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27
April 2013
Monthly Newsletter for Stewards of Holy Anargyroi Sts. Kosmas & Damianos Greek Orthodox Church
My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. - Mahew 26:38
For weeks we have as Orthodox Christians been on an important Lenten journey. We are traveling the arduous road of fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and repentance in search of the small and narrow gate that leads to life (Matt. 7:13,14) which is the Resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ. Perhaps I speak for many of you by saying that I am on many levels maxed out and I feel myself being tempted more and more to relax the fast, drop my prayer rule, and cry out in indignation, ENOUGH! However, were half way theretake a deep spiritual breath, gather yourself, and lets ponder the words of Christ cited from St. Matthews Gospel above. The very night Christ was to be betrayed into the hands of lawless men He gathered His disciples around Him in the Garden of Gethsemane to keep a vigil. He singled out Saints Peter, James, and John to accompany Him further into the Garden where He was going to pray. At this very moment the human nature of Christ was in agony. He knew exactly what awaited Him: the ridicule before Pilate, the flaying at the scourging pillar, the difficult road to Golgotha, and the barbaric experience of crucifixion itself. Within this emotional and physical gut wrenching condition Christ invites His closest friends and followers to be with Him and watch. The original Greek verb connotes the idea of being alert, vigilant, and watching diligently over someone/thing as opposed to being a mere sideline spectator. This invitation, lamentably, the disciples were unable to entertain for they quickly feel asleep and thereby abandoned their Master. Christ returned, found them asleep, woke them, and chided them for their despondency and again commanded them, Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. Christ is actually instructing them in spiritual warfare as opposed to merely requesting company during this difficult hour. He is reminding them and us that at all times it is necessary for a follower of Christ to be on guard against the passions and temptations recognizing our own human frailties and how suddenly and unexpectedly we can fall. Holy Week is imminent. Soon we will all be given the same invitation to stay with Christ and watch together with Him as He accomplishes the restoration and salvation of humanity and all of creation. Will we rsvp to this invitation? Will we faithfully attend the services wherein we walk together with the Theotokos and the Disciples and participate in Christs last moments on earth? Or, will we allow mundane worldly excuses to shut our spiritual eyes and lull us into spiritual death? Watch with me Yes, Lord, we are here. Wishing you all a moving and prayerful Holy Week, I remainIn His, and your, service.
+ Fr. Mark
Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting our rulers to prevail over adversaries, and protecting Your commonwealth by Your Cross.
The Lord has worked power. He trampled death by means of death, and He became the firstborn from the dead
Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting our rulers to prevail over adversaries, and protecting Your commonwealth by Your Cross.
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Our JOY Children worked hard to understand Jobs ultimate challenge of faith through extreme adversity, suffering, and loss during our March JOY Faith Night. They learned about how he was blessed by the Lord for His continuous faith. By virtue of their willingness to push forward with the weight, they have already proven it weightless. Just as the winters cold and bitterness eventually find springs renewal, so too did Jobs meeting the challenges of faith result in a restoration and renewal of life. If we have patience and faith God will reveal to us great blessings. Our challenge today is to live faithfully like the Prophet Job, to try to follow Gods will no matter what the sacrifice, and to remember Blessed be the name of the Lord. Holy Anargyrois Oratorical Festival took place on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. After participating in the procession of icons at Liturgy, youth from every class gathered in the Fellowship Hall to offer something for the event: a hymn, stories of their Saints, an essay, and original psalms. The students enjoyed a distinctive opportunity to explore, deepen, and proclaim elements of their faith within the bosom of the church. As we proceed through this profound liturgical period of Great Lent, may we all, with our families, strive to allow God to be witnessed and reflected in all we do. We wish all a fruitful Lenten journey. Youth Team Coordinators: JOY - Loredana Jerghiuta GOYA - Halina Woroncow & Mike Brekke
The Lord has worked power. He trampled death by means of death, and He became the firstborn from the dead
Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting our rulers to prevail over adversaries, and protecting Your commonwealth by Your Cross.
