Transfiguration of Our Saviour Greek Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2024-11-17
Bulletin Contents
Announcements
Weekly Inserts
Weekly Calendar
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Hymns of the Day
Wisdom of the Fathers
Saints and Feasts

Organization Icon
Transfiguration of Our Saviour Greek Orthodox Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • (978) 458-4321
  • Street Address:

  • 25 Fr. John Sarantos Way

  • Lowell, MA 01854
  • Mailing Address:

  • 25 Fr. John Sarantos Way

  • Lowell, MA 01854

Contact Information

Proistamenos Fr. Gregory Floor


[email protected] | 978-458-4321

Fr. John Vaporis


[email protected] | 978-204-7814

Services Schedule

Sunday Schedule:

Orthros: 8:30 a.m.
Divine Liturgy: 9:30 a.m.

Bible Study:

Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Past Bulletins


Announcements

FELLOWSHIP HOUR

Everyone is welcome to join us for Fellowship following Liturgy.

THANKSGIVING FOOD DISTRIBUTION

We are once again fortunate to be able to distribute 70 turkeys with all the fixings to our neighbors. We will be distributing them next Sunday, November 24th following Liturgy. Anyone interested in helping is welcome.  Please wear warm clothes.

100TH ANNIVERSARY CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Our "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful Christmas Concert will be held on Sunday afternoon, December 8th at 4:00 pm. The Concert will feature the Transfiguration Choir, the Counterpoint Vocal Ensemble, the Triton Brass Quartet and a Jazz Quartet featuring Emilee Floor and more. All are welcome and no tickets are required. A free will offering is appreciated.

STEWARDSHIP 2025

The stewardship theme for 2025 will be “Your Own from Your Own” and “See Your Church As It Could Be”.As faithful servants let us work to complete our 2024 stewardship pledge to the church. If you have not pledged for 2024 it is never too late.  Thank you!

GOYA

APPLE PIE ORDERS – Today is the last that our Transfiguration GOYA will be selling homemade Apple Pies for $20 each as their fall fundraiser! Place your order with a GOYAn during coffee hour or by clicking the link GOYA Apple Pie Order Form 2024 or QR code. Pies will be available for pick-up during coffee hour on November 24th. Thank you for your support!

PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS

71ST ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BENEFIT TEA - You are cordially invited to participate in this year’s 71ST Christmas Benefit Tea…a Virtual Event on Sunday, December 8, 2024.  Purchase tickets using this link   71st Annual Philoptochos Tea (Virtual) or the QR code.  Or complete the form on the attached flyer.  The raffle will be drawn after church at noon in the Philoptochos room; join us or tune in to watch drawing in real time on YouTube. www.youtube.com/TransGOC  A table is set up in the Social Hall if you need assistance after Liturgy. Questions?  Please contact Ellen Dobi at 978-505-1764 or [email protected].  Thank you for your generous support.   

Fall Raffle All winners will be notified by mail or in person and announced at the end of the month.  Your support is much appreciated to support our philanthropic ministries. 

THE WISH PROJECT - We are again partnering with The Lowell Wish Project to help those in need. They are requesting $25 gift cards to Walmart, Target, or Market Basket. If you are not able to pick up a gift card, we are accepting monetary donations of any amount. We will use any money collected to buy additional gift cards. All donations are due by December 1st.  Thank you!

LTLC

The Transfiguration parish family hosts dinner at the Lowell Transitional Living Center the second Saturday each month. The opportunity to serve dinner is once again open to all parishioners. Gather a group of 4 or 5 and sign-up for your month in the lower lobby, beginning in December.

MONTHLY PARAKLESIS

We will be offering a monthly Paraklesis to the Theotokos on the 4th Friday of every month at 6:30 PM, wherein we will beseech the Theotokos to intercede for all of our living loved ones who are suffering in any way.  Bring names of your loved ones to the service or email them to Fr. Gregory in advance of the 4th Friday of the month. 

PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES!!

New email addresses for church contacts. See the reverse side of the bulletin for an updated listing of email addresses with the domain @transfigurationlowell.org. 

 

 Trinity votive candles (To Sponsor a Candle please call the Church Office.)

