Sundays in the fall, winter & spring:
Matins: 9 a.m. & Divine Liturgy 10a.m. except during the summer
Summer hours for Sundays in July and August:
Matins: 8:30a.m. & Divine Liturgy 9:30a.m.
The significance of the Theophany of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
About the beginning of our Lord's thirtieth year, John the Forerunner, who was some six months older than Our Savior according to the flesh, and had lived in the wilderness since his childhood, received a command from God and came into the parts of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins. Then our Savior also came from Galilee to the Jordan, and sought and received baptism though He was the Master and John was but a servant. Whereupon, there came to pass those marvelous deeds, great and beyond nature: the Heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Him that was being baptized and the voice was heard from the Heavens bearing witness that this was the beloved Son of God, now baptized as a man (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:1-22). From these events the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery of the Trinity were demonstrated. It is also from this that the present feast is called "Theophany," that is, the divine manifestation, God's appearance among men. On this venerable day the sacred mystery of Christian baptism was inaugurated; henceforth also began the saving preaching of the Kingdom of the Heavens. We are within the Twelve Days of Christmas through tomorrow Jan. 6th.
WELCOME! If you are a visitor or a guest, please let us know by completing a welcome card. Also, please join us next door for the fellowship hour. We are happy to have you with us! The call for Holy Communion (Eucharist) is the highest point of the Divine Liturgy. Please comply with the ushers’ instructions. Patience until ushers direct you out of the pews. “All things are done in proper order.” – Saint Paul
Today at the conclusion of services you will receive a small bottle of Agiasmo (Holy Water) for the feast of Theophany (Jan. 6) Holy Water is to be drunk as needed and replenished when needed.
Artoclasia: Today’s blessing of the loaves is offeredbyMr. & Mrs. Fanis Tsiamtsiouris and Mr. & Mrs. John Tsadilas.
Memorial: A 5 year memorial for Anne Panayotopoulos, beloved wife of Demetrios, mother of Frances, Christina and Demetri. Adored grandmother of Michael, Charles and Grace; beloved sister and aunt to many dear family members. May her memory be eternal. Fellowship hour is sponsored by the Panayotopoulos family.
Religious Education: Blessed be 2025! Classes resume today.
Save The Date: on Sunday, February 2nd Religious Ed. hosts the annual Godparent Sunday Brunch, immediately following worship services. We encourage all godparents to attend this celebration with godchildren by preparing for and receiving Holy Communion together.
Church Services this week
Tomorrow, Monday, January 6: Theophany- the Baptism of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ
Orthros at 9:00am; Divine Liturgy at 10:00am and the Blessing of the Waters service
Tuesday, January 7: Synaxis of John the Baptist. Orthros at 9:00am and Divine Liturgy at 10:00am. To all who celebrate Chronia Polla (Many Years)!
2025 ECCLESIASTICAL Calendars are available for pick up in the Narthex and the bookstore.
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Orthros 9:00 A.M. |
Divine Liturgy 10:00 A.M. |
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Epistle: II Timothy 4:5-8 (pg. 1355) |
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8 (pg. 1180) |
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METROPOLIS OF NJ EVENTS
BLESSING OF THE WATERS BY H.E. MET. APOSTOLOS @ MOLOS RESTAURANT WEEHAWKEN, NJ TOMORROW, January 6 @ 2PM Everyone is invited!
10th Anniversary Gala in honor of The Episcopal Ordination of H.E. Metropolitan Apostolos of NJ At The Venetian In Garfield, NJ MONDAY 6PM JANUARY 13. Tickets Are $160/Person contact Fr. Bill ASAP! [email protected] 201 652 4774 ext. 12
Philoptochos events: meeting ON MONDAY january 13 @ 7pm; Vasilopita Sunday on January 19
House/ Business Blessings in 2025: To have your home and/or business blessed for 2025, please complete a blue request form and insert in the drop box in the narthex or mail it to the parish office or send your request to Fr. Bill [email protected] or call 201 652 4774 ext. 12
Kali Parea: our Seniors Fellowship will not be meeting in January and February.
Save the Date- Men’s Fellowship Breakfast: Saturday, February 1st-Details to follow.
WHY THE BAPTISM OF JESUS IS SIGNIFICANT
Why were the heavens opened? “To inform you that at your baptism also this was done, God calling you to your country on high”. - Saint John Chrysostom
“Christ is illumined; let us shine forth with Him. Christ is baptized; let us descend with Him that we may also ascend with Him. Moses baptized but it was in water ... John the Baptist also baptized ... not only in water, but also "unto repentance." Still it was not wholly spiritual, for he does not add "And in the Spirit." Jesus Himself was baptized, but in the Spirit. This is the perfect baptism. - Saint Gregory the Theologian
HOUSE/BUSINESS BLESSINGS for 2025: it is traditional to have our homes, businesses and families blessed after theophany & for the new year. We do this to invite the lord into our homes & our lives for our children to interact with our pastor and to pray together. To request your home/BUSINESS BLESSING for 2025, fill out the blue form in the narthex or contact fr. Bill at [email protected]
2025 Stewardship Campaign: Your fulfilled stewardship pledge provides the majority of funding for our parish ministries and enables us to gather followers of Christ and aid them on their path to grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to make a difference through good works.
Please make your 2025 pledge and join your fellow Saint Nicholas stewards by completing & submitting your pledge card. Come visit us in the Narthex for your card, or make 2025 your pledge online by visiting our church website https://www.stnicholasnj.org
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.
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 Second Letter to Timothy 4:5-8.
TIMOTHY, my son, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.
