September/October Vision

ORTHODOX VISION

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Bridgeport CT

Father Georgios Livaditis, Presbyter

September/ October 2023

Upcoming Liturgies

Orthos: 8:30 am - Liturgy 9:30 am

September Liturgies

Sunday September 3 13th Sunday of Matthew

Friday September 8 Nativity of the Theotokos

Sunday September 10 Sunday before Holy Cross

Thursday September 14 Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Sunday September 17 Sunday after Holy Cross

Sunday September 24 1st Sunday of Luke

Friends, we need fresh Basil for September 14th.

Events:

Sunday September 10 Sunday School starts.

Monday September 11 Greek School starts.

Sunday September 17 GYRO DAY After Church Services

Memorials:

Sunday September 3 Christopher Pappas 40 days

Sunday September 24 Katherine Louloudis 5 years

October Liturgies

Sunday October 1 2nd Sunday of Luke

Sunday October 8 3rd Sunday of Luke

Sunday October 15 Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council

Sunday October 22 6th Sunday of Luke

Thursday October 26 St. Demetrios The Great Martyr

Sunday October 29 7th Sunday of Luke

Events:

Sunday October 29 Greek School Celebration for the “OXI DAY”

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Church Contact Information:

Email: email@holytrinitybridgeport.org

On the web: www.holytrinitybridgeport.org

On Facebook: www.facebook/holytrinitybridgeport

If you would like to receive notifications from our church via email please email us at holytrinity4070@gmail.com

A MESSAGE FROM FATHER GEORGIOS

FatherGeorgios@holytrinitybridgeport.org

My brothers and sisters in Christ, Peace be with you!

As we enter into another ecclesiastical year and as we see the destruction of the tornadoes, when they hit landfall bringing mass flooding, I want you to think of the Ark. Compare the church to Noah's ark. As those who entered the ark were saved from destruction, so those who enter the Church today are saved from the universal destruction of sin and death. But the work of the Church is higher and more positive than that of Noah's ark. Because under Noah's direction, the ark took in brute animals and brute animals it released. But the Church, wrote St. John Chrysostom, under the leadership of Christ, takes sinners and turns them into saints. The cock entered the ark a cock, and a cock he departed. The wolf entered the ark a wolf, and a wolf he departed. But when someone enters the ark of the Church, he enters a cock and departs a dove. He enters a wolf and departs a lamb. He enters a caterpillar and departs a butterfly.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter into another school year we encourage our children to stay focused and to work hard. We give them valuable advice and everything they need to succeed. We try to be good role models and set examples for them. We bring them to church to learn about Christ and His church. It’s our responsibility as parents to guide our children to good things which instills a peaceful spirit and love for His church. Come to church to renew your spirit, body and mind! Bring your children and don’t give them options on missing church they will thank you later and you will be glad and happy!

September brings new beginnings and the start of school and church activities. I look forward to seeing you all.

In His service,

+Fr. Georgios Livaditis

PARISH COUNCIL

John Tsilfides - President

Hello my fellow parishioners, I hope you all are having a wonderful summer and this message finds you all well. Now with the new ecclesiastical year starting, we have to all prepare to be more present and fulfilling the needs of our community with in our church. Our church offers so much with in its ministries and services. Please make every effort to reach out and get involved so that we can grow together as a community.

We had another successful festival this year considering the weather wasn’t the best and we had no rides. We worked out our issues and accomplished what we needed. I encourage everyone to help out and try to be involved in some way. The more we are around the church and help each other out, the more we start to realize the importance of togetherness with in community.

As you all can see we are making improvements to our Aegean room. We are hoping to complete phase one of the project very soon. I encourage all of you to help out with donations so that we can complete the room. We will enjoy the new hall when completed and hopefully start to generate income to help out with running the facilities. We will be having a 110th year anniversary luncheon with the blessing of our Archbishop Elpidophoros in our newly renovated hall. Please make every effort to attend this wonderful day in our church.

We hope to continue to make even more improvements within our church and buildings. Although we love all the things everyone has done through the years to keep our church in good standing, we need to continue to update our church to ensure the stability needed to carry on to our future generations. We need to come together as a community so that we can accomplish all this things with in our church. So I ask of you to make efforts to attend our General Assembly meetings so that we may get the voice of the people in a formal platform and not in the halls or parking lot of our church.

