Fri

  1

The Feast Day of St Tryphon the Martyr

[The Holy Martyr Trypho was from Lampsacus in Phrygia, and as a young man he tended geese.  Being filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he also healed sufferings and cast out demons.  During the reign of the Emperor Decius, about the year 250, he was betrayed as a Christian and taken to Nicea, where he was beaten, bound to horses and dragged over rough ground, then dragged naked over nails; his sides were burned with torches; finally he was sentenced to beheading, but gave up his holy soul in his torments before the stroke of the sword.  Saint Trypho is one of the Holy Unmercenaries, and is also invoked for the protection of gardens from insects and pests.]

Today, we are also commemorating:

The Feast Day of St Anastasios the New Martyr of Navplion

and
St Bridget of Ireland

[When Ireland was newly converted to the Christian Faith, the Holy Abbess Brigid devoted herself to the establishment of the monastic life among the women of her country, and founded the renowned convent of Kildare-Kil "Cell (or Church)" Dara "of the Oak."  She was especially renowned for her great mercifulness, manifested in her lavish almsgiving and in miracles wrought for those in need.  The Book of Armaugh, an ancient Irish chronicle, calls Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid "the pillars of the Irish" and says that through them both, "Christ performed many miracles."  She reposed in peace about the year 525. ]

Sat

  2

   8am Divine Liturgy

   G.O.Y.A. Basketball tournament at Annunciation Cathedral, Baltimore

The Feast of The Presentation of our Lord

[When the most pure Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary's forty days of purification had been fulfilled, she took her first-born Son to Jerusalem on this, the fortieth day after His birth, that she might present Him in the temple according to the Law of Moses, which teaches that every first-born male child be dedicated to God, and also that she might offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons, as required by the Law (Luke 2:22-24; Exod. 13:2; Lev. 12:6-8).  On this same day, a just and devout man, the greatly aged Symeon, was also present in the temple, being guided by the Holy Spirit.  For a long time, this man had been awaiting the salvation of God, and he had been informed by divine revelation that he would not die until he beheld the Lord's Christ.  Thus, when he beheld Him at that time and took Him up into his aged arms, he gave glory to God, singing: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, O Master. . ."  And he confessed that he would close his eyes joyfully, since he had seen the Light of revelation for the nations and the Glory of Israel (Luke 2:25-32).  From ancient times, the Holy Church has retained this tradition of the churching of the mother and new-born child on the fortieth day and of the reading of prayers of purification.
     The Apodosis of the Feast of the Meeting in the Temple is usually on the 9th of February.  This, however, may vary if the Feast falls within the period of the Triodion.  Should this occur, the Typicon should be consulted for specific information concerning the Apodosis of the Feast.]

Today, we are also commemorating:
The Feast Day of  Ss Gabriel the New Martyr of Constantinople;
Jordan the New Martyr; and Agathadoros the Martyr of Cappadocia

Sun

  3

   9am     Orthros
 10am     Divine Liturgy
 10am     Sunday School

   5pm     A.H.E.P.A. Annual Football Bash

The Feast Day of  Symeon the God-receiver and
Anna the Phophetess

[Yesterday we celebrated the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple; today we honor the righteous Elder Symeon and Prophetess Anna, who prophesied concerning Him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were the first in Jerusalem to receive Him as the Messiah.]

Today, we are also commemorating:
The Feast Day of  Ss Stamatios, John, and Nicholas,
the New Martyrs of Chios

Mon

  4

    3:30pm Greek School
    6:30pm Adult Basketball
    7pm      Adult Catechism & Bible Study

Tue

  5

  4pm Greek School

The Feast Day of St. Agatha the Martyr

[This Martyr, who was from Panormus (that is, Palermo) or perhaps Catania of Sicily, was a most comely and chaste virgin.  After many exceedingly harsh torments, she gave up her spirit in prison at Catania in 251, because she did not consent to the seductions of Quintian, the Governor of Sicily.  At her burial, an Angel placed a stone tablet on her grave inscribed with the words, "A righteous mind, self-determining, honor from God, the deliverance of her father-land." The following year this was fulfilled when Mount Etna erupted, spewing forth violent fire from which Catania was manifestly saved by Saint Agatha's prayers.  The holy Martyr Agatha, the protectress and chief patroness of Sicily, is, with perhaps the exception of Saint Agnes of Rome, the most highly venerated Virgin Martyr of the West.  Saint Damasus, Pope of Rome, and Saint Ambrose of Milan both wrote in praise of her.]

