Sunday, June 1. The meeting will take place at church right afteer the Agape meal. All of our stewards should have recived by now the invitation package from Ali via email. Please let him know if you have not received it.

+   +   +
 
Gerontissa Markella and Her Sisterhood
Invite us all to a
Benefit Dinner
For the Life-giving Spring Monastery
 
Sunday, May 25
@Saint Lawrence Church in Felton
4pm Appetizers,     5pm Dinner
 
Suggested donation:
Adults, $75 - Children under 12, $35
RSVP to Bethany Young:
831.706.6306 or [email protected]
 
+   +   +
 
Pilgrimage to The Monastery -
Join Father Ion and others to celebrate the 
Leave-take (Apodosis) of Pascha
at the Monastery.
 
Drive up: Tuesday, May 27 - Return: Wednesday, May 28
 
Reserve your room at Saint Nicholas Ranch:
  1. Call the Monastery for the Promo code at 559-338-3110.
  2. Make reservation online at https://stnicholasranch.org ($63 per room)
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News & Events

NEW: BASICS of ORTHODOXY MOVES ONLINE

A Ministry led by Edward Mar

The class is a pre-requisite for those who pursue the path towrds becoming catechumens. It is moving online in order to offer to those who inquire and explore the Orthodox faith the space to learn and find answers to their many questions. The class will switch to Fridays from 8pm beginning with May 30.

Basics of Orthodoxy

4. Holy Tradition

Education, Living the Gospel


PARISH ASSEMBLY

The Spring Parish Assembly is scheduled for Sunday, June 1. The meeting will take place at church right afteer the Agape meal. All of our stewards should have recived by now the invitation package from Ali via email. Please let him know if you have not received it.

Community


ADULT SUNDAY EDUCATION/ CATECHISM

A Ministry led by Father Ion

All are invited to meet on this Sunday after lunch in the chapel of Saint Nektarios. 

Living the Gospel

 


BOOK FORUM

A Ministry led by Kathy Shaw

We continue the reading and discussion of the lives of a few saints known as "fools for Christ". This is an easy reading, yet powerful and very rewarding spiritually.

"Holy Fools"

by Oswin Craton

It can be purchased on Amazon or AncientFaith.com. You may check it out online here

Wednesdays, from 9:30am.

 Education, Community

 


WELCOMING AND HOSPITALITY: SERVING THIS SUNDAY

A Ministry led by Miriam Aguilar

Thank you for your effort and participation in bringing a dish to share for our Agape Meal. If you cannot participate when it is your turn, kindly make other arrangements for someone to cover for you and let your team leader know.

Sunday, May 25   Parish Council Representative:  Dr. Michael Bachik 
   Greeter: Rania Zavitsanos
   Agape Meal: 
ORANGE TEAM - Thank you to Melanie, Miriam, Marissa, and Irene.

Sunday, June 1
   Parish Council Representative: Mary Kanalakis
   Greeter: Nadia Zajicek
   Agape Meal:
PINK TEAM - Thank you to Nadia, Maria, Rania, and Christine D

Community


OUTREACH MINISTRIES

Ministries led by Despina Hatton

LADIES I-HELP: 

  • Thursday, May 29Cooking: 4pm. Dinner with the ladies: 5:30pm.
  • Tuesday, June 3. Cooking: 4pm. Dinner with the ladies: 5:30pm.

FOOD BANK:

  • Tuesday, June 10.  9:00 -10:30am @St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Seaside.

Community


ONLINE RESOURCES

Most of our services and some ministry meetings are available online. Zoom with video here. Liturgical texts at Ages Initiatives here.

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Saints and Feasts

May 25

Sunday of the Blind Man

The Lord Jesus was coming from the Temple on the Sabbath, when, while walking in the way, He saw the blind man mentioned in today's Gospel. This man had been born thus from his mother's womb, that is, he had been born without eyes (see Saint John Chrysostom, Homily LVI on Matthew; Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V:15; and the second Exorcism of Saint Basil the Great). When the disciples saw this, they asked their Teacher, "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" They asked this because when the Lord had healed the paralytic at the Sheep's Pool, He had told him, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14); so they wondered, if sickness was caused by sin, what sin could have been the cause of his being born without eyes. But the Lord answered that this was for the glory of God. Then the God-man spat on the ground and made clay with the spittle. He anointed the eyes of the blind man and said to him, "Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam." Siloam (which means "sent") was a well-known spring in Jerusalem used by the inhabitants for its waters, which flowed to the eastern side of the city and collected in a large pool called "the Pool of Siloam."

