Receiving Holy Communion

Transcript

1 Welcome Visitors! We welcome all new visitors who worshipped with us this evening. Please join us tomorrow morning for the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy beginning at 10:00; and then for the Resurrection Service tomorrow night beginning at 11:00. There is material in the entrance of the church regarding ministries and events of our community. Please sign our guest book! Receiving Holy Communion The sacrament of Holy Communion is reserved for only baptized and/or chrismated Orthodox Christians who have properly prepared by fasting, prayer and confession. The Orthodox Church is not in sacramental communion with any other faith outside the Orthodox Christian Church. If your are not Orthodox, you are invited with everyone to receive the Antidoron (blessed bread) at the end of service. If you would like information about the Orthodox Church and becoming an Orthodox Christian, please see Father Vasileios after services. Prayers for Health Dolly, Betty, Arlena, Sophie, Archie, Lou, Thomas, Kathy, Suzanne, Pat, Steve, Nina, Phyllis, Katheryn, Panayioti, Anna, Margaret, Sami, Ibrahim, Mary, George, Susan, Matthew, Ellen, Gary, Katina, Nelda, Nick, Elaine, Fotini, Malone, Tracy, Richard, Lilly, Kimberly, Dion, Jamil, Dimitrios, Lisa, Maggie, Mindy, Joan, Nakis, Estela, Micky, Kiane, Lari, Ed, Sally, Mariana, Brian, Kaeley, Tristan, Matt, Jeff, Sophia, Konstandinos, Angela, Jennifer, Elia, Rose Marie, Bilyana, Maria, Susan, Xenophon, Jane, Romeo, Clara, Costa, Cindy, Philip, Trey, Barbara, Evangia, Michael, Jeffrey, Victoria, Nicole, Anastasia, Katie, Suzanne, Katie, Stella, Michael, Nicole, George, Hunter, Katherine Prayers for those in our Armed Forces: Sgt. Jennifer D. Atkinson, Staff Sgt. John Atkinson, Lt. Col. Dave Romine, Capt. James Alfaro, Staff Sgt. Deane Anderson, Captain William Willett, Maj. Timothy Ullman, Major Chris Chase Thank you! We wish to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who brought lilies and bay leaves, and to those who donated money towards the purchase of the many flowers we use for Holy Week and Pascha. We appreciate your generosity in giving towards celebrating this Feast!

2 April 24, 2011 Great and Holy Pascha Scripture Readings WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS for Great and Holy Pascha, April 23, 2011 Epistle - Acts 1: 1-8 The first account indeed I made for myself concerning all which, O Theophilos, Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He gave command to the apostles whom He chose for Himself through the Holy Spirit, to whom also He presented Himself alive after He had suffered by many proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, ye heard of Me; for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days after these. Indeed therefore, after they came together, they kept on questioning, saying, Lord, dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, It is not yours to know times or seasons which the Father Himself put in His own authority. But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth. Τὸν µὲν πρῶτον λόγον ἐποιησάµην περὶ πάντων, ὦ Θεόφιλε, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν, ἄχρι ἧς ἡµέρας, ἐντειλάµενος τοῖς ἀποστόλοις διὰ πνεύµατος ἁγίου οὓς ἐξελέξατο, ἀνελήφθη οἷς καὶ παρέστησεν ἑαυτὸν ζῶντα µετὰ τὸ παθεῖν αὐτὸν ἐν πολλοῖς τεκµηρίοις, δι ἡµερῶν τεσσαράκοντα ὀπτανόµενος αὐτοῖς, καὶ λέγων τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ. Καὶ συναλιζόµενος παρήγγειλεν αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύµων µὴ χωρίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ περιµένειν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός, Ἣν ἠκούσατέ µου ὅτι Ἰωάννης µὲν ἐβάπτισεν ὕδατι, ὑµεῖς δὲ βαπτισθήσεσθε ἐν πνεύµατι ἁγίῳ οὐ µετὰ πολλὰς ταύτας ἡµέρας. Οἱ µὲν οὖν συνελθόντες ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν λέγοντες, Κύριε, εἰ ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἀποκαθιστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ; Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς, Οὐχ ὑµῶν ἐστιν γνῶναι χρόνους ἢ καιροὺς οὓς ὁ πατὴρ ἔθετο ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ. Ἀλλὰ λήψεσθε δύναµιν, ἐπελθόντος τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύµατος ἐφ ὑµᾶς καὶ ἔσεσθέ µοι µάρτυρες ἔν τε Ἱερουσαλήµ, καὶ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ καὶ Σαµαρείᾳ, καὶ ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. Break the Fast Altogether following the Paschal Resurrection Service! Please join us following the Resurrection Service for a Break the Fast potluck meal! Bring your favorite food that you have missed so much during the fast to share with each other! ANNUAL PASCHA PICNIC! Please join us following the 1:00pm Agape Service for a delicious lunch. We will have 5 delicious roasted lambs with all the trimmings, hot dogs and ice-cream for the kids, jumping castles, an egg hunt and many other fun activities for EVERYONE! Tickets are $15 for adults, the hot dogs for children are free! Bright Week Steak Dinner for all of the TGOC men. All men are invited to a steak dinner on FRIDAY, APRIL 29TH AT 7:00PM here at Transfiguration. There will be grilled steaks, potatoes, salad and dessert, wine and soda! A free-will offering will be collected to go towards the iconography for the dome in our church. We need a headcount for the food, in particular the steaks, so PLEASE RSVP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE EITHER TO THIS OR TO NICKnickspiropoulos@yahoo.com If you do not want steak, grilled salmon can be on the menu, but please let us know a.s.a.p. that you prefer this option! Dinner with the Ladies! The women of Transfiguration are getting together for their Pascha celebration at County Line on the Hill on Sunday, May 1 at 6:00pm. All women are invited! Please RSVP to Amity Garwood by April 30th so that she can let the restaurant know the number attending. amity_garwood@hotmail.com Transfiguration Men s Fellowship Luncheon Please join us at 11:45 on April 28 (Bright Thursday) at Chuy s on North Lamar for our monthly men s luncheon for food, fellowship, and ideas for the May Sunday Monthly Luncheon benefiting the building fund. Contact Allen Wynn to RSVP. awynn3816@gmail.com On May 8th a Mother s Day Luncheon will be sponsored by the TGOC Men s Fellowship! Plan to join us! Greek School The Greek School classes will resume this week on Tuesday evening at 6:30 GOLF (Greek Orthodox Ladies Fellowship) GOLF will not be held on Bright Week. Study will resume on Thursday, May 5th at 9:30

