Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Chattanooga

06/13/2026

Reminder tomorrow’s coffee hour is potluck. Please bring a Lenten dish to share with everyone. Fish and oil are allowed.

05/06/2026

Did you know why the priest says, “Let us lift up our hearts”?

During the Divine Liturgy, just before the most sacred part of the Eucharistic prayer, the priest turns toward the faithful and proclaims: “Let us lift up our hearts.” The people respond: “We lift them up to the Lord.”

Often, the question arises whether the congregation should raise their hands at this moment, since the priest himself lifts his hands. In the Orthodox tradition, however, raising hands is by no means what people are invited to do since this particular phrase clearly indicates the need for lifting the hearts.

This liturgical phrase invites the faithful to make an inner transition from earthly concerns toward the heavenly reality. Thus, the Church invites the faithful to leave behind every distraction, worry, or worldly thought and to focus completely on prayer, because the most sacred part of the Liturgy is about to begin.

The priest raises his hands as part of his liturgical actions, but the invitation is spiritual rather than physical. The proclamation is not “Let us lift up our hands,” but “Let us lift up our hearts.” By facing the people, he asks them to turn inwardly to God.

Then, after his invitation, he says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord.” In other words, this phrase does not mean lowering the head and expressing our gratitude to God towards icons. The priest turns toward the Holy Table again and leads the Church to the Eucharistic offering. Thus, the priest invites the faithful to the Holy Table. Here at the Holy Table, at the Eucharistic offering the faithful will witness how the gifts will be sanctified and transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

When the Church says, “Let us lift up our hearts,” she is inviting people to ascend spiritually. Our hearts rise up to heaven because the Eucharist unites earth with heaven. That is where “the things above” truly are.

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→ Click for your downloadable, shareable, printable DRE 1-pager: www.goarch.org/departments/religioused/didyouknow

DID YOU KNOW? is your go-to source for concise answers to a wide range of queDepartment of Religious Educationaith. DYK? equips Gen Z and millennials with facts they can trust and easily absorb while scrolling. Clergy, religious educators, and parents can share these nuggets of knowledge with the faithful, students, those inquiring about Orthodoxy, and loved ones.

04/14/2026

Did you know why we say “Christ is Risen” during and after Pascha?

We say the Paschal Greeting “Christ is Risen” (Greek: Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη “Christos Anesti”) from Pascha (Easter Sunday) until the day before the Ascension of Christ. This season is called “Paschaltide” or the Paschal (Easter) Season.

During this Paschal season, we continue celebrating the Feast of Feasts, the greatest celebration of joy for Orthodox Christians. The Resurrection of Christ restored fallen humanity, defeated the works of the evil one, and even conquered death itself. Saint John Chrysostom says: “The Feast of Pascha is a pledge of peace, a fountain of reconciliation, the destruction of death, the devil’s ruin.” This is our faith and the reason for our joy: Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

We find this greeting first used in the Gospels themselves. In the Gospel of Matthew, an angel at the tomb told the Myrrh-Bearing Women, “He is not here; for He is risen.” (Matthew 28:6). In the Gospel of Luke, the disciples in Jerusalem told the two who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34).

As disciples of Christ, we preserve this Paschal tradition. At church and in everyday life, the first words we say or write when greeting someone is: Christ is Risen! They respond: Truly He is Risen! (Greek: Ἀληθῶς Ἀνέστη “Alithos Anesti”). In celebrating the Resurrection of Christ, we demonstrate our joy and prepare ourselves for our own resurrection with Christ, when we will reign with Him in the age to come.

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→ Click for your downloadable, shareable, printable DRE 1-pager: www.goarch.org/departments/religioused/didyouknow

→ Have a question you want answered by the DRE Team for Did You Know? DM the Department of Religious Education (DRE) or email: [email protected]

DID YOU KNOW? is your go-to source for concise answers to a wide range of questions about the Greek Orthodox faith. DYK? equips Gen Z and millennials with facts they can trust and easily absorb while scrolling. Clergy, religious educators, and parents can share these nuggets of knowledge with the faithful, students, those inquiring about Orthodoxy, and loved ones.

04/05/2026

If you need us this week, we’ll be at church!

Holy Week is here. Christ is in our midst!

04/05/2026

Catholics and Protestants around the world celebrated Easter today, April 5. Greeks and other Orthodox Christians won't celebrate until next Sunday, April 12. The reason goes back over 400 years to ten days that simply vanished from the calendar.