Today we also Commemorate:
Polveuktos (Patriarch of Constantinople);
Antonios the New Martyr of Athens, and
Theodosios the Righteous

Wed

  6

  4pm      Greek School

  6pm      Holy Unction Service

  7pm      Choir Practice
              G.O.Y.A. Open Gym

The Feast Day of St. Photios, Patriarch of Constantinople

[As for the thrice-blessed Photios, the great and most resplendent Father and teacher of the Church, the Confessor of the Faith and Equal to the Apostles, he lived during the years of the emperors Michael (the son of Theophilos), Basil the Macedonian, and Leo his son.  He was the son of pious parents, Sergius and Irene, who suffered for the Faith under the Iconoclast Emperor Theophilus; he was also a nephew of Saint Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople (see Feb.  25).  He was born in Constantinople, where he excelled in the foremost imperial ministries, while ever practicing a virtuous and godly life.  An upright and honorable man of singular learning and erudition, he was raised to the apostolic, ecumenical, and patriarchal throne of Constantinople in the year 857.
      The many struggles that this thrice-blessed one undertook for the Orthodox Faith against the Manichaeans, the Iconoclasts, and other heretics, and the attacks and assaults that he endured from Nicholas I, the haughty and ambitious Pope of Rome, and the great persecutions and distresses he suffered, are beyond number.  Contending against the Latin error of the filioque, that is, the doctrine that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, he demonstrated clearly with his Mystagogy on the Holy Spirit how the filioque destroys the unity and equality of the Trinity.  He has left us many theological writings, panegyric homilies, and epistles, including one to Boris, the Sovereign of Bulgaria, in which he set forth for him the history and teachings of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.  Having tended the Church of Christ in holiness and in an evangelical manner, and with fervent zeal having rooted out all the tares of every alien teaching, he departed to the Lord in the Monastery of the Armenians on February 6, 891.]

The Feast Day of St. Barsanouphios the Great

[Saint Barsanouphios the Great, who was from Egypt, and his disciple, Saint John the Prophet, struggled in very strict reclusion during the sixth century at the monastery of Abba Seridus at Gaza of Palestine, and were endowed with amazing gifts of prophecy and spiritual discernment.  They are mentioned by Saint Dorotheus of Gaza, their disciple, in his writings.  Many of the counsels they sent to Christians who wrote to them are preserved in the book which bears their names.  Once certain of the Fathers besought Saint Barsanouphios to pray that God stay His wrath and spare the world.  Saint Barsanouphios wrote back that there were "three men perfect before God," whose prayers met at the throne of God and protected the whole world; to them it had been revealed that the wrath of God would not last long.  These three, he said, were "John of Rome, Elias of Corinth, and another in the diocese of Jerusalem," concealing the name of the last, since it was himself.]

Thu

  7

  4pm      Greek School
  6:30pm  Ladies Philoptochos Dinner at the Nautilus Restaurant, Crofton

The Feast Day of St. Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos

[Saint Parthenios was born in Melitopolis on the Hellespont, the son of a deacon named Christopher.  Because of the miracles that he wrought even as a young man, he was ordained a priest and then Bishop of Lampsakoss in the days of Saint Constantine the Great, from whom he received great gifts and authority both to overturn the altars of the idols and to raise up a church to the glory of Christ.  Working many miracles throughout his life, he reposed in peace an old man and full of days.]

The Feast Day of St. Luke the Righteous of Greece

[Saint Luke was the descendant of a family from Aegina which, because of the frequent invasions of the Saracens, left Aegina and dwelt in Phocis, where the Saint was born in 896.  From his earliest childhood Luke ate neither flesh, nor cheese, nor eggs, but gave himself over with his whole soul to hardship and fasting for the love of heavenly blessings, often giving away his clothing to the poor, for which his father punished him.  After his father's death he secretly left home to become a monk, but the Lord, inclining to the fervent prayers of his mother, made him known, and he returned to her for a time to care for her.  For many years he lived as a hermit, moving from place to place; he spent the last part of his life on Mount Stirion at Phocis, where there is a city named Stiris.  The grace of God that was in him made him a wonder-worker, and his tomb in the monastery of Hosios Loukas, famous for its mosaics, became a source of healings and place of pilgrimage for the faithful.  According to some he reposed in the year 946; according to others, in 953.]

