THE SPYRIDON VOICE APRIL 2020 Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church P.O. Box 427 Newport, RI 02840 tel: (401) 846 -0555 www.stspyridonchurch.org

Livestreamed Services: Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I won’t hide from you my great disappointment that we April 12th will not be together in the flesh to commemorate and re- live the life-giving and saving Passion and Resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Christ, as we April 12th - 14th normally do for and Easter. Is there any Bridegroom Services more beautiful experience in the world than Holy Week April 15th and Easter in the Orthodox Church? However, as you can see in the following communique from the Holy Holy Unction Service Synod, due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the only April 16th ones allowed in the church for these services are the Liturgy Commemorating priest, chanter, and one acolyte. Everyone else will need to observe the days at home. It will not be the same. It the Mystical Supper will be a very different kind of Pascha. 12 Gospels Service Nonetheless, this can be a uniquely beautiful Holy Week April 17th and Pascha. In some churches there has been more Royal Hours liturgical participation, not less, with people restricted to their homes. People in separate locations are using Un-Nailing Service technology to offer readings and chanting that all blend Lamentations together in one service, making for an unusual but beautiful and spiritual worship experience that is also April 18th live streamed for more people to enjoy. When Holy Saturday Liturgy congregational attendance is not allowed, you can April 19th always view our parish’s services on our website. Great and Holy Pascha As much as possible, let’s do these Holy Week services together, even though we are each in our own homes. I

PAGE 2 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE hereby invite you - YES, YOU - everyone in our church family - to take a turn reading a psalm or other reading in the holy week services. You can sign up for these by messaging me ([email protected]) and Nicholas Gvosdev ([email protected]). Every Orthodox Christian home is a church! That is a profound and sacred reality. The Christian home is a dwelling place of God, because he dwells in each of us, and in our home we live out the “sacrament” of daily life. Through the coronavirus crisis, God is inviting us to build up our home-churches. The power of the home church was revealed to Presvytera Amelia and me, one year when - We missed the Holy Light! We had always experienced this service at midnight, and it didn’t occur to us that the parish we were attending at the time celebrated Anastasi and the sharing of the light before midnight! When we entered the church in our fresh Pascha suits and dresses and Pascha candles, it was well after the priest had emerged from the altar and sung “Come and receive light…” We didn’t even hear the first singing of Christ is Risen. We were crest-fallen. We stayed for the Liturgy and received Holy Communion, but something was missing. When we got home, I had an inspiration. I disappeared upstairs and then descended to the living room with a lit Pascha candle chanting “Come and receive light from the unwaning light, and glorify Christ, Who is Risen from the dead.” The light was passed to Presvytera’s and all the children’s candles and we sang “Christ is Risen” with joyful smiles and the light of Christ’s Resurrection shining in our eyes. I encourage each of you to approach this Holy Week even more passionately than usual. The links to the texts will be emailed out each day, so you can follow along during the live streaming or read them on your own. Pray the services; stand up for the Gospel, the Crede, the Our Father; whenever you would stand in Church. Spruce up the corner in your living room. Create an icon corner if you don’t have one. Tidy that room ahead of each service. Place the tablet or phone with the live stream directly in the icon corner. The sights and smells of church can be brought to your home to remind you of the feeling of being in church. Get candles and light them, placing them in a bowl of rice or sand as you enter the worship space in your home. If you have incense, use it. If you don’t, all you need is charcoal, a hand censer (or a small ceramic bowl lined with aluminum foil) and incense. These can be ordered and arrive via UPS in three days from: store.ancientfaith.com, and many other sources. Create an oil lamp from a glass jar with water at the bottom and oil on top of the water. A float with wicks that are easily replaced comes in a pack together for five dollars from the same online sources. Within this edition of the St. Spyridon Voice you will find several articles on observing Holy Week and Easter at home. Please check our church website for more ideas, links and articles.

APRIL 2020 PAGE 3 Will we experience these services as a uniquely memorable and blessed Holy Week or just a big bummer? That will depend on what we do to invite the Holy Spirit into our home- church this Holy Week. May the Lord strengthen our faith to sing and proclaim joyfully … Christ is Risen - Truly He is Risen! Хрістос воскрес! Воістину воскрес! ¡Cristo ha resucitado, verdaderamente ha resucitado! Hristos a inviat! Adevărat a înviat!

Χριστός Ανέστη - Αληθώς Ανέστη!

HOLY EPARCHIAL SYNOD COMMUNIQUE NEW YORK – On Monday, April 6, 2020, the Holy Eparchial Synod convened, via tele- conference, in order to discuss significant matters that affect the Archdiocese of America, and unanimously decided the following: 1. The sacred services of our Orthodox tradition for Holy Week and Easter will continue to be observed in the Parishes and the following the directives of the local Metropolitans and in accordance to the mandates of the respective State and Health authorities. Therefore, the “closed-doors” policy will be strictly enforced, the services will be broadcasted via the internet and they will be celebrated only with the participa- tion of the priest, the chanter, and the acolyte. 2. Abiding by the regulations of the aforementioned State and Health authorities, there will be absolutely no distribution of the traditional material offerings to the faithful, including palms, candles, Holy Unction, flowers, eggs and the Paschal Light. 3. Spiritual guidance may be provided remotely using technological means, but the Sac- rament of Holy Confession and the Prayer of Absolution cannot be offered via the tele- phone or via electronic media. 4. This year’s National Clergy-Laity Congress will be held through an internet telecon- ference forum on a date to be announced in the near future. FROM THE CHIEF SECRETARIAT OF THE HOLY EPARCHIAL SYNOD

