St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church Canton, Ohio

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1 St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church Canton, Ohio Dormition of the Theotokos August 15 July & August 2015

2 SAINT HARALAMBOS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH th ST. N.W. CANTON, OH PARISH ADMINISTRATORS OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Friday 9:00 am-3:00 pm PHONE: FAX: WEBSITE: CLERGY REV. PROTOPRESBYTER NICHOLAS V. GAMVAS, D.MIN., PH.D., IERATIKOS, PROISTAMENOS PHONE: CELL: REV. DEACON DR. KYRIACOS J. SHIEPIS, D.C. OFFICE: CELL: PARISH COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESIDENT: SIA L. POPE TREASURER: STEVE DIAMANT SECRETARY: RENA COTOPOLIS VICE PRESIDENT: MIKE PAXOS ASST. TREASURER: RON A. DARRAH ASST. SECRETARY: DR. WILLIAM SKENDELAS MEMBERS: VINCE ARRIGO, MICHAEL FAKELIS, DAVID HALLAMAN, PETER PAPADOPULOS PHILIP STAVRIANOU, GEORGIA ZENALLIS, DR. ERICK ZOUMBERAKIS OFFICE STAFF SECRETARY: ALEXANDRA TANK PROJECT MANAGER: STEPHANIE WITHERS CUSTODIAN: JOHN SAKELLARIOU CHURCH STAFF CHOIR DIRECTOR: SUBDEACON: SEXTON: PROTOPSALTI: CHANTORS: DR. ALEX CHRIST BILL POULOS, JR. DEAN DARRAH PETROS GAITANOS JOHN C. KELLAMIS THOMAS A. CAZANTZES MICHAEL A. LAZORAN PARISH ORGANIZATIONS SUNDAY SCHOOL: GREEK SCHOOL: PHILOPTOCHOS: MEN S CLUB: SILVER LINERS: BOOKSTORE: FUNERAL & MAKARIA: MARY GRIVEAS DENNIS TZOULOUFIS MARY TRIFELOS PETER PAPADOPULOS KATHY DIERINGER HELEN MEDER FRAN ARMATAS DIANE FORADAS PAULA MACRIS ANN SIMATACOLOS RENA COTOPOLIS GOYA: JOY: YAL: HELLENIC DANCERS: AGIA MARKELLA: KNOSSOS: AHEPA: LINDA NATALE DR. MICHELLE FRANGOS, DESPINA MORGAN, PHAIDRA SOTIROPOULOS BILL POULOS, III ELENI PAXOS ELENI PAXOS MARIA BOURLAS PAUL KOSKOVICH DAUGHTERS OF PENELOPE: LINDA NATALE MAIDS OF ATHENA: SONS OF PERCLES: DAWNA NATALE ANTHONY M. ANTONIADES

3 St. Haralambos Church President s Report DEAR FRIENDS, "A GREAT BIG THANK YOU" TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED WITH THE PREPARATIONS AND TO THOSE WHO WORKED FOR SEVERAL DAYS TO MAKE OUR CANTON GREEK FEST AN OVERWHELMING SUCCESS! IF YOU DID NOT HELP OR ATTEND THIS YEAR YOU MISSED A VERY SPECIAL EVENT. NEXT YEAR YOU MUST JOIN US! THE GREEK FEST COMMITTEE MADE SEVERAL CHANGES LAST YEAR WHICH IMPROVED THE GREEK FEST. THIS YEAR THEY REFINED IT AND ADDED TO LAST YEAR'S SUCCESS TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER. OUR GROSS THIS YEAR IS AROUND $160,000. AFTER ALL THE EXPENSES ARE PAID, THE FINAL REPORT WILL BE IN THE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ISSUE OF THE KOINONIA. OUR CO-CHAIRMAN, MIKE FAKELIS, MIKE PAXOS AND PETER PAPADOPULOS DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB IN THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF THE CANTON GREEK FEST. MANY THANKS TO GEORGIA PAXOS IN UTILIZIING HER TALENTS AND EXPERTISE IN ARRANGING FOR THE RADIO, NEWSPAPER, BROCHURES AND YARD SIGNS. THEY WERE A TREMENDOUS HELP IN BRINGING ATTENDANTS TO OUR EVENT. OF COURSE, MUCH OF THE SUCCESS OF OUR GREEK FEST IS THE DELICIOUS FOOD AND PASTRIES THAT PEOPLE COME YEAR AFTER YEAR TO ENJOY. THANK YOU TO THE KITCHEN WORKERS, GOLDIE MANOS AND ALL OF THE PASTRY GROUPS. I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU NOTICE ALL OUR GRADUATES IN THIS KOINONIA AND BE SURE TO CONGRATULATE THEM FOR THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND WISH THEM SUCCESS IN THEIR FUTURE. WE ARE ALL PROUD OF OUR YOUTH FOR THEY ARE THE FUTURE OF OUR ORTHODOX CHURCH. SHORTLY BEFORE THE GREEK FEST, I SENT OUT AN APPEAL TO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT TURNED IN THEIR 2015 PLEDGE. TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ALREADY RESPONDED THANK YOU! IF YOU HAVE NOT AS YET, PLEASE DO! WISHING YOU A RELAXING, SAFE, HAPPY AND HEALTHY SUMMER AND DON'T FORGET, OUR ST. HARALAMBOS CHURCH IS OPEN ALL SUMMER, SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ON SUNDAYS. WITH LOVE AND GOD'S BLESSINGS TO ALL, SIA POPE CONGRATULATIONS CANTON GREEK FEST CHAIRMEN! MIKE FAKELIS, PETER PAPADOPULOS, & MIKE PAXOS Koinonia July & August

4 JULY ST. HARALAMBOS CHURCH SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT OFFICE CLOSED 5 9:00 5th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW 1 yr. CATHERINE RUTTER :00 6th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW HIERARCHICAL DIVINE LITURGY :30 PARISH COUNCIL MTG :00 KRASSAS CATERING EVENT 19 9:00 SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FATHERS 20 9:00 ELIAS THE PROPHET 21 6:30 GR. VESPERS ST. MARKELLA MARY MAGDALENE 22 9:00 ST. MARKELLA MARY MAGDALENE :00 TRI-ROOM RENTAL 6:00 CATERING EVENT - KRASSAS 26 9:00 8th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW COFFEE HOUR - PHILOPTOCHOS 27 9:00 ST. PANTELEIMON AUGUST 2015 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT MAY YOU ENJOY A BLESSED, HAPPY SUMMER! 1 DORMITION FAST BEGINS 6:00 CATERING EVENT KRASSAS 2 9:00 9th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW 40 day NANCY NICOLADOS 3 6:30 PARAKLESIS 6:30 PHILOPTOCHOS BOARD MEETING 4 5 6:30 tgreat VESPERS HOLY TRANSFIGURATION 6 9:00 HOLY TRANSFIGURATION 6:00 CATERING EVENT KRASSAS 7 6:30 PARAKLESIS 8 9 9:00 10th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW 10 6:30 PARAKLESIS KOINONIA DEADLINE SEPT. & OCT :30 PARAKLESIS 13 5:30 COACHES FOOTBALL PREVIEW/DINNER 14 6:30 GR. VESPERS DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS 15 9:00 DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS 16 9:00 11th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW :30 PARISH COUNCIL MTG :00 SACRAMENT 5:00 CATERING EVENT KRASSAS 23 9:00 12th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW 30 9:00 13th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW Koinonia July & August 2015

5 LITURGICAL CALENDAR JULY & AUGUST JULY 5 SUNDAY 5TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Divine Liturgy. JULY 12 SUNDAY 6TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 8:30 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with His Eminence Metropolitan Savas of Pittsburgh officiating. Coffee Hour to follow, everyone invited! JULY 19 SUNDAY SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FATHERS - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m.- Divine Liturgy JULY 20 MONDAY ELIAS THE PROPHET - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy. JULY 21 TUESDAY GREAT VESPERS - ST. MARY MAGDALENE & ST. MARKELLA 6:30 p.m. - Great Vespers. Guest Preacher - Rev. Dn. Orestes Varonis. JULY 22 WEDNESDAY ST. MARY MAGDALENE - ST. MARKELLA OF CHIOS - 9:00 a.m.- Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy. Guest Preacher-Rev. Dn. Orestes Varonis. JULY 26 SUNDAY ST. PARASKEVI - 8TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m.- Divine Liturgy JULY 27 MONDAY ST. PANTELEIMON 9:00 a.m. - Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy. AUGUST 2 SUNDAY 9TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Divine Liturgy AUGUST 3 MONDAY PARAKLESIS - - 6:30 p.m. AUGUST 5 WEDNESDAY GREAT VESPERS - HOLY TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD 6:30 p.m. - Great Vespers. AUGUST 6 THURSDAY TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy. AUGUST 7 FRIDAY PARAKLESIS - - 6:30 p.m. AUGUST 9 SUNDAY 10TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Divine Liturgy. AUGUST 10 MONDAY PARAKLESIS - - 6:30 p.m. AUGUST 12 WEDNESDAY PARAKLESIS - - 6:30 p.m. AUGUST 14 FRIDAY GREAT VESPERS - DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS 6:30 p.m. - Great Vespers. AUGUST 15 SATURDAY DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS - H 9:00 a.m. - Orthros followed by the Divine Liturgy. AUGUST 16 SUNDAY 11TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Divine Liturgy. AUGUST 23 SUNDAY 12TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Divine Liturgy. (Fr. Basil Shaheen-Sub.) AUGUST 30 SUNDAY 13TH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW - 9:00 a.m. - Orthros. 10:00 a.m. - Divine Liturgy. (Fr. Basil Shaheen-Sub.) Koinonia July & August

