Holy anargyroi Greek Orthodox Church

703 W. Center Street, Rochester, MN (507) 282-1529 http://www.holyanargyroi.org

church@holyanargyroi.org Rev. Fr. Mark Muñoz, Proistamenos
ΑΠΟΛΤΣΙΚΙΑ ΣΗ΢ ΗΜΕΡΑ΢/APOLYTIKIA FOR TODAY
Ότε κατήλθες πρός τόν θάνατον, η Ζωή η αθάνατος, τότε τόν
Άδην ενέκρωσας τή αστραπή τής θεότητος, ότε δέ καί τούς
τεθνεώτας εκ τών καταχθονίων ανέστησας, πάσαι αι Δυνάμεις
τών επουρανίων εκραύγαζον, Ζωοδότα Χριστέ ο Θεός ημών δόξα
σοι.

O life immortal, when you descended unto death, you destroyed

Hades with the splendor of your divinity, and when you raised the
dead from the depths of darkness, all the heavenly powers shouted: O
Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to you.
Χρηστότητα ἐκδιδαχθείς, καὶ νήφων ἐν πᾶσιν, ἀγαθὴν συνείδησιν
ἱεροπρεπῶς ἐνδυσάμενος, ἤντλησας ἐκ τοῦ σκεύους τῆς ἐκλογῆς
τὰ ἀπόρρητα, καὶ τὴν πίστιν τηρήσας, τὸν ἴσον δρόμον τετέλεκας,
Ἱερομάρτυς Διονύσιε· Πρέσβευε Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ, σωθῆναι τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν.
Since thou hadst been instructed in uprightness thoroughly and wast vigilant in all things, thou
wast clothed with a good conscience as befitteth one holy. Thou didst draw from the Chosen
Vessel ineffable mysteries; and having kept the Faith, thou didst finish a like course, O
Hieromartyr Dionysios. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

ΚΟΝΤΑΚΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΗΜΕΡΑΣ/KONTAKION FOR TODAY

Προστασία τών Χριστιανών ακαταίσχυντε, μεσιτεία πρός τόν Ποιητήν αμετάθετε, Μή παρίδης
αμαρτωλών δεήσεων φωνάς, αλλά πρόφθασον, ώς αγαθή, εις τήν βοήθειαν ημών, τών πιστώς
κραυγαζόντων σοι. Τάχυνον εις πρεσβείαν, καί σπεύσον εις ικεσίαν, η προστατεύουσα αεί, Θεοτόκε,
τών τιμώντων σε.
O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant:
despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our
aid who in faith cry unto you: Hasten to intercede, and speed to make supplication, you who ever
protect, O Theotokos, them that honor you.
2nd Sunday of st. Luke
St. Dionysios the Areopagite, St. John the Chozebite
October 3rd, 2010
 Today’s scripture readings
Epistle reading

St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 11:31-33; 12:1-9

BRETHREN, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do
not lie. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to
seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands. I
must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the
Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven-
whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man
was caught up into Paradise-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-
and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will
boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. Though if I wish to
boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one
may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. And to keep me from being too
elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan,
to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that
it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.

Gospel pericope
Luke 6:31-36
The Lord said, "And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. If you love those
who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you
do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even
sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend,
expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is
merciful."
 COMMUNION PRAYERS
I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, the Son of
the living God, Who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I
am the first. I also believe that this is truly Your pure Body and that
this is truly Your precious Blood. Therefore, I pray to You. Have
mercy upon me, and forgive my transgressions, voluntary and
involuntary, in word and deed, known and unknown. And make me
worthy without condemnation to partake of Your pure Mysteries for
the forgiveness of sins and life eternal. Amen.

Behold, my Maker, I approach Holy Communion. Burn me not as I partake, for You are fire
which burns the unworthy, but cleanse me from every stain.

Receive me today, Son of God, as a partaker of Your mystical Supper. I will not reveal Your
mystery to Your enemies, nor will I give You a kiss as did Judas. But as the thief I confess to
You: Lord, remember me in Your kingdom.

Seeing the Divine Blood, have fear, O man, for it is coal that burns the unworthy. It is God’s
Body that deifies and nourishes me; it deifies the spirit and nourishes the mind mystically.

You have smitten me with yearning, O Christ, and with Your divine love You have changed me.
Burn away my sins with spiritual fire and make me worthy to be filled with Your joy, that
rejoicing in Your goodness, I may magnify Your two Comings.

