The Orthodox Vision - January 2012 Issue #263

JANUARY 2012 THE ORTHODOX VISION 1

January 2012

IN THIS ISSUE What’s in a Name? “The Christian life is a pro-cess of becoming what we are, bearers of the name of Christ. ” by Fr. Andreas Vithoulkas

How Much Does a

Prayer Weigh?

“She softly explained that her husband was very ill and una-ble to work. They had seven children and they needed food.”

Κ α λ ή Χ ρ ο ν ι ά

Ηappy New Year!


©2012 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Bpt. Ct Publishing &Design-VSA-12/12/2011

AHEPA J. Bochanis 203-254-7595

AROUND THE PARISH S. Capiris 203-259-7344

[email protected] ATHLETIC PROGRAM P. Koutroulas 203-556-0489

[email protected]

CANTOR G. Bakes 203-374-8561

CHOIR P. Leask 203-258-9160

[email protected]

COUNCIL OF CHURCHES S. Kapetaneas 203-926-1751

CULTURAL ASSOCIATION V. Hatzis 203-268-7231

[email protected] DAUGHTERS OF PENELOPE H. Yeotsas 203-374-1729 [email protected] ECCLESIARCH D. Trigonis 203-374-0725

FORCC E. Vaniotis 203-374-0013 [email protected]

GOYA N. Pettas 203-925-0189

E. Yiannoulis 203-372-6591

GREEK PAIDEIA L. Protopapas 203-929-1582

GREEK SCHOOL E. Limberis 203-371-6305

[email protected]

GREEK SCHOOL DANCE GROUP E.Limberis 203-371-6305 [email protected] M. Cook 203-375-9329

HISTORIAN & ARCHIVES ROOM S. Capiris 203-259-7344

[email protected] INTERIOR COMMITTEE B. Pappas 203-268-8907

JR. CHOIR J.Bogardus 203-736-6501

LIBRARY H. Vittorio

L. Protopapas

203-375-0670

203-929-1582

MAINTENANCE G. Hatzis 203-261-3247 L. Tsouris 203-334-2781 MEDIA-COMMUNICATIONS A. Loukrezis 203-268-5377

[email protected]

OLYMPIANS (GOYA) F. Papachristos 203-380-0566

ORTHODOX WOMEN C. Constant 203-380-0828

P.T.O. M. Gountas 203-650-3246

[email protected]

PARISH COUNCIL G. Mourizakis 203-373-0580

[email protected] PHILOPTOCHOS K. Tsitsipas

[email protected]

203-926-0137

PUBLICITY COMMITTEE E. Vaniotis 203-374-0013 [email protected]

SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE S. Karagiannis 203-820-1975 SCHOOL BOARD V. Boudreau 203-734-6754

[email protected]

SENIOR CITIZENS G. Agortsas 203-372-1015 STEWARDSHIP A.J. Metsopoulos 203-292-6418

R. Arvanitis 203-226-4140

[email protected]

SUNDAY SCHOOL E. Vaniotis 203-374-0013

[email protected] INTERNET MINISTRIES/WEBSITE/ FACEBOOK/TWITTER/E-BULLETIN

V.Andriotis 203-371-6856

[email protected]

Church Office E. Limberis

Email: [email protected] Office: 203.374.5561 Fax: 203.374.5770 Hours: Monday – Friday: 9:00am – 4:00pm Sundays after Services: 12:00pm-1:00pm

On the Web -www.holytrinitybridgeport.org Shopping-Shop.holytrinitybridgeport.org

On Facebook - www.holytrinityfacebook.org

On Twitter – www.twitter.com/holytrinitybpt

Services Sunday: Orthros 8:30am

Sunday School Special Services: 10:00am-10:15am Divine Liturgy,Sermons, Announcements:

9:45am – 11:30am Weekday Services,Orthros,Divine Liturgy:

8:45am-10:15am

Summer Sunday Services (June-September): Orthros 8:45am

Divine Liturgy,Sermons, Announcements: 9:45 - 11:15am

The Official Monthly Publicaon of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

4070 Park Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06604

“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature.” Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature.” Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature.” Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature.” Mark 16:15

Robert Arvani,s 226-4140

Michael Bouloubasis 336-2116

Stella Capiris 259-7344

A.J. Metsopoulos 292-6418

John Mihalakopoulos 261-4732

George Mourizakis 373-0580

Chris Papachristos 380-0566

Peter Tsimbidaros 334-2578

Sco8 Vereb 520-2781

Constan,ne Vlamis 268-5464

Parish Council Newsle)er Editor

Vicky Andrio,s

Newsle)er Staff Eleni Limberis

George Mourizakis Vicky Andrio,s

Father Andreas Vithoulkas, Presbyter [email protected]

phone: 917-334-4192


W hen expecting a new

baby in the family, most new parents

invest in one of those baby-naming

books or look online at a baby-

name website. When shopping for a name for your new baby some of

the things we look for are etiology

or the linguistic origins. The giving of a name is a very special

moment in our lives. Our name

given to us by our parents usually roots us in our family tree and

religious tradition. We are often

identified through our family

names and many times throughout our lives we are tagged with other

secret names or nick-names which

further describe us to our most intimate group of family and

friends.

This is especially true for us as Christians because we are given

our Christian name officially when

we receive the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. When we are Baptized

we are transformed from a worldly

to a spiritual nature and our n a m i n g s y mb o l i z e s t h i s

transformation. In the Bible you do

not have a name rather “you are a

name.” One’s name is the same as their nature, character and sum

total of their personality. Your

name is you, your very being, what makes you. Your name defines

you as a Christian. A name is also

important because it describes a

person’s work. It shows what they

do with their life. It explains the purpose, mission and ideals for

life. When you receive your

Christian name through Baptism it not only marks your entrance into

the Orthodox Christian faith but it

is also marks the beginning of your

new life in Christ. Your baptismal name given to you by your

Sponsors symbolizes your

transformation by the Holy Spirit into a citizen of the Kingdom of

Heaven and from that point

forward your name is an indication

of that new heavenly reality. This is why each time before we receive

Holy Communion we say our

baptismal name to the Priest because God knows us personally

and intimately through our name.

It is through our baptismal name that we know God and are saved.

We read in the Book of Revelation

that only those whose names are

written in the Book of Life (Rev 13:8) from the foundation of the

world, and have not been blotted

out by the Lamb, are saved at the Last Judgment all others are

doomed. And whosever was not

found written in the Book of life

was cast into the lake of fire (Rev.

20:15).

A critical moment in Jesus’

earthly life is when he receives his name. In the Scriptures there is a

public declaration of Jesus’ name.

We read, “On the eighth day, when

it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the

angel had given him before he had

been conceived” (Luke 2:21). This is the name revealed by God

through Gabriel to Mary when the

angel made his annunciation to

her. The name “Jesus,” Yehoshua in Hebrew, means “Yahweh

saves.” This is what Jesus does;

saves us. Jesus name reveals not only His nature but His work. His

mission is to reconcile people to

God that they may live in harmony with each other.

We celebrate the New Year

eight days after Christmas. It is a happy omen for the New Year to

begin on this day when the Christ

child received his name, the only name by which we can be saved

(Connued on page 4)

What’s in a

Name?

“However, do not rejoice

that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your

names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20 (NIV)

JOY/HOPE Santa’s Workshop -photo courtesy of V. Andrios


“Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.” ~ Goran Persson

“W o nd e r f u l

Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace,” “Emmanuel,” “Savior,” “Lamb of God,” “My beloved Son,” “Deliverer,” and “Redeemer.”

(Matt. 1:21; Acts 4:12). But Jesus is not his only name. Through-out his life Jesus was,

also, tagged with other “secret names” which further defined him and his saving

mission. Often times he was recognized by these names only by his closest friends and disciples.

Immediately after Jesus’ name is declared in the Temple, Simeon reveals another

name for this child: “the Lord’s Messiah.” Along with the identity of “Messiah” comes a host of other names, “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,”

“Prince of Peace,” “Emmanuel,” “Savior,” “Lamb of God,” “My beloved Son,”

“Deliverer,” and “Redeemer.” Jesus’ circumcision, a rite established a covenant with God resulting in the child

being made a member of God’s people. In like manner, we are born again at Baptism

when God makes us new creatures in Christ. We are baptized in the Name of the Holy

Trinity. We are baptized in Christ. We now have his nature, his mind, spirit and attitude. Now you are a Christian and bear the name of Christ. This is why baptism is

sometimes called a “Christening.” It is the time when a person is made a Christian by

God’s gracious act of adoption. St. Paul teaches us that we become children of God only through Holy Baptism.

