“Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be ye exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth…” (St. Gregory of Nyssa)
With these words, dear brothers and sisters, St. Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great fathers of the Church, begins his thoughts about this great day, a day of joy for all – a day of God’s mercy, which is so clearly seen in the Divine decision for the Second Person of the Holy Trinity to be incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, becoming Man for our sake and our salvation.
For this reason We, your spiritual leader and prayerful intercessor before the Triune God, call upon all of you to glorify God in this day of general celebration, to readily come out to meet the Newborn One, and in His presence, be upright and made glad with heavenly joy.
Those souls that try to be on the path of the Lord stand upright before Him. Our wish is that all dedicatedly pray in the sanctified day, that we forgive and ask forgiveness, that we help those who need our help, that we are worthy followers of the Newborn God-Child Christ in all things, that by this and lead by all the Saints of the Serbian Nation, our names will be written in the heavenly book of “the One Who is” and has “power on His shoulders.”
Peace of God! Christ is Born! Happy and blessed New Year 2011!
L O N G I N
Bishop of New Gracanica and Midwestern America
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas Schedule
CALENDAR OF CHURCH SERVICES AND EVENTS
FOR THE NATIVITY SEASON AT STS CONSTANTINE & HELEN 2010/2011
Sunday December 19th St. Nicholas the Great Wonderwoker, Archbishop of Tyron
Sunday December 26th Sunday of the Holy Forefathers
JANUARY
Sunday January 2nd St. Ignatius the God-bearer, bishop of Antioch
Thursday January 6th Christmas Eve-Badnje Vece with the traditional burning of the yule log beginning at 7:00 pm
Friday January 7th Nativity of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ beginning at 10:00am
Friday January 14th Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Basil the Great, archbishop of Cappadocia beginning at 10:00am
Wednesday January 19th Theophany of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ (Baptism of the Lord)
Great Blessing of the Waters beginning at 10:00am
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Bishop Longin's visit to Galveston
His Grace Bishop LONGIN visited our church on December the 4th and 5th 2010. His Grace landed on Saturday in the late afternoon, early evening and was picked up by the church-school president, Pete Kovacevich and Mimo Milosevich. They took His Grace and deacon to our local,favourite restaraunt, The Olympia Grill were our guests were treated to traditional hospitality, Greek style. The owners overdid themselves in honouring our and their guests. Many thanks to Larry and Tiki Kriticos.
On Sunday morning we were especially thrilled that Vladika Longin was able to serve the hierarchical liturgy together with his deacon Nikolai Kostur. Following the Divine Liturgy we all proceeded to go outside for the groundbreaking of the land where our future parish hall will be built. His Grace also blessed the adjoining land that was purchased by Dr. Zoran Cupic. We were fortunate enough to have our Mayor of Galveston Joe Jaworski present as well. His Grace Bishop Longin together with Mayor, Doctor Zoran Cupic and Mitch Chouke, who has a direct link to the original founders of the church, broke ground. And no, those are not golden shovels we see in the photos. I would like to thank Demo Kouzounis for being instrumental in having the shovels plated as we were thinking of having then spraypainted gold originally, perish the thought now as they really turned out magnificent.
As can be seen in the photos we then went to the back of the church were a memorial service was held for the first priest Father Theoclitos who is buried under the altar as per his instructions. The reasoning for this is that Father Theoclitos believed that as long as a person was buried it became a "sacred" site and that the city could not use the land for any other purpose. In this way he wished to safeguard the church and its property from any sort of seizure. His Grace made himself available to all, both young and old and shared much joy, heartening words of faith but especially love with the members of our small but ever faithful parish. We all joined for lunch at the Pelican Club for fellowship with His Grace Bishop Longin and then sadly bid him farewell back to Chicago but before leaving his Grace promised us that he would return upon completion of the hall to bless it. Many Years to His Grace Bishop Longin!
