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The Anchor—lent 2019

THE anchorTHE anchor St. Andrew Greek Orthodox ChurchSt. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church

5649 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 606605649 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60660 773773--334334--4515 (ph)4515 (ph) 773773--334334--3468 (fax)3468 (fax)

www.standreworthodox.orgwww.standreworthodox.org (email) [email protected](email) [email protected]

Rev. John N. Kalomas, ProistamenosRev. John N. Kalomas, Proistamenos Rev. Athanasios Minetos, Associate PriestRev. Athanasios Minetos, Associate Priest

Sunday Services: Sunday Services: Orthros 8:00 a.m. Liturgy 9:30 a.m.Orthros 8:00 a.m. Liturgy 9:30 a.m.

I recall back in July 2000 when I had to go to the hospital as I was not feeling well. 104.5 fever, aches and pains all over and joints swollen to an extreme. The tests that they preformed on me were endless, and the questions were even more than just endless, they were insane. Still though, I had to tell them everything. What medicine made me feel better, what hurt, where it hurt, how I was feeling, it was as if I was being not just physically but also spiritually examined inside out. The funny thing is that it took them until December of 2000 to finally diagnose me with having Lupus. Once this was done and complete, my physician who is my primary care doctor for this disease prescribed the proper medicine which has placed this illness under control where 19 years later, I am able to live a normal life, if you really believe that there is any normalcy in the priesthood. So why the story? It actually reflects to what we actually experience in our church for our spiritual wellness; the aspect of feeling ill and being made well. I know how much all of us hate to go to the doctors. There is always that apprehension of them diagnosing something, that maybe we do not want to hear about. It places us in a fearful or even an embarrassed situation for we are allowing a stranger into our private life. Eventually the stranger becomes our physician in whom we become trust-worthy with and are able to tell him all our pains both physical and psychological. In this the physician prescribes the proper medicine which helps us to come back to good health in the quickest way possible. With this said we therefore turn our lives to the sacrament that purifies and heals our souls; one of the seven in which has fallen out of use or is being totally avoided. Why? Because just like our avoidance of going to our regular physicians for check ups on a regular basis, in which we do not want to know anything that may not be good about ourselves, we also do not want to know that in our daily lives where everything seems rosy and nice, that there are imperfections that need to be addressed.

Our life is filled with a spiritual ailment in which our souls are infected by the infirmities of sin. What are some of these ailments; lies, gossip, vindictiveness, lust, hate, indifference, fear, hopelessness are some of the main ones that come to mind. We could always look at our lack of support to our spouses; our lack of being proper parents to our children; of treating our ageing parents with lack of respect to the abuses that are placed upon our children. Yet no matter what it is whether it has to do with family, friends, neighbors, or just ourselves personally, the illness is there and we have to make an effort to acknowledge that something is not correct and make the proper adjustments in rectifying our lives so that our spiritual part may be healed. Confession! A word that for some brings embarrassment, resentment, and even fear to one’s life, for we may recall it during our younger days growing up in the church, through either Greek School or Sunday School. As many of us who have participated in this as children, all we knew is that we are going in front of a priest to tell him how bad we really are, not knowing many times that our mothers had already informed them of our actions at home as well as outside of the home. It was not the fear of being beaten that made us afraid of confession, but rather the humiliation of the issue having our priest who we had the most respect for as well as the most fear for to be standing there in front of him to be examined and cross-examined so that we may know that if we do not shape up, it is not the priest or our parents that will punish us but God Almighty who will send Gremlins to pester our lives forever. Ok, enough of the Γιάγια-isims. Needless to say no Gremlins ever came to pester us for the rest of our lives; our mothers and fathers, and of all of us who either have both or at least one of them still, still love us. Our priest that we grew up with is proud of us to see what we have grown up to be, so in reality the

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The Forgotten And Avoided Sacrament Of Our Church


Alexandra Blanas Cathy Fasseas Terri Mikuzis

Arianna Neuhaus Michael Neuhaus Aspasia Sarris

Thank you all for your con nued help and support

throughout the year! Please contact the church office if you are able to help with mailings.

OFFICE ASSISTANCE

ST. ANDREW’S FOOD PANTRY More and more everyday less fortunate people are asking churches for food. In these difficult mes St. Andrew would like to help them, but in order to do so we need

your help.

Please help us restock our food pantry with items such as: cereal, oatmeal, rice, pasta, pasta sauce. Also, canned items of tuna,

tomato sauce, soup, vegetables, fruit or any other non‐perishable items. It is helpful if the canned goods have a flip‐top lid. Monetary dona ons will also be accepted.

In an effort ini ated by our dear departed friend and Philoptochos sister Ethel Kotsovos, members of the greater Chicago Orthodox community have had the privilege of serving lunch to approximately 100 less fortunate fellow human beings on the first Saturday of the month for more than 15 years. The soup kitchen, located at the First Presbyterian Church in Evanston, is just one part of that church's strong community outreach program. St. Andrews Philoptochos and other volunteers have consistently and con nuously served the Saturday soup kitchen, longer than any other single contribu ng group. Please consider joining them.