Having a Christian name, that denotes a Christian nature, we face daily challenges

to live up to our names. We are to act according to what we are. The Christian life is a process of becoming what we are, bearers of the name of Christ. If we bear the name of

a Christian, we will live daily in Jesus’ name. A man or woman's good name,

Shakespeare wrote, is the "immediate jewel of their souls."

On a personal note, I want to wholeheartedly thank the entire community of Holy Trinity for your hard work and dedication over this Holiday season. It was a busy but

very rewarding and transformative period for myself and for all of you. I attended

several wonderful Christmas parties and Church functions hosted by our various Church organizations. Presvetera Anthoula, Niko, Petro and myself were warmly

welcomed by the entire community. We had an opportunity to meet all of you and

share in the joyous experience of the Birth of Lord Jesus Christ. I attended Santa's

workshop with the Joy and Hope kids and gave Santa my wish list! I was able to meet and share with fellow Christians from the World Council of Churches and rejoice in the

Good News of the Birth of our Lord! Holy Trinity hosted the Inter-Goya Christmas

retreat with great success thanks to our hard working GOYAns! I was so pleased to see our GOYAns working so hard setting up and cleaning up after each event with smiles

on their faces. I also had the opportunity to visit our homebound parishioners with

Stella and George Capiris and shared some Christmas cheer with them. I gave them communion and Stella gave them some nice gifts to help them get through the holidays.

The Christmas celebrations reached their climax with the Sunday School Christmas

pageant and the Greek School Christmas program, where our youth put on amazing

performances! I wish to all of you a Blessed New Year and look forward to getting to know each

and everyone of you through-out the year. My door is always open and I hope to come

and bless your homes with the Agaiasmos during the Epiphany Season. In addition to the regular cycle of services I am happy to announce that we will also begin a Bible

Study and Paraklisis Service to the Holy Mother of God on Wednesday evenings. I

hope and I pray that you will join me on this spiritual journey. May the Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continue to bless you, your family and your home.

(Connued from page 3)


"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. " ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

The Parable of the

Long Spoons

I once ascended to the firma-

ments. I first went to see Hell and the sight was horri-

fying. Row after row of tables were

laden with platters of sumptuous food, yet the people seated around

the tables were pale and emaciated,

moaning in hunger. As I came clos-

er, I understood their predicament. Every person held a full

spoon, but both arms were splinted

with wooden slats so he could not bend either elbow to bring the food

to his mouth. It broke my heart to

hear the tortured groans of these poor people as they held their food

so near but could not consume it.

Next I went to visit Heaven. I

was surprised to see the same set-ting I had witnessed in Hell – row

after row of long tables laden with

food. But in contrast to Hell, the people here in Heaven were sitting

contentedly talking with each other,

obviously sated from their sumptu-

ous meal. As I came closer, I was amazed

to discover that here, too, each per-

son had his arms splinted on wood-en slats that prevented him from

bending his elbows. How, then, did

they manage to eat? As I watched, a man picked up

his spoon and dug it into the dish

before him. Then he stretched

across the table and fed the person across from him! The recipient of

this kindness thanked him and re-

turned the favor by leaning across the table to feed his benefactor.

I suddenly understood. Heaven

and Hell offer the same circum-stances and conditions. The critical

difference is in the way the people

treat each other.

I ran back to Hell to share this solution with the poor souls trapped

there. I whispered in the ear of one

starving man, "You do not have to

go hungry. Use your spoon to feed your neighbor, and he will surely

return the favor and feed you."

"'You expect me to feed the de-

testable man sitting across the ta-ble?' said the man angrily. 'I would

rather starve than give him the

pleasure of eating!'“ I then understood God’s wisdom

in choosing who is worthy to go to

Heaven and who deserves to go to Hell.

We have the opportunity to use

what we are given (the long spoons

in this allegory) to help nourish each other, but the problem lies in

how we treat each other. Given the

same level playing field, one group of people who treat each other well

will create a blissful and pleasant

environment. Whereas another group of people, given exactly the

same tools to work with, can create

a living hell simply by how they

treat each other. The way to turn things around is through reaching

out to others. ~ Author Unknown

The Goatherd and the Wild Goats

A GOATHERD, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide,

found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night. The next day it snowed very

hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but

was obliged to keep them in the fold. He gave his own goats just suffi-cient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in

the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own.

When the thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats

scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his

own herd. One of them, turning about, said to him: "That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yester-

day treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves." Moral: Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.


Our Parish by George Mourizakis -Parish Council President

I am hoping the New Year will find everyone happy. My wishes to all for a healthy, prosperous and

joyful year ahead.

As all of you know by now, Father Andreas has joined our Holy Trinity family. He had a very busy

month meeting as many parishioners as he could,

visiting hospitals and convalescent homes, officiating

many services and sacraments, and attending many Christmas parties. He couldn’t have joined us at a

better time, a time full of the Christmas spirit, and a

time to guide us through the Holidays and start a new chapter in our church’s history by welcoming the New

Year together.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. How

appropriate it is to start the new year with Wednesday evening Paraklisis services and alternate Wednesdays

dedicated to Bible Study classes.

December has been a very busy month for our community. All organizations were busy with bake

sales, meetings, Christmas parties, Santa Claus visits,

retreats, and so many other activities. Thank you all for joining us at our Christmas Luncheon. We had over

300 people attending and welcoming our new Priest

and his family. I would like to thank one more time the

sponsors for the Luncheon. They are: Mr. & Mrs. George Daoutis, Mr. & Mrs. Dimitrios Triantis, and

Mrs. Maria Toussas. January will also be a very busy

month with all the services and House blessings for our priest. Please call ahead of time so that we can

accommodate everyone. Father Andreas needs a little

time to get familiar with the area, and our parishioners in general, so your patience and cooperation are

appreciated.

I would like to congratulate the members who were

elected to the Parish Council as a result of this month’s elections. They are: Robert Arvanitis, A.J

Metsopoulos, Michael Bouloubasis and Phil Georgas.

We had over 170 people participate in the election. I would also like to thank all the candidates for taking

part in the elections and congratulate the election

committee for a job well done. I am looking forward to work and assist our new

Priest in any way I could be useful. I hope all of you

will make every effort to make his ministry a

successful one. Thank you and God bless.

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”~Oprah Winfrey

Board of

Elections Results of

December 11, 2011 Vote

Dear Parishioners,

For your information, we have included here the results of the

elections for the Parish Council for

the 2011-2012 terms, which were held on Sunday, December 11,

2011.

The total number of Stewards in

good standing who voted in the

Elections were 173. A.J. Metsopoulos -117,

Robert Arvanitis - 113,

Philip Georgas—100,

Michael Bouloubasis—97, Lena Protopapas—83,

Maria Cook—79,

Scott Vereb 41 Thank you, The Board of Elections

Αγαπητοί Ενορίτες:

Σας εκθέτοµε τα αποτελέσµατα

των εκλογών των µελών του Συµβουλίου για το 2011-2012.

Συνολικώς ψήφισαν 173 εν τάξει

µέλη. Αθανάσιος Μητσόπουλος- 117,

Χαράλαµπος Αρβανίτης -113 ,

Φίλιπας Γιώργκας -100 , Μιχάλης Μπουλουµπάσης -97 ,

Λένα Πρωτόπαπα- 83 , Μαρία

Κούκ 79 , Σκότ Βερέµπ 41.

Ευχαριστούµε ,Η ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ

ΤΩΝ ΕΚΛΟΓΩΝ

photo courtesy of V.Andriotis


"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. " ~ Benjamin Franklin

Daughters of

Penelope by Helen Yeotsas - President

W e hope

t h a t

the Christmas

season and the New Year

2012 brings

happiness, health and peace to everyone! The Daughters of

Bridgeport Chapter 41 have been

very busy with projects since September and plan to be busy

throughout the winter.

We took a little time to

celebrate with our Brothers in the AHEPA at our Christmas Dinner,

at Cinzano's early in December.

This was a great evening - thanks to all who helped plan, and extra

special thanks to Eleni Spyrou

who was our "Secret Santa" again this year, providing a "Grab bag"

to everyone in attendance!

We co mp l et ed a not h er

successful Christmas Wreath Sale. Thanks to all for purchasing your

wreaths from us again, and special

thanks to the GOYA members who helped us decorate. The

GOYA were invaluable helpers

with both this project and our

Annual Christmas Food/Gift baskets. We love working with

the youth in our community and

hope to continue this trend for future projects - these are great

opportunities for the youth to do

real community service and we appreciate it!

