Welcome to Saint Nicholas on this Sunday, May 31, 2020

Today we commemorate:

Fathers of the 1st Council

Hermias the Martyr at Comana

Eusebius and Haralambos the Monk-martyrs

Eustathios, Patriarch of Constantinople

EPISTLE READING

Acts of the Apostles 20:16-18, 28-36

Prokeimenon. Mode 4. Daniel 3.26,27

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers. Verse: For you are just in all you have done.

The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 20:16-18, 28-36

IN THOSE DAYS, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was

hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.

And when they came to him, he said to them: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to

care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you,

not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men

speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to

admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the

inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my

necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the

Lord Jesus, how he said, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.' " And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων 20:16-18, 28-36

Προκείμενον. Ήχος δ'.

Δανιήλ 3.26-27 Εὐλογητὸς εἶ, Κύριε, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν Πατέρων ἡμῶν. Στίχ. Ὅτι δίκαιος εἶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν, οἷς ἐποίησας ἡμῖν.

Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων 20:16-18, 28-36 τὸ ἀνάγνωσμα

Ἐν ταῖς ἡμεραῖς ἐκείναις, ἔκρινεν ὁ Παῦλος παραπλεῦσαι τὴν Ἔφεσον, ὅπως μὴ γένηται αὐτῷ χρονοτριβῆσαι ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ· ἔσπευδεν γάρ, εἰ δυνατὸν

ἦν αὐτῷ, τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς γενέσθαι εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. Ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Μιλήτου πέμψας εἰς Ἔφεσον μετεκαλέσατο τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῆς

ἐκκλησίας. Ὡς δὲ παρεγένοντο πρὸς αὐτόν, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, προσέχετε οὖν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο

ἐπισκόπους, ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος. Ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τοῦτο, ὅτι

εἰσελεύσονται μετὰ τὴν ἄφιξίν μου λύκοι βαρεῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς, μὴ φειδόμενοι τοῦ ποιμνίου· καὶ ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀναστήσονται ἄνδρες λαλοῦντες

διεστραμμένα, τοῦ ἀποσπᾷν τοὺς μαθητὰς ὀπίσω αὐτῶν. Διὸ γρηγορεῖτε, μνημονεύοντες ὅτι τριετίαν νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν οὐκ ἐπαυσάμην μετὰ δακρύων

νουθετῶν ἕνα ἕκαστον. Καὶ τὰ νῦν παρατίθεμαι ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, τῷ δυναμένῳ ἐποικοδομῆσαι, καὶ δοῦναι ὑμῖν

κληρονομίαν ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις πᾶσιν. Ἀργυρίου ἢ χρυσίου ἢ ἱματισμοῦ οὐδενὸς ἐπεθύμησα. Αὐτοὶ γινώσκετε ὅτι ταῖς χρείαις μου καὶ τοῖς οὖσιν μετʼ

ἐμοῦ ὑπηρέτησαν αἱ χεῖρες αὗται. Πάντα ὑπέδειξα ὑμῖν, ὅτι οὕτως

κοπιῶντας δεῖ ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν ἀσθενούντων, μνημονεύειν τε τῶν

λόγων τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν, Μακάριόν ἐστιν μᾶλλον διδόναι ἢ λαμβάνειν. Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπών, θεὶς τὰ γόνατα αὐτοῦ, σὺν πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς προσηύξατο.

GOSPEL READING

The Gospel According to John 17:1-13

At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and

said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him

power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know

you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having

accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own presence with

the glory which I had with you before the world was made.

"I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the

world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you;

for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have

believed that you did send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are mine; all

mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in

your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But

now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves."

Ἐκ τοῦ Κατὰ Ἰωάννην 17:1-13 Εὐαγγελίου τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, καὶ ἐπῆρε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ εἶπε· πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα· δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱόν, ἵνα καὶ ὁ υἱός σου δοξάσῃ σε, καθὼς ἔδωκας αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πάσης σαρκός, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκας αὐτῷ δώσῃ αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν. ἐγώ σε ἐδόξασα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὸ ἔργον ἐτελείωσα ὃ δέδωκάς μοι ἵνα ποιήσω· καὶ νῦν δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί. ᾿Εφανέρωσά σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὓς δέδωκάς μοι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. σοὶ ἦσαν καὶ ἐμοὶ αὐτοὺς δέδωκας, καὶ τὸν λόγον σου τετηρήκασι. νῦν ἔγνωκαν ὅτι πάντα ὅσα δέδωκάς μοι παρὰ σοῦ ἐστιν· ὅτι τὰ ῥήματα ἃ δέδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον, καὶ ἔγνωσαν ἀληθῶς ὅτι παρὰ σοῦ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας. ᾿Εγὼ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐρωτῶ· οὐ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου ἐρωτῶ, ἀλλὰ περὶ ὧν δέδωκάς μοι, ὅτι σοί εἰσι, καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστι καὶ τὰ σὰ ἐμά, καὶ δεδόξασμαι ἐν αὐτοῖς. καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ οὗτοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἰσί, καὶ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι. πάτερ ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ᾧ δέδωκάς μοι, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν καθὼς ἡμεῖς. ὅτε ἤμην μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἐγὼ ἐτήρουν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου· οὓς δέδωκάς μοι ἐφύλαξα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπώλετο εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθῇ. νῦν δὲ πρὸς σὲ ἔρχομαι, καὶ ταῦτα λαλῶ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἵνα ἔχωσι τὴν χαρὰν τὴν ἐμὴν πεπληρωμένην ἐν αὐτοῖς.

