orthodox churchorthodox church the trophybearer · agiasmos service 18 19 7:00 p.m. parish council...

INS IDE TH IS

I S SUE :

September

Calendar

2

President’s

Corner

3

Community

News

5

Stewardship

Update

8

Greek Fest

News

9

Lives of the

Saints

12-

14

S A I N T G E O R G E G R E E K S A I N T G E O R G E G R E E K S A I N T G E O R G E G R E E K S A I N T G E O R G E G R E E K

O R T H O D O X C H U R C HO R T H O D O X C H U R C HO R T H O D O X C H U R C HO R T H O D O X C H U R C H

The Trophybearer S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 7 I S S U E 8

C HU RCH S T A F F

• Parish Priest: Fr. Michael

Constantinides

• Chanter: Deacon Paul

Speed

• Caretaker: Jason Leon

• GOYA Advisors: Dr.

Vicky Pyevich/Anne

Kirpatrick

• HOPE/JOY Advisors:

Pres. Maria Constanti-

nides/Candice Elias

• After Church Club:

Loukia Constantinides

• Outreach and Evangelism

Chair: Angela Spurgetis

• Parish Council President:

Mary Rankin

• Philoptochos President:

Susan Coin

• Prayer Ministry: Gus

Pappas

• Sunday School Director:

Deacon Paul Speed

• Senior Ministry: Kay Coin

PASTORAL MESSAGEPASTORAL MESSAGEPASTORAL MESSAGEPASTORAL MESSAGE

“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” This mes-

sage was given by Christ to the people and to the disciples. The Disciples lead people, yet the disciples are

part of the people of God. There are no special rules for leaders versus those who are led. What should

they deny? Not the good things, but sin, the predisposition towards evil and the evil passions and desires that

sometimes govern us. In other words, they need to put to death the old man. The old man is separated

from God and from his fellow man and thus paradoxically lives in death. The old man died in baptism, yet we

resurrect him when we sin. We must get rid of him.

This must be a voluntary action. God does not force us but calls us to good things and not evil, to rewards

and not punishment. Man is free to choose yet there are ramifications to his choices. Brethren, the Christian

life is not a bowl of cherries. St. John Chrysostom tells us: “for although it be in my power, as Son of God, to

hinder you from having any trial at all of those hardships, yet such is not my will for your sake, that you may

yourself contribute something and be more approved.’ God does not smooth everything over for us He

does not remove trials and tribulations, but rather He explains costs of discipleship which are self-denial, car-

rying one’s cross (that is suffering) and obedience to Christ.

“If it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? St. Paul here

talks about repentance. Repentance is a change of mind. We need this change because we fall short. Man is

called to grow in the image and likeness of God, that is, to imitate God’s life. In fact C. S. Lewis tells us in his

book the Screwtape Letters, “He (God) really wants to fill the universe with a lot of…little replicas of Him-

self—creatures whose life, on a miniature scale will be like…His…(He)…really wants a world of beings

united to Him but still distinct.” Unfortunately we decided to do things our way yet we need to do things

God’s way. We should not wait to repent since we do not know the time of our death and because after

death will be too late. In this life Christ grants mercy and grace to those who repent, in next life simply judg-

ment. Christ offers forgiveness freely because He is the Son of God and thus has the authority to forgive

sins, but also because He is the Son of Man and was tempted like us.

There are tools that we can use to achieve our goals. First is prayer. Prayer is communication with God

and links us to Church and fellow man through God. It is an important element to Christians because it

makes us realize that there are others besides us. Second is fasting. Fasting restores the relationship be-

tween body and soul. It restores our relationship with God, our fellow man, and nature. Fasting makes us

realize we are not the most important things in the universe. Finally there is Holy Communion. Holy Com-

munion brings us into union with God and the saints and makes us part of Christ. In fact it is the defining

characteristic of Christians.

