TODAY
SUNDAY OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
GOSPEL: John 4:5-42
GREEK TEXT p. 72
STREAMING SERVICE: youtube.com/stsconstantine
SUNDAY SCHEDULE:
MATINS: 8:15 am
LITURGY: 9:30 am
SATURDAYS (subject to change):
VESPERS: 5:00 p.m.
SUNDAY OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
Seventh Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:1-10
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying and the napkin, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that He must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.
Prokeimenon. 4th Tone. Psalm 103.24,1.
O Lord, how manifold are your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30.
In those days, those apostles who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea, and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
The Reading is from John 4:5-42
At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."
Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him.
Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony. "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ the Savior of the world."
We’re happy you’ve joined us today. Please sign our guestbook and introduce yourself to one of our greeters or anyone wearing a nametag. We’re here to answer your questions and make your visit to our church meaningful and enjoyable.
Those wishing to follow the livestreamed services with a written text may do so using the links below.
Electronic Version of Orthros (Matins) on May 18th:
Electronic Version of Divine Liturgy on May 18th:
Everyone is welcome in the Orthodox Church & may receive the blessed bread (antidoron) at the end of the service, but only practicing Orthodox Christians may receive the sacrament of Holy Communion.
Volunteer for Festival Baking!
Festival baking has begun. We’re looking for enthusiastic individuals to help with baking for our upcoming Festival! To make it easier for everyone to participate, we've added evening, Saturday, and Sunday shifts—perfect for those who work weekdays.
This week, we will be preparing baklava after the Sunday liturgy. Come be part of the fun—we can’t do it without you! Full schedule available in lobby
Applications for the 2025 Library scholarship must be returned *on paper* to the Library committee by May 18th.
The Philoptochos General Meeting will be on Sunday May 18th after church in the conference room. We will conduct elections for the new officers and board members. All who would like to vote in the election, please renew your memberships. Please come to hear about all the exciting events upcoming in 2025!
Join us in celebrating Sts. Constantine and Helen Nameday on Wednesday, May 21
Liturgy: 10:00 AM
Luncheon: To follow the Liturgy
Cost: $25 per luncheon ticket
For tickets or more information, please contact Marguarite at
917-459-7533 or via email at [email protected].
On Tuesday, May 20 the nameday Vespers service will take place at 7:00 PM; a reception will follow.
Please join St. Makrina Bible Study! We will begin reading the book- "Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis.
“Lewis discusses that everyone is curious about: right and wrong, human nature, morality, marriage, sins, forgiveness, faith, hope, generosity, and kindness.”
We meet every Wednesday from 9:30-11am over Zoom. You do not have to attend every session and can contribute to the discussions as much or as little as you wish. The book can be purchased through Amazon. Please contact Toni Madden at [email protected] for the Zoom link. We would love for you to join us!
We are reading Living the Beatitudes: Perspectives From Orthodox Spirituality, written by Fr Thomas Fitzgerald, Th.D (of Blessed memory) former Dean and Prof at Holy Cross School of Theology and Presb Kyriaki Fitzgerald, M.Div., Ph.D, psychologist and adjunct prof at Holy Cross School of Theology. The authors teach us how to practice the Beatitudes and integrate them into our daily lives, to imitate Christ and to become His disciples.
We Zoom weekly on Thursday evenings at 7-8pm starting on May 1 for 8 weeks. If interested, contact Cynthia Terezis at [email protected] to be added to the Zoom email invite and to place an order for the book ($20) through the bookstore at the Church Library (also available at holycrossbookstore.com and Amazon).
Philoptochos is sponsoring a Memorial Service on Father's Day to honor our Fathers, Grandfathers and Godfathers who have departed. Everyone is invited to submit the names of their loved ones who are no longer with us, if you haven't already done so. Father will be reading the names during the service on Sunday June 15, 2025. If you would like to make a donation to Philoptochos, it would be greatly appreciated.
Please mail names to:
Sts Constantine and Helen Philoptochos c/o Heidi Peters
or email names to [email protected]. Please submit names before June 8, 2025.
Sunshine Group: The next luncheon will be at Crostata in Highland Heights. Crostatas is located at 558 Bishop Road. Please bring $20/pp for lunch. Lunch is Thursday, June 12 at 12:30--Please note the time! Please let Maria Cashy know if you can make it at 216-390-3394 or [email protected]. I hope you will all attend!
On Thursday, July 10, we will have a Christmas in July party at the church. More details to follow.
1) Sts. Constantine & Helen will provide $620 scholarships for all youth going to Camp Nazareth this summer! You will need a code prior to signing up to qualify. Contact either Fr. Stephen or Ted for more information. Camp registration is now live at https://y2am.pittsburgh.goarch.org/summercamp. Camp does sell out, so please act fast!
2) GOYA will have a special meeting on Sunday, May 18th @ 11:30 a.m. We will enjoy the world premier of the 2025 GOYA Basketball Documentary courtesy of Mr. Hlizatos. Sr. Hellenic Dance practice will follow immediately afterwards.
3) GOYA is invited to a Metropolis Sand Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, May 31st hosted by St. Paul, North Royalton. Come and compete with all your friends from Camp Nazareth and the tournaments! To participate, RSVP to Ted ASAP. We need at least 6 GOYAns and another adult to send a team. Contact him with any questions too.
4) The Metropolis Youth Office presents "Wonderfully Made", a 1-day youth retreat for students with moderate to intensive special needs. This will be hosted by St. Nicholas, Youngstown on Saturday, June 7th from 10:00 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. Registration is now open at https://y2am.pittsburgh.goarch.org/wonderfully-made. For more information, contact Alyssa Kyritsis at [email protected].
5) GOYA is joining FOCUS for its annual backpack drive. You can participate by volunteering to fill a backpack for a student in need right here in Cleveland. The packing list includes items like pencils, folders, and index cards. The deadline to have everything collected is Sunday, August 3rd. Please see Ted to get involved.
If you are a college student or young adult, we invite you to join the Kefi Dancers and perform at our festival. The first 3 practices will be May 19, 21, 28, 6:30-8:00. June and July practices to be determined.
Graduating? – Join us for our annual graduate luncheon on Sunday, June 1st. Please send us the graduate’s name, photo, school graduating from, future plans, focus of studies and any interesting information you want to share. We will honor all the graduates at the luncheon and the graduates will also be featured in the next edition of the Koinonia. Send all information to Maria Misthos at [email protected] by May 18th.
We have open coffee hour dates coming up for the end of the month, into June, July, and August. Help us keep our fellowship going. Visit our online sign-up and put your name down today:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D48A5AD23A4F58-48824692-sunday#/
It's that time of the year again when graduating senior high school students and college students can apply for the Sterea Hellas Foundation of Cleveland Scholarship as well as our Federation's Scholarship. Information for both scholarships are as follows:
- Application Due Date for the Federation of Sterea Hellas’ Scholarship is to be postmarked no later than July 1st. https://federationofstereahellas.org/#scholarships
- Application Due Date for the Sterea Hellas Foundation of Cleveland’s scholarship is to be postmarked no later than July 15th. Please click on the following link and note the REVISED application forms for 2025. https://nafpaktian.org/scholarships/
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Cross Press
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Your Apostle among the Rulers, St. Constantine, who once beheld in the sky the image of Your Cross, and who like Paul received his calling not from man, once entrusted the Ruling City into Your hand. We entreat You to restore it in peace forever, at the intercession of the Theotokos, O Lord who loves humanity. (Copyright Fr. Seraphim Dedes, used by permission. All rights reserved)
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Narthex Press