St. Andrew's

St. Andrew Church Celebrates 45th Anniversary

The faithful of St. Andrew Church joined together this past weekend around their archpastor, His Grace Bishop Michael, who presided over the parish’s 45th anniversary celebration.

Marking the occasion was a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, concelebrated by His Grace, Fr. John, and Protodeacon Michael Sochka, who is the son of the parish’s first pastor and grew up at St. Andrew’s. Fr. Joseph Konkus, a longtime friend and retired priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, was also present for the celebration, but due to health concerns, was unable to serve. Subdeacon Gregory Sulich, visiting from the Chancery, ably supervised the altar servers, providing invaluable assistance throughout the day.

Parish to Host Lecture on Church Design and Iconography

This upcoming Sunday, June 26, 2011, at 12:15 PM, our parish will be hosting a lecture entitled “The Design of the Orthodox Temple and Its Adornment With Holy Icons” delivered by Yani Pavlides, RA, AIA.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Members of our parish, and neighboring parishes, are particularly encouraged to come and listen to the lecture, which promises to be very instructive in this generally under-explored area of our Faith.

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“Mr. Pavlides was born near the border of Greece and Turkey, and was educated at the Patriarchal Academy in Istanbul. Upon immigrating to the United States in 1961, he received a degree in Architecture from the Pratt Institute, New York, and a Master’s Degree from Stony Brook University focusing on the medieval history of iconography. Mr. Pavlides resides on Long Island and attends St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church in Greenlawn.”

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

The community of St. Andrew’s greets you warmly in the joy of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ’s Holy Resurrection. Photos of our celebration may be viewed in our photo album. Thank you to all who helped make our celebration a solemn and beautiful celebration, whether by helping clean the church, prepare flowers, singing in the choir, and most importantly, in participating in the divine services.

Prayers, Aid, Requested for Japan

The Holy Synod of Bishops of our Church has requested all parishes to remember the victims of the ongoing disasters in Japan, and to request financial aid for relief efforts there. Additionally, the OCA’s Metropolitan Council has earmarked an initial $5,000 contribution to the work of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). All parishes have been requested to aid the IOCC in its work. Collections towards the IOCC’s relief efforts will be taken up at St. Andrew’s during the next two weeks – the funds of which will go directly to the IOCC’s Japan Relief fund. You may read more about the IOCC’s request for aid here.

Although our aid and generosity should be given freely to anyone who is suffering, regardless of race or religion, it is important to note that the Orthodox Church of Japan is a sizable community, with 20 parishes in the affected areas. Currently, one Japanese Orthodox priest is among the many missing victims of the disaster. (Update: Fr. Taguchi and his wife have been located, although their parish and rectory were flooded by the tsunami.)

May our Lord grant peace and healing to all those who are afflicted and suffering. May the souls of those whose lives have been lost find rest in a place of peace, where all sickness, suffering, and sighing have fled away — and may their memories be eternal!

Image: Shiho Fukada (International Herald Tribune) reposted under fair use (non-profit/educational).

Great Lent Has Begun

This Sunday, our parish community celebrated the first Sunday of Great Lent – the Sunday of Orthodoxy – with a procession with icons, recalling the triumph of holy images over the iconoclasts in the Early Church. (Photos from our procession may be seen here.)

During the entirety of Great Lent, the Presanctified Liturgy will be celebrated every Wednesday night at 7pm. Confessions may be heard before this service, and may also be heard following Vespers on Saturday evenings. Please speak with Fr. John if you would like to arrange a confession at an alternate time.

To assist in our Lenten effort, the Sisterhood of our daughter parish, St. John the Theologian (Shirley, NY) has organized a Lenten Retreat at the Orthodox Monastery of All Saints (Calverton, NY). It will be held Saturday, March 26, 2011, from 9:00am to 3:30pm. Reservations are requested; you may contact Elaine DelGigante at 631-846-4739 for more information.

Finally, it is with great sadness that we learned that Mark Guyer’s mother, Mary, reposed in the Lord on Sunday, March 6, 2011. Please remember her, Mark, and the Guyer family in your prayers. Grant rest eternal in blessed repose, O Lord, to the soul of the newly-departed handmaiden of God, Mary, and make her memory to be eternal!