St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I pray you a peaceful and calm evening as we prepare for tomorrow’s divine services. I invite you, this coming Friday, January 17th to celebrate the life and ministry of my patron saint, The Venerable and God-Bearing St. Anthony the Great. Orthros will begin at 9:00 am followed by the Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am.

Saint Anthony the Great is known as the Father of monasticism, and the long ascetical sermon in The Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius (Sections 16-34), could be called the first monastic Rule.

He was born in Egypt in the village of Coma, near the desert of the Thebaid, in the year 251. His parents were pious Christians of illustrious lineage. Anthony was a serious child and was respectful and obedient to his parents. He loved to attend church services, and he listened to the Holy Scripture so attentively, that he remembered what he heard all his life.

When Saint Anthony was about twenty years old, he lost his parents, but he was responsible for the care of his younger sister. Going to church about six months later, the youth reflected on how the faithful, in the Acts of the Apostles (4:35), sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the Apostles for the needy.

Then he entered the church and heard the Gospel passage where Christ speaks to the rich young man: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me” (Mt.19:21). Anthony felt that these words applied to him. Therefore, he sold the property that he received after the death of his parents, then distributed the money to the poor, and left his sister in the care of pious virgins in a convent.

Leaving his parental home, Saint Anthony began his ascetical life in a hut not far from his village. By working with his hands, he was able to earn his livelihood and also alms for the poor. Sometimes, the holy youth also visited other ascetics living in the area, and from each he sought direction and benefit. He turned to one particular ascetic for guidance in the spiritual life.

In this period of his life Saint Anthony endured terrible temptations from the devil. The Enemy of the race of man troubled the young ascetic with thoughts of his former life, doubts about his chosen path, concern for his sister, and he tempted Anthony with lewd thoughts and carnal feelings. But the saint extinguished that fire by meditating on Christ and by thinking of eternal punishment, thereby overcoming the devil.

Realizing that the devil would undoubtedly attack him in another manner, Saint Anthony prayed and intensified his efforts. Anthony prayed that the Lord would show him the path of salvation. And he was granted a vision. The ascetic beheld a man, who by turns alternately finished a prayer, and then began to work. This was an angel, which the Lord had sent to instruct His chosen one.

Saint Anthony tried to accustom himself to a stricter way of life. He partook of food only after sunset, he spent all night praying until dawn. Soon he slept only every third day. But the devil would not cease his tricks, and trying to scare the monk, he appeared under the guise of monstrous phantoms. The saint however protected himself with the Life-Creating Cross. Finally the Enemy appeared to him in the guise of a frightful looking small dark figure, and hypocritically declaring himself beaten, he thought he could tempt the saint into vanity and pride. The saint, however, vanquished the Enemy with prayer.

For even greater solitude, Saint Anthony moved farther away from the village, into a graveyard. He asked a friend to bring him a little bread on designated days, then shut himself in a tomb. Then the devils pounced upon the saint intending to kill him, and inflicted terrible wounds upon him. By the providence of the Lord, Anthony’s friend arrived the next day to bring him his food. Seeing him lying on the ground as if dead, he took him back to the village. They thought the saint was dead and prepared for his burial. At midnight, Saint Anthony regained consciousness and told his friend to carry him back to the tombs.

Saint Anthony’s staunchness was greater than the wiles of the Enemy. Taking the form of ferocious beasts, the devils tried to force the saint to leave that place, but he defeated them by trusting in the Lord. Looking up, the saint saw the roof opening, as it were, and a ray of light coming down toward him. The demons disappeared and he cried out, “Where have You been, O Merciful Jesus? Why didn’t You appear from the very beginning to end my pain?”

The Lord replied, “I was here, Anthony, but wanted to see your struggle. Now, since you have not yielded, I shall always help you and make your name known throughout all the world.” After this vision Saint Anthony was healed of his wounds and felt stronger than before. He was then thirty-five years of age.

