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Holy Week Meditation and Study Guide
Fr. Andrew Demotses
The services of
Holy Week transform us into eyewitnesses and direct participants in the
awesome events of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In
readings taken from both Old and New Testaments, in hymns, processions,
and liturgical commemoration, we see the fulfillment of the Messianic
prophecies, and the mighty acts by which God Himself, in the person of
Jesus Christ, grants us forgiveness for our sins, and rescues us from the
pain of eternal death.
PALM SUNDAY
EVENING - This evening's service calls to mind
the beginning of Jesus' suffering. The gospel describes the plotting of
the priests and elders to trap Jesus into convicting Himself as a
religious heretic. Through parables, Jesus tells us of His coming
betrayal, trial, conviction and execution by crucifixion. The hymns of
this service commemorate two things; the first, the prophetic figure of
Joseph, who, while virtuous, nonetheless suffered unjustly at the hands
of his brothers before being greatly rewarded, and the second, the
parable of the fig tree, which in failing to bear fruit, became a symbol
of fallen creation, and of our own lives, in which we also have failed to
bear spiritual fruit.
HOLY MONDAY
EVENING - This evening's theme is the need for
watchfulness and preparation, lest we be called unprepared before the
awesome judgement seat of Christ to render an account of ourselves. The
gospel reading contrasts the efforts of the Pharisees to trick and
discredit Jesus, with the forceful resistance which Christ mounts against
their evil. The hymns remind us of the parable of the Ten Virgins, in
which the faithful Christian is exhorted to vigilance.
HOLY TUESDAY
EVENING - The need for true repentance is the
concern of Tuesday evening's service. This transformation from the life
of sin to a life of faith and obedience is exemplified for us in the
person of the sinful woman who received the gift for forgiveness when she
anointed Jesus with myrrh and washed His feet. The highlight of the
service is the hymn written in honor of this woman by St. Kassiani. The
Gospel meditation foretells of the coming suffering of Christ and recalls
His inner struggles and agony.
HOLY WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING - The primary theme of Holy
Wednesday is our human need for the healing and forgiveness that comes
into our lives when we establish a relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. We are reminded that the way to this relationship is to be found,
above all else, through the life of prayer. In the Sacrament of Holy
Unction, the faithful are anointed and thus, healed both physically and
spiritually. They are also reconciled to God and one another so that they
might receive the gift of the Holy Eucharist instituted by Christ at the
Last Supper.
HOLY THURSDAY
MORNING - On Holy Thursday morning, we ascend
Mt. Zion with Christ and the Twelve, and enter into the upper room. Once
there, we witness the awesome moment when, at the Last Supper, Christ
abolishes the ritual practice of the Old Covenant and establishes the
ritual of the New Covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah, through the Sacrament
of Holy Communion. The faithful receive Holy Communion at that Holiest of
Liturgies.
HOLY THURSDAY
EVENING - In this service, we commemorate the
undeserved suffering of Jesus Christ, endured for our sake, so that we
might be reconciled anew to God our Father. The Gospel readings witness
for us the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, his trial and conviction, and
finally his torture, crucifixion and death at the hands of a sinful
humanity. This evening's service also includes the procession
representing Christ carrying His own cross along the Via Dolorosa, and
ends when we see before us the King of Glory crucified.
HOLY FRIDAY
AFTERNOON - In this service, we are once again
reverent witnesses to the undeserved suffering of Christ, to his terrible
passion and death. What is remembered in a special way through liturgical
commemoration and procession, is the faithfulness and love of Joseph of
Arimathea who tenderly removed Christ's body from the cross, wrapped it
in clean linen, and carried it to his own unused tomb for burial.
HOLY
FRIDAY EVENING - On Good Friday evening, the theme is
Christ's descent into Hades during which the Gospel of repentance and
reconciliation with God is shared with those who died before Christ's
saving dispensation in the flesh. The service begins with lamentations
sung as we stand before the tomb of Christ commemorating His unjust
punishment and the shedding of His innocent blood. But the service ends
on a note of joy and hope, with the reading of the Prophet Ezekiel in
which he describes his vision of our resurrection yet to come; in the
midst of despair, we are told there is hope, for not even death can
separate us from the unfailing love and power of God. Death is about to
be conquered and faithfulness rewarded.
HOLY
SATURDAY MORNING - On Holy Saturday morning we
celebrate the theme of faithfulness receiving its reward. The crucifixion
is over, Christ is buried, the twelve apostles and other disciples are
scattered and defeated. And yet, three myrrh-bearing women come in
faithfulness to perform the last act of love--to anoint Jesus according
to the Jewish burial custom. Their unwavering devotion is rewarded--they
are the first to share in Christ's triumph over evil and death. They are
the first witnesses to the Resurrection. This joy is commemorated through
the scattering of bay leaves and rose petals by the priest.
