The Liturgical Guide and Bulletin for Sunday, June 12, 2022
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June 12, 2022
Holy Pentecost
Today’s feast: the coming of the All-holy Spirit into the world, the completion of the Lord Jesus Christ’s promise, and the fulfillment 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 Savior, 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 marvelous 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.
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)
Liturgical Guide
Apolytikion for Pentecost in the Plagal Fourth Mode
Εύλογητός εἶ Χριστὲ ὁ Θεος ἡμῶν..
Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. O Befriender of man, glory be to Thee.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Second Mode
Ὅτε καταβὰς τὰς γλώσσας συνέχεε…
Once, when He descended and confounded the tongues, the Most High divided the nations; and when He divided the tongues of fire, He called all men into unity; and with one accord we glorify the All-holy Spirit.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Narthex Press
Epistle Reading
Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. Psalm 18.4,1
Their voice has gone out into all the earth.
Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God.
The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11
WHEN THE DAY of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontos and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
Gospel Reading
The reading is from John 7:37-52; 8:12
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” Nikodemos, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.” Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Announcements
FOR FATHERS’ DAY, TREAT DAD TO SATURDAY AFTERNOON BINGO! JUNE 18, 2022 AT 12:00 NOON. Doors open @ 11:30am. Many gift prizes, 50/50 raffle, plus refreshments. It’s an afternoon of fun, family, friends, & food. Get 2 Bingo cards for $7.00 at the door. Supporting Feeding South Florida. Sponsored by Philoptochos! Invite your neighbors! See you on June 18th at 11:30am.
Agape Seniors Our next luncheon will be on Tuesday, June 21 at 11:30am. Come join us for a few hours of camaraderie.
New in the Bookstore For the Life of the World:Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church. Do you ever wonder what Orthodoxy says about climate change, wealth and poverty, human rights? This document grew out of the Holy and Great Council in Crete and is endorsed by Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Elpidophoros. Clear, challenging and timely reading for any Christian.
Oral History Project
The Hellenic Cultural Society (HCS) of South Florida is undertaking an Oral History Project which aims at creating an archive of the emigration and immigration experience of Greek Americans.
> All humans in the Americas, including Native Americans, immigrated from other continents. Greeks have been emigrating from their ancestral villages, hamlets and cities since the ancient times. As a result, they established what became the cities of Alexandria, Nice, Napoli, Messina, Odessa and Byzantium, to name but a few. In more recent times, Greeks immigrated to the United States of America. Some of them are our ancestors. The experience of these ancestors is an integral part of American History and must be recorded.
> The HCS invites you to include in the proposed archive the emigration and immigration history of your family. This may be accomplished through a live interview or by submitting written answers to a set of questions. All this primary data will be uploaded on a website and will become available to scholars embarking on a variety of topics regarding Greek Americans. In addition to the narrative you may wish to include copies of photographs and documents such as certificates of birth, baptism, marriage, divorce and death, passports etc.
> For more information please contact Malvina Protogerou Currie at malvinacurrie@gmail.com or Stavroula Christodoulou at isapaul@aol.com or at SimplyGreekSF@gmail.com
We are launching our Summertime Angels Campaign. Please consider participating!
Stewardship
Our Church. Our Spiritual Home. Our Family
Our St. Demetrios Church is our spiritual home. It is a place of prayer, comfort, spiritual healing, and celebration. You may have been brought here on your 40th day, or it may have been the destination of your spiritual journey. For both, St. Demetrios Church is a spiritual home to which we may always return. We are brothers and sisters in Christ – a family.
We ask you to support the worship, service and activities of our vibrant community. Giving to His Church is a way to thank God for His grace, His generosity and His many blessings.
Thank you very much for your 2021 stewardship pledge. Your gift truly makes a difference by enabling us to serve those who come to seek Jesus Christ in His Church. Please consider increasing your pledge for 2022. Even a small increase will help us do that much more to strengthen and advance our parish. Please fill out a year 2022 pledge form. Fill out both sides completely so that we can update our database. Thank you!
Calendar
Saturday 6/11 Saturday of the Souls
NO Church Service at St. Demetrios (Fr. Peter with GOYA for End of Year Trip)
Please attend Church Service at St. George Hollywood or St. Mark Boca Raton
Sunday 6/12
9:00am/10:00am Orthros/Divine Liturgy
Saturday 6/18
11:30am BINGO
7:00pm Movie Night
Sunday 6/19
9:00am/10:00am Orthros/Divine Liturgy