In the Bible, God encourages us to take care of our brothers and sisters – whether friends or enemies! We must remember the importance of maintaining the connection with each other and focusing on building a community of love in word and actions. God bless us all and may we find our peace and happiness together.

John Tsilfides Parish Council President

Greek School

Eleni Limberis - Director

Holy Trinity Greek Afternoon School Bridgeport, Connecticut begins MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 -- @ 4:30 PM.

We would like to welcome all the students, parents, teachers back and also the new families and children to our Family Parish, and to wish to all a healthy, safe and productive school year. Our goal and mission is to provide a safe, family, church environment and to teach the children the faith, language, culture, songs, hymns, history, so they can be proud Greek Americans citizens. Let’s all work together for our children. Again, we wish all of you, health, and prosperous school year. Thank you. Our School is growing and growing….

/τριες, γονείς, δασκάλες και τους νεοφερμένουςν ενορίτες, μαθητές στο σχολείο μας και να ευχηθούμε σε όλους υγεία και καλή και προοδευτική σχολική χρονιά.

Σκοπός του σχολείου μας είναι να δώσωμε στα παιδιά μας ελληνοχριστιανική αγωγή, μόρφωση, γλώσσα, θρησκεία, πολιτισμό, κουλτούρα, τραγούδια και γενικά ότι σχετίζεται με την Ελληνορθόδοξη χριστιανική πίστη, καταγωγή και πολιτισμό. Συνεργασία! Κοινότητα, Εκκλησία, σπίτι, γονείς, δασκάλοι και μαθητές. ΟΛΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΑ ΠΑΙΔΙΑ ΜΑΣ! ΚΑΛΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΥΓΕΙΑ!

Ευχόμαστε σε όλους καλή Σχολική Χρονιά! Αρχίσαμε το Ελληνικό

Φέτος αρχίζουμε τάξη ελληνικών

Σάββατο (αρχίζοντας στις 16 Σεπτεμβρίου) από 9 έως 11 π.μ. Καλή αρχή!

Καλωσορίζουμε στο σχολείο μας όλους τους μαθητές, γονείς, δασκάλους και ειδικά τους νεοφερμένους ενορίτες, μαθητές και δασκάλους Ευχόμαστε σε όλους υγεία και καλή πρόοδο.

Την 28η Οκτωβρίου θα την  γιορτάσουμε την Κυριακή 29 Οκτωβρίου, αμέσως μετά την Θεία Λειτουργία και  θα δώσουμε τα  ελληνικά λεξικά στο επίπεδο Γ μαθητές και επίσης θα

τιμήσουμε τους μαθητές που έλαβαν μέρος στον διαγωνισμό για τα Ελληνικά το περασμένο Ιούνιο

Σκοπός του σχολείου μας είναι να δώσωμε στα παιδιά μας πρώτα: ελληνοχριστιανική αγωγή, χαρακτήρα, τρόπους, μόρφωση, γλώσσα, θρησκεία, χορό, τραγούδι και ότι δήποτε σχετίζεται με την Ελληνορθόδοξη χριστιανική μας πίστη, καταγωγή και πολιτισμό.

Αρχίζουμε ελληνικό χορό απο αρχές Οκτωβρίου – (Κάθε Δευτέρα).

Συνεργασία λοιπόν -- μαζί Κοινότητα, Εκκλησία, σπίτι, γονείς, δάσκαλοι και μαθητές

Ευχόμαστε σε όλους Καλή και προοδευτική

Our Greek School began this year, on Monday September 11. We had the agiasmo with Father Georgios for a blessed and healthy School Year.

This year we are starting a new class for children 3- and 4-year-old, every Saturday, (beginning September 16) from 9 to 11 am.

We would like to welcome back all the students, parents, teachers and the new families, students, and teachers.

We will celebrate the “OXI DAY” on Sunday October 29, after Church Services, and we will distribute the Greek Dictionaries (Lexika) to our C Level Students, and also we will honor the students of Regents recipients, Nicholas Dillulio, Kalliope Katsiotis and Eleni Roussas.

