"In the cross, like light in the sun, is concentrated the Love of God the Almighty for the world and men: in the cross is the whole power of Love." St. John of Kronstadt
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Sunday marked the midway point of our Lenten journey and, having reached this juncture of the Fast, we lift our eyes toward the Cross. This glimpse of the Cross offers us consolation and strength to continue the struggles as we remember the triumphant Resurrection of Christ yet before us. Father Nicholas Dahdal's sermon on Sunday offered us a reminder of all that Christ accomplished on the Cross: "Today, I am going to talk with you about the Cross. Jesus came first to pay the bond, second to give us freedom, third to destroy the powers of the devil, and fourth to reconcile us to God. The Cross has two arms—the vertical represents His reconciliation of heaven and earth, thus reconciling us to God. And the horizontal represents how he also reconciled us with the people. All of us are reconciled as the family of God." To hear more of Father Dahdal's sermon, please click on the video.
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Our own Dr. John Fotopoulos offered a sermon for the Orthodox Scholars Preach series. Dr. Fotopoulos reminds us to offer ourselves to Christ in three steps: "Deny, Lift, Follow. These are three important imperatives that Jesus gives in this Sunday's Gospel...Denying oneself does not mean renouncing healthy self-respect, self-worth, or self-love, which are all important for every human being and all a part of God's will. Rather, the denial of one's-self means that each of us must struggle to think and act first for God before thinking and acting first about myself." To hear Dr. Fotopoulos's entire sermon click on the video!
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We thank God for the opportunity to pray in person, and would love to have all of our family back together praying and celebrating the Divine Liturgy under one roof. Secure your reservation today by clicking on the button below. If a service is full, please check back as the date approaches. If you are unable to attend after signing up, we ask that you remove your reservation from Signup Genius (or contact the church office) so that others may attend.
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Wednesday, April 7th, 5:30|6:00 PM
Ninth Hour & Presanctified Liturgy
"Today, He who is unapproachable in His essence becomes approachable to me; and He is suffering the Passion, thus freeing me from the passions."
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Friday, April 9th, 7:00 PM
Salutations to the Theotokos &
Communing with the Saints
(Click the icon to watch online)
"Rejoice, O unwedded Bride."
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Sunday, April 11th, 8:15|9:30 AM
Orthros and Divine Liturgy
(Click the icon to watch online)
"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:20
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Monday, April 12th, 7:00 PM
Great Compline
"Lord of the Powers, be with us.
For in times of distress, we have no other help but You."
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Wednesday, April 14th, 5:30|6:00 PM
Ninth Hour & Presanctified Liturgy
"In Your love for humanity, grant me healing, and pour on me the oil of Your great mercy."
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Ways to Participate This Lent |
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"We can do nothing better or greater than to pray for them, offering commemoration for them at the Liturgy." St. John Maximovitch |
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Prayer and Candle Requests
If you would like to have your living or departed loved ones commemorated during the Divine Liturgy, please submit your names using the button below. Likewise, if you cannot attend a church service and would like candles lit, please click on the buttons below. All requests should be made by 7 pm the night before the service.
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Holy Unction Request
Anyone who would like to be anointed with Holy Unction from Clean Monday can ask Fr. Dahdal or Dn. Perry to be blessed by appointment or before/after one of the Lenten services. Please contact the church office at 708-562-2744 to schedule in advance.
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Schedule Confession
If you would like to schedule a confession this Lenten season, Father Nicholas Dahdal will be hearing confessions on weekdays after 1:00pm. Please contact the church office at 708-562-2744 to schedule a confession.
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Flower Donation Request
During our journey through Lent, we humbly ask our Holy Apostles family to consider helping offset the costs for Lenten and Paschal flowers. At Divine Liturgy, our clergy will commemorate the names of those donations offered in memory of a loved one. Please contact the office at 708-562-2744 if you would like to make a donation. May God be glorified through your efforts.
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Our Virtual Fellowship Hours will continue every second & fourth Sunday of the month at noon. The next one will be this Sunday, 4/11 at noon. This is for both new and seasoned parishioners! Participants will have the opportunity to catch up with and meet fellow parishioners. Whether you are well versed with Zoom or have never used it before, please join us on Sunday! We will be offering plenty of support to make sure we can all connect again.
