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1 THE SHEPHERD • FEBRUARY 2022 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO FROM THE DESK OF FATHER ANDREW www.theshepherdnews.com The Shepherd Newsletter My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, It is once again time to be familiar with what is called the period of Tri- odion , which begins this year on Sunday, February 13, 2022. Triodion is both a period of time and a liturgical text of the Orthodox Church. It is a period of time, in that Triodion begins four Sundays prior to the commencement of Great and Holy Lent and continues until Great and Holy Saturday evening. e Triodion as a liturgical text of the Church is a book of Lenten hymnology, biblical readings and prayers. Its basic structure of hymns, readings and prayers is for the ser- vices of Vespers (evening services), Orthros (morning services), and the Divine Liturgy. It also contains hymns for both Great and Small Compline, and for the Hours of prayer. e Triodion as a text is a book of biblical hymnology, readings and prayers, which not only relates to us the truths of the New Tes- tament, but of the Old Testament as well. It is, in a sense, as someone has said a return to our biblical roots , which, for the most part, is put to music. e hymns within the text of the Triodion not only concentrate on the Sunday Gospel lessons, like the Publican and the Pharisee and the Prodigal Son and so on. ey also focus upon the historical books of the Old Testament like Genesis and Exodus. e Tri- odion also makes good use of the Propheti- cal books of Isaiah and Ezekiel, and the Wis- dom books of Proverbs and Job. e Triodion, as a period of time, takes place from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (Sunday, February 13th), until Great and Holy Saturday evening (April 23rd). e period of Triodion can further be divided into three (Tri) other periods (odes) of time: e rst ode is from the Sunday of the Pub- lican and the Pharisee until the beginning of Great and Holy Lent proper (Monday, March 7, 2022). is is a three-week time of prepa- ration before entering the Great Fast. e second ode is marked from Clean Monday (Monday, March 7th) until the Saturday of Lazarus (Saturday, April 16th) and includes an intense period of fasting, prayer, re ec- tion, good works and attending the many and varied divine services of the Church. e third ode begins on the evening of Palm Sun- day until Pascha (Sunday, April 17th – Sun- day, April 24, 2022) and is known as Great and Holy Week. My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Triodion is both a beautiful text and a period of time used to assist Orthodox Christians in their continued spiritual growth and discipline. As the Triodion begins it eases the faithful into a period of preparation, which starts out rather simple and as we advance in our jour- ney, the path becomes more di cult, only to end with the joy of the Resurrection. e period of the Triodion helps the Orthodox faithful better understand biblical truths as they prepare to meet the Risen Lord. ere- fore, as Orthodox Christians we must make an earnest attempt to be present at the many and varied Lenten services throughout the period of Triodion or that period of time will remain empty; but maybe even more impor- tantly, we must make an earnest attempt to make the words of the Triodion our own or the Triodion will remain a beautiful litur- gical text unable to bear fruit. e text and period of Triodion is about change, about transforming our lives in order to grow in our relationship with the Living God. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continue to illumine and guide you during Triodion, and always. +A IN THIS ISSUE FR. ANDREW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 1 PRESIDENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL, STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE, WOMEN OF THE WORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 CHOIR, BIRTHS, DEATHS, MEMORIALS, HOLY SACRAMENTS, DIVINE SERVICES, BOOKSTORE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 3 GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL, A.H.E.P.A., SENIORS, PAPANICOLAOU . . . . . . . . . p. 4 GOYA NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 5 PARISH CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 6 PHILOPTOCHOS, CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . p. 7 CONTACT INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . p. 8 The Shepherd The official newsletter publication for the parish of Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of San Diego I S S U E 3 0 9 • F E B R UA R Y 2 0 2 2 A very, very Happy Birthday to Manny & Marina Pegas, Elaine Arapostathis, and extra special wishes to our Fr. Andrew! May God grant you all many years! Love, Your Choir Congratulati ns To our 2022 Leon Balaban Award recipients Spiro & N ncy Ch conas!

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