St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I trust and pray that you have all enjoyed a blessed summer. Having been gone the last two Sundays, I can say that our summer ended nicely and that I tremendously miss my St. Anna Family. Not that I needed a reminder, but being away a couple weeks gave me pause to truly appreciate our loving and dynamic community. I extend a special note of gratitude to Fr. Elias and to Dn. John for their loving ministry to our parish – most especially in my absence. But now we are all back, things are returning to normal, and here we go – with the excitement of a new school year upon us. 

As I have expressed numerous times throughout the years, this is my absolute favorite time of year. Everything is taking shape and coming to life once again. Youth ministries, adult education, Sunday School and everything else is right around the corner. In fact, I can update the information in the Bulletin right here and now, and announce that Sunday School will begin September 17th with the Blessing of the New School Year and Sanctification of our new space. Classes will begin in our five, new classrooms on Sunday, September 24th. To be sure, this is later than usual, but I believe the wait will be well worth it. 

With this time of year, we also find ourselves at the beginning of the Ecclesiastical New Year, which began on September first. The First major feast of the New Year is a celebration that directly involves our Matron Saint Anna. 

Therefore, in addition to the celebration of the Annunciation, there are three major feasts in the Church honoring Mary, the Theotokos. The first of these is the feast of her nativity which is kept on the eighth of September.

The record of the birth of Mary is not found in the Bible. The traditional account of the event is taken from the apocryphal writings which are not part of the New Testament scriptures. The traditional teaching which is celebrated in the hymns and verses of the festal liturgy is that Joachim and Anna were a pious Jewish couple who were among the small and faithful remnant—“the poor and the needy”—who were awaiting the promised messiah. The couple was old and childless. They prayed earnestly to the Lord for a child, since among the Jews barrenness was a sign of God’s disfavor. In answer to their prayers, and as the reward of their unwavering fidelity to God, the elderly couple was blessed with the child who was destined, because of her own personal goodness and holiness, to become the Mother of the Messiah-Christ.

Your nativity, O Virgin, has proclaimed joy to the whole universe. The Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, has shone from you, O Theotokos. By annulling the curse he bestowed a blessing. By destroying death he has granted us eternal life.

Troparion

By your nativity, O most pure virgin, Joachim and Anna are freed from barrenness; Adam and Eve from the corruption of death. And we, your people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you: The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the Nourisher of our Life.

Kontakion

The fact that there is no Biblical verification of the facts of Mary’s birth is incidental to the meaning of the feast. Even if the actual background of the event as celebrated in the Church is questionable from an historical point of view, the divine meaning of it “for us men and for our salvation” is obvious. There had to be one born of human flesh and blood who would be spiritually capable of being the Mother of Christ, and she herself had to be born into the world of persons who were spiritually capable of being her parents.

The feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, therefore, is a glorification of Mary’s birth, of Mary herself and of her righteous parents. It is a celebration as well of the very first preparation of the salvation of the world. For the “Vessel of Light,” the “Book of the Word of Life,” the “Door to the Orient,” the “Throne of Wisdom” is being prepared on earth by God Himself in the birth of the holy girl-child Mary.

The verses of the feast are filled with titles for Mary such as those in the quotations above. They are inspired by the message of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. The specific Biblical readings of the feast give indications of this.

The Gospel reading of Matins is the one read at all feasts of the Theotokos, the famous Magnificat from Saint Luke in which Mary says: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1.47).

The epistle reading of the Divine Liturgy is the famous passage about the coming of the Son of God in “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man” (Phil 2.5–11) and the gospel reading is that which is always read for feasts of the Theotokos—the woman in the crowd glorifies the Mother of Jesus, and the Lord himself responds that the same blessedness which his mother receives is for all “who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk 11.27–28).

Thus, on the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, as on all liturgical celebrations of Christ’s Mother, we proclaim and celebrate that through God’s graciousness to mankind every Christian receives what the Theotokos receives, the “great mercy” which is given to human persons because of Christ’s birth from the Virgin.

So once again, I look forward to praying with you tomorrow morning and to all of the exciting things that are in store for us in the coming months.