PAGE 4 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE

S AINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH www.stspyridonchurch.org, (401) 846-0555

Reverend Fr. Aaron Walker [email protected], (617) 733-1045

Fr. Aaron’s Office Hours Tuesday and Thursday 2-5pm, Friday 12-3pm; and other days and times by appointment. Other Visits: Visits to shut-ins and businesses by appointment. Please let me know if you would like a visit, house blessing, or to meet at the church I am reachable by cell phone.—I check messages throughout the day. I am always available for emergencies. Church Secretary, Kathy Lewis Saleh: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12 to 5:30, Friday 11 to 4, [email protected]

Parish Council President: Greek School: Loula Eliopoulos & Eleni Gia Harrigan Anagnostopoulos Chanters: TBD VOICE: Choir Director: Zoe Adamedes Editor—Aliki Cooper ([email protected]) Organist: TBD IT Team: Leon Amarant Religious Education: Marianne Menas Stewardship: Gia Harrigan Affiliated Organizations Philoptochos President: Zinovia Canale AHEPA President: Basile Panoutsopoulos JOY Advisor: Sandy Giannopoulos Daughters of Penelope President: Soup Kitchen: Elaine Brown Ellen Anagnostos Hellenic Dancers: Anna Kyriakides Island of Skiathos Organization: St. Spyridon Bookstore: Christina Logothets Despina Haralambidis

SERVICE TIMES Sunday Winter Hours, Weekday Services Matins 9 am Divine Liturgy 10 am

The Saint Spyridon Voice is a monthly publication of St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church, 390 Thames St., Newport, RI 02840 APRIL 2020 PAGE 5 HOLY WEEK SERVICES (UNFORTUNATELY, NO ONE ALLOWED IN CHURCH) Service times posted on our website: stspyridonchurch.org/holy-week Saturday, April 11 Lazarus Saturday, 9am Matins, Vespers before Palm Sunday, 5pm Sunday, April 12 Palm Sunday, Matins 8:45am, Divine Liturgy 10am Bridegroom Service, 6pm Monday, April 13 Bridegroom Service, 6pm Tuesday, April 14 Bridegroom Service – Kassiani, 6pm Wednesday, April 15 Sacrament of Holy Unction, 3pm Thursday, April 16 Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. , 8am Holy Passion of the Lord (12 Gospels), 6pm Friday, April 17 Royal Hours at the Cross of Christ, 8 am Removal of Christ from the Cross - Apokathilosis, 3pm Lamentations, 6pm Saturday, April 18 Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, 9am Pre-Resurrection Service, 11:30pm Resurrection Service, 12 midnight Paschal Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Sunday, April 19 Agape Vespers of Pascha, 11am Monday, April 20 Paschal Matins, 10am Tuesday, April 21 Paschal Matins, 10am Wednesday, April 22 Paschal Matins, 10am Thursday, April 23 St. George, Matins 9:00am Divine Liturgy, 10am Friday, April 24 Friday of Bright Week—Life Giving Spring, Matins 9:00am Divine Liturgy, 10am PAGE 6 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE S T SPYRIDON EMAIL LIST In the midst of uncertain times we are happy to announce St. Spyridon Church has set up a better, more versatile and more reliable group email system. All future church emails will come from the following email address: St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church [email protected] Please add [email protected] to your email contacts so that the mailings do not go to your spam folder. If you have not been receiving email from St Spyridon since around the middle of March, please look for it in your spam or promotions folder, and mark it as 'not spam' to help make sure you get future mailings in your inbox. All mailings from St Spyridon Church -- including weekly bulletin and monthly newsletter -- will be coming through the new mailing list from now on. If anyone wants to subscribe to the mailing list, they can do so using the form at the bottom of the homepage of our website. We look forward to sharing with you all important information and future blessings in the life of our St Spyridon Church family.

S ERVICES ARE BEING STREAMED ON FACEBOOK LIVE Please be aware that while sheltering in place, Fr. Aaron is streaming services from his home on Facebook Live. He is hoping to do Holy Week services from our church. You can find them through our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/stspyridonnewport/ Or if you do not have Facebook, while services are streaming, they will show up on our website at: https:// stspyridonchurch.org/live. If you would like to watch the services and need technical help to be able to get to them, please contact the office. APRIL 2020 PAGE 7

