Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Christ calls all to Himself, but not all respond to His voice. Whoever opens his heart to Him becomes His temple. The Lord comes to him and dwells in him.

The heart then is filled with peace, and the soul with inexpressible blessedness and love; the will is strengthened in goodness, and the mouth glorifies God in heaven.

-- St. John Maximovitch

We are not asked merely to call ourselves Christians;

We are asked to BE Christians through our deeds!

— St. Ignatius of Antioch

If a man loves God with all his heart, all his thoughts, all his will, and all his strength, he will gain the fear of God.

The fear will produce tears, tears will produce strength; by the perfection of this, the soul will bear all kinds of fruits.

— St. Antony the Great

Repentance is the abandoning of all false paths, and a return to the new path: Christ's path.

--St Nikolai Velimirovich

In times of temptation the weak look for who to blame. The strong look for God.

— St. John Chrysostom

If men of our day simply restrained their tongues and stopped insulting each other, than half of all the evil in the world and half of the evil spirits would disappear.

-- St Nikolai Velimirovich

There is a wonderful attribute in faith: just a living thought of God, a sincere faith in Him and He is instantly with me; earnest repentance for my sins, and He is with me; kind thought and He is with me; a reverent feeling and He is with me.

The devil enters into me through thoughts of doubt, fear, pride anger and other emotions. Therefore, his power over me is limited and it is totally dependent on me. Should I be attentive to myself and in my prayers to Lord Jesus Christ, then he would be completely helpless to inflict any harm upon me.

-- St. John of Kronstadt

Sometimes the devil deceives us and makes us unable to be pleased with anything; however, one can celebrate all things in a spiritual manner, with doxology and secure God’s constant blessing.

—St. Paisios the Athonite

Congratulations!

Thanks to TEAM IOCC in Columbus, Ohio! This past week, nine enthusiastic runners from Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church participated in the New Albany Independence Day 5K on behalf of IOCC. On the morning of the race, supporters set-up a tent with IOCC materials at the venue, and all funds raised during the campaign went towards IOCC’s ongoing work in Gaza.

Our special thanks go to Mila, a high school student from Columbus who spearheaded this great effort and helped raise more than $2,000 for those in need. Want to create your own TEAM IOCC at a local race? Visit iocc.org/diy or reach out to [email protected] to get started.

Happiness is found within ourselves, and blessed is the man who has understood this.

Happiness is a pure heart, for such a heart becomes the throne of God.

Thus says Christ of those who have pure hearts: “I will visit them, and will walk in them, and I will be a God to them, and they will be my people.” (II Cor. 6:16)

What can be lacking to them? Nothing, nothing at all! For they have the greatest good in their hearts: God Himself!

— St. Nektarios

It takes a struggle in this life if you want to win; it's no joke!

It is with the unclean spirits that you are fighting, which do not throw sweets and marshmallows, but sharp bullets that kill the soul, not the body.

Nevertheless, do not be distressed. Do not be frightened. You have help...

God always helps, He always comes in time, but He wants us to work, too, to do what we can.

-- St Joseph the Hesychast

Everything must be done with the heart--love with the heart, be reconciled with the heart, draw near to God with the heart, forgive from the heart, pray from the heart, and bless from the heart.

— St. Theophan the Recluse

If you do good, you must do it only for God.

For this reason you must pay no attention to the ingratitude of people.

Expect a reward not here, but from the Lord in heaven.

If you expect it here — it will be in vain and you will endure deprivation.

— St. Ambrose of Optina

Many thanks to Out n About Columbus for recently featuring our annual Greek Festival!

Check it out by clicking the link below:

https://columbusgreekfestival.com/Columbus-Greek-Festival-Video.mp4

God always helps. He always comes in time, but patience is necessary.

He hears us immediately when we cry out to Him, but not in accordance with our own way of thinking.

You think that your voice did not immediately reach the saints, our Panagia, and Christ. On the contrary, even before you cried out, the saints rushed to your aid, knowing that you would call upon them and seek their God-given protection.

However, since you do not see beyond what is apparent and do not know how God governs the world, you want your request to be fulfilled like lightning. But this is not how things are.

The Lord wants patience. He wants you to show your faith.

— St. Joseph the Hesychast

Never has there been such an age of false teachers as this pitiful century, so rich in material gadgets and so poor in mind and soul.

-- Father Seraphim Rose of Blessed Memory

Doxology for Independence Day

O Lord our God, You hold together the universe by Your power, and by Your divine and almighty will You govern the world.

You created from one blood all nations of mankind that inhabit the face of the earth, and have assigned to each its boundaries; you have conferred special blessing on this our country America, and help it develop into the foremost nation of the world, a true champion of freedom and democracy, and the haven for the oppressed and those who look for the opportunity to live in dignity.

You kept it free for more than two centuries by Your divine grace, and You preserved and saved it through many wars and world upheavals.

Do you, Yourself, all- holy Master, accept our prayers of thanksgiving for our country America. Give rest to the souls of our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who nobly fought and gloriously died for its freedom.

Make us all worthy of freedom and aware of the responsibilities that flow therefrom, preserve us in peace and concord, and guide us to every good work that is pleasing to You.