6 O Γέρων Παΐσιος (κατά κόσμον Αρσένιος Εζνεπίδης) 12 Ιουλίου Ο Γέρων Παΐσιος γεννήθηκε στα Φάρασα της Καππαδοκίας, στη Μικρά Ασία, στις 25 Ιουλίου του O Γέροντας Παΐσιος «κοιμήθηκε» την Τρίτη 12 Ιουλίου 1994 και ώρα 11:00. Ενταφιάστηκε στο Ιερό Ησυχαστήριο του Αγίου Ιωάννη του Θεολόγου στη Σουρωτή Θεσσαλονίκης. Έκτοτε, κάθε χρόνο στις 11 προς 12 Ιουλίου, στην επέτειο κοιμήσεως του Γέροντος, τελείται αγρυπνία στο Ιερό Ησυχαστήριο, με συμμετοχή χιλιάδων πιστών. Η φήμη του ως αγίου στο ορθόδοξο ποίμνιο είναι μεγάλη, λόγω της προσωπικότητάς του και του πλήθους των μαρτυριών από ανθρώπους ορθόδοξων πιστών και μη, για χαρίσματα που διέθετε (προφητικό χάρισμα ή θεραπευτικό κλπ). Ο σεβ. Μητροπολίτης Ναυπάκτου κ.κ. Ιερόθεος Βλάχος, έχει προτείνει την κατάταξη του στα δίπτυχα της Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας ως αγίου. Ο Γέρων Παΐσιος ήταν ένας πολύ απλός άνθρωπος, ο οποίος πίστευε στο λόγο του Ευαγγελίου, κάνοντας τρόπο ζωής τον μοναστικό βίο και τις διδαχές της ορθόδοξης ασκητικής παράδοσης. Οι εγκύκλιες γνώσεις του περιορίζονταν στο επίπεδο του δημοτικού. Παρ' όλα αυτά ξεχώριζε για την «χαριτωμένη» απλότητά του και την έντονη αγωνία που τον διακατείχε για την βοήθεια των συνανθρώπων του, που αναζητούσαν ένα πνευματικό καθοδηγητή. Ο ίδιος αποτελούσε παράδειγμα ανθρώπου αφιερωμένου στον Θεό, αφαιρώντας τις προσωπικές επιδιώξεις και τα προσωπικά θελήματα. Η υπακοή, η άσκηση, η ταπείνωση, η ευσέβεια, το φιλότιμο και πάνω από όλα η αγάπη και η μακροθυμία, αποτελούσαν τρόπο ζωής για τον ίδιο, αλλά και διδαχές για όσους αποζητούσαν ένα λόγο παρηγοριάς ή κάποια επίλυση προσωπικού προβλήματος. Ανέφερε διαρκώς πως αν ο άνθρωπος θέλει να ομοιάσει στους Αγίους πρέπει να εφαρμόζει την Θεία δικαιοσύνη και όχι την ανθρώπινη. Η ανθρώπινη δικαιοσύνη κατά τον Γέροντα είναι τυφλή και υπάρχει για να αποτρέπει τους κακούς και πονηρούς ανθρώπους. Η Θεία δικαιοσύνη όμως στοχεύει να εξυπηρετεί τον αδύναμο άνθρωπο και αυτούς που έχουν ανάγκη. Όταν εφαρμόζουμε την Θεϊκή δικαιοσύνη τότε αποφεύγουμε τις έριδες, τις κατακρίσεις και τις διαφορές με τους συνανθρώπους μας. Η ταπείνωση για το γέροντα ήταν το θεμελιώδες στοιχείο της σωτηρίας του ανθρώπου και γενικότερα το στοιχείο το οποίο επιφέρει τις καλές σχέσεις μεταξύ των ανθρώπων. Ανέφερε μάλιστα ότι ο Θεός «αδυνατεί» να βοηθήσει όταν ο άνθρωπος δεν ταπεινώνεται και προσπαθεί τότε με κάθε τρόπο να επιφέρει την ταπείνωση, μέσω των παθών. Χωρίς ταπείνωση, συνέχιζε, δεν επέρχεται η Θεία Χάρις, κλείνουμε την καρδιά μας από το Χριστό και ότι αρχικά «κερδίζουμε» γρήγορα το ξαναχάνουμε. Ο Γέροντας πραγματοποίησε και αρκετές προφητείες. Δυστυχώς όμως πολλοί καπηλεύτηκαν τις διδαχές του γέροντος, λέγοντας πολλά πράγματα, είτε για ίδιον όφελος, είτε για εθνικά φρονήματα, που ο ίδιος ποτέ δεν ενέφερε, κάτι που τον λυπούσε ενώ ήταν ήδη εν ζωή. Οι περισσότερες από αυτές αφορούσαν τα τεκταινόμενα που έχουν να κάνουν με την Κωνσταντινούπολη, επεξηγήσεις πάνω στις προφητείες του Κοσμά του Αιτωλού αλλά και περί Αντιχρίστου. 6 Koinonia July & August 2015

7 SAINT PAISIOS OF MT. ATHOS JULY 12 Arsenios Eznepidis (Saint Paisios) was born on July 25, 1924, to pious parents in the town of Farasa, Cappadocia of Asia Minor, shortly before the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Greco-Turkish War of Arsenios' name was given to him by St. Arsenios the Cappadocian, who baptized him, named the child for himself and foretold Arsenios' monastic future. Very shortly after his baptism the young Arsenios and his family were forced to leave Asia Minor in accordance the peace Treaty of Lausanne. St. Arsenios guided his flock along a 400-mile trek to Greece. The Eznepidis family finally settled in the town of Konitsa in Epirus in northwestern Greece. As he had prophesied, St. Arsenios reposed forty days after the group settled in Greece, leaving, as his spiritual heir, the infant Arsenios. Arsenios grew up in Konitsa and learned carpentry after completing intermediate public school. He arrived on Mount Athos in 1950, first to Fr. Kyril, the future abbot of Koutloumousiou Monastery, and then to Esphigmenou Monastery. In 1954, Arsenios, having been a novice for four years, was tonsured a monk and was given the name Averkios. He was a conscientious monk, finding ways to both complete his obediences (which required contact with others) and to preserve his silence, so as to progress in the art of prayer. He was always selfless in helping his brethren. He was unwilling to rest while others worked (though he may have already completed his own obediences) as he loved his brothers greatly and without distinction. In addition to his ascetic struggles and the common life in the monastery, he was spiritually enriched through the reading of soul-profiting books. In particular, he read the lives of the Saints, the Gerontikon, and especially the Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian. Soon after his tonsure, monk Averkios left Esphigmenou and joined the then idiorhythmic brotherhood of Philotheou Monastery, where his uncle was a monk. He placed himself under obedience to the Elder Symeon, who gave him the Small Schema in 1956, with the new name Paisios. Fr. Paisios dwelt deeply on the thought that his own spiritual failures and lack of love were the cause of his neighbor's shortcomings, as well as of the world's ills. He harshly accused himself and pushed himself to greater selfdenial and more fervent prayer for his soul and for the whole world. He also cultivated the habit of seeking the "good reason" for a potentially scandalous event and for people's actions. In this way he preserved himself from judging others. For example, pilgrims to Mt. Athos who had been scandalized by the strange behavior and stories told by a certain monk would when they met Elder Paisios, asked him what was wrong with the monk. He warned them not to judge others, and that this monk was actually virtuous and was simply pretending to be a fool when visitors would come, so as to preserve his silence. In 1958, Elder Paisios was asked to spend some time in and around his home village so as to support the faithful against the proselytism of Protestant groups. He greatly encouraged the faithful there, helping many people. Later, in 1962, he visited Sinai where he stayed for two years. During this time he became beloved of the Bedouins who benefited both spiritually as well as materially from his presence. The Elder used the money he received from the sale of his carved wooden handicraft to buy them food. In 1968, he resided at the Monastery of Stavronikita helping with its spiritual as well as material renovation. While there he had the blessing of being in contact with the ascetic Elder Tikhon who lived in the Hermitage of the Holy Cross, near Stavronikita. Elder Paisios stayed by his side until his repose, serving him selflessly as his disciple. It was during this period that Elder Tikhon clothed Fr. Paisios in the Great Schema. According to the wishes of the Elder, Fr. Paisios remained in Elder Tikhon's hermitage after his repose. Fr. Paisios stayed there until 1979, when he moved to his final home on the Holy Mountain, the hermitage Panagouda, which belongs to the Monastery of Koutloumousiou. [3] It was at Panagouda that Elder Paisios' fame as a God bearing elder grew, drawing to him the sick and suffering people of God. He received them all day long, dedicating the night to God in prayer, vigil, and spiritual struggle. His regime of prayer and asceticism left him with only two or three hours each night for rest. The self-abandon with which he served God and his fellow man, his strictness with himself, the austerity of his regime, and his sensitive nature made him increasingly prone to sickness. In addition to respiratory problems, in his later days he suffered from a serious hernia that made life very painful. When he was forced to leave the Holy Mountain for various reasons (often due to his illnesses) he would receive pilgrims for hours on end at the women's monastery at Souroti. The physical effort which this entailed in his weakened state caused him such pain that he would turn pale. He bore his suffering with much grace, confident that, as God knows what is best for us, it could not be otherwise. He would say that God is greatly touched when someone who is in great suffering does not complain, but rather uses his energy to pray for others. Many books of his counsels have been published, and the monastery at Souroti has undertaken a great work, organizing the Elder's writings and counsels into impressive volumes befitting his memory. Thousands of pilgrims visit his tomb each year. Elder Paisios was glorified on January 13, 2015, by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He is commemorated each year on July 12. Koinonia July & August

8 SAINT MARY MAGDALENE JULY 22 "Equal to the Apostles The Gospel tells us nothing about the youthful years of Mary, but tradition informs us, that Mary from Magdala was young, attractive, and came from a wealthy family. It says in the Gospels, that the Lord expelled seven evils from Mary --- the seven deadly sins common to us all. After which she began to lead a new life becoming a true disciple of the Savior and an example for all humanity. She was faithful to Christ not only in the days of His Glory, but also at the moment of His extreme humiliation and agony. As the Evangelist Matthew relates, "she was present at the burial of the Lord." Before her eyes Joseph and Nikodemos went out to the tomb with His lifeless body; before her eyes they covered over the entrance to the cave with a large stone, behind which went the Sun of Life. Faithful to the Law in which she was trained, Mary together with the other women stayed all the following day at rest, because it was the day of the Sabbath, coinciding with the Feast of Passover. But all the rest of the peaceful day the women succeeded in storing up aromatics, to go at dawn Sunday to the grave of the Lord and according to the custom of the Jews to anoint His body with funereal aromatics. The Evangelist Matthew writes, that the women came to the grave at dawn, or as the Evangelist Mark expresses, extremely early before the rising of the sun; the Evangelist John, as it were elaborating upon these, says that Mary came to the grave so early that it was still dark. Obviously, she waited impatiently for the end of night, but it was not daybreak when she, by herself, ran to where lay the body of her beloved Lord. Seeing the stone pushed away from the cave, she rushed away in fear to where dwelt the Apostles Peter and John. Hearing the strange message that the Lord was gone from the tomb, both Apostles ran to the tomb and, seeing the shroud and winding cloths, they were amazed. The Apostles went and told no one, but Mary stood about the entrance to the gloomy tomb and wept. Wanting proof that the tomb really was empty, she entered it -- and there a strange light suddenly shone upon her. She beheld two angels in white garments, one sitting at the head, the other at the foot, of where the Body of Jesus had once been placed. She then heard the question: "Woman, why weepest thou?" -- she answered them with the words which she had said to the Apostles: "They have taken my Lord, and I do not know, where they have put Him." Having said this, she turned around, and at that moment saw a figure standing near the grave, a man she did not immediately recognize. The man asked Mary: "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom dost thou seek?" She answered thinking that she was seeing the gardener and said: "Sir, if thou hast taken him, tell where thou hast put Him, and I will reclaim Him."But at that very moment she recognized the Lord's voice, a voice which was known from the day He healed her and she gave a joyful shout "Rabbi!" which means "Teacher." But at that very moment she recognized the Lord's voice, a voice which was known from the day He healed her and she gave a joyful shout "Rabbi!" which means "Teacher." 8 Koinonia July & August 2015