With Much Love in XC,

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I’d like to call your attention to an article that recently ran in the Sandy City Journal. I invite you to read it and become keenly aware of the impact our “Blue Bin” has had on our local community, and our parish. Please let this piece stand as an inspiration and a reminder to all of us, how important it is keeping that bin full and bringing food items to church each time we enter our building. The nutritional needs of our local community are not diminishing, but rather increasing. May we never be aloof or indifferent to the sufferings just outside of our doors. And by the way, thank you, THANK YOU, for your generosity and sustained participation in our food support ministry. I am grateful that St. Anna’s is gaining the reputation of a solid, civic partner.

https://www.sandyjournal.com/2023/08/11/446167/local-church-helps-sustain-meals-for-diamond-ridge-and-entrada-schools

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For the past couple weeks, we have enjoyed lovely Paraklesis services out on our south patio. It has become a lovely tradition at St. Anna’s to lift up the Mother of God in these sacred days of the Dormition Fast on the grounds of the church. And as we’ve been sharing for the past few weeks, we will celebrate the Feast of the Dormition on Tuesday morning outside in the same area. Orthros will begin at 8:00 am followed by the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 am. We’ll find the shady spots out in the garden area so as not to interrupt construction efforts in any way.

The feast of the Dormition or Falling-asleep of the Theotokos is celebrated on the fifteenth of August, preceded by the aforementioned two-week fast. This feast, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ’s mother. It proclaims that Mary has been “assumed” by God into the heavenly kingdom of Christ in the fullness of her spiritual and bodily existence. (Great Vespers will be celebrated at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Price, Utah on Monday, August 14th at 6:00 pm).

As with the nativity of the Virgin and the feast of her entrance to the temple, there are no biblical or historical sources for this feast. The Tradition of the Church is that Mary died as all people die, not “voluntarily” as her Son, but by the necessity of her mortal human nature which is indivisibly bound up with the corruption of this world.

The Orthodox Church teaches that Mary is without personal sins. In the Gospel of the feast, however, in the liturgical services and in the Dormition icon, the Church proclaims as well that Mary truly needed to be saved by Christ as all human persons are saved from the trials, sufferings and death of this world; and that having truly died, she was raised up by her Son as the Mother of Life and participates already in the eternal life of paradise which is prepared and promised to all who “hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk11.27–28)

In giving birth, you preserved your virginity. In falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. You were translated to life, O Mother of Life, and by your prayers, you deliver our souls from death.

Troparion

Neither the tomb, nor death, could hold the Theotokos, who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions. For being the Mother of Life, she was translated to life, by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb.

Kontakion

The services of the feast repeat the main theme, that the Mother of Life has “passed over into the heavenly joy, into the divine gladness and unending delight” of the Kingdom of her Son (Vesperal hymn). The Old Testament readings, as well as the gospel readings for the Vigil and the Divine Liturgy, are exactly the same as those for the feast of the Virgin’s nativity and her entrance into the Temple. Thus, at the Vigil we again hear Mary say: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Lk 1.47). At the Divine Liturgy we hear the letter to the Philippians where Saint Paul speaks of the self-emptying of Christ who condescends to human servitude and ignoble death in order to be “highly exalted by God his Father” (Phil 2.5–11). And once again we hear in the Gospel that Mary’s blessedness belongs to all who “hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk 11.27–28).

Thus, the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is the celebration of the fact that all men are “highly exalted” in the blessedness of the victorious Christ, and that this high exaltation has already been accomplished in Mary the Theotokos. The feast of the Dormition is the sign, the guarantee, and the celebration that Mary’s fate is, the destiny of all those of “low estate” whose souls magnify the Lord, whose spirits rejoice in God the Saviour, whose lives are totally dedicated to hearing and keeping the Word of God which is given to men in Mary’s child, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world.

Finally, it must be stressed that, in all of the feasts of the Virgin Mother of God in the Church, the Orthodox Christians celebrate facts of their own lives in Christ and the Holy Spirit. What happens to Mary happens to all who imitate her holy life of humility, obedience, and love. With her all people will be “blessed” to be “more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim” if they follow her example. All will have Christ born in them by the Holy Spirit. All will become temples of the living God. All will share in the eternal life of His Kingdom who live the life that Mary lived.In this sense everything that is praised and glorified in Mary is a sign of what is offered to all persons in the life of the Church. It is for this reason that Mary, with the divine child Jesus within her, is called in the Orthodox Tradition the Image of the Church. For the assembly of the saved is those in whom Christ dwells. (OCA)

With Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony Savas

Protopresbyter