PANAGIA COHASSET APRIL 2021 BULLETIN NATIVITY ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY nativity assumption of virgin greek or- GREEKthodox ORTHODOX church CHURCH FORMERLY THE POPE MEMORIAL CHURCH 811 road, cohasset, ma 02025 811781.383.6380 Jerusalem Road Cohasset, MA 02025 781.383.6380 A MESSAGE FROM FATHER Sisters and brothers, Because of the May 2 date for Easter this year, we will spend the month of April in Great Lent. Palm Sunday on the Orthodox calendar is April 25. We think of Great Lent as a “dark” time. Our churches are decorated in purple and the tone of the weekday services is penitential. At home, we are observing the fast. As the days proceed, even the fast can become harder to observe. We want to cry out, “When will this be over?!” The Church knows this and offers a response: the promise of Resurrection. Each day of Great Lent, in the readings and the hymns of the days, the goal of our journey shines a bit brighter. On the Third Sunday of Great Lent (April 4), as we process through the church with a cross decorated with flowers, we sing, “We venerate your Cross and we glorify your Resurrection!” Processing with the cross is a “victory pa- rade” with a trophy, the symbol of the triumph of Christ. The flowers, often daffodils – one of the first flowers of spring -- are a sign of the new life that Christ’s resurrec- tion inaugurates to the entire world. This year, especially, we need these signs of hope, life, and triumph. 2020 was a year of deprivation and hardship. The lockdowns, the pandemic, the economic devasta- tion have affected us all in one way or another. But, little by little, in our lives, we can see that things are beginning to improve. Even in our church, we can see the signs. Last year we missed Lent and Holy Week. Now it is possible to return to church, even if we still wear masks, and take precautions. Elsewhere in the bulletin you will find the schedule of Holy Week services. Until Holy Week begins, the parish will be offering the Salutations to the Virgin Mary on Friday evenings (April 2, 9, 16) and the regular Sunday schedule. As we read on the first Sunday of Great Lent, “Come and see!” (John 1:46). In Christ, Fr. Tony Simple Ways to Make a Planned Gift There are simple ways to make a planned gift to the Panagia Church. These gifts don’t require you to amend or create a Will and don’t usually take much time to do. If you are not sure how much to give because you are not sure how much you will need, these methods donate amounts that are left after you are gone. • Designate the Panagia Church as the beneficiary of your retirement account (e.g., IRA or 401(k) plan). (Your plan administrator can provide you with the appropriate beneficiary designation form.) o You may leave the entire account or a percentage of the proceeds to the parish. o You may name Panagia Church as the primary beneficiary or as the contingent beneficiary. • Designate the Panagia Church as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy you don’t need. (Your life insurance agent can provide you with the appropriate benefi- ciary designation form.) o You may leave the entire policy or a percentage of the proceeds to the parish. o You may name Panagia Church as the primary beneficiary or as the contingent beneficiary. • Add a Payable on Death (“POD”) or Transfer on Death (“TOD”) designation to a bank or securities account so that the account assets are distributed to the Panagia Church on your death. • Establish a pattern of giving to Panagia Church and authorize your Attorney-in- Fact to continue that pattern on your behalf in the event that you become incom- petent. • Direct family members to request that memorial donations be made to the Panagia Church on your death. Please contact Fr Tony or a member of our Parish Council to obtain the legal name of our parish and its tax identification number. Your final plans should always be discussed and reviewed with your attorney and/or financial advisor. Nativity Assumption Church, Cohasset, MA ΠΑΝΑΓΙΑ Holy Week Schedule 2021 April 24 Saturday of Lazarus Liturgy at 9:45 AM Palm Sunday April 25 Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem Liturgy at 9:45 AM Matins of Holy Monday Bridegroom Service 6:30 PM Holy Monday April 26 Matins of Holy Tuesday Bridegroom Service 6:30 PM Holy Tuesday April 27 Matins of Holy Wednesday Bridegroom Service 6:30 PM Holy Wednesday April 28 Sacrament of Holy Unction 6:30 PM Holy Thursday April 29 Divine Liturgy of St. Basil 9:30 AM Matins of Holy Friday with the Twelve Gospel Readings 6:30 PM Holy Friday April 30 The Royal Hours 9:30 AM Great Vespers 3:00 PM