†Vigil Light at the Side Altar (Icon of the Theotokos): In Loving Memory of Angelike Flanagan – from her daughter Mary Ploof and grandchildren
†Vigil Light at the Icon of Christ: In Loving Memory of Deborah Victoria Skrekas and George Skrekas
†Vigil Light at the Icon of Christ (2nd): In Loving Memory of Peter Cakounes from his wife Sophia, Richard & Katherine Russell and the Cakounes, Russell, Byrd and Oliver families.
†Vigil Light at the Theotokos: In Loving Memory of Ioannis "John" Zaralidis - from his family
†Vigil Light at the Icon of the Forerunner: Available
†Vigil Light at the Foot of the Holy Cross: In Loving Memory of George Tsoukalas - from his family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Weekly Inserts

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Weekly Calendar

 

Sunday, November 17  NINTH SUNDAY OF LUKE
†Orthros 8:30 am
†Liturgy 9:30 am
Sunday School Meeting

Wednesday, November 20
Bible Study (online), 10:00 am/7:00 pm

Thursday, November 21 Entrance of Theotokos
†Orthros 8:30 am
†Liturgy 9:30 am

Friday, November 22
Paraklesis, 6:30 pm

Sunday, November 24 THIRTEENTH SUNDAY OF LUKE
†Orthros 8:30 am
†Liturgy 9:30 am
Thanksgiving Food Distribution

TODAY’S PARISH COUNCIL:  Derek Piper, Chuck Nestor & Costas Tsioulis

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

November 28
Thanksgiving Day - Office Closed

November 29
Office Closed

December 1
Fourteenth Sunday of Luke
Monthly Trisagion

December 4
Bible Study (online), 10:00 am/7:00 pm

December 8                         
Tenth Sunday of Luke
5 Year Memorial for Esther Kokas
7 Year Memorial for Peter Kokas
Parish Council Elections
 Oh, Come All Ye Faithful Christmas Concert, 4:00 pm

December 10                       
Parish Council Meeting, 6:30 pm

December 11                       
Bible Study (online), 10:00 am/7:00 pm

December 12                       
St. Spyridon – Liturgy, 9:30 am

December 13                       
Family Fun Night – Ginger Bread Night   6:00 pm – 8:00 pm



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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. 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 St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20.

Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gospel Reading

9th Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 12:16-21

The Lord said this parable: "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." As he said these things, he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode

The joyful news of your resurrection was proclaimed by the angel to the women disciples. Having thrown off the curse that fell on Adam, they ran elatedly to tell the apostles: Death has been vanquished; Christ our God is risen from the dead, blessing all the world with his great mercy.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Kevin Lawrence


Apolytikion for Gregory the Wonderworker in the Plagal Fourth Mode

By vigilance in prayer, and continuance in the working of wonders, thou didst acquire thine achievements as a surname; wherefore, intercede with Christ our God, O Father Gregory, to enlighten our souls, lest we sleep in sin unto death.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery


Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Mode

Behold the temple of the Savior, his precious bridal chamber. Behold the virginal and sacred vessel of God's glory. Today she enters into the house of the Lord, bearing within her the grace of the Holy Spirit. For this, the angels exclaim: She is indeed the heavenly tabernacle.

Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Kevin Lawrence


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Wisdom of the Fathers

I cannot be silent about the story of Hesychius the Horebite. He passed his life in complete negligence, without paying the least attention to his soul. Then he became extremely ill, and for an hour he left his body.
St. John Climacus
Ladder of Divine Ascent. Step 6: On Remembrance of Death, 6th Century

And when he came to himself, he begged us all to leave him immediately. And he built up the door of his cell, and he stayed in it for twelve years without ever uttering a word to anyone, and without eating anything but bread and water.
St. John Climacus
Ladder of Divine Ascent. Step 6: On Remembrance of Death, 6th Century

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Saints and Feasts

November 17

Gregory the Wonderworker & Bishop of Neo-Caesarea

Saint Gregory was born in Neocaesarea of Pontus to parents who were not Christians. He studied in Athens, in Alexandria, in Beirut, and finally for five years in Caesarea of Palestine under Origen, by whom he was also instructed in the Faith of Christ. Then, in the year 240, he became bishop of his own city, wherein he found only seventeen Christians. By the time the Saint reposed about the year 265, there were only seventeen unbelievers left there. Virtually the whole duration of his episcopacy was a time of continual, marvellous wonders worked by him. Because of this, he received the surname "Wonderworker"; even the enemies of the truth called him a second Moses (see Saint Basil the Great's On the Holy Spirit, ch. 29).