Welcome to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

† If this is your first time visiting St. Nicholas, thank you for coming and we look forward to

meeting you.

† Please fill out one of the visitor cards located in the pew pockets and place it in the offertory

basket or hand them to one of our ushers.

† May God bless your time with us as we worship God The Father, Our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

† If you are not familiar with Orthodox worship, please ask one of our ushers or one of the

greeters in the fellowship hall after services.

† If you are in need of spiritual assistance or would like to know how to become an Orthodox

Christian, please ask to speak with Father Andrew.

ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF TEMECULA 41132 Guava Street Murrieta, CA 92562 Parish Priest: Fr. Andrew Lesko: 909 224-5046 Email: fatherlesko@msn.com

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, May 29, 2020

I pray that all of you are in good health.

I just received word from our Vicar, Rev. Fr. Andrew Scordalakis that we will be allowed

to partially open our church on Pentecost Sunday, June 7, 2020. The Parish Council and

I will be sending out detailed instructions on how this will occur. You should be

receiving these instructions by mid-week.

I am thankful for this first step, but I urge everyone to pray that we will be able to fully

open our doors in the near future.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Rev. Fr. Andrew J. Lesko

Parish Priest

_____________________________________________________________________________ Parish Phone: 951 296-6207 Email: stnicholastemecula@gmail.com Church Website: stnicholastemecula.org

Announcements

Church Bulletin

Nicole Maverakis is now producing the weekly church bulletin. Please send any announcements to her at

nicolemav@gmail.com. Articles should be submitted in text (*.txt) or Microsoft Word (*.docx) formats and

pictures in JPEG (*.jpg *.jpeg *.jpe) format for inclusion in the bulletin. The deadline for submissions is on

Friday 5:00 PM anything submitted after that time will not be included in the bulletin for the upcoming Sunday.

Bible Study

Our next Bible Study will be Tuesday June 2 at 6:30 PM through Zoom Cloud Meetings. Download the app and

contact Presb. Eleane Manneh at emanneh@hotmail.com or 714-337-8179 to be added to the invite list. We will

be studying the topic of angels.

Sanctuary Lights

The two Sanctuary Lights on the Holy Altar are replaced every Sunday and burn for one week. You may offer

one or both of them for a loved one. Please contact Fr. Andrew if you would like to donate towards one or both.

The cost is $10.00 each.

Ill Parishioners

Reminder: If you know of any parishioners who are ill or hospitalized, please provide Father Andrew with the

information as soon as possible.

Church Bookmobile

St. Nicholas Bookmobile is adding many new items for sale. You may purchase items after Liturgy on Sunday

or by talking to Elaine Manneh at cell 714-337-8179 or house at 951-691-8938.

Church Library

A church library is now available. You may borrow books for a period of three weeks. Please write your name

and telephone number on the library card. Consider sharing your reading in the bulletin. Children's books are

available for borrowing in the Sunday School trailer.

St. Nicholas Cookbook

Our St. Nicholas cookbook is now available for sale. Copies are in the church office. The cost is $12. each.

Consider buying several to give out as gifts.

Thanks to all who contributed recipes to make this project a success.

Sunday School

After speaking with Maria Ham and Angela Ryan we have decided to close Sunday School temporarily due to

current health concerns.

Fr. Andrew

mailto:nicolemav@gmail.commailto:emanneh@hotmail.com

Hall Set Up and Clean Up Committee

Our board is looking to form a facilities committee. We really need help with setting up tables, taking down

tables and general clean-up after events.

Please contact Pres.Elaine (951-691-8938) if you would like to chair this committee or would like to help on

this committee.

Food Assistance

If any family is in need for food, please contact Fr. Andrew. Several parishioners have offered to help.

Can you donate any 1/4" or 3/8" elastic sitting for face masks?

Dru Bradford is sewing face masks for the healthcare personnel in our congregation for starters, and if you are

aware of other healthcare personnel whose departments need face masks, please let her know.

Once she all the healthcare personnel covered, she can start making the masks for friends and family. Bless you

Dru!