Having gained spiritual experience in his struggle with the devil, Saint Anthony considered going into the Thebaid desert to serve the Lord. He asked the Elder (to whom he had turned for guidance at the beginning of his monastic journey) to go into the desert with him. The Elder, while blessing him in the then as yet unheard of exploit of being a hermit, decided not to accompany him because of his age.

Saint Anthony went into the desert alone. The devil tried to hinder him, by placing a large silver disc in his path, then gold, but the saint ignored it and passed by. He found an abandoned fort on the other side of the river and settled there, barricading the entrance with stones. His faithful friend brought him bread twice a year, and there was water inside the fort.

Saint Anthony spent twenty years in complete isolation and constant struggle with the demons, and he finally achieved perfect calm. The saint’s friends removed the stones from the entrance , and they went to Saint Anthony and besought him to take them under his guidance. Soon Saint Anthony’s cell was surrounded by several monasteries, and the saint acted as a father and guide to their inhabitants, giving spiritual instruction to all who came into the desert seeking salvation. He increased the zeal of those who were already monks, and inspired others with a love for the ascetical life. He told them to strive to please the Lord, and not to become faint-hearted in their labors. He also urged them not to fear demonic assaults, but to repel the Enemy by the power of the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord.

In the year 311 there was a fierce persecution against Christians, in the reign of the emperor Maximian. Wishing to suffer with the holy martyrs, Saint Anthony left the desert and went to Alexandria. He openly ministered to those in prison, he was present at the trial and interrogations of the confessors, and accompanying the martyrs to the place of execution. It pleased the Lord to preserve him, however, for the benefit of Christians.

At the close of the persecution, the saint returned to the desert and continued his exploits. The Lord granted the saint the gift of wonderworking, casting out demons and healing the sick by the power of his prayer. The great crowds of people coming to him disrupted his solitude, and he went off still farther, into the inner desert where he settled atop a high elevation. But the brethren of the monasteries sought him out and asked him to visit their communities.

Another time Saint Anthony left the desert and arrived in Alexandria to defend the Orthodox Faith against the Manichaean and Arian heresies. Knowing that the name of Saint Anthony was venerated by all the Church, the Arians said that he adhered to their heretical teaching. But Saint Anthony publicly denounced Arianism in front of everyone and in the presence of the bishop. During his brief stay at Alexandria, he converted a great multitude of pagans to Christ.

People from all walks of life loved the saint and sought his advice. Pagan philosophers once came to Abba Anthony intending to mock him for his lack of education, but by his words he reduced them to silence. Emperor Constantine the Great (May 21) and his sons wrote to Saint Anthony and asked him for a reply. He praised the emperor for his belief in Christ, and advised him to remember the future judgment, and to know that Christ is the true King.

Saint Anthony spent eighty-five years in the solitary desert. Shortly before his death, he told the brethren that soon he would be taken from them. He instructed them to preserve the Orthodox Faith in its purity, to avoid any association with heretics, and not to be negligent in their monastic struggles. “Strive to be united first with the Lord, and then with the saints, so that after death they may receive you as familiar friends into the everlasting dwellings.”

The saint instructed two of his disciples, who had attended him in the final fifteen years of his life, to bury him in the desert and not in Alexandria. He left one of his monastic mantles to Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (January 18), and the other to Saint Serapion of Thmuis (March 21). Saint Anthony died peacefully in the year 356, at age 105, and he was buried in the desert by his disciples.

The Life of the famed ascetic Saint Anthony the Great was written by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. This is the first biography of a saint who was not a martyr, and is considered to be one of the finest of Saint Athanasius’ writings. Saint John Chrysostom recommends that this Life be read by every Christian.

“These things are insignificant compared with Anthony’s virtues,” writes Saint Athanasius, “but judge from them what the man of God Anthony was like. From his youth until his old age, he kept his zeal for asceticism, he did not give in to the desire for costly foods because of his age, nor did he alter his clothing because of the infirmity of his body. He did not even wash his feet with water. He remained very healthy, and he could see well because his eyes were sound and undimmed. Not one of his teeth fell out, but near the gums they had become worn due to his advanced age. He remained strong in his hands and feet…. He was spoken of everywhere, and was admired by everyone, and was sought even by those who had not seen him, which is evidence of his virtue and of a soul dear to God.”