We also have been busy

distributing our "Let's Keep Them

Warm" items to needy in the surrounding towns, including the

elementary schools in Bridgeport,

the hospitals, women's crisis centers, shelters, etc. A detailed

list will be provided next month.

We are appreciative of everyone's donations and please continue to

ask friends to support our drive.

The appreciative comments we

receive would move all of you, and we receive random requests

from individuals for just a pair of

gloves or a hat. The need is great! Thank you to those who have

already donated, to those ladies

who have hand knit or crocheted

items, and to those who gave us money to purchase gloves on their

behalf. Please be sure to come out and

support us at our Annual

Luncheon, on February 5th after

services. Please see the flyer in the Vision for more details. This

annual luncheon is just one of our

fundraisers, and the proceeds benefit the philanthropic causes

we support as well as our

Scholarship fund. (Chicken Souvlaki on the menu!)

We continue to welcome new

Sisters each month to our very

vibrant chapter. Please consider joining the Daughters if you are

not already a member. Our next

meeting is on January 16th at 6:30pm. Earlier time this month

again... We have a lot of business

to cover and a couple of initiations as well!

That's it until next month! Feel

f r ee t o c o nt a c t me a t

[email protected] with any questions, and please

be sure to visit both our Fan and

Group pages on Facebook to see pictures and get more information,

as well as on the Holy Trinity

website under the Virtual

Community Center.

PTO by Maria Gountas - President

W e hope that everyone had a very

Merry Christmas and a joyous

New Year! We would like to start off by welcoming our new priest, Father Andre-

as Vithoulkas along with his wife Presbytera Anthoula

and their two sons, Petro and Niko. On behalf of PTO we would like to thank Father and Presbytera for join-

ing us at our Christmas Dinner. It was a great time

getting to know them on a more casual note. We would also like to give a special thank you to all

the hardworking women who helped out this year baking our Tsoureki. Thank you

to Panagiota K., Maria P., Katerina Z.,

Maria A., Effie V., Christina P., and Syl-

via B.. PTO is also busy preparing for our an-

nual Valentine’s Dance. If you would like

to join a committee and help out, please see one of us. All are welcome with new ideas. Please

save the date: February 11, 2012 for the Valentine’s

Dance. Thank you to everyone who supported our Christ-

mas raffle. And a special thank you to Alicja and

Diane for all their help with the raffle.


GOYA - by Nicole Pettas

and Evan Yiannoulis - Co-presidents

W hen we look back on 2011, we think most people, es-

pecially students, will remember

the weather; there were numerous school cancellations and delays due

to snowy winter, and postpone-

ments of preseason practices due to

the stormy summer. Here’s hoping that the October Nor’easter is not a

sign of things to come in 2012!

Through it all GOYANS have had an active year and plan to con-

tinue in the coming year. We had

our car wash, our GOYA picnic, and we are so proud of our success-

ful TAG sale. We thank all those

who helped and made it all possi-

ble. We held the Project Learn event

in early December – a program

helping the underprivileged inner- city kids. Their appreciation was

written across their faces, and that

made our day even more reward-ing.

We helped with the decora-

tions of the Christmas wreaths, and we completed our Christmas com-

munity card project.

Our parish hosted the GOYA

Retreat and we had record number of attendees. What a day! It was a

great opportunity to connect with

other GOYANS, parents, and advi-sors from surrounding parishes.

This year we updated the GOYA

website, we added an annual calen-

dar with hopes to keep everybody informed of the GOYA planned

activities, and we launched our

Face Book page -GOYA at Holy Trinity Church-. Please visit and

“like “us.

We are so pleased that we keep adding new members to our GOYA

list and hope to continue growing.

Please feel free to email us at

[email protected] with any questions or comments.

On behalf of the entire GOYA

board and all GOYANS we would like to welcome Father Andreas

and his family to our community.

Our warmest wishes to all for a safe, healthy, and a very happy

New Year 2012!

Greek School

Ελληνικό

Σχολείο by Eleni Limberis -

Director

Καλή Χρονιά 2012 - Happy New Year 2012.

Το Ελληνικό µας

Σχολείο εύχεται και καλωσορίζει τον πάτερ Ανδρέα, την Πρεσβυτέρα Ανθούλα και τα παιδιά τους Νίκο και

Πέτρο στην Ενορία µας και τους ευχόµεθα Καλή

Χρονιά, υγεία και πολλά πολλά χρόνια µαζί µας. Καλωσορίσατε πάτερ.

Να ευχηθούµε καλό ταξίδι και καλές σπουδές στην

Χριστίνα Περτέση – δασκάλα της 2ας τάξης του

σχολείου µας –που θα ταξιδεύσει και θα παρακολουθήσει µαθήµατα στην Ισπανία για

µερικούς µήνες. Καλές σπουδές και ευχαριστούµε

Χριστίνα και µε το καλό να µας έρθεις. Όπως κάθε χρόνο - και φέτος θέλουµε να

ευχαριστήσουµε τα παιδιά µας και τις οικογένειές

τους πού έδωσαν δώρα και ευχές για τα παιδάκια πού

έχουν ανάγκη, ώστε να περάσουν τις γιορτές τους

χαρούµενα και ευτυχισµένα. Το Χριστουγεννιάτικο πρόγραµµα τού Σχολείου

µας και φέτος ήταν πάρα πολύ, ευχάριστο και

χαρούµενο. Τα παιδιά µας τραγούδησαν

χριστουγεννιάτικα τραγούδια και ύµνους για τις άγιες αυτές ηµέρες των Χριστουγέννων και της

Πρωτοχρονιάς. Επίσης ο Άγιος Βασίλης εµφανίσθηκε

µε την σακούλα του γεµάτος µε δώρα για όλα τα παιδιά µας. Φυσικά ένα µεγάλο ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΩ στο

ΡΤΟ µας για τα δώρα τους και τις νόστιµες καραµέλες

και λιχουδιές. Το ΡΤΟ για τις νοστιµότατες Βασιλόπιτες πού κόπηκαν στις αίθουσες του σχολείου

µας, όπως το επιτρέπει η παράδοση.

Ευχαριστούµε τα παιδιά µας, τούς γονείς, τον π.

Ανδρέα, δασκάλες, τον πρόεδρο κο. Γιώργο Μουριζάκη, Συµβούλιο, φίλους, τις κυρίες του ΡΤΟ,

για τις χριστουγεννιάτικες ευχές, υποστήριξη και

αγάπη τους κατά την διάρκεια τού έτους και ειδικά τώρα µε τις γιορτές. Επίσης ένα µεγάλο

ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΩ στην Αλίκη Λουκρέζη, για το

ωραιότατο... και φυσικά τον στολισµό του Χριστουγεννιάτικου δέντρου. Χρόνια Πολλά σ’

όλους σας, καλή και ευτυχισµένη χρονιά, πάντα µε

υγεία. Το Σχολείο µας αρχίζει την Τρίτη 3

Ιανουαρίου, 2012. Ευχαριστώ πολύ Κυρία Ελένη


Athletic

Department by Pericles Koutroulas

-Director

O n behalf of the Athletic Committee, I would like to welcome Father Andreas and his family

to our community. May our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ bless you with a successful ministry for many years to come. The basketball and volleyball

seasons are in full swing. The children are having fun in

practice and at the games. I started training and

utilizing some new scorekeepers. They are Alex Danas, Chris Koutsitzis, Platon Vlamis, Chrysoula Vlamis,

William Walsh, Nick Bochanis, Philip Vlandis, and

George Kolitsas. They are doing very well. Thank you for your help!!!

I want to thank our Assistant Treasurer Periklis

Gountas for donating his time and materials to clean the

gym and snack bar floors. Very Important - Per the Archdiocese, in order

for your child to participate in the athletic program,

they must be actively enrolled and participating in

Sunday School and Joy/Hope (5-12) or GOYA (12-18). Please make sure you take care of this immediately for

your child. Also, regarding the Advent and Lenten

retreats for GOYA, it is mandatory for all the youth ages 12-18 to participate. If your child doesn't

participate, then you have to email the Director, Rev.

Evagoras Constantinides, at [email protected] to explain why your child didn’t attend the retreat. The

Archdiocese will decide if your child will be allowed to

participate in the athletic program. The Athletic

Committee of Holy Trinity has to abide by the Direct Archdiocesan District Athletic Ministries Rules and

Regulations.

Please feel free to email or call me at 203 556-0489 with any questions, concerns, and/or ideas.

On behalf of the Athletic Committee, I would like to

wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Safe New Year.