So we can see then that Christ calls us to follow Him. To truly follow Him we must deny ourselves. More

accurately, we must deny the part of ourselves that was added on, that is sin. Having severed our evil dispo-

sitions we may approach the great mercy seat of Christ and be cleansed of our stains. This becomes easier

knowing that Christ is indeed one of us and underwent temptation. He lived the life that He calls us to live

and for that reason He can be merciful, because He knows how tough that life is. We approach the seat of

mercy by using the tools that He provided us. These tools are prayer, fasting and Holy Communion. Let us

then not overlook this great mercy that is given us to approach the mercy seat of Christ. For we know not

the day or the hour of our death. Let us then take up our cross and follow Him. Let us not rebuild what we

tore down. Let us rather persevere in the struggle so that we may join Saint Paul in saying, “It is not I who

lives, but Christ who lives in me”. Amen

September 2017

SundaySundaySundaySunday MondayMondayMondayMonday TuesdayTuesdayTuesdayTuesday WednesdayWednesdayWednesdayWednesday ThursdayThursdayThursdayThursday FridayFridayFridayFriday SaturdaySaturdaySaturdaySaturday

1 Fast Day

Beginning of the

Ecclesiastical

Year

2 + Sacrament

3 13th Sunday of

Matthew 8:00a.m. Orthros

9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy

Sunday School/

HOPE JOY/GOYA registration

4 Labor Day

Office Closed

Rock Island Parade

5 9:00 a.m. Packaging

of Pastries

6

Fast Day

7

10:30 a.m. Senior

Outing

8

Nativity of the

Theotokos

Fish, Wine and oil

allowed

9:00 a.m. Orthros

followed by the

Divine Liturgy at

Assumption Church

Fast Day

Greek Fest

3:00p.m.—

11:00 p.m.

9

Greek Fest

11:00a.m.—

11:00 p.m.

10

Sunday before the

Elevation of the

Cross 8:00a.m. Orthros

9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy

Sunday School/

HOPE JOY/GOYA

registration

11

12

13

Fast Day

14

The Universal

Exaltation of the

Holy Cross

Strict Fast Day

8:30 a.m. Orthros

followed by the

Divine Liturgy

15

16

17 Sunday after the Elevation of the

Cross

8:30a.m. Orthros

10:00 a.m.

Divine Liturgy

Sunday School Class

begin with an

Agiasmos Service

18

19

7:00 p.m.

Parish Council

Meeting

20 Fast Day

10:00 a.m. Ortho-

dox Study Forum

21

6:00 p.m. Orthodox

Study Forum

7:15 p.m. Chanting

Class

23 Fast Day

24

24 1st Sunday of

Luke

8:30a.m. Orthros

10:00 a.m.

Divine Liturgy Sunday School Class

following Holy Communion

25

26 Falling Asleep of Saint John the Theologian

9:00 a.m. Orthros followed by the

Divine Liturgy at the Church of the As-

sumption

27

Fast Day

10:00 a.m. Ortho-

dox Study Forum

28

6:00 p.m. Orthodox

Study Forum

29 Fast Day

30

Festival set up and preparation all Week!

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 7 I S S U E 8

P A G E 4 T H E T R O P H Y B E A R E R

Epistle Readers Sunday,

September 3, 2017

13th Sunday of

Matthew

Alexa Florence

Sunday,

September 10, 2017

Sunday before the

Cross

Loukia Constantinides

Sunday,

September 17, 2017

Sunday after the Cross

Ethan Kirpatrick

Sunday,

September 24, 2017

1st Sunday of Luke

Scot Johnson

Sunday, September 17,

2017 hosted by:

Families of Gary Coin and

Steve Morgan


2017 hosted by:

Angela Spurgetis


2017 hosted by:

Family of Mary Spurgetis


2017 hosted by:

