St. Katherine Orthodox Bookstore

07/01/2024

Sunday of All Saints

The Holy Church commemorates saints every day. However, because there have been God-pleasers who struggled in obscurity and were not revealed to the Holy Church, the Church has established a day on which we glorify all those who have pleased God throughout the ages, so that not one might be left unglorified by the Church. The Church established that this be done immediately after the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, since it is by the grace of the Holy Spirit that all the saints have been made and continue to be made. The grace of the Holy Spirit brings repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It leads one into battle against the passions and lusts, and crowns this labor with purity and passionlessness. And thus a new creature appears, fit for a new heaven and a new earth. Let us be zealous to follow the saints of God. Today’s Gospel reading teaches us how to do this: it demands fearless confession of faith in the Lord and preferential Love for Him, the raising of the cross of self-denial, and heartfelt renunciation of everything. Let us place a beginning according to these instructions.

☦️ St. Theophan the Recluse

07/01/2024

You have taken to yourself, O Lord, the pinnacles of Your Disciples, those unerring theologians and preachers, to enjoy Your blessings and repose. For You accepted their labors and their death as being higher than any whole-burnt offering, for only You know what is in the heart.

Let us in faith now join the Lord’s disciples on the mountain in Galilee, and we shall see Christ saying He was given all authority, both on high and below. We shall hear Him teach how to baptize nations all, in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and say He always is with believers to the close of the age, as He promised.

Peter, the paramount base of the Apostles, you left everything behind and followed after Christ, the holy Teacher, and said to Him, “With You, O Master, I too shall die, so to live the blessed life.” Therefore we all call you blest; for you were shown to be the pride and joy of that greatest and Eternal City, and the unshaken foundation of the Church, The gates of Hell indeed have not prevailed against the Church, as the Lord Christ had prophesied. Now entreat Him in earnest to illumine us and save our souls.

Paul, before you were born, you had been chosen. And fleeing the burden of all things material, indeed you flew up to godly heights of true divine love, winged as you were on the love of God for you. Entering the darkness of surpassing divine light, as if you were incorporeal, you were enriched with initiation in words ineffable. And to the blind and darkened you were sent to proclaim that Christ God is the light of the world. Now entreat Him in earnest to illumine us and save our souls.

You are the light that exists before all ages. When in the fullness of time becoming flesh You came to me the human in Your sublime and divine goodness and Your benevolence towards humanity, then You chose Apostles and Disciples and You showed them forth to be second lights of Your eternal brilliance, and made them flash forth like lightning, holy Lord. Savior, You sent them to the whole wide world, which they brightly illumined with light divine. Now they earnestly pray You to illumine us and save our souls.

06/25/2024

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, present in all places and filling all things, treasury of good things and giver of life: come; take Your abode in us; cleanse us of every stain, and save our souls, O Good one. Amen.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3)

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, forgive our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Your name’s sake.

Εἰς το ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρός καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ἀμήν.

Βασιλεῦ οὐράνιε, Παράκλητε, τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁ πανταχοῦ παρὼν καὶ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν, ὁ θησαυρὸς τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ ζωῆς χορηγός, ἐλθὲ καὶ σκήνωσον ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ καθάρισον ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης κηλῖδος, καὶ σῶσον, Ἀγαθέ, τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν. Ἀμήν.

Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. (ἐκ γʹ)

Δόξα Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι. Καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεί, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Παναγία Τριάς, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. Κύριε, ἱλάσθητι ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν. Δέσποτα, συγχώρησον τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῖν. Ἅγιε, ἐπίσκεψαι καὶ ἴασαι τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν, ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου.

06/25/2024

“…the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things” - John 14:26

My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit. Holy Trinity, glory to You.

Ἡ ἐλπίς μου ὁ Πατήρ, καταφυγή μου ὁ Υἱός, σκέπη μου τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, Τριὰς ἁγία, δόξα σοι.

“…And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets…”

«....Καὶ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τὸ κύριον καὶ ζωοποιόν, τὸ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον, τὸ σὺν πατρὶ καὶ υἱῷ συμπροσκυνούμενον καὶ συνδοξαζόμενον, τὸ λαλῆσαν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν....»

06/25/2024

06/24/2024

“Do not leave Jerusalem until you have been clothed with the power to come from heaven,” You commanded Your Disciples, O Christ. “For I will send another Comforter like me. This will be the Spirit of my Father and of me. In Him your faith will be confirmed.”

That which for the fear of You was conceived, O Lord, in the belly of the prophets, and was brought forth on the earth, the Spirit of salvation, now in the Apostles is creating clean hearts, and in the believers is renewed upright. For, as it is written, Your commandments are light and peace.

Experience the fire-breathing dew of the Spirit, Forgiving and purging your sins and offenses, All you children of the Church who are illumined. The grace of the Holy Spirit, as tongues of fire, Has gone forth today as a new law from Zion.

