Month: February 2020

In vain do you rejoice in not eating, O soul!
For you abstain from food,
But from passions you are not purified.
If you persevere in sin, you will perform a useless fast!

Hymn of Great and Holy Lent

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tonight at 7:00 pm, in just under a couple hours, we will celebrate our first Paraklesis Service to the Mother of the Theotokos, and the Righteous Ancestor of Christ, our Matron St. Anna. I encourage and remind you all to participate in this joyful celebration of thanksgiving for all that the Lord has provided us, through, no doubt, the intercessory influences of His maternal grandmother. 

Tomorrow is also the second of the Saturday of the Souls Services. If you are at all available, you can also prepare a Kollyva, or traditional memorial wheat, to bring to the service. It would be a blessing for us to be together in prayer for the repose of our loved ones and to express our hope in the Resurrection of Christ. Orthros, 8:00 am and Divine Liturgy at 9:00 as usual.

Then on Sunday, our hearts, minds, souls, and every fiber of our physical being shift into the glorious preparatory time of Great Lent. Sunday is the Sunday of Forgiveness and on that very evening during the Great Vespers Service, we will encounter the transformation from the Pre-Lenten Season into the throws of the Great Fast.

In order to help prepare us for that transition, I would like to share a particularly informative and inspirational writing, concerning these days, from a paramount theologian of our day, Fr. Alexander Schmemann. Enjoy:

In the Orthodox Church, the last Sunday before Great Lent—the day on which, at Vespers, Lent is liturgically announced and inaugurated—is called Forgiveness Sunday. On the morning of that Sunday, at the Divine Liturgy, we hear the words of Christ:

“If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses…” (Mark 6:14-15).

Then after Vespers—after hearing the announcement of Lent in the Great Prokeimenon: “Turn not away Thy face from Thy child, for I am afflicted! Hear me speedily! Draw near unto my soul and deliver it!”, after making our entrance into Lenten worship, with its special melodies, with the prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, with its prostrations—we ask forgiveness from each other, we perform the rite of forgiveness and reconciliation. And as we approach each other with words of reconciliation, the choir intones the Paschal hymns, filling the church with the anticipation of Paschal joy.

What is the meaning of this rite? Why is it that the Church wants us to begin the Lenten season with forgiveness and reconciliation? These questions are in order because for too many people Lent means primarily, and almost exclusively, a change of diet, the compliance with ecclesiastical regulations concerning fasting. They understand fasting as an end in itself, as a “good deed” required by God and carrying in itself its merit and its reward. But the Church spares no effort in revealing to us that fasting is but a means, one among many, towards a higher goal: the spiritual renewal of man, his return to God, true repentance and, therefore, true reconciliation. The Church spares no effort in warning us against a hypocritical and pharisaic fasting, against the reduction of religion to mere external obligations.

As a Lenten hymn says:

“In vain do you rejoice in not eating, O soul!
For you abstain from food,
But from passions you are not purified.
If you persevere in sin, you will perform a useless fast!”

Now, forgiveness stands at the very center of Christian faith and of Christian life because Christianity itself is, above all, the religion of forgiveness. God forgives us, and His forgiveness is in Christ, His Son, whom He sends to us so that by sharing in His humanity we may share in His love and be truly reconciled with God. Indeed, Christianity has no other content but love. And it is primarily the renewal of that love, a growth in it, that we seek in Great Lent, in fasting and prayer, in the entire spirit and the entire effort of that season. Thus, truly forgiveness is both the beginning of, and the proper condition for, the Lenten season.

One may ask, however: Why should I perform this rite when I have no “enemies?” Why should I ask forgiveness from people who have done nothing to me, and whom I hardly know? To ask these questions is to misunderstand the Orthodox teaching concerning forgiveness. It is true that open enmity, personal hatred, real animosity may be absent from our life, though if we experience them, it may be easier for us to repent, for these feelings openly contradict Divine commandments. But the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love.

These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them—in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being “polite” and “friendly” we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize—be it only for one minute—that our entire relationship to other men is wrong, makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual “recognition” which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world.

On that unique evening, listening to the joyful Paschal hymns we are called to make a spiritual discovery: to taste of another mode of life and relationship with people, of life whose essence is love. We can discover that always and everywhere Christ, the Divine Love Himself, stands in the midst of us, transforming our mutual alienation into brotherhood. As I advance towards the other, as the other comes to me—we begin to realize that it is Christ who brings us together by His love for both of us.