In October 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a calendar correction so drastic that October 4 was immediately followed by October 15. Ten days were erased overnight. The new Gregorian calendar was designed to fix a growing lag in the older Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar. Catholic and Protestant churches adopted it. Most Orthodox churches did not.

The rule for Easter itself has never changed. Since the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, all Christians have agreed that Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. The problem is that the two calendars place the spring equinox on different dates, so the same rule produces two different results.

The Julian calendar now runs 13 days behind the Gregorian. That gap explains why Orthodox Christmas falls on January 7 rather than December 25 for churches like Russia's, which use the old calendar for everything. Greece is a special case: the Greek Orthodox Church uses the reformed Julian calendar for fixed feasts like Christmas, which is why Greeks celebrate Christmas on December 25 alongside Westerners, but still uses the old calendar for Easter.

The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) established that Easter should not coincide with Passover. However, the Orthodox Church does not have a formal "must follow Passover" rule.

The reason Orthodox Easter often follows Passover is a mathematical byproduct. Because the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar and a different lunar cycle (the Metonic cycle), their "calculated" Passover usually falls later than the actual Jewish holiday, creating the illusion of a dependency.

Last year, 2025, was a rare exception when both Easters landed on the same date. The next time this happens will be 2028.

Because the Julian calendar gains one day of error every 128 years, the gap between the two calendars will eventually become so large that the Julian "spring" starts after the Gregorian "spring" has already passed its first full moon.

03/25/2026

Did you know that March 25 is a day of double joy?

March 25 is a day of double joy, not only for Greeks, but for the entire human race. On this day, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel brings the good news to the Virgin Mary: she has been chosen to bear the Son of God. With her humble and free response, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” human history changes forever. God enters the world as human, and the long journey toward our liberation from sin and death begins.

The Annunciation is an announcement of salvation. It is the moment when union with God becomes personal, real, and human. Christ takes flesh, and humanity is lifted up. This is why the Church celebrates even in the middle of Great Lent. The joy is simply too great to contain.

For Greeks, March 25 also marks Greek Independence Day, commemorating the beginning of the struggle for freedom from centuries of Ottoman rule. This historical liberation powerfully echoes the spiritual meaning of the feast. Just as people longed to be freed from physical slavery, all humanity longs to be freed from the deeper bo***ge of sin, fear, and death.

These two celebrations together proclaim one message: true freedom begins when God meets humanity, and humanity responds with faith. Freedom is both a gift and a calling given by God, embraced by faith, and lived with courage. March 25 is a day of thanksgiving, hope, and joy for the entire world.

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→ Click for your downloadable, shareable, printable DRE 1-pager: www.goarch.org/departments/religioused/didyouknow

→ Have a question you want answered by the DRE Team for Did You Know? DM the Department of Religious Education (DRE) or email: [email protected]

DID YOU KNOW? is your go-to source for concise answers to a wide range of questions about the Greek Orthodox faith. DYK? equips Gen Z and millennials with facts they can trust and easily absorb while scrolling. Clergy, religious educators, and parents can share these nuggets of knowledge with the faithful, students, those inquiring about Orthodoxy, and loved ones.

03/18/2026

Lenten coin boxes to benefit the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) are in the narthex for you to pick up but this year for the first time, the OCMC has created the Virtual Coin Box (VCB). Donations made to the following link will benefit the OCMC directly while being credited to our parish only if your donations go through the following link.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated!

Join us in support of Mission Sunday.We too, like the Apostles, are sent to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people! 

03/10/2026

This Sunday, March 15, is the Sunday of the Holy Cross— the third Sunday of Great Lent.

Religious Educators, this week’s Kids Sunday Series lesson plans are now live for Grades 1–12! Be sure to visit the website to review the upcoming lesson and download everything you need to prepare your students for this meaningful Sunday.

New lessons are available every Tuesday to help you stay prepared and inspired throughout the Lenten season.

→ To access all KIDS SUNDAY SERIES weekly lesson plans, click here: https://www.goarch.org/departments/religioused/sermons/kids

KIDS SUNDAY SERIES is an easy-to-download lesson for religious educators and parents to engage children with the Gospel. It can be used by Sunday Schools, Church Vacation Schools, Youth Camps, and Families to teach the Gospel to the next generation!

Subscribe to the Department of Religious Education (DRE) → www.religioused.goarch.org to receive these and more in your inbox during the week for free.

📸 Department of Religious Education (DRE)

03/04/2026

Thank you to everyone who brought their icons and participated in the procession this past Sunday. 💙

02/28/2026

Don’t forget to bring your icons to church tomorrow!