9 SAINT MARY MAGDALENE Continued Holy Scripture does not tell us about the life of Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection of Christ, but it is impossible to doubt, that if in the terrifying moments of Christ's Crucifixion she was the foot of the cross, with His Mother and John, undoubtedly she stayed with them during the time after the Resurrection and Ascension. Thus, in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke writes: that all the Apostles with one mind stayed in prayer and supplication, with a certain women and Mary the Mother of Jesus and His brethren. Holy Tradition testifies, that when the Apostles departed from Jerusalem for preaching to all the ends of the earth, with them also went Mary Magdalene to preach. A daring woman, whose heart was full of reminiscence of the Resurrection, she went beyond her native borders and set off to preach in pagan Rome. And everywhere she went, she proclaimed to people about Christ and His Teaching, and when many did not believe that Christ is Risen, she repeated to them what she had said to the Apostles on the radiant morning of the Resurrection: "I have seen the Lord!" With this preaching she made the rounds of all Italy. Tradition relates, that in Italy Mary Magdalene visited the Emperor Tiberias (14-37 AD) and proclaimed to him about Christ's Resurrection. According to tradition, she took him an egg as a symbol of the Resurrection, a symbol of new life with the words: "Christ is Risen!" Then she told Tiberias that, in his Province of Judea, Jesus the Nazarene, a holy man, a maker of miracles, powerful before God and all mankind, was executed on the instigation of the Jewish High-Priests and the sentence affirmed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Tiberias responded that no one could rise from the dead, anymore than the egg she held could turn red. Miraculously, the egg immediately began to turn red as testimony to her words. Then, and by her urging, Tiberias had Pilate removed from Jerusalem to Gaul, where he later suffered a horrible sickness and an agonizing death. From this, the miracle of Mary Magdalene, the custom to give each other paschal eggs on the day of the Luminous Resurrection of Christ spread among Christians over all the world. On one ancient hand-written Greek written on parchment, kept in the monastery library of Saint Athanasias near Thessaloniki (Solunea), is an established prayer read on the day of Holy Pascha (Easter) for the blessing of eggs and cheese, in which it is indicated, that the (Abbot) in passing out the blessed eggs says to the brethren: "Thus have we received from the holy fathers, who preserved this custom from the very time of the holy apostles, wherefore the holy equalunto-the-apostles Mary Magdalene first showed believers the example of this joyful offering." Mary Magdalene continued her preaching in Italy and in the city of Rome itself. Evidently, the Apostle Paul has precisely her in view in Romans 16:6, where together with other ascetics of evangelic preaching he mentions Mary (Mariam), who as he expresses "has done much for us." According to Church tradition, she remained in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle Paul, and for two more years still, following his departure from Rome after the first court judgment upon him. From Rome, Saint Mary Magdalene, already bent with age, moved to Ephesus where unceasingly laboured the holy Apostle John, who with her wrote the first 20 Chapters of his Gospel (John 1-9, John 10-20). There the saint finished her earthly life and was buried. Her holy relics were transferred in the 9th Century to the capital of the Byzantine Empire -- Constantinople, and placed in the monastery Church of Saint Lazarus. In the era of the Crusader campaigns they were transferred to Italy and placed at Rome under the altar of the Lateran Cathedral. Part of the relics of Mary Magdalene are located in France near Marseilles, where a splendid church (Saint Maximum's Basilica) was built over them at the foot of a steep mountain in her honor. Amen. Koinonia July & August

10 22 Η πολύαθλος και ένδοξος παρθενομάρτυς της Χίου Ανάμεσα στους πολυάριθμους Αγίους, που κοσμούν το τοπικό αγιολόγιο και τη μακρόχρονη εκκλησιαστική ιστορία του μυροβόλου νησιού της Χίου είναι και η Αγία παρθενομάρτυς Μαρκέλλα, που αποτελεί το ευλαβικό καύχημα των απανταχού της Γης Χίων και τον πολύτιμο πνευματικό θησαυρό για χιλιάδες προσκυνητές, που συρ ρέουν στον τόπο του μαρτυρίου της για να αποδώσουν τον οφειλόμενο σεβασμό στο μεγαλείο και τον ηρωισμό της, αλλά και για να ζητήσουν τη θαυματουργική της χά ρη για την επίλυση σωματικών και ψυχικών ασθενειών. Η Αγία Μαρκέλλα γεννήθηκε και μεγάλωσε στη Βολισσό, στο ιστορικό αυτό κεφα λοχώρι της βορειοδυτικής Χίου. Για τον χρόνο της γέννησης, της ζωής και του μαρτυρίου της Αγίας υπάρχει σύγχυση και ασάφεια μεταξύ των βιογράφων. Σύμφωνα με τον βιογράφο της, Όσιο Νικηφόρο τον Χίο, η Αγία Μαρκέλλα έζησε και ήκμασε περί το Ο πατέρας της ήταν ειδωλολάτρης και η χριστιανή μητέρα της απεβίωσε σε νεαρά ηλικία. Η Μαρκέλλα δια κρίθηκε από νωρίς για τη βαθιά της πίστη και αγάπη στον Χριστό, την καλοσύνη και αγνότητά της, τη σεμνότητα και την ευγένεια της ψυχής της. Προικισμένη με θεϊκή σοφία και αμέτρητα ψυχικά χαρίσματα επικοινωνούσε αδιάκοπα με τον Θεό. Αυτόν τον "επίγειο άγγελο" φθόνησε ο εωσφόρος και θέλησε να την πολεμήσει με κάθε μέσο. Έτσι ο ειδωλολάτρης και σκληρόκαρδος πατέρας της άρχισε να επιθυμεί ερωτικά την ίδια του την κόρη και να νιώθει προς αυτή μία αστείρευτη σαρκική επιθυμία. Όταν η Μαρκέλλα διαπίστωσε τον αναίσχυντο χαρακτήρα του σαρκολάτρη πατέρα της, εγκα τέλειψε το πατρικό σπίτι και αναζήτησε καταφύγιο στα βουνά της περιοχής. Τότε ο πα τέρας της κινούμενος από τις κτηνώδεις ορέξεις του και με απερίγραπτη μανία άρχι σε να ψάχνει να βρει τη νεαρή και όμορφη Μαρκέλλα. Τότε η δύστυχη και έντρομη κόρη προσπάθησε να προστατευθεί και να σώσει την τιμιότητά της. Μία μεγάλη βά τος αποτέλεσε το ασφαλές καταφύγιο της Αγίας. Ένας βοσκός όμως αντιλήφθηκε τη Μαρκέλλα και υπέδειξε τη βάτο στον μανιακό πατέρα της. Τότε ο πατέρας έβαλε φω τιά στη βάτο για να την αναγκάσει να βγει έξω από αυτή. Η Μαρκέλλα κατάφερε και βρήκε διέξοδο και έτσι γλίτωσε από τα χέρια του σαρκολάτρη πατέρα της. Στη συνέ χεια άρχισε να τρέχει πάνω στις πέτρες και τα βράχια, αλλά ο πατέρας της βλέποντας τη δυσκολία να την φτάσει, αποφάσισε να τη σημαδέψει με το τόξο του και έτσι εκτόξευσε προς αυτή ένα βέλος. Η Αγία πληγώθηκε και το αγνό της αίμα πότισε τα βράχια. Παρόλα αυτά δεν έχασε την ψυχική της δύναμη και συνέχισε να τρέχει. Οι σωματι κές της δυνάμεις άρχισαν όμως να την εγκαταλείπουν και κάποια στιγμή έπεσε κά τω ταλαιπωρημένη και πληγωμένη. Η βαθιά και ακλόνητη πίστη της την βοήθησε να βρει τη σωτήρια λύση. Με τα μάτια στραμμένα στον Ουράνιο Νυμφίο προσευχή θηκε και Του ζήτησε να σχίσει τον βράχο και να την κρύψει μέσα. Η παράκληση της Αγίας έγινε πραγματικότητα και έτσι ο βράχος σχίστηκε και δέχτηκε το σώμα της ενάρετης Μαρκέλλας μέχρι το στήθος. Ο σαρκολάτρης πατέρας φτάνοντας στον τόπο και βλέποντας το παράδοξο αυτό θαύμα, οργίστηκε ακόμη περισσότερο και έκοψε με ένα μαχαίρι τους μαστούς της και τους πέταξε στο βουνό. Στη συνέχεια αποκεφάλισε την κόρη του και πέταξε την κεφαλή της στη θάλασσα. Σύμφωνα με την παράδοση μία ασυνήθιστη λάμψη άρχισε να εκπέμπεται από την κεφαλή της Αγίας, που στέφθηκε με τον ουράνιο και άφθαρτο στέφανο της άθλησης και της θεϊκής δόξας. Ο σχισμένος βράχος, που δέχτηκε το μαρτυρικό σώμα της Αγίας, αποτελεί μέχρι σήμερα για τους προσκυνητές σημείο ευλαβικής αναφοράς και πηγή ιαμάτων, αφού όσοι προσεύχονται με πίστη, παρατηρούν τον ερυθρό χρωματισμό των βράχων και το νερό να ατμίζει. Αναρίθμητα είναι τα θαύματα, που με τη χάρη του Θεού, έχει επιτελέσει η Αγία Μαρκέλλα από την εποχή του μαρτυρίου της έως τις ημέρες μας, ενώ μάρτυρες θαυ μαστών σημείων έγιναν λαμπρές πνευματικές φυσιογνωμίες της Εκκλησίας μας, όπως Άγιος Μακάριος ο Νοταράς Επίσκοπος Κορίνθου, ο Άγιος Νεκτάριος Επίσκοπος Πενταπόλεως και ο βιογράφος και συντάκτης της Ακολουθίας της Αγίας, Όσιος Νικηφόρος ο Χίος, οι οποίοι συχνά προσέρχονταν στον τόπο του μαρτυρίου της Αγίας για να προσευχηθούν. Η μνήμη της Αγίας παρθενομάρτυρος Μαρκέλλας εορτάζεται κάθε χρόνο στις 22 Ιουλίου και λαμπρά πανήγυρις λαμβάνει χώρα στον φερώνυμο ιερό ναό της Αγίας, που βρίσκεται επί της αμμώδους παραλίας στον ομώνυμο όρμο της Βολισσού και αποτελεί παγχιακό, αλλά και πανελλήνιο προσκύνημα. Η φιλοπατρία των απανταχού της Γης ευρισκομένων Χίων, αλλά και τα αναρίθμητα θαύματα της Αγίας οδήγησαν στην ανέγερση ιερών ναών επ ονόματι της πολυάθλου και ενδόξου παρθενομάρτυρος της Χίου. Έτσι η συνοικία του Βοτανικού στην Αθήνα κοσμείται με ενοριακό ναό της Αγίας Μαρκέλλας, ενώ τα τελευταία χρόνια ανεγέρθηκε περικαλλές παρεκκλήσιο στο όνομα της Αγίας και στην περιοχή της Κάτω Κηφισιάς. Γραφικά παρεκκλήσια επ ονόματί της έχουν καταγραφεί στις Σπέτσες, την Άνδρο, τη Μήλο, τη Σαντορίνη και τη Σάμο. 10 Koinonia July & August 2015

