Great

and

Holy

Pascha

April 28, 2019 Plagal of the First Tone

Christ is risen from the dead, by

death, trampling down upon

death, and to those in the

tombs He has granted life.

Volume 7 Issue 2

MARCH—APRIL 2019

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek

Orthodox Church

www.stsch.org 43404 30

th St West

Lancaster, CA 93536 (661) 945-1212

Rev. Father John Beal

E-mail: frjohnbeal@stsch.org

For confirmation or questions on any event,

please contact

sylvarobinson001 @gmail.com

The Antelope Valley beacon

P A G E 2 THE ANTELOPE VALLEY BEACON

The Extraordinary Spiritual Feast &

our Regular Preparation

APPROACHING THE FAST before

the Lord's Pascha we confront time

as a cycle: before any feast of the

Spirit we go through a period of

conscious preparation in order to

receive the benefit the Lord is lay-

ing out for us. As Orthodox Chris-

tians we are taught from a young

age that the Feast of Feasts, the

Lord's Resurrection is the main

event of our Church life, and the

whole point of being an Orthodox

Christian is to fully immerse our-

selves in his saving Death and Res-

urrection.

We know that we must go through

the Great Fast of 40 days before

entering Holy Week, an effortful

askesis that focuses all of our facul-

ties of mind, body and spirit on the

goal of purification, of putting off

our sinful passions and working

harder to live virtuously. We make

more recourse to prayer and fast-

ing so that when the season of Lent

is complete we may be able to en-

ter the week of our Lord's Passion,

Death and Resurrection with our

senses cleansed, fully responsive to

the Life that flows from the Empty

Tomb of Christ.

Great and Holy Pascha fulfills our

desires for the fullness of the Life in

Christ to the measure we make

ready for it. But the event of Resur-

rection occurs for us weekly –for

that great event we gather in this

holy temple on Sundays through-

out the year to celebrate the Mys-

tery of Holy Eucharist in Divine Lit-

urgy. And for each of those celebra-

tions, we make ourselves ready to

receive the Gifts just as we do for

Christ's Great and Holy Pascha by

fasting, praying, avoiding defile-

ment of soul and confessing our

sins. The difference between the

celebration of Resurrection on any

given Sunday and Pascha is merely

a matter of scale – Christ is the

constant that makes the whole

year cohere in Him.

There was a time not too long ago

when pious Orthodox Christians

were in the habit of partaking of

the Holy Gifts only at Great Feasts.

Pascha, Nativity, Dormition and

Annunciation had become some

of the only feasts on which most

Christians dared to approach the

Chalice. And because they partook

of the Gifts so infrequently, each

occasion of it came only after pre-

paratory fasting and sacramental

repentance (as abstention from

Holy Eucharist 3 weeks running

excommunicates a member who

must then be atoned into Com-

munion through a priest's absolu-

tion). Happily, these days parish-

ioners feel welcome to take the

Holy Eucharist more frequently,

even each time it is offered. This is

more in keeping with the spirit of

the early Church.

But as we conform more to the

ways of our deep ancestors who

received the Holy Mysteries with

joy at every opportunity let us also

like them keep the holy disciplines

of fasting and prayer in prepara-

tion. There was a time not outside

living memory when the hearing

of the Matins Resurrectional Gos-

pel was understood as necessary

for reception of the Holy Gifts.

Now only a small number of pa-

rishioners come for Matins. Even

the kairos at the beginning of the

Divine Liturgy is heard by relative-

ly few, and the reading of the Holy

Gospel by fewer than are present

by the time the Holy Eucharist is

shared with the people.

Reflecting back to the macro-cycle

of Great Lent before Pascha, we

can see that the Orthodox norm is

to make an effort in time to receive

the Lord. Brothers and Sisters in

Christ – let us not be like the fool-

ish virgins who had provided no oil

for their lamps at the crucial hour,

when Bridegroom arrived at mid-

night, and by their negligence con-

demned themselves to be left out

of the Wedding Banquet!

Each Eucharistic Liturgy is a Pascha

provided for our spiritual suste-

nance throughout the year. Do we

skip Lent to enter Holy Week with

no effort in prayer, fasting and

alms? Do we come to next Sun-

day's Eucharist without compunc-

tion, careless of the hour of our

arrival?

