The Trophy-Bearer A monthly publication of George Greek Orthodox Church New Castle, Pennsylvania October 2020 Volume IV, Issue 10

Saints Zenaida & Philonella October 11th SAINT GEORGE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH ΙΕΡΟΣ ΝΑΟΣ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ 315 W. Englewood Avenue - New Castle, PA 16105 Church: (724) 654–8521 - www.stgeorgenewcastle.org Fr. A. Gavrilos - Parish Priest [email protected] Parish Council Members President—Helen Ritchie Vice-President—Artie Christou Treasurer—Nicholas Ligerakis Secretary—Eric Karmecy Josh Ballew Nik Foukas Spero Kardambikis Sotirios Kolovos Beth Tsiris Service Times Please Check the Monthly Calendar for Services Services Times—Unless Otherwise Noted Sunday Orthros 8:15 a.m. Sunday Divine Liturgy 9:30 a.m. Mon-Sat Orthros & Divine Liturgy 8:30 a.m. Evening Services 6:00 p.m. Confession: By Appointment The Trophy-Bearer If you would like an article, or photos in The Trophy-Bearer, submit them electronically to Fr. Michael ([email protected]) no later than the 15th of the month.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” -James 5:14 If you or your loved one is sick, in the hospital, or need a priest, please contact Fr. Michael so that he will be able to visit them. Fr. Michael’s Message Christ is in our Midst! There are so many thoughts and concerns that we all have had over roughly the past seven months, and most of these have had to deal with the global pandemic that impacts our daily lives, the coronavirus. We all have been struggling, we all have questions that we want immediate answers for that we never seem to get answered, we just want to know when things will get back to some semblance of our pre- coronavirus lives. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to know all the answers to the questions that have been in our minds over the past seven months. However, something that we do know for sure is that the work of the Church must go on! As Orthodox we are called to live our lives a certain way, and some of the aspects (not all) include praying daily, participating in the sacramental life of the Church, putting others needs before our own which include feeding the hungry, giving drink to those who are thirsty, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick, and visiting those imprisoned.(Matthew 25:35-45) These examples are something that our Church of St. George can do on a daily basis. We have an active life in terms of Church Services, and I encourage everyone to not only go to weekday services during Great and Holy Lent, but also during the rest of the year. Our firm foundation in our faith uses the Liturgical life of the Church as a great first step to the rest of our Church life. Our Liturgical Services that we have incorporate worshiping together, hearing holy scripture, and receiving the sacraments of the Church. Outside of the Liturgical Services that each Orthodox Church does throughout the world, it really is up to each individual parish to decide how they would like to handle the different ministries in that parish. That is one of the main reasons I recently sent out a survey to everyone in the parish, I wanted to have a better idea of what WE all wanted to do as a parish. In the little over four years that I have been at St. George, there have been many great and inspiring ideas of what we can do as a Church, but unfortunately most of these were just that, only ideas. I wanted to get in writing from all of us what we would like to see done at St. George. We have 76 households on our Stewardship list at St. George, and I would like to thank the 24 households that responded to the survey. One of the questions on the survey asked: what you would like to see done over the next year in terms of revamping an old ministry, or starting a new ministry at the Church. The top three answers were (1) some form of community outreach, (2) adult education, (3) youth events. I want to focus on these top three answers, and God willing in the future, we can incorporate other new ministries as well. Being a small Church does not mean we cannot do anything, we just start small with the resources we have. Community outreach is an important part of the Church life. We should not be satisfied as a Church that the greater New Castle area knows us because we have the “Greek Fest” every year. Rather, it should be known that we work with those around us by feeding the hungry, giving drink to those who are thirsty, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick, and visiting those imprisoned. How we do these things is up to us, and that is why I am inviting all of you to a meeting on Wednesday, October 14th at our Church where we can discuss how we would like to handle the Outreach that we do at St. George. Being an Orthodox Christian does not mean we can read a book or two and fully grasp every single aspect of the Church, so our spiritual formation is important throughout our entire lives, even as adults. In terms of adult education, we have already had classes with the book “Introducing the Orthodox Church” by Fr. Anthony Coniaris, and we went through the “Journey to Fulness Class” by Fr. Powell, and the next set of classes is going to be for those interested in adult education at the Church. Ideas have ranged from having a Book Study, reading a book about the life of a Saint, Bibles Study, etc. To help us decide what we would like study next for adult education, please join us on Tuesday, October 20th at Church to decide. We have all heard some form of the phrase “the youth of the Church is the future of the Church.” I would like to take it one step further and say that the youth of the church ARE the church. As I write this, if we counted everyone under the age of 18 who are stewards at the Church, we would have 43 children. This is wonderful! I know as a child, I enjoyed so many things that the Church offered the youth, including JOY and GOYA events (basketball, summer camp, volleyball, fall/spring retreats), Folk Dance Festivals, Sunday School, (continued on page 7) October 2020 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3