Today we also Commemorate:
the Holy Father Savvas of Kalymnos;
Theopemptos the Martyr and his Companions: and
George the New Martyr of Crete

Fri

  8

The Feast Day of St. Theodore the Commander & Great Martyr

[The holy Martyr Theodore was from Euchaita of Galatia and dwelt in Heraclea of Pontus.  He was a renowned commander in the military, and the report came to the Emperor Licinius that he was a Christian and abominated the idols.  Licinius therefore sent certain men to him from Nicomedia, to honor him and ask him to appear before him.  Through them, however, Saint Theodore sent back a message that it was necessary for various reasons, that Licinius come to Heraclea.  Licinius, seeing in this a hope of turning Saint Theodore away from Christ did as was asked of him.
      When the Emperor came to Heraclea, Saint Theodore met him with honor, and the Emperor in turn gave Theodore his hand, believing that through him he would be able to draw the Christians to the worship of his idols.  Seated upon his throne in the midst of the people, he publicly bade Theodore offer sacrifice to the gods.  But Theodore asked that the emperor entrust him with the most venerable of his gods, those of gold and silver, that he might take them home and himself attend upon them that evening, promising that the following day he would honor them in public.  The Emperor, filled with joy at these tidings, gave command that Theodore's request be fulfilled.
      When the Saint had taken the idols home, he broke them in pieces and distributed the gold and silver to the poor by night.  The next day a centurion named Maxentius told Licinius that he had seen a pauper pass by carrying the head of Artemis.  Saint Theodore, far from repenting of this, confessed Christ boldly.  Licinius, in an uncontainable fury, had the Saint put to many torments, then crucified.  While upon the cross, the holy Martyr was further tormented -- his privy parts were cut off, he was shot with arrows, his eyes were put out, and he was left on the cross to die.  The next day Licinius sent men to take his corpse and cast it into the sea; but they found the Saint alive and perfectly whole.  Through this, many believed in Christ.  Seeing his own men turning to Christ, and the city in an uproar, Licinius had Theodore beheaded, about the year 320.  The Saint's holy relics were returned to his ancestral home on June 8, which is also a feast of the Great Martyr Theodore.]

The Feast Day of  Zechariah The Prophet

[The Prophet Zachariah was the son of Barachias, and a contemporary of the Prophet Aggeus (Dec.  16).  In the days of the Babylonian captivity, he prophesied, as it says, in the book of Ezra, "to the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem" (Ezra 5: 1); he aided Zerubbabel in the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.  In the book of Ezra he is called "Zachariah the son of Addo (or Iddo)" but in his own prophetic book he is called more fully "Zachariah, the son of Barachias, the son of Addo the Prophet" (Zach.  1:1).  When the captives returned from Babylon, he came to dwell in Jerusalem in his old age.  His book of prophecy is divided into fourteen chapters and has the eleventh place among the books of the minor Prophets; his name means "Yah is renowned." Sozomen reports that under the Emperor Honorius, Zachariah's holy relics were found in Eleutheropolis of Palestine.  The Prophet appeared in a dream to a certain Calemerus, telling him where he would find his tomb.  His body was found to be incorrupt (Eccl.  Hist., Book IX, 17).]

Sat

  9

  G.O.Y.A. Basketball Tournament - St. Nicholas Church, Baltimore

The Feast Day of  St. Nicephoros the Martyr of Antioch

[This Martyr, who was from Antioch in Syria, contested during the reign of Gallienus, about the year 260.  Through the working of the evil one, his friendship with a certain Christian priest named Sapricius was turned to bitter hatred.  Nicephorus, repenting of his enmity, tried both through intermediaries and in person to be reconciled with Sapricius, but to no avail.  Later, when the persecution broke out under Valerian and Gallienus, Sapricius was seized as a Christian.  When Saint Nicephorus learned that Sapricius had been arrested by the pagans and was enduring torments for Christ, he sent intermediaries to Sapricius, begging his forgiveness; but Sapricius would not forgive him.  Later, as Sapricius was being taken to beheading, Nicephorus, hoping that Sapricius, at his end, in such a holy hour, would at last forgive him, met him on the way, fell before him, and fervently asked his forgiveness; but Sapricius forgave him not.  Wherefore, though Sapricius had passed through many sufferings, and the crown of martyrdom was now awaiting him, because he disdained the chief commandments of love and forgiveness, the grace of God, which had been strengthening him in his torments, departed from him, and he told his executioners he would sacrifice.  Nicephorus immediately confessed Christ before them, and being himself beheaded, took the crown that Sapricius had cast away.
    Should the Apodosis of the Feast of the Meeting in the Temple fall on this day the service to Saint Nicephorus is chanted on the 8th.]