ST. ANDREW GREEK ORTST. ANDREW GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCHHODOX CHURCH

His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael Metropolis of Chicago

Rev. John N. Kalomas, Proistamenos Rev. Athanasios Minetos, Associate Priest Rev. John G. Kutulas, In Loving Memory

Contact Fr. John at 773‐334‐4515 or Email him at [email protected]

PARISH COUNCIL 2018

Nick Hatzopoulos President Mark Poulakidas 1st Vice President/Stewardship Phil Hatzopoulos 2nd Vice President/Finance Jeffery Chrones 3rd Vice President Bill Aslanides Secretary Athena Davros Treasurer

M

Peter Alexopoulos Terri Mikuzis Michael Bartholomew Frank Prokos Steve Hastalis Kosta Zografopoulos George Marks

STAFF & MINISTRY LEADERS

Financial Secretary: Vivian L. Davros Office Secretary: Alejandra Franco

Philoptochos President: Fo ne Bloom

Chanters: Nicholas Christacos & Dean Theodoropoulos Choir Director: Dr. Peter Jermihov

Narthex Commi ee: William Alexopoulos, Leo Manta, Ma hew Bezanes, Michael Davros, Cathy Fasseas, Milton Fasseas

Sunday School Coordinator: Tracey Lazos

Greek School Principal: Father John Kalomas

Mommy and Me Advisor: Stephane Collopy JOY Advisors: Eleni Parisi & Cynthia Turk GOYA Advisors: Athena Davros & Presvytera Nicole Minetos Young Adult Ministry: Athena Davros & Alex White


sacrament of confession was not as bad as we had made it out to be. Yet it has not been put into full use as all the other sacraments after we grew up. Why? One thing is that we feel that we really have not done anything wrong that needs to be confessed to a priest. Another is pride, yet another is the trust factor of your priest. How much do you trust him should be the same as how much you trust your physician or even a close friend. It must be at the same level that when some serious ailment takes place in your physical life that requires an operation like open heart surgery, you would want the best physician and in him you would put your trust in. It is the same with the issue of confession and your father confessor. The part that is ailing is your soul, and you put all your trust of your soul into the hands of the spiritual father who will bring healing to it in the quickest manner. We therefore need confession. It is a necessity in our lives as much as food and water are necessities for survival. Confession brings us back to the exact point of our lives where we were on the day of our baptism. Think how awesome this is; on the day of our baptism we are brought to the exact point of what Adam and Eve were the day that God created them; Perfection, no sin, no pain, no suffering, nothing but pure goodness. This is why the child or adult wears an outfit of pure white, to show the cleanliness of the individual’s life. Think of the simplicity yet the purity of Adam and Eve when God made them; how free they were from any guilt, how even in there nakedness, they did not even see this for they were clothed with the perfection, goodness, and love of God. We are at this precise point at the moment at our baptism. We are perfect, we are good, and we are what Adam and Eve were. God gave Adam and Eve a gift though; he gave them free will and with that free will they unfortunately allowed their pride to get in the way and with this pride they freely chose to defile the perfection of what God gave them. This perfected state of our lives also gets tarnished as we grow in life and make wrong decisions. Our failures makes our white garments that we were clothed with on the day of our baptism to become tarnished with the failures of sins, just like Adam and Eve became tarnished with sin and the purity of their lives that was on the day of their creation became defiled in their imperfection because of their pride and free will. But God did not allow them to remain in the filth of sin forever. Yes they died and were condemned back to the earth which they were brought from, but they were not forgotten. God looked to bring them back into the fold, back into reconciliation with him and it was through Jesus Christ. For us the way our reconciliation becomes a reality is through the sacrament that Christ left for us, the sacrament of confession. For in this sacrament, it is not the priest who is forgiving, but Christ Himself.

“If you forgive the sins of those then they remain forgiven, and if you retain the sins of those then they will be retained.” With this commission of the disciples by Christ, He placed it down to the generations that would follow. Through the apostles and their ordination of bishops and priests this same commission remains today. The priest is given the authority through the Holy Spirit to read the prayer of absolution and absolve all sins that the individual has committed through the Glory of God. It is only through this sacrament, that the white garment that is bestowed upon us on the day of our baptism is washed clean again and we are brought back to the perfection of that day. Christ cleansed Adam and Eve through His descent into Hell and brought them back up through His love and forgiveness. Christ does this once again through the sacrament of confession. He brings the life of sinner back into the sinless state. If this is such an important sacrament, why is it such an unused sacrament? Why have we left from going to our spiritual father so that he can give us the proper medicine to remedy that which ails us spiritually? I gave many reasons before, about fear, embarrassment and so forth, but I feel that the most significant reason is pride. Pride that we have really not done anything that is in the eyes of God wrong. And what happens is that this pride shuts out all aspects of really self examining ourselves to see that in reality we do have an ailment or ailments, and that we do need to go to our physician of our souls so that our healing, and our perfected state can be returned back to its original form on that day of our baptism. No better time is here for us than this up and coming period of Great and Holy Lent in which begins on the 11th of March and goes till the 19th of April. The church gives us this opportunity to participate in all the elements of fasting, self examination, prayerfulness, and above all confession so that we can be welcomed into the Kingdom of God in the perfected state of how He made us. Think of it; when one walks out of confession he is set back to the perfection he was the moment they were taken out of the baptismal font. You are perfected back to that state. I encourage everyone to go to confession this year; I encourage everyone to learn about what confession is. Come and bring your unwanted and heavy baggage and lay it at God’s feet, for this is how one can embrace our Lord and our Lord to embrace us. In that way, through the sacrament of confession, our sins are seen by our Lord as the act of asking his forgiveness through our humility. It is ok once in a while to humble ourselves and to bring ourselves down to a point in which we know that we are not perfect people. It is ok to realize this and state directly to Christ our Lord, through your spiritual father (your priest) of our unworthiness, of our tarnished garment that He gave to us perfect and

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“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.”