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Sunday, April 11th, 2021
40 Day Blessing
Andrea Kourafas
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Sunday, April 11th, 2021
Memorial
+Errikos Zervakis
May his memory be eternal!
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Weekly Tray Offering & Stewardship |
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"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 |
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The fourth week of Lent has begun, which means a new occasion to offer the fruits of your weekly labors to our Lord! Make your Lenten offering today. The vibrant community of Holy Apostles can't continue without your kindness and generosity. When we come together here, we are one faith, one family. To make your "tray" offering, please click on the button below:
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We thank our Holy Apostles family for their continued support, but we still need your help.
We have reached ~50% of our goal for total stewards and amounts pledged.
Click the buttons below to see the latest 2021 Stewardship updates for our parish and give back to our beloved home today:
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Philoptochos News & Events |
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Decorated Easter Candles (Lambathes)
Philoptochos is selling decorated candles (lambathes) for Easter again this year. Candles will be available to purchase after the Divine Liturgies every Sunday in April and after the afternoon Holy Unction service on Holy Wednesday and the morning (Royal Hours) and afternoon (Apokathelosis) services on Good Friday. The candles will be sold outside in front of the church. The cost is $15.00 per candle. Please wear a mask while browsing and purchasing. Due to COVID restrictions, cash will NOT be accepted, only checks or credit cards. These candles are hand-made by our Philoptochos members and make great gifts for Godparents to give to their Godchildren.
Please contact Angela Karras Neboyskey at [email protected] or (773) 719-2619 with any questions.
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Easter Brake and Take
Philoptochos is offering a Curbside Pickup Sale for Easter. Proceeds from this sale will benefit Operation Classroom and other Philoptochos charities.
When: Saturday, April 24th
Time: 11-1 PM
Where: Curbside Pick-up in front of Holy Apostles
To see the menu, download the order form, submit an online payment, see pick-up instructions and download window insert, please click below:
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Operation Classroom
The mission of Operation Classroom is “to assist and offer support to teachers and students in underserved or underfunded schools and provide resources that would not have been available through the local school district.” The committee has chosen a project for the kindergartners at the Westchester Primary School for our first mission. This will be an ongoing ministry. There are several ways to contribute. One may support the Philoptochos Easter Curbside Pickup Sale—Easter Brake and Take. A portion of the proceeds from this sale will be earmarked for this project. Monetary donations without purchase will also be accepted online using a credit card. Finally, one may send cash or a check to the church office. Please make checks out to Holy Apostles Philoptochos and put Operation Classroom on the memo line.
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Holy Apostles Ministries and Events |
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Oratorical Festival - This Sunday!
To all of our youth participating in the Holy Apostles Oratorical Festival this Sunday, we wish you all the best! May the love of Christ be in your hearts and may you illumine us with your beautiful words, writings, and icons!
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Usher Volunteers Needed
Are you looking for a way to offer your time and talent to the Lord? We need your help serving as an usher during Holy Week. As an usher, you will engage your fellow brothers and sisters, assisting them, and offering the best possible visit to our church while encouraging and maintaining current safety protocols.
For details, please email Val Dranias using button below:
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5th Annual Holy Apostles Feed6 Event
For the fifth consecutive year, Holy Apostles will partner with Feed6 to pack nutritious meals to feed the area hungry. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to provide for the hungry is more significant than ever. This year’s event will occur at Holy Apostles on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Modified operating procedures will be in place, including fewer volunteers per shift and per table, social distancing, the wearing of masks during the event, and sanitization between shifts. Please consider donating to or volunteering for the event. Donations can be made by clicking on the “Donate” button below and locating "Feed6" under "Outreach" or by sending a check to Holy Apostles with “Feed6” in the memo. Be on the lookout for the registration link coming soon.
