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APOLYTIKION OF SAINT NECTARIOS
The offspring of Silyvria*
and the guardian of Aegina* the true friend of virtue who appeared in the
last years. O Nectarios* we faithful honor you* as a godly servant of
Christ, * for you pour forth healing* of every kind for those who piously
cry out. * Glory to Christ who has glorified you; * Glory to Him who has
shown wonders in you; * Glory to Him who works healing through you for
all.
ΑΠΟΛΥΤΙΚΙΟΝ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΝΕΚΤΑΡΙΟΥ
Σηλυβρίας
τὸν γόνον
καὶ Αἰγίνης
τὸν ἔφορον,
τὸν ἐσχάτοις
χρόνοις
φανέντα ἀρετῆς φίλον γνήσιον,
Νεκτάριον
τιμήσωμεν
πιστοί, ὡς ἔνθεον
θεράποντα
Χριστοῦ. Ἀναβλύζει
γὰρ ἰάσεις
παντοδαπὰς
τοῖς εὐλαβῶς
κραυγάζουσι :
Δόξα τῷ
σὲ δοξάσαντι
Χριστῷ, δόξα τῷ
σὲ θαυμαστώσαντι,
δόξα τῷ
ἐνεργούντι
διὰ σοῦ
πᾶσιν ἰάματα.
Holy Pentecost
After the Saviour's Ascension into the Heavens, the eleven
Apostles and the rest of His disciples, the God-loving women who followed
after Him from the beginning, His Mother, the most holy Virgin Mary, and
His brethren-all together about 120 souls returned from the Mount of
Olives to Jerusalem. Entering into the house where they gathered, they
went into the upper room, and there they persevered in prayer and
supplication, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit, as their Divine
Teacher had promised them. In the meanwhile, they chose Matthias, who was
elected to take the place of Judas among the Apostles.
Thus, on this day, the seventh Sunday
of Pascha, the tenth day after the Ascension and the fiftieth day after
Pascha, at the third hour of the day from the rising of the sun, there
suddenly came a sound from Heaven, as when a mighty wind blows, and it
filled the whole house where the Apostles and the rest with them were
gathered. Immediately after the sound, there appeared tongues of fire
that divided and rested upon the head of each one. Filled with the
Spirit, all those present began speaking not in their native tongue, but
in other tongues and dialects, as the Holy Spirit instructed them.
The multitudes that had come together
from various places for the feast, most of whom were Jews by race and
religion, were called Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and so forth, according
to the places where they dwelt. Though they spoke many different tongues,
they were present in Jerusalem by divine dispensation. When they heard
that sound that came down from Heaven to the place where the disciples of
Christ were gathered, all ran together to learn what had taken place. But
they were confounded when they came and heard the Apostles speaking in
their own tongues. Marvelling at this, they
said one to another, "Behold, are not all these which speak
Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were
born?" But others, because of their foolishness and excess of evil,
mocked the wonder and said that the Apostles were drunken.
Then Peter stood up with the eleven,
and raising his voice, spoke to all the people, proving that that which
had taken place was not drunkenness, but the fulfilment of God's promise
that had been spoken by the Prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass
in the last days, that I shall pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and
your sons and daughters shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28), and he preached
Jesus of Nazareth unto them, proving in many ways that He is Christ the
Lord, Whom the Jews crucified but God raised from the dead. On hearing
Peter's teaching, many were smitten with compunction and received the
word. Thus, they were baptized, and on that day about three thousand
souls were added to the Faith of Christ.
Such, therefore, are the reasons for
today's feast: the coming of the All-holy Spirit into the world, the
completion of the Lord Jesus Christ's promise, and the fulfilment of the
hope of the sacred disciples, which we celebrate today. This is the final
feast of the great mystery and dispensation of God's incarnation. On this
last, and great, and saving day of Pentecost, the Apostles of the
Saviour, who were unlearned fishermen, made wise now of a sudden by the
Holy Spirit, clearly and with divine authority spoke the heavenly
doctrines. They became heralds of the truth and teachers of the whole
world. On this day they were ordained and began their apostleship, of
which the salvation of those three thousand souls in one day was the
comely and marvellous first fruit.