Preparing for marriage is truly a beau ful period of expecta on and joy. As you get ready for the “big day,” it is also important to spend me ge ng ready for the days that follow that “big day.” As you know, Holy Matrimony is not only a Sacrament at the

me of the ceremony, but also throughout life. At St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church, we invite all couples ge ng married to par cipate in a Marriage Prepara on Seminar where you can discuss issues related to marriage, the struggles along the way, and the strategies for preparing for the journey. All couples are required to par cipate in one of these workshops, prior to your wedding date.

Marriage Preparation Seminars will be held from 10 am—3 pm on the following Saturdays:

March 23 May 18 June 8 Aug 10 October 5

Please RSVP to Fr John at [email protected]

Holy Confession appointments are available 3pm-5pm on Wednesday and 4pm-6pm on Friday each week until Holy Week. To schedule an appointment please call 773-334-4515.

Adult Religious Studies

This year’s religious studies will be on The Epistles, continuing with Romans

Dates are every other week on Monday evening at 7:00 pm. March 18, April 1, April 15, May 6, May 20, June 3, and June 17. We will take a break for the

summer and begin again in the fall. The fall dates are September 9, September 23, October 7, October 21, November 4, November 18, December 2 and December 16

Come and join us and learn about the richness of our faith through Scripture.

Above all, bring your bibles. We will be using the Orthodox Study Bible.

For more information call 773-334-4515 and speak with Father John.

white, so that we may return the garment back to Him that He may once again give it back to us clean and perfected. Bring yourselves back to the Lord through this sacrament; bring yourselves back to the perfection of our garment in which he cleansed with His blood. Bring yourselves to the sacrament of confession so the weights of sins will be removed from your shoulders, and the pains of sickness will be healed through the gift of love. Contemplate and go this year to partake of this sacrament, in humility and love, so that we can partake

completely in our Salvation that our Lord has prepared for us. A Blessed Great and Holy Lent: Fr. John N. Kalomas


HOLY WEEK AND PASCHA 2018 Beloved Brethren:

Below you will find the needs for the costs of this year’s Lenten/Holy Week/Pascha Flowers. If you wish to help and be a donor for any‐thing in memory of any individuals or a sum of the below men oned items, please call the church and either speak to Fr. John or Vivian. Thank you for your constant love and support.

Αγαπητοί Αδελφοί,

Κατωτέρω θά εύρετε τί χρειαζόμεθα γιά τήν Μεγάλης Τεσσαρακοστή καί το Πάσχα. Αν έχετε τήν ευχαρίστησι νά προσφέρετε ότι δωρεά μπορείτε γιά τις ανάγκες της Εκκλησίας μας, σάς παρακαλούμε τελεφωνήστε στό γραφείο της Εκκλησίας μας, νά επικοινωνήσετε μέ τον Πατέρα Ιωάννη ή την Βίβιαν. Σάς ευχαριστούμε γιά την αγάπη καί την υποστήριξίν σας.

Full Dona on Par al Dona on

Palms and Bay Leaves for Palm Sunday: $1,200.00: ___________ $____________

Daffodils: $ 400.00: ___________ $____________

Akathist Hymn Icon: $ 350.00: ___________ $____________

Floral Sprays for the Nymphio Icon: $ 375.00:___________ $____________

Rose petals for Myrrophores: $ 125.00:___________ $____________

Easter Lilies: ($20 each) $1,000.00:___________ $____________

Flowers for Large Anastasi Icon: $ 400.00:___________ $____________

Flowers for 2 small Anastasi's Icons:($225 each) $ 450.00:___________ $____________

Orchids for Anastasi's: $ 275.00:___________ $____________

Floral Spray for Lavaron: $ 400.00: ___________ $____________

Flowers for the Mystical Supper Icon: $ 275.00: ___________ $____________

Gardenias for the Epitaphio: $ 175.00: ___________ $____________

3 Ornate Clergy Anastasi Candles: $ 825.00: ___________ $____________

9 Candles for the Cross: $ 175.00: ___________ $____________

Roses for Holy Friday Evening: $1,350.00: ___________ $____________

Floral arrangements for all other needs $1,000.00: ___________ $____________

Floral Wreath for the Cross $ 275.00: ___________ $____________

Epitaphio Flowers $2,500.00: ___________ $____________

Carnations for Epitaphio $ 175.00: ___________ $____________

Please check the items in which it will be a full donation or a partial donation so that it can properly be credited. Thank you again for your continued support.