Sun

10

   9am     Orthros
 10am     Divine Liturgy
 10am     Sunday School

After Church Services:
              Sunday School Teachers Meeting
              Greek School Open House

[Through the Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII, ch.  42), the Church of Christ has received the custom to make commemorations for the departed on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after their repose.  Since many throughout the ages, because of an untimely death in a faraway place, or other adverse circumstances, have died without being deemed worthy of the appointed memorial services, the divine Fathers, being so moved in their love for man, have decreed that a common memorial be made this day for all pious Orthodox Christians who have reposed from all ages past, so that those who did not have particular memorial services may be included in this common one for all.  Also, the Church of Christ teaches us that alms should be given to the poor by the departed one's kinsmen as a memorial for him.
       Besides this, since we make commemoration tomorrow of the Second Coming of Christ, and since the reposed have neither been judged, nor have received their complete recompense (Acts 17:31; II Peter 2:9; Heb.  11:39-40), the Church rightly commemorates the souls today, and trusting in the boundless mercy of God, she prays Him to have mercy on sinners.  Furthermore, since the commemoration is for all the reposed together, it reminds each of us of his own death, and arouses us to repentance.]

The Feast Day of  St. Haralambos the Holy Martyr

[This Saint was a priest of the Christians in Magnesia, the foremost city of Thessaly, in the diocese having the same name.  He contested during the reign of Alexander Severus (222-235, when Lucian was Proconsul of Magnesia.  At the time of his martyrdom the Saint was 103 years of age.]

Mon

11

  3:30pm Greek School
  6:30pm Adult Basketball
  7pm      Adult Catechism & Bible Study

Judgment Sunday (Meat Fare Sunday)

[The foregoing two parables -- especially that of the Prodigal Son -- have presented to us God's extreme goodness and love for man.  But lest certain persons, putting their confidence in this alone, live carelessly, squandering upon sin the time given them to work out their salvation, and death suddenly snatch them away, the most divine Fathers have appointed this day's feast commemorating Christ's impartial Second Coming, through which we bring to mind that God is not only the Friend of man, but also the most righteous Judge, Who recompenses to each according to his deeds.
     It is the aim of the holy Fathers, through bringing to mind that fearful day, to rouse us from the slumber of carelessness unto the work of virtue, and to move us to love and compassion for our brethren.  Besides this, even as on the coming Sunday of Cheese-fare we commemorate Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight -- which exile is the beginning of life as we know it now -- it is clear that today's is reckoned the last of all feasts, because on the last day of judgment, truly, everything of this world will come to an end.
     All foods, except meat and meat products, are allowed during the week that follows this Sunday.]

The Feast Day of  St. Theodora the Empress

[As for the renowned Empress Theodora, she was from Paphlagonia and was the daughter of a certain Marinus, the commander of a military regiment.  While being the wife of the Emperor Theophilus, the last of the Iconoclasts, she adorned the royal diadem with her virtue and piety; as long as her husband Theophilus lived, she privately venerated icons, despite his displeasure.  After his death, she restored the holy icons to public veneration; this is commemorated on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the First Sunday of the Great Fast.  She governed the Empire wisely for fifteen years, since her son Michael was not yet of age.  But in 857 she forsook her royal power and entered a certain convent in Constantinople called Gastria, where she finished the course of her life in holiness and reposed in the Lord.  Her sacred incorrupt remains are found in Corfu, in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Cave, in the capital city of the island (see also Dec.  12).]

The Feast Day of  St. Vlassios the Holy Martyr of Sebaste

[Saint Vlassios was Bishop of Sebaste.  Divine grace, through which he healed the diseases of men and beasts, and especially of infants, made his name famous.  He contested for the Faith under Licinius in the year 316.  Saint Vlassios is invoked for the healing of throat ailments.]