Some erroneously hold that Pentecost
is the "birthday of the Church." But this is not true, for the
teaching of the holy Fathers is that the Church existed before all other
things. In the second vision of The Shepherd of Hermas
we read: "Now brethren, a revelation was made unto me in my sleep by
a youth of exceeding fair form, who said to me, 'Whom thinkest
thou the aged woman, from whom thou receivedst
the book, to be?' I say, 'The Sibyl.' 'Thou art wrong,' saith he, 'she is
not.' 'Who then is she?' I say. 'The Church,' saith he. I said unto him,
'Wherefore then is she aged?' 'Because,' saith he, 'she was created
before all things; therefore, is she aged, and for her sake the world was
framed."' Saint Gregory the Theologian also speaks of "the
Church of Christ ... both before Christ and after Christ" (PG
35:1108-9). Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus writes, "The Catholic Church,
which exists from the ages, is revealed most clearly in the incarnate
advent of Christ" (PG 42:640). Saint John Damascene observes,
"The Holy Catholic Church of God, therefore, is the assembly of the
holy Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, and Martyrs
who have been from the very beginning, to whom were added all the nations
who believed with one accord" (PG 96, 1357c). According to Saint
Gregory the Theologian, "The Prophets established the Church, the
Apostles conjoined it, and the Evangelists set it in order" (PG 35,
589 A). The Church existed from the creation of the Angels, for the Angels
came into existence before the creation of the world, and they have
always been members of the Church. Saint Clement, Bishop of Rome, says in
his second epistle to the Corinthians, the Church "was created
before the sun and moon"; and a little further on, "The Church existeth not now for the first time, but hath been
from the beginning" (II Cor. 14).
That which came to pass at Pentecost,
then, was the ordination of the Apostles, the commencement of the
apostolic preaching to the nations, and the inauguration of the
priesthood of the new Israel. Saint Cyril of Alexandria says that
"Our Lord Jesus Christ herein ordained the instructors and teachers
of the world and the stewards of His divine Mysteries ... showing
together with the dignity of Apostleship, the incomparable glory of the
authority given them ... Revealing them to be splendid with the great
dignity of the Apostleship and showing them forth as both stewards and
priests of the divine altars . . . they became fit to initiate others
through the enlightening guidance of the Holy Spirit" (PG 74,
708-712). Saint Gregory Palamas says,
"Now, therefore ... the Holy Spirit descended ... showing the
Disciples to be supernal luminaries ... and the distributed grace of the
Divine Spirit came through the ordination of the Apostles upon their
successors" (Homily 24, 10). And Saint Sophronius,
Bishop of Jerusalem, writes, "After the visitation of the Comforter,
the Apostles became high priests" (PG 87, 3981B). Therefore,
together with the baptism of the Holy Spirit which came upon them who
were present in the upper chamber, which the Lord had foretold as
recorded in the Acts, "ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days hence" (Acts 1:5), the Apostles were also appointed and
raised to the high priestly rank, according to Saint John Chrysostom (PG
60, 21). On this day commenced the celebration of the Holy Eucharist by
which we become "partakers of the Divine Nature" (II Peter
1:4). For before Pentecost, it is said of the Apostles and disciples only
that they abode in "prayer and supplication" (Acts 1:14); it is
only after the coming of the Holy Spirit that they persevered in the
"breaking of bread,"that is, the
communion of the Holy Mysteries-"and in prayer" (Acts 2:42).
The feast of holy Pentecost, therefore,
determined the beginning of the priesthood of grace, not the beginning of
the Church. Henceforth, the Apostles proclaimed the good tidings "in
country and town," preaching and baptizing and appointing shepherds,
imparting the priesthood to them whom they judged were worthy to
minister, as Saint Clement writes in his first Epistle to the Corinthians
(I Cor. 42).
All foods allowed during the week
following Pentecost.
Special Announcement:
·
If someone wants to sponsor the coffee hour,
there is a sign-up sheet in the Hall. Please write legibly your name next
to the date you want to sponsor
·
We need oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) for the
Church, please donate.
·
Please notify us if someone in the member of
the family or yourself is sick, so that we may offer healing prayer.
·
We would like to all members
of the Saint Nectarios Philoptochos Society there will be no meeting for
the rest of Summer (from June, July, and August, 2019). As usual, we go
dark this summer.
·
On Sunday, June 30, 2019, there will be 40th
day Memorial Service for soul of the departed Servant of God, Toula Kontakiotis who died in Cyprus, Greece. Eternal
be her Memory. Lunch will be offered by Erasmia
Ioannou family.
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