Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church Middletown, Ohio

06/05/2026

📍Reader's Service - June 7 at 10:00 am - Sunday of All Saints

😇The first Sunday after the Feast of Holy Pentecost is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of All Saints. This day has been designated as a commemoration of all of the Saints, all the Righteous, the Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Shepherds, Teachers, and Holy Monastics, both men and women alike, known and unknown, who have been added to the choirs of the Saints and shall be added, from the time of Adam until the end of the world, who have been perfected in piety and have glorified God by their holy lives. - From Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

05/28/2026

💚The Feast of Holy Pentecost is this Sunday, May 31, and we are blessed to have Fr. Nick Pathenos with us to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am!💚
🌿It is a common tradition to decorate the church with flowers, tree branches and plants. The clergy also wear green liturgical vestments and the altar cloths are green as well. Pictured are recently donated altar cloths given by an anonymous donor.🌿
---The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the fiftieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) and ten days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday.
---On this day the Church commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles when they gathered together on the 50th day after Christ's Resurrection. It also celebrates the establishment of the Church. The Feast is also seen as the culmination of the revelation of the Holy Trinity.---
---"Blessed are You O Christ Our God / You have revealed the fishermen as most wise / by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit / through them You drew the world into Your net / O Lover of Man, Glory to You!" - Holy Pentecost Troparion

05/21/2026

05/21/2026

For the first time in several years, our Parish was able to gather with neighboring Orthodox churches to hold Great Vespers and celebrate our church's Feast Day and the Ascension. We also celebrated 95 years in Middletown.

Thank you to our neighboring clergy Fr. Anthony and Chanter John at Dayton Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and Fr. Jon from Holy Trinity - St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church as well as Chanter Rick Hanson who travelled from Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Fort Wayne, IN!

A special thank you to Fr. Nick Pathenos who travelled down from Detroit to lead the services.

We are grateful to all in our parish who helped make this event possible and to our brothers and sisters who joined us in this celebration.

Many Years! Xronia Polla!

05/19/2026

🔸 Panagia Soumela 🦅⛰️ 🔸

Today, the 19th of May, we commemorate the Pontic Genocide, and by extension, the wonderworking icon of Panagia Soumela (“Panagia of Mt Mela”), which to this day serves as a symbol of Orthodoxy and Hellenism in the region of Pontus. According to tradition, the icon of Panagia Soumela was painted by St Luke the Evangelist. When St Luke reposed, his disciple St Ananias transferred the icon to a church in Athens, after which it received the name “Panagia Athiniotissa”.

In the 4th century, two Athenian monks Sts Barnabas and Sophronios were called by the Virgin Mary to bring the icon to Mt Mela (“Black Mountain”) in Pontus, Asia Minor. Here, in 386, they built the famous monastery of Panagia Soumela to house the icon, which took the same name. The monastery flourished for centuries as a spiritual and educational centre for monks, pilgrims and students. Being on the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire, the monastery was pillaged many times, but was always rebuilt.

When the city of Trapezounta (Trabzon) fell to the Ottomans in 1461, the monks remained at the monastery which became a haven for the Pontic Greeks, helping sustain their language, culture and faith throughout the centuries of Ottoman persecution. During WWI and its aftermath, the Ottoman Empire perpetrated the Pontic Genocide which culminated in the death of over 350,000 Pontic Greeks, as well as mass deportations. This and the 1923 Greece-Turkey population exchange brought an end to the Greek presence in Pontus which dated back to the 7th century BC.

In 1923, the monks abandoned the monastery and buried the icon beneath its grounds to prevent it from being defiled by the Turks. In 1931, the Greek Prime Minister Venizelos received permission from the Turkish Prime Minister to send monks to retrieve the icon. It is today kept at the new church of Panagia Soumela in Mt Vermion in Northern Greece, built in 1951 by Pontian refugees. In 2010, Patriarch Bartholomew was permitted by the Turkish government to perform the Divine Liturgy at the Soumela Monastery for the first time in 88 years. Many pilgrims visit this site for the Great Feast of the Panagia on August 15.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day with the greatest example of love, humility, and sacrifice, the Mother of God and Mother of all Orthodox Christians, our Panagia.

05/09/2026

🔸 May 9 - Saint Christopher 🔸

Today we commemorate the Great-Martyr Saint Christopher of Lycia, the patron saint of travellers. He suffered during the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251). St Christopher was born with the name Reprobus, and lived in Lycia in modern-day Turkey. He was a man of great stature and strength, and fearsome in countenance. According to tradition, Reprobus once came across a hermit in the desert who instructed him in the Christian faith. Reprobus asked the monk how he could best serve Christ, and the hermit suggested that he could become an ascetic and focus on intense fasting and prayer.

Sensing that his calling lay outside monastic life, Reprobus asked the hermit if he could serve Christ another way. The hermit suggested that because of his size and strength, he could help people to cross a dangerous river where many perished in their attempts. Reprobus performed this service for some time. One day, a small Child asked to be taken across the river. While crossing the river, the Child seemed to become extremely heavy, and Reprobus had much difficulty carrying Him across.

Upon reaching the other side, Rebrobus said to the Child, “You have put me in great danger. I do not think the whole world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were.” The Child replied, “You had on your shoulders not only the whole world, but Him who created it. I am Christ your King, whom you are serving by this work.” The Child then vanished. Reprobus was then baptised with the name Christopher meaning “Christ-bearer”, and went into the city of Lycia and rebuked the pagans for persecuting Christians.

By his preaching, he converted thousands to Christianity. He was arrested and brought before the emperor who summoned two harlots, Kalliniki and Akylina, hoping they could entice the martyr to offer sacrifice to the idols. But St Christopher instead catechized the harlots, and both ended their lives as martyrs after they confessed their faith in Christ before the emperor. St Christopher was nailed on a bronze instrument over a flame. Emerging unharmed from this and many other tortures, he finally received his eternal crown by beheading.

05/07/2026

Two upcoming events at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church Middletown, Ohio
Saturday, May 16 at 6pm - Philoptochos Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser
Wednesday, May 20 at 6pm - Feast Day Vespers and 95th Celebration
Don't forget to RSVP!