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2nd Sunday of Luke Orthros & Divine Liturgy

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Sunday of the Outreach 7th Ecumenical Ministry Council Meeting Orthros & 6:00 p.m. Divine Liturgy

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Luke the St. Artemios St. George Gyro Evangelist 8:30 a.m. Fest Orthros & Orthros & 11:00 a.m.- Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy 7:00 p.m.

Adult Education Parish Council Meeting Meeting 6:00 p.m.

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6th Sunday of St. Demetrios Luke 8:30 a.m. Orthros & Orthros & Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy

Youth Ministry Meeting following Sunday School November 2020 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5th Sunday of Vigil Translation of Luke 6:00 p.m. the of St. Orthros & Vespers, George Divine Liturgy Paraklesis, Orthros, Divine Liturgy

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7th Sunday of St. Nektarios St. John Luke 8:30 a.m. Chrysostom Holy Archangels Orthros & 8:30 a.m. Orthros & Divine Liturgy Orthros & Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy

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8th Sunday of Entrance of the Luke in the Orthros & Temple Divine Liturgy 8:30 a.m. Orthros & Parish Council Divine Liturgy Meeting

Holy Unction 4:00 p.m.

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9th Sunday of St. Katherine Thanksgiving Luke 8:30 a.m. Day Orthros & Orthros & Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy

Fall General Assembly ~~~ Nativity Fast ~~~ ~~~ Nativity Fast ~~~ ~~~ Nativity Fast ~~~ ~~~ Nativity Fast ~~~ 29 30

13th Sunday of St. Andrew Luke 8:30 a.m. Orthros & Orthros & Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy

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COVER — Zenaidi and Philonella October 11th The holy sisters Zenaida (or Zenais) and Philonella were born in the district of Tarsus early in the first century. They were cousins of the Apostle Paul and were born into a highly educated Jewish family. Both sisters had a natural intelligence and a love for learning. When they entered the famous school at Tarsus to study philosophy, the sisters were instantly attracted to the lectures of the medical theorists. Their cousin Jason, of Tarsus, was an early convert to and a follower of their kinsman, the Apostle Paul. The two sisters learned the Christian faith from Jason and were attracted by the love and compassion of Christ. After their baptism, the two gave themselves over more fully to the study of medicine and began to apply Christian principles and ideas to medical philosophy. They understood that salvation is a healing process and they were deeply impressed with the realization that Christ healed the whole person, spiritual and physical, with the presence of the Holy Spirit. When Saints Zenaida and Philonalla completed their studies, they moved to Thessaly, where there were many medicinal mineral springs flowing in the numerous caverns of the Felion Mountains. Here, the Greeks had centers of pagan worship tied to the philosophy of medicine and the worship of Asklepios, the patron of healing. The holy sisters desired to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the great crowds of people who visited these mineral hot springs for healing. Their earnest desire was to combine scientific medicine with prayer and faith and so reveal the nature of salvation and proclaim Jesus Christ to whomever would hear the words of the glorious gospel. Finding a cavern with a mineral spring, Zenaida and Philonella built two cells and a small chapel for themselves. Having thus established a women's monastery, they used their wealth to create a clinic. The pagan physicians not only sought out the wealthy and generally ignored the poor, but they mixed their medical practice with magic, superstition and witchcraft. Much money was earned from the sale of medical amulets, charms and useless compounds. The two sisters opened their hearts to the poor. Philonella was a patient and careful scholar. Almost at once she set herself to developing experimental medicine which would approach a scientific medicine. All her life she would labor to free medicine from the idea of magic, astrology and superstition. Zenaida, on the other hand, was more contemplative. She was keenly interested in the suffering of children and worked to develop pediatric care, but her first love was monasticism. So famous did she become as a spiritual eldress that both men and women sought her spiritual counsel. Three of her spiritual children, Papias, Pateras and Philokyros built a men's monastery not far from the cavern-hospital of the holy sisters. The sisters' love, compassion and openness to the poor and humble attracted many to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not only the medical skill of the two sisters became renowned, but the miracles worked through their prayers established many in the Gospel. Toward the end of her life, Saint Zenaida became interested in psychiatric medicine. Many of those who came to their hospital suffered from severe depression and other psychiatric illnesses. Zenaida had the wisdom to recognize these as actual illnesses and concerned herself with their causes and cure. It is not known in what year Saint Zenaida departed this life, but she left her sister Philonella to carry on their work and instruct others in Christian medicine and the faith. It is said she died after she stepped on a nail, and died after removing it. After the death of her beloved sister, Philonella entered more deeply into the spiritual life, leaving the treatment and care of patients more and more to the students and other . She also became renowned as a wonderworker and reposed in peace and at a great age. The Holy Church bestowed the title, "Friends of Peace" on the two saints because they both preached and practiced peace. Philonella often said that a peaceful and serene disposition could not only aid in healing but could even prevent illness. For her, the source of true peace was the Holy Spirit and the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. The disciples of Saint Zenaida reported that her last words in this life were a prayer for the peace of the world. Not only were Saints Zenaida and Philonella the first Christian doctors (after the Apostle Luke), but they were the first of those saints whom we call "unmercenary physicians"; Christian medicine began with holy women.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone The greatly-honored Tarsus let us honor, which blossomed forth the precious flowers: Zenais the Wise and Philonilla, for they possessed the unassailable crypt of the faith, and deposed all the ranks of the demons. They therefore rejoice with the Angels, and ever intercede for us.