How shall I, who am unworthy, enter into the splendor of Your saints? If I dare to enter the
bridal chamber, my clothing will accuse me, since it is not a wedding garment; and being bound
up, I shall be cast out by the angels. In Your love, Lord, cleanse the vileness of my soul and save
me.

Loving Master, Lord Jesus Christ, my God, let not these holy Gifts be to my condemnation
because of my unworthiness, but for the cleansing and sanctification of soul and body and the
pledge of the future life and kingdom. It is good for me to cling to God and to place in Him the
hope of my salvation.

Receive me today, Son of God, as a partaker of Your mystical Supper. I will not reveal Your
mystery to Your enemies. Nor will I give You a kiss as did Judas. But as the thief I confess to
You: Lord remember me in Your kingdom.
 Announcements
Liturgical/Program Schedule:
Sun. Oct. 3rd: JOY Apple Orchard Outing, 1:30pm
Mon. Oct. 4th: Adult Religious Education, 6pm
Wed. Oct. 6th Choir Rehearsal, 7pm **important session, all members please attend**
Sat. Oct. 9th: GOYA Outing to see Dead Sea Scrolls, 12pm from church
Sat. Oct. 9th: NO Vespers (GOYA Outing)

Today’s Memorial Service: Hieromonk Jerome (Newville)- 40 days

Apple Orchard Outing: TODAY at 1:30 PM - JOY outing at Northwoods Apple orchard
(everyone else is welcome, too!) They have something for everyone; whether you want to stock
your kitchen with garden goodies, meet friendly barnyard animals, explore a corn maze, apple
picking or pick your own pumpkin for fall carving.

GOYA Dead Sea Scrolls outing: will take place next Saturday leaving from the church parking
lot at 12:00pm. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 documents, including texts from the
Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1946 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the ruins of the
ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank.
The texts are of great religious and historical significance, as they include the oldest known
surviving copies of Biblical and extra-biblical documents

St. Mary’s Family Camp: the annual Orthodox Family Camp will take place the weekend of Oct.
7th. Please log onto www.stmaryscamp.com for all related information!

HOW TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION—Only Orthodox Christians in good standing are encouraged to
receive Holy Communion frequently, provided they have prepared themselves spiritually, mentally and physically.
They must be on time for the Divine Liturgy, and be in a Christ-like, humble state of mind. They should be in a
confession relationship with their priest or spiritual father, have observed the fasts of the Church, and they should
have self-examined their conscience. On the day of receiving Holy Communion, it is not proper to eat or drink
anything before coming to church. When you approach to receive Holy Communion, state your Christian (baptismal)
name clearly, and hold the red communion cloth to your chin. After receiving, wipe your lips on the cloth, step back
carefully, hand the cloth to the next person and make the sign of the Cross as you step away. Please do not be in
a rush while communing! Please take special care not to bump the Holy Chalice.
 Today’s liturgical commemorations
1. The Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite.
He is counted among the seventy lesser apostles. This wonderful man was of a noble, pagan family in Athens. Finishing
his education in Athens, he went to Egypt to learn more. One day while he was there, the Lord Christ breathed His last
on the Cross, and the sun was darkened and it was dark in Egypt for the space of three hours. Then Dionysius cried
out: 'Either God the Creator of the world is suffering, or the world is ending.' Returning to Athens, he married a woman
called Damaris and had sons by her. He was a member of the highest court in Greece, the Areopagus, and was always
thereafter known as the Areopagite. When the Apostle Paul preached the Gospel in Athens, Dionysius was baptised
with his whole household (Acts 17:34). Paul consecrated him bishop of Athens (he having left his wife and children and
status from love of Christ), and he travelled widely with Paul, coming to know all the other apostles. He went
especially to Jerusalem, to see the most holy Mother of God, and wrote of his meeting with her in one of his works,
being at the burial of the Most Pure along with the other apostles. When his teacher, St Paul, suffered martyrdom,
Dionysius desired to die such a death himself, so he went off to Gaul to preach the Gospel among the barbarians,
accompanied by Rusticus, a priest, and a deacon called Eleutherius. They endured much but met with great success. By
their labours, many were turned to the Christian faith and Dionysius built a small chapel in Paris* where he celebrated
divine service. When he was ninety years old, he was seized and tortured for Christ, together with Rusticus and
Eleutherius, until they were all three beheaded with the sword. The severed head of St Dionysius jumped a long way
and fell in front of a Christian woman, Catula, who buried it with his body. He suffered in the time of Domitian, in the
year 96. He wrote several famous works: on the names of God, on the heavenly and ecclesiastical hierarchies, on
mystical theology and on the most holy Mother of God.