Open

Sunday,

September 17, 2017

John Mekus,

Dennis Spurgetis,

Diana Spurgetis,

Mary Rankin

Sunday,

September 24, 2017

Joe Burmeister,

Mary Kay Eckert,

Ted Pitsoulakis,

Ken Stiegel

Sunday,

September 3, 2017

Joe Burmeister,

Mary Kay Eckert,

Ted Pitsoulakis,

Ken Stiegel

Sunday,

September 10, 2017

Nick Coin,

Brad Crosson,

Mariellen Crosson,

Mike Patramanis

Parish Council Sunday Duty

Coffee Hour Hosts for September 2017

September 27-Kathy

Farrell and Adrian John-

son

October 28-Mary and

Bill Rankin

November 8-Dena

Manta and Alexa Flor-

ence

Evening Meal Volunteers

December 4-Father Mi-

chael, Presbytera Maria

and family

Anyone interested in

participating in this

worthwhile ministry

should contact Dena

Manta at 332-1684.

Gena Coin and Eric Voss

were united in the Sacra-

ment of Holy Marriage on

August 19, 2017 and the

s p o n s o r w a s A n n e

Kirkpatrick.

Funeral

The servant of God, Mary

Spurgetis, fell asleep in the

Lord and was buried on July

25, 2017

The servant of God, Steve

Morgan, fell asleep in the

Lord and was buried on

August 1, 2017

The servant of God, Gary

Coin, fell asleep in the Lord

and was buried on August 3,

2017

Baptisms

The servant of God Sophia,

daughter of David and

Melissa Tumbarello was Bap-

tized into the Orthodox

Faith on August 19, 2017 and

the sponsor was Patricia An-

drews.

Weddings

Sara Knaack and Jaymes

Eckert were united in the

Sacrament of Holy Marriage

on July 8, 2017 and the spon-

sor was Marguerite Nelson.

Jessica Stratton and Daniel

Sheridan were united in the

Sacrament of Holy Marriage

on July 30, 2017 and the

sponsor was John Stratton.

Parish Registry

September 3, 2017

Mary Spurgetis: 40 Days

Cleo Mallires: 1 Year

September 17, 2017

Steve Morgan: 40 Days

Gary Coin: 40 Days

Memorials September


Community News SUNDAY SCHOOL

NEWS

Our Sunday School classes

will begin on Sunday Sep-

tember 17th with an Agias-

mos following the Divine

Liturgy. Sunday school be-

gins following communion

and last for about 45 min-

utes. It is important to

bring your children so they

can learn about our faith.

VASILIKO (BASIL)

WANTED

We are in need of Vasiliko

plants for the celebration of

the Litany of the Holy

Cross, which will take place

on Thursday, September

14th, the Feast of the Eleva-

tion of the Holy Cross. If

you can be of assistance,

please bring them to the

church on Sunday Septem-

ber 10, 2017.

ALTAR BOY NEWS

Calling all young men of the

Parish from the ages of 6

and up. You are all invited

and encouraged to serve as

Altar Boys in the Holy Altar.

It is both an honor and a

blessing to serve the Lord in

such a special way.

ORTHODOX STUDY

FORUM

Come and join us as we

look into the inner meaning

of the Scriptural texts and

see how they apply with the

teachings of the Fathers, the

Tradition of the Church and

with our lives today. Join us

also as we examine the tra-

ditions of the Church and

compare them with what

our parents taught us. We

meet every Wednesday

Morning at 10:00 a.m. begin-

ning on Wednesday Septem-

ber 20, 2017 and Thursday

evenings beginning on Sep-

tember 21, 2017 at 6:00

p.m. so bring your Bibles,

your questions and your

friends as we begin our Or-

thodox Study Forum.

FESTIVAL DATES TO

REMEMBER

•Volunteers, St George

Church needs You! Please

contact Mary Rankin to vol-

unteer for Our Big Fat

Greek Festival. She can be

reached at 563-263-2341 or

[email protected] You

can also register on-line at

goo.gl/GBpmEo and click

register!

