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1931 Sumter Street
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H O L Y TRI NI TY
GR E E K O R THO DO X CH U R C H
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
1931 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29201
803-252-6758 (phone) 803-254-6197 (fax)
F E B R U A R Y
MONTHLY
MESSAGE
Elder Sophrony: "Every Divine
Liturgy is a Theophany"
By Elder Sophrony of Essex
For us Christians the central
point of the universe and the highest meaning of the history of the
world is the coming of Jesus Christ,
Who will not deny the archetypes
of the Old Testament, but He will
verify them, revealing to us their
true grandeur and will give new
dimensions to all things, eternal and
endless. The new Covenant of
Christ announces the beginning of a
new period in the history of mankind. Now the divine sphere radiates into the uncharted greatness of
the love and humility of our God
and Father, and the coming of
Christ will change everything, will
bring the new revelation that will
affect the fate of the whole creation,
the whole world.
2 0 1 5
And so He appeared. He to
whom the world owed its creation,
except with rare exceptions, "the
world did not recognize Him" (Jn.
1:10). The event was immeasurably
above the perception of an ordinary
man. The first who recognized Him
was John the Baptist, which is why
He said of him: "Among them that
are born of women there has not
risen a greater than John the Baptist" and that he is the end of the
law
and
the
prophets
(Matt. 11:9-13).
He came "to save the
world" (Jn. 12:47), to reveal to us
the one true God. He revealed to us
the Father's name. He gave to us the
words He received from the Father.
He revealed to us God as Light that
dispels all darkness (1 Jn. 1:5). He
acquainted us with the rarest mystery of all, that God is a hypostatic
existence, though not one person
but three in one: The Trinity. He
gave to us the baptism "in the Holy
Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11). In light
of this knowledge we can now see
the path to eternal perfection (Matt.
5:48). We feel His divine presence
within us, outside of us, at the highest grandeur of the universe, in the
face of man and in the radiant
intellect. And in the hours that the
continued on next page
unwaning light illuminates our hearts we
realize that we will not die. We know
this with knowledge that cannot be
proved by the usual means, but which for
us does not need proof, as long as the
Spirit itself bears witness within us.
We Orthodox live Christ in the
Divine Liturgy, or rather Christ lives
within us during the duration of the
Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is
the work of God. We say: "It is time for
the Lord to act." Among other things,
this means that now is the time for the
Lord to act. Christ liturgizes, and we live
with Christ.
The Divine Liturgy is the way
we know God and the way God becomes
known to us.
Christ celebrated the Divine
Liturgy once and this passed into eternity. His divinized human nature came to
the Divine Liturgy. We know Christ specifically in the Divine Liturgy. The
Divine Liturgy we celebrate is the same
Divine Liturgy which was done by
Christ on Great Thursday in the Mystical
Supper.
The 14th through the 16th chapters of the Gospel according to John is
one Divine Liturgy. So in the Divine
Liturgy we understand Holy Scripture.
The early Church lived without
a New Testament, but not without the
Divine Liturgy. The first records, the
written hymns, exist in the Divine
Liturgy.
In the Divine Liturgy we live
Christ and understand His word.
As Christ cleansed His Disciples
with his word and said to them: "You are
already clean because of the word which
I have spoken to you” (John 15:3) and
He washed the feet of His Disciples with
water, during the Sacred Washing, so
also in the first section of the Divine
Liturgy He cleanses us that we might
attend later His Table of love. The
purpose of the Divine Liturgy is to
convey Christ to us.
The Divine Liturgy teaches us
an ethos, the ethos of humility. As Christ
sacrificed Himself, so also should we
sacrifice ourselves. The type of the
Divine Liturgy is the type of impoverishment for us. In the Divine Liturgy we try
to be humbled, because we have the
sense that there is the humble God.
Every Divine Liturgy is a
Theophany. The Body of Christ appears.
Every member of the Church is an icon
of the Kingdom of God.