Tue

12

  4pm     Greek School

  5pm     Vespers at UMD

  7pm     Parish Council Meeting

The Feast Day of  St. Meletios Archbishop of Antioch

[This holy Father, who was from Meletine of Armenia, was a blameless man, just, reverent, sincere, and most gentle.  Consecrated Bishop of Sebaste in 357, he was later banished from his throne and departed for Beroea of Syria (this is the present-day Aleppo).  After the Arian bishop of Antioch had been deposed, the Orthodox and the Arians each strove to have a man of like mind with themselves become the next Bishop of Antioch.  Meletius was highly esteemed by all, and since the Arians believed him to share their own opinion, they had him raised to the throne of Antioch.  As soon as he had taken the helm of the Church of Antioch, however, he began preaching the Son's consubstantiality with the Father.  At this, the archdeacon, an Arian, put his hand over the bishop's mouth; Meletius then extended three fingers towards the people, closed them, and extended one only, showing by signs the equality and unity of the Trinity.  The embarrassed archdeacon then seized his hand, but released his mouth, and Meletius spoke out even more forcibly in defense of the Council of Nicea.  Shortly after, he was banished by the Arian Emperor Constantius, son of Saint Constantine the Great.  After the passage of time, he was recalled to his throne, but was banished again the third time by Valens.  It was Saint Meletius who ordained Saint John Chrysostom reader and deacon in Antioch (see Nov.  13).  He lived until the Second Ecumenical Council in 381 (which was convoked against Macedonius, Patriarch of Constantinople, the enemy of the Holy Spirit), over which he presided, being held in great honor as a zealot of the Faith and a venerable elder hierarch.
      Some time before, when the Emperor Gratian had made the Spanish General Theodosius commander-in-chief of his armies in the war against the barbarians, Theodosius had a dream in which he saw Meletius, whom he had never met, putting upon him the imperial robe and crown.  Because of Theodosius's victories, Gratian made him Emperor of the East in Valens's stead in 379.  When, as Emperor, Saint Theodosius the Great convoked the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople two years later, he forbade that anyone should tell him who Meletius was; and as soon as he saw him, he recognized him, ran to him with joy, embraced him before all the other bishops, and told him of his dream.
     While at the Council, Saint Meletius fell ill and reposed a short while after.  Saint Gregory of Nyssa, among others, gave a moving oration at his funeral; bewailing the loss of him whom all loved as a father, he said, "Where is that sweet serenity of his eyes? Where that bright smile upon his lips? Where that kind right hand, with fingers outstretched to accompany the benediction of the mouth?" (PG 46:8-6).  And he lamented, "Our Elias has been caught up, and no Elisseus is left behind in his place." (ibid., 860).  The holy relics of Saint Meletius were returned to Antioch and were buried beside Saint Babylas the Martyr (see Sept.  4), in the Church dedicated to the Martyr which Meletius, in his zeal for the Martyr's glory, had helped build with his own hands.]

Wed

13

   8am    Divine Liturgy

   4pm    Greek School
   7pm    Choir Rehearsal
             Adult Bible & Catechism Class
             G.O.Y.A. Open Gym

The Feast Day of  St. Symeon the Myrrbearer of Serbia

[Saint Symeon (in the world, the ruler Stephen Nemanja), after capably governing Serbia in piety, wisdom, and justice for many years during the second half of the twelfth century, renounced all rule and earthly glory to become a monk, to struggle in fasting and prayer.  Thereafter he went to the Holy Mountain Athos where, together with his son Saint Sabbas (see Jan.  14), he founded the Monastery of Hilandar.  After his death, a fragrant and healing myrrh came forth from his holy relics.  When Stephen Nemanja put on the monastic habit with the name of Symeon, his wife Anna followed his example, receiving the monastic name of Anastasia; she is commemorated as a Saint on June 21.]

The Feast Day of  St. Martinianos the Righteous

[Saint Martinian, who was from Caesarea of Palestine, flourished about the beginning of the fifth century.  He struggled in the wilderness from his youth.  After he had passed twenty-five years in asceticism, the devil brought a temptation upon him through a harlot, who when she heard the Saint praised for his virtue, determined to try his virtue, or rather, to undo it.  Coming to his cell by night as it rained, and saying she had lost her way, she begged with pitiful cries to be admitted in for the night, lest she fall prey to wild beasts.  Moved with compassion, and not wishing to be guilty of her death should anything befall her, he allowed her to enter.  When she began to seduce him, and the fire of desire began to burn in his heart, he kindled a fire and stepped into it, burning his body, but saving his soul from the fire of Gehenna.  And she, brought to her senses by this, repented, and, following his counsel, went to Bethlehem to a certain virgin named Paula, with whom she lived in fasting and prayer; before her death, she was deemed worthy of the gift of wonder-working.  Saint Martinian, when he recovered from the burning, resolved to go to some more solitary place, and took a ship to a certain island, where he struggled in solitude for a number of years.  Then a young maiden who had suffered a shipwreck came ashore on his island.  Not wishing to fall into temptation again, he departed, and passed his remaining time as a wanderer, coming to the end of his life in Athens.]

Thu

14

  4pm     Greek School
  7pm     G.O.Y.A. Basketball Tournament Meeting

The Feast Day of  the Holy Father Auxentius of the Mountain

[This Saint, who was from the East, lived during the reign of Saint Theodosios the Younger.  In 442 he enlisted in the Fourth Military Company of the Scholarii, that is, the Imperial Guard.  Afterwards, he became a monk on a certain mountain in Bithynia (which later took his name), not far from Chalcedon.  On becoming the archimandrite of the monastics gathered there, and proving himself to be most enduring in asceticism and most Orthodox in his faith, he reposed during the reign of the Emperor Leo the Great of Thrace, who reigned from 457 to 474.]