“It is impossible to imagine an Orthodox church in which candles are not lit.” Blessed Simeon of Thessalonica, 15th Century “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 We know that at this time it can be difficult to pray from home and not physically be in the church. One of the first things most people do upon entering an Orthodox Church is to light their candle and offer prayers for one’s personal needs or that of a family member or friend, we also light candles to pray for protection and safety so that we may live this life without fear. For those wishing to light a candle, after you select the candle(s) that you would like us to light and before pressing the “Place Order” button, please submit the names of your loved ones, those who are alive and/or those who have departed this life. During these times we would be happy to light the candle for you at church and read the names that have been submitted. Go to the website to light a candle: stspyridonchurch.org/candle PAGE 8 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE HOLY WEEK AND PASCHA AT HOME This entry is taken from the Tending the Garden of Our Hearts website. Visit the link below to access the article online so that you can click through to all of the inks. https://tending-the-garden.com/holyweek/

We’re celebrating Holy Week at home, and making an effort to bring it alive for our children and ourselves, recreating some of the experiences we usually have in church. Naturally the most important thing is to slow down, and to try to create some peace and prayerfulness in our homes, so don’t try to do all of this! Focus on your family’s favorite parts of Holy Week and Pascha, and on being truly present, with one another and with God. We may continue to add to this list of resources and ideas, so keep checking in…

Holy Week Create a Holy Week Time Capsule! As we live through this historic pandemic, we’re all encouraged to journal and document our experiences as these will become firsthand sources for the future. Why not chronicle Holy Week and Pascha at home, and keep some of your mementos in a box with your reflections? Fr. Patrick O’Rourke from Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Ogden, Utah created a beautiful Holy Week Passport that your family might enjoy! Print this Passport on legal sized paper (two-sided, flip on short end) to create a sequential booklet. (If you don’t have legal paper handy, you will have to get creative and print it on separate pages, and then bind them together.) Start now to prepare “learning boxes” for the services of Holy Week. Each box contains items that will help younger children learn about the services and the events they celebrate. You may not have access to all of these items, but think creatively about what you can access. (Perhaps you can’t find an oil lamp, but you probably have oil… do you have a jar and a wick? Is there a way to do an origami version of some of these items? Do you have any clay or play dough?) Do the opposite! For older children, don’t prepare learning boxes, but instead give the kids a challenge: they have 30 minutes to gather or make objects that are relevant to the day’s theme and commemorations. When time is up, gather together and have each child explain why they chose the items they found. Does your parish usually do a Lazarus skit? Here’s an option: what if you asked each of the the kids to send you a short video clip, and then you compiled them? Whether your group is a parish youth group or all of the cousins, you can put this together and then on APRIL 2020 PAGE 9 Lazarus Saturday, you could send around a YouTube link so that they can all see it. You might organize them to tell the Lazarus story (John 11:1-45), perhaps offering each child a verse or two to say on camera, or you might try our script, which tells the story in the form of a newscast! When you have the kids’ video clips, you can compile them into one video using your video editing software (like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker) and then upload to YouTube. (You don’t have to make it public. Make it “unlisted” and then send the link to your parish only, so that other people cannot search for it.) Print this booklet of things to watch for in each service of Holy Week. Consider decorating a tree or a part of your home with the of Christ! If you have extra time, you might watch this heartwarming animated story of a young Russian girl during Soviet times, who learns about Pascha by mysteriously meeting St. Seraphim of Sarov. Lazarus Saturday Lazarakia These little cookies which look like Lazarus all bundled in his graveclothes (does that sound awful? it really looks cute!) are a wonderful Greek tradition for Lazarus Saturday. You could make them as traditional sweet rolls, or you could make them out of clay or play dough! Storytelling In my home parish here in Austin, we usually have a big children’s day on Lazarus Saturday — liturgy followed by a lenten breakfast with palm folding, and then the teens perform a skit about Lazarus. The skit follows the story, as Christ comes to Bethany and raises his friend from the dead, and then the townspeople (all of our kids) take palms in hand and process to the church, to Jerusalem, calling out “Hosanna in the Highest” to act out the Palm Sunday. We may well do a skit or puppet show here in the house — perhaps now is a good time to think about ordering puppet supplies, like felt and popsicle sticks. (Note: we would wrap “Lazarus” in toilet paper for graveclothes… such an extravagance is hardly imaginable this year!) Palm Sunday Palms or Pussywillows We’re going to need palms or pussywillows, or something like them. What grows in your neighborhood? If you can find something like long, thin palm leaves (perhaps even a wide, tall blade of grass?), you could fold Palm Crosses! If you are pretty dextrous and ready for a challenge, consider making some of the fancier Coptic designs. PAGE 10 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE Bridegroom Services Figs On Holy Monday, we look at the fig tree Jesus cursed. Clearly, this is a good day for ripe figs (or treats made with figs, or whatever figgish thing is available on our strangely empty grocery store shelves…) and any other fruits, as we think about “fruitfulness” and the fruits of the spirit. Oil Lamps The story of the ten virgins waiting with oil lamps is a beautiful focus point of the Bridegroom Services that open Holy Week. Each person must supply their own oil (signifying loving deeds and merciful actions — I can’t give you my oil, because I cannot give you my experiences, my history of behaving in a Christian way) so why not make oil lamps? These can burn throughout Holy Week and Pascha, and become the source or the repository for the “Holy Light” with which we light our candles on Pascha! You can use any sort of jar or container, but you’ll need either candle wick and wire, or wick floats — so you may need to order or purchase ahead of time. It’s possible that you already know someone who uses oil lamps and has a stash of wicks, who can drop some on your porch before Holy Week. Holy Wednesday Holy Unction Make a prayer list for the Holy Unction service. The sacrament of Holy Unction cannot be performed at home, but anyone can anoint another person with holy oil and say a prayer for their good health. After your services on Holy Wednesday, consider anointing your family before your icon corner. You’ll need holy oil — or you could make your own sweet smelling oil by adding a scent to . Holy Thursday Mystical Supper On this day, we commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Perhaps we could bake prosphora with our families to mark it, and to enjoy the familiar taste of church (without the sacrament, of course). In addition to flour, salt, yeast and water, you will want a prosphora seal (if that’s possible. It’s ok if it’s not.) Foot Washing Very often, on Holy Thursday a priest will wash his altar boys’ feet in remembrance of how Christ washed the feet of His apostles. What if the parents washed their children’s feet? What if the children washed each other’s feet? All you’ll need is a basin or bucket, soap, and towels, as well as a kitchen chair on which the person can sit. APRIL 2020 PAGE 11 Service of the Twelve Gospels From this service through the Descent from the Cross, display a cross prominently in your icon corner or where you are doing services together. You might use a cross you have on hand, or you might consider building a larger one yourself. Think of the large cross at church on which an icon of Christ can be hung — what if you mounted or positioned an icon of Extreme Humility or of Christ Crucified on that cross? (You could print one from online or find one in an old calendar, perhaps.) You could place this icon on your cross when (in the gospel readings) Christ is hung on the cross, and then remove it when He descends, placing it in His tomb — just like we do in church. As you pray this service yourself or alongside a live-stream (or simply read the twelve gospel readings together), consider doing something to mark each reading, whether that’s lighting a candle or laying a flower at the foot of the cross, or both. Holy Friday The Tomb On Holy Friday, we decorate a tomb with flowers and then place the icon of Christ inside it, marking the time He spent in the tomb. Fr. Vasileios Tsourlis suggested that we might cut large windows in the sides of a cardboard box (leaving the corners as pillars to hold its shape), creating a cardboard tomb! We could decorate it with flowers that we have collected outside, or with flowers that we’ve made from tissue paper or construction paper. Then we can use the tomb throughout the weekend, just as we do in church. Descent from the Cross If you have Christ’s icon on a cross, you’ll want to take Him down during this service, and wrap Him in white linens, as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus did. A white sheet or pillowcase would work well for this. Place (the icon of) Christ in His decorated tomb. (If your cross has Jesus on it, you could take down the whole cross, wrap it and place it in the tomb.) You might spend this afternoon making some beautiful crosses. Lamentations You’ll want candles for everyone on Holy Friday evening, if possible. If you still have some of the wax catchers you’ve used in the past, you could reuse them, but if not, consider making some by cutting an X in the base of a disposable cup or small paper circle and pushing a candle through. On Holy Friday evening, we process with Christ in His tomb (rather like pallbearers at a funeral), heading outside with our candles. Consider carrying the tomb and singing the hymns around your home, whether outdoors or indoors.