After the Divine Liturgy we
must continue to iconify the Kingdom of
God, keeping His commandments. The
glory of Christ is for Him to bear His
fruit in every member. This explains His
words: "Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8).
The Divine Liturgy took place
once and forever. It has eternality. Every
time the Divine Liturgy is performed, we
ascend to its height. If we experience
some aspects of the Divine Liturgy, then
we will understand its grandeur, as happened with Saint Seraphim of Sarov who
saw angels entering the church during
the Small Entrance.
We follow the Divine Liturgy
because we do not experience it, or until
we do experience it.
When
one
observes
the
commandments of Christ, they are not
just doing obedience, but they become
united with Christ and acquire the mind
of Christ.
LEADERSHIP STAFF
The Reverend Father Michael Platanis, Protopresbyter
2015 Parish Council: Peter Postal, President, Drew Theodore, Vice
President, Lee Tsiantis, Treasurer, Maria Bates, Secretary, Tommy Billas,
Celso Bolet, Elizabeth Chiarel, James Leventis, Robert Lewis, Mike
Psillos, Nick Pournaras, Elizabeth Render and Jane Schwantes
Donna Ackmann, Office A dministrator
Michael Hart, Financial A dministrator
Despina Houlis, Choir Director
Michael Payne, Custodian
Maria Shelley, Director of Ministries
www.holytrinitysc.com (website)
htgocc@gmail.com (e-mail)
CELEBRATING OVER 75 YEARS
MARCH GENERAL CALENDAR AND SERVICES
Sunday, March 1 8:45 AM - Orthros
10:00 AM - Divine Liturgy
No Sunday school
Tuesday, March 3 7:30 AM - Breakfast fellowship
Wednesday, March 4 9:30 AM - Presanctified Liturgy
5:30 PM - Great Compline
Friday, March 6 7:00 PM - Salutations
Saturday, March 7 6:00 PM - Great Vespers
Wednesday, March 25 Annunciation
9:30 AM - Divine Liturgy
Friday, March 27 7:00 PM - Akathist
Saturday, March 286:00 PM - Great Vespers
Sunday, March 29 8:45 AM - Orthros
10:00 AM - Divine Liturgy
Sunday school
Tuesday, March 31 7:30 AM - Breakfast fellowship
Sunday, March 8 8:45 AM - Orthros
10:00 AM - Divine Liturgy
Sunday school
NOTE: This schedule is subject to change.
Please consult the March bulletin for final
dates and times.
Tuesday, March 10 7:30 AM - Breakfast fellowship
Weekly updates can be found online at
holytrinitysc.com.
Wednesday, March 11 9:30 AM - Presanctified Liturgy
5:30 PM - Great Compline
Friday, March 137:00 PM - Salutations
Saturday, March 14 6:00 PM - Great Vespers
Sunday, March 15 8:45 AM - Orthros
10:00 AM - Divine Liturgy
Sunday school
Tuesday, March 17 7:30 AM - Breakfast fellowship
Wednesday, March 18 9:30 AM - Presanctified Liturgy
5:30 PM - Great Compline
OUR NEWS
ETERNAL MEMORY:
Anthony Joel Martin - November 24, 2014
BAPTISM:
11/9 - Zoi - daughter of Seraphim and Lacey Haftoglou Sponsors - Tryfon and Suzie Chatzopoulos
12/14 - Helen - daughter of Chad and Kathryn Graham Sponsors - James and Ami Leventis
12/21 - Nikolas - son of Andrew and Shannon Smith Sponsor - Joseph Studemeyer
Thank you to the following people who have volunteer ed to
host coffee hour after liturgy for February.
