Newly Installed Icons of St. Panteliemon and Panagia Eliestria

Thanks be to God and Fausto's hard work, our two side altars are complete. Below are two links about the Holy Unmercenary Healer, St. Panteliemon, and the Holy Icon of Panagia Eliestria.  

Saint Panteliemon was selected for this niche for several reasons: We have his Holy Relic, a Physician Saint seemed appropriate since we are less than a mile from Sutter and Kaiser hospitals, and we don’t have a church dedicated to him in our Holy Metropolis. What a blessing it was, and it will be, to celebrate his feast day from this altar on July 27.

Panagia Eliestria was a unique selection but most meaningful to our parish.  The first two icons of our parish, now in the salon to the left in the narthex, were painted in Koroni, Greece, by a family member of our parishioners.  There, in the village of Koroni, we find a Church dedicated to Panagia Eliestria and the miraculous finding of the Holy Icon.  What makes it all the more special is that our woodworker, George, crafted the wooden case for this icon in Koroni; now, he will frame the niche that houses the holy icon here in Roseville.  I’m confident this is the only icon of its kind in the United States, making it all the more remarkable when we celebrate the Feast on January 22.  



Piece Meal, Thursday, Nov 14

Thanksgiving is the most Christian of our country's “secular” holidays.  What could be more Christian than to give thanks to God for our many blessings?  On Thanksgiving itself, our parishioners are often visiting extended family all over the state and country.  Which is why, for years now, we gather to celebrate with our church family some days beforehand.  We call this a “Piece Meal” because everyone brings a “piece” of the meal; you are encouraged to bring peace with you as well!

This year’s Thanksgiving potluck will be on Thursday, November 14, beginning at 6 pm.  We typically have a good turnout, and a wonderful evening of food and fellowship.  To help ensure that we have a good balance of potluck dishes, please sign up for a dish of your choice at the link below.  Or if you prefer, you can notify church office staff of your choice, and they will enter the information online for you.

Sign up here

Thank you for supporting our College Carepackages!

On behalf of our college students, thank you to our Philoptochos for coordinating our College Care Packages. As we share with our students each year, we reach out to them with encouragement and treats to let them know we are thinking of them. In 2021, this Philoptochos ministry was dedicated in loving memory to Victoria Marie Kopp, a U.C. Santa Cruz graduate and recipient of our packages. She reposed in the Lord following a brave battle with brain cancer. In her memory, Victoria’s parents— Richard and Marina—gift prayer books and cross bracelets, and our Philoptochos fill their boxes with other treats. Our shared hope and prayer is that our college students will be inspired to build their relationship with Jesus Christ and The Most Holy Theotokos (Victoria’s patron saint and ultimate Christian role model for us all).

The Katerini Zoe Tea Party (Dec 7, St. Anthony Church, Reno)

The Butler Family is holding their annual Katerini Zoe Birthday Tea Party fundraiser in loving memory of their beloved daughter, who would be celebrating her 7th birthday. The event will be held in Reno at St. Anthony’s GOC on Dec 7th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The family would like to extend the invitation to St. Anna's congregation, whom they hold very dear.

The Katerini Zoe Medical Outreach Program's mission is to advocate for individuals with Down syndrome within the medical setting, provide accredited CME presentations for medical providers, including all caregivers, on evidence-based care for individuals with Down syndrome, with in-person and pre-recorded events, and facilitate the development of a medical center specifically for individuals with Down syndrome and other diagnosed mental and developmental disabilities and delays.

Philoptochos - Our 2024 care packages have shipped!

This is just a quick note to thank all those who worked so hard to make our college care packages fabulous this year! Whether you donated to the package contents--from Fall-themed baked goods to purchased items—or if you donated your time to help assemble them last night or to deliver and ship them today, we are so very grateful.

Our 32 students, seminarians, and deployed military members will undoubtedly feel our Saint Anna love.  May the memory of Victoria Marie Kopp, to whom this ministry is dedicated, be eternal.  

With love in Christ,

Saint Anna
Philoptochos

Holy Relics Received and Installed at the Parish

On the Feast of St. Philip the Deacon, an Apostle of the 70, we were blessed to receive and install several new Holy Relics:

  • The Holy Priest Nicholas Planas of Athens

  • The Holy Hierarch Nectarios of Aegina

  • The Holy Child Martyr Hope

  • The Holy Child Martyr Agape

  • The Holy Priest Marytr Patrikos

  • The Holy Martyr Tatiana of Rome

  • The Holy Martyr Agathangelos of Esphimenos Monastery.  

May these blessed Saints ever intercede on our behalf!  

Hope on the Horizon 5K Fun Walk/Run to support Breast Cancer Research

Horizon Church here in Roseville will host “Hope on the Horizon” to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research.  I’m so thankful to my dear friend who pastors this Anglican Church for organizing this fundraiser.  May our Good Lord grant healing to all those who have cancer, their families who support them, and the doctors, nurses, and researchers who administer the cures.  To register for the walk, please visit: https://rosevillehorizon.churchcenter.com/unproxy/registrations/events/2525902.

A Prayer for the Victims of Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene devastated the lives of countless individuals and took at least 125 lives. We pray that our Good Lord grants strength to first responders, healing to those injured, Grace to all those affected and eternal rest for those whose lives were lost. 

As I invite you to join me in prayer, I also ask you to consider giving through IOCC:

 https://give.iocc.org/campaign/624010/donate

May God’s mercy be sufficient for us all. 

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ our God, who brought great joy into the world with Your Divine birth, and salvation through Your glorious Resurrection; who shed Your precious Blood to wash away the sins of the world and grant us eternal hope and life. 

You who have brought everything out of nothingness into being; who has set sandy barriers to the sea, and weighed the mountains and the valleys in a balance, who has measured the skies and holds the waters in the palm of Your hand, who has given this world its laws, its harmony and its order; who has appointed changes to the weather and variations in the orbit of the sun, who through the mingling of the elements, holds all things together by Your inexpressible love and power; Do You Yourself all-good and gracious Heavenly King, extend unto us Your customary love and goodness and visit the work of your hands who are now suffering in the wake of Hurricane Helene. 

Especially during these most difficult days, do not deprive us of Your mercies and Your compassion, and do not allow Your inheritance to be destroyed, for You have ineffably created us in Your own image, and we are Your servants. 

Almighty God, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, come to our aid and deliver us. Help us all to face and endure this disaster with faith, courage and wisdom. Grant that this trial may bring us all closer to You for You are our rock and our refuge, our comfort and our hope. Forgive, we pray the multitude of our sins in the far greater multitude of your mercies. And as You have washed away the sin of mankind through the Cross and Blood of You Son, we beseech you now renew the people who have been so sorely affected, and restore the lands which have been so grievously disturbed into an unnatural state by Hurricane Helene.

We beg of You merciful God to comfort the grieving, guide the displaced, shelter, feed and clothe the distressed victims of this calamity. Let the wake of destruction that Hurricane Helene has unleashed be stilled, and lead us back unto Your tranquility.

Through the intercessions of the most blessed Lady the Theotokos and the good pleasure and love of Your only-begotten Son with whom You are blessed, together with Your all-holy, good and life giving Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.