•Pastries will be packaging

baklava will be on Tuesday,

September 5th at 9:00 a.m.

Contact Jenny Bakeris at

[email protected]

•Labor Day Parade is a

wonderful opportunity for

St George’s Big Fat Greek

Festival to be recognized

within the city of Rock Is-

land. We will have a vintage

Pontiac and a SUV again this

year.

•We need as many volun-

teers (adults and kids) as

possible to hand out Free

Admission tickets and candy.

This parade is a blast. Its

great fun being in a parade!

Wear your festival tee-shirt

and comfortable walking

shoes.

•Time and staging location

to be announced. Contact

Joe Burmeister at burmeis-

[email protected]

m or Gus Pappas at 563-370

- 6 2 5 2 o r

[email protected]

•The week of Greek Fes-

tival, we need two teams:

1. Venue set up team

Tuesday thru Thursday at

8:30am. Contact Brad Cros-

son 563-349-9910 or brad-

[email protected]

m 2. Kitchen & Gyros

prep on Thursday at

8:30am. Contact Gus Pappas

5 6 3 - 3 7 0 - 6 2 5 2 o r

[email protected]

•Irene Mekus to present on

Saturday, September 9th, at

2:30 p.m. a short presenta-

tion, her Honors Capstone

Project, Augustana College,

"Greek Identity Past and

Present in the Quad Cities"

in one of the Sunday School

rooms. A book will be do-

nated to St. George. All are

welcome to attend

Our Saint

George Parish

Community

Helen Corelis

Stella Cudworth

Elaine Froumis

Pat Grevas

Judy Pappas

Jim Patton

Xenia Patton

Effie Skafidas

Janice Smirles

Gordon Smith

Helen Smith

Jim Tsagaris

PRAYERS FOR

OUR SHUT-INS

Sunday School News Sunday School starts for the

new church year on Septem-

ber 17. September 10 we

will have registration; please

register anyone young per-

son through the senior of

high school that may come.

This gives us an idea of what

to plan for in the way of cur-

riculum, plus contact infor-

mation for coming events

and special things. We will

open with a repeat of last

year's popular 'Sundae Sun-

day'; students and teachers

will have a free ice cream

sundae if they are in class

that date, served by the dea-

con.

It is important that children

attend as much as humanly

possible to have a continuity

of lessons. Our teachers put

in hard work getting ready

and preparing lessons to help

our children grow in our

Orthodox faith.

In addition to putting a call

out to all of our children,

grandchildren, and great-

grandchildren, nieces, neph-

ews and so on, we also wel-

come adults who would like

to teach, to assist the teach-

ers, or to substitute teach.

Please contact Father and I if

you would be interested.

We hope everyone had a

wonderful summer. As we

are getting ready for back to

school, we are also getting

ready to get our Hope/Joy

group going again!

We will have a registration

table after the Divine Liturgy

for the next few weeks.

Please stop by and fill out a

profile form. We want all

the kids in our church to

HOPE/JOY NEWS

become active in this group.

This is a great opportunity

to make friends within our

church, learn about our faith

and have fellowship with

their peers. We plan on

having many fun activities

throughout the year.

Remember, all kids between

the ages of 3-12 are encour-

aged to join in the fun.

Please feel free to contact

Presbytera Maria at pres-

[email protected] or Can-

d a c e E l i a s a t e l i -

[email protected] with

any questions.


September 8th

and 9th-Festival

Help

October 1st -

Hot dogs, chips

and s'mores af-

ter church

November 26th

- Pioneer Village

Christmas Walk

December 10th

- Christmas

store & hat/

glove collection

HOPE/JOY EVENTS

Hi! I’m Loukia Constanti-

nides, and I want to wel-

come you to the After

Church Club.

In this club, I watch the

children of our church so

that their parents can re-

lax, go to church meet-

ings, and talk to their

friends. If you walk

straight down the hallway

After Church Club

and look directly to your

right, there will be a door

with a sign that says,

“After Church Club.”