The following works of Saint Anthony have come down to us:

Twenty Sermons on the virtues, primarily monastic (probably spurious).

Seven Letters to various Egyptian monasteries concerning moral perfection, and the monastic life as a spiritual struggle.

A Rule for monastics (not regarded as an authentic work of Saint Anthony).

In the year 544 the relics of Saint Anthony the Great were transferred to Alexandria, and after the conquest of Egypt by the Saracens in the seventh century, they were transferred to Constantinople. The holy relics were transferred from Constantinople in the tenth-eleventh centuries to a diocese outside Vienna. In the fifteenth century they were brought to Arles (in France), to the church of Saint Julian. (OCA)

Though my Patron Saint is the Father of Monasticism, and I am the father of four children, I pray for his intercessions for strength, guidance, temperance, inspiration and wisdom. Righteous St. Anthony Pray for Us!

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow, on January 5th we celebrate the Eve of Theophany. The culmination of the Season’s Nativity-Epiphany season is coming to an end as we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. There are a couple things I need to bring to your attention before turning to the celebrations of Epiphany:

TOMORROW SUNDAY SCHOOL RESUMES. 

TOMORROW THE 2025 PARISH COUNCIL WILL RECEIVE THEIR AFFIRATION OF OFFICE AND BE SWORN IN.

Services for the Eve of Theophany and Small Blessing of the Waters will take place tomorrow evening at 5:00 pm.

Services for Theophany and the Great Blessing of the Waters will take place on Monday, January 6th. Orthros at 9:00 followed by the Liturgy and Blessing.

Please continue to turn in your House Blessing Forms so that we can begin scheduling these lovely, seasonal visits. 

Holy Water Bottles will be available after services on Sunday evening and Sunday morning. The priests will also take them into your homes during your House Blessings. 

On January 6th our Church celebrates the Great Feast of “Theophany” or “Epiphany” or “Holy Lights”. The Forefeast begins the day after New Years, January 2nd. In this preparatory period is found the “Sunday Before the Lights”. This fits into the functional Forefeast preparation. In the Gospel reading from the Divine Liturgy on this Sunday we hear: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” from the prologue of the Gospel of Mark, who narrates the appearance of John the Forerunner in the Jordan desert, preaching and prophesying about Christ. John baptized “in water”, one “more powerful” than him though, Who came “before him”, He will baptize people “in the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:1-8).

In the four-day Forefeast period, from the 2nd until the 5th of January, the services are stacked with canons, Triodia and other Forefeast sacred hymns. We have here the “Holy Week” of the Lights, like we saw during Christmas, with the difference that the time of preparation here is less due to the extension of the feast of Christmas until December 31st and the feast of the Circumcision of Christ on January 1st. Again the similarities with the Services of Holy Week are evident, precisely because of the paralleling of the feast of the Theophany with that of Pascha. Again the preparation culminates on the eve with the bright Services of Great Hours and Great Vespers of the feast.

The celebration is extended eight days after the feast, including three special days – the day after Theophany with the Synaxis of Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist of Christ on January 7th, the “Sunday After the Lights”, and the last day of the feast, the apodosis (leave-taking) on January 14th, at which time also is chanted the entire service of the feast.