She would like to know however, if you might have 1/4" or 3/8" elastic sitting in your sewing basket you could

donate. All stores are out.

If so, please contact her. Send her a text at 405 779 4764.

Online Giving

Here is the Online Giving that has been customized for our church:

https://stnicholastemecula.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities

Church Usage Policies

In order to facilitate and coordinate usage of the church hall, kitchen, and schedule memorials we are asking all

parishioners to fill out special forms for all events and submit them to Pres.Elaine Manneh.

The forms can be found in the hall in black bins. Please make payments to St.Nicholas and submit as soon as

you know the information. She will in turn work with Dr.Egger to put events on the master calendar and let

Fr.Andrew know of the memorials. If you wish for Koliva, Paximathia,please let her know by submitting the

forms and payments. The board is trying to organize usage of the facilities.

Her home phone is 951-691-8938.

https://stnicholastemecula.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities

Golden Greeks

You've given me the words, lord

And the music, a song of life that's

New and unrehearsed.

You've given

Me joy that makes my heart sing.

Even though at times the tears come first.

You've given me the theme for my existence

And I will sing your glory all my days.

For now, lord....and forever...be my music, and

Make my life a symphony of praise.

Amen

By Eleni Skaropoulos A Musician’s Prayer

Golden Greeks President,

Be patient and we will get back to catch up the days we have lost...

Just pray please.........that is the only thing that will help us now.

In Jesus name,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Prayer Service with Metropolitan Gerasimos for those who have died from COVID-19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuf9Z75CMJwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuf9Z75CMJwhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/uuf9Z75CMJw?feature=oembed

What God has Done in My Life

Holy Communion and COVID19 (Corona Virus) A TRUE STORY OF FAITH by Leo Michaels aka Elias John Michalakis A lot of discussions and opinions, even some nonsense regulations, have been with us - on and off - concerning the hygienic aspect of Holy Communion. It is not my intention to elaborate on the subject and neither am I qualified to discuss the dogmatic and theological aspect of it. I would only state for the moment that as I believe that when I receive Holy Communion, I receive the blood and body of the Lord, it has never occurred to me that there should be any health issues to worry about. The purpose of this article is to show that disease and Holy Communion have NOTHING in common. As many of you may know, my father was a priest and I grew up literally in the church. I could chant hymns before I could hold a conversation. My earliest childhood memories are around the services of the church. During my first five years of life, between 1935 and 1940, my father was the chaplain of the Sanatorium for Lepers on the Island of Chios, where there was a church, Saint Lazarus, and my father performed all the services there for the patients, including daily Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion. Science has cured the dreadful disease of leprosy decades ago and it is now almost extinct, but back in the 1930s it was still a health hazard. You may not know the symptoms or conditions of this extremely communicable disease, except from what you may have learned from the Bible, where there are well known stories and documentation of the isolation of lepers to keep them away from the general population. Some of the symptoms are characterized by deformation of facial features and actual loss of small body parts, such as fingers and toes. I personally saw some of them and still remember the anguish in their faces. The church of Saint Lazarus was open to the public and many neighbors came to the services, as did all the staff of the Sanatorium. I myself and my family received Holy Communion from the same chalice as did the lepers. None of us ever got sick. But what about my father? He had to consume the leftover Holy Communion. Well, he lived a healthy life and died at 95! But that is not the end of the story. The resident doctor* of the Sanatorium was a declared atheist and he was sarcastic about my father consuming the remaining Holy Communion. He was spreading rumors that my father was actually hiding in the altar and spilling it down the sink! And to prove his point one day after my father had administered Holy Communion to the lepers, the doctor hid himself behind a curtain and waited to see what my father would do. When he witnessed the Katalysis (consumption) of the remnant Holy Communion by my father a miracle took place: the atheist doctor became a believer! Epilogue. In 1940 my father was assigned to the position of chaplain of the City of Chios General Hospital and performed all the services at the hospital chapel of Saint Stephanos, where he remained until his retirement. During this time my father was administering Holy Communion to all the patients of the hospital, some of whom had a more extremely communicable disease, namely tuberculosis. Need I say more? *The doctor at the Leprosy Sanatorium went on to become the personal physician to the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie. I have lived my life through the inspiration of my father’s faith. Eternal be his memory!

Philoptochos

Special Services are offered.

Memorials: Koliva Small Tray - $30.00

Large Tray - $60.00

Prosfora 3 Loaves - $20.00

Artoklasia 5 loaves - $40.00

Trisagion: For your special requests, please call Vaso Bouras at (951)401-

2440 or Phofy Bachakes at (951)698-7016.

Please call Vaso or Phofy to make arrangements for services or events.

Saint Nicholas Bookstore: Visit the St. Nicholas Bookstore in the Church Hall. There are a variety of gifts and books available.