Children of all ages can

come to the club after

Sunday school.

In the club we have differ-

ent activities for all ages.

Older children can color

and do crafts, while

younger children can run

around and draw on the

chalkboard. Each Sunday

we will talk about a differ-

ent subject in our religion.

Each child leaves with a

prize, such as a pencil or

small toy. I hope your

children will come and

join us!


most eager to give us a

tour. We will meet at

church at 10:00 a.m. and

arrive at the market at

10:30 a.m. Those wishing

to meet us at the market

may do so at that time.

After the tour we will en-

joy a “dutch-treat” lunch at

the store’s deli and/or

their soup/salad bar.

Please RSVP to Kay Coin

at 309-786-0240 if you plan

to attend!

The September outing for

our Senior Citizen Group

will be on Thursday, Sep-

tember 28th. We will be

going to the Fresh Thyme

Farmers Market at 2130

East Kimberly Road, Dav-

enport where the store is

Senior Ministry

Stavro Logo Bookstore

Sunday,

September

3, 2017

Collette

Spurgetis

Sunday,

September

10, 2017

Open

Sunday,

September

17, 2017

Nancy N.

Coin

Sunday,

September

24, 2017

Presbytera

Maria

Prosphora Baking

Schedule September

P A G E 1 0 T H E T R O P H Y B E A R E R

P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 7 I S S U E 8


Parish Happenings


The Conception of Saint John the Baptist (September 23) The Conception of the

Venerable Prophet, Fore-

runner and Baptist of the

Lord, John: The holy

Prophet Malachi prophesied

that before the Messiah’s

birth His Forerunner would

appear, and would indicate

His coming. The Jews

therefore in awaiting the

Messiah also awaited the

appearance of His Forerun-

ner.

In a city of the hills of Judea

in the land of Palestine lived

the righteous priest St

Zachariah and his wife St

Elizabeth, zealously observ-

ing the commandments of

the Lord. The couple, how-

ever, had a misfortune: they

remained childless in their

old age, and they prayed

unceasingly to God to grant

them a child.

Once, when St Zachariah

took his turn as priest at

the Temple of Jerusalem, he

went into the Sanctuary to

offer incense. Going behind

the veil of the Sanctuary, he

beheld an angel of God

standing at the right side of

the altar of incense.

St Zachariah was astonished

and halted in fear, but the

angel said to him, “Fear not,

Zachariah, for your prayer

is heard; and your wife

Elizabeth will bear you a

son, and you shall call his

name John.” But Zachariah

did not believe the words

of the heavenly messenger,

and then the angel said to

him, “I am Gabriel, who

stand in the presence of

God; and I was sent to

speak to you, and to bring

you the good news. Behold,

you will be silent and unable

to speak until the day that

these things come to pass,

because you did not believe

my words....”

Meanwhile, the people

were waiting for Zachariah

and they were astonished

that he had not come out

from the Sanctuary after so

long a time. And when he

did come out, he was sup-

posed to pronounce a

blessing upon the people,

but could not do so be-

cause he had been struck

speechless. When Zacha-

riah explained by gestures

that he was unable to

speak, the people then un-

derstood that he had ex-

perienced a vision. The

prophecy of the Archangel

was fulfilled, and Righteous

Elizabeth was delivered

from her barrenness, and

gave birth to John, the

Forerunner and Baptist of

the Lord.

Venerable Chariton the Confessor the Abbot of Palestine (September 28) Saint Chariton the Confes-

sor suffered at Iconium dur-

ing one of the persecutions

against Christians under the

emperor Aurelian. The grace

-bearing example of the holy

P r o t om a r t y r T h e k l a

(September 24) encouraged

him in his confessor’s deed.

She being a native of his city,

whose memory he in par-

ticular deeply venerated.