Therefore, the Saviour sent the blind man to this pool that he might wash his eyes, which had been anointed with the clay-not that the pool's water had such power, but that the faith and obedience of the one sent might be made manifest, and that the miracle might become more remarkable and known to all, and leave no room for doubt. Thus, the blind man believed in Jesus' words, obeyed His command, went and washed himself, and returned, no longer blind, but having eyes and seeing. This was the greatest miracle that our Lord had yet worked; as the man healed of his blindness himself testified, "Since time began, never was it heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind," although the Lord had already healed the blind eyes of many. Because he now had eyes, some even doubted that he was the same person (John 9:8-9); and it was still lively in their remembrance when Christ came to the tomb of Lazarus, for they said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have caused that even this man should not have died?" Saint John Chrysostom gives a thorough and brilliant exposition of our Lord's meeting with the woman of Samaria, the healing of the paralytic, and the miracle of the blind man in his commentaries on the Gospel of Saint John.


May 25

Third Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist

Because of the vicissitudes of time, the venerable head of the holy Forerunner was lost for a third time and rediscovered in Comana of Cappadocia through a revelation to 'a certain priest, but it was found not, as before, in a clay jar, but in a silver vessel, and "in a sacred place." It was taken from Comana to Constantinople and was met with great solemnity by the Emperor, the Patriarch, and the clergy and people. See also February 24.


May 28

Apodosis of Pascha


May 29

Holy Ascension

The Lord Jesus passed forty days on earth after His Resurrection from the dead, appearing continually in various places to His disciples, with whom He also spoke, ate, and drank, thereby further demonstrating His Resurrection. On this Thursday, the fortieth day after Pascha, He appeared again in Jerusalem. After He had first spoken to the disciples about many things, He gave them His last commandment, that is, that they go forth and proclaim His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. But He also commanded them that for the present, they were not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait there together until they receive power from on high, when the Holy Spirit would come upon them.

Saying these things, He led them to the Mount of Olives, and raising His hands, He blessed them; and saying again the words of the Father's blessing, He was parted from them and taken up. Immediately a cloud of light, a proof of His majesty, received Him. Sitting thereon as though on a royal chariot, He was taken up into Heaven, and after a short time was concealed from the sight of the disciples, who remained where they were with their eyes fixed on Him. At this point, two Angels in the form of men in white raiment appeared to them and said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, Who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven" (Acts 1:11). These words, in a complete and concise manner, declare what is taught in the Symbol of Faith concerning the Son and Word of God. Therefore, having so fulfilled all His dispensation for us, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended in glory into Heaven, and sat at the right hand of God the Father. As for His sacred disciples, they returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, rejoicing because Christ had promised to send them the Holy Spirit.

It should be noted that the Mount of Olives is a Sabbath's day journey from Jerusalem, that is, the distance a Jew was permitted to walk on the day of the Sabbath. Ecumenius writes, "A Sabbath day's journey is one mile in length, as Clement says in his fifth Stromatis; it is two thousand cubits, as the Interpretation of the Acts states." They draw this conclusion from the fact that, while they were in the wilderness, the Israelites of old kept within this distance from the Holy Tabernacle, whither they walked on the Sabbath day to worship God.


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eighth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus has lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and she told them that He had said these things to her.


Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Grave Mode. Psalm 63.11,1.
The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord.
Verse: Oh God, hear my cry.

The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15.

Brethren, it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, "I believed, and so I spoke," we too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.


Gospel Reading

Sunday of the Blind Man
The Reading is from John 9:1-38

At that time, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put clay on my eyes and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age, ask him."

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?" And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him.


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