3 Mount Athos Featured In 60 Minutes Segment On Pascha Evening NEW YORK - The Holy Mountain Athos, the over a thousand year sanctuary of Orthodox Christian monasticism, and which is directly under the spiritual jurisdiction of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, will be featured on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, scheduled to air on Pascha Sunday. The segment, The Monks of Mount Athos, will recount 60 Minutes Correspondent Bob Simon s journey to a remote peninsula in North Greece that millions of Orthodox Christians consider the most sacred place on earth, Mount Athos. On the recommendation and with the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who opened the doors for the 60 Minutes team, and after two trips to the mountain and two years of dialogue with the Anthonite community, last Fall Simon and the 60 Minutes team were given unprecedented access to document monastic life on the Holy Mountain. The result is a portrait of a place rarely seen where prayer has been offered by holy men everyday, with no interruption, for more than a thousand years. The Monks of Mount Athos will be broadcast Sunday, April 24, 2011 on the CBS Television Network at 7:00 PM EST. Harry Radliffe and Michael Karzis are the producers of the segment. 60 Minutes is the pre-eminent investigative television news show in the United States and has run on CBS since It has been among the top-rated TV programs for much of its life and has garnered numerous awards over the years. The show will also be broadcast over the Internet on the 60 Minutes website: More information about the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as well as texts of his addresses of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew may be found at: Philoptochos News HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE! The Philoptochos women have been very busy dying eggs, decorating the tomb and baking tsoureki just to mentions a few of their tasks in preparation for Pascha. Many thanks to all of the women and a special thank you to Christina Glarakis, Pat Mitchell, Valli Pappas and Betty Colovas. The last meeting of this Philoptochos term will be on Saturday, May 7th at 1:00pm. We will meet at Mt. Tabor Hall for a luncheon that will be provided by the Board Members. We will review the past year s work, review the disbursements of the money that we raised and we will install the new officers. There will be awards and prizes given out and most of all, enjoy each others company! Please join us! Our bookstore is now fully equipped with Bibles. We have 2 kinds to choose from, both of which have the Old and New Testaments. They make wonderful gifts for the graduate! Icons from St. Paraskevi have arrived! Come and see their beautiful granite icons. We also have children s books, jewelry and small icons. Stop by and browse! Scrip (gift) cards are great for holiday gifts! We have lots to choose from. Please think of these gift cards for your holiday and summer shopping at HEB as well as the movies, Starbucks or many department stores. The Transfiguration kitchen can use your help! Thank you! April 24, 2011 Great and Holy Pascha Scripture Readings Gospel - St John 1: 1-17 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. πάντα δι αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν. Εγένετο ἄνθρωπος ἀπεσταλµένος παρὰ Θεοῦ, ὄνοµα αὐτῷ Ιωάννης οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς µαρτυρίαν, ἵνα µαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός, ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσι δι αὐτοῦ. οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς, ἀλλ ἵνα µαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός. Ην τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόµενον εἰς τὸν κόσµον. ἐν τῷ κόσµῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσµος δι αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσµος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω. εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθε, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον. ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνοµα αὐτοῦ, οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱµάτων, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήµατος σαρκός, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήµατος ἀνδρός, ἀλλ ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν. Καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡµῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάµεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς µονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας. Ιωάννης µαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κέκραγε λέγων οὗτος ἦν ὃν εἶπον, ὁ ὀπίσω µου ἐρχόµενος ἔµπροσθέν µου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός µου ἦν. Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πληρώµατος αὐτοῦ ἡµεῖς πάντες ἐλάβοµεν, καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος ὅτι ὁ νόµος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.