Sunday School by Eva Vaniotis -Director

L ast October, a special lesson

was held in the 7th and 8th grades under the direction of Tom

Hallas, (7th grade teacher). Tom,

with his two assistants Tommy Ste-vens and Janice Bouloubasis, as-

sembled information from articles

placed in the Web by the Archdio-

cese on the explanation of making the Prosforo and the purpose of it.

With their devotion, the children

were guided step-by-step in the preparation of the

Prosforo. On Sunday, No-

vember 13th, they gathered

all the children from the two classes, extended a spe-

cial invitation to the 5th and

6th graders , and asked to join them in the kitchen to

demonstrate the full proce-

dure of making the Prosforo in our church. Special

thanks to Tommy and Janice for

reaching out to our children and

teaching them the importance of the spiritual practice in the Orthodox

religion.

The Christmas Program includ-ed all children attending Sunday

school. The Birth of Christ is an

event glorifying our Lord and illus-trating His birth is a lesson en-

grossed by our children to maintain

forever. Many thanks to Joanna

Bogardus for organizing the beauti-ful music performed by our Sunday

school chorus and the All Saints Choir. Congratulations to all the

children and teachers who worked

together to follow the schedule of

the program. With sincere gratitude to PTO for the Christmas gifts `to

grades P.N. through 6th. For the

Communion breakfast to children and teachers. We are grateful to

PTO for their “labor of love” first

to God and then to our children. January 8: Sunday school be-

gins at regular time. Vasilopita

will be served in each classroom.

Vasilopita, prepared by PTO, a reli-gious ritual observed for the philan-

thropic actions of St. Basil and to-

day we carry the tradition to our youth. Before the Vasilopita is of-

fered to the children, the teacher

reads a brief background on St. Basil, a little prayer and then passes

the Vasilopita to the children, of

course, they are all waiting anxious-

ly who is going to get the lucky piece. Happy New Year.


“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” ~Helen Keller

Ladies Philoptochos

Society Kalliope Tsitsipas-President

H appy New Year & Καλή

Χρονιά! Every January,

Philoptochos chapters from across America hold a Va-

silopita event to raise funds that

will benefit Saint Basil Academy, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

home for children in need. The

Academy is a warm and inviting

residence in Garisson, New York, which offers a loving, family en-

vironment whose purpose is to

nurture and support children and alumni who call it home. The Va-

silopita event in our Parish is al-

ways a success. This year’s event

will be held on January 8th, and we ask, once again, for your love

and support. Please plan on stay-

ing and enjoying the reception and all the wonderful food. Many

thanks for your continued support

for this most wonderful academy. Your efforts throughout the years

are expressions of love and com-

passion of which the beneficiaries

are the children at the academy.

The following excerpt was taken from www.saintbasilacademy.org

One of the most beautiful and inspiring traditions and customs of

the Greek Orthodox Church is the

observance of Vasilopita. It is this

annual family observance, together with many other traditions of our

Church, which joins our Orthodox

Faith and heritage with the history of the Christian religion itself.

The word Vasilopita is a com-

pound Greek word which means the sweet 'bread of Basil'.

Background

This age old tradition com-menced in the fourth century,

when Saint Basil the Great, who

was a bishop, wanted to distribute money to the poor in his Diocese.

He commissioned some women to

bake sweetened bread, in which he arranged to place gold coins. Thus

the families in cutting the bread to

nourish themselves, were pleasant-

ly surprised to find the coins.

The Annual Home

Observance This original event which hap-

pened in Cappadocia of Caesarea

in the last half of the fourth centu-

ry, is very much alive in our Or-thodox homes each year on Janu-

ary 1st.

According to tradition, special

sweet bread (in some areas of

Greece, it takes the form of a cake) is prepared both in the Orthodox

homes and in the Church commu-

nity which is called Vasilopita.

Sweets are added to the bread which symbolize the sweetness

and joy of life everlasting. It also

symbolizes the hope that the New Year will be filled with the sweet-

ness of life, liberty, health, and

happiness for all who participate in the Vasilopita Observance. When

the Vasilopita is prepared, a coin is

usally added to the ingredients. When the bread is cut and the ob-

servance begins, the individual

who receives that portion of the

Pita which contains the coin is considered blessed.

This tradition adds joy to the celebration at the beginning of the

New Year, which everyone hopes

will bring joy to all. Many Ortho-dox Christians enjoy the Vasilopi-

ta at home with their loved ones

during the New Year celebration.

The head of the family cuts the pieces of pita for all members of

the family. Since Saint Basil loved

the poor people, a special piece is cut for the unfortunate of the

world, which symbolizes our con-

cern for the poverty-striken people of all nations.

For more information, please visit

www.saintbasilacademy.org .

A Special “Thank You”

The Ladies Philoptochos

Society would like to thank all

those who contributed to our food baskets. The recipient of these bas-

kets is the Evergreen Network,

which provides “supportive ser-vices specifically for children and

adults infected or affected by HIV/

AIDS, and their families. Based in Bridgeport CT, Evergreen Net-

work provides outreach in schools,

courts, clinics and other state agen-

cies on behalf of our clients. Our services have been provided on a

continual basis for over 20 years.”

Please note that there is a

Philoptochos meeting sched-

uled for Tuesday, January 3,

2012 at 7:00 pm.


N ow that all the Christmas dinners and festivities have subsided, we wish

everyone a Happy New Year with

good health, happiness, and peace.

Our 98th Anniversary Christmas Luncheon took place in December. We extend our deep

appreciation to our donors – the George

Daoutis Family, the Dimitrios Triantis Family, Maria Toussas, and Robert Arvanitis. Of

course, we thank all those who assisted on this

luncheon, particularly our cooks who gave us such a delicious meal. On this day we also

welcomed our new Spiritual Leader Father

Andreas Vithoulkas, Presvytera Anthoula, and

their twin boys, Nikolas and Petros to our Parish. Many of their friends and family were also in

attendance.

We thank our organizations and Parishioners who thought of the “needy” throughout the Christmas

season with their various programs with food baskets,

clothing, and toys. The Christmas wreaths on the front doors of our

Church were donated and decorated by the Daughters.

They did a beautiful job. They thank everyone who

supported their Turkey Raffle and their Christmas Wreath Sale. Winners of the turkey raffle were:

George Mourizakis, Joe Langley, Patricia Rothorock,

Panagiota Tziolis and Nick Tsocanos. We are proud of our parishioner Sgt. Sylvie

Papageorge who marched with her daughter Chloe at

the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Parade

on Fifth Avenue in New York City on Veterans Day,

November 11th.

Congratulations to Tilemachos and Barbara Tsoupas on the birth of their first grandchild - a baby

girl - Zoe Adelle Tsoupas. What a beautiful Christmas

gift they received from their son and daughter-in-law. The great grandmother is Millie Arahovitis. They are

all thrilled. Na sas zisse.

Congratulations to John and Lori Farlekas

celebrating their Wedding Anniversary and John’s birthday during the month of January.

Congratulations to Gus Hatzis on his recent

engagement. We wish Gus and his lovely fiancé “Jill” all our best wishes as they prepare to begin a new life

together.

The community extends its deepest sympathy to the

“New Year's Day is every man's birthday.” - Charles Lamb

Around the Parish by Stella Capiris

HT Seniors’ Christmas Luncheon - photo courtesy of Alicja Loukrezis

Philoptochos Christmas Dinner

photo courtesy of Helen Yeotsas

Daughters/AHEPA Christmas Dinner

photo courtesy of Kathy Yiannoulis


“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.”

family of Paul Louloudes. Paul, as we all know,

was a very active member of our Community for

many years. He will be very much missed,

especially at our annual Festival where he

served as Chairman of our Kitchen Committee.

The Community extends its deepest sympathy

to the family of Mary Koulouris Benedetto who

fell asleep in the Lord in December. May their

Memories be Forever Eternal!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

D.O.P. - Christmas

Basket Project photo courtesy of Kathy Yiannoulis

GOYA Retreat at Holy Trinity— photos courtesy of Athina Bellios

PTO Holiday Baking

Philoptochos Christmas Dinner– photos courtesy of Helen Yeotsas

Cycling Club Christmas Party-photo courtesy of H. Yeotsas


photos courtesy of Vicky Andriotis

2011 Sunday School Christmas Pageant


The Island of

Feelings

O nce upon a time there was an

island where all the feelings

lived; Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the others,

including Love.

One day it was announced to all of

the feelings that the island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. So all the feelings

prepared their boats to leave. Love was the only one

that stayed. She wanted to preserve the island until the last possible moment.