HOLY
SATURDAY EVENING - EASTER SUNDAY MORNING
- The lamentations of the previous night are repeated and the church is
plunged into darkness to symbolize the despair and defeat experienced
before the dawn of Christ's victory over the Enemy of our salvation.
Precisely at midnight, a single light emerges from the altar representing
the victory of Christ over death, the defeat of the Prince of Darkness by
Jesus, the Light of the World. As the light is passed from person to
person, it pushes back the darkness of the church and defeats it
completely. The Resurrection is proclaimed in song and triumphant
procession, and after the Liturgy, its light is carried into our homes so
that they too might be filled with its light and warmth and triumph.
EASTER SUNDAY
MORNING - Christ's Resurrection and victory is
affirmed in this morning's theme. The Gospel is read in several languages
to illustrate the universality of the Good News of the Resurrection and
its proclamation to the very ends of the earth. Love, forgiveness,
reconciliation, triumph and joy--these are the gifts which we receive
because Christ lived and died and triumphed for our sake.
GLORY BE TO HIM
FOR ALL THINGS, AND MAY YOUR EASTER BE BLESSED
Ο Αναστάς
Κύριος δεν
αποχωρίζεται
ποτέ το
Σταυρό.
Παραμένει ο
αιώνια
ανιστάμενος
αλλά και
αιώνια σταυρούμενος.
Ούτε στιγμή
δεν
κατεβαίνει
από το Σταυρό,
γιατί είναι η
σταυρουμένη
αγάπη. Αλλά
ούτε και μια
στιγμή δεν
κυριεύεται
από το σκότος
του ΄Αδη,
γιατί είναι ο
ίδιος το Φως.
Και η Ζωή. Και η Ανάσταση.
ACOLYTES
If
you would like to have your son become an acolyte (Altar Boy), please see
Father Kostas after Church on Sundays or call Peter Klentos
at (714) 466-0356 Father Knostantinos Douvikas
at 909-238-5739. Altar Boys MUST be at church by 10:00 AM on Sundays. For
more information, please click
the link.
MYROFORES
(Myrr-bearers)
The
Myrr-bearers had brought funeral spices and
ointments to finish committing Christ’s body to the grave. They were the
first to see the empty tomb and were instructed by the risen Lord to
bring the joyful news to the Apostles. On holy Friday evening (around
8:00 pm) during the Lamentation, the priest with the Altar Boys and the Myroforores gather about the Epitafios
representing the Myrr-bearing women. Any of
your young ladies of the community who wish to be Myrofores
please speak with father Kostas or call the church office and leave your
name and telephone number and we will contact you. For more information,
please click the link
PRESANCTIFIED
LITURGY
The
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is of very early and, in a sense,
practical origin; practical in that it was seen as the means for the
faithful to commune of the Sacrament on days when the Eucharistic Liturgy
could not be celebrated. In early times, at least until the fourth
century, Communion was considered so much a part of the Eucharistic
Sacrifice that it was unthinkable to attend without partaking. In fact,
the faithful sometimes received the Sacrament more often than they
attended the Liturgy, usually celebrated on Sunday only, the Lord's Day,
and this by virtue of taking the Sacrament home, in a special "arca "fashioned for this purpose. Tertullian
testifies to the practice when he asks, "Will not your husband know
what it is that you secretly consume before any other food?" In
Syria the practice was still current in the sixth century. John Moschos, a spiritual writer of the period, speaks of
the faithful taking home with them on Holy Thursday enough of the
Eucharist to last the year.
Of all
the Lenten rules, one is unique to Orthodoxy, and so gives us a key to
its liturgical spirit: it forbids the celebration of the Divine Liturgy
on weekdays in Lent, as incompatible with fasting, the sole exception
being the Feast of the Annunciation. But so as not to deprive the
faithful of "the food of immortality", the Liturgy of the
Presanctified Gifts is prescribed, that is, a "Eucharistic
synaxis" without the Consecration. The festal nature of the
Eucharist is thus reserved for Saturdays and Sundays in Lent, while on
the days of total fasting, Wednesdays and Fridays, the people receive the
Holy Gifts that were sanctified on the previous Sunday.