Fri

15

The Feast Day of  St. Onesimus, the Apostle of the 70

[This Apostle, who was from Colossae, was a bond-servant of that Philemon to whom the Apostle Paul addressed his epistle.  Onesimus escaped from Philemon and fled to Rome, where he became a disciple of Saint Paul.  Saint Paul brought him to the Faith of Christ, and then sent him back to his master, who in turn gave him his freedom and sent him back to Rome again, where he ministered to Saint Paul.  Later, he was seized because he was a Christian and was sent to Puteoli, where he was beaten to death with clubs.  Saint Onesimus is also commemorated on November 22 with the holy Apostles Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus.]

Sat

16

       G.O.Y.A. Annual Basketball Tournament Weekend

The Feast Day of  St. Pamphilios the Martyr & His Companions

[This Martyr contested during the reign of Maximian, in the year 290, in Caesarea of Palestine, and was put to death by command of Firmilian, the Governor of Palestine.  His fellow contestants' names are Valens, Paul, Seleucus, Porphyrius, Julian, Theodulus, and five others from Egypt: Elias, Jeremias, Esaias, Samuel, and Daniel.  Their martyrdom is recorded in Book VIII, ch.  11 of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, called The Martyrs of Palestine.]

Sun

17

   9am     Orthros
 10am     Divine Liturgy
 10am     Sunday School

After Church Services:
       G.O.Y.A. Annual Basketball Tournament Weekend

The Feast Day of  St. Theodore the Tyro, Great Martyr

[Saint Theodore who was from Amasia of Pontus, contested during the reign of Maximian (286-305).  He was called Tyro, from the Latin Tiro, because he was a newly enlisted recruit.  When it was reported that he was a Christian, he boldly confessed Christ; the ruler, hoping that he would repent, gave him time to consider the matter more completely and then give answer.  Theodore gave answer by setting fire to the temple of Cybele, the "mother of the gods," and for this he suffered a martyr's death by fire.  See also the First Saturday of the Fast.]

Mon

18

  FAST FREE

   6:30pm  Adult Basketball

The Feast Day of  Leo the Great, Pope of Rome

[According to some, this Saint was born in Rome, but according to others in Tyrrenia (Tuscany), and was consecrated to the archiepiscopal throne of Rome in 440.  In 448, when Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople, summoned Eutyches, an archimandrite in Constantinople, to give account for his teaching that there was only one nature in Christ after the Incarnation, Eutyches appealed to Saint Leo in Rome.  After Saint Leo had carefully examined Eutyches's teachings, he wrote an epistle to Saint Flavian, setting forth the Orthodox teaching of the person of Christ, and His two natures, and also counseling Flavian that, should Eutyches sincerely repent of his error, he should be received back with all good will.  At the Council held in Ephesus in 449, which was presided over by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria (and which Saint Leo, in a letter to the holy Empress Pulcheria in 451, was the first to call "The Robber Council"), Dioscorus, having military might behind him, did not allow Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian to be read, although repeatedly asked to do so; even before the Robber Council was held, Dioscorus had uncanonically received the unrepentant Eutyches back into communion.  Because Saint Leo had many cares in Rome owing to the wars of Attila the Hun and other barbarians, in 451 he sent four delegates to the Fourth Ecumenical Council, where 630 Fathers gathered in Chalcedon during the reign of Marcian, to condemn the teachings of Eutyches and those who supported him.  Saint Leo's epistle to Flavian was read at the Fourth Council, and was confirmed by the Holy Fathers as the Orthodox teaching on the incarnate person of our Lord; it is also called the "Tome of Leo." The Saint wrote many works in Latin; he reposed in 461.  See also Saint Anatolius, July 3.]

Tue

19

Clean Monday - Kathari Theftera

  4pm     Greek School

  5pm     Vespers at UMD

The Feast Day of  St. Philothea the Righteous, Martyr of Athens

[Saint Philothei was born in Athens in 1522 to an illustrious family.  Against her will, she was married to a man who proved to be most cruel.  When he died three years later, the Saint took up the monastic life and established a convent, in which she became a true mother to her disciples.  Many women enslaved and abused by the Moslem Turks also ran to her for refuge.  Because of this, the Turkish rulers became enraged and came to her convent, dragged her by force out of the church, and beat her cruelly.  After a few days, she reposed, giving thanks to God for all things.  This came to pass in the year 1589.  She was renowned for her almsgiving, and with Saints Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite is considered a patron of the city of Athens.]

 The Feast Day of  Ss Philemon & Archippos
Apostles of the 70

[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.]

Wed

20

  8am     Divine Liturgy

  4pm     Greek School (Report Cards Issued)
  7pm     Choir Rehearsal
  7:30pm Greek Adult Conversation Class

Thu

21

  4pm     Greek School

The Feast Day of  St. Timothy the Righteous

[Saint Timothy took up the monastic life from his youth, became a vessel of the Holy Spirit, and reposed in deep old age.]