Give steadfastness to every authority and power in the nation and make them favorably and well- disposed towards the God-given right of all Your People.

For You are the Prince of Peace and the Savior of our souls, and to You we give glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and to the ages of ages.

Amen.

You fast, but Satan does not eat.

You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps.

The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility.

-- Saint Moses the Black

A blessed Feastday to all who celebrate the feast day of Ss. Peter & Paul this Saturday (June 29th)

“Οι τών Αποστόλων πρωτόθρονοι, καί τής Οικουμένης διδάσκαλοι,τώ Δεσπότη τών όλων πρεσβεύσατε, ειρήνην τή οικουμένη δωρήσασθαι, καί ταίς ψυχαίς ημών τό μέγα έλεος.”

“First in prominence among the Apostles, and teachers to the Universe, intercede to the Master of all for peace in the world and for our souls great mercy.”

Happy to report that our Live Stream is back online!

We offer our thanks to Paul Tela and John Bizios for their stewardship of time and talent in maintaining this important ministry for our parish family.

We also thank the Michaelides Technology Fund of our Cathedral Foundation for the financial support in covering the costs.

You can reach the live stream at:

https://annunciationcolumbus.org/live-view/

When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not?

The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry.

The coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it.

The shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes.

The money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.

-- St. Basil the Great

Traffic around the Cathedral this upcoming weekend will be problematic due to street closures for the Comfest festival at Goodale park, which runs from Friday through to Sunday evening.

The best approach the entire weekend, including Sunday, will be from High Street to Swan Street.

Park Street from Vine Street to Swan street will also be open, but there will be more congestion especially Friday and Saturday.

Goodale will be closed from High Street. And Park Street will be closed from Swan street north.

The good news is that access to our parking lot from Swan street either from Park or High will be open the entire weekend, so getting to church for Sunday liturgy will not be a problem

GREEK FESTIVAL FOOD PREPARATION IS COMPLETE!!

We have made over 12,000 pastries, 350 pans of Spanakopita and Tyropita, and 100 pans of Dolmades.

We would like to thank everyone who volunteered this year! We finished two days early due to the great turn out!

If you were unable to help with the food prep, stayed tuned for future announcements on how to sign up to help during the festival.

Please keep the freezer compressors in your prayers until Labor Day!!!

Many have perished from the sharp sword, but not as many as from their own tongue.

For the tongue is a double-edged sword which invisibly slaughters the soul and body, which utters empty words constantly in idle spectacles.

O tongue, the enemy of righteousness!
O tongue, my destroyer and the spirit of satan!

For, by much labor a man builds his spiritual building - salvation; but you O tongue, by one word, in a single hour, destroy and annihilate it.

A wise man attached himself to silence.

-- St Paisius Velichkovsky

Festival Cooking Update

Today we made 33 pans of Domaldes!

We had a great crew of volunteers. If we can get the same help Tuesday and Wednesday we may be able to finish Wednesday.

If you have time to come down and help we would greatly appreciate it! We will start at 10am and go to 3 pm!

Lunch is provided. Opa!!!

Day of the Holy Spirit - Postfeast of Holy Pentecost

Explanation of St. Andrei Rublev's Icon of the Holy Trinity

The Son (in the middle) looks and prays to the Father. His right hand points to the Chalice and beyond it to the Holy Spirit. His two fingers that point to the chalice remind us of His dual nature - both God and Man. In the background, there is a tree (the oak of Mamre), a symbol of the Son and the wood of the Holy Cross as the Tree of Life.

The Father (on the left) answers the Son's prayer by blessing the Son's salvific work and looks to the Holy Spirit. In the background, is a house (presumably Abraham's house), a symbol of the Father: "In my Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2) His garments are translucent reminding us of the unknowable nature of the essence of God.

The Holy Spirit (on the right) bows humbly and nods, emphasizing the consent. In the background is a mountain symbolizing Mt. Tabor, where the Holy Spirit appeared during the transfiguration of Christ and as a symbol of the life-giving source of the Holy Spirit gushing forth from the "spiritual rock" - Christ.

On the table is the chalice-bowl with the slaughtered calf's head, a symbol of the Son's sacrifice.

Sunday of Holy Pentecost - June 23

Kontakion

When the most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the nations; but when he distributed the tongues of fire He called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-holy Spirit!

Apolytikion

Blessed are You, O Christ our God, who made fisherman all-wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them, drawing all the world into Your net. O Loving One, glory be to You.

Save the date!!

God comes into our lives when we invite Him with all our being, opening the gates of our heart from the inside. He will not come uninvited.

The moment you are willing to give over your whole self to God- surrendering your life, your loved ones, your health, your victories and defeats- He will come to you and help you in ways you never dreamed possible.

— Fr. Vojislav Dosenovich

Love surpasses every canon and every rule.

Hating at least one person is a disgrace before God. We must have love for every person.

If loving is a problem, start at least with wishing everyone well.

At the end of times, people will be saved by love, humility and kindness. Kindness will open the gates of heaven, humility will lead us past the gates, and love will let us see God.

— Saint Gabriel Urgebadze the Fool-for-Christ of Georgia