APRIL 2020 PAGE 12 Holy Saturday The Proto-Anastasis, or First Resurrection To celebrate the harrowing of Hades, why not throw bay leaves around your house as you sing Arise O God! If you cannot get bay leaves, any leaves will do, as the leaves are intended to signify life, as Christ tramples down death by death. Dye your eggs! If you have saved up your onion skins, you can make the traditional red eggs, but if you have no onion skins, using an artificial red dye is fine too. Prepare your family’s traditional Pascha foods, teaching your children the family recipes you hope they’ll carry forward into their own homes. Pascha The midnight services Be ready with candles for everyone. If you still have some of the wax catchers you’ve used in the past, you could reuse them, but if not, consider making some by cutting an X in the base of a disposable cup or small paper circle and pushing a candle through. When you light the candles, let one person light theirs first and then pass the light to one another, as we do in church. Head outside with your candles and announce that Christ is risen! Make large crosses the air with your candles and call it out many times, as you would do at the Paschal church service. Teach your children the Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom if they don’t know it already, so that they are ready to call out their responses when you read it aloud. Feast with all of your family’s favorite foods for breaking the fast, and crack your red eggs! Agape Vespers Read the Gospel reading in various languages if you can — or find a video of someone else doing that on YouTube! Learn to say Christ is Risen! and Sing Christ is Risen! in all of the languages — or just your favorites. Holy Monday As the Paschal season dawns, you will likely want to say some extra prayers and sing Christ is Risen again and again! Consider a walk in a cemetery (if that’s possible in your location) and sing Christ is Risen! to those in the tombs… on whom He is bestowing life! It’s an incredibly powerful experience. After Pascha For the following forty days, be sure to sing “Christ is risen!” at mealtimes and prayer times, and all the time, so that you can truly feel the resurrection in your home throughout the Paschal Season.