______________________________________ __________________ Signature Date

ΚΑΙ ΤΩ ΘΕΩ ΔΟΞΑ AND GLORY BE TO GOD


A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

Great and Holy Lent is a time that is filled with meaning, and, after our first week of increased fasting and prayer, we celebrate what is known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy. This year, at our parish, we will be hosting the pan-Orthodox celebration of the Sunday of Orthodoxy. On this Sunday, every single Orthodox Church around the world commemorates the triumph of Orthodox Christianity over those who wanted to destroy the beauty of the liturgical art that adorned our churches in the 8th century. Furthermore, it is a triumph of our Faith over everyone who tried to bring her down, and it is a reassurance to us, as we proclaim that there is “No great a God as our God. He is the God who works wonders.” When we come to church, we are participating in the triumph over every evil, sorrow, pain, anguish or concern. When we come to church, we are not participating in passing fads where shiny strobe lights and laser shows wow us into donating a small fortune. When we come to Church we are feeding ourselves the food that will give us eternal life. And yet, we are not only nourishing our souls, but we are girding them with armor so that we can go out into a world that is very difficult and oftentimes a war zone - be it physical or emotional. But in the loving embrace of the Church we have our refuge. If the world is a battlefield then this is our fortress. This is where we go to heal our wounds. This is where we go to eat and be nourished. This is where we go to take shelter when the onslaught seems too much to handle. At the end of the day, this is our home where we can find comfort and warmth on the coldest of nights.

This is the Church that The Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council spoke about when they declared: “This is the Faith of the Apostles. This is the Faith of the Fathers. This is the Faith of the Orthodox. This is the Faith which has established the Universe.” They were proclaiming to the world that this church is not just an establishment among other establishments. Rather it is the single entity that established the universe! Of course, by this, I do not mean the administrative church. Rather, by saying that the church established the universe, what the Holy Fathers mean is that it is in this Church we find unity with the One who was before all time. In this Church, as the apostle Paul writes, we are the Body of Christ - the body of Christ who established the universe. How incredible that we are a part of the vehicle that will bring us into unity with God Himself! And yet, we often times we take for granted how earth-shattering the existence of the Church actually is. We might think that it is nice going to church, but because we gave 20 dollars to a homeless man we don’t have to come. Or I don’t like the way the priest only gave me one piece of antidoron today, so I’m boycotting. Meanwhile, God Himself is physically present at every divine liturgy. Allow me to put it this way. In the observable universe, there are 10 billion galaxies. Assuming an average of about, 100 billion stars per galaxy, there are, only in the universe observable from earth, 100 billion trillion stars - 1 with 21 zeros after it. The God who created this, and much much more, is physically present and available for us to unite with at every single Divine Liturgy at this very church. This is the Faith of the Apostles. This is the Faith of the Fathers. This is the Faith of the Orthodox. This is the Faith which has established the Universe. Our faith, having an importance of cosmic proportions, is not something that we want to hide. In the Gospel reading of this great feast, our Lord Jesus Christ finds a man named Philip and tells him, “Follow me.” At this point Philip has an equally mind-blowing moment seeing God incarnate in front of him, but he does not just follow Him. He runs off to find Nathanael and tells him, “Come quickly! We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." But Nathanael was not convinced and said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Are we this enthusiastic about our faith? Are we running to tell people about the faith that offers us life everlasting? Do we tell our family and friends, “come and see?”

The Triumph of Orthodoxy


Adult Catechism Classes

Wednesday Evenings Following Pre-Sanctified Liturgy (which begins at 6:00pm)

Beginning March 13, 2019 and continuing until April 17, 2019

All those interested in learning more about the Orthodox Christian Faith are invited to join us.

Please contact Fr. Athanasios Minetos at (773)334-4515 or [email protected] to register for class or for further information.

If we reduce our participation at church to trivialities, then we will end up like the man who stopped coming to church because he couldn’t remember the sermons. The chances are that that same man most likely did not get anything out of other things in life, because he was only interested in fleeting things. Take the response he received about the connection between church and marriage. Indeed, for those of us who are married, if we see marriage from a selfish point of view, and we are only interested in what we can get out if it, then our marriage will not likely be fulfilling. If, on the other hand, we see the beauty in self-sacrifice, and an altruistic, deep love for our spouse, then our marriage will blossom and be fruitful for decades on end. In the same way, our relationship with God is that of self-sacrifice and a genuine desire to get to know him on a deeper level. It is for this reason that we have Great and Holy Lent: to deny ourselves fleeting pleasures in order to develop a deep, meaningful Agape with God. Dr. Martin Luther King once wrote that Agape “is

understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. An overflowing love that seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart.” Dr. King intuitively sees that God’s love is something that needs to be recognized by all of us, and it is here in His Church as part of His body where we can truly allow this to blossom. This is the Faith of the Apostles. This is the Faith of the Fathers. This is the Faith of the Orthodox. This is the Faith which has established the Universe.

This great and Holy Lent, our goal should be to better understand how truly Great a God our God is. By focusing on bettering our spiritual life, we can open our eyes to who is really nourishing us and giving us life. “This is the Faith of the Apostles. This is the Faith of the Fathers. This is the Faith of the Orthodox. This is the Faith which has established the Universe.”.

Fr. Athanasios Minetos


TRIODION AND LENTEN SERVICES 2019 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

SAT: March 2nd 1st Saturday of the Souls: Liturgy 10:00 am. ΣΑΒ. ΜΑΡ 2 (Α) ΨΥΧΟΣΑΒΒΑΤΟΝ. Λειτουργία 10:00πμ SUN: March 3rd Meat fare Sunday Orthros: 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30 am. ΚΥΡ. ΜΑΡ 3 Κυριακή τής Αποκρέω. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ SAT: March 9th 2nd Saturday of the Souls: Liturgy 10:00am ΣΑΒ. ΜΑΡ 9 (Β) ΨΥΧΟΣΑΒΒΑΤΟΝ. Λειτουργία 10:00πμ SUN: March 10th Cheese fare Sunday: Orthros: 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30am. ΚΥΡ. ΜΑΡ 10 Κυριακή τής Τυρινής. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ MON: March 11th CLEAN MONDAY: Great Compline followed by Kouloma 5:45pm ΔΕΥ. ΜΑΡ 11 ΚΑΘΑΡΑ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ: Μέγα Απόδειπνον καί Κούλουμα WED: March 13th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 6:00pm, Catechism begins. ΤΕΡ. ΜΑΡ. 13 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 6:00μμ. FRI: March 15th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 9:00am

1st SALUTATIONS TO THE VIRGIN MARY 7:00pm ΠΑΡ. ΜΑΡ. 15 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 9:00 πμ.