Source: https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2017/10/holy-martyrs-zenaida-and-philonella.html (continued from page 3)

Greek Dance, Oratorical Festivals, Altar Service, etc. These are just some of the things that are often of- fered, but there are others: movie nights, bowling, nature walks, hayrides, discussions, just hanging out/fellowship. The list of ideas that could be made for the youth are infinite, but what is needed are ideas from the parents and the kids. I would like to invite the parents & children (and anyone else that would like to be involved) to help plan different activities for the youth of our parish on Sunday, October 25th following Sunday School at Church. We are about to enter the 102nd year of St. George. The future of this parish is not just up to the parish council, it is not just up to the parish priest, it is up to every member of this community. We all have ideas of where we would like to see the parish go, the direction we would like to see it headed. However, in order to be successful, the Church NEEDS ALL OF US to push us in that direction. Our ancestors built Churches all over this country be- cause their faith was important to them, and they gave their time, talent, and treasure to St. George. Right now, as we look forward to the future, one of the things that is needed to help steer us is the Parish Council of our Church. The Parish Council does not do all of the work of the parish, but they do help lead different aspects of our Church life. Every year when it is time for elections, people worry that they might be asked to be on it. Please know, we are not asking members of the Parish Council to be the only ones doing work at the parish, but they will be the ones to help lead, delegate, or oversee different projects at the Church. We need dedicated members to help our parish by being a member of the Parish Council. I am excited when I think about the future of our Parish of St. George. I am excited when I think about how much of the Lord’s work we can do in the greater New Castle area. The Church does not just need me, it does not need just you to succeed, it needs each and everyone of us, and all of us doing our part to help make this hap- pen, to make St. George successful for the next 100 years!

In Christ,

Fr. Michael A. Gavrilos Saint George Greek Orthodox Church 315 W. Englewood Avenue New Castle, PA 16105

General Assembly Sunday, November 22nd, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. (quorum of 25 or 1/3 of members in good standing) If no quorum, a second call will be made at 11:15 a.m. according to: Article III, Section 5 of the St. George Parish By -Laws

Call meeting to order Opening Prayer Election of chairperson Selection of Secretary Priests Report Treasurers Report 2020 Proposed Budget Election of 9 Parish Council Members to serve January 1st, 2021-December 31st, 2022 Old Business New Business Spring General Assembly Sunday, 18th, 2020 Adjournment Closing Prayer