2. Our Holy Father John the Chozebite, the Egyptian.

He lived in asceticism in the community of Chozeba in the time of the Emperor Justinian. Whenever he served the
Liturgy, he saw a heavenly light in the altar. Ananias, an elder, lived the ascetic life not far from him, and the humility
of these two saints was wonderful. A man brought his mad son to Ananias, to be healed by his prayers. Ananias sent
him to St John, as being greater than he. John could not disobey the elder, but cried out: 'In the name of Jesus Christ, it
is Ananias, not I, who commands you to come out of this boy!' And the boy was healed immediately.

3. Our Holy Father Dionysius of the Kiev Caves.

He was a hieromonk and an anchorite. The following occurred at Easter in 1463: he was going round the graves with
Cross and censer, to cense the relics and graves of the saints buried there. With overflowing joy in the Resurrection, he
cried out on going into the caves: 'My holy fathers and brethren, Christ is risen!' At that, a voice like thunder rose from
the tombs: 'He is risen indeed!'

4. St Hesychius the Chorebite.

He was at first careless for his soul's salvation, but he became seriously ill and died, and came back from the dead and
was healed. This wrought a profound change in him. He shut himself in a cell on the Holy Mountain and spoke not a
single word to anyone for twelve years. Before his death, the monks opened his cell and begged him to give them some
instruction. He only said: 'He who ponders on death cannot sin.' From him descended those knows as the `hesychast',
who held silence, pondering on God and mental prayer to be chief works of the true monk. They had a skate, known as
the Hesychast or Silent, on the Holy Mountain. It is said of Gregory the Theologian that he was hesychast during the
great Fast. St Hesychius lived in the sixth century.
 THE TOTAL STEWARD
"All things come from you, and your own have we given you." (1 Chronicles 29:14)

These words sound so familiar to us Orthodox Christians who hear at the anaphora of every Liturgy: "Your
own gifts, form Your own, we offer to You with all our being and for all our blessings."

So often we Christians reflect the values of society. If materialism is in, driving the finest car, living in the
swankiest house, sending your children to the priciest school, then we embrace materialism. If living
together before marriage is generally acceptable in society, then we live together before marriage. If
moral relativism is the ethic of the time, then we live accordingly. We too easily reflect the values of the
society around us.

The total Steward begins not with society's values but with Jesus Christ. Out of that relationship he
lives and acts toward God, self, and others. What is a total Steward? David's words, in I Chronicles,
are a guide to some answers. "All things come from you, and your own have we given you."

In the first place, a total Steward affirms that God owns all things. Psalm 24 reflects this great truth: "The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein." God doesn't have
to be helped, supported, or subsidized. He made and owns all things, and that includes your life and
mine.
Christian Steward simply acknowledges what is already true. A total Steward acknowledges his
accountability to God. In Psalm 8 and in other places we are told that God gives us dominion
over the earth. However, we are man agers, not owners. A Steward is entrusted to manage what
belongs, to the owner. With that trust comes accountability. Many parables of Jesus deal with trust and
accountability. The parable of the talents reminds us that however little or however much we have, we
are accountable for its use, all of it. We must give a final answer to God. Our auditing day is coming
and the report must be filed. Reckoning is on the books. The faithful Steward will not view this
encounter with God with dread but with joy and peace as he thinks on the reward. We are accountable not
just for physical and financial resources; we are accountable for life itself and the experiences that come
with it. We are responsible to God for what we let sorrow and suffering, happiness and joy, do to us and
through us. The total Steward realizes and acts on his accountability because it matters in this life and in the
life to come. Finally, the total Steward accepts the challenge of responsibility in managing God's
gifts. The total Steward will use his spiritual gifts for the sake of others. Each of us has differing gifts, but
as Stewards we will seek to use our gifts for God's glory and the service of humanity. The good Steward
will also share the gospel, remembering that Jesus said, "You shall be my witnesses." By word of mouth
and the life he leads, the good Steward will say to others, "Jesus Christ is the most important priority in my
life, and I want you to know him and love him as I do."