11 SAINT MARKELLA PATRON SAINT OF CHIOS JULY 22 The holy and glorious Virgin-martyr Markella of Chios is the patron saint of Chios. Her feast day is celebrated on July 22. Markella was born and lived in the village of Volissos of Chios and lived during the fourteenth century. Her mother was a devout Christian but her father, who was mayor of the village, was an idolater. At a young age, her mother passed away, but not before she had taught Markella the ways of the Lord. While her father saw to her education, she continued to live in faith and virtue, dedicating herself to Jesus Christ. She studied the Holy Bible and spent many hours in prayer. She practiced the virtues of fasting, love, hospitality and chastity. She avoided idle interactions so that she would not come to spiritual harm. Her goal was to attain the Kingdom of Heaven, and to become a bride of Christ. St. Markella increased in virtue as she grew older, fasting, praying, and attending church services. She tried to keep the commandments and to lead others to God. She loved and respected her father, and comforted him in his sorrow. She told him she would take care of him in his old age, and would not abandon him. As an adult, St Markella was loved by everyone for her beauty and for her spiritual gifts. Her father, moved by the evil one began to have sinful desires for Markella. By the time she had reached her eighteenth birthday, her father's desires had begun to show and so Markella decided to leave from her father's house in order to preserve her purity. She went to a nearby mountain and hid in a bush. With the help from a local shepherd, her father found her. He then set fire to the bush to force her to show. It is said that the shepherd's hand with which he pointed out Markella's hiding spot immediately began to tremble. Markella ran to the sea to escape but her father aimed an arrow at her and wounded her. The blood of the saint dyed the rocks and to this very day, during the festivities for her feast day, at a specific time, her blood becomes visible on these rocks for all the faithful who bear witness to this miracle. Her final moments were spent in prayer to Christ with a request that the rocks would open for her to hide from her father. She was enclosed in the rock, with only her chest and head visible. Upon finding her, filled with evil frenzy, her father butchered her body and then cut off her head and threw it into the sea. Her head floated to the nearby beach of Komi. For many years, the locals could not locate the head until one day an Italian Naval ship was in the area. In the evening, they could see a bright light coming from the distance and when they got closer they witnessed a head, floating in the water, lit by upright floating candles. Immediately, they realized that this was a sacred miracle they were witness to and they took the head of the Saint back to their homeland. Holy water is said to spring from the rocks that mark her martyrdom. Many pilgrims visit this location and every year on the 22nd of July, during the commemoration services for the Saint, the holy sea water in the rock pool boils during the entire Paraklesis Service; this phenomenon only occurs in the presence of a priest. If a pilgrim's faith is strong, a local tradition is that the water in the rock-pool will feel extremely warm to touch. Koinonia July & August

12 SAINT PARASKEVI JULY 26 St Paraskevi was born in Rome about 140 AD of Greek Christian parents. Her father, Agathon was rich and her mother, Politia, had many attributes, the greatest of which was her charitability. Agathon and Politia had been married for many years but they were childless. They prayed to God to bless them with a child which they would raise in a true Christian atmosphere. Their prayers were answered with the birth of a girl and because she was born on the sixth day of the week, they named her Paraskevi, the Greek word for Friday. What impressed Paraskevi the most was not her parents' guidance, but the Christian life which they led. Thus, she knew from a young age, the way of life she would one day lead. She obtained her education from secular books and from the Scriptures. She was also very knowledgeable in the field of philosophy. Bolstered by her Christian upbringing and philosophy, she often conversed with other women about Christianity, trying to strengthen their faith in this new religion. Many noblemen wanted to marry this beautiful, educated and rich woman. Her understanding and kindness made her even more desirable, but having a higher goal in life, Paraskevi rejected any marriage proposals. When she was 20 years old, both her parents died. Filled with the spirit of Christ and Christian ideals, she sold all her worldly goods and dispersed most of her money among the poor. The remainder was contributed to a community treasury which supported a home for young virgins and widows who had dedicated their lives to the teachings of Christianity. These women had, however, strayed far from the word of the Gospel and, therefore, Paraskevi remained in this home for many years and taught them the true meaning of Christianity. This was not enough for her, however, and unprotected she went out to teach the way of Christ, knowing that death was waiting for her at the end of her journey. It was during this period that the Jews and Romans persecuted the new religion with the greatest intensity. She left Rome at the age of 30 and began her holy mission, passing through many cities and villages. She was not caught immediately and put to death because Antonius Pius ruled Rome at this time, and he did not execute Christians without a trial. Instead, he protected them against the blind mania of the Jewish and Roman inhabitants. A Christian could only be brought to trial if a formal complaint were lodged against him by another citizen. However, at one time Antonius had to repeal this law because of the many disasters which had befallen Rome, and which were blamed on the Christians. Eventually, Antonius heard of St. Paraskevi's holy mission. Upon her return to Rome, several Jews filed complaints about her and Antonius summoned her to his palace to question her. Attracted by her beauty and humility he tried with kind words to make her denounce her faith, even promising to marry her and make her an empress. Angered by her refusal he had a steel helmet, which fitted tightly around her head, lined with nails and placed on her head. It had no effect on the Saint and many who witnessed this miracle converted to Christianity. Hearing of this, Antonius had them put to death. Thrown into prison, Paraskevi asked God to give her the strength to face the terror which awaited her. Antonius again continued the torture by having her hung by her hair and her hands and arms burned with torches. The Saint suffered greatly, but had the will not to submit to the pain. Antonius then prepared a large kettle of oil and tar, boiled the mixture and then had Paraskevi immersed in it. Miraculously she stood as if she were being cooled rather than burned. Angered, Antonius thought that she was using magic to keep the contents cool, but the Saint told him that he could test it. She took some of the boiling liquid and threw it in the Emperor's face. It burned his eyes and blinded him. She stepped out of the kettle and went to Antonius, telling him that only the Christian God could cure him. Immediately, he regained his sight and humbled by the miracle he freed the Saint and ended all persecutions against the Christians throughout the Roman Empire. Free now, Paraskevi went forth with greater zeal to accomplish her apostolic mission. As long as Antonius was alive she taught without fear, however the Emperor died at which time Marcus Aurelius came to power. During his reign a pestilence befell Rome and many people died. Once again the Christians were blamed. The Emperor was forced to change the laws dealing with "non-believers". Paraskevi was captured in a city which was ruled by a man called Asclipius. Refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods, she was thrown into a pit with a large snake. The Saint made the sign of the cross and the snake did not harm her. Asclipius, realizing that a great and mighty power guarded Paraskevi, she was again set free to teach others about Christianity. She soon arrived at the city in which she would meet her death. Taracius was the ruler there, and he summoned her to the palace for trial. As Antonius, he also ordered his soldiers to prepare a kettle filled with boiling oil and melted tar and the Saint was placed in it. Once again, nothing happened, and many of the onlookers converted to Christianity. Paraskevi was then tied and beaten and afterwards imprisoned and a huge rock placed on her chest. She prayed to Christ to help her be strong. She was convicted and condemned to death. When the Saint was taken out of the city to be beheaded, she asked to be left alone for a few moments so that she might pray for the last time. Afterwards, the soldiers returned and executed the Saint. 12 Koinonia July & August 2015

13 SAINT PANTELEIMON PATRON SAINT OF OUR PHILOPTOCHOS JULY 27 The holy, glorious and right-victorious Greatmartyr Panteleimon the Unmercenary Healer was martyred under the reign of Emperor Maximian (ca. 305 A.D.). His feast day is celebrated on July 27. His parents were Eustorgius of Nicomedia, a pagan, and Saint Eubula (March 30). They named him Pantaleon, which means in all things like a lion, but when he converted to Christianity, he changed his name to Panteleimon, which means all-merciful. He learned about Christianity from the priest who later baptized him, Saint Hermolaus. Hermolaus was living with two other priests, Hermippus and Hermocrates; the three were "survivors of the massacre of 20,000 Christians in 303 (December 28)." St. Panteleimon had been educated as a physician, and he "dedicated his life to the suffering, the sick, the unfortunate and the needy. He treated all those who turned to him without charge, healing them in the name of Jesus Christ. He visited those held captive in prison. These were usually Christians, and he healed them of their wounds. In a short time, reports of the charitable physician spread throughout the city. Forsaking the other doctors, the inhabitants began to turn only to St. Panteleimon." Other physicians brought his case before the Emperor Maximian. St. Panteleimon confessed to being a Christian and refused to offer sacrifice to the state gods. "[He] suggested that a sick person, for whom the doctors held out no hope, should be brought before the emperor. Then the doctors could invoke their gods, and Panteleimon would pray to his God to heal the man. A man paralyzed for many years was brought in, and pagan priests who knew the art of medicine invoked their gods without success. Then, before the very eyes of the emperor, the saint healed the paralytic by calling on the name of Jesus Christ. The ferocious Maximian executed the healed man, and gave St. Panteleimon over to fierce torture." Hermolaus, Hermippus, and Hermocrates were brought forth; they confessed and were beheaded. Throughout the many tortures, St. Panteleimon remained untouched. Enraged, Maximian ordered that St. Panteleimon be beheaded. The soldiers took him to an olive tree, but when they struck him while he was praying, the sword melted like wax. After he finished his prayer, "a Voice was heard from Heaven, calling the passion-bearer by his new name and summoning him to the heavenly Kingdom." He instructed the soldiers to rise from their knees where they had fallen in fear and to complete the execution. After they followed his instruction, the olive tree became covered with fruit. Although his body was thrown into a fire, it came out unharmed and was buried by Christians. His head is located on the island of Andros at the Panachrantos monastery and, on occassions, is taken to other monasteries for veneration. Some of his relics can be found at the Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania), as well as in the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Constanţa, Romania. "St. Panteleimon is invoked in the prayers at the blessing of water and the blessing of oil, together with St. Hermolaus and the other unmercenaries and wonder-workers." Apolytikion (Tone 3) Panteleimon, Saintly champion and healer, intercede with our merciful God to grant our souls remission of sins. Koinonia July & August