When the island was almost totally under, Love

decided it was time to leave. She began looking for

someone to ask for help. Just then Richness was passing by in a grand boat. Love asked, "Richness, Can

I come with you on your boat?"

Richness answered, "I'm sorry, but there is a lot of silver and gold on my boat and there would be no room

for you." Then Love decided to ask Vanity for help

who was passing in a beautiful vessel. Love cried out, "Vanity, help me please."

I can't help you", Vanity said, "You are all

wet and will damage my beautiful boat."

Next, Love saw Sadness passing by. Love said, "Sadness, please let me go with

you." Sadness answered, "Love, I'm sorry,

but, I just need to be alone now." Then, Love saw Happiness. Love cried out,

"Happiness, please take me with you." But

Happiness was so overjoyed that he didn't hear Love calling to him. Love began to

cry. Then, she heard a voice say, "Come

Love, I will take you with me."

It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that she forgot to ask the elder his name. When they

arrived on land the elder went on his way. Love

realized how much she owed the elder. Love then found Knowledge and asked, "Who was it that helped me?"

"It was Time", Knowledge answered.

"But why did Time help me when no one else would?", Love asked. Knowledge smiled and with deep

wisdom and sincerity, answered, "Because only Time is

capable of understanding how great Love is." ~ Author Unknown

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her

face, walked into a grocery store.

She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and

asked if he would let her charge a

few groceries. She softly explained

that her husband was very ill and unable to work. They had seven

children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that

she leave his store. Visualizing the

family needs, she said: "Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as

soon as I can." John told her he

could not give her credit, as she did

not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the con-

versation between the two. The cus-

tomer walked forward and told the

grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family.

The grocer said in a very reluc-

tant voice, "Do you have a grocery list?" Louise replied, "Yes sir."

"Okay" he said, "put your grocery

list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you

that amount in groceries."

Louise hesitated a moment with a

bowed head. Then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of

paper and scribbled something on

it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head

still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when

the scale went down and stayed

down. The grocer, staring at the

scales, turned slowly to the custom-er and said begrudgingly, "I can't

believe it." The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the

groceries on the other side of the

scales. The scale did not balance so

he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales

would hold no more. The grocer

stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of

paper from the scales and looked at

it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list. It was instead a

prayer which said: "Dear Lord, you

know my needs and I am leaving

this in your hands." The grocer gave her the groceries

that he had gathered and stood in

stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store. The customer

handed a fifty-dollar bill to the gro-

cer and said, "It was worth every penny of it."

It was sometime later that the

grocer discovered the scales were

broken; therefore, only God knows how much a prayer weighs.


On Christian Love by Hugh Latimer (c.1485—1555)

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved

you.—John xv., 12.

S eeing the time is so far spent,

we will take no more in hand

at this time than this one sen-tence; for it will be enough for us to

consider this well, and to bear it

away with us. "This I command unto

you, that ye love one another." Our Savior himself spake these words at

His last supper: it was the last ser-

mon that He made unto His disciples before His departure; it is a very

long sermon. For our Savior, like as

one that knows he shall die shortly, is desirous to spend that little time

that He has with His friends, in ex-

horting and instructing them how

they should lead their lives. Now among other things that He com-

manded this was one: "This I com-

mand unto you, that ye love one an-other." The English expresses as tho

it were but one, "This is my com-

mandment." I examined the Greek,

where it is in the plural number, and very well; for there are many things

that pertain to a Christian man, and

yet all those things are contained in this one thing, that is, love. He lap-

peth up all things in love.

Our whole duty is contained in these words, "Love together." There-

fore St. Paul saith, "He that loveth

another fulfilleth the whole law"; so

it appeareth that all things are con-tained in this word love. This love is

a precious thing; our Savior saith,

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye shall love one

another."

So Christ makes love His cogni-zance, His badge, His livery. Like as

every lord commonly gives a certain

livery to his servants, whereby they

may be known that they pertain unto him; and so we say, yonder is this

lord's servants, because they wear

his livery: so our Savior, who is the Lord above all lords, would have His

servants known by their liveries and

badge, which badge is love alone. Whosoever now is endued with love

and charity is His servant; him we

may call Christ's servant; for love is

the token whereby you may know that such a servant pertaineth to

Christ; so that charity may be called

the very livery of Christ. He that hath charity is Christ's servant; he

that hath not charity is the servant of

the devil. For as Christ's livery is love and charity, so the devil's livery

is hatred, malice and discord...

Now St. Paul shows how needful

this love is. I speak not of carnal love, which is only animal affection;

but of this charitable love, which is

so necessary that when a man hath it, without all other things it will suf-

fice him. Again, if a man have all

other things and lacketh that love it

will not help him, it is all vain and lost. St. Paul used it so: "Tho I speak

with tongues of men and angels, and

yet had no love, I were even as sounding brass, or as a tinkling cym-

bal. And tho I could prophesy and

understand all secrets and all knowledge; yet if I had faith, so that

I could move mountains out of their

places, and yet had no love, I were

nothing. And tho I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor, and tho I

gave my body even that I were

burned, and yet had no love, it profiteth me nothing" (I Cor. xiii).

These are godly gifts, yet St. Paul

calls them nothing when a man hath them without charity; which is a

great commendation, and shows the

great need of love, insomuch that all

other virtues are in vain when this love is absent. And there have been

some who taught that St. Paul spake against the dignity of faith; but you

must understand that St. Paul speaks

here not of the justifying faith,

wherewith we receive everlasting life, but he understands by this word

faith the gift to do miracles, to re-

move hills; of such a faith he speaks. ..

St. Paul has an expression in the

13th chapter of the first of the Corin-thians, which, according to the out-

ward letter, seems much to the dis-

praise of this faith, and to the praise

of love; these are his words, "Now abideth faith, hope and love, even

these three; but the chiefest of these

is love." There are some learned men who expound the greatness of which

St. Paul speaketh here as if meant

for eternity. For when we come to God, then we believe no more, but

rather see with our eyes face to face

how He is; yet for all that love re-

mains still; so that love may be called the chiefest, because she en-

dureth forever. And tho she is the

chiefest, yet we must not attribute unto her the office which pertains

unto faith only. Like as I can not

say, the Mayor of Stamford must

make me a pair of shoes because he is a greater man than the shoemaker

is; for the mayor, tho he is a greater

man, yet it is not his office to make shoes; so tho love be greater, yet it is

not her office to save. Thus much I

thought good to say against those who fight against the truth...

And now to make an end: mark

here who gave this precept of love—

Christ our Savior Himself. When and at what time? At His departing,

when He should suffer death. There-

fore these words ought the more to be regarded, seeing He Himself

spake them at His last departing

from us. May God of His mercy give us grace so to walk here in this

world, charitably and friendly one

with another, that we may attain the

joy which God hath prepared for all those that love Him. Amen.


Daughters of

Penelope -

Founder's Day by Helen Yeotsas - President

I t was on November 16,

1929, Alexandra Apos-

tolides Sonenfeld creat-ed this women’s organi-

zation – which is an affiliate group

to the Ahepa. Alexandra was born in Greece and emigrated to the US

at the age of 10. She gathered 25

women together initially, with the goal of working with the Ahepa in

their mission of promoting Hellen-

ism, education, philanthropy, civic

responsibility, family and individ-ual excellence through community

service and volunteerism.

She emphasized the im-portance of our ethnic background,

patriotism to the United States, and stressed the importance of

kindness and love towards one

another. She was college educat-

ed, which was a huge accomplish-ment for a woman of that time,

particularly one that was born in

Greece…and she advocated the pursuit of knowledge and higher

learning.

This small group with her vi-sion, has grown to what the

Daughters have become today…

one of the largest women’s organi-

zations, with over 350 chapters in the US, Canada and even Australia

and Cyprus. The Daughters not

only contribute monetarily to countless charities, but also give

of their time and talents volunteer-

ing at hospitals, retirement homes and shelters, making a positive

contribution to the communities in

which they live.

It’s quite an honor that two years ago the House of Represent-

atives passed Resolution 209 hon-oring the significant achievements

and contributions of the Daughters

of Penelope in the US. In a nut-

shell this resolution commemo-rates the Founding of the group

and acknowledges the contribu-

tions of Greek Americans to our

society.

Key points are that the Daughters

of Penelope members exemplify the American Dream with their

strong work ethic, and that Greek

American women have risen to

become leaders in their respective professions. It is recognized in the

resolution that this group has

strengthened the status of women in society, sheltered the elderly

and the abused, educated our

youth, promoted Hellenic heritage and raised funds for medical re-

search.

Please also consider joining

the Daughters if you aren’t mem-ber already!