Philoptochos Society
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Our Fashion Show Fundraiser on March 10th was a wonderful event as we raised 2,200 for charity and shared our Philoptochos spirit with the Rochester community. Thank you to Mando Katselis and Hannys stores, Denise and Johnny Mangouras of Johnny Mangos, the Kolas family and Apollo Liquors, Jacob Petersen of My Clue Accounting, Dr. Nick and Effie Psimos, Steve and Angie Davis of Steves Pizza, the Pasalis family, Jordan Glynn, Maria Boosalis, the Barbes family, and Tammie Parrish of Eye-Q Design Wear for their donations. Our Cheesefare Luncheon on March 17th was also a good fundraiser for us as we sent $400 to Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology. Thank you to all who worked the event and contributed in donations for the college. Our next fundraiser is the Palm Sunday Luncheon on April 28th. The proceeds from this luncheon will go directly to our chapter to be distributed to local, national and international charities. Please attend and support our efforts to assist philanthropic charities around the world. Thank you. Our next meeting is on Tuesday April 2nd at 6pm in the Church library. We will be planning the Palm Sunday Luncheon and discussing the upcoming Philoptochos Board elections that will take place in May. On the fifth Sunday of Lent, April 21st this year, we pay reverence to the story of St Mary of Egypt. Her story is a hopeful reminder that through true conversion, with the power of personal repentance and Gods mercy, salvation is available to all who genuinely seek God. The Church places her story on this fifth Sunday, the last Sunday leading us into Holy Week to give us encouragement to our fasting by reminding us of the example of St. Marys ascetic life which lasted 47 years in the dessert in addition to the meaning of a genuine conversion. A conversion with true repentance is what leads us closer to God. To read the story of St. Mary of Egypt in its entirety as written by St. Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem is such a heavenly jewel as there are many different spiritual understandings to be gained from the story. Personally, it is a source of inspiration in the reminder that God seems to work in the most unexpected ways in our lives. Initially, when St. Mary, then a prostitute, followed pilgrims going to Jerusalem to venerate the Holy Life Giving Cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; she went along to participate in her lustful passions on her journey and to see the Cross out of curiosity and nothing more. Imagine her surprise when she reached the Churchs doors and was held back by an unseen force and thus coming to the understanding that it was her sinfulness that kept her from entering the Church! She immediately experienced a conversion on her knees, before the icon of the Virgin Mary, begging forgiveness and promising our Holy Mother a life renouncing worldly desires if the Theotokos would lead her. St. Mary left Jerusalem and journeyed into the dessert in which she lived a difficult life of extreme asceticism: a life so extreme that for 47 years she devoted her life to prayer, did not encounter man or beast, went without shelter or clothes with no protection against heat or cold, and ate only three loaves of bread, and a few plants and herbs. In St. Mary of Egypts story there is also St. Zosimas, a very pious priest who lived a long life, since childhood, of strict prayer, fasting and devotion to God. In his old age, he wondered Is there a man who has surpassed me (in asceticism)? He was then sent to a monastery next to the Jordan River. There he participated in the ascetic traditions of the monks which included fasting alone in the dessert during Great Lent. As Father Zosimas travelled far into the dessert, imagine his surprise when he did not come across a deeply ascetic man, as he thought, but a woman! Once the pair got over their initial shock of encountering each other, of St. Marys knowledge of who the Priest was by her gift of clairvoyance, of arguing over which one should pay reverence to the other as they both felt they are less worthy, Father Zosimas learns, by imploring St. Mary to tell him her story, that this ascetic woman comes with a horridly sinful past which preceded to her current holy and spiritual state. She was a prostitute who participated in her sin, often without pay; just for pleasure and once she had her repentant conversion; she was without human contact and yet she possessed great spiritual knowledge, had the gift of clairvoyance and recited Scripture without ever having a Bible! What an astronomical shock it must have been for this holy and pious Priest to meet this woman with such a past, conversion and life story, who has surpassed him in asceticism! As the long story unravels; it is filled with unexpected surprises of Gods Holy Presence in the lives of the individuals in the story. To me, the story gives spiritual hope that God may manifest His presence in our lives, in unexpected ways, as we seek a closer relationship with Him on our spiritual journey. May St. Mary of Egypts story be a reminder to genuinely seek God with a repentant heart and to be open to the possible lessons for us to learn from the individuals and experiences that we encounter in our lives. With sisterly love, Calli Kelly Philoptochos President
The Lord has worked power. He trampled death by means of death, and He became the firstborn from the dead
Treasurers Report
Jan - Feb 2013 Actual Total Income Total Expenses Net Income $32,503.75 $47,749.75 ($15,246.00) Jan - Feb 2012 Actual $30,176.47 $38,698.47 ($8,522.00) 2013 vs 2012 Difference $2,327.28 $9,051.28 ($6,724.00) Jan - Feb 2013 Budget $31,060.00 $38,573.00 ($7,513.00) Actual vs. Budget Difference $1,443.75 $9,176.75 ($7,733.00)
ETHNIC POTLUCK
Holy Saturday: Vesperal Liturgy-His Grace Bishop +Demetrios ofciating-8:30am HOLY PASCHA/ANASTASIS-11pm* * PASCHA/ANASTASIS Holy PASCHA: Agapi Vespers-11am *Paschal Dinner to follow service in church hall.
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If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34).
But we can not take up our cross and follow Christ unless we have His Cross which He took up in order to save us. It is His Cross, not ours, that saves us. It is His Cross that gives not only meaning but also power to others. This is explained to us in the synaxarion of the Sunday of the Cross: On this Sunday, the third Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the veneration of the honorable and Life -Giving Cross, and for this reason: inasmuch as in the forty days of fasting we in a way crucify ourselvesand become bitter and despondent and failing, the Life -Giving Cross is presented to us for refreshment and assurance, for remembrance of our Lords Passion, and for comfortWe are like those following a long and cruel path who become tired, see a beautiful tree and many leaves, sit in its shadow and rest for a while and then, as if rejuvenated, continue their journey; likewise today, in the time of fasting and difficult journey and effort, the Life Giving Cross was planted in our midst by the holy fathers to give us rest and refreshment, to make us light and courageous for the remaining taskOr, to give another example: when a king is coming, at first his banner and symbols appear, then he himself comes glad and rejoicing about his victory and filling with joy those under him; likewise, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to show us His victory over death, and appear to us in the glory of the Resurrection Day, is sending to us in advance His scepter, the royal symbol the Life Giving Cross and it fills us with joy and makes us ready to meet, inasmuch as it is possible for us, the King himself, and to render glory to His victoryAll this in the midst of Lent which is like a bitter source because of its tears, because also of its efforts and despondencybut Christ comforts us who are as it were in a desert until He shall lead us up to the spiritual Jerusalem by His Resurrectionfor the Cross is called the Tree of Life, it is the tree that was planted in Paradise, and for this reason our fathers have planted it in the midst of Holy Lent, remembering both Adams bliss and how he was deprived of it, remembering also that partaking of this Tree we no longer die but are kept alive