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ASSUMPTION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
601 South Central Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60644
Main: 773-626-3114
Email: office@assumptionchicago.org
Website: assumptionchicago.org
Father Apostolos N. Georgiafentis - Protopresbyter
Mr. George Demas - Pastoral Assistant
SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2024 - SUNDAY OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ 2 ΙΟΥΝΙΟΥ 2024 - ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ E’ ΤΗΣ ΣΑΜΑΡΕΙΤΙΔΟΣ
ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!!! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!!!
CHRIST IS RISEN!!! TRULY HE IS RISEN!!!
To view or print services please click here
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Epistle Reading of the Day | |
Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30
IN THOSE DAYS, those apostles who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea, and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
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Gospel Reading for the Day | |
The Gospel of John 4:5-42
At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."
Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him.
Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony. "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ the Savior of the world."
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READINGS OF OUR ORTHODOX SAINTS | | |
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Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
One of the most ancient cities of the Promised Land was Shechem, also called Sikima, located at the foot of Mount Gerazim. There the Israelites had heard the blessings in the days of Moses and Jesus of Navi. Near to this town, Jacob, who had come from Mesopotamia in the nineteenth century before Christ, bought a piece of land where there was a well. This well, preserved even until the time of Christ, was known as Jacob's Well. Later, before he died in Egypt, he left that piece of land as a special inheritance to his son Joseph (Gen. 49:22). This town, before it was taken into possession by Samaria, was also the leading city of the kingdom of the ten tribes. In the time of the Romans it was called Neapolis, and at present Nablus. It was the first city in Canaan visited by the Patriarch Abraham. Here also, Jesus of Navi (Joshua) addressed the tribes of Israel for the last time. Almost three hundred years later, all Israel assembled there to make Roboam (Rehoboam) king.
When our Lord Jesus Christ, then, came at midday to this city, which is also called Sychar (John 4:5), He was wearied from the journey and the heat, and He sat down at this well. After a little while the Samaritan woman mentioned in today's Gospel passage came to draw water. As she conversed at some length with the Lord and heard from Him secret things concerning herself, she believed in Him; through her many other Samaritans also believed.
After the Ascension of the Lord, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the woman of Samaria was baptized by the Holy Apostles and became a great preacher and Martyr of Christ; she was called Photine, and her feast is kept on February 26.
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Saint Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople – June 2
Saint Nicephorus was born in Constantinople about the year 758, of pious parents; his father Theodore endured exile and tribulation for the holy icons during the reign of Constantine Copronymus (741-775). Nicephorus served in the imperial palace as a secretary. Later, he took up the monastic life, and struggled in asceticism not far from the imperial city; he also founded monasteries on the eastern shore of the Bosphorus, among them one dedicated to the Great Martyr Theodore.
After the repose of the holy Patriarch Tarasius, he was ordained Patriarch, on April 12, 806, and in this high office led the Orthodox resistance to the Iconoclasts' war on piety, which was stirred up by Leo the Armenian. Because Nicephorus championed the veneration of the icons, Leo drove Nicephorus from his throne on March 13, 815, exiling him from one place to another, and lastly to the Monastery of Saint Theodore which Nicephorus himself had founded. It was here that, after glorifying God for nine years as Patriarch, and then for thirteen years as an exile, tormented and afflicted, he gave up his blameless soul in 828 at about the age of seventy. See also March 8.
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Sts. Lucillian of Byzantium, 4 martyred Youths and Paula the Virgin – June 3
Formerly a priest of the idols near Nicomedia, the Saint came to the Christian Faith in his old age; this was during the reign of Aurelian (270-275). Lucillian was brought before Silvan the Count; when he refused to return to the service of the idols, his jaw was broken, he was beaten with rods, and hanged upside down, then imprisoned with four Christian children, Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Dionysius. All of them were brought out again before Silvan, and remaining constant in their faith, were cast into a raging furnace. Preserved unharmed, they were sent to Byzantium, where the children were beheaded, and Lucillian was crucified. The virgin Paula, a Christian, buried their holy relics. For this, she was taken before the Count, and refusing to sacrifice to the idols, was stripped naked and mercilessly thrashed; after other torments, she was beheaded, in 270. There was a church in their honor in Constantinople.
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Saint Dorotheus the Holy Martyr, Bishop of Tyre – June 5
Saint Dorotheus became Bishop of Tyre in Phoenicia about the end of the third century. During the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, about the year 303, he fled to Odyssopolis in Thrace to preserve his life, and after the death of the tyrants he returned to Tyre. He lived until the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363), from whose persecution he again fled to Odyssopolis (or, according to Theophylact of Bulgaria, Edessa), but was found by Julian's men and slain in great torments, at the age of 107, in 361. He was very learned, and has left behind writings in both Latin and Greek relating the lives of the holy Prophets, Apostles, and other Saints.