14 Η ΚΟΙΜΗΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΥ Τον καθένα από μας τον βασανίζει το ερώτημα: τι θα γίνει με μας και τι μας περιμένει μετά το θάνατο; Μία σαφή απάντηση σ' αυτό το ερώτημα μόνοι μας δεν μπορούμε να την βρούμε. Αλλά η Αγία Γραφή και πρώτα απ' όλα ο λόγος του Κυρίου μας Ιησού Χριστού μας αποκαλύπτουν αυτό το μυστικό. Μας το αποκαλύπτουν επίσης το απολυτίκιο και το κοντάκιο της μεγάλης αυτής γιορτής της Κοιμήσεως της Υπεραγίας Θεοτόκου και οι εκκλησιαστικοί ύμνοι που ψάλλονται σ' αυτή τη γιορτή. Θέλω όλοι σας να καταλάβετε, γιατί ο θάνατος της Υπεραγίας Θεοτόκου και Παρθένου Μαρίας λέγεται Κοίμησή της. Ο μέγας απόστολος Ιωάννης ο Θεολόγος στο 20ο κεφάλαιο της Αποκαλύψεως μιλάει για τον πρώτο και το δεύτερο θάνατο. Ο πρώτος μόνο θάνατος, ο οποίος είναι αναπόφευκτος για όλους τους ανθρώπους, περιμένει και τους αγίους και τους δικαίους. Αλλά ο δεύτερος, ο φοβερός και αιώνιος θάνατος, περιμένει τους μεγάλους και αμετανόητους αμαρτωλούς, οι οποίοι αρνήθηκαν την αγάπη και την δικαιοσύνη του Θεού και είναι καταδικασμένοι να βρίσκονται αιωνίως σε κοινωνία με το διάβολο και τους αγγέλους του. Στο Ευαγγέλιο του ίδιου μεγάλου αποστόλου και ευαγγελιστού Ιωάννου του Θεολόγου διαβάζουμε τα λόγια του Χριστού, τα οποία είναι πολύ στενά συνδεδεμένα με όσα γράφει η Αποκάλυψη: «αμήν αμήν λέγω υμίν ότι ο τον λόγον μου ακούων και πιστεύων τω πέμψαντί με έχει ζωήν αιώνιον και εις κρίσιν ουκ έρχεται, αλλά μεταβέβηκεν εκ του θανάτου εις την ζωήν» (Ίωάν. 5, 24). Το ακούτε, το καταλαβαίνετε; Νομίζω ότι ακόμα και θα πρέπει να σας κινήσει την περιέργεια το γεγονός ότι όλοι όσοι υπακούουν στο λόγο του Χριστού και πιστεύουν στον Ουράνιο Πατέρα του, ο οποίος τον έστειλε, αμέσως μετά το θάνατο τους θα περάσουν στην αιώνια ζωή. Δεν υπάρχει λόγος να δικαστούν αυτοί που έχουν ζωντανή πίστη στο Θεό και υπακούουν στις εντολές του. Και στους μεγάλους δώδεκα αποστόλους είπε ο Κύριος μας Ιησούς Χριστός: «αμήν λέγω υμίν ότι υμείς οι ακολουθήσαντές μοι, εν τη παλιγγενεσία, όταν καθίση ο Υιός του ανθρώπου επί θρόνου δόξης αυτού, καθίσεσθε και υμείς επί δώδεκα θρόνους κρίνοντες τας δώδεκα φυλάς του Ισραήλ» (Ματθ. 19, 28). Δικαστές και κατήγοροι θα είναι κατά την Φοβερά Κρίση του Θεού οι Απόστολοι του Χριστού και, βεβαίως, είναι τελείως αδύνατο να φανταστούμε να δικάζονται η Υπεραγία Θεοτόκος και Αειπάρθενος Μαρία, ο Βαπτιστής του Κυρίου Ιωάννης, οι μεγάλοι προφήτες του Θεού, ο Ηλίας και ο Ενώχ τους οποίους ζωντανούς τους πήρε ο Θεός στον Ουρανό, όλο το αμέτρητο πλήθος των μαρτύρων του Χριστού, οι δοξασμένοι από τον Θεό άγιοι αρχιερείς και θαυματουργοί με επί κεφαλής τον άγιο Νικόλαο, αρχιεπίσκοπο Μύρων της Λυκίας. Είναι αδύνατον ακόμα και να περάσει από το μυαλό μας η σκέψη πως θα δικαστούν αυτοί, οι όποιοι άκουσαν από το στόμα του Χριστού: «Η βασιλεία του Θεού εντός υμών εστίν» (Λκ. 17, 21). Σ' αυτούς τους μεγάλους αγωνιστές του Χριστού, σαν σε πολύτιμους ναούς κατοικούσε το Άγιο Πνεύμα. Ακόμα και ζώντας στη γη, αυτοί βρισκόταν στην άμεση κοινωνία με τον Θεό, επειδή έτσι είπε ο Κύριος μας Ιησούς Χριστός: «Εάν τις αγαπήση με, τον λόγον μου τηρήσει, και ο πατήρ μου αγαπήσει αυτόν, και προς αυτόν ελευσόμεθα και μονήν παρ' αυτώ ποιήσομεν» (Ίωάν. 14, 23). 14 Koinonia July & August 2015

15 Η ΚΟΙΜΗΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΥ Ή Υπεραγία Παρθένος Μαρία υπήρξε άχραντος ναός του Σωτήρος και σ' αυτήν κατοίκησε το Άγιο Πνεύμα και από την αγιότατη μήτρα της έλαβε το ανθρώπινο σώμα ο Υιός του Θεού, ο Οποίος κατέβηκε από τους Ουρανούς. Γι' αυτό ο σωματικός της θάνατος δεν ήταν θάνατος αλλά Κοίμηση, δηλαδή ένα άμεσο πέρασμα από τη Βασιλεία του Θεού εντός της στη Βασιλεία των Ουρανών και την αιώνια ζωή. Μού ήρθε τώρα στο μυαλό και κάτι καινούριο. Σ' ένα από τα προηγούμενα κηρύγματα μου σάς έλεγα, ότι έχουμε κάθε λόγο να πιστεύουμε, ότι και το σώμα της Υπεραγίας Θεοτόκου με τη δύναμη του Θεού έγινε άφθαρτο και ανελήφθη στους ουρανούς. Αυτό μάς λέει και το κοντάκιο της μεγάλης γιορτής της Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου: «Την εν πρεσβείαις ακοίμητον Θεοτόκον, και προστασίαις αμετάθετον ελπίδα, τάφος και νέκρωσις ουκ εκράτησεν ως γαρ ζωής Μητέρα, προς την ζωήν μετέστησεν, ο μήτραν οικήσας αειπάρθενον». Προσέξτε: «τάφος και νέκρωσις ουκ εκράτησεν». Σκεπτόμενοι αυτό, ας θυμηθούμε και τι γράφει η Αγία Γραφή για το θάνατο του μεγαλυτέρου προφήτη της Παλαιάς Διαθήκης, του Μωυσή στο 34 κεφάλαιο του βιβλίου του Δευτερονομίου, ότι πέθανε σύμφωνα με το λόγο του Θεού στο όρος Νεβώ και τάφηκε στη γη Μωάβ. Ο τάφος του μεγάλου αυτού προφήτη έπρεπε να είναι για πάντα τόπος προσκυνήματος για όλο το λαό του Ισραήλ. Όμως στη Βίβλο διαβάζουμε, ότι: «ουκ οίδεν ουδείς την ταφήν αυτού έως της ημέρας ταύτης» (Δευτ. 34, 6). Όμως κατά τη Μεταμόρφωση του Κυρίου στο όρος Θαβώρ εμφανίστηκε ο Μωυσής στον Κύριο και Δεσπότη του τον Ιησού μαζί με τον προφήτη Ηλία, ο οποίος αρπάχτηκε ζωντανός στους ουρανούς. Νομίζω ότι δεν θα είναι αμαρτία αν θα πούμε, ότι το σώμα του μεγάλου Μωυσή, όπως και το σώμα της Υπεραγίας Θεοτόκου, με τη δύναμη του Θεού, έμεινε άφθαρτο. Γι' αυτό και ο τάφος του είναι άγνωστος. Να σκεφτόμαστε, αδελφοί και αδελφές μου, την μακάρια Κοίμηση της Υπεραγίας Παρθένου Μαρίας και να θυμόμαστε τα λόγια του Κυρίου μας Ιησού Χριστού: «Αμήν αμήν λέγω υμίν ότι ο τον λόγον μου ακούων και πιστεύων τω πέμψαντί με έχει ζωήν αιώνιον, και εις κρίσιν ουκ έρχεται, αλλά μεταβέβηκεν εκ του θανάτου εις την ζωήν» (Ίωάν. 5, 24). Να μάς αξιώσει ο Θεός να γευθούμε και εμείς οι αμαρτωλοί τη μεγάλη αυτή χαρά, με τη χάρη και τη φιλανθρωπία του Κυρίου μας Ιησού Χριστού, φ η δόξα και το κράτος συν τω ανάρχω αυτού Πατρί και τω Παναγίω Αυτού Πνεύματι εις τους αιώνας. Αμήν. Koinonia July & August

16 Icon of the Mother of God of Three Hands Commemorated on June 28 In the ninth century during the time of the Iconoclasts, St. John of Damascus was zealous in his veneration of the holy icons. Because of this, he was slandered by the emperor and iconoclast Leo III who informed the Damascus caliph that St. John was committing treasonous acts. The caliph gave orders to cut off the hand of the monk and take it to the marketplace. That evening St. John, having asked the caliph for the cut-off hand, put it to its joint and fell to the ground before the icon of the Mother of God. The monk begged Our Lady to heal his hand, which had written Holy Icons in the defense of Orthodoxy. After praying he fell asleep and saw in a dream that the All-Pure Mother of God had turned to him promising him quick healing. The Mother of God directed him to toil without fail with this hand. Having awakened from sleep, St. John saw that his hand was unharmed. In thankfulness for this healing, St. John placed a hand fashioned of silver on the icon, from which the icon received its name Of Three Hands. According to Tradition, St. John wrote a hymn of thanksgiving to the Mother of God: All of creation rejoices in You, O Full of Grace, which appears in place of the hymn It is Truly Meet in the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. And that is how the dedication of a silver hand, led, heart, as a dedication of restoration of health (the Taugma) began and continues to this day. St. John Damascene accepted monasticism at the St. Sava the Sanctified Monastery and bestowed his wonderworking icon at that place. The Lavra presented the icon Of Three Hands in blessing to St. Sava, Archbishop of Serbia. During the invasion of Serbia by the Turks, Christians who wished to protect the icon entrusted it to the safekeeping of the Mother of God Herself. They placed it upon a donkey, which without a driver proceeded to Mt. Athos and stopped in front of the Hilandar Monastery. The monks put the icon in the monastery s cathedral church. During a time of dissension over the choice of the abbott, the Mother of God appeared at the monastery Herself and came to rule it. From that time her holy icon has occupied the abbott s place in the church. There is only a vicar at the Hilandar Monastery, and from the holy icon, the monks take a blessing for every obedience. 16 Koinonia July & August 2015