Choir Notes by Phoebe Leask - Director

T he Jr. and Sr. Choirs of Holy Trinity Would like to wish everyone a Very

Happy New Year Filled with good health,

good friends, much joy, and Days filled with Harmony!

Join us in the choir loft. Join us in sing-ing the praises of God We need you! We

need to grow our choir! We would welcome

you with open arms. And, to encourage you to join

us… we will be starting a new program:

For New Members Only Special half hour rehearsals for those who would like

to learn the music we sing in church. Tuesday 7-7:30

pm.

Current choir members will arrive at 7:30 for the regular choir rehearsal.

New members are welcome to stay and

sing with us or just follow along.

Please call us with any questions you

might have. We look forward to hearing

from you.

Please contact:

Phoebe Kamelakis Leask, Sr Choir 203.258.9160 , [email protected]

or Joanna Bogardus, Jr. Choir,

203..736.6501 [email protected]

It is with much sadness that we learned the passing

of Dorothea Manos, loving and devoted wife of our

former choir director George Manos. Our hearts go out to George and his family. Αιωνία η µνήµη .


του π. Ανδρέα

Βυθούλκας

<<πλὴὴὴὴν ἐἐἐἐν τούτῳῳῳῳ

µὴὴὴὴ χαίρετε, ὅὅὅὅτι

τὰὰὰὰ πνεύµατα

ὑὑὑὑ µ ῖῖῖῖ ν

ὑὑὑὑπ οτ ά σ σ ετ α ι ·

χαίρετε δὲὲὲὲ ὅὅὅὅτι

τὰὰὰὰ ὀὀὀὀνόµατα

ὑὑὑὑµῶῶῶῶν ἐἐἐἐγράφη ἐἐἐἐν τοῖῖῖῖς οὐὐὐὐρανοῖῖῖῖς. >> (Λουκᾶ 10, 20)

Ό ταν αναµένεται ένα νεογέννητο στην

οικογένεια, οι περισσότεροι νέοι γονείς

επενδύουν σε ένα από τα βιβλία ονοµασίας του µωρου ή αναζήτουν σε

ένα δικτυακό τόπο όνοµα για το νεογέννητο.

Αναζητούν αιτιολόγηση ή η γλωσσική προέλευση

του ονόµατος που θα ήθελαν να δώσουν. Η ονοµατοδωσία είναι µια πολύ ιδιαίτερη στιγµή της

ζωής µας. Το Όνοµα που µας δόθηκε από τους

γονείς µας συνήθως µας σχετίζεται µε το οικογενειακό µας δέντρο και θρησκευτική

παράδοση. Συνήθως προσδιορίζοµαστε µέσω

ονόµατα της οικογένειάς µας, και πολλές φορές στη ζωή µας µε “παρατσούκλια” που µας περιγράφουν

ουσιαστικά µέσα την οικογένεια και τους φίλους.

Αυτό είναι ειδικά σηµαντικό για µας τους Χριστιανούς, επειδή το όνοµά µας µας δίδεται

επίσηµα κατά το µυστήριο του Αγίου Βαπτίσµατος.

Όταν βαπτιζόµαστε µετασχηµατίζονται από την κοσµική στη πνευµατική φύση, και η ονοµασίας µας

αυτόν ακριβώς το µετασχηµατισµό συµβολίζει.

Κατά τη Βίβλο, δεν έχουµε ένα όνοµα, µάλλον

"πραγµατώνουµε το όνοµα" που έχουµε. Το όνοµα δίνει ταυτότητα στη φύση µας, χαρακτηρίζει την

προσωπικότητα. Το όνοµά µας φανερώνει τι

κάνουµε στη ζωή. Το όνοµα µας καθορίζει σαν Χριστιανούς. Το όνοµα είναι επίσης σηµαντικό

επειδή περιγράφει την εργασία του ατόµου. ∆είχνει

τι κάνουµε στη ζωή µας. Εξηγεί το σκοπό, την αποστολή και η ιδανικά της ζωής. Όταν λαµβάνουµε

το όνοµά σας µέσω του βαπτίσµατος σηµατοδοτεί

όχι µόνο σας είσοδο στην Ορθόδοξη Χριστιανική

πίστη αλλά είναι επίσης σηµατοδοτεί αρχή της νέας ζωής µας εν Χριστώ. Το βαπτιστικό όνοµα που µας

έχει χορηγηθεί από τους αναδόχους µας συµβολίζει

τον µετασχηµατισµό µας από το Άγιο Πνεύµα σε

πολίτες της Βασιλείας των Ουρανών και από το σηµείο αυτό µε την προδιάθεση του ονόµατός µας

ένδειξη µίας νέας ουρανίου πραγµατικότητας. Αυτό

είναι ο λόγος που κάθε φορά πριν λάβουµε την Θεία

Κοινωνία αναφέρουµε το όνοµά µας στον ιερέα, επειδή ο Θεός µας γνωρίζει προσωπικά και ιδιαίτερα

δια του όνοµατός µας. Μέσω του βαπτιστικού µας

όνοµατος γνωρίζουµε τον Θεό και σωζόµεθα. Στο βιβλίο της αποκάλυψης διαβάζουµε ότι µόνο τα

ονόµατα των οποίων γράφονται µε το βιβλίο της

ζωής (13, 8) καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνοµα

ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγµένου

ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσµου. καὶ εἴ τις οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τῇ

βίβλῳ τῆς ζωῆς γεγραµµένος, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν λίµνην τοῦ πυρός (20, 15)

Μία κρίσιµη στιγµή της γήινης ζωής του Ιησού Χριστού είναι, όταν λαµβάνει το όνοµά του. Στις

γραφές υπάρχει δηµόσια δήλωση του ονόµατος του

Ιησού. ∆ιαβάζουµε, Καὶ ὅτε ἐπλήσθησαν ἡµέραι ὀκτὼ τοῦ περιτεµεῖν τό παιδίον, καὶ ἐκλήθη τὸ

ὄνοµα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς, τὸ κληθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου

πρὸ τοῦ συλληφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ (Λουκά 2:

21). Αυτό είναι το όνοµα που απεκάλυψε ο άγγελος του Ευαγγελισµού Γαβριήλ από τον Θεό στην

Παναγία καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν,

καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνοµα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. οὗτος ἔσται µέγας καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται, καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ

Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν θρόνον ∆αυῒδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ,

καὶ βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας,

καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος (Λουκά 1, 31-33). Αυτό κάνει ο Ιησούς Χριστός, µας σώσει.

Το όνοµα Ιησούς αποκαλύπτει όχι µόνο η φύση Του,

αλλά το έργο Του. Αποστολή του είναι να συµφιλιώσει ανθρώπους στον Θεό, να µπορούµε να

ζούµε σε αρµονία µεταξύ µας.

Γιορτάζουµε το νέο έτος οκτώ ηµερών µετά τα

Χριστουγέννα. Είναι ευτυχισµένος οιωνός για το νέο

έτος να αρχίζει την ηµέρα αυτή, όταν το βρέφος

Χριστός έλαβε το όνοµά του, το µόνο όνοµα, µε το οποίο µπορούµε να σωθούµε (τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνοµα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει

τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁµαρτιῶν αὐτῶν (Ματθ. 1, 21) καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ ἡ σωτηρία· οὐδὲ

γὰρ ὄνοµά ἐστιν ἕτερον ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν τὸ

δεδοµένον ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡµᾶς (Πράξεις 4, 12). Αλλά ο Ιησούς δεν είναι µόνο το

όνοµά του. Κατά τη διάρκεια της ζωής του, ο Ιησούς

Χριστός έλαβε επίσης και άλλα "ιερά" ονόµατα τα

(Connued on page 18)


"Μακάριο δέν εἶναι τόσο νά γνωρίζεις κάτι περί Θεοῦ, ἀλλά τό νά ἔχεις µέσα σου τό Θεό" (Ἅγ.Γρηγόριος Νύσσης).

οποία Tον προσδιορίζουν, Αυτόν

και απολυτρωτική αποστολή του.