The Apokathelosis Matins of Holy Saturday The Lamentations and Procession with Epitaphios 6:30 PM Holy Saturday May 1 Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil The “Proti-Anastasi” 9:30 AM The Anastasi Service Matins and Liturgy 11:15 PM Pascha, Easter May 2 Agape Vespers 11:00 AM Stewardship Report by George Belezos Hello All, Shown are the records for 03-01-21 and for the prior year, as of 03-22-20 You can see that Panagia stewards are pledging well for 2021. We ask our remaining 2020 Stewards to also pledge. Many of those who have pledged are understandably hesitant to attend services due to Covid. However, we invite you drive by and see the changes taking place outside Panagia. As the numbers of people vac- cinated increase, we look forward to seeing more of the congregation inside Panagia. Thank you. The Stewardship Committee If you need a pledge card sent or have questions, please contact Faye Papadopolous at 781-733-6728 or George Belezos at 781-741-5866. Stewardship Continued Holy Friday Luminaries Once again, we will be lighting up the outside walk way and the church on Holy Friday: In Memory Of or In Health Of for your loved one. Like last year we will be using mason jars. If you would like to purchase any luminaries we will have the forms in church, we also have a pay pal acount we will be sharing on our facebook page as well as you can reach out to Audrey Samara DiBona or Nancy Theodorou. It is $10 per Luminarie (per Jar) for each name you would like to honor. We will be accepting Names and Donations until April 25th. Please Contact Us with any questions or orders: Audrey: [email protected] Nancy: [email protected] Why do Orthodox celebrate Easter/Pascha on a different date than other Christians? In order for all Christians to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on the same day, the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD decreed that Pascha (Easter) should be observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox. At that time, the world used the Julian Calendar. This creates the first set of problems for us today. The Julian Calendar of that time fixed the date of the vernal equinox on March 21. (We now know that the vernal equinox can occur on March 19, 20, or 21. In 2019, it is March 20.). The Julian Calendar is inaccurate; it is now thirteen days behind (in 2100, it will be behind by fourteen days) thus unable to predict the full moon. When you look into the sky on April 19 and see a full moon, the Julian Calendar says this is not happening! Otherwise Pascha would be April 21 instead of April 28. The Gregorian Calendar was adopted the Roman Catholic Church and eventu- ally by most of the world in 1582 to correct the errors of the Julian Calendar. For example, Britain ad- opted the Gregorian Calendar in 1750 and the American colonies in 1752. Many Orthodox lands did not adopt the “New Calendar” until the early twentieth century. For example, the Russian Bolshevik government adopted the Gregorian in 1918. The Orthodox Church held a Pan-Orthodox Congress in 1923 and adopted a Revised Julian Calendar to fix errors, but did not go so far as adopting the Gregorian Calendar (which one day it too will need to be corrected). It resembles the Gregorian Calendar very closely. This was not universally ac- cepted in the Orthodox world. For example, the Church of Russia still observes the Julian Calendar, while the Ecumenical Patriarchate observes the Revised Julian. Nevertheless, all Orthodox Christians celebrate Pascha on the same day, but not with the same date. The connection to Passover. Scripture teaches us that Jesus entered Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) in order to celebrate the Passover there. The events of his Pas- sion and Resurrection occurred over the days of that feast. Passover is the Jew- ish holiday celebrating their liberation from slavery in Egypt, under the leadership of Moses. Passover is celebrated on the first full moon af- ter the vernal equinox. After the Jewish dispersion in 70 AD, different Jewish communities used different means to determine the date of Passover. In response the Christian communities developed their own tables for determin- ing the date of Pascha and stopped relying on the Jewish calculations. But, given the closeness of the formulas, Christians will usually celebrate Pascha after the Jewish Passover, but that is not a pre-requisite for determining the date of Pascha. Continued.. One of the pressing issues in 325 and to this day has been a common date for all Christians to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on the same date.