February 1
February 8
February 15
February 22
Elle Wilson and Diedre Kleckley
Joanna Graham and Kathryn Graham
Maria English and Helen Bykalo
Marina Saliaris and Eleni Haftoglou
WELCOME COMMITTEE
February 1
February 8
February 15
February 22
Dale Rothman and George Mavroftas
Mark and Anna Maria Hobbs
Carol Pittman and Gerry Smoak
Margie Malone and Anita Rickman
Friday, March 20 7:00 PM - Salutations
Saturday, March 21 6:00 PM - Great Vespers
Sunday, March 22 8:45 AM - Orthros
10:00 AM - Divine Liturgy
No Sunday school
We WELCOME the return of George Kordis and his crew. If you
are interested in preparing or sponsoring a meal during their stay,
please contact Donna at htgocc@gmail.com, or sign up in the church
hall.
What St. Porphyrios of
Kavsokalyva and
St. Paisios the Athonite
Said About Each Other
Sunday, February 8 - 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Join us at the Irmo
Plex for “Warm Hearts & Cold Toes” after liturgy. Sometimes
we forget that people in need are hungry all year, not just at
Thanksgiving or Christmas. Please bring a few canned goods
or non-perishable items to the Plex and trade them in for ice
skates and a chance to play on the ice all together! Food will
be collected and delivered to Harvest Hope. So let’s all warm
hearts while we freeze our toes (and other parts of the body
too)! If you are new to ice skating, we strongly recommend
wearing your bicycle helmet to be safe; mittens or gloves would
be smart choices for everyone. No charge for any youth attending (parents are welcome to join us).
Wednesday, February 18 - JOY/HOPE Youth with Father
Michael. Paraclesis begins at 5:30 pm. Immediately following,
all youth ages 4 years - 6th grade are invited to join us for pizza
around 6:15 pm. Fr. Michael will meet with our older JOY students while the younger ones engage in a craft activity. Then
we switch and Fr. Michael will meet with the HOPE youth while
the older ones enjoy fellowship and fun. Parents, please return
to pick up the children no later than 7:30 pm.
JUNIOR CHOIR - Wednesday, February 4 - rehearsal begins
at 5:30 pm in the upstairs choir room of the fellowship hall. All
youth in grades 1 - 6 are invited to come ready to sing. In addition to learning selections from the Lenten Salutations services,
the Junior Choir will also be an important part of the Consecretation Celebration this year. Children practice during Paraclesis
(5:30 on Wednesdays) to give parents a chance to focus on
praying and worship in church. NOTE: This will be the only
practice in February.
SUNDAY SCHOOL - Oratorical Festival and Share Sunday
February 22
By Hieromonk Christodoulos
the Athonite
One morning in 1981, when I
was a young monk, I went to
see Elder Paisios, to ask him if
there was another contemporary holy elder through whom
Divine Grace was at work... His
response was clear:
"There is Elder Porphyrios, who
is in a great spiritual state and
is a sanctified figure. You
should go and visit him, when
you can, because he is an old
man and may repose."
"You should go to him. He is in
a very great state!"
It was refreshing to see how
Elder
Paisios
and
Elder
Porphyrios thought of each
other.
A certain monk asked Elder
Paisios: "Elder, I want to see
you about a certain problem
that I discussed with Elder
Porphyrios."
Elder Paisios told him: "If you
discussed
it
with
Elder
Porphyrios, then you don't need
to discuss it with me, because
he bears the gift of having a
color television, while mine is
black and white."
The Elder had such a humble
I asked where I could find him, mind. Elder Porphyrios would
and he told me that he lives in tell us:
an hesychasterion in Nea
Palatia in Oropos.
"The Grace of Elder Paisios
has greater value than mine,
My first question was an- because he acquired it after
swered, but now I had a second labor and ascetic sweat, while
question to have answered:
God gave me it completely free,
when I was young, for the sole
"I wanted you to tell me about reason to help the brethren."
another, if you knew someone
else, who is in the same state.
No matter where he lives - either here at the Holy Mountain
or elsewhere - no matter where
he is, I want to visit him."
Elder Paisios, speaking again
of Elder Porphyrios, responded:
tion of various issues that were
in order for the day.