November 18

Plato the Great Martyr of Ancyra

Saint Plato contested in martyrdom in 266, when Agrippinus was proconsul. He was from the city of Ancyra in the province of Galatia.

November 19

Barlaam of Caesarea

Saint Barlaam, who was from a certain village near Antioch in Syria, was advanced in years and a husbandman by occupation. Because of his confession of Christ, he was brought before the judge, who had him scourged with whips and then scraped with iron claws. Since this could not break his constancy, he was forcibly haled to the idols' temple, and live coals with incense were placed in his right hand. The judge thought that he would cast them down because of the pain, thus seeming to have offered a sacrifice of incense to the idols. But Saint Barlaam stood unmoving until his hand was thoroughly burned by the coals; he fell to the ground, and so gave up his soul into the hands of the Lord. He contested in martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian (284-305). Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom both gave homilies in his honour.

November 20

Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople

Saint Proclus lived during the reign of Saint Theodosius the Younger. A disciple and scribe of Saint John Chrysostom, he was ordained Bishop of Cyzicus about the year 426, but because the people there unlawfully elected another bishop before his arrival, he remained in Constantinople. In 429, Nestorius, who had been Archbishop of Constantinople for about a year, and had already begun his blasphemous teaching that it is wrong to call the holy Virgin "Theotokos," invited Bishop Proclus to give a sermon on one of the feasts of our Lady, which he did, openly defending in Nestorius' presence the name "Theotokos," that is, "Mother of God." Saint Proclus was elevated to the throne of Archbishop of Constantinople in 434. It was he who persuaded Emperor Theodosius the Younger and his holy sister Pulcheria to have the most sacred relics of his godly teacher Saint John Chrysostom brought back from Comana, and triumphantly received them upon their return to the imperial city (see Jan. 27 and Nov. 13). He reposed in peace in 447.

November 21

The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

According to the tradition of the Church, the Theotokos was brought to the Temple at three years of age, where she was consecrated to God and spent her days until she was fourteen or fifteen years old; and then, as a mature maiden, by the common counsel of the priests (since her parents had reposed some three years before), she was betrothed to Joseph.

November 22

Archippus the Apostles,Philemon the Apostle & his wife, Apphia, Onesimos the Disciple of Paul

Philemon, who was from Colossae, a city of Phrygia, was a man both wealthy and noble; Apphia was his wife. Archippus became Bishop of the Church in Colossae. All three were disciples of the Apostle Paul. Onesimus, who was formerly an unbeliever and slave of Philemon, stole certain of his vessels and fled to Rome. However, on finding him there, the Apostle Paul guided him onto the path of virtue and the knowledge of the truth, and sent him back to his master Philemon, to whom he wrote an epistle (this is one of the fourteen epistles of Saint Paul). In this epistle, Paul commended Onesimus to his master and reconciled the two. Onesimus was later made a bishop; in Greece he is honoured as the patron Saint of the imprisoned. All these Saints received their end by martyrdom, when they were stoned to death by the idolaters. Saint Onesimus is also commemorated on February 15.

November 23

Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum

Saint Gregory, the son of pious parents named Chariton and Theodora, was born in Agrigentum, a city of Sicily, and was great in virtue from his childhood. He was baptized, brought up, and tonsured reader by Bishop Potamion during the reign of Justinian II, in the seventh century. At the age of eighteen he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was ordained deacon by Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem. He traveled to Constantinople, and then to Rome where he was consecrated Bishop of his native Agrigentum. As Bishop of Agrigentum he worked many miracles and shone brilliantly in virtue, but also suffered many great temptation; from the priests Sabine and Crescentius, who so envied him that they slandered him to the Pope as a fornicator and had him cast into prison for two and a half years. In the end, however, he vindicated himself by casting the demon out of the woman who had falsely accused him of committing sin with her. Saint Gregory reposed in peace in deep old age.

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