Συχνά φορές αναγνωρίστηκε µε αυτά τα ονόµατα µόνο από τους

πλησιέστερους φίλους του και

τους αποστόλους. Αµέσως µετά το όνοµα του

Ιησού έχει δηλωθεί στο ναό, ο

δίκαιος Συµεών αποκαλύπτει ένα άλλο όνοµα για αυτό το παιδί:

"Του κυρίου Μεσσίας." Μαζί µε

την ταυτότητα του "Μεσσίας"

έρχεται µια σειρά από άλλες ονοµασίες, - ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη

ἡµῖν υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη ἡµῖν οὗ ἡ

ἀρχὴ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤµου αὐτοῦ καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνοµα

αὐτοῦ µεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος

ἐγὼ γὰρ ἄξω εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας εἰρήνην καὶ ὑγίειαν

αὐτῷ (Ισαΐας 9, 6), εἶπεν ὁ

ῥυσάµενός σε κύριος σαβαωθ

ὄνοµα αὐτῷ ἅγιος ισραηλ (Ισαΐας 47, 4), "Εµµανουήλ", "Σωτήρας,"

"Αµνός του Θεού," "Αγαπηµένος

υιός," και "Λυτρωτής".

Ο Ιησούς περιτεµίθη σύµφωνα

µε την τελετή που ο Θεός

καθόρισε στην Παλαιά ∆ιαθήκη, ώστε κάθε παιδί να γίνεται µέλος

του λαού του Θεού. Με ανάλογο

τρόπο και εµείς ξαναγεννούµεθα µε το βάπτισµα, όταν ο Θεός µάς

δίνει καινούργια ύπαρξη δια του

Χριστού. Έχουµε βαπτιστεί, στο όνοµα της Αγίας Τριάδας.

Έχουµε βαπτιστεί στο όνοµα του

Χριστού και λάβαµε να έχουµε τη

φύση Του, το νου Του, το πνεύµα και τη στάση Του. Είµαστε

Χριστιανοί και φέρουµε το όνοµα

του Χριστού. Γι’ αυτό το βάπτισµα ονοµάζεται στα Αγγλικά

και " Christening" και ο

απόστολος Παύλος µάς διδάσκει ότι γινόµαστε παιδιά του Θεού

µ ό ν ο µ έ σ ω τ ο υ Α γ ί ο υ

Βαπτίσµατος.

Έχοντας Χριστιανικό όνοµα

που χαρακτηρίζει τη χριστιανική

φ ύ σ η , α ν τ ι µ ε τ ω π ί ζ ο υ µ ε καθηµερινά προκλήσεις και

πειρασµούς που ζητούν από µας

ν α α ν τ α π ο κ ρ ιθ ού µ ε σ τ ι ς απαιτήσεις που ονόµά µας

καθορίζει. Πρέπει να ενεργούµε

σύµφωνα µε αυτό που είµαστε. Η χριστιανική ζωή είναι µια πορεία –

µία οδός - για να πραγµατωθεί

αυτό που είµαστε, φορείς του

ονόµατος του Χριστού. Εάν εµείς φ έρ ν ου µε το όν οµα του

Χριστιανός, θα ζούµε καθηµερινά

στο όνοµα του Ιησού. Ο Σαίξπηρ

έγραψε, είναι το όνοµα του άνδρα

ή της γυναίκας είναι "άµεσο κόσµηµα των ψυχών τους."

Προσωπικά θα ήθελα να ευχαριστήσω ολόψυχα ολόκληρη

την Κοινότητα της Αγίας Τριάδας

για σκληρή εργασία και την

αφοσίωση κατα τη διάρκεια αυτών των γιορτινών ηµέρών. Ήµουν

πολύ απασχοληµένος σε αυτή την

αποδοτική µεταβατική περίοδο για τον εαυτό µου και για σάς.

Σ υ µ µ ε τ ε ί χ α µ ε σ τ ι ς

Χριστουγεννιάτικες εκδηλώσεις των οργανώσεων της κοινότητος.

Η πρεσβυτέρα Ανθούλα, ο Νίκος

και Πέτρος καθώς και εγώ προσωπικά γίναµε εγκάρδια

αποδεκτοί από το σύνολο της

Κοινότητας. Είχαµε την ευκαιρία

ν α σ α ς γν ωρ ίσ ου µ ε κ α ι µοιραστούµε την χαρούµενη

εµπειρία της γέννησης του Κυρίου

ηµών Ιησού Χριστού. Με τα παιδιά της νοελαίας συµµετείχα

στο εργαστήρι του Άη Βασίλη και

έδωσε στο Santa τη δική µου ευχή! Ήµουν σε θέση να

ανταποκρίθώ και από κοινού µε τα

µέλη του παγκοσµίου συµβουλίου

εκκλησιών τη χαρά για τη γέννηση του Κυρίου µας! Αγία Τριάδα

φιλοξένησε µε µεγάλη επιτυχία τη

συνάντηση των Inter-Goya για τα Χριστούγεννα, χάρη στη σκληρή

εργασία των Goyans! Ήµουν

τόσο ικανοποιηµένος να δω τους Goyans της κοινότητός µας να

εργάζονται τόσο σκληρά για τη

διοργάνωση και µετά τόν

καθαρισµό µετά κάθε εκδήλωση µε τα χαµόγελα στα πρόσωπά

τους.

Εύχοµαι σε όλους σας µία

ευλογηµένη νέα χρονιά και

περιµένω µε ανυποµονησία να

γνωρίσω όλους σας στο νέο έτος. Πόρτα µου ανοιχτεί σας περιµένει

πάντοτε και ελπίζω να έρθω και

να ευλογήσω τα σπίτια µε τον Αγιασµό κατά τη διάρκεια της των

Θεοφάνιων. Εκτός από την τον

τακτικό κύκλο των υπηρεσιών είµαι χαρούµενος που ανακοινώνω

ότι επίσης θα αρχίσει η µελέτη της

Αγίας Γραφής και η ακολουθία

της παρακλήσεως στη µητέρα του Κυρίου µας την Τετάρτη το

βράδυ. Εύχοµαι και προσεύχοµαι

ότι θα συµφωνήσετε µαζί µου σχετικά µε αυτό το πνευµατικό

ταξίδι. Η γέννηση του Κύριο και

Σωτήρα µας Ιησού Χριστού να εξακολουθεί να ευλογεί εσας, τις

οικογένειές σας και τα σπίτια σας.

(Connued from page 17)


Η ΕΝΟΡΙΑ ΜΑΣ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΜΟΥΡΙΖΑΚΗΣ, ΠΡΟΕ∆ΡΟΣ

Αγαπητοί ενορίτες Εύχοµαι και ελπίζω το νέο έτος να

µας βρει όλους µε χαρά.Tης θερµές

ευχές µου σε όλους για µια υγιή, ευηµερούσα και χαρούµενη νέα

χρονιά. Όπως όλοι γνωρίζετε ο

Πατήρ Ανδρέας έχει ενταχθεί στην

οικογένειά µας, της Αγία Τριάδας . Όλον αυτόν τον µήνα, ήταν πολύ

απασχοληµένος σε συνάντησεις µε

πολλούς ενορίτες, όπως επίσης µε επισκέψεις σε νοσοκοµεία και σε

κέντρα ανάρρωσης, πολλές Θείες Λειτουργίες και Μυστήρια και γενικά σε Χριστουγεννιάτικες εκδηλώσεις.

Πραγµατικά η παρουσία του δεν θα µπορούσε να έλθει σε καλύτερη εποχή, µια εποχή γεµάτη µε εκδηλώσεις από το πνεύµα των Χριστουγέννων. Μια παρουσία που θα µας καθοδηγήσει στις γιορτές τώρα που αρχίζει ένα νέο κεφάλαιο

στην ιστορία της Εκκλησίας µας και να καλωσορίσει το Νέο Έτος µε Οµόνοια και αγάπη µε όλους µας. Έχουµε πολλή

δουλειά µπροστά µας. Ξεκινώντας το νέο έτος κάθε Τετάρτη το βράδυ µε Παρακλήσεις, και αναπληρωµατικά µε τις

Τάξεις για την µελέτη της Βίβλου .

Ο ∆εκέµβριος ήταν ένας µήνας µε πολλές δραστηριότητες για την κοινότητά µας. Όλες οι οργανώσεις ήσαν

απασχοληµένες µε συναντήσεις και συσκέψεις για πωλήσεις γλυκών, για Χριστούγεννιατικες και Αγιοβασιλιάτικες εορτές, Retreat και τόσες άλλες δραστηριότητες. Σας ευχαριστώ όλους για τη συµµετοχή σας στο Χριστουγεννιάτικο

γεύµα µας. Περισσότερα από 300 ατόµα παρακολούθησαν την υποδοχή του νέου Ιερέως µας και την οικογένειά του.