PAGE 13 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE

S OUP KITCHEN NEWS Because of social distancing restrictions, we regret that we will not be able to have our monthly soup kitchen for April. For those of you that are able and would like to still be of help to those in need of food at this time, please consider a donation to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport. They are doing wonderful work to get food out to those in need in our community. Unfortunately, they are not able to have volunteers or take food donations right now, but are in great need of monetary donations to continue their good work. From their website: DONATIONS: The MLK Community Center is no longer able to accept any donations of food, for your safety and the safety of our staff. If you have the capacity to give at this time, monetary donations to purchase food are so needed and so appreciated. Go to their website and click the Donate button in the menu to help: https://www.mlkccenter.org/ or send donations to:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center c/o Alyson Novick 20 Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Blvd. Newport, RI 02840

MYRRHBEARERS FOR HOLY FRIDAY To our beautiful myrrhbearers who will not be able to participate in the service at the church this year, we will miss seeing your beautiful faces leading our on Holy Friday and we look forward to your participation in the service next year.

PAGE 14 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE

APRIL 2020 Sunday Winter Hours

MON TUE WED THU

In Case of Emergency, 1. 2. Please call Parkalesis, 6pm 7pm Parish Council Fr. Aaron's followed by Guest Meeting via Zoom Mobile Phone: Presentation (via 617-733-1045 Zoom), 6:45pm

5. 9am—Matins 6. 7. 8. 9. 10am—Liturgy Parkalesis, 6pm 11:30am, Middle/ followed by Guest High School Presentation (via Relationship Project Zoom), 6:45pm via Zoom

12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Please see page 5 for schedule of Holy Week Services

19. 20. 21. 22. 23.9:00am—Matins & Liturgy for St. George Paschal Matins, 10am Paschal Matins, 10am Paschal Matins, 10am 6:30 Fr. Aaron facilitates Orthodox PASCHA Christian Fellowship Meeting via Zoom

26. 27.. 28. 29. 30. 9am—Matins 10am—Liturgy APRIL 2020 PAGE 15

Upcoming Events Sunday Winter Hours: Matins 9am, Divine Liturgy 10 am Please see page 5 for schedule of Holy Week services THU FRI SAT.

3. 4. 7pm Parish Council Bible Study Parenting During a Meeting via Zoom 10:30—11:45am Pandemic Workshop, 10:30am Akathist to the Mother Vespers, 4pm of God, 6pm

10. 11. Bible Study 10:30—11:45am

17. 18.

Please see page 5 for schedule of Holy Week Services Regular Events —Matins & 24. 25. Liturgy for St. George 9:00am—Matins & Adult Sermon—Immediately after 6:30 Fr. Aaron 10:00am Liturgy for Gospel Reading the Lifegiving Spring facilitates Orthodox Children’s Sermon—Before Holy Christian Fellowship Communion Meeting via Zoom Children’s Religious Education—

Sundays, immediately after Holy Communion Children’s Greek School— Tuesday and Thursday, 4-6 p.m. PAGE 16 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE

See more wonderful glendi photos on our Flickr page https://www.flickr.com/photos/stspyridonchurch/albums

G LENDI THANK YOU The St Spyridon Church Parish Council would like to thank the Kyriakides family for their generosity in hosting and organizing such a beautiful and fun-filled event, the “Apokreatiko” Glendi Greek Dance. We appreciate Anna’s efforts for leading the entire event and especially the great work with the Newport Hellenic Dancers. Also, thanks to Anna and Stevie for the generous donation that will support not only the dancers’ costumes but also help the church operations. APRIL 2020 PAGE 17

S UNDAY OF ORTHODOXY We were blessed to have our children able to process with their for the Sunday of Orthodoxy on Sunday, March 8th. PAGE 18 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE PARISH COUNCIL NEWS Dear fellow St. Spyridon Parishioners. I pray that all of you continue to stay healthy during this time. It’s wonderful that Fr. Aaron has been able to use Zoom technology and Facebook Live to bring the church community together during this pandemic and lock down environment. We are holding a Parish Council meeting tonight using this technology. You are welcome to listen in. A separate email has been sent providing the details for this meeting. Last week (on March 26) we met and about 15 parishioners were able to virtually attend. Here are some highlights of the meeting. • Good to Know! Fr. Aaron let us in on a “secret”. Our Father Prayer is 20 seconds. Let’s consider this when we are looking for ways to heed the CDC advice and wash our hands for 20 seconds. After "deliver us from evil," while you dry your hands, say the Orthodox conclusion (when the priest is not there): "Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers O Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us and save us." • Phone Chain of Support. The idea is for volunteers to call 12 people within the community and check in on them. If you would like to make some calls, please let me or Kathy know at [email protected] or [email protected]. • Lemonade Groups. The concept starts from the idea of when “life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Given the current situation and restrictions on meeting in person, and the fact that we are all going through difficult period of social isolation, this is an opportunity to launch a small group ministry where parishioners meet regularly, in video conference calls for now, with the same small group of people (not their immediate family) to pray and build togetherness. If you would like to learn more about this please email me or Fr. Aaron ([email protected]). • I also wanted to let you all know we are following the Metropolis guidance and applying for the Federal Stimulus loan/ grant program (CARES Act). If we get the loan/ grant it will help with lost income and support payment of salaries. The Parish Council, especially Maria Stefanopoulos-Johnson and Zoe Adamedes are taking care of expenses and making projections including best case and worst-case scenarios. We will present the details at the Spring General Assembly meeting. As soon as we get some clarity and the situation improves, we will notify you the date of the meeting. In Christ, Gia Harrigan Parish Council President APRIL 2020 PAGE 19