In this excellent liturgical framework shines the great despotic celebration of the Theophany on January 6th. Its origin is similar to the celebration of Christmas. On January 6th was celebrated in the old calendar the winter solstice by the people of Egypt and Arabia. At the beginning of the third century followers of the heretic Basilides attempted to replace the pagan celebration of this feast with the baptism of Christ. Shortly afterwards the Church of the East set January 6th as the feast day of Epiphany, or Theophany. The apostle Paul speaks of “the glorious epiphany (appearing or manifestation) of our great God” (Tit. 2:13). Elsewhere he stresses that through Christ “the grace of God epiphanied (appeared or manifested) saving all people” (Tit. 2:11). The same speaks of God, Who “was manifested in the flesh” (I Tim. 3:16). Under the expressions of the Apostle of the Nations are acknowledged the known national terms “theophany” and “epiphany”, which meant the appearing among people of the deity or god-emperor in a particular city. With the epiphany of false gods and emperors, the Christian Church opposed this with the epiphany of the true God and King Christ, the true theophany. Also the worship of the sun, which conquers during the winter solstice the darkness of night, was opposed with the worship of the true sun, Christ, who rose, as the prophet Isaiah said, in a world sitting in darkness and shadows. “Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 8:23-9:2). This prophecy also the evangelist Matthew applies at the beginning of the public ministry of Christ, the epiphany among His people (Matthew 4:12-17). This pericope we will listen to read during the Liturgy of Epiphany.

However, the meaning of the theophany or the epiphany of Christ was not connected to only a single historical fact of His life. We saw that Basilides and his followers celebrated on January 6th the Baptism at the Jordan, in which, according to their heretical teaching, divinity incarnated in Christ. But according to the Orthodox teaching of baptism it is the beginning, the first public appearance and prominence of Jesus as Messiah and Savior. As such He was recognized by the representative of the Old Testament, the prophet John the Forerunner who saw the Holy Spirit “descending and resting upon Him” (Jn. 1:32-34) and heard the voice of the Father: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17; Mrk. 1:11; Lk. 3:22), assuring him of the sonship. At the baptism the Son/God appeared, but God/Trinity was also revealed, as the poet characteristically sings in the apolytikion of the feast chanting: “In Jordan You were baptized, O Lord, and the veneration of the Trinity was manifested.” The Son was baptized, the Father’s voice was heard and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. “At the Jordan the Trinity was manifested,” as the holy Kosmas sings in the third troparion of the eighth ode of the first canon of the feast.

But with the birth of Christ God is manifested to the world. Therefore, it was celebrated at the same time as the feast of the baptism on January 6th. Again, new accounts came to justify the birth of Christ on January 6th, as well as the co-celebration on the same day of the baptism. Christ, perfect God and perfect man, also had to have everything perfect and complete that arose in His life on earth. Perfect therefore should be the years of His earthly life and not missing. It is estimated that He died on the cross on April 6th. This should have been, according to the above calculations, the day of his conception by the Virgin Mary, the Annunciation. Thus, His birth after nine full months should coincide with January 6th. He was baptized “when He was beginning to be about thirty years of age” according to the evangelist Luke (3:23), that is again on January 6th, if perfection required here the full number of years of His birth as on the day of His entry into public ministry.

Related to the events of the birth of Christ and the manifestation of the Divinity of Christ, is the worship of the shepherds and the Magi’s offering of gifts. The first were the representatives of the Jewish people and the second the beginning of the idolaters, who recognized and worshiped first the manifested Son of God. And the celebration of these two events came to enrich the theme of the celebration of Theophany. The events celebrated already became four.

But we have a fifth Theophany event in the beginning of the ministry of the Lord. His first miracle at Cana of Galilee, where during the marriage Feast, He changed water into wine. And the evangelist John notes, who narrates the incident: “This beginning of the signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (Jn. 2:11). The revelation of divine glory to Christ’s disciples, the beginning of His signs, the miracle of the wedding of Cana, was added to the other four festive themes.

The first two festive themes prevailed however, the birth and baptism of Christ co-celebrated on January 6th, and this remained long in the East and so far has been preserved in the Armenian Church. When in the fourth century Rome and the East began to celebrate Christmas on December 25th and this gradually prevailed there, the contents of the eortologion for Theophany split. Christmas celebrated the birth and Theophany the baptism at the Jordan. This is precisely the subject of today’s feast of the Theophany.