«Α» Στάσις τών Χαιρετισμών 7:00μμ SAT: March 16th 3rd Saturday of the Souls: Orthros 8:30am, Liturgy 9:30am ΣΑΒ. ΜΑΡ. 16 (Γ) ΨΥΧΟΣΑΒΒΑΤΟΝ. ΅Ορθρος:8:30πμ Λειτουργία 9:30πμ

SUN: March 17th Sunday of Orthodoxy: Orthros 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30am. Pan-Orthodox Vespers to take place at 6:00pm @ St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church Chicago, IL

ΚΥΡ. ΜΑΡ 17 Κυριακή τής Ορθοδοξίας. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ

WED: March 20th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 6:00pm, Catechism following ΤΕΡ. ΜΑΡ 20 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 6:00μμ. FRI: March 22nd 2nd SALUTATIONS TO THE VIRGIN MARY 7:00pm: ΠΑΡ. ΜΑΡ 22 «B» Στάσις τών Χαιρετισμών 7:00μμ SUN: March 24th Sunday of Gregory of Palamas: Orthros 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30am ΚΥΡ. ΜΑΡ 24 Κυριακή του Γρηγορίου του Παλαμά. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ MON: March 25th FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION: Orthros 9:00am, Liturgy 10:00am ΔΕΥ. ΜΑΡ 25 Ο ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΜΟΣ. ΅Ορθρος:9:00πμ Λειτουργία 10:00πμ

WED: March 27rd Pre-Sanctified Liturgy: 6:00pm, Catechism following ΤΕΡ. ΜΑΡ 27 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 6:00μμ. FRI: March 29th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 9:00am 3rd SALUTATIONS TO THE VIRGIN MARY 7:00pm; ΠΑΡ. ΜΑΡ 29 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 9:00 πμ

«Γ» Στάσις τών Χαιρετισμών 7:00μμ

SUN: March 31st Veneration of the Holy Cross: Orthros 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30am ΚΥΡ. ΜΑΡ 31 Σταυροπροσκυνήσεως. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ


40 Day Blessings

Elysia Irene Demos, daughter of Sara & George Demos

Baptisms

Lillian Dravillas, daughter of

Stacey & Alex Dravillas

Alexa Faye Tutton, daughter of Dena & Kyle Tutton

Nicholas Strati Tzakis, son of

Taylor & Stephen Tzakis

Chrismation

Michael Anderson

Weddings

Patricia Cunniffe & George Fotiadis

Helen Kelamis & John Steward

Ashley Kalogeras & David Bennett

Funerals

Helen Brahos Christine Avgerenos Eleftherios Mantis Alfred P. Sofiakis

Nicholas Vassopoulos

Memorials

Helen Brahos - 40 days John Psyhogios - 40 days Chris Rempas - 40 days

Bessie Pantazelos - 1 year Elena Papastefan - 1 year Aglaia Papoutsis - 1 year

Athanasios Papoutsis - 1 year Angeliki Varnavas - 1 year George J. Varney - 1 year

Irene Tzakis - 2 years Andrianna Dendrinos - 4 years

Strati Coorlas - 6 years Spero Melonides - 6 years Efthimios Tsokas - 8 years

George Pantazelos - 11 years Andrew Tzakis - 11 years Eugenia Tzakis - 12 years

Francine (Fotini) Melonides - 13 years Angeline (Angeliki) Galineas - 19 years

Eleni Elias - 20 years Helen Coorlas - 42 years

Stephen Galineas - 44 years

WED: April 3rd Pre-Sanctified Liturgy: 6:00pm, Catechism following ΤΕΡ. ΑΠΡ 3 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 6:00μμ. FRI: April 5th 4th SALUTATIONS TO THE VIRGIN MARY 7:00pm; ΠΑΡ. ΑΠΡ 5 «Δ» Στάσις τών Χαιρετισμών 7:00μμ

SUN: April 7th Sunday of St. John of the Ladder: Orthros 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30am ΚΥΡ. ΑΠΡ 7 Κυριακή τού Αγίου Ιωάννου του Κλίμακου. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ WED: April 10th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy: 6:00pm, Catechism following ΤΕΡ. ΑΠΡ 10 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 6:00μμ

FRI: April 12th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 9:00am; AKATHISTOS HYMNOS 7:00pm ΠΑΡ. ΑΠΡ 12 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 9:00 πμ; Ο ΑΚΑΘΙΣΤΟΣ ΥΜΝΟΣ 7:00μμ

SUN. April 14th Sunday of Mary of Egypt; Orthros 8:00am, Liturgy 9:30am ΚΥΡ. ΑΠΡ 14 Κυριακή Μαρίας τής Αιγυπτίας. ΅Ορθρος: 8:00πμ, Λειτουργία 9:30πμ