The
Presanctified was from the start an evening service, Communion following
Vespers, to be conducted after the Ninth Hour, i.e. three o'clock in the
afternoon. The daylong fast was thus broken early in the evening, much as
the total fast on Sunday is broken after Communion. It is likely that
this service was not always confined to Lent, but
was common to all of the Church's fasting seasons. However, permeated as
it is with the "bright sadness" of Lent, it has taken on a
special beauty and solemnity. As we pray for the Catechumens, those being
made ready for Holy Baptism on Easter Saturday, we sense a direct connection
with the Christian Church of the early centuries, and
understand the initial character of Lent as preparation for Baptism and for Easter.
But
it is the Prayers of the Faithful that really illuminate the Lenten road,
giving us a fuller understanding of the meaning and purpose of the Lenten
discipline:
"Liberate
all our senses from killing passion, setting over them as benevolent
sovereign our inner reason. Let the eye be averted from every evil sight,
and the ear is deaf to idle talk. May the tongue be purged of unseemly
speech? Purify these lips that praise You, Lord. Make our hands abstain
from wicked deeds, doing only such things as are pleasing to You, thus
sealing with Your grace all our members, and our mind."
HOLY WEEK AND EASTER OFFERINGS
ΔΩΡΑ
ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ
ΜΕΓΑΛΗΝ
ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΑ ΚΑΙ
ΤΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ
The number of parishioners has inquired about
the offering for the Pascha Season. The following is the list of these
offering for Holy Week and Easter.
Πολλά
μέλη της
ενορίας μας
ζήτησαν να
μάθουν τι μπορούν
να προσφέρουν
για τη Μεγάλη
Εβδομάδα και
το Πάσχα.
Ακολουθεί
μία κατάσταση
των
αναγκαίων.
1. Flowers during Holy Week
Λουλούδια
για την
Μεγάλη
Εβδομάδα
2. Wreaths for the Crucifix
Στέφανα για τον Εσταυρωμένο
3. Wreath for the Resurrection
΄Ενα στεφάνι για την Ανάσταση
4. Oil for the Holy Unction Service
Ελαιόλαδο για το Ευχέλαιον
5. Two Virgin Candles for the Nymphios,
Palm Sunday
Δύο
καθαρές
λαμπάδες για
τον Νυμφίο
6. Twelve candles for the reading of the 12 Gospels
Δώδεκα
μικρές
λαμπάδες για
τα δώδεκα Ευαγγέλια
7. Two Virgin candles for the Resurrection
Δύο
καθαρές
λαμπάδες για
την Ανάσταση
8. Rose petals for the Epitaphion
Ροδοπέταλα
για την
Αποκαθήλωση
και τον
Επιτάφιο
9. Rose Water for the Epitaphio
(Good Friday)
Ανθόνερο
για τον
Επιτάφιο ή
άρωμα λεμόνι
10. Incense
Μοσχολίβανο
IF
YOU WANT TO MAKE ANY OF THE HOLY WEEK OR EASTER OFFERING, YOU CAN SEND
YOUR OFFER TO THE CHURCH . PLEASE FILL OUT THAT
FORM SO WE KNOW THE ITEM YOU WANT TO OFFER.
ΕΆΝ
ΘΕΛΕΤΕ ΝΑ
ΠΡΟΣΦΕΡΕΤΕ
ΟΠΟΙΟΔΗΠΟΤΕ
ΑΠΌ ΤΑ ΔΩΡΑ ΓΙΑ
ΤΗ ΜΕΓΑΛΗ
ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΑ ΚΑΙ
ΤΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ ΠΟΥ
ΘΑ ΧΡΕΙΑΣΤΕΙ
Η ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ
ΜΑΣ ΜΠΟΡΕΙΤΕ
ΝΑ ΣΤΕΙΛΕΤΕ
ΤΗΝ ΠΡΟΣΦΟΡΑ
ΣΑΣ ΣΤΗΝ
ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ .
ΜΠΟΡΕΙΤΕ
ΕΠΙΣΗΣ ΝΑ
ΣΥΜΠΛΗΡΩΣΕΤΕ
ΤΗ ΦΟΡΜΑ ΓΙΑ
ΝΑ ΞΕΡΟΥΜΕ
ΠΟΙΟ ΕΙΔΟΣ
ΘΕΛΕΤΕ ΝΑ
ΠΡΟΣΦΕΡΕΤΕ.
ΝΑΜΕ
(Όνομα)……………………………………………………………………………………
ΙΤΕΜ
I WANT TO DONATE (Είδος που
επιθυμώ να
προσφέρω)………………………………….
LOUKOUMADES
BREAKFAST
WE INVITE ALL
CHILDREN OF OUR CHURCH
SATURDAY March
31, 2018
(Saturday
of St. Lazarus) at 9:30 AM
TO
MAKE THE PALM SUNDAY CROSSES
A
DELICIOUS LOUKOUMADES BREAKFAST
IS
GOING TO BE SERVED
The Easter sermon of John
Chrysostom
If
there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!