This decongestion did not hurt but instead was favorable for the great feast. The splitting of the epiphanies allowed more depth for their developments. The baptism of the Lord, the Theophany, the prototypes in the Old Testament, its expansion and its consequences in the life of the Church, gave wonderful and rich themes to the poets of the prayers and hymns of the feast and to the holy commemorators. Of particular brilliance is the Service of the Great Blessing of the Waters, which now in order to serve the faithful is celebrated twice – on the eve and after the Divine Liturgy of the feast. It is a vivid depiction of the baptism of Christ. First, as the beginning and the head of the new people, Christ is baptized and sanctifies the created waters to create through them the new world, the New Creation, new people, faithful Christbearers and Godbearers. In the pannychida of the Theophany, after the blessing of the water and the communion and the sprinkling of believers, the catechumens were baptized. It was the feast of “the Lights”. The “illumination” – the baptism of Christ and Christians.

The hymnology of the feast of the Theophany is unparalleled in beauty. In it is included works by famous ancient hymnographers of the brightest hymnography of our Church. In the Service of Matins for the Feastday in the Eirmos of the first canon, the poet Kosmas the bishop of Maiouma, in the second ode, which are chanted as Katavasies at the end of the odes, combine in a remarkable way the themes of each ode to the theme of the feast: the crossing of the Red Sea through water for the salvation of the people; the upholding of the humble Anna and the defeat of the dragon by the omnipotent God in the water of baptism; the prophetic voice of Habakkuk and the Baptist’s voice of one crying in the wilderness; the peaceful preaching of Isaiah and the salvation of Adam’s work by the peacemaker Christ in the Jordan; the lament “in sorrow” of Jonah and the Baptist’s preaching of repentance; the dew of the furnace of Babylon, the immaterial fire which accepted the kennels of the River Jordan, and the hymnology to the Mother of the one baptized. All this, Old and New Testaments, type and truth, are intertwined in a supra-cosmic marriage. (MYSTAGOGY)

With Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter

Impossible to recount is Christ’s descent according to His divinity, but His ancestry according to His human nature can be traced, since He who deigned to become Son of Man in order to save mankind was the offspring of men. And it is this genealogy of His that two of the evangelists, Matthew and Luke, recorded. But although Matthew, in the passage from his Gospel read today, begins with those born first, he makes no mention of anyone born before Abraham He traces the line down from Abraham until he reaches Joseph to whom, by divine dispensation, the Virgin Mother of God was betrothed(Matt. 1:1-16), being of the same tribe and homeland as him, that her own stock may be shown from this to be in no way inferior.

St. Gregory Palamas

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

Tomorrow, we commemorate the holy ancestors. We take account of those who, in this earthly existence, came before the birth of the Christ. The Church in Her wisdom presents to us the genealogy of Jesus through the perspective of St. Mathew the Evangelist, who, himself, sought to establish the Savior’s legitimacy through Jewish lineage. In this day, in this age, and in this place, we take much for granted. We have the luxury of experience and perspective. Honestly, if we look back at the roots and branches of His holy family tree, perhaps it may pique our interest. But I implore you to delve deeper into the human history of God and meditate upon its significance. 

To Matthew’s contemporary listener, tomorrow’s Gospel reading (Matthew 1;1-25) was the foundational under-pinning of the Evangelist’s primary message – that the long-awaited Messiah had indeed come. That the King of Glory was in our midst. That prophecy had been fulfilled. These are fantastic realities that we can look back upon with wonderment and awe. But imagine, if we were experiencing these truths in real time and without the benefit of a 2,000-year proclamation. If we can approach the importance of Christ’s genealogy with the same sense of worth of which the Evangelist intends, we can then begin to appreciate the great Mystery.

God is incarnate.

The Creator of all shares an existence with the created.

For Christ to take on flesh, that flesh had to originate and be tracible.  