2020 PARISH COUNCIL New (and returning) Parish Council members were sworn in and officers were elected. The officers and members are as follows:

2020 St. Spyridon Parish Council President – Gia Mellekas Harrigan Vice President – Maria Holder Treasurer – Maria Stefanopoulos-Johnson Secretary – Zoe Adamedes Despina Prassas Steve Mellekas

We thank all of them for their service to our church.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS Dear families, For the younger students, continue to use the link that was sent out on the Antiochian church's website. Children are able to hear the Sunday gospel lesson then a hard copy coloring page is attached. For the older students, Mr. Mike is interested to know who is able to tape themselves presenting their oratorical speeches. If you are, please send the videos to Mr. Mike. Also, Jane and Barbara are conducting class for the older students at 11:30 every Sunday. Their link will be attached to an email. OCMC boxes were sent home on Missionary Sunday. Continue to have your child/ children fill in the boxes with money. Sunday School will collect the boxes in May or June. Continue to have your family join the liturgies that Father sends out during this beautiful time of Lent.

Thank you Sunday School staff PAGE 20 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE

OUR PRIVATE PASCHA April 7, 2020 · Elissa Bjeletich I have been working on Virtual Sunday School lessons and lists of ideas for Holy Week and Pascha, and on materials for my own parish as we gear up for what promises to be a very different celebration. Today, as I’m working, every time I get to Pascha, I start tearing up. For weeks I have quietly grieved the idea that my own family’s Pascha experience will be different, but today I am looking at all of the parish celebrations that we put together every year. Not just the services, but the community experiences, from folding the crosses to decorating the tomb to corralling little girls in white for a Holy Friday procession… the cooking and the feasting and the talking… The parish part. We just won’t have that this year. I already miss all those kids and the hustle and bustle and the pure joy of it all. But as we all gear up for this new kind of Pascha, I think we’re missing something really important: there’s a good chance that this will be one of the most beautiful Paschas we ever experience. God provides. He always does. Always. If we can stop picturing the Holy Weeks that have come before, we might begin to start seeing in our minds’ eyes an image of ourselves, in the dusk of evening, lit only by candlelight, praying the services of Holy Week, whether in our service books or with a livestreamed image of an iconostasis and a lone priest before us. It looks peaceful and prayerful. We might begin to imagine a Pascha that brings our little household together in real celebration. We might imagine ourselves shedding a few tears of joy that Christ is risen — truly He is risen — even this year, as we shelter in place. It has been said that only the present moment is real. We see the past through rose-colored glasses, and the future is simply what we imagine to be. I have been mulling over these interesting words from C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters: APRIL 2020 PAGE 21 The humans live in time but [God] destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present — either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. […] the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays. […] Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. The past is frozen and no longer flows, but the present is all lit up with eternal rays. Perhaps it is time to stop looking back to the Holy Weeks and Paschas we have seen before, and to look up at this moment in which we find ourselves today. In this present moment, time touches eternity; this moment is where we will encounter God. Love looks to the present. It is in the present moment that we take care of one another, that we love God and neighbor with all of our hearts. If we can look squarely at this moment and not at the moments gone past, we can immerse ourselves in Holy Week and in Pascha, and God will reward the effort we make. This year, you will not be distracted by the hustle and bustle of the parish. You will be free to let Holy Week and Pascha unfold just between God and you. Instead of a public Holy Week, we will celebrate a private, intimate Holy Week. This is a gift. This moment is a tremendous gift, and we must not miss it by watching some other moment (whether past or future). Another gift: we have all heard stories from older generations who endured Ottoman rule or communism, or stories from faraway places where it is not safe to gather for worship. We know that these things happen, and we see the amazing fruit of the people who cling to Christ through adversity. Perhaps the most profound Paschas have not always happened in church, but in homes and in concentration camps and gulags, when old bedsheets were transformed into and tin cups became chalices. More difficult Paschas have been endured, and indeed, they have been beautiful beyond words. Other Christians have had it harder. Perhaps we should thank God that He is granting us a small window into their experience. We must trust God. We must know that if we offer ourselves up to Him, He will receive us. Christ will rise on Pascha whether we sing His praises at home or in our church buildings. But we will have to attend to the present moment, or we’ll miss Him. God knows your effort, He sees your heart, and He will grant you the Pascha you need. Christ is risen! PAGE 22 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE FROM THE BLOG OF F R. S TEPHEN FREEMAN, “G LORY TO G OD FOR ALL THINGS” This year, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Churches will be unable to gather in the usual manner for Pascha. This has happened before in a variety of places and circumstances. In the 1920’s, the Bolshevik’s were unleashing their persecutions. This wonderful account, from Butyrka Prison on Pascha of 1928, is a sober reminder that our “light momentary affliction” is a small thing. It also serves to remind us that the joy of Pascha cannot be quarantined or silenced. God give us patient endurace. Serge Schmemann, son of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, in his wonderful little book, Echoes of a Native Land, records a letter written from one of his family members of an earlier generation, who spent several years in the prisons of the Soviets and died there. The letter, written on the night of Pascha in 1928 is to a family member, “Uncle Grishanchik” (This was Grigory Trubetskoi who had managed to emigrate to Paris). This letter should become a classic of Orthodox writing and witness to the faith that sustained so many and is today being resurrected in so many places. The triumph of the Resurrection so transcends his prison cell it’s a wonder that the walls remained. The entire book is a wonderful read. I recommend it without reservation.

