Church Services
Holy Pentecost
Reading
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.
Apolytikion of Pentecost
Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Blessed are You, O Christ our God, who made fishermen all-wise, sending
upon them the Holy Spirit and, through them, netting the world. O Loving
One, glory to You.
Kontakion of Pentecost
Plagal of the Fourth Tone
When the Most High came
down and confounded tongues of men (Babel), He divided the Nations. When He
dispensed the Tongues of Fire, He called all to unity, and with one voice
we glorify the Most Holy Spirit.
Monday of the Holy Spirit
Reading
As it is the custom of the
Church, on the day after every great Feast, to honour
those through whom it came to pass our Lady on the day after the Lord's
Nativity, Joachim and Anna after our Lady's Nativity, the holy Baptist the
day after Theophany, and so forth, on this day we honour
our God the All-holy Spirit, the Comforter promised by our Saviour to His disciples (John 14:16), Who descended
upon them at holy Pentecost and guided them "into all truth"
(ibid. 16:13), and through them, us.
Rest from labour.
Apolytikion of Monday of the Holy Spirit
Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Blessed are You, O Christ
our God, who made fishermen all-wise, sending upon them the Holy Spirit
and, through them, netting the world. O Loving One, glory to You.
Kontakion of Monday of the Holy Spirit
Plagal of the Fourth Tone
When the Most High came down
and confounded tongues of men (Babel), He divided the Nations. When He
dispensed the Tongues of Fire, He called all to unity, and with one voice
we glorify the Most Holy Spirit.
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
St. Nectarios is a parish of Metropolis of
San Francisco of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
|
|
|
Click Here to
Contact Us
Email Address:
stnectarioschurch@gmail.com
Regular Schedule
of
Administrative
Services:
o Office Hours – Monday through Friday
§ 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
|
|
o Church is
open - Monday through Friday
§ 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
|
|
o Saturday –
Church is open from:
§ 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
|
WeShare
 Secure
SSL/TLS Connection
|