WED April 17th Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 6:00pm Catechesis following ΤΕΡ ΑΠΡ 17 Λειτουργία Προηγιασμένων Δώρων 6:00μμ

FRI: April 19th Decorate inside of Church with Palms 6:00pm. ΠΑΡ. ΑΠΡ 19


NOTES FROM THE CHOIR LOFT

About Vespers By

Stan Takis

The Divine Liturgy is the supreme service of the Orthodox Church, because it is where we receive the sacrament of Holy Com-munion. But our church is not a church of Sunday morning and holi-days only. Our church is a 24/7, 365-days-of-the-year church. The Orthodox Church has a daily cycle of prayer services that are apart from the sacramental services. These daily services consist of Sunset (Vespers), After-Supper or Apodhipnon (Compline), Midnight (Mesonyktikon), Sunrise (Orthros), and the First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, and Ninth Hour services. Some people think these are only monastic services, but that is not true. Yes, they are celebrated daily in monasteries and sometimes in public churches with priests and deacons. But these services are found in a book called the Horo-logion. In this book all of the services are written for just a Reader and a Chanter (the People). In other words, these are services that can be celebrated without clergy. They are services of the people and they are at our disposal, so we may pray appropriate prayers and chant appropriate hymns every day of the year and every hour of the day, if we want to or need to.

When these services are celebrated in a church or monas-tery with clergy present, the parts chanted by the priests and deacons can be found in a book called the Euchologion. There are certain parts of these services that are fixed, and there are other parts of these services that are dependent upon many things—the celebration of the events or saints of the day, cycles of scripture readings, a weekly cycle of eight musical tones, among other things. These changing texts can be found primarily in four books called the Men-aion, the Triodion, the Pentecostarion, and the Octoechos (or Para-tikliti), among other books. Therefore, no daily or hourly service throughout the year is exactly alike. It is the role of the clergy, the readers, and the chanters to know how to construct each service from the various books of Orthodox liturgical texts.

To the average Orthodox Christian today, Vespers is

thought of as the first of a trinity of services (along with Orthros and the Liturgy) celebrated on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings in celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, or on the eve of Great Feasts and the day of the feast. However, even in this context, the Vespers service still may contain the Menaion hymns of the more minor saints and events that are celebrated on each day of the year. Given the vast number of saints and events that are celebrated, the com-plete Menaion contains thousands of liturgical texts that may show up in any given Vespers service. Other texts that come from the Pen-tecostarion, Triodion, and Octoechos are repeated on more predicta-ble cycles, but the timing of the cycles are each dependent on varia-ble factors. Therefore, as is the case with Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, the special hymns of the day and the music that is designat-ed for them or for the week, make it extremely rare that any two Vespers services would be exactly the same.

The Order of Vespers

Vespers (Hesperinos) is the first service of the daily cycle

of Orthodox services. Since traditionally the day begins at sundown, Vespers is celebrated in the early evening after the ninth hour ser-vice, which is the last service of the day. All Vespers services follow

basically the same pattern, but there are variations. Great Vespers is chanted to celebrate an important feast or saint; Resurrectional Ves-pers on Saturday evenings before the regular Sunday Resurrectional Orthros and Divine Liturgy. Daily Vespers is a shortened service for weekdays that have no great feast. Small (or Little) Vespers is cele-brated before an All-Night Vigil. The purpose of the Vespers service is to pray and contemplate the celebrations of the day, be it the Res-urrection of Christ (on Sundays), a feast of the Church, or the com-memoration of saints on their feast days. Therefore, the Vespers ser-vice differs on every day of the year.

As mentioned earlier, Vespers is a service of the people,

and a priest need not be present to celebrate it. When a priest is pre-sent, the service begins with his intoning, “Blessed is our God…” followed by the reading of Psalm 103 (104 in the King James Bible). During the reading, the priest prays inaudibly of the Lighting of the Lamps. At the end of the reading follows the Great Litany. Normal-ly, there follows a collection of psalms called the kathisma. After that, the hymn “Lord, I have cried out,” (Kyrie ekekraxa) from Psalm 140 (141) is chanted, followed by the Kyrieekekraxaria, which are the rest of Psalm 140, Psalm 141, and Psalm verses (stichoi), interspersed with refrains (stichera) in praise of the events, saints, or prophets of the day, or on Saturday evenings, the Resurrec-tion. Stichera are prosomia, which means they are hymns based up-on many model melodies that the chanter has memorized. The last refrain is a doxastikon (a hymn beginning with “Glory to the Fa-ther...etc.”) followed by a Theotokion, a hymn so named because it speaks of the Virgin Mary. Some Theotokia are referred to as “dogmatic,” because their content is theological in nature. On Wednesdays and Fridays, (Tuesday and Thursday evenings), there is what is referred to as a Stavrotheotokion, or a Theotokion that com-bines themes of the Mother of God with Christ’s passion on the Cross.

Next follows the hymn “O Joyful Light,” (Fos Ilaron),

which is chanted or read at all Vespers services, and then the daily prokeimenon, or prelude to a reading, is announced. On major feasts, an entrance and a prophecy reading follow. At Great and Resurrec-tional Vespers, the Litany of Fervent Supplication is given here, (but in a daily Vespers it is moved to near the end of the service). After this, the prayer, “Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this evening without sin…” is read, followed by another litany. On major feast days, a Liti may be given here. A Liti is a long service of praise. An artoklasia service (breaking of bread) may also be celebrated at Vespers.