A Different Pascha – 1928 April 4, 2020 ·

30 March/ 12 April 1928 Dear Uncle Grishanchik, I greet you and Aunt Masha with the impending Holy Day, and I wish you all the very best. For a long, long time I have wanted to write to you, dear Uncle Grishanchik; you always showed such concern for me, you helped me so generously in a difficult moment of my life, and, mainly, your entire image is so inseparably linked for each of us, your nephews, with such wonderful memories; you always are, were, and will be our dearest, most beloved uncle. I am approaching the fourth Easter that I will spend behind these walls, separated from my family, but the feelings for these holy days which were infused in me from earliest APRIL 2020 PAGE 23 childhood do not fail me now; from the beginning of Holy Week I have felt the approach of the Feast, I follow the life of the Church, I repeat to myself the hymns of the Holy Week services, and in my soul there arise those feelings of tender reverence that I used to feel as a child going to confession or communion. At 35 those feelings are as strong and as deep as in those childhood years. My dear Uncle Grishanchik, going over past Easters in my memory, I remember our last Easter at Sergiyevskoye, which we spent with you and Aunt Masha, and I felt the immediate need to write you. If you have not forgotten, Easter in 1918 was rather late, and spring was early and very warm, so when in the last weeks of Lent I had to take Aunt Masha to Ferzikovo, the roads were impassable. I remember that trip as now; it was a warm, heavy, and humid day, which consumed the last snow in the forests and gullies faster than the hottest sun; wherever you looked, water, water, and more water, and all the sounds seemed to rise from it, from the burbling and rushing of the streams on all sides to the ceaseless ring of countless larks. We had to go by sleigh – not on the road, which wound through the half-naked fields in a single muddy ridge, but alongside, carefully choosing the route. Each hoofprint, each track left by the runners, immediately turned into a small muddy stream, busily rushing off somewhere. We drove forever, exhausting the poor horse, and, finally, after successfully eluding the Polivanovo field, one of the most difficult places, I became too bold and got Aunt Masha so mired that I nearly drowned the horse and the sleigh; we had to unharness to pull it out and got wet to the eyebrows; in a word, total “local color.” I remember the feeling I had that spring of growing strength, but that entire happy springtime din, for all the beauty and joy of awakening nature, could not muffle the sense of alarm that squeezed the heart in each of us. Either some hand rose in senseless fury to profane our Sergiyevskoye, or there was the troubling sense that our loving and closely welded family was being broken up: Sonia far off somewhere with a pile of kids, alone, separated from her husband; Seryozha, just married, we don’t know where or how, and you, my dear Uncle Grisha and Auht Masha, separated from your young ones, in constant worry over them. It was a hard and difficult time. But I believe that beyond these specific problems, this spiritual fog had a deeper common source: we all, old and young, stood then at a critical turning point: unaware of it, we were bidding farewell to a past filled with beloved memories, while ahead there loomed some hostile utterly unknown future. And in the midst of all this came Holy Week. the spring was in that stage when nature, after a big shove to cast off winter’s shackles, suddenly grows quiet, as if resting from the first victory. But below this apparent calm there is always the sense of a complex, hidden process taking place somewhere deep in the earth, which is preparing to open up in all its force, in all the beauty of growth and flowering. Plowing and seeding the earth rasied rich PAGE 24 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE scents, and, following the plow on the sweaty, softly turning furrow, you were enveloped in the marvelous smell of moist earth. I always became intoxicated by that smell, because in it one senses the limitless creative power of nature. I don’t know how you all felt at the time, because I lived a totally separate life and worked from morning to night in the fields, not seeing, and, yes, not wanting to see, anything else. It was too painful to think, and only total physical exhaustion gave one a chance, if not to forget, then at least to forget oneself. But with Holy Week began the services in church and at home, I had to lead the choir in rehearsal and in church; on Holy Wednesday I finished the sowing of oats and, putting away the plow and harrow, gave myself entirely over to the tuning fork. And here began that which I will never forget! Dear Uncle Grishanchik! Do you remember the service of the Twelve Gospels in our Sergiyevskoye church? Do you remember that marvelous, inimitable manner of our little parson? This spring will be nine years that he passed away during the midnight Easter service, but even now, when I hear certain or certain Gospel readings, I can hear the exhilarated voice of our kind parson, his intonations piercing to the very soul. I remember that you were taken by this service, that it had a large impact on you. I see now the huge crucifix rising in the midst of the church, with figures of the Mother of God on one side and the Apostle John on the other, framed by multicolored votive lights, the waving flame of many candles, and, among the thoroughly familiar throng of Sergiyevskoye peasants, your figure by the right wall in front of the candle counter, with a contemplative expression on your face. If you only knew what was happening in my soul at that time! It was an entire turnover, some huge, healing revelation! Don’t be surprised that I’m writing this way; I don’t think I’m exaggerating anything, it’s just that I feel great emotion remembering all these things, because I am continuously breaking off to go to the window and listen. A quiet, starry night hangs over Moscow, and I can hear first one, then another church mark the successive Gospels with slow, measured strikes of the bell. I think of my Lina and our Marinochka, of Papa, Mama, my sisters, brothers, of all of you, feeling the sadness of expatriation in these days, all so dear and close. However painful, especially at this time, the awareness of our separation, I firmly, unshakably believe all the same that the hour will come when we will all gather together, just as you are all gathered now in my thoughts. 1/14 April – They’ve allowed me to finish writing letters, and I deliberately sat down to finish it this night. Any minute now the Easter matins will start; in our cell everything is clean, and on our large common table stand kulichi and paskha, a huge “X.B.” [Christos Voskrese “Christ is risen”] from fresh watercress is beautifully arranged on a white table cloth with brightly colored eggs all around. It’s unusually quiet in the cell; in order not to APRIL 2020 PAGE 25 arouse the guards, we all lay down on lowered cots (there are 24 of us) in anticipation of the bells, and I sat down to write to you again. I remember I walked out of the Sergiyevskoye church at that time overwhelmed by a mass of feelings and sensations, and my earlier spiritual fog seemed a trifle, deserving of no attention. In the great images of the Holy Week services, the horror of man’s sin and the suffering of the Creator leading to the great triumph of the resurrection, I suddenly discovered that eternal, indestructible beginning, which was also in that temporarily quiet spring, hiding in itself the seed of a total renewal of all that lives. The services continued in their stern, rich order; images replaced images, and when, on Holy Saturday, after the singing of “Arise, O Lord,” the deacon, having changed into a white robe, walked into the center of the church to the burial cloth to read the gospel about the resurrection, it seemed to me that we are all equally shaken, that we all feel and pray as one. In the meantime, spring went on the offensive. When we walked to the Easter matins, the night was humid, heavy clouds covered the sky, and walking through the dark alleys of the linden park, I imagined a motion in the ground, as if innumerable invisible plants were pushing through the earth toward air and light. I don’t know if our midnight Easter matins made any impression on you then. For me there never was, and never will be, anything better than Easter at Seriyevskoye. We are all too organically tied to Sergiyevskoye for anything to transcend it, to evoke so much good. This is not blind patriotism, because for all of us Seriyevskoye was that spiritual cradle in which everything by which each of us lives and breathes was born and raised. My dear Uncle Grishanchik, as I’ve been writing to you the scattered ringing around Moscow has become a mighty festive peal. have begun, the sounds of firecrackers reach us, one church after another joins the growing din of bells. The wave of sound swells. There! Somewhere entirely nearby, a small church breaks brightly through the common chord with such a joyous, exultant little voice. Sometimes it seems that the tumult has begun to wane, and suddenly a new wave rushes in with unexpected strength, a grand hymn between heaven and earth. I cannot write any more! That which I now hear is too overwhelming, too good, to try to convey in words. The incontrovertible sermon of the Resurrection seems to rise from this mighty peal of praise. My dear uncle Grishanchik, it is so good in my soul that the only way I can express my spirit is to say to you once again, Christ is Risen! Georgy