Our goal is to teach the children the faith, language, good manners, dances, songs, culture, and history so they can be proud Greek Americans citizens.

We are starting in October Greek Dancing every Monday. Let’s all work together for our children. Again, we wish you a healthy and prosperous school year to all. Thank you.

Thank you very much! Ευχαριστούμε πολύ! Ka Eleni and teachers.

Philoptochos

Maria Cook- President

Hello everybody, and happy Fall. I hope you all had a wonderful summer! Allow me to introduce myself for those who don’t know me. I have been a member of Holy Trinity community for over 35 years. During that time, I have served as Greek and Sunday school teacher, Greek school dance instructor, member of the Trinity Dancers, adult dancing group, President of PTO, and VP of Philoptohos. It is my honor to serve as the new Philoptohos president of the Bridgeport chapter and looking forward to work with all of you in some capacity or another. In the coming months we will present projects and goals that our chapter will participate in, which in turn will help fulfill our commitments to the National Philoptohos, Archdiocese and Holy Trinity. One of my goals is to work so we can be able to give mortowards the needy. After all, that is what PHILOPTOHOS means, FRIEND OF THE POOR. I count on your help and support in achieving this goal.

On April 30, the oath of office was taken and on May 3rd the Executive Board was elected. The members are:

Maria Cook, President

Joni Petas, Vice President

Kathy Santela, Treasurer

Kalliopi Tsitsipas, Asst Treasurer

Stacie Kapetaneas, Recording Secretary

Lena Protopapas, Corresponding Secretary

Sylvia Ball, Advisor

I would like to thank Sylvia Ball, as departing Philoptohos President for her help, support, and hard work for the last four years. On behalf of all the Board members, Sylvia, thank you for all your work and dedication to our Philoptohos chapter.

Although the summer has been quiet, the Philoptohos work continued. Koliva and coffee set up for memorials, Sunday coffee hour refreshments, Panagia’s parish lunch, and a few baked good sales, kept us going thru the summer months. During the end of the summer, our washer/dryer unit broke. I would like to thank John Tsilfidis and Chris Papachristos for taking action and quickly purchasing a new unit. Philoptohos contributed 50% of the cost in the amount of $2,035.00. Καλοριζικο!!

Looking forward to seeing and working with all of you in the coming months.

Maria Cook President

Shalene Venetis - President

Hello Everyone,

Hope you all had a wonderful Summer, full of blessings and joy with your families! We really enjoyed the End of Summer BBQ! Thank you to everyone who attended and to those who helped make it happen!

The new school year is upon us! Both Greek School and Sunday School will begin in September, we can't wait to see all your beautiful children!

We have many special events planned this year for our children and parents! These special events will be even better with all your help. The more, the merrier!

It's a new year so if you would like to be part of the PTO and help our parish grow, please consider making the $30 family membership donation and being part of a great group that directly helps the future of our parish!

Volunteering for events or to be part of the board does not require a lot of time. If there is enough of us, a little help will go a long way!

Look for a PTO member every Sunday in September beginning September 10th as well as during Greek School drop off!

Planning our first official meeting for early October! Details to come!

Shalene Venetis

GOYA

Evangelos Gountas - President

Welcome Back!

Where has the summer gone? Another year is upon us and we are all busy ge;ng ready for a new school year. We encourage all kids ages 12-18 to join us this year as we have many events planned.

We will begin registraDons on September 10th aGer church. The cost of membership is $25.00.

Our First Goya meeDng will be held on September 24th following church services in the double classroom.

We have exciDng events planned for the year, so come and check us out! I look forward to an exciDng year.

Evangelos Gountas President

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.

CORETTA SCOTT KING

Athletics

Jimmy Hasiotis - Athletic Director

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great summer! I would like to invite you all back as we welcome in our athletic season, which is set to begin with practices on Thursday, October 12th.

Our Youth team comes into the season looking to defend their championship from last season. They have been undefeated for 3 straight seasons!

If any child is interested in participating, please attend one of the practices listed below according to your child’s age. All practices are held on Thursdays in our gym. You must be enrolled in Sunday school in order to participate in the Athletic program, whether at our parish or elsewhere.