4 Beloved in the Risen Lord! Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! On this Feast of feasts, the Queen of all feasts, I greet you with the joyous and victorious proclamation that Christ is risen! He is risen from the tomb, from the depths of Hades, where He never saw corruption or Satan s grip. It is our Lord Who now binds him, taking away the stinging fear of Death. Together they are rendered utterly powerless, and they can become powerless for us too, in the Light of His resurrection personally offered to each one of us out of His love. As we wait in the silent darkness of our Church tonight, we wait with eager expectation and joy for the Unwaning Light to, once again, enter into our lives, through the single candle brought from the Holy Altar. Through the hymns, prayers and the proclamation of the Gospel, that Unwaning Light, becomes personally received into our entire life and being. Let no one weep for his sins; forgiveness is risen from the tomb. Let no one fear death: the Savior s death has set us free. When it held him chained, he struck it down. When He descended to hell, he plundered it. (St. John Chrysostom) His grace and truth bring us to a faith where we find a Savior Who succors us in this life, exchanging our wounded body for His resurrected One, our failings for His righteousness, our fears for His faith, our failures for His victory, our worries for His secure foundation. Because we let Him in, we receive His light, and become grafted to Him to the sap of His ever conquering life. His resurrection can touch all areas of our lives, if we let Him in, praying to Him ceaselessly with free speech, as St. Maximus the Confessor tells us in his First Century on Love. All our aspirations and hopes for our life now and for eternity are offered in the Light of He Who shows Himself risen from the dead for our sake. May He grant you according to your heart s desire, and fulfill all your purpose. (Psalm 20) With the Light of the Risen Lord Offered to Thee in Love, Fr. Vasileios Resurrection Hymn Χρıστòς ανέστη έκ νεκρων, θανάτω θάνατον πατήσας, καì τοĩς έν τοĩς µνήµασı, ζωήν χαρισάµενος. Christós anésti ek nekrón, thanáto thánaton patísas, ke tis en tis mnímasi zoin harisámenos. Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs He has granted Life.

5 Pascha Greetings During the forty-day period from Pascha to Ascension, Orthodox Christians throughout the world greet one another with the Paschal Greeting: English - Christ is Risen / Truly He is Risen or Indeed He is Risen Greek - Christos Anesti / Alithos Anesti Spanish - Christo ha resucitado / En verdad ha resucitado Ukrainian - Khristos Voskres / Voistynu Voskres Romanian - Hristos a Inviat / Adevarat a Inviat Arabic - Al masi h qam / Hakan qam Slavonic - Khrystos Voskrese / Voistyne Voskrese Swahili - Kristo Amefufukka / Kweli amefufukka GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF DENVER Pascha 2011 Protocol Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, Once again we approach the holiest time of the year, wherein we have prepared ourselves to receive our Lord during His final days on earth and to follow Him to His cosmic-changing sacrifice for the life of the world. His supreme Sacrifice was for the specific purpose of destroying death by His physical death, simultaneously shattering the former kingdom of Satan who had kept humanity imprisoned from the time of our progenitors, Adam and Eve, to the thief on the cross, who entered that former place of darkness only moments before he was taken up into Paradise by the Lord. Rejoice, therefore, all of you clergy, monastics, and laity, as we greet our Risen Lord on Holy and Great Pascha, and announce to all with great joy, CHRIST IS RISEN! Χριστός Ανέστη! With Paternal Love in our Risen Lord, Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver 4550 East Alameda Avenue, Denver, CO Telephone (303) FAX (303) web: e-ma i l: denver.goarch.org

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