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Communing with the Saints
Our final "Communing with the Saints" presentation with be this Friday (April 9th), after the 4th Salutations to the Theotokos. Father Dahdal will speak about the life of St. Savas the Sanctified. St. Savas became the spiritual father of many monks, an instructor for the monasteries in Palestine, and an appointed leader (Archimandrite) of the desert-dwellers of Palestine by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. In his old age he went to Constantinople to defend the Orthodox Faith and the dogmas of the Council of Chalcedon. Having lived ninety-four years, he reposed in 533.
To Secure Your Reservation for the 4th Salutations service click below:
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Over the past twenty years, first as an OCMC missionary in Romania and now in Alaska, Floyd Frantz has advanced addiction treatment by adapting and enhancing the well-known Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program with an Orthodox therapeutic perspective.
All donations we receive during Lent will support this ongoing outreach ministry as Floyd Frantz offers the hope of treatment, and our faith, to those who need it the most. May God be glorified through our efforts!
To support this ministry financially, please click below:
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Holy Apostles is excited to announce that our Holy Apostles Resource Center (HARC) is open on Sundays after Divine Liturgy from now until Pascha for all those wishing to purchase much needed Orthodox items. Please note that we will be following the safety guidelines and protocols as directed by the
Metropolis. We so look forward to being able to offer you spiritually edifying material and Orthodox items once more!
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The April edition of the Mosaic is now available! Read two new reflections by Father Nicholas Georgiou on learning to "be still" and "patiently enduring." Father writes to us, "We have now entered into the Holy Lenten season. This is an excellent time to reboot, restart and recalibrate our spiritual digestive system. We have a tendency to run through life in high gear, never pausing to reflect... If we are running all over the place, where does the still, small voice of God fit into our hectic lives?" To read Father's articles and more, please click below:
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Live Lent
“When there is a royal procession, the king’s scepter and banners precede him, he then appears himself, radiant and joyous in his victory, causing his subjects to rejoice with him. So then our Lord Jesus Christ, desiring to show His sure victory over death and His glory on the day of the Resurrection, sends His scepter before Himself, the sign of His kingship, the life-giving Cross, to gladden and refresh us, as it greatly fortifies and enables us to be prepared to receive the King with all possible strength, and to praise Him in His radiant victory.” - Synaxarion for the Veneration of the Holy Cross
Take some time this week and write a few journal entries reflecting on the following topics:
- How far have I come in my spiritual life?
- How far do I still need to go?
- Like the Cross, what things can I carry with me to strengthen my journey?
For more information, or to hear this week's sermons, please visit their website HERE
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We Need your Feedback on how we Worship!
The Metropolis of Chicago is conducting a survey as part of its Strategic Plan to
to understand and clarify how the laity of all ages define meaningful worship and engagement. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and responses can remain anonymous. To participate, you must be located within the Metropolis of Chicago and 18 years or older.
For more information about the intent of the survey, click HERE to read a letter from the Chancellor, Bishop Timothy of Hexamilion.
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Our Thoughts and Mental Health: An Orthodox Perspective (Fr. Maximos Constas)
Father Maximos Constas gives a very thought-provoking and timely lecture on "Our thoughts and Mental Health: An Orthodox Perspective." Father Maximos' asks a deeply profound question, "What prevents us from being at rest?" As we move into the second-half of Lent, Father Maximos' talk offers us a way to dig deeper into an Orthodox life combating the intrusion of thoughts and exactly what our currently lifestyle has to do with our mental health. To hear the entire talk click on the video.
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The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago released its first-ever Annual Impact Report summarizing key actions and developments taken in 2020. The purpose of the report is to provide data and information related to the financial performance, ministry building, and community outreach of the Metropolis on an annual basis.
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St. Paraskevi Church in New York is holding a series of online Lenten lectures that are spiritually edifying. Father John Vlahos has given his blessing for all to attend from any parish. For more information, please visit their website stparaskevi.org
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Ascension will host this year's Chicago Metropolis Philoptochos Lenten Retreat on Saturday, April 10. The theme of this year’s event is “Growing In Christ” with Father's Panayiotis Hasiakos and Father Dimitrios Burikas. For more information click on the flyer above.
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Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church
2501 South Wolf Road
Westchester, IL 60154
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