Elder Paisios is
Officially Canonized
by the
Ecumenical Patriarchate
During this, the Holy and Sacred Synod a) unanimously accepted the proposition of the
Canonical Committee to record
in the List of Saints of the
Orthodox Church the monk
Paisios the Athonite and b) at
the proposal of His All Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, by canonical
vote has unanimously chosen
the All Revered Archimandrite
Irenaeos Avramides to serve in
Paris as an Auxiliary Bishop
under His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France,
under the title of the erstwhile
brilliant Diocese of Reggio.
It was announced this morning From the Patriarchate, on the
that the Holy Synod of the 13th of January 2015
Ecumenical Patriarchate has
officially
numbered
Elder
Paisios the Athonite among the
saints of the Church.
Below is the official press release of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate concerning the
canonization of Elder Paisios:
Under the presidency of His All
Holiness, the Holy and Sacred
Synod convened in its regulated session today, Tuesday, 13
January 2015, for the examina-
Sunday, February 8 - 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Join us at the Irmo
Plex for “Warm Hearts & Cold Toes” after liturgy. Sometimes
we forget that people in need are hungry all year, not just at
Thanksgiving or Christmas. Please bring a few canned goods
or non-perishable items to the Plex and trade them in for ice
skates and a chance to play on the ice all together! Food will
be collected and delivered to Harvest Hope. So let’s all warm
hearts while we freeze our toes (and other parts of the body
too)! If you are new to ice skating, we strongly recommend
wearing your bicycle helmet to be safe; mittens or gloves
would be smart choices for everyone. No charge for any youth
attending.
Wednesday, February 25 - GOYA Youth with Father
Michael. All youth in Grades 7 - 12 should attend. Please
consider arriving for Paraclesis worship at 5:30 pm. As soon
as the service is finished around 6:15 pm, teens are invited to
meet with Father Michael in the parish hall for pizza, discussion, and fellowship! This is your teen’s chance to get to
know Father Michael, ask him questions, share what is important, and decide how they want GOYA to grow. Parents,
this is YOUR chance to have an hour to yourselves knowing
that your teen is growing in good hands! The meeting wraps
up by 7:30 pm.
A look ahead to March
March 6 - 8 - GOYA Lenten Retreat (Diakonia Center)
March 13 - 15 - Family Retreat (Diakonia Center)
(See flyer in bulletin for more information)
March 20 - Salutations Lenten Meal sponsored by
JOY and GOYA
March 20 - 22 - Women’s Retreat (Diakonia Center)
March 22 - AHEPA Greek Independence Day Luncheon
The Sacred Services and Hymns for
Saint Paisios the Athonite
Flashback to December…GOYA Winter Youth Rally 2014
Atlanta, GA
Apolytikion in the First Tone
The offspring of Farasa, and the adornment of Athos, and the imitator and
equal in honor of the venerable ones from ages past; let us honor Paisios
O faithful, the vessel full of graces, who hastens speedily to the pious
faithful who cry out: Glory to Him Who gave you strength, Glory to Him
Who crowned you, Glory to Him Who grants through you healings for all.
Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The most-famed ascetic of the Holy Mountain, and the newly-illumined
luminary of the Church, let us praise him with hymns with all our heart, for
he leads the faithful towards a life of excellence, filling them with rivers of
gifts, therefore we cry out: Rejoice, Father Paisios.
Synaxarion
On the twelfth day of this month, the memory of our venerable Father
Paisios the New the Athonite, who was perfected in peace in the year
1994.
Verses
Paisios, the tree of Mount Athos,
You were shown to be full of fruit, most-venerable one.
On the twelfth, Paisios reposed.
Megalynarion
Rejoice the communicant with the Venerable, the pride of Athos, the
adornment of monastics; rejoice the new teacher of the Church, godlyminded Paisios, our boast.
Holy Trinity’s Nea Zoe dance team brings home the Gold Medal
and the Folk Expression Award at HDF 2015!!!
Adult Choir - rehearsals on Thursdays at 6:00 pm.
Note: No adult choir rehearsal on February 12.