Behold the Bridegroom comes

at midnight, And blessed is the

servant whom He shall find

watching, And again unworthy

is the servant whom He shall

find heedless. Beware, there-

fore, O my soul, do not be

weighed down with sleep, Lest

you be given up to death and

lest you be shut out of the

Kingdom. But rouse yourself

crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, are

You, O our God! Through the

Theotokos have mercy on us!

–Troparion of Holy Monday

Bridegroom Matins

With Love in Christ,

Fr. John

FELLOWSHIP HOUR SCHEDULE

Date Event Sponsor

Mar 3 Meatfare Luncheon—Parish Assembly Hellenic Center

Mar 10 Cheesefare Luncheon Potluck Church/Elaine Grado

Mar 17 Coffee Hour Pva. Medea Beal

Mar 24 Coffee Hour Hind and Elias Qarmout

Mar 31 Coffee Hour Mitzi Bouras

Apr 7 No Coffee Hour

Apr 14 Coffee Hour Kelli Koukourikos

Apr 21 Palm Sunday Fish Luncheon Hellenic Center

Apr 28 Pascha Agape Luncheon Church & Hellenic Center

Anyone interested in doing a memorial luncheon or interested in sponsoring a Fellowship Hour, may contact Helen Poulos at 661-618-8607 (Cell). Yes, Helen!

VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2 PAGE 3

2019 LENTEN SERVICES

Mar 2 Sat 9/10 AM Sat. of Souls Matins/Liturgy/Memorials

Mar 9 Sat 6:00 PM Cheesefare Great Vespers & Compline

Mar 10 Sun 1:00 PM Forgiveness Vespers—start of Great Lent

Mar 11 Mon 8:00 AM Clean Monday Matins with Canon

Mar 13 Wed 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, No Lenten soup meal

Mar 15 Fri 7:00 PM 1st Salutations to the Theotokos

Mar 20 Wed 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, Lenten soup meal after

Mar 22 Fri 7:00 PM 2nd Salutations to the Theotokos

Mar 27 Wed 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, Lenten soup meal after

Mar 29 Fri 7:00 PM 3rd Salutations to the Theotokos

Apr 3 Wed 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, Lenten soup meal after

Apr 5 Fri 7:00 PM 4th Salutations to the Theotokos

Apr 10 Wed 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, Lenten soup meal after

Apr 11 Thu 8:00 AM Matins w/Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

Apr 12 Fri 7:00 PM Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Apr 17 Wed 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, Lenten soup meal after

Apr 19 Fri 6:00 PM Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, Lenten soup meal after

Apr 20 Sat 9/10 AM Saturday of Lazarus Matins/Liturgy. Hall not available.

PAGE 4 THE ANTELOPE VALLEY BEACON

Be The Bee BEETREAT!

www.Y2AM.org

YouTube.com/Y2AM be the bee

Join the BeeTreat Team for a day of prayer and fellowship as we open our hearts to God and each

other.

Steve Christoforou will lead a track specially designed for youth (6

th-

12th

grades).

Christo Pappademos, who is a graduate of Holy Cross Seminary and the Pastoral Assistant at St. Katherine GOC in Elk Grove, CA, will lead a special track for youth

(2nd

– 5th

grades);

Christian Gonzalez will lead a track specially designed for adults

of all ages.

The young adults (age 18-30) will meet at St. Spyridon at 7 pm on March 9

th for coffee, dinner and

discussion.

This is the FIRST time the BeeTreat team has been in Southern Cali-fornia and this retreat is open to

ALL in SoCal. www.gosfyouth.org

"Be the Bee" San Diego Retreat! Location: St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church | 3655 Park Blvd | San Diego, CA 92103

Cost: $10 per participant

Questions: Contact Bill Navrides at Bill.Navrides@sharp.com

Hosted by: Y2AM (The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Youth and Young Adult Minis-

tries), the Metropolis of San Francisco Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, and St Spyr-

idon Greek Orthodox Church.

To Register: www.gosfyouth.org Click on flyer or Y2AM.org/BeeTreats

NOTICES

Memorials We are providing a form on

which Parishioners can notify Fr.

John of planned memorials.

Please ask for the form at the can-

dle stand. If possible, please sub-

mit the form at least one Sunday

prior to the planned date.