St Chariton bravely de-

nounced the pagan gods and

staunchly confessed faith in

the One True God, Christ

the Savior. The holy Confes-

sor underwent fierce tor-

tures but, through the Provi-

dence of God, he remained

alive. When the persecution

abated, the saint was set free

from prison and he dedi-

cated all his life to the ser-

vice of the Lord.

Journeying to Jerusalem on

pilgrimage to the holy places,

he fell into the hands of rob-

bers. They tied him up and

threw him in a cave, intend-

ing to kill him later, and they

hastened away on business.

The saint prayed fervently in

expectation of death. He

gave thanks to God and en-

treated him to do with him

according to His will.

Venerable Chariton

the Confessor the

Abbot of Palestine

The Conception

of Saint John the

Baptist


At this time a snake crawled

into the cave and began to drink

wine from a vessel setting there,

poisoning it with its deadly

venom. Returning to the cave,

the robbers drank the poisoned

wine and they all perished. St

Chariton gave thanks to God

and began his ascetic struggles at

the place of his miraculous res-

cue. He distributed the plun-

dered gold of the robbers to the

poor, and in the robbers cave he

built a church, around which in

time there formed a monastery,

the renowned Pharan Lavra in

Palestine.

St Chariton compiled a strict

rule for his monastery. Yearning

for solitude, the monk went far-

ther into the desert, but there

also he did not reject those who

sought his spiritual guidance, and

he founded two more monaster-

ies: the Jericho and the Souka,

named the “Old Lavra.” At the

end of his life, St Chariton strug-

gled in a cave on a hill near the

Souka monastery, but he did not

cease to provide guidance for all

three of the monasteries he

founded.

Venerable Chariton the Confessor the Abbot of Palestine (Continued)

According to Tradition, St Cha-

riton compiled the office of tak-

ing monastic vows. St Chariton

the Confessor died in extreme

old age and was buried, in ac-

cord with his last wishes, in the

Pharan monastery in the church,

built on the site of the robbers’

cave.

The Hieromartyr Gregory,

Enlightener of Greater Armenia,

was born in the year 257. He

was descended from the line of

the Parthian Arsakid emperors.

The father of Saint Gregory,

Anak, in striving after the Arme-

nian throne, had murdered his

kinsman, the emperor Kursar, in

consequence of which all the

line of Anak was marked for

destruction.

A certain kinsman saved Greg-

ory: he carried off the infant

from Armenia to Caesarea in

Cappadocia and raised him in

the Christian Faith. At maturity,

Gregory married, had two sons,

but soon was left a widower.

Gregory raised his sons in piety.

One of them -- Orthanes, after-

wards became a priest, and the

other -- Arostanes, accepted

monasticism and went off into

the wilderness.

In order to atone for the sin of

his father, who had murdered

the father of Tiridates, Gregory

entered into the service of the

latter and was a faithful servant

to him. Tiridates loved Gregory

like a friend, but he was intoler-

ant of the Christian confession

of faith. After ascending the Ar-

menian throne, he began to de-

mand that Saint Gregory re-

nounce the Christian Faith.

Hieromartyr Gregory the Bishop of Greater Armenia, Equal of the Apostles and Enlightener of Armenia (September 30)

The steadfastness of the saint

embittered Tiridates, and he

gave his faithful servant over to

cruel tortures: they suspended

the sufferer head downwards

with a stone about his neck, for

several days they choked him

with a stinking smoke, they beat

and ridiculed him, and forced

him to walk in iron sandals inset

with nails.

At the time of these sufferings

Saint Gregory sang Psalms. In

prison the Lord healed all his

wounds. When Gregory again

stood before the emperor

cheerful and unharmed, he was

astonished and gave orders to

repeat the torments. Saint Greg-

ory endured them, not waver-

ing, with all his former determi-

nation and bearing. They then

poured hot tin over him and

threw him into a pit filled with

vipers. The Lord, however,

Hieromartyr Gregory the

Bishop of Greater Arme-

nia


The Church’s Services

Across

4. A special service held in the Ortho-

dox Church for the repose of the souls

of the dead.