17 THE DORMITION OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS AND EVER VIRGIN MARY AUGUST 15 Magnify O my soul, the honourable Translation of the Mother of God from earth to heaven. (Refrain for the 9th Ode of the Canon) Let us be happy, beloved brothers and sisters that we belong to the Holy Orthodox Church, worthily and rightly glorifying the Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos on this eminent day out of all the days of the year with special solemnity. There exists on earth many societies and entire governments that do not consider the need nor the obligation to call upon and glorify the Queen of heaven and earth, the Mother of Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ, and other saints and angels; to submissively serve Her lovingly, as the true Mother of God. Sadly in Russia nowadays we have heretics (among us) who actively dishonor the Mother of God, the saints, their icons, their relics and their festivals. O, if only they also unanimously with us glorified the worthy Queen of heaven and earth! Today the Holy Church solemnly glorifies the honorable Dormition or translation of the Mother of God from earth to heaven. A wonderful translation - she died without serious illness, peacefully. Her soul is taken up in the divine hands of Her Son and carried up into the heavenly abode, accompanied by the sweet singing of angels. And then, her most pure body is transferred by the apostles to Gethsemane where it is honorably buried, and on the third day it is resurrected and taken up to heaven. You see this on the icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos. On it is represented the life-bearing body of the Theotokos laying on a bier, surrounded by the apostles and hierarchs, and in the center of the icon the Lord holding in His hands the most pure soul of the Theotokos. The translation of the Mother of God is a paradigm of the translation in general of the souls of Christians to the other world. We say that our dead have fallen asleep or passed away. What does this mean? This means that for the true Christian there is no death. Death was conquered by Christ on the cross. But there is a translation, i.e, a rearrangement of his condition, i.e. his soul is in another place, in another age, in another world beyond the grave, eternal, without end, that is what is meant by falling asleep. It is as if it were a temporary dream after which, by the voice of the Lord and the fearful yet wonderful trumpet of the Archangel, all the dead shall live and come forth each to his place: either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:29). This is what the Christian means by translation. We should be ready for this translation, for the day of the general resurrection and judgment, for this indescribable world event, recorded in the Holy Scriptures. This preparation for the meeting of the heavenly King before the dread judgment seat, after death, is essentially the person s preparation throughout the whole of his life. This preparation means a change in all his thoughts, and the moral change of all his being, so that the whole man would be pure and white as snow, washing clean everything that defiles the body and spirit, so that he is adorned with every virtue: repentance, meekness, humility, gentleness, simplicity, chastity, mercifulness, abstention, spiritual contemplation, and burning love for God and neighbor. Our preparation for meeting the heavenly King, and for the inheritance of eternal life in heaven, should consist of these things. The heavenly King desires souls adorned with immutable virtue, souls prepared so that the Very Lord Himself could abide in them. Do not marvel that the Very Lord wants to live in us. In fact the human soul is more spacious than the heavens and the earth, for it exists in the image of God. And if one removes sins from the soul, the Lord of all will settle in it and will fill it with Himself. We will come to him and make our dwelling with him (John 14:23), says the Lord about the souls who love Him. And so, you participants in the feasts, and especially the present feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, you who are brightly adorned with every virtue and translated to the heavenly kingdom, to Her Son and God, proclaim to each and every one about preparing their souls to be the dwelling place of the Lord, about continual repentance, and about the incorruptible adornment of Christian virtue. Let your death also be unashamed and peaceful, serving as the pledge of a good answer at the dread judgment seat of Christ. Amen. Koinonia July & August

18 Ask Father Nick Q: Can we lose our Soul? ~ Carol Capocci A: Yes, if we fall away from God. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mt 16:26 Man, was created in the image of God -Gen 1: THE SOUL DOES NOT CEASE TO EXIST AT DEATH 1. The body dies, and soon returns back to the dust a. The soul returns back to God - Ec 12:7 b. Awaiting the resurrection of the body - 1Co 15: After which comes the Judgment - He 9:27; 2Co 5:10, a. The soul, in its resurrected body, will bear the brunt of that Judgment b. Either eternal life, honor, glory, and immortality - Ro 2:7 c. Or indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish - Ro 2:8-9-- Which is why we need to evaluate all things (possessions, decisions, actions) from an eternal perspective, from the soul's viewpoint - Mt 10:28; 16:26 THE COST REQUIRED TO REDEEM IT 1. What price was required to redeem our souls from the wrath of God's judgment? 2. Nothing less than the blood of the Son of God! - 1Pe 1: Even if we cannot fully comprehend why Jesus had to die, we should able to see that the souls of men must be extremely valuable if His death was necessary. How valuable is your soul...? a. Think of what the rich man in Hades would tell you - Lk 16: b. Think of what the souls of the redeemed would say to you - Re 7:13-17 c. Think of what God has done to save our souls! - Jn 3:16. Q: What is a Kalimafi and what is its symbolism? ~ Vince Arrigo A: A Kalimafi, is stove type style usually black hat, worn by deacons, priests, and bishops. It is worn before the Divine Liturgy begins and then during other services and even outside the Church. It is symbol of self-denial from the worldly and devotion to the divine. A Kalimafi with a black veil indicates that the person wearing it is an Archimandrite or Bishop, a non-married clergymen. Q: What does the name Adam mean? ~ Tony Vaitsis A: This is the Hebrew word for "man". Q: What does Eve mean? ~ Tony Vaitsis A: which was derived from the Hebrew word "to breathe" interpreters derive the name Eve from the verb (haya),חיה meaning to live or have life. 18 Koinonia July & August 2015

19 Ask Father Nick Q: How exactly does the Orthodox Church view the Virgin Mary as without sin? ~ John A: Based on the tenor of your question, on the Virgin Mary requires a thorough explanation of some of the secondary issues to which you refer, such as original sin, the Immaculate Conception, supernatural grace, etc. The Orthodox Church believes that Mary, as a human being, could indeed have sinned, but chose not to. In the Roman Catholic understanding, it seems that Mary, who according to Roman doctrine had been exempted from the guilt of original sin [the Orthodox do not accept that humans share the guilt of the first sin but, rather, only the consequences] before all eternity, and thus could not have sinned. The Orthodox Church does not or has ever believed in the Roman Catholic Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Jesus Christ is Mary s Savior, as well as ours, as testified in her own statement in St Luke the Magnificat where she says, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. If Mary had been sin-proofed, so to speak, from all eternity, the Orthodox would argue as to why she would need a Savior. Mary is the new Eve who said yes to God where the first Eve said no. She did have a choice, the text of the Canon from Matins for the Great Feast of the Annunciation, in which we can see a beautiful dialogue between the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel in which she debates whether or not to accept the archangel s news, and only in the end accepting that which he announced. This is accepted as faith and mystery. She gave birth to Christ who is God, and is thus called Theotokos (Godbearer) and not Christokos (Christbearer). Q: I noticed that on Bright Friday after Pascha/Easter every year, we celebrate the Feast of the Theotokos, Life-giving Fountain, why is this done? ~ K.O. A: The Feast of Theotokos, Life-giving Fountain, is a feast celebrated from ancient times in the Christian East. It remains a major feast celebrated on Bright Friday in the liturgical cycle of the Holy Church. Bright Friday is the Friday following Easter/Pascha. On this day, Orthodox Christians recognize the Virgin Mary as mother of the Church, "source" of life for all the faithful who still journey the path of life on earth. New life that flows from the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord is symbolized as water flowing from a fountain or deep well, related to many Biblical images. In the ancient East, this idea of new life flowing from Christ through the motherhood of the Theotokos was connected to an apparition of the Virgin Mary to a young prince who sought help for a dying man in a village near Constantinople. This event occurred early in the fifth century, and involved a young man, Markellis, who was to later become Emperor Leo of the Byzantine Empire. In attempting to find water for the dying man, he heard the voice of the Virgin calling him to a spring-fed well. Markellis was aware that it was Theotokos offering water and subsequent healing to this suffering man. A shrine was established at the site later producing many claims of miracles and healings. In the eleventh century, Emperor Justinian was reportedly healed of a strange sickness and, as appreciation, erected a large church called the "Life-Giving Spring," Even in this day, pilgrims can visit the site outside the city of Constantinople (Istanbul). Monasteries and churches throughout the East have taken the name of "Life-Giving Spring," also the site of pilgrimage and reported healings. Koinonia July & August

20 Ask Father Nick Q: How about parents who cannot conceive children that would be good parents? And How does God allow bad parents, who abuse and kill their children? Where is the free will? ~ Deacon Keric Shiepis A: This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God s ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job s reaction? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him (Job 13:15). The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised (Job 1:21). Job did not understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well. Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no good people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). Romans 3:10-18 could not be clearer about the non-existence of good people. Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people? Romans 5:8 declares, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). If we receive Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9), we will be forgiven and promised an eternal home in heaven (Romans 8:1). Yes, sometimes bad things happen to people who seem undeserving of them. But God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. Above all, however, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). In conclusion, God gave man free will even if He knew it will cause problems through man's wrong use of it because He also knows the solution to it... Jesus. When God finished making this world on the sixth day, He looked on the whole of His creation and saw that it was all good, including the free will He gave man. To us, who are still living in sin, we can use our free will by deciding to forsake our sins and to have Jesus be our Lord and Savior. To us, His children, let us use the free will God gave us to bring pleasure to the only One who can use evil to bring out good for our benefit. 20 Koinonia July & August 2015

21 Ask Father Nick Q: What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? ~ Tony Vaitsis A: The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in eleven caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea between the years 1947 and The area is 13 miles east of Jerusalem and is 1300 feet below sea level. The mostly fragmented texts, are numbered according to the cave that they came out of. They have been called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times. Only Caves 1 and 11 have produced relatively intact manuscripts. Discovered in 1952, Cave 4 produced the largest find. About 15,000 fragments from more than 500 manuscripts were found. In all, scholars have identified the remains of about 825 to 870 separate scrolls. The Scrolls can be divided into two categories biblical and non-biblical. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew canon (Old Testament) have been discovered except for the book of Esther. There are now identified among the scrolls, 19 copies of the Book of Isaiah, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms. Prophecies by Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel not found in the Bible are written in the Scrolls. The Isaiah Scroll, found relatively intact, is 1000 years older than any previously known copy of Isaiah. In fact, the scrolls are the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever found. In the Scrolls are found never before seen psalms attributed to King David and Joshua. The Scrolls are for the most part, written in Hebrew, but there are many written in Aramaic. Aramaic was the common language of the Jews of Palestine for the last two centuries B.C. and of the first two centuries A.D. The discovery of the Scrolls has greatly enhanced our knowledge of these two languages. In addition, there are a few texts written in Greek. Near the caves are the ancient ruins of Qumran. They were excavated in the early 1950's and appear to be connected with the scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were most likely written by the Essenes during the period from about 200 B.C. to 68 C.E./A.D. The Essenes are mentioned by Josephus and in a few other sources, but not in the New testament. The Essenes were a strict Torah observant, Messianic, apocalyptic, baptist, wilderness, new covenant Jewish sect. They were led by a priest they called the "Teacher of Righteousness," who was opposed and possibly killed by the establishment priesthood in Jerusalem. One of the most curious scrolls is the Copper Scroll. Discovered in Cave 3, this scroll records a list of 64 underground hiding places throughout the land of Israel. The deposits are to contain certain amounts of gold, silver, aromatics, and manuscripts. These are believed to be treasures from the Temple at Jerusalem, that were hidden away for safekeeping. The scrolls are most commonly made of animal skins, but also papyrus and one of copper. They are written with a carbon-based ink, from right to left, using no punctuation except for an occasional paragraph indentation. In fact, in some cases, there are not even spaces between the words. Although the Qumran community existed during the time of the ministry of Jesus, none of the Scrolls refer to Him, nor do they mention any of His follower's described in the New Testament. The Dead Sea Scrolls enhance our knowledge of both Judaism and Christianity. They represent a non-rabbinic form of Judaism and provide a wealth of comparative material for New Testament scholars, including many important parallels to the Jesus movement. They show Christianity to be rooted in Judaism and have been called the evolutionary link between the two. Koinonia July & August