According to the rules of the

Church memorials are not permit-

ted: from the Saturday of Lazarus

through Thomas Sunday. Also,

memorials are not allowed on the

Great Feast Days of the Lord and

of the Theotokos.

Memorial services Jan-Feb 2019 A memorial was offered for the loved ones of Alex

and Manal Abuata

A memorial was offered for the grandparents of

Peter Bouras

A 40-Day memorial was offered for Nick Zorba by

Tandy Zorba and family

A Six-Month memorial was offered for Vasiliki by

Betty Minagossian

A memorial for Radovan and a 6-Month memorial for Milca was offered by Seveta Nikolich and Alex-

ander Patananan

A 19-Year memorial was offered for Victoria by

Fotini Astrinakis

A 27-Year memorial was offered for Constantinos

by George and Pilar Dracopoulos

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 2 PAGE 5

HOLY WEEK SERVICES

Apr 21 Sun 7PM Bridegroom Matins of Holy Monday

Apr 22 Mon 7PM Bridegroom Matins of Holy Tuesday

Apr 23 Tue 7PM Bridegroom Matins of Holy Wednesday

Apr 24 Wed 7PM Blessing of the Oil (Unction)

Apr 25 Thu 9AM Vesperal Liturgy - Last Supper and Betrayal

Apr 25 Thu 7PM The Crucifixion - 12 Passion Gospels

Apr 26 Fri 5PM Vespers: Taking down from Cross (Apokatheilosis)

Apr 26 Fri 7PM Lamentations at the Tomb (Epitaphios)

Apr 27 Sat 9AM Vesperal Liturgy (Prophecies, Empty Tomb)

Apr 27 Sat 11:30PM Matins/Liturgy of Resurrection HOLY PASCHA

Apr 28 Sun 12 Noon Agape Vespers of Great and Holy Pascha

Apr 28 Sun 12:45PM Agape Luncheon and egg hunt

Fr. John’s Office Hours during Great Lent

Wednesday Noon to 5:00 PM

Friday Noon to 6:00 PM

P A G E 6

THE ATELOPE VALLEY BEACON

VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2 PAGE 7

2019 PARISH COUNCIL Council Officers

President Peter Bouras Vice President Alex Patananan Secretary Michael Hutchison

Treasurer James Brunson Council Members

Philip Evola Elaine Grado

Bill Koukourikos

We have six mission parishes in the Metropolis of San Francisco:

St. Nectarios, Pasco, Washington; Mission in Salem, Oregon; Holy Cross, Roseburg, Ore-

gon; Mission on Maui, Hawaii; Mission in Lake Havasu City, Arizona; Holy Cross, Flag-

staff, Arizona. All funds raised will go toward work within our Metropolis mission field.

Coffee cups with the logo “Missions Possible” will be available at the beginning of Lent,

March 10, 2019. During this time of fasting, we can use these cups for our donation

of loose change, dollar bills, or checks, as we give to others from the money we have

not spent on ourselves. The cups should be returned to Julie Agnew by the Sunday be-

fore Pentecost—June 9, 2019.

TEXT REMINDERS

To receive text

reminders

of upcoming events,

email your cell

phone number to

Webmaster

@stsch.org

SPRING

FORWARD!!

Don’t Forget to Set Your Clocks

Forward One Hour on

MARCH 10

Feed the Hungry St. Vincent de Paul The 4th Saturday of

April is Holy Saturday.

We have traded dates with another

church. Come help in serving the poor on

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Philoptochos Membership

Luncheon

March 16, 2019 11:00—2:00

Hellenic Center

THE ANTELOPE VALLEY BEACON P A G E 8

Tuesdays at 10:30 AM at Saints Constantine and Helen, Lancaster

Prior to Holy Week

Schedule an appointment with Fr. John Beal for Confession or to have your

home or business blessed!

Fr. John is available on Sundays following Divine Liturgy and on other

days by appointment.

To schedule an appointment you may call the Parish Office at 661-945-1212.