The Orthodox Christian perspective on the Nativity extends well beyond glorifying the Birth Narrative. The Birth Narrative is the prelude to the Cross. The cave of His birth foreshadows His burial site. His swaddling clothes as depicted iconographically resemble the burial bandages of Jewish burial rites. He came down to earth so He could descend even further into Hades.

My Beloved in the Lord, these statements are not meant to be macabre or drop a buzz kill on Christmas. This is the season of joy. It is the season of light. It is the season of giving. But that is the point. Joy comes from ever-lasting life. Light ultimately emanates from the brilliance of the Resurrection. The giving is the generous outpouring of His mercy. 

As we consider, honor, and give thanks to the glorious (and some, not so glorious) ancestors of Christ, let us celebrate the fruit of their progeny, and how their lives progressed until the most absolute and perfect Goodness came into the world. The Sunday before the Nativity is theologically rich and challenges us to dive deeply into the Mystery of the Savior’s Birth.

Lastly, please remember that our Sunday School will offer their special gift to the community tomorrow following the Divine Liturgy. This will be the first Christmas Program that the children have done since leaving St. Thomas More. This event is much anticipated and greatly appreciated. The Men’s Ministry will also host a Pancake Breakfast after the Program. And a “special visitor” will come by to bring Christmas happiness to the children. He’ll make his entrance then be seated by the fireplace. 

God bless you in this Season. God bless you through the Season. God bless you by the Season.

With Love in our Lord Who is to be Incarnate in the Flesh,

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I pray all is well on this cloudy and blustery day. Stay warm and comfortable. 

Tomorrow when you arrive in the Fellowship Hall after the Divine Liturgy, you will notice a couple “Christmas Trees” that are set up along the south side of the room. It’s that time of year, once again, when we can assist St. Nicholas in his desire to bring joy to every child. Our Sub for Santa project, Operation Chimney Drop is all set and ready to go. Thank you to Kathy Shand and AnnaSophia Clark for organizing and setting up their elaborate and beautiful display. 

As in past years, please pick an ornament from the tree and purchase the desired item listed by a child in our greater community. Our organizers have also made it easier to participate this year. In the past, you were asked to provide the entire wish list of a child – both wanted toys and needed clothes. Kathy has split up the lists of individual children and will consolidate them afterwards. In other words, she divided the lists so that multiple people can provide for each individual recipient. So, the good news is that participating will not be as daunting. The challenge, of course, is that there are obviously more ornaments on the trees than year’s past. 

Of course, that is a challenge that we are prepared to tackle. I would still hope, just like in years past, we will have an empty tree by tomorrow afternoon. I pray that we can add to our holiday excitement by helping those in need. I cannot think of a better way to head into the week of Thanksgiving than acknowledging our gratitude for the gifts we’ve been given, and to share those blessings with others. Please participate and please participate generously. 

Speaking of the Thanksgiving Holiday, while it is true that we enjoy a special dispensation from the Nativity Fast on Thanksgiving Day, please be prayerfully reminded that we are in the midst of a major fasting period in the life of the church. I remind you that while the Fast should be obviously maintained at home, but there should especially be no meat or dairy products served at church functions until after Christmas.  This practice will only get more difficult as the Nativity draws nearer. The western model of preparing for Christmas is party after party. The Orthodox preparation for the Incarnation of God is to approach this great mystery with awe, prayer, and fasting. It’s not too late to take up this mantle and begin.

Lastly, please place in your calendar Great Vespers for St. Nicholas on Thursday, 5th at 6:00 pm. Right afterwards, our Philoptochos will host an evening of lighting our Christmas Tree, singing carols, enjoying each other’s company and decorating our gingerbread houses. This will be a lovely tradition to literally begin the Christmas season with commemorating the actual St. Nicholas.

I also wish to congratulate our parish’s own Lynne Roberts for being named the head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. I pray that this new adventure proves a blessing for her, her family and her new team. No doubt, she’ll successfully right that ship just like she did for the University of Utah Women’s Team.

Please enjoy the blessings of the day and I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow. I remain,

In Christ’s Love, 

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter