Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church

09/01/2026

09/01/2026

See you for Vespers tonight at 6:30 p.m.!

09/01/2026

The New Ecclesiastical Year (1 September)
Apolytikion of Beginning of the Indiction
Second Tone
Creator of the universe, setting times and seasons by Your sole authority, bless the cycle of the year of Your grace, O Lord, guarding our rulers and Your nation in peace, at the intercession of the Theotokos, and save us.

Kontakion of Beginning of the Indiction
Fourth Tone
You who created all things in Your infinite wisdom, and set the times by Your own authority, grant Your Christian people victories. Blessing our comings and goings throughout this year, guide our works according to Your divine will.

09/01/2026

Marking the New Ecclesiastical Year, September 1st, is a most significant day for our Church and the entirety of humanity. Our Ecumenical Patriarchate, and especially His All-Holiness Bartholomew, for decades have been emphasizing our relationship with the Earth and all creation, as the God-given environment in which the human family is called to serve as stewards of creation. This contains all that we hold dear on our “Big, Blue Marble” – the land and the seas, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the creatures with whom we share this planet.

We are indeed blessed that we have a “Green” Patriarch who understands the sacred nature of creation, which we celebrate and acknowledge in every icon fashioned for the sanctification of the Faithful. His All-Holiness has been leading the way for a truly Patristic and theological ecology that applies not only across the Christian world in all its diversity, but throughout the interfaith and interspiritual communities as well.

The devastating fires across North America and the recent tragedy in Nepal, where a glacial collapse unleashed a catastrophic cascade of ice, rock, mud, and floodwaters, are stark reminders of the intensifying consequences of climate change, the fragility of our common home, and our sacred responsibility to care for it.

As we commence this New Ecclesiastical Year, may we each pause for a moment to remember the created order with which God has graced our lives, and may we each, in our own way, commit to protecting, enhancing, restoring, and safeguarding the precious gift of the created universe, beginning with our Mother Earth, above whom “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims the work of His hands” (Psalm 18:1 LXX).

Icon: Deisis Christ Pantocrator, c. 1261, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople.

08/27/2026

Phanourios the Great Martyr & Newly Appeared of Rhodes
August 27

Little is known of the holy Martyr Phanurius, except that which is depicted concerning his martyrdom on his holy icon, which was discovered in the year 1500 among the ruins of an ancient church on Rhodes, when the Moslems ruled there. Thus he is called "the Newly Revealed." The faithful pray to Saint Phanurius especially to help them recover things that have been lost, and because he has answered their prayers so often, the custom has arisen of baking a Phaneropita ("Phanurius-Cake") as a thanks-offering.

The Tradition of the Faneropita
When the saint reveals what is lost, bake this cake in his honor, and bring it to the church to be blessed and shared with the community. It is also a tradition for each person to say a prayer for St. Fanourios’ mother when eating their slice of the cake.

RECIPE
Ingredients:

4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup oil
1 cup & 2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup orange juice
grated peel of one lemon
pinch of salt
powdered sugar to dust the top
Directions:

Mix flour and cinnamon in a large bowl.
In another bowl, mix oil, sugar, orange juice, water and lemon peel. Beat well.
Add baking powder, salt, raisins and walnuts to the first bowl. Mix well.
Add dry ingredients to Bowl 2.
Grease and flour a baking pan.
Pour batter into pan.
Bake for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees.
Cool completely.
Dust with powdered sugar.
Tip: Let the cake sit a day before serving, as it will better absorb the flavor.


The Tradition of Agios Fanourios' Mother
There is a tradition that his mother was a sinner, and Agios Fanourios was unable to convert her in her lifetime. After she died, it is said that he prayed more for her salvation than for his own. Even when facing is own death, he prayed:

For the sake of these my sufferings, Lord, help all those who will pray to Thee for the salvation of Fanourios' sinful mother.
So, the following prayer has become a tradition for many Christians:

O Lord, save Fanourios' mother and help me, a sinner.

08/23/2026

In today’s gospel, we hear the story of the rich young man, who comes to Jesus asking, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

Then, Christ tells him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” He has kept the commandments, but when Christ calls him to give up his possessions and follow Him, the man walks away sorrowful because his heart is tied to his wealth. Jesus then teaches His disciples how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but He concludes with hope: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This story reminds us that our spiritual lives flourish when we place Christ above all else, but falter when we cling too tightly to the things of this world. Wealth and possessions are not wrong in themselves, but they can become barriers if they keep us from loving God with our whole heart.