6. The Morning Service, which is com-

bined with the Liturgy.

9. The closing prayers and benediction,

including the Apolytikia in Church Ser-

vice.

10. This hymn is sung after the Gospel

reading and during the Great Entrance.

Down

1. The prayer taught by Christ in the Ser-

mon on the Mount, which begins with the

phrase “Our Father…”

2. This is another name for the service

that precedes the Divine Liturgy.

3. A service held in the evening , which is

mainly a Thanksgiving prayer for the closing

g day and a welcome of the new one to

come

5. The main form of worship for the cele-

bration of the Holy Eucharist.

7. “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immor-

tal, have mercy upon us.”

8. This service is celebrated in the evening.

New Testament Books

Thessalonians John

Corinthians Mark

Philippians Luke

Colossians Jude

Revelation Acts

Galatians James

Ephesians Titus

Philemon Peter

Timothy

Hebrews

Matthew

Romans

Answers To Last Month’s Test Your Faith...

the pit, and buried the relics of the

holy virgins with honor. Then he

began to preach to the people, urg-

ing them to turn away from the

darkness of idolatry and toward

Christ. The people came to believe

in Christ, and wished to build a

large church. When it was com-

pleted, Saint Gregory had the relics

of the holy nuns brought into it.

Then he brought King Tiridates

there before the bodies of the

saints whom he had slain. He re-

pented, and immediately his face

was made whole once more.

Soon all of Armenia was converted

to Christ. The temples of the idols

were destroyed, and churches for

the worship of the true God were

built. Saint Gregory ordained

priests, established schools,

founded monasteries, and provided

for the good order of the Church.

Saint Gregory went into the wilder-

ness, where he departed to the

Lord. His son Aristanes was made a

bishop in Cappadocia, and was one

of the 318 holy Fathers at the

Council of Nicea.

saved His chosen one: the snakes

did him no harm.

Some pious women fed him with

bread, secretly lowering it into the

pit. A holy angel, appeared to the

martyr, strengthening and encour-

aging him. Saint Gregory remained

in the pit for fourteen years. Dur-

ing this time the emperor Tiridates

executed the holy virgin Saint

Rhipsime, the aged abbess Gaiana

and another 35 virgins from one of

the monasteries of Asia Minor. As

punishment for this horrible deed,

the king’s face became disfigured.

Saint Gregory was released from

Thoughts to Ponder

Test Your Faith... The Church’s Services

Across

1. The twenty stanzas

into which the Orthodox

Psalter is divided.

6. The Service of the

preparation of the ele-

ments of bread and wine

before the Divine Liturgy

i s k n o w n a s

___________.

10. A hymn of praise con-

sisting of 24 stanzas sung

at the Salutations ser-

vices.

Down

2. This is a short verse

from the scriptures, espe-

cially the psalms, sung or

recited in the Divine Lit-

urgy and other services.

3. A hymn of praise in

honor of the Mother of

God. In Greek it is called

the Megalynarion.

4. A hymn which refers to

or praises the Theotokos is

known as a ________.

5. A prayer sung by the

chanter or choir in honor

of the celebrant bishop or

presbyter.

7. Another name for the

A k a t hy s t H ymn i s

______________.

8. A liturgical verse or

scriptural passage sung or

read before the reading of

the Epistle

9. These special hymns are

sung during the Service of

Matins.

Liturgical Items

Blessing Cross Candles

Deacons Doors Crozier

Antimension Censer

Iconostasis Orlets

Tabernacle Diskos

Royal Doors Spear

Exapteriga Icons

Prosphora Spoon

Prothesis Altar

Trikirion Aer

Antidoron Chalice

Asterisk

Cathedra

Dikiron

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