And because we make this discovery—and because this discovery is that of the Kingdom of God itself: the Kingdom of Peace and Love, of reconciliation with God and, in Him, with all that exists—we hear the hymns of that Feast, which once a year “opens to us the doors of Paradise.” We know why we shall fast and pray, what we shall seek during the long Lenten pilgrimage.

Forgiveness Sunday: the day on which we acquire the power to make our fasting—true fasting; our effort—true effort; our reconciliation with God—true reconciliation.

—Father Alexander Schmemann

Forgiveness Great Vespers is this Sunday Evening at 7:00 pm. Please make every effort to bring your family and attend. This service is usually and sadly, sparsely attended. This should not be so. Take your first steps of Great Lent in a proper way. Come to this service.

With Much Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony Savas

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, please forgive me, the sinner. 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There is so much on my mind and in my heart at this time, that I am finding it impossible to put my thoughts and feelings into writing. The events of the past week are still surreal to me. So much has transpired on so many levels: spiritually, personally, ministerially, institutionally, practically and realistically.

We are in our new building.

That sentence is simple enough, but the factors that have contributed to that statement, and the nuances that support it as reality are still elusive to me. We are still setting up offices, creating classroom space, figuring out where things are, identifying vendors, creating procedural documents and finding our way around.

I am still prayerfully working on crafting some sort of a semblance of all I am thankful for at this time. The individuals, our parish council, our ministry leaders, my family. It’s all swirling around in my mind and I know that very soon, I will be able to properly give thanks to you all. You have accomplished so much as a parish in such a short amount of time. God’s love shines brilliantly upon you.

So for now, and at this time, I am going to jump into some normalcy and call attention to some activities in the life of our St. Anna Parish.

Last Saturday evening, as you well know, we sponsored a Gala Celebration in commemoration of finalizing our move to the new church and giving thanks to the good people of St. Thomas More. As I have shared before, I felt it to be burdensome to our parishioners to hold a Glendi and an Apokreatiko (Meat Fare) Celebration in such close proximity to each other. We went forward (successfully) with the Glendi. But, Great Lent is still upon us and we should usher it into our lives – of course spiritually, but also with some good fun.

So please join us on February 21 at 7:00 pm for our Mardi Gras Family Night. Just like our other Family Nights throughout the year, such as Halloween and Christmas, we will come together in a more casual atmosphere; this time easing ourselves into the rigors of the Great Fast. Remember that Family Nights are a celebration of our St. Anna Family. If you don’t have children or grandchildren, it does not mean that this party is not for you.

Please remember that Sunday School Classes resume this week. There are many things different about the program at this time. Notably the children will be excused for class at the conclusion of the Liturgy.

IF WE HAVE NEGLECTED TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THS BEFORE, LET ME BE CLEAR NOW: SUNDAY WORSHIP WILL NOW BEGIN WITH THE ORTHROS AT 9:00 am FOLLOWED BY THE DIVINE LITURGY AT 10:00 am. WE ARE STARTING EARLIER BECAUSE SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES WILL BEGIN LATER. THIS WAY, WE SHOULD FINISH THE DAY’S ACTIVITIES AT THE SAME TIME AS BEFORE. THIS IS OUR PLAN. WILL IT WORK OUT PERFECTLY? I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW. WE WILL FIND OUT TOGETEHR AS WE BEGIN OUR NEW NORMAL.

I do want to share one final thought about last Sunday. It’s a personal thought. After the conclusion of our first Liturgy, His Eminence elevated my priesthood by bestowing upon me the title of “Protopresbyter.” This was a great and humbling honor, as this is the highest office a married clergyman can hold in our Orthodox tradition. Through the work of the Parish Council, you the parishioners of St. Anna’s gifted me with a pectoral cross that is lovely beyond measure. I am ever grateful for your generosity and Christian love. Thank you so much!

As gilded and bedecked as it is, it is still a cross. It bears the image of the crucified Christ. It is a symbol of our collective sacrifices and labors unto God’s glory. As a parish, we all share in the successes and celebrations we enjoy. Just as we all carry our responsibilities and suffer each others challenges. We are One. We have been blessed as One.  We glorify God as One. 

Thank you for your patience in this disjointed writing. I am praying for focus and clarity in these busy days. But as I said before, normalcy is returning. God bless you for all that has been accomplished. Let us go forward in peace, joy and Christ’s love.

With Blessings and Gratitude,

Fr. Anthony