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ΜΙΚΡΟΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ
ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΣΑΜΑΡΕΙΤΙΔΟΣ - Η ΑΓΙΑ ΦΩΤΕΙΝΗ Μεγαλομάρτυς
Είναι η συνάντηση του Χριστού με την Σαμαρείτιδα και τον διάλογο που επακολούθησε.
Ήταν κάτοικος της Σαμαρειτικής πόλης Συχάρ. Κάθε μεσημέρι πήγαινε έξω από την πόλη, στο πηγάδι το λεγόμενο του Ιακώβ, και γέμιζε τη στάμνα της. Εκεί μιά μέρα συνάντησε τον Ιησού, που φανέρωσε όλα τα ιδιαίτερά της. Σε αυτήν είπε ο Κύριος μας τη μεγάλη αλήθεια, ότι Αυτός είναι «το ύδωρ το ζών», δηλαδή η αστείρευτη πηγή του Αγίου Πνεύματος. Και συνέχισε ο Κύριος «Το ύδωρ ό δώσω αυτώ,γενήσεται εν αυτώ πηγή ύδατος αλλομένου εις ζωήν αιώνιον» Δηλαδή το νερό που θα δώσω εγώ στον άνθρωπο που πιστεύει, θα μεταβληθεί μέσα του πηγή νερού, που δεν θα στερεύει. Αλλά θα αναβλύζει και θα τρέχει πάντοτε για να του παρέχει ζωή αιώνια. Αυτό τό «ύδωρ» έδωσε ο Κύριός μας στη Σαμαρείτιδα. Αργότερα βαπτίσθηκε χριστιανή και ονομάστηκε Φωτεινή. Από τότε αφιέρωσε την ζωή της στην διάδοση του Ευαγγελίου στην Αφρική και στη Ρώμη. Εκεί έλαβε και μαρτυρικό θάνατο απο τον Νέρωνα, όταν αυτός έμαθε ότι η Φωτεινή έκανε χριστιανές την θυγατέρα του Δομνίνα και μερικές δούλες της. Συγχρόνως με την Φωτεινή θανατώνονται και οι δύο γιοί της και οι πέντε αδελφές της. Η μνήμη της εορτάζεται στις 26 Φεβρουαρίου.
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GIFT OF LIGHT
This week’s Gift of Light given for the health and well-being of The Gilroy Family and in loving memory of Andriana and Gerasimos Vasilatos.
MEMORIALS
7 years for the late Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago
40 days for the late Katina Fotopoulos
6 months for the late James (Demetrios) Georgalas
1 year for the late Tom (Athanasios) Dionesotes
1½ years for the late Constantine Xinos
4 years for the late Marika Xinos
6 years for the late Gerasimos Vasilatos
11 years for the late Andriana Vasilatos
15 years for the late Vasilios Bobolos
20 years for the late Angelo (Evangelos) Magas
25 years for the late Peter (Panagiotis) Xinos
49 years for the late Ethel (Anthoula) Magas
May their memory be eternal!
COFFEE HOUR
Please join us for coffee hour following the Divine Liturgy in Plato Hall. Today’s coffee hour is sponsored by the family of the late Tom Dionesotes in loving memory.
May God rest his soul. Thank you for hosting!
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GRADUATE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY SCHOOL AWARDS DAY
Today is Graduates Sunday and Sunday School Awards Day. Please join us in Plato Hall immediately following the Divine Liturgy. You DONUT want to miss this!
Congratulations to all our 2024 Graduates!!!
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JUNE / JULY - SCHEDULE OF WEEKDAY SERVICES
Thursday, June 13 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros and Divine Liturgy - Holy Ascension
Saturday, June 22 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros & Divine Liturgy - Saturday of Souls
Monday, July 1 - 10:30 a.m., Agiasmos Service (Blessing of the water)
Friday, July 12 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros and Divine Liturgy - Saint Paisios
Saturday, July 20 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros and Divine Liturgy - Prophet Elias
Thursday, July 25 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros and Divine Liturgy - Dormition of the Righteous Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos
Friday, July 26 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros and Divine Liturgy - Saint Paraskeve
Saturday, July 27 - 9:00 a.m., Orthros and Divine Liturgy - Saint Panteleimon
Please note:
Sunday, June 23 - Holy Pentecost, Orthros and Divine Liturgy will begin at 8:00 a.m.
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THE ARCHIVE COMMITTEE
Dear Parishioners,
As we walk toward our centennial year of 2025, we are collecting photos, artifacts, and stories that contribute to the history of our beloved Panagia, and we ask for your input and help.
We need parishioners who can identify people in our photos, beginning from the wooden church and Sunday school.
In addition, the committee is asking for artifacts and memorabilia from your family history to be copied and recorded. Volunteers are needed to help with sorting and other archival tasks.