The service ends with the aposticha and the dismissal. The

aposticha are more Psalm verses and stichera about the feast of the day, however the characteristic that gives them their name is that the first stichos (verse) is chanted after the first sticheron, not before as in the Kyrieekraxaria. The last verses of the aposticha are also a doxastikon and Theotokion. The dismissal begins with the hymn of St. Simeon, “Now let your servants depart in peace…” followed by the Trisagion prayers and the Lord’s Prayer. Next are the apolytikion (dismissal hymn) and Theotokion of the apolytikion, and the dismis-sal prayers. The Vespers dismissal hymn becomes the troparion of the day, and is the only hymn repeated at Orthros and in the Divine


Liturgy. On days where there is more than one celebration, more apolytikia may be added.

About the Music of Vespers

The weekly cycle of the Octoechos, the eight-tone system

of Orthodox music, turns over each Saturday evening. Each of these “tones,” which are also referred to as “modes,” is a family of scales and melodic formulas that gives its own different musical flavor to the texts. Thus, over an eight-week cycle, the same hymn can be chanted eight different ways, while other hymns are designated especially for a specific tone or mode. These chants feature a me-lodic line harmonized only by a droning base note (isokratima, pop-ularly referred to as the ison). This gives a great variety and means

of expression to the traditional chanted music of the Church. Unless otherwise indicated, the hymns of the Vespers and Orthros services are chanted in the tone, or echos, of the week.

“O Joyful Light” (Fos Ilaron), when chanted, is assigned

the Second Tone, but the setting most frequently used for this hymn, even at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is the one by John Sakellarides, who was an innovative chanter of the 19th and 20th Centuries. He frequently harmonized his melodies in a Western European style, and thus, his music is a controversial departure from the older tradition of the Church, but it remains very popular in America. The melody Sakellarides employed for this Vespers hymn, is not strictly in Second Tone, and may have been derived from a folk melody.

CLEAN MONDAY March 11, 2019

SERVICE OF THE GREAT COMPLINE

5:45 p.m. followed by LENTEN DINNER & FELLOWSHIP

Cost is $12 for Adults, $6 for Children 4‐12 years of age and FREE for 3 years of age and under.

Reservations should be made by calling the church office. 773/334‐4515.


In our previous Anchor article, I reported that work on the South elevation windows is completed! Please take a moment to look at the beautiful windows! As you can see from the photos, there is an amazing difference! Now in order to complete the project, we need additional funding due to the extreme rust conditions far beyond what was visible when we started the project. We worked through these challenges with our contractor meeting with them monthly to monitor progress of the project. Our goal for this year is to complete the remaining work on the East elevation which is projected to cost $45,000 and the West elevation and Bell Tower windows projected at $110,000. This money needs to be raised before we can begin the work. In other words we won’t spend if we don’t have the funds, and all work to date is fully paid! Since December 2018, we have received $6,000 in contributions and are most grateful to all of the donors!

This project is very special and allows all of us the privilege and joy of participating in the campaign to preserve our house of worship. We thank everyone who has already donated and humbly request your additional support. Please know that we will be grateful for whatever you are able to offer. You may make your donation through the church office, noting “Stained Glass Window Fund” so it will be directed to the dedicated account. Please let us know of any questions and we will be happy to answer them! You may have noticed the recognition plaque in the hallway, just outside of the Narthex and we look forward to adding your name to the plaque!

AFTER‐North Nave Window

BEFORE‐North Nave Window

Stained Glass Window Update - Nick Karafotias


Palm Sunday Luncheon

April 21, 2019

Bring your entire family and join fellow parishioners for a

traditional luncheon following the celebration of

the Divine Liturgy on Palm

Sunday. The menu will include fish, skordalia, beets and pasta.

Please make your reservations during coffee hour on April 7th or April 14th .

Or, you may call the church office by Wednesday, April 17th to make reservations.

St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church invites its faithful to a

Lamb and food will be provided. Please bring an appetizer or dessert to share. For more into, please contact the church office at 77-334-4515


MAY 25 & 26

FR. ATHANASIOS at 773-334-4515.


MOMMY AND ME WINTER/SPRING CALENDAR 2019

Mommy and Me is a playgroup that helps our children develop socially, crea vely, and spiritually from infancy through the toddler years. The group also fosters a sense of community for both the children, as well as the parents. We meet every other Friday from 10:30am un l noon in the Toddler classroom. Each class begins with play me, then a prayer, singing, and a brief lesson on our faith, and is followed by a cra ac vity and/or free play. Periodically, we may also venture out on a field trip, organize a Mom’s

Night. If you are interested in joining the group please contact Stephane Collopy at [email protected].

March 1

Holy Cross Lesson and Cra

March 15 Great Lent Lesson and Cra

March 29

Palm Sunday and Holy Week Lesson and Cra

April 12 Spring and Season Lesson and Cra

A er our gathering – lets head over to Edgewater Playhouse at 1048 W Bryn Mawr Ave. One of our Mommy and Me family’s runs this amazing place and

is welcoming our group with open arms for an extended play gathering. Check out the website: edgewaterplayhouse.com

April 19

St. Andrew’s Good Friday Retreat ‐ details to come

May 3 Pascha/Bright Week Lesson and Cra

May 6 or 9

MOM’S NIGHT OUT!!!