 The Feast Day of  St. Eustathios, Patriarch of Antioch

[Saint Eustathius, the great defender of piety and illustrious opponent of Arianism, was from Side in Pamphylia.  He became Bishop of Beroea (the present-day Aleppo), and in 325 was present at the First Ecumenical Council.  From thence he was transferred to the throne of Antioch.  But Saint Constantine the Great, led astray by the slanders directed against the Saint by the Arians, banished him to Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he reposed in 337, according to some.  Others say he lived until 360.]

Fri

22

 FAST FREE

The Commemoration of the Finding of the Relics
of the Holy Martyrs of Eugenios

[The holy relics of these Saints were found in the quarter of Constantinople called Eugenius when Thomas was Patriarch of that city (607-610).]

Sat

23

 FAST FREE

The Feast Day of  Polycarp, the Holy Martyr & Bishop of Smyrna

[This apostolic and prophetic man, and model of faith and truth, was a disciple of John the Evangelist, successor of Bucolus (Feb.  6), and teacher of Irenaeus (Aug.  23).  He was an old man and full of days when the fifth persecution was raised against the Christians under Marcus Aurelius.  When his pursuers, sent by the ruler, found Polycarp, he commanded that they be given something to eat and drink, then asked them to give him an hour to pray; he stood and prayed, full of grace, for two hours, so that his captors repented that they had come against so venerable a man.  He was brought by the Proconsul of Smyrna into the stadium and was commanded, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, 'Away with the atheists.'" By atheists, the Proconsul meant the Christians.  But Polycarp, gazing at the heathen in the stadium, waved his hand towards them and said, "Away with the atheists." When the Proconsul urged him to blaspheme against Christ, he said: "I have been serving Christ for eighty-six years, and He has wronged me in nothing; how can I blaspheme my King Who has saved me?" But the tyrant became enraged at these words and commanded that he be cast into the fire, and thus he gloriously expired about the year 163.  As Eusebius says, "Polycarp everywhere taught what he had also learned from the Apostles, which also the Church has handed down; and this alone is true" (Eccl.  Hist., Book IV, ch.  14,15).]

Sun

24

   9am     Orthros
 10am     Divine Liturgy
 10am     Sunday School

After Church Services:
              Greek School P.T.A. Meeting

The Commemoration of the First & Second Finding
of the Venerable Head of St. John the Baptist

[The first finding came to pass during the middle years of the fourth century, through a revelation of the holy Forerunner to two monks, who came to Jerusalem to worship our Saviour's Tomb.  One of them took the venerable head in a clay jar to Emesa in Syria.  After his death it went from the hands of one person to another, until it came into the possession of a certain priest-monk named Eustathius, an Arian.  Because he ascribed to his own false belief the miracles wrought through the relic of the holy Baptist, he was driven from the cave in which he dwelt, and by dispensation forsook the holy head, which was again made known through a revelation of Saint John, and was found in a water jar, about the year 430, in the days of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, when Uranius was Bishop of Emesa.]

Mon

25

  3:30pm Greek School (Report Cards Issued)
  6:30pm Adult Basketball
  7pm      Adult Catechism & Bible Study

[For more than one hundred years the Church of Christ was troubled by the persecution of the Iconoclasts of evil belief, beginning in the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741) and ending in the reign of Theophilus (829-842).  After Theophilus's death, his widow the Empress Theodora (celebrated Feb.  11), together with the Patriarch Methodius (June 14), established Orthodoxy anew.  This ever-memorable Queen venerated the icon of the Mother of God in the presence of the Patriarch Methodius and the other confessors and righteous men, and openly cried out these holy words: "If anyone does not offer relative worship to the holy icons, not adoring them as though they were gods, but venerating them out of love as images of the archetype, let him be anathema." Then with common prayer and fasting during the whole first week of the Forty-day Fast, she asked God's forgiveness for her husband.  After this, on the first Sunday of the Fast, she and her son, Michael the Emperor, made a procession with all the clergy and people and restored the holy icons, and again adorned the Church of Christ with them.  This is the holy deed that all we the Orthodox commemorate today, and we call this radiant and venerable day the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, the triumph of true doctrine over heresy.]

The Feast Day of  St. Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople

[This Saint was the son of one of the foremost princes in Constantinople, and was originally a consul and first among the Emperor's private counselors.  Then, in 784, he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople by the Sovereigns Irene and her son Constantine Porphyrogenitus.  He convoked the Seventh Ecumenical Council that upheld the holy icons, and became the boast of the Church and a light to the clergy.  He reposed in 806.]