Let us glorify the tri-luminous Essence As being wise, indivisible, equipotent, The Godhead, from which we have received the divine breath Of dazzling grace that flows therefrom and that has made us Resplendent through a mystical transformation.

Light is the Father, light the Logos; light is the Holy Spirit, which was sent to the Apostles in the form of fiery tongues, and through which the entire world is guided by the light to worship the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Spirit forever was, and is and will be, never beginning, never ending, but forever ranked and numbered with the Father and the Son. He is life and life-giving, light and giver of light; goodness itself and the source of goodness; through whom the Father is known and the Son is glorified, and by all is known the one power, one order, one worship of the Holy Trinity.

Apolytikion
Blessed are You, O Christ our God. You sent down the Holy Spirit into the fishermen, and You gave them knowledge and wisdom in everything; and through them, as in a net You caught the whole world. O Lord who loves humanity, glory to You!

Ἀπολυτίκιον
Εὐλογητὸς εἶ, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ πανσόφους τοὺς ἁλιεῖς ἀναδείξας, καταπέμψας αὐτοῖς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ διʼ αὐτῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην σαγηνεύσας, Φιλάνθρωπε, δόξα σοι.

06/24/2024

Holy Pentecost

On this day, the eighth Sunday from Pascha, we celebrate holy Pentecost.

Let us celebrate with joy this final post-festal feast, O believers; for it is the feast of Pentecost today, and the fulfillment of the promise and the appointed time. For on this day the fire of the Paraclete descended to the earth immediately, as in the form of tongues, and illumined the Disciples and made them initiates of heaven. The holy light of the Holy Spirit has appeared and illumined the world.

When the well-spring of the grace of the divine Spirit came down to those upon the earth and into fire-bearing streams parted noetically, it refreshed the Apostles and led them to the light. The fire became for them a dewy cloud and rainy flame illumining them. And we in turn through them received divine grace by means of fire and water. The holy light of the Holy Spirit has appeared and illumined the world.

After Your rising from the sepulcher, O Savior, and Your divine Ascension to the heights of heaven, You sent down on Your Disciples Your glory, O Good One, renewing an upright Spirit in them, O Christ. And therefore those men who saw God proclaimed to all Your sayings and Your economy, as if melodious guitars that mystically are played with the pick of the Spirit, O merciful Lord.

Oikos
Speedy and constant consolation give us, Your servants, O Jesus, when our spirits become despondent. Do not part from our souls when we are in trouble, nor be far from our minds when we are in peril. But draw near to us, draw near, O You who are everywhere. And as You are always with Your Apostles, so also unite yourself to us who long for You the Compassionate; so that united to You we may extol and glorify Your all-holy Spirit.

By the intercessions of the holy Apostles, O Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

06/23/2024

Our most godly Fathers ordered that on this day we remember all those who have ever reposed with correct faith and with the hope of the resurrection of life eternal.

Apolytikion
O only Creator who with benevolence arrange all things with depth of wisdom, and impart to all what is beneficial, O Lord, grant repose to the souls of Your servants. For they have placed their hope in You our Creator and Fashioner and God.

Savior, we entreat You for every person who has died in whichever way and passed on from this life in hopes of everlasting life, O Master, people of every race and station, of every age and stature, both men and women, youths and children, and even newborn infants. In Your gracious benevolence, place them in the bosom of Abraham, in a place of rest, because of Your great mercy.

You are our God, who in wisdom creates and fills all things. O Christ, You sent Prophets to prophesy Your coming, and Apostles to proclaim Your mighty works. The former prophesied Your coming, and the latter illumined the nations through baptism. Martyrs suffered and attained what they longed for; and all these, together with Your Mother, intercede with You. O God, grant rest to the souls that You have taken to yourself, and also count us worthy of Your kingdom. You are the one who endured the Cross for me who am condemned, O my Redeemer and God.

Willingly You underwent life-giving death, as our Savior, and became the well of life, and to the believers gave eternal delight, all by Your most divine tender-love, O Master, only sinless and compassionate. We now entreat You for those who have reposed in the faith and hope of resurrection, to forgive all their sins and place them in Your delight; thus in every manner Your name might be extolled by all, O Christ, and being saved we might glorify Your plan, O benevolent God.

O Master Christ, assign the souls of those who have already reposed to the dwellings of the Righteous, and have mercy on us, as the only Immortal One. Amen.

06/19/2024

The Lord is powerful enough to always console us. But continuous consolation will harm us —just as if the sun were to always shine and rain to always pour down, then everything would burn up or be trampled down. It is good that they take turns.

☦️ St. Anatoly of Optina

06/17/2024

For 60 years, St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church's South Bay Greek Festival has shared the vibrant culture, rich food and traditions of Greece with our local community. Come and join us July 12-14 for this family-friendly festival experience - OPA! 🇬🇷