PAGE 26 THE SAINT SPYRIDON VOICE

S T SPYRIDON FILM FESTIVAL Should you find yourself with time on you hands while sheltering in place at home, perhaps you might want to try creating a video for the St Spyridon Orthodox Christian Film Festival. It is scheduled for July 11, and we are hopeful that we will be able to gather together by then.

CENTENNIAL ALBUMS CAN NOW BE PURCHASED ONLINE! You can purchase St Spyridon’s Centennial Album online at stspyridonchurch.org/product/centennial-album/ This hardcover, gold embossed, hand-stitched 368 page heirloom captures the first 100 years of the Hellenic Community in Newport and is a wonderful keepsake for parishioners past and present and for anyone who has ties to or has celebrated special moments at St. Spyridon in Newport. Please reach out to any past parishioners you know who may not live here anymore that may be interested in this beautiful album and send them the link!

S MARAGDE A. E LIOPOULOS G REEK H ERITAGE AWARD All high school seniors who attended the St Spyridon Protulis Greek School program are eligible to apply for the annual Smaragde A. Eliopoulos Greek Heritage Award. Please contact Loula Eliopoulos for an application at 847-7746. The deadline for submission is May 10th.

APRIL 2020 PAGE 27 Please turn in your Financial Stewardship pledge for 2020. St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church Thames & Brewer Streets – P.O. Box 427 – Newport, RI 02840 Tel. 401.846.0555 Christian Stewardship Commitment Card

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Commit to Stewardship in the amount of $ ______to Christ and His Church for January through December of the year _____, in gratitude for the gifts he has bestowed upon us. Our commitment will be paid in installments of $______on a (please circle one) weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis.

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Καλό Πάσχα, Happy Easter May the Joy of our Lord's Holy Resurrection abide in your hearts during this Paschal Season and throughout the Year.

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