Please get in touch with us at archives@assumptionchicago.org
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SPONSORS NEEDED FOR COFFEE HOUR
Please contact the Church office at:
773.626.3114 or email at: office@assumptionchicago.org if you would like to sponsor a coffee hour in memory of a loved one, a special occasion or just because.
Available dates for June - July: June 9, 23, 30 and July 7, 14, 21
Thank you to our beloved parishioners and friends of Assumption Panagia for your continued love and support!
GIFT OF LIGHT
Please give the “Gift of Light” to Assumption Panagia’s Church. We need a family or an individual to sponsor, per week, the lighting of our vigil lamps and candles in both of our holy Altars of Panagia and Saint Catherine. This includes the daily lighting of both of our Holy Altars throughout the week. Suggested donation for this ministry is $100.00. Through our Church’s Website, sign up can be made through our Tithe.ly platform. simply click on the big green GIVE button, request your week and make your donation.
Please contact the church office to sponsor a week for the health and well-being of your family or in loving memory of a loved one.
PHILOPTOCHOS CORNER
Χριστός Ανέστη!
We will be baking Greek cookies on Saturday, June 22 for our booth at the Oak Park Farmers Market, Saturday, June 29. Please let us know if you can help.
2024 STEWARDSHIP
Thank you to all who have submitted their 2024 Stewardship Pledge Cards. If you have not yet submitted your stewardship card, members of the Parish Council will be handing out stewardship packets today.
Please fill out the pledge card (it is important that you enter a pledge amount) and the information card completely and return it in the enclosed envelope. Thank you for supporting our beautiful parish of Panagia!
ASSUMPTION PANAGIA BOOKSTORE
Please visit our Religious Bookstore! Not only do we have beautiful Icons for your home and to give as gifts, we also have books for all ages, baby’s bibs for baptisms and much more! Our bookstore is open following the Divine Liturgy on Sundays in Plato Hall.
ARTOKLASIA – THE BLESSING OF BREAD
The Blessing of Five Loaves of Bread is a brief service of thanksgiving through which we express our gratitude for all the blessings of life. Oil, wine, wheat, and the loaves of bread which are used in the service, are viewed as the most basic elements necessary for life. The Blessing reminds us of the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fish by which Christ fed the multitude. This Blessing is usually offered during Vespers or after the Divine Liturgy on Feast days and other special occasions. After the Service, the bread is cut and distributed to the congregation. If you would like to offer an Artoklasia, please contact the church office at: 773.626.3114 or email: office@assumptionchicago.org to reserve a date.
A WORD ABOUT CREMATION
Orthodox Christians should reject cremation, in accordance with the Church’s teachings about the sanctity of the human body and its role in our salvation. Orthodox Christians believe that in the General Resurrection, our bodies and souls will be restored to each other. Cremation is the deliberate desecration and destruction of what God has made and is viewed as the denial of the Resurrection. Cremation treats the body violently, without the respect due to it as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Those who voluntarily request cremation upon death will not receive an Orthodox funeral, either in the church, or the funeral home or any other place. Memorial services with kolyva are not allowed since the connection of the “kernel of wheat” as a sign of the Resurrection has been intentionally destroyed. It is an honor for Orthodox Christians to have a church funeral - our salvation and the state of our souls and bodies should always be at the forefront in our lives and for the lives of our loved ones.
COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST
Prayers for: Sophia, Panagioti, Madalyn, Petros, Elaine, Kristine, Jon, Steve, Anastasia, Kathryn, Demetri, Andrea, Matthew, Elaine, James, William, Anastasios, Polyxeni, Peter, and Sophia
Lord our God, Who by word alone did heal all diseases, Who cured the mother in law of Peter, You Who chastise with pity and heal according to Your goodness; grant aid to these Your servants (Names) and heal them of every sickness of which they are grieved; lift them up from their pain, and send down upon them Your great mercy. For to you we send up Glory: to Father, and to Son, and to Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
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**Flyers located in the Narthex.
June 15 & July 20 -12:30 p.m., Austin Community Meal in Plato Hall
June 16 & July 21 - 12:00 p.m., Saint Euphrosynos Meal - Meal Preparation and Delivery
June 23 - Pentecost Sunday plus Kneeling Vespers - YAL and GOYA joint Kafenio to follow
June 23 - General Assembly Meeting following the Divine Liturgy & Pentecost Kneeling Vespers
June 26 - Chicago White Sox vs LA Dodgers Outing - Only 50 tickets available!
July 14 - YAL Kafenio in Saint Catherine’s following the Divine Liturgy
July 20 - 12:30 p.m., Austin Community Meal in Plato Hall
July 23 - 7:00 p.m., Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers - Only 40 tickets available!
SAVE THE DATE!!!
Sunday, October 12, 2025 – Assumption Panagia celebrating 100 years!!!
More information to come.
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A BLESSED WEEK TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!!!
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Assumption Panagia Greek Orthodox Church of Chicago
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