22 eacon Keric s Corner REV. DEACON KERIC SHIEPIS, D.C. What is Means to be Guided by God Because our world is a complicated place, sometimes we all need some form of guidance. Some of our decisions are so important that they could affect our entire future. We are all faced with some sort of financial issues, health concerns, relational struggles, and all kinds of challenging situations. It could be that we have done everything we can to research a subject, (especially with today's easy access to the internet), but we are still confused and have many questions regarding what to do. Sometimes unfortunately our problems just seem beyond solutions. Perhaps others are asking us for advice, and we are not sure what to say to them for fear of making their situation worse. In times like these, we need someone who can give us true, reliable, wise counsel. Someone that truly loves us more than we can even comprehend love and has nothing but our best interests in mind. The only One who never guides us the wrong way is God our loving heavenly Father." For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The Lord is a loving heavenly Father who is never too busy to listen to us when we come to Him for guidance. He has given us a wonderful promise in Ps 32:11, "The counsel of the Lord abides forever, the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation" The source of the promise is almighty God. The creator of the ends of the earth, who has all knowledge and power, is the One who makes this promise: " I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go". This is a personal commitment to each of us as individuals from the Lord our God. I we exercise our free will and come to Him, seeking and believing Him, He will give us the proper instruction and teaching for whatever situation we are facing, and He never makes a mistake. He wants us to have salvation through His Son and He will do whatever is necessary to accomplish that. The one thing that He will not do is take away our free will, that He gave us from the beginning. It is up to us to exercise that great gift from Him. God has complete knowledge of our circumstances, knowing how they began and what the end result will be-if we obey him or if we do not. The Lord's pledge to instruct and guide us is a personal message to every follower of Jesus Christ. The value of this promise depends on the character of the One who made it. This is a divine commitment made by God, who never fails to keep His word and promises to us. We never have to worry that He will not do as He said because He speaks and acts out of His nature-and He is always true and faithful. There has never been one circumstance where God has not been faithful to His children. His promise to us is inclusive. It encompasses everything we need to know to make the right choice. Instruction. First of all, he promises to instruct us with truth. The world offers us directions that are full of error, but the Lord's love and guidance always leads us the right way. Teaching. When the desire in our heart causes us to open His Word, the Lord teaches us and helps us understand what it means. However, having information is just the beginning. To benefit from it, we must apply what we have read and learned to the situation we are facing. Since some of our decisions are not a matter of right and wrong but of what is best, we also need wisdom and discernment to make the right choice. The Holy Spirit within us has promised to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). 22 Koinonia July & August 2015

23 eacon Keric s Corner REV. DEACON KERIC SHIEPIS, D.C. Because He knows the future and sees what will result from taking a wrong turn. He guides us into paths that lead to the blessings that come from obedience to God. When we follows His promptings, we won't suffer from the inevitable regrets that follow wrong choices. Counsel. "The counsel of the Lord abides forever.." (Ps.32:11) This promise shows us the closeness of God because counseling involves a relationship. It also reveals that we walk under the umbrella of the Lord's encompassing gaze. As a loving Father, He watches over us, giving wise counsel for life. Since He loves us, has full knowledge of the future, and always wants the best for us, it's foolish to ignore His wisdom and makes decisions based on our own limited knowledge and understanding. There are so many aspects of the situations we cannot see, but He knows it all. We must never forget that He loves us more than we are able to comprehend and wants only our best in every situation that arises in our lives, especially when we surrender our will to His and let Him guide us in every aspect of our lives. Protection. God's eye upon us demonstrates His protection and watchful care over us, wherever we are and whatever we do. He sees us what awaits us each day and shows us the right way, even when another path seems like the one we should take. Our responsibility is to keep looking towards God and setting our thoughts and actions towards what He wants and expects from us, in each and every situation. Every decision should prompt us to ask Him what He would have us do. And if others come to us for guidance, we need to immediately seek wisdom from the Lord. Anytime we offer counsel, we should rely on this promise because we are accountable to God for the advice that we give. The Lord warns those who will not listen. After giving His people this wonderful promise, God also warns those who will not listen to His instruction, teaching and counsel. We are warned not to be stubborn. The Lord wants us to willingly follow His guidance. If we resist Him, we are like a horse or a mule that can only be controlled by the force of a bit and bridle. If we refuse to come near to God, we will reap the consequences of our own stubbornness and foolishness of not listening to Him. "Many are the sorrows of the wicked" Whenever we ignore God's counsel, we will experience trouble and heartache. Sometimes we live in rebellion by simply relying on ourselves and making our own decisions based on what we think is best. What we must understand is that when God has no place in our heart, lives and decision making we are walking in disobedience, indifference and pride. This is a wrong and foolish lifestyle, and it's fruit will eventually prove to be bitter. God blesses those who will listen to His will. In contrast to stubbornness and rebellion, those who trust in the Lord will experience the fruit of obedience. Loving kindness shall surround them. If we seek and follow the God's guidance, we will see the evidence of His goodness and love. This does not mean that we will not have problems or heartaches, but God will use them to increase our trust in Him and to mature and strengthen us. His loving kindness will surround and protect us on every side and in every aspect of our life. We may falter and fail at times, but if we will quickly confess and ask Him to forgive us for not seeking His guidance, He will lead us back to the right path. During the summer months many of us plan vacations with our families and friends, let us not plan a vacation from the Lord. We need to make a greater effort to get closer to Him not only by regular church/sacraments attendance but by studying/communicating with Him through His word (Holy Bible). Have a blessed summer. Koinonia July & August

24 I appreciate the honor and privilege of having been elected Philoptochos President for the term. I look forward working with all of you and appreciate your ongoing dedication, commitment, support, guidance and friendship. To those who are not yet part of Philoptochos, please join us. Together we can continue to build on the foundation of good works that defines Philoptochos both nationally and locally. Remember.Together we can do great things! I would like to recognize the Officers and Board who will be serving with me. Philoptochos Officers President Mary Trifelos Corresponding Sec. Ann Simatacolos 1 st Vice President Fran Armatas Treasurer Tina Wey 2 nd Vice President Sophie Usner Assist. Treasurer Kathy Dieringer Recording Secretary Helen Tsarwhas Advisor to the Board Mary Griveas Philoptochos Board Members Helen Apostalides Rena Cotopolis Dina Fakelis Theana Koutras Goldie Manos Philoptochos Society Meeting Schedule All meetings will be held at St. Haralambos Tri-Room at 6:30 PM. Please mark your calendars. When attending meetings, please park in the Krassas Center parking lot and enter through the Agape Courtyard door. We will have someone there to open the door. Monday, August 3, 2015, 5:30 PM (Officers & Board only) Jan (Officers & Board only) Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015 Monday, Feb. 1, 2016 Monday, Oct. 5, 2015 Monday, Mar. 7, 2016 Monday, Nov. 2, 2015 Monday, April 4, 2016 Sunday, Dec. 6, Christmas Party/Krassas Center after church May Mothers Dinner/Date to be determined (No meeting this month) (No meeting this month) Again, I want to thank all the members of Philoptochos and I look forward to working with all of you in advancing the goals of Philoptochos. Respectfully in His Name, Mary Trifelos, President St. Haralambos Ladies Philoptochos Society S A I N T H A R A L A M B O S C H U R C H P H I L O P T O C H O S Paula Papadopulos Linda Paxos Dolly Sousaris Chris Anne Stavrianou Carol Trifelos MOTHER S DAY 2015 Georgia Trikkas Rita Trikkas Stella Vallos Stephanie Withers Nancy Xides Costa Contos, our personal bartender! Chairperson Fran Armatas & Mary Trifelos Kouzina Krew Nick Ramphos, Jim Kellamis, Mike Fakelis, Frank Hill, Dean Darrah, Mike Apostalides, Anthony Ramphos, and Ron A. Darrah 24 Koinonia July & August 2015

25 S aint Haralambos Church GREEK SCHOOL RECOGNITION 2015 Congratulations to our instructors and students who participated in the St. Haralambos Greek School Program! Front Row: Olympia Loukas, John N. Loukas, Zachary Volas, Yianni Sotiropoulos, Hannah Shiepis, Gia Tzouloufis, Milan Kragalott Middle Row: Instructor, Mrs. Virginia Ballas, Kenna Loukas, Foti Vonortas, Thad Fakelis, Ariana Tsenekos, Yanni Volas, Kosta Volas, George Sotiropoulos, Gia Sotiropoulos, Ariana Vallos Back Row: Deacon Keric Shiepis, Father Nicholas Gamvas, and Greek School Director, Dennis Tzouloufis Koinonia July & August

26 SAINT HARALAMBOS CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL The following awards were presented on May 17, 2015, Sunday School Recognition Sunday: All 5 th grade students received an Orthodox Study Bible. They are as follows: Tasho Abel, Emmanuel Colon, Elaina Norris, Dimitra Panopoulos, Luke Sarris, Ariana Tsenekos High School Graduates: Students who regularly attended our high school Sunday School class and successfully completed instruction through the conclusion of their senior year received a graduation certificate and special gift. They are as follows: Teresa Cabella, Anastasia Bourlas, Christian Kellamis, Nicole Tank Special Scholarships: Thanks to the Endowment Fund s most generous donation this year, each of the senior students who have successfully completed our program was awarded a $250 scholarship. Excellent Attendance Awards: The following students maintained excellent attendance throughout the year. Each received a certificate and a gift. They are as follows: Merit Awards: These are based on teacher recommendations, which include regular attendance, participation in class, as well as conduct. Those receiving merit awards are as follows: 26 Koinonia July & August 2015

27 8 th Grade Awards: Each 8 th grade student completing our program received a Holy Week Book They are as follows: Markos Kantzos, Jonathan Machamer, Lexi Millis, Dean Sarris, Michael Stamaton, Kylie Tsenekos, Louis Varlamos Myrrh Bearers: The following girls participated as Myrrh Bearers on Good Friday evening. They received a small memento from that service and thank you to Mrs. Lazoran for taking such great pictures! They are as follows: Lia Bench, Emma D Angelis, Aliki Kantzos, Sophia Kreareas, Alexa Nastoff, Elaina Norris, Ariana Tsenekos, Abigail Turner, and Ariana Vallos Oratorical Festival Participants representing Saint Haralambos They all did an awesome job with their presentations and represented our church beautifully! They are as follows: Ally Tsenekos, Kylie Tsenekos and Michael Pirovolos. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL! At the conclusion of the Sunday School Recognition Ceremony, each student received a promotion certificate and special gift. Special thanks to all our wonderful teachers for their commitment and dedication to our program. They are as follows: 2-3 year olds: Joanna Volas, Stephanie Nastoff 3 rd /4 th Grade: Linda Natale Pre-Kindergarten: Stephanie Machamer, Diane Foster 5 th /6 th Grade: Tula Pirovolos Kindergarten: Tina Wey, Paula Papadopulos Junior High: John Kellamis, Angela Shankel 1 st /2 nd Grade: Stephanie Withers assisted by High School: Karen Lazoran Steffani Arrigo Office: Roseann Eustathios, Kathy Hardesty, Stephanie Likouris, Stella Vallos Parents, if your child s name is on any of the above lists and you were not in church on May 17th, please see us in the Sunday School office. Also, if any students names were inadvertently omitted from this article, please accept our apology. On behalf of our teachers and staff we thank you for your continued support of our program and look forward to another successful year beginning in September. Have a safe, fun, restful summer and God bless. Respectfully in His Name, Mary Griveas, Director Koinonia July & August