Farm Team (ages 5–7) 5:30-6:15 PM- we are currently looking for someone to help coach our Farm Team. If we do not have 6 or more players, we will not be able to have a Farm Team this year.

Youth (ages 7-10) 6:30-7:30 PM Coach Leo Koutikas

JV (ages 10-13) 7:30-8:30 PM Coach Leo Koutikas/Coach Taki Angelopoulos

Varsity (ages13-18) 7:30-8:30 PM At this point, it looks like we will have enough interest this year to have a Varsity team.

Our Bi-Annual Hall of Fame Gala 2023 is taking place Saturday, November 4th at 6 p.m. This is a great evening where we honor individuals who have left a lasting impression on our athletics program through the years. $60 per ticket (HTHOF2015@gmail.com) which includes cocktail hour, open bar, and dinner. We will have raffle items for signed sports memorabilia. Please join us and help support athletics as this will be our only fundraiser until 2025!

Our season is tentatively slated to begin the first weekend of December.

We look forward to seeing your children on the court! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!

Thank you,

Jimmy Hasiotis Athletic Director

(203)257-6535

dhasiotis@hotmail.com

Daughters of Penelope

Theodora Fatibene - President

Hello from the Daughters of Penelope,

Hope everyone has had a happy, relaxing summer as you continue to enjoy the last of your summer days. Fall, however, is around the corner and that means back to gathering to fulfill our job of helping those in need.

Daughters of Penelope, for those of you new to our parish, is a national organization with chapters throughout the US and world whose mission is:

…to promote Hellenism, Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, Family and Individual Excellence…

~ During our last year’s season we put together several drives such as food, sock, and pet food collections. We packaged over two hundred individual bags with prepackaged food items to be distributed to the needy in our city.

~ Our knitting group helped distribute hats that they created, as well as beautiful baby blankets handed out to babies receiving their 40 day blessing.

~ Our drive continued into July as we collected individually wrapped food items. With the assistance of St. George in Norwalk’s “Feed the Hungry” ministry, they were passed out to people in Bridgeport.

~ Easter and Christmas we came together to create beautiful food baskets for our own community members in need.

~ We hold 2 fundraisers a year: Christmas and Mother’s Day. This enables us to raise funds to support our projects, one of which is a scholarship given out to a noteworthy student in our community entering college.

I’m sure you’ve seen our DOP Collection box at the back of the church! It’ll be back soon! Every donation counts; something is better than nothing!

Finally, all of the above could not have been made possible without donations from our community, but, most importantly, from our own DOP members! We are a fantastic group of women who enjoy coming together to plan and laugh!!

Please think about joining our group. We meet on the third Wednesday of the month. Hopefully we’ll see you. Be well and enjoy the upcoming months.

In theta pi,

Theodora Fatibene President

Father Georgios Livaditis, Presbyter Parish Council

John Tsilfides (203) 371-7261

Faye Demestihas (917) 217-8530

George Kolitsas (203) 400-0959.

Chris Papachristos (203) 400-0738

Lee Tsouris (203) 331-3185

AHEPA John Bochanis (203) 254-7595

Chris Danas (860) 916-3777

John Frantzis (203) 246-5396

Roseann Lambros (203) 675-3100

Harry Sandalidis (203) 414-0458

Arthur Venetis (203) 982-6884

Athletic Director Demetrios Hasiotis (203) 257-6535

Cantor George Bakes (203) 374-8561

Choir Joanna Bogardus (203) 650-4204

Cultural Association Van Hatzis (203) 268-7231

Council Of Churches Stacie Kapataneas (203) 926-1751

Daughters of Penelope Theodora Fatibene (203) 260-5135

Emails Maria Gountas (203) 650-3246

ESF Scholarship Rebecca Hasiotis (203) 258-1826

GOYA Evangelos Gountas (203) 382-3377

Greek School Eleni Limberis (203) 331-7590

Maintenance Committee Gus Hatzis (203) 260-5359

Philoptochos Sylvia Bal (203) 814-2131

PTO Shalene Venetis (203) 982-6884

Senior Citizens Van Hatzis (203) 268-7231

Sunday School Alexandra McGoldrick (203) 520-9865

Kathy Bothos (203) 808-6100

Vision Faye Demestihas (917) 217-8530