Θέλω να ευχαριστήσω ακόµη µια φορά τους χορηγούς για το γεύµα, τους κ. & κα Νταούτη, τους κ. & κα Τριάντη και

την κα Μαρία Τούσσα και τον ΚΟ. Αρβανίτη. Ο Ιανουάριος θα είναι επίσης ένας µήνας µε πολλές δραστηριότητες για τον Ιερέα µε επισκέψεις για Αγιασµούς και Ευλογίες στα σπίτια σας. Παρακαλώ καλέστε εγκαίρως για να

καθορισθει ο χρόνος της επίσκεψης του Ιερέως στο σπίτι σας για τον Αγιασµό και την προσωπική γνωριµία και για την

εξοικείωση του µε την περιοχή. Χρειαζόµαστε τη συνεργασία όλων.

Επιθυµώ να συγχαρώ τα νεοεκλεγµένα µέλη στο Ενοριακό Συµβούλιο, τον Robert Αρβανίτη, AJ Metsopoulos,

Michael Bouloubasis και Phil Γεώργας. Περισσότερα από 170 άτοµα συµµετείχαν στις εκλογές. Θα ήθελα επίσης να ευχαριστήσω όλους τους υποψηφίους για τη συµµετοχή τους στις εκλογές και να συγχαρώ την επιτροπή εκλογών για

τήν άψογη εργασία. Ανυποµονώ να εργασθώ και να βοηθήσω το νέο ιερέα µας µε οποιοδήποτε τρόπο που θα

µπορούσε να του φανεί χρήσιµη. Ελπίζω ότι όλοι σας θα καταβάλετε κάθε δυνατή προσπάθεια ώστε η εργασία του να

είναι επιτυχηµένη. Σας ευχαριστώ και ο Θεός ας µας ευλογεί.

photo courtesy of V. Andrios photo courtesy of V. Andrios

photo courtesy of Alicja Loukrezis

Greek School Christmas Program


Please Help.

The Children Need YOU.

Saint Basil

Academy –

Facts “A home for Orthodox children in need.” Saint

Basil Academy is sup-

ported through your

donations. If you know of a child who is in

need, please contact the

Academy at 845-424-3500.

Services

• Full tuition for public/private school education

• Tutors provided as needed in Sumas Library/

Learning Center • Medical care on site / Dental care on site

• Professional clinician counseling services

• 24 hour live-in residential counselors • Purchase/provide all clothing and personal items

• Extracurricular activities

• Athletic fields, gymnasium and indoor swim-ming pool on premises / Organized team sports

• Weekend excursions to local parishes and

Church planned activities

• Offer Bridge program to high school graduates • College tuition assistance for Bridge program

resident students

• Bridge program students live at Saint Basil Academy through college and

• career placement

• Attend daily Chapel services • Sunday Divine Liturgy attendance in the beauti-

ful Chapel with local area parishioner participa-

tion

Outreach • Hosting meetings, retreats, conferences and

workshops for National and Metropolis

Philoptochos, Archons, regional and local organ-izations

• Summer camp site for children with medical

disabilities

• Over 3500 visitors annually (individuals, Parish-es, youth groups, from all

• over the country)

• Maintain historic structures and property • All Parishes and groups welcome

• Visitations not limited to Orthodox Parishes and

groups only


JANUARY 2012 THE ORTHODOX VISION 22 The Hellenic

Cultural

Association of Holy Trinity PRESENTS

with a historical introduction

by

Aliki Mihalaros Sciascia

Friday,

January 13, 2012 Showtime: 7:00pm

Admission is Free



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If you have any questions please call Maria Gountas at 203-650-3246, Sylvia at 203-814-2131, Faye at 917-217-8530 or [email protected].

Deadline for all ads is by February 4, 2012


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Chicago • Illinois 60602 USA

Phone 312 357 6432

Fax 312 357 0527

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JANUARY 2012 THE ORTHODOX VISION 26 LIT URGY HOURS / ΩΡΕΣ ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΙΑΣ (ΚΥΡΙΑΚΕΣ)

Orthros: 8:30 Divine Liturgy,Sermons, Announcements: 9:45am – 11:30am

Coming in January! Beginning on the

second week of January 2012, we will be having

Bible Study classes on Wednesdays, with the

service of the Paraklisis every other Wednesday. For more information, please contact the Church

office.

SERVICES Sunday January 1 St. Basil’s & New Year’s

Thursday January 5 Eve of the Epiphany Friday January 6 Epiphany Day

Saturday January 7 St. John the Baptist

Sunday January 8 Regular Sunday Services Wednesday January 18 St. Antonios and St.

Athanasios

ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΙΕΣ Κυριακή 1 Ιανουαρίου Αγίου Βασιλείου

–Ορθρος & Θεία Λειτουργία

Πέµπτη 5 Ιανουαρίου Παραµονή των

Φώτων Παρασκευή 6 Ιανουαρίου Θεοφάνεια

Σάββατο 7 Ιανουαρίου Αγίου Ιωάννου

του Προδρόµου και Βαπτιστή Τετάρτη 18 Ιανουαρίου Αγίου Αντωνίου

& Αγίου Αθανασίου

MEMORIALS Sunday January 8 Paul Louloudes - 40 days Andrew Pappas - 3 years

Sunday January 15 Charles Poulos - 2 years

Elsie Vlamis - 3 years

ΜΝΗΜΟΣΥΝΑ Κυριακή 8 Ιανουαρίου

Πολυζώης Λουλούδας - 40 µέρες

Ανδρέας Πάππας - 3 χρόνια Κυριακή 15 Ιανουαρίου

Κων/νος Πούλος -2 χρόνια

Γεσθηµανή Βλάµη - 3 χρόνια

EVENTS, ACTIVITIES, PROGRAMS Sunday January 8 Vasilopita Sunday January 22 St. Dionysios of Olympou

Celebration/reception

ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΑ Κυριακή 8 Ιανουαρίου Εορτή της Βασιλόπιτας

Κυριακή 22 Ιανουαρίου Εορτή & ∆εξίωση Αγίου ∆ιονυσίου του Ολύµπου

♦ Monday, January 2, 2012-Forefeast of the Theophany

of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

♦ Tuesday, January 3, 2012-Malachi the Prophet

♦ Wednesday, January 4, 2012-Synaxis of the 70 Holy Apostles

♦ Thursday, January 5, 2012-Eve of the Theophany of

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ♦ Friday, January 6, 2012-The Theophany of Our Lord

and Saviour Jesus Christ

♦ Saturday, January 7, 2012-Synaxis of John the Holy Glorious Prophet, Baptist, & Forerunner

♦ Sunday, January 8, 2012- Sunday after Epiphany--—-

Monday, January 9, 2012-Polyeuctos the Martyr of

Meletine in Armenia ♦ Tuesday, January 10, 2012- Gregory of Nyssa

♦ Wednesday, January 11, 2012- Righteous Theodosios

the Cenobiarch ♦ Thursday, January 12, 2012- Tatiana the Martyr of

Rome

♦ Friday, January 13, 2012- Hermylos & Stratonikos the Martyrs at Belgrade

♦ Saturday, January 14, 2012- Leavetaking of the The-

ophany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

♦ Sunday, January 15, 2012- 12th Sunday of Luke ♦ Monday, January 16, 2012-John the Merciful, Patri-

arch of Alexandria

♦ Tuesday, January 17, 2012- Anthony the Great ♦ Wednesday, January 18, 2012- Athanasios & Cyril,

Patriarchs of Alexandria

♦ Thursday, January 19, 2012- Makarios the Great of

Egypt ♦ Friday, January 20, 2012- Righteous Euthymios the

Great

♦ Saturday, January 21, 2012- Maximos the Confessor ♦ Sunday, January 22, 2012- 15th Sunday of Luke

♦ Monday, January 23, 2012-Clement the Hieromartyr &

Bishop of Ancyra ♦ Tuesday, January 24, 2012-Xenia, Deaconess of Rome

♦ Wednesday, January 25, 2012-Gregory the Theologi-

an, Archbishop of Constantinople

♦ Thursday, January 26, 2012-Xenophon & his Compan-ions

♦ Friday, January 27, 2012-Removal of the Relics of

John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople ♦ Saturday, January 28, 2012-Ephraim the Syrian

♦ Sunday, January 29, 2012-Sunday of the Canaanite

♦ Monday, January 30, 2012-Synaxis of The Three Hier-archs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, & John

Chrysostom

♦ Tuesday, January 31, 2012-Cyrus & John the Unmer-

cenaries

SAINTS AND FEASTS FOR JANUARY 2012

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JANUARY 2012 THE ORTHODOX VISION 28 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

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The Official Monthly Publicaon of Holy Trinity

January 2012—

Issue #263

The Orthodox Vision - January 2012 Issue #263

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