Lenten Period Reading of the Psalms 2019

Week Day Date Kathisma Psalms

1 Tues 5-Mar 1, 2, 3 1 - 8 9 - 16 17 - 23

2 Tues 12-Mar 4, 5, 6 24 -31 32 -36 37 - 45

3 Tues 19-Mar 7, 8, 9 46 - 54 55 - 63 64 - 69

4 Tues 26-Mar 10, 11, 12 70 - 76 77 - 84 84- 90

5 Tues 2-Apr 13, 14, 15 91 - 100 101 - 104 105 - 108

6 Tues 9-Apr 16, 17 109 - 117 118

7 Tues 16-Apr 18, 19, 20 119-133 134-142 143 - 151

Apolytikion of Lazarus Saturday

First Tone

O Christ our God, before Your Passion, You raised Lazarus from the dead to confirm the common Resurrection for all. Therefore, we carry the symbols of

victory as did the youths, and we cry out to You, the victor over death, "Hosanna

in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. "

Lazarus Saturday

P A G E 8

VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2 PAGE 9

Agnew, Ms. Jenny

Agnew. Ms. Julie

Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. David

Astrinakis, Mrs. Fotini

Benveniste, Mrs. Stefania

Benveniste, Mr. and Mrs. Steven

Bonorris, Mrs. Josie

Bouras, Mr. and Mrs. Peter

Brunson, Mr. and Mrs. James

Christou, Mr. and Mrs. Gus

Chryssostomides, Mr. and Mrs. Pandelis

Dracopoulos, Mr. and Mrs. George

Drimakis, Mr. and Mrs. Costas

Eliopulos, Mrs. Georgia

Evola, Mr. and Mrs. Philip

Golea, Mrs. Nicole

Goutsos, Mr. and Mrs. Gary

Grado-Berona, Mrs. Georgia

Grado, Mrs. Elaine

Haddad, Mr. and Mrs. Sam

Harris, Mr. Thomas

Hartman, Ms. Beth

Hendrickson, Mrs. Lee

Homsy, Mr. John

Hutchison, Mr. and Mrs. Michael

On Fasting and Great Lent

Agnew, Ms. Julie

Astrinakis, Mrs.

Benveniste, Mrs. Stefania

Bouras, Mr. and Mrs. Peter

Brunson, Mr. and Mrs. Jim

Christou, Mr. and Mrs. Gus

Chryssostomides, Mr. and Mrs. Pandelis

Dracopoulos, Dr. and Mrs. George

Drimakis, Mr. and Mrs. Costas

Evola, Mr. and Mrs. Philip

Golea, Mrs. Nicole

Grado-Berona, Mrs. Georgia

Grado, Mrs. Elaine

Harris, Mr. Thomas

Hendrickson, Mrs. Lee

Hutchison, Mr. and Mrs. Michael

Kappas, Mr. Andrew

Kappas, Mrs. Sofia

Koukourikos, Mr. and Mrs. Bill

Patananan, Dr. Alexander N.

Perini, Ms. Frances

Poulos, Ms. Helen

Robinson, Mrs. Sylva

Sanchez, Miss Senaida

Sanchez, Mr. and Mrs. Santiago

Svolos, Ms. Artemis

Woods, Mrs. Stella

Zarras, Peter and Lygeri

St. John Chrysostom contrasts Fasting of Martyrdom with Fasting of Demons. He

states that Fasting of Martyrdom should always be connected to almsgiving and

acts of kindness; should always be connected to forgiveness; and should be con-

nected to asceticism, which is the giving of ourselves for someone else. St. Chrys-

ostom states “If your fasting does not have an ascetical aspect to it, your fasting

could be that of demons.”

We are also supposed to fast from time as well during this time of Great Lent. We

give God our time, our talent, our abilities, our resources.

We fast from food in order to give to others who are hungry. We fast from time

for ourselves in order to give time to those individuals who need our service. We

should fast from thinking ill of people who have hurt us and give them our for-

giveness. We should fast from arrogance and be more humble.

Fasting during Great Lent is the renewal of our Baptism. It is asceticism which is

offering to God of “myself.”

During the fast of Great Lent we are restoring the icon of who we are, as Adam

and Eve in the Garden of Eden, so that we, too, can be priests and offer to God

that which is His so that He can enter within His creation once again and allow us

to grow—in His image and likeness!

Taken from Hymnology of Great Lent, the Internet School of Orthodox Studies, Spring 1999, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Pledged Stewards for 2019

Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church 43404 30th Street West

Lancaster, California 93536

The Antelope Valley Beacon

Mar-Apr 2018

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church

TIME DATED MATERIAL

Extreme Humility