28 SAINT HARALAMBOS CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL Recognition Awards 2015 Sunday School Director, Mary Griveas, Stephanie Likouris & Stella Vallos Students posed in these pictures with Dn. Michael Labib El-Bardawil & Fr. Nicholas Gamvas High School seniors, Christian Kellamis, Nicole Tank & Anastasia Bourlas Alexa Nastoff Alexander DiDonato Ariana Vallos & Ariana Tsenekos Olympia Loukas & Stephanie Nastoff Angela Vagotis & John Kellamis Elaina Norris Thaddeus Fakelis Anthony Darrah & Stephanie Withers John N. Loukas Jonathan Machamer 28 Koinonia July & August 2015

29 SAINT HARALAMBOS CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL Recognition Awards 2015 Sunday School students Kostas Paxos Eva Winn But Jesus called the children to Him and said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Luke 18:16 Thank you to Karen Lazoran for taking and submitting pictures! Samantha Foradis Yeorgia Zenallis Aliki Kantzos Gia Tzouloufis Sia Vonortas, Stephanie Likouris, Karen Lazoran Luke Sarris Kathy Hardesty & Alexia Zenallis Eleni Volas Koinonia July & August

30 ST. HARALAMBOS CHURCH 2015 GRADUATES CONGRATULATIONS! Congratulations to all of our High School and College graduates! We pray for an abundance of God s blessings for a successful and healthy future! SCHOLARSHIPS Congratulations to all of the following recipients from St. Haralambos on their much deserved awards! \ AFGLC PETER & SOPHIA KOURMOLIS: Christian Kellamis & Nicole Tank AHEPA, CHAPTER #59: Christina Hill, Donald Natale, Alexandros Spyrou, Stefanos Spyrou & Nicole Tank AHEPA, DISTRICT #11: Anastasia Bourlas, Arianna Likouris, Zachary Manos, Donald Natale, Alexandros Spyrou & Stefanos Spyrou DAUGHTERS OF PENELOPE, Chloris #40: Anna Grunder & Kaitlyn Kaye (both from Holy Trinity) HARRY THOMAS & ST. HARALAMBOS MEN S CLUB: To be announced next issue ANASTASIA MARIANA BOURLAS LAKE HIGH SCHOOL Daughter of George Bourlas & Effrosene Bourlas Anastasia will be attending The Ohio State University majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering ANDREW DAVID KARPINSKI HUDSON HIGH SCHOOL Son of Joanna (Trifelos) and David Karpinski Andrew will be attending John Carroll University and Borromeo Seminary, Wickliffe, Ohio majoring in Theology CHRISTIAN KELLAMIS GLENOAK HIGH SCHOOL Son of John & Christine Kellamis Christian will be attending Penn State University majoring in Energy Engineering 30 Koinonia July & August 2015

31 ST. HARALAMBOS CHURCH 2015 GRADUATES ELAINA KOUTRAS PERRY HIGH SCHOOL Daughter of John & Gina Koutras Elaina will be attending The Ohio State University pursuing Medicine ZACHARY MANOS HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL Son of Bill & Lorraine Manos Zachary will be attending The Ohio State University majoring in Biological Sciences DONALD PAUL NATALE III GLENOAK HIGH SCHOOL Son of Don & Linda Natale Donnie will be attending Kent State University Exploratory with Business Concentration NICOLE IRENE TANK JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL Daughter of Brad & Alexandra Tank Nicole will be attending The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Her field of study will be Animal Science/Pre-Veterinary KRISTINA BOLON THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Bachelor of Science in Logistics Management Minor in Communications She is the daughter of Guy & Tina Bolon Krisina resides in Columbus working for Exel Logistics as an Operations Supervisor. DEVIN BOLON 2012 graduate of Miami University, Ohio, obtained his CPA license. He continues to work for Pricewaterhouse Coopers Accounting Firm in Columbus. He is the son of Guy and Tina Bolon. Koinonia July & August

32 ST. HARALAMBOS CHURCH Silver Liners New members are always welcome! Orthodox Christians age 55 and over! SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2015 BUS TRIP! FESTIVAL OF RUSSIAN MUSIC ~ KENT STATE UNIVERSITY Due to the enjoyment of the Russian Balalaika orchestra at our May meeting, a bus trip is planned for Saturday, July 11 to Kent State University to hear the Festival of Russian Music. 100 musicians from around the world will be performing. We will have reserved seats for this performance which begins at 7:00 p.m. We will stop at the historic Pufferbelly restaurant in Kent for dinner before the concert (dinner at your own expense). Cost is $30 per person, which includes bus, driver tip, and reserved concert seat. Contact Kathy Dieringer ( ) for reservation and questions by July 1. May Meeting Musical Memories Niove Fasoulas and daughter Tina Wey President Kathy Dieringer, Mary Trifelos Helen Meder, Georgia Trikkas, Dolly Sousaris, Niove Fasoulas Carol & Joe DiStefano and Elbus Kellamis Maria Basiakos Decorators Mary Griveas, Helen Tsarwhas, Ann Simatacolos, Goldie Manos, & Chris Ann Stavrianou Carol & Dan Trifelos 32 Koinonia July & August 2015

33 AGAPE FOR EDUCATION: ST. HARALAMBOS COMMUNITY OUTREACH In Mt. 5:13-16 Christ calls us to be salt and light. Because salt is a preservative, as a Christian, we are called to preserve God s covenant, and to give true flavor to the world (Orthodox Study Bible pg. 1275). Light, on the other hand, is necessary for clear vision and life itself. Faith relies on this divine light and believers become sons of light (Jn12:36, 1Th 5:5) who shine in a perverse world. God wants your light (as a Christian) to so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. In other words, our light reflects our good works, therefore glorifying God (pg Orthodox Study Bible). ITEMS NEEDED: Mt.2:10 says For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. As Christians we must NOT only be salt and light, but we must do good deeds for which He created us to do; we are not to be lazy, but to work and walk everywhere doing good deeds, not just one or two or three years, but to do good deeds the entire span of our lives! This is the entire foundation of Agape for Education. Even though we are on summer break, we need to anticipate what needs to be done for our St Haralambos Community Outreach. START collecting the school supplies, the health care products, check garage sales for stuffed animals and library books for grades 3-5 and finally check that End of the Year Clearance Sale for hats, mittens, and scarves. ANTICIPATE what is needed for our inner city schools. THAT IS HOW WE SUCCEED IN TOUCHING THE HEARTS OF THOSE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND HOW OUR FAITHFULNESS TO THIS ENDEAVOR GLORFIES GOD! So far we have accumulated small donations of hats and mittens, 50 stuffed animals for Hugables for Christ and some health care products. Remember, what Blessed Theophylact s commentary of Mt 2:10 says: For God has prepared these good deeds for us beforehand that we should do them, therefore, let us not put off doing good deeds until another time: they are appointed for us by God. We should, therefore, walk in every good work. If we omit even one deed, our virtue is curtailed and incomplete. (pg 35 of Matthew commentary). May our Community Outreach be full and complete through God s grace and great mercy! In Christ s Love, Karen Lazoran P.S. Donations during the summer may be place in the collection box! Koinonia July & August

34 Dr. Michalos enlightens the GOYA Many thanks to Dr. Peter Michalos for joining us at our May GOYA meeting. Dr. Michalos, used excerpts from the 100 th Anniversary DVD to help explain the amazing history of the moving of our church in 1958 from 6 th and Walnut to our current location. He was so informative and was able to answer all of our questions. WOW! We really have an extraordinary history one we all should be proud of! Left to Right: Louie Varlamos, Maria Vonortas, Casey Likouris, Sofia Stamaton, Dr. Peter Michalos, Sia Vonortas, Dean Sarris, Adam Varlamos

35 Sia Vonortas and Eleni Volas were among the GOYANS who spent Holy Saturday afternoon wrapping over 700 eggs for PASCHA. Volleyball season is always fun and this year was no different. We had a great time traveling to Canonsburg Pennsylvania for our first tournament, where we came home with the Sportsmanship Trophey!! We also had an amazing day of fun in Massillon at Holy Trinity s Tournament. We had a great time at our second lock-in of the year. We spent time making blankets for the needy, shared our thoughts in a round table discussion, played games including 2 hours of Hide and Seek! Thanks to Mrs. Bournelis, Mrs. Volas, and Mrs. Hill for giving up their sleep for the night!

36 ST. HARALAMBOS CHURCH COMMUNITY NEWS CONGRATULATIONS & BEST WISHES TO ALL! May your lives be filled with an abundance of God s blessings! BIRTHS MAXIMOS ALEXANDROS POLITIS, ZOE ANASTASIA POLITIS, & ELIAS CHRISTOS POLITIS, triplets were born on May 11, Proud parents are Elias & Vesna Politis. MICHAEL JACK DOVER was born on May 14, Proud parents are Michael & Laura (Imely) Dover. PETER CHRISTOPHER KOSTAKIS was born on May 19, Proud parents are Tom & Eleni (Armatas) Kostakis, and grandparents Steve & Fran Armatas. MAY THEIR MEMORY BE ETERNAL! Our sincerest condolences to their families. DEATHS & UPCOMING MEMORIALS DONNA J. VALLOS-FORBES, mother of Tony Vallos, passed on May 5, 2015 in Orlando, FL. NANCY L. NICOLADOS passed on June 19, day memorial on August 2, CATHERINE RUTTER 1 year memorial on July 5, In Loving Memory of Our Dear Son Dimitri, Time comes and goes the empty space in our hearts Is getting deeper and deeper. Your birthday is coming soon, and 8 years gone all ready since God called up on you to join Him. Times have been most difficult in our lives and because you were one of a kind it s hard to forget. God bless your soul son. We always love you, Mama and Baba BAPTISMS & CHRISMATIONS KELSEY KALLIOPE LALIBERTE was chrismated on March 29, Her sponsor is Michael Pirovolos. GABRIEL B. STAPLETON, son of Helen Marissa Foradas & Tim Stapleton, was baptized on May 17, His Godfather is Peter J. Foradas. ARIANNA ROSE YORK, daughter of Patrick & Katherine Bryant. was baptized on May 24, Her Godmother is Alexandra Bartz. WEDDING STEPHEN PIROVOLOS & KELSEY LALIBERTE were married on May 16, Their Koumbaro is Nicholas Pirovolos. A BIG THANK YOU! Thank you to Dr. Bill Skendelas, Joanna Volas and Mary Trifelos who provided our beautiful Canton Greek Fest photos in this bulletin for all to enjoy! SUMMER STEWARDSHIP - THANK YOU! Give generously to Him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. Deuteronomy 15:10 Please remember your generous donations to Fair Share this summer. Thank you! STATEMENTS will be mailed in July, please be sure to check it a.s.a.p. and call the church office for questions for any discrepancies or questions. ALL MEMBERS AGES 18 & UP are requested to submit an annual pledge card. Please call the church office if you are not sure if you submitted yours or have any questions. 36 Koinonia July & August 2015