THE HOLY TRINITY HERALD THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH ROANOKE, VIRGINIA VOL. 9, ISSUE 8 SEPTEMBER 2011 What a paradoxical miracle! Today the Cross of the Lord comes out, and the faithful receive it with longing, and they obtain healings of soul and body and of every infirmity. Let us kiss it with joy and with fear: with fear, for we are unworthy because of sin; and with joy, because of the salvation, which Christ the Lord grants us, since He was nailed to the Cross, and He has great mercy. Praises and Doxastikon of the Elevation of the Holy Cross Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, These words above, from the hymns that we sing at Orthros on the Feast of the Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross, reveal the miracle of Gods saving grace and the meaning of the Symbol of Victory that we see in the Cross of Christ. But, what a paradox it is, that we can look upon the Cross, the wood upon which Christ died for our sins, and see an object of veneration. We venerate the cross, not because of death, but because of life. We venerate it because it is "life-giving" and because His death on the Cross was both voluntary and victorious. Jesus suffered voluntarily for our sins. That was God's plan: "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son." Jesus Himself tells Nicodemus: "so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life." The kontakion that we sing shows us His voluntary ascent upon the Cross: "Christ God, who freely let Yourself be raised upon the Cross." So we venerate the Cross because of the voluntary gift of redeeming love that God gives to us. We venerate the Cross because His death on the Cross was victorious. We cannot think of the Cross without thinking of the Resurrection. They cannot be separated. Christ conquered death by His own death. As we sing at Pascha: "By His death, He has trampled on death". He gives us the promise of eternal life through His Resurrection. We venerate the Cross by decorating it with symbols of life, not with symbols of death. We use candles to show us the light of the Resurrection and to remind us of the Trinity. We use live plants from the garden, flowers and sweet basil, to remind us that life begins and ends in a garden. We were created in a paradise, the Garden of Eden, that we gave up voluntarily, because we chose to sin. Christ comes to be among us as man and He agonizes in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sake. We use sweet basil, the symbol of His kingdom; the plant that identified the true Cross to St. Helen when she was searching for the holy relics in Jerusalem. The basil reminds us of our plea to God: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." So when we look upon the Cross, we are looking at our salvation and our protection. We look through the Cross and see His glorious Resurrection. In His service, Fr. Peter 1 METROPOLIS OF NEW JERSEY HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH 30 Huntington Boulevard, NE Roanoke, VA 24012 PHONE: (540) 362-3601 FAX: (540) 362-3638 www.holytrinityroanoke.com E-MAIL: [email protected] Rev. Presbyter Peter A. Day E-MAIL: [email protected] Rev. Deacon Macarius Ayres Ruby Ziogas, Church Administrator 2011 - 2012 PARISH COUNCIL Mr. Donald Butzer President Dr. Charles Tarasidis Vice President Mrs. Carrie Magoulas Secretary Dr. John Christodoulides Assistant Secretary Dr. Lampros Karageorge Treasurer Mr. Chris Stratton Assistant Treasurer Board Members Mr. Chris Flegas Mr. Peter Simopoulos Dr. Maria Hatzios Mr. Robert Ziogas Mrs. Irene Karageorge ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTEES Philoptochos President Maria Kappas Adornment - Basil Grapsas Religious Ed. Connie Zeidan Archives Chris Stratton GOYA Paul Flegas Education Carrie Magoulas Chanters - Dr. Paul Dallas Festival Pete Simopoulos Happy Hearts - Joanne & Vickie Stamus, & Finance Dr. Bobby Karageorge & Amelia Tames Chris Stratton Dance Troupe Maria Hatzios Grounds Dr. Charles Tarasidis Book store - Don Rowland & Denise Stewart Planning Bobby Ziogas Megdova President Demos Tsiakos Projects - John Christodoulides Webmaster Mark Bonds Stewardship Landon Catron Ushering & Welcome Irene Karageorge The deadline for notices to be placed in the bulletin is the 15th of each month. Please email them to Ruby Ziogas on or before this date. Thank you. 2 SEPTEMBER DIVINE LITURGY SCHEDULE Sept. 1st Thu. Ecclesiastical New Year 8:00 AM Orthros 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 Gospel, Luke: 4: 16-22 Ushers: Olympia Karageorge Sept. 4th, Sun. 9:00 AM Orthros 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Gospel, Matthew: 19:16-26 Ushers: *Pete Simopoulos, Maria Hatzios, Angela Flegas, Larry