Tue

26

  4pm      Greek School (Report Cards Issued)

  5pm     Vespers at UMD

  7pm     Festival Committee Meeting

The Feast Day of  St. Porphyrios, Bishop of Gaza

[Saint Porphyrios had Thessalonica as his homeland.  He became a monk in Scete of Egypt, where he lived for five years.  He went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, after which he spent five years in much affliction in a cave near the Jordan.  Stricken with a disease of the liver, he departed to Jerusalem, where he was ordained presbyter and appointed Keeper of the Cross at the age of 45.  Three years later he was made Bishop of Gaza.  He suffered much from the rulers and pagans of Gaza; but with the friendship of Saint John Chrysostom, and the patronage of the Empress Eudoxia, he razed the temple of the idol Marnas in Gaza and built a great church to the glory of God.  He reposed in 450.]

The Feast Day of  St. Photini The Samaritan Woman
& Her Martyred Sisters:
Anatole, Phota, Photis, Praskevi, and Kyriaki

[Saint Photini was the Samaritan Woman who encountered Christ our Saviour at Jacob's Well (John 4:1-42).  Afterwards she laboured in the spread of the Gospel in various places, and finally received the crown of martyrdom in Rome with her two sons and five sisters, during the persecutions under the Emperor Nero.]

Wed

27

  8am     Divine Liturgy

  4pm     Greek School
  7pm     Choir Rehearsal
             Adult Bible & Catechism Class
             G.O.Y.A. Open Gym

The Feast Day of  St. Prokopios The Confessor of Decapolis

[Saints Prokopios and Basil, fellow ascetics, lived about the middle of the eighth century, during the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741), from whom they suffered many things for the sake of the veneration of the holy icons.  They ended their lives in the ascetical discipline.]

Today we also Commemorate:
Ss Raphael of Brooklyn and
Stephen the Monk

Thu

28

  4pm     Greek School

The Feast Day of  St. Basil the Confessor

[Saints Prokopios and Basil, fellow ascetics, lived about the middle of the eighth century, during the reign of Leo the Isaurian (717-741), from whom they suffered many things for the sake of the veneration of the holy icons.  They ended their lives in the ascetical discipline.]

 The Feast Day of  The Righteous John Cassian the Confessor

[Note: Saint John Cassian's feast day is February 29th, if it is not a leap year the hymns of Saint John are transferred to the 28th.
    This Saint was born about the year 350, and was, according to some, from Rome, according to others, from Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea in present-day Romania).  He was a learned man who had first served in the military.  Later, he forsook this life and became a monk in Bethlehem with his friend and fellow-ascetic, Germanus of Dacia Pontica, whose memory is also celebrated today.  Hearing the fame of the great Fathers of Scete, they went to Egypt about the year 390; their meetings with the famous monks of Scete are recorded in Saint John's Conferences.  In the year 403 they went to Constantinople, where Cassian was ordained deacon by Saint John Chrysostom; after the exile of Saint Chrysostom, Saints Cassian and Germanus went to Rome with letters to Pope Innocent I in defence of the exiled Archbishop of Constantinople.  There Saint Cassian was ordained priest, after which he went to Marseilles, where he established the famous monastery of Saint Victor.  He reposed in peace about the year 433.
     The last of his writings was On the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius, written in 430 at the request of Leo, the Archdeacon of Pope Celestine.  In this work he was the first to show the spiritual kinship between Pelagianism, which taught that Christ was a mere man who without the help of God had avoided sin, and that it was possible for man to overcome sin by his own efforts; and Nestorianism, which taught that Christ was a mere man used as an instrument by the Son of God, but was not God become man; and indeed, when Nestorius first became Patriarch of Constantinople in 428, he made much show of persecuting the heretics, with the exception only of the Pelagians, whom he received into communion and interceded for them to the Emperor and to Pope Celestine.
     The error opposed to Pelagianism but equally ruinous was Augustine's teaching that after the fall, man was so corrupt that he could do nothing for his own salvation, and that God simply predestined some men to salvation and others to damnation.  Saint John Cassian refuted this blasphemy in the thirteenth of his Conferences, with Abbot Chairemon, which eloquently sets forth, at length and with many citations from the Holy Scriptures, the Orthodox teaching of the balance between the grace of God on one hand, and man's efforts on the other, necessary for our salvation.
     Saint Benedict of Nursia, in Chapter 73 of his Rule, ranks Saint Cassian's Institutes and Conferences first among the writings of the monastic fathers, and commands that they be read in his monasteries; indeed, the Rule of Saint Benedict is greatly indebted to the Institutes of Saint John Cassian.  Saint John Climacus also praises him highly in section 105 of Step 4 of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, on Obedience.]