On behalf of our Holy Trinity Choir, I would like to
thank the community for their patronage in selecting
our Christmas CD. I am also excited to announce that
in late January we will have a recording engineer tape
the Divine Liturgy, and CDs produced from this professional recording will soon be made available to the
parish. Later, this spring, our Junior Choir will be singing in the Salutations service to the Theotokos. We
will also be hosting a series of Choir Consecration
Workshops that will involve choir members from other
parishes coming together to glorify God through music. Again, thank you for your support and I encourage
anyone interested in joining our choir to contact me Despina (dhoulis@aol.com)
Wednesday, February 4 - Bible Study - Just after
Paraclesis (beginning at 5:30 pm) join us in the church
at 6:15 pm as we continue to explore the Gospel of
John in a relaxed discussion with Father Michael.
Tuesday Morning Fellowship Breakfast weekly at
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM.
Parish Council Tuesday, February 17 - Parish Council Meeting
Our youth would like to say THANK YOU, HOLY TRINITY, for supporting GOYA through the Christmas Eve luminary sales and the Nea Zoe
dancers at the annual HDF Spaghetti Luncheon in December. Your
contributions make it possible for our youth to participate in the Winter
Youth Rally, Hellenic Dance Festival, and in a variety of activities
throughout the year like this month’s food drive/ice-skating event.
Please look out for information on the upcoming Community Lenten
Symposium & Meal that our youth will be offering as a way to extend
their gratitude to everyone at Holy Trinity.
YOUNG AT HEART
Luncheon & Bingo
Saturday
February 14 at 12:30 pm
in the Coffee Hour Room
at Holy Trinity
Please call Judy Damon at 736-7835
For all parishioners age 55 and up
Cost: $7.00 per person
FEBRUARY 2015
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
PANGARI DUTY FOR FEBRUARY
February 1
Maria Bates and Tommy Billas
February 8
Tommy Billas and Mike Psillos
February 15 Mike Psillos and Peter Postal
February 22 Peter Postal and Jane Schwantes
1 16th Sunday of Luke
2
3
4
Orthros:
Liturgy:
Presentation Of Our
Lord
Divine Liturgy - 9:30 AM
Breakfast Fellowship
7:30 AM
Paraclesis - 5:30 PM
8:45 AM
10:00 AM
Orthros:
Liturgy:
9
8:45 AM
10:00 AM
Sunday School
Ice Skating - 2:00 PM
15 Judgement Sunday
(Meatfare)
Orthros:
Liturgy:
16
8:45 AM
10:00 AM
7
Great Vespers 6:00 PM
Adult Choir - 6:00 PM
10
11
12
Breakfast Fellowship
7:30 AM
Paraclesis - 5:30 PM
No Adult Choir
Haralambos the Martyr
Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM
No Junior Choir
17
18
19
Breakfast Fellowship
7:30 AM
Paraclesis - 5:30 PM
Adult Choir - 6:00 PM
13
Parish Council 5:30 PM
22 Forgiveness Sunday 23 LENT BEGINS
24
Breakfast Fellowship
7:30 AM
(Cheesefare)
Great Canon I - 5:30 PM
25
Presanctified Liturgy -
9:30 AM
Great Canon III Great Canon II - 5:30 PM
5:30 PM
GOYA - 6:15 PM
14
Saturday of Souls
Divine Liturgy - 9:30 AM
Young at Heart 12:30 PM
Great Vespers 6:00 PM
20
21
Saturday of Souls
Divine Liturgy - 9:30 AM
JOY & HOPE - 6:15 PM
Sunday School
Orthros: 8:45 AM
Liturgy: 10:00 AM
No Sunday School
Share Sunday
6
Junior Choir - 5:30 PM
Sunday School
8 17th Sunday of
Luke
5
Great Vespers 6:00 PM
26
27
28
Great Canon IV 5:30 PM
Salutations 7:00 PM
Saturday of Souls
Divine Liturgy - 9:30 AM
Adult Choir - 6:00 PM
Great Vespers 6:00 PM