Owen Sept. 8th, Thu.. Nativity of the Theotokos 8:00 AM Orthros 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, Philippians 2:5-11 Gospel, Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28 Usher: Joanne Stamus Sept. 11th, Sun. 9:00 AM Orthros 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, Galatians 6:11-18 Gospel, John 3:13-17 Ushers: *Irene Karageorge, Donald Butzer, Charlie Tarasidis, Chris Stratton Sept. 14th, Wed. Elevation of the Holy Cross 8:00 AM Orthros 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 Gospel, John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30 Ushers: Olympia Karageorge Sept. 18th, Sun. 9:00 AM Orthros 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, Galatians 2:16-20 Gospel, Mark 8:34-38; 9:1 Ushers: * Carrie Magoulas, John Christodoulides Sept. 25th, Sun. 9:00 AM Orthros 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, 2 Corinthians 4:6-15 Gospel, Luke 5:1-11 Ushers: * Bobby Ziogas, Irene Karageorge, Donald Butzer, Joseph Sept. 26th, Mon. St. John the Theologian 8:00 AM Orthros 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy Epistle, 1 John 4:12-19 Gospel, John 19:25-27; 21; 24-25 Ushers: Joanne Stamus Note: Asterisk in front of names designates, you are the usher leader for that Sunday. USHERS ARE REQUIRED TO ARRIVE FIFTEEN MINUTES PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF LITURGY! IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO USHER AS SCHEDUALED, PLEASE CONTACT ANOTHER USHER FROM YOUR LIST TO REPLACE YOU. Happy Name Day! To all those celebrating their name day! &URQLD 3ROOD! 6H RVRX9 HFRXQ WKQ RQRµDVWLNK WRX9 HRUWK. 3 GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF NEW JERSEY ƭƪƵƧ ưƬƷƵƳƴƳƯƭƶ ƱƪƧƶ ƭƪƵƶƪƬƶ September 1, 2011 The Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Honorable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Esteemed Members of the Metropolitan Council, Esteemed Members of the Parish Councils, Philoptochos Societies, Faculty and Students of the Catechetical and Greek Afternoon Schools, Directors and Participants of all Youth Organizations, and all devout Orthodox Christians of the Greek Orthodox Communities of our Holy Metropolis of New Jersey My Beloved in the Lord, I greet you in Christ the Lord and wish you all a Happy New Year! How strange those words sound in todays society, at this point in our calendar year. Yet today my beloved, we celebrate the beginning of the Church calendar, our Orthodox Christian Ecclesiastical New Year. The term Indiction comes from the days of the Roman Empire and from the Emperors themselves. Historically, the Indiction addresses were prepared at the end of the harvests and beginning of the new season, as the people were in preparation for beginning again, waiting to sow seeds and nurture another harvest and journey throughout another year. These messages from the Emperors were designed to provide direction for the remainder of the year. The message is a rudder to steer the people, so that they would adhere to the will of the Emperor. The Church uses this time as well to provide her direction to all peoples. This direction [the direction Christ our Lord gave to us] is given now so that at the beginning of the New Year we may chart the proper course, and so that we may stay the course throughout the entire year. As the holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew tells us in his Gospel, in the beginning St. John the Baptist came first, preaching in the wilderness for the people to Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3: 2) So the Indiction [the direction] is put forth first in the new ecclesiastical year, that we may embark upon the right and proper path, the Orthodox path. My beloved, that you may all know the wisdom and instructions Solomon speaks about, and which Christ Himself became incarnate to impart to us, I exhort you at the beginning of this New Year to not only remember the following, but to participate in the following: Pray before all actions, for in prayer we come into conversation with our Lord and the Saints receiving the grace of God Himself; be always repentant and recognize that we are fallen and sinful, for all sin and all fall short of the glory of God Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone (John 8: 7) In spite of our fallen human nature, we can take strength in Him, in whose image and likeness, we have been created. Mankind is called to live a Holy life, one in which we strive for the ideal, a life in Christ; the true life which we as the Crown of Gods Creation were meant to live. Be mindful and adhere to the fast seasons of the Church for these times provide for all of us, time to correct our course throughout the year.