Let
no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let
no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let
no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen
Easter 2018
My
Dear Brethren,
CHRIST IS RISEN!
Again, this year, we celebrate the Greek Easter based on our
tradition, morals and customs. Every year, during the Holy Week, we live
the divine Passion, we empathize with our lord who suffered for our
salvation, we try to lift up, as Cyrine, his
heavy cross, we descend with Him to Hades and finally we partake in his
Resurrection which is the guarantee of our own redemptive Resurrection.
The orthodox icon of Resurrection does not show the scene of the
Resurrection. The Gospels do not care to show what or how something
happened, but why it happened. This image shows the Risen Christ to lift
up from Hades’ kingdom two people, Adam and Eve, as representatives of
the human race. In this way the Lord, underlines the anthropological
implications of his Resurrection which means that Jesus was risen from
the dead with all his race giving to all mankind the possibility of
immortality and incorruptibility.
Our resurrection as a fruit and consequence
of the Resurrection of Christ , is a momentous event for us , which
Includes the certainty of defeat
of death, but also reassert our rights in the inheritance of the kingdom
of our Father God and the warranty by grace of our adoption from our
Father God .But in daily occupations our resurrection by symbolic
character prepares our endurance, strengthens our consciences, revives
our morals and ontologically gives us hope, peace and dispassionate view
of the phenomena of the world.
So, rejoice with all your strength the joy of the resurrection. Replace throughout the period of Pentecost
your daily greeting with CHRIST IS RISEN. Show in every direction that we
are, as Christians, through the resurrection, strong, sober, well-
oriented, good fighters and immortal. Experience within the Church the
dimensions of liberation from the specter of death, due to the
devaluation of our face. Today the world is dominated by death, hatred,
terrorism, violence, wars and disrespect.
Who will save us from the tyranny of uncertainty and adversity? Only
Christ Who is our resurrection and regeneration. Suffice to want and to
seek.
CHRIST IS RISEN!
FATHER
KONSTANTINOS
Apokriatiko Dinner Dance
Special
Thanks!
Thanks to all that came to our
Apokriatiko Dinner Dance
Special
thanks to our cook, Mr Panayotes
Triantafelles.
Special
thanks to Mrs. Rebecca Lawdis, Mrs. Adriana Bonorris, Eleni Scarpathiotis
and other ladies that helped.
Special
thanks to the donors, Fr Konstantinos Douvikas, Mr
& Mrs Antonis
Apostolakis,
Mrs Yaffa-Mary Iacobsohn & Mrs Rebecca
Lawdis.
SUNDAY, MARCH 25,
2018
Saint Nectarios
Church communities will be celebrating the
GREEK
INDEPENDENCE DAY
(ΕΟΡΤΑΣΜΟΣ
25 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ 1821 -CELEBRATION OF 25 OF
MARCH,1821)
Σας
προσκαλούμε
την Κυριακή 25 Μαρτίου 2018 και ώρα 11.30
π.μ. στην
αίθουσα
εκδηλώσεων
της Εκκλησίας
μας, για τον
εορτασμό της
25ης Μαρτίου 1821.,
προς τιμή όλων
των Ελλήνων
που
αγωνίστηκαν
για την
ελευθερία της
πατρίδας μας.
We invite you to
celebrate Greek Independence Day, Sunday, March 25,2018, at 11.30 AM, in
the church hall and honor all Greeks who fought for freedom.
DANCING GROUP PERFORMANCE, RECITING POEMS, DELICIOUS
LUNCH, AND MUCH MORE!
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WE INVITE ALL
LADIES OF OUR CHURCH TO COME AND JOIN OUR LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY
DUES ARE $50
St. Nectarios Local
Chapter
- Chapter Number: 4030
- Address: 20340
E. Covina Blvd. Covina CA 91724
- Telephone Number: 626-967-5524
The Greek Orthodox Ladies
Philoptochos Society, Inc., is the duly accredited
women's philanthropic society of
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
We
invite all ladies of our Church to come and join our Ladies
Philoptochos Society. Dues are
$50. Husband as well as their teenage kids are welcome to join too, but
they would not have voting privilege.
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BAKE SALE!
Our ladies of Philoptochos
are organizing their Easter Bake Sale.
PALM SUNDAY, April 1, 2018 after
the Divine Liturgy
TSOUREKIA (Sweet Bread)
Be ready for Easter!
For your orders, you can call:
The church
office: 626-967-5524
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