May 17 God’s Crea on Lesson and Cra

May 31

Parts of our Church Lesson and Cra or Zoo trip


Congratulations to the st. Andrew’s/st. George

basketballs teams for a great season!

1st

And

2nd

Place

champions


SAVE THE DATE

The Edgewater Greek Fest presented by St. Andrew's!

July 12th, 13th & 14th Fun Activities for All Ages!

Delicious Greek Food!

Music and Dancing!

Raffle and

more!


Sunday, March 17, 2019—Sunday of Orthodoxy Procession

Students are asked to please remember to bring an icon with them to participate in the procession. Junior and Senior Oratorical

Festival

Parish 7th-12 Grade Oratorical Festival Presentations in the Presidents’ Room after Divine Liturgy. Sunday, April 14, 2019 Junior and Senior Oratorical Finalists will be presenting their work in the Church. Saturday, April 20, 2019—Saturday of Lazarus Sunday School Retreat Join us for Liturgy at 10:00 am. The retreat for students will follow Liturgy until 2:00 pm. Palm making will also take place after Divine Liturgy during the retreat

Sunday Church School Scheduled

Events


St. Andrew Philoptochos #philostrong

PHILOPTOCHOS

Thank you to all who supported Mingle and Jingle, our annual fundraiser/dinner dance. What a truly enjoyable evening! Paula and her mother, Marianne Nichols, planned a spectacular evening. There was dancing, dinner, drinks, and dessert, along with laughter and friendly conversations. A special thank you to all our donors! Over $32,000 was raised which will be applied to our mission of helping those in need. We are most grateful for the support we received.

St. Andrew’s Feast Day is celebrated November 30. Thank you to all who helped bake, set-up, serve, and spread the philoxania as the faithful from the metropolis area came to worship for vespers and our feast day. Thank you Vonnie and Terri for organizing! Kai tou xpono!


St. Andrew Philoptochos “What’s your circle?” Come to a mee ng and find out!

Holiday seasons are always a busy time, and this past one, was no different. Our members and parishioners supported our Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives, our toy drive, blanket making and our “new books for children” collections. Thank you for giving so much, so that others could receive gifts of hope, love and joy. Your generosity is a blessing!

Once a month we gather on a Friday morning to make sandwiches and on the first Saturday of every month (year round), we gather serve in a soup kitchen in Evanston. Please look on the St. An-drew’s website for specific dates and times. All are welcome!

2019 “membership dues” are now being collected. Show your support for what Philoptochos stands for by joining this year! Women and men are welcomed to join. Let our membership increase, so our good works can multiply!

Upcoming Opportunities:

Friday, March 1 – Glendi Set-up and Decorating 4pm-? Saturday, March 2 – Soup Kitchen 11:15am-1pm First Prebyterian Church of Evanston Saturday, March 2 – 80’s Themed Glendi 6pm-11pm Saturday, March 16 – Meeting and Blanket-making Project 11-12:30pm (After Saturday of the Souls liturgy) Sat, March 23 – Philoptochos Lenten Retreat “Refugees, War & Oppression” St. Spyridon, 9am-1:30pm

Friday, March 29 – Sandwich Making in the Kitchen 10:30am-noon Saturday, March 30 – Family Lenten Retreat 8:30-3pm, St. Nicholas Church, Oak Lawn Sunday, March 31 – Pasta Lunch and Greek School Program, in the auditorium, after liturgy Saturday, April 6 – Soup Kitchen, First Presbyterian Church of Evanston, 11:15-1pm Saturday, April 6, Quilt-a-Thon, Saints Peter and Paul Church, Glenview, 9am-4pm Friday, April 12 – Sandwich Making in the kitchen 10:30am – noon Wednesday, April 17 – General Meeting after Pre-Sanctified Liturgy Tuesday, May 7 – General Meeting and Elections (6pm Dinner, 7pm Meeting/Elections)

Please check with the St. Andrew website calendar, in case there are any changes.


PLEASE CHECK THE WEEKLY BULLETIN AND WEB SITE FOR UPDATES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

GOLF OUTING

TBA

BOXING

Friday, November 22

Upcoming Events


Please join us on Sunday, March 31st as our students present their Greek In-dependence Day program after Divine Liturgy in the auditorium. They will be reciting poems, signing songs and presenting Greek dances. Your support is truly appreciated. The Philoptochos Society will once again host a pasta luncheon in conjunction with our program. Please check Sunday Bulletins for further information.

We will once again be participating in the Greek Independence Parade. Please check upcoming weekly bulletins for more information as it becomes available to us.

G O Y A Friday, March 8, 2019—7:00 pm— Dinner & Meeting at St. George Church, 2701 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL.

BOWLING—Saturday, March 30, 2019—Kings Lane, Chicago, IL (time forthcoming)

Save the Date for Fanari 2019

Fanari Camp is open to students grades 6th-11th to come together to share their common faith and heritage. Not sure if Fanari is for you? Contact Tracey Lazos who can connect you with past campers to share their experiences.

Summer Fanari: Registration for Fanari 2019 opens TUESDAY, MARCH 5TH, 11:00 AM AT www.fanari.org. In recent years, St. Andrews has attended Session 4: July 14-20, 2019.

Winter Fanari: Registration for Winter Fanari (March 22-24) remains open until March 9 (space is limited). CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR WINTER CAMP NOW!


St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church

5649 N. Sheridan Rd.

Chicago, IL 60660-4803

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