For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Sunday before Epiphany
The Reading is from Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophets, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' John was baptizing in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
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When the persecution of Diocletian broke out in 290, Saint Theopemptus, a bishop, was taken for his confession of Christ, and convicted Diocletian to his face for his error and ungodliness. Remaining unhurt after cruel tortures, he was given poison to drink, which had been prepared by a sorcerer named Theonas. Protected by divine grace from this also, he drew Theonas to Christ, and after other torments, was beheaded. Saint Theonas was cast into a pit and buried alive.
Saint Syncletike was from Alexandria in Egypt. She lived eighty-three years in virginity and asceticism, and became the leader and teacher of many nuns. What Saint Anthony the Great was to men, she became to women: a model of mortification of the flesh, of patience in afflictions, and of wise instruction; for this, she is known a "Amma," a title corresponding to "Abba." Towards the end of her long life, she was stricken with an exceedingly painful disease, which she endured with faith and magnanimity. She reposed in the middle of the fourth century. It is said of Saint Syncletike that she was the virgin who hid Saint Athanasius from the Arians for more than a year in the environs of Alexandria, and it is to Saint Athanasius that her life is ascribed (PG 18:1488-1557).
About the beginning of our Lord's thirtieth year, John the Forerunner, who was some six months older than Our Saviour according to the flesh, and had lived in the wilderness since his childhood, received a command from God and came into the parts of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins. Then our Saviour also came from Galilee to the Jordan, and sought and received baptism though He was the Master and John was but a servant. Whereupon, there came to pass those marvellous deeds, great and beyond nature: the Heavens were opened, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon Him that was being baptized and the voice was heard from the Heavens hearing witness that this was the beloved Son of God, now baptized as a man (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:1-22). From these events the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the great mystery of the Trinity were demonstrated. It is also from this that the present feast is called "Theophany," that is, the divine manifestation, God's appearance among men. On this venerable day the sacred mystery of Christian baptism was inaugurated; henceforth also began the saving preaching of the Kingdom of the Heavens.
Today we celebrate the Synaxis in honour of the most sacred Forerunner, since he ministered at the Mystery of the Divine Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rest from labour. Fish allowed.
Saint Gregory, the younger brother of Basil the Great, illustrious in speech and a zealot for the Orthodox Faith, was born in 331. His brother Basil was encouraged by their elder sister Macrina to prefer the service of God to a secular career (see July 19); Saint Gregory was moved in a similar way by his godly mother Emily, who, when Gregory was still a young man, implored him to attend a service in honor of the holy Forty Martyrs at her retreat at Annesi on the River Iris. Saint Gregory came at his mother's bidding, but being wearied with the journey, and feeling little zeal, he fell asleep during the service. The Forty Martyrs then appeared to him in a dream, threatening him and reproaching him for his slothfulness. After this he repented and became very diligent in the service of God.
Gregory became bishop in 372, and because of his Orthodoxy he was exiled in 374 by Valens, who was of one mind with the Arians. After the death of Valens in 378, Gregory was recalled to his throne by the Emperor Gratian. He attended the Local Council of Antioch, which sent him to visit the churches of Arabia and Palestine, which had been defiled and ravaged by Arianism. He attended the Second Ecumenical Council, which was assembled in Constantinople in 381. Having lived some sixty years and left behind many remarkable writings, he reposed about the year 395. The acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council call him 'Father of Fathers."
With the grace from above, we have once again this year arrived at the festal day of the Nativity in the flesh of God the Word, who came into the world and dwelt among us “out of his ineffable loving for humankind.”
On December 15, 2024, St. Matrona Cathedral in Miami welcomed His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. The Archbishop presided over the Divine Liturgy, assisted by Vicar of the Slavic Vicariate and Rector of the Miami Cathedral Archimandrite Alexander (Belya), Bishop-Elect of Nicopolis, clerics of the Vicariate, Archpriests Igor Tarasov and Vasyl Babych, cleric of the St. John the Forerunner Cathedral in Brooklyn Priest Petr Prakaptsou, cleric of the Vicariate Priest Ivan Zeikan, Rector of the Parish of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Dallas Priest Ivan Kovach, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Archdeacon Dionysios Papiris and Brooklyn Cathedral Archdeacon Volodymyr Oliynyk.
This month, new parish councils will meet for the first time. New members and veteran members will gather, led by their parish priest, to lead the parish into the New Year. Just as we make New Year’s resolutions for ourselves, we can make New Year’s resolutions for the parish council, making our work more efficient, productive and fulfilling.
On Thursday, January 2, 2025, His Grace Bishop Nektarios of Diocleia, National Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, represented His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America at a luncheon held in honor of His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
In this episode of the Center for Family Care's Family Matters podcast, Fr. Alex Goussetis speaks with Dr George Stavros regarding the following question: "Is it possible for parents to get along and send a consistent message to children even when their styles conflict?"
The Apostolic Mission to the African Diaspora in the Americas, West Indies, and Caribbean and those alongside it have gone through many developments over the past 120 years. In this exercise Fr. Samuel Davis develops its roots in mission through fellowship, as well as its triumphs and failures.
Yesterday, January 1, 2025, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America rang in the new year at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York, New York, where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy alongside the V. Rev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Gilbert.
Yesterday, December 29, 2024, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America visited New Britain, Connecticut, where he presided over the Divine Liturgy at St, George Greek Orthodox Church alongside the parish's Proistamenos, the V. Rev. Archimandrite Spyridon Chatzis.
Effective communication is central to ministry and relationship-building for parishes, and as part of its mission, the Department of Internet Ministries has provided tools and resources to assist parishes in their local ministry for over 30 years. The Constant Contact Partner Program is the latest and greatest offering from Internet Ministries to benefit parishes and ministries around the Archdiocese!