On Sunday morning we were especially thrilled that Vladika Longin was able to serve the hierarchical liturgy together with his deacon Nikolai Kostur. Following the Divine Liturgy we all proceeded to go outside for the groundbreaking of the land where our future parish hall will be built. His Grace also blessed the adjoining land that was purchased by Dr. Zoran Cupic. We were fortunate enough to have our Mayor of Galveston Joe Jaworski present as well. His Grace Bishop Longin together with Mayor, Doctor Zoran Cupic and Mitch Chouke, who has a direct link to the original founders of the church, broke ground. And no, those are not golden shovels we see in the photos. I would like to thank Demo Kouzounis for being instrumental in having the shovels plated as we were thinking of having then spraypainted gold originally, perish the thought now as they really turned out magnificent.
As can be seen in the photos we then went to the back of the church were a memorial service was held for the first priest Father Theoclitos who is buried under the altar as per his instructions. The reasoning for this is that Father Theoclitos believed that as long as a person was buried it became a "sacred" site and that the city could not use the land for any other purpose. In this way he wished to safeguard the church and its property from any sort of seizure. His Grace made himself available to all, both young and old and shared much joy, heartening words of faith but especially love with the members of our small but ever faithful parish. We all joined for lunch at the Pelican Club for fellowship with His Grace Bishop Longin and then sadly bid him farewell back to Chicago but before leaving his Grace promised us that he would return upon completion of the hall to bless it. Many Years to His Grace Bishop Longin!
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| Bishop Longin's Visit to Galveston and Groundbreaking of New Church Hall Land |
St. Romanus Chorale to perform in Galveston
Rev. Clergy, members and friends of the St. Romanos Chorale.
The time for the presentations of the music of the Nativity of Christ, by the Chorale, is only a couple of day away. We invite all of our brother and sister Orthodox Christians and hope to have many non-Orthodox Christians in attendance.
Our main purposes in presenting these programs are:
To give thanks to Almighty God for the Gift of His Son, Jesus Christ
To witness the birth of Christ as the real reason and spirit of Christmas
To honor the Theotokos, "birth giver of God"
To strengthen our Orthodox Christian family
To expose the spirituality and beauty of the Orthodox Christian Faith to the uninitiated
Attached you will find a flyer with a brief description of the presentations, dates and venues. Many of you have previously received this attachment along with a request to forward the invitation to your family and friends.
It would be a great assist if you would, even if you have already done so, forward the flyer.
We are trying to show a "Merry Christmas", not a "Happy Holiday".
Thank you and God Bless you and your loved ones,
Bill Attra
“God is with us”
The st. Romanos chorale in concert presents
in anticipation of the nativity of Christ
the beautiful and spiritual ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN music of the Christmas season
ASSUMPTION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
1824 Ball St.
Galveston, Texas 77551
Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 7:00 P.M.
The time for the presentations of the music of the Nativity of Christ, by the Chorale, is only a couple of day away. We invite all of our brother and sister Orthodox Christians and hope to have many non-Orthodox Christians in attendance.
Our main purposes in presenting these programs are:
To give thanks to Almighty God for the Gift of His Son, Jesus Christ
To witness the birth of Christ as the real reason and spirit of Christmas
To honor the Theotokos, "birth giver of God"
To strengthen our Orthodox Christian family
To expose the spirituality and beauty of the Orthodox Christian Faith to the uninitiated
Attached you will find a flyer with a brief description of the presentations, dates and venues. Many of you have previously received this attachment along with a request to forward the invitation to your family and friends.
It would be a great assist if you would, even if you have already done so, forward the flyer.
We are trying to show a "Merry Christmas", not a "Happy Holiday".
Thank you and God Bless you and your loved ones,
Bill Attra
“God is with us”
The st. Romanos chorale in concert presents
in anticipation of the nativity of Christ
the beautiful and spiritual ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN music of the Christmas season
ASSUMPTION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
1824 Ball St.
Galveston, Texas 77551
Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 7:00 P.M.
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