Equally as important, the good Steward will give his financial resources with compassion. He will give,
invest and spend for the glory of God and out of gratitude. Brothers and sisters in Christ you are ei-
ther controlled by God's desire for total Stewardship or by the world's materialistic selfish outlook.
 Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones says, "If a materialistic outlook is really, controlling us, we are godless, whatever
we may say. Our Lord tells us that even worse than atheistic materialism is a materialism that thinks it is
godly. 'If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is the darkness' ... The man who thinks he is
godly because he talks about God and says he believes in God and goes to a place of worship
occasionally, but is really living for certain earthly things--how great is that man's darkness."

What do you really live for? Where does Jesus Christ, His Church and service for him fit into your
concerns? Does he have your heart, your pocketbook? Don't trifle away your life and opportunity;
give yourself and all of life completely to Him, and take the high road of faithful and total Stewardship.

You will be receiving your Stewardship Commitment card next month. Be generous as the Lord is
generous to you. Increase your Stewardship Commitment over last years that we may continue to grow
in our service to Christ, His Church and you.

"Your own gifts, from Your own, we offer to You with

all our being and for all our blessings."

Pearls from the desert…

Abba Agathon was asked how one manifests sincere love towards his neighbor, and that
blessed one, who had attained the queen of the virtues to a perfect degree, answered: "Love
is for me to find a leper and gladly to give him my body, and, if possible, to take his."

The Holy Eucharist is the first, most important, and greatest

miracle of Christ. All the other Gospel miracles are secondary.
How could we not call the greatest miracle the fact that simple
bread and wine were once transformed by the Lord into His very
Body and His very Blood, and then have continued to be
transformed for nearly two thousand years by the prayers of
priests, who are but simple human beings? And what is more, this
mystery has continued to effect a miraculous change in those
people who communicate of the Divine Mysteries with faith and
humility. -St. Ambrose of Optina (+1891)
 Greek language/cultural opportunity
You are invited to attend and participate in classes (private or in group) focused on the Hellenic–Greek
culture (Greek language, ancient Greek mythology, ancient Greek poetry, philosophy, history, modern
literature and other aspects of Greek Civilization). Someone may pose the logical question, ‘’why should I
learn the Greek language or about Greek culture, especially when I am a busy student or a hard working
parent?’’. What are the benefits, what is the purpose of attending Greek Classes? In order to answer these
questions, let’s examine some of the features of the Greek language.

The Greek language:

1) is characterized by its rich vocabulary. It is well known that when people try to find the appropriate
word for a meaning, they used to say ‘’The Greeks must have a word for that’’.
2) has the possibility of creating new words.
3) has exactness – accuracy. The word drink in English can mean a lot of things: a) verb, the action of
drinking b)noun, the beverage c) imperative form, order to drink. In Greek there is a different work for
the verb (πίνω), noun (ποτό) and imperative (πιες). The quote ‘’to lakonizein estin philosophein’’ which
means ‘’being able to express many things with just a few words is philosophy’’ demonstrates that
exactness of the language.
4) is a language teacher itself. Through the etymology of a word, we can figure out which is the correct
form or spelling of words even if we haven’t seen or written them before.
5) is a language of great wisdom. The word ωραίος (beautiful) derives from the word ώρα (hour, look on
the online etymoline dictionary to find the etymology of the word hour and you will be surprised). What
is the connection between ωραίος and ώρα, beautiful and hour? In order to have something beautiful,
nice or pretty, it must come at the right time (hour). A fruit is not tasteful if it’s unripe or rotten. Nor is
the best food enticing when we have satisfied our appetite because we can’t enjoy it.
6) is a melodic language, full of music.
7) has an amazing historical continuation. It is the only language in the world that is being spoken and
written for 4,000 years without any interruption.
8) is a very flexible language. The position of the subject, the verb, the object can easily change and be in
the beginning of the sentence. This depends on to where exactly we want to emphasize. If we want to put
emphasis on the person, on the action, or on the object, we put the subject, the verb or the object in the
beginning respectively.
In conclusion the Greek language is a very dynamic and alive language. The Greek culture covers a great
range of the human activity, from the most theoretical to the most practical. Already in this text you can
find some English words of Greek origin as school, mythology, poetry, history, philosophy, ecumenical,
logical, etymology, hour, melodic, music, emphasize, emphasis, dynamic, theoretical, practical.
For further information as it concerns the content, the timetables and the fee of the classes you can contact
Fr Mark or Constantinos Vangelatos (email: nkalava@yahoo.co.uk) . Also you can visit the page in
facebook ‘’ A Greek Lighthouse in Rochester MN’’. Thank you for your interest!- Constantine
Vangelatos.