THE PHOS - Greek Orthodox Church of St Anna

THE PHOS
Περιοδικό τῆς Ἐνορίας-Κοινότητος
Ἁγίας Ἄννας, Χρυσή Ἀκτή
Newsletter of the Greek Orthodox ParishCommunity of St Anna, Gold Coast
Nov-Dec 2015
31 a Crombie Ave, Bundall PO Box 5074 GCMC Qld 9726 (07) 5574 0777, 5574 0434 admin@gocstanna.org
If you would like to receive the Phos in colour by email send your email address to
admin@gocstanna.org
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
As this will be the last Phos for the year, there are
many people that must be thanked for continuing
their love of St Anna.
We are an extremely blessed Church Community to
have the generosity of so many people, who assist time
and time again for the benefit of our community
One such person is Mrs Betty Vaggelas. At last years
AGM we announced that Betty Vaggelas, founding
benefactor of the community, wished to make a further pledge of $500,000 for a building for the community, on our land in Allied Drive, Arundel. At the
time, the type of structure was not fully evolved. This
year, a number of meetings have been held over many
months to crystallise Betty’s vision and to ensure that
Betty was satisfied with the end result.
Betty has pledged to build Community Living. It will
be named “Betty Vaggelas House, Independent &
Community Living”. Plans are now in council for approval and we are hoping to have them in December or
very early in the New Year. We are all looking forward for construction to begin with the builder appointed by Betty. PANTA AXIA Betty. May you continue your good work for St Anna for many years to
come. We hope to give you updates on the progress
once the building has commenced.
In future years we hope that the community can erect
more of the same type of facilities on the remaining
land at Arundel. This will make the Parish Community of St Anna self-sustaining in the years ahead.
The Committee asked Mr Jim Raptis to attend these
meetings with Betty and wish to thank him for his
drive, energy, advice and willingness to assist and
guide, with this project and many others, for the betterment of the community.
Jim & Helen Raptis, Great Benefactors of our community, very generously paid the wages, for two years, of
our previous Events Manager at a cost to them of
$60,000 per year. Thank you Jim & Helen this could
not have been done without your continued help and
support.
As mentioned before, this community is extremely
blessed with its benefactors, hardworking committees
from the beginning and many volunteers who arrive to
help whenever they know they are needed without
being asked.
The Main Committee and Ladies Auxiliary are working extremely hard to keep cost down and the doors
open. We have heard many times over the last few
years “The Community doesn’t need help or money.
Look at the property they own”. You should all know
that the property was not bought with cash and repayments have to be made, plus we have a continuing
battle to pay yearly expenses for Government charges,
Church, Greek School and Community costs. Previous
committees have worked hard to see these dreams
come to fruition and it is our responsibility as a com-
mittee and community to look after these assets for
future generations. With a change in attitude we could
all unite together and move to the future.
The Community has very good assets for the long term
thanks to the foresight of previous Donors, Presidents
and Committees. Presently all the services provided to
you are barely breaking even. That is why the Committees keep working so that we can keep all services running for you, the Orthodox people of the Gold Coast.
When we have functions throughout the year, as well as
fellowship after Church and National Days, we really
need you to support them. Please help in any way you
can as many of you did for the Greek Festival.
There are people who are not on any committee but
continue to work tirelessly throughout the year with no,
or very little remuneration, to help the Community of
St Anna. The Main Committee would like to thank non
committee volunteers, David Sen, Perry Arathimos,
Peter Zerveas, John Carras, Anthoula Nides, Spiro Levanes, Georgia Georghiou, John Alexiou, George Tsolakidis, Athanasios Raikos, and the many other people
like them, for their support and for being on call whenever needed. May St Anna keep you and your families
safe and well.
The Ladies Auxiliary, under the guidance of President
Thalia, must be thanked for the many hours of work
they continue to give toward the Church and Community. I do not think people realise what hard work it
actually is. They bring food from home for functions at
expense to themselves, then pay for an entry ticket and
buy raffle tickets as well. This is all done very happily
as they wish to see the Community prosper for all. May
they keep in good health and continue with their mission for their Church.
The Senior Citizens of St Anna, under the President
Vasso Kyriakou, is going from strength to strength.
One of their members, Mr Nicholas Kyriakou, turned
100 this month and a party was held for him in our
hall. He is still participating strongly and enjoying his
Tuesdays at the Community. May he continue to enjoy
good health and may all the Senior Citizens continue to
share their Tuesdays together.
We wish to pay tribute to all who assist within the
Community, Psaltes, Greek School Teachers, Sunday
School Teachers, Dancing Teachers and all who assist
Father within the Church.
We thank Father Romanos for his continued support of
all who work for the good of St Anna and her Community and thank him for his guiding hand with the many
welfare needs that arise throughout the year.
May you all continue with your support of St Anna and
her Community in the year ahead.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2016. May you
all keep safe and well and be blessed with good health
in the year ahead.
Coming up
in Nov-Dec:
Dec 6 School Breakup
Dec 13 Carols by Candlelight
Dec 15 Seniors
Christmas luncheon
Jan 10 Theophania
Jan 12 Seniors resume
CHURCH
SERVICES
See Inside
or
go to our website
To see the Phos in colour, visit our website at: www.gocstanna.org
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THE PHOS
LADIES AUXILIARY REPORT
GREEK FESTIVAL – ON REFLECTION
Our 2015 Gold Coast Greek Festival was held on Sunday,
Oct 11, at Evandale, our regular venue.
This year we made a change to how the event is set up.
We need at least 200 volunteers to make sure we can
look after our patrons. We could see that we could not
keep going with the same format. This year we invited
other Greek Communities and Associations to join us by
running their own food stall. The Cypriot Community of
Brisbane kindly attended this year.
Unfortunately our event was not the success of previous
years, neither in number of patrons nor financially.
We consider the date was the biggest barrier to the festival’s success. Normally, our festival is held in July or
soon after. This year we had impediments to every date
we selected which pushed us into October. That weekend
filled with other events and was a busy one, drawing
many of our regulars away.
Still, our patrons enjoyed their day. The highlight was
the attendance of the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, Prime
Minister of Australia. He went around the whole festival,
meeting volunteers and speaking with our patrons. The
Prime Minister and the Mayor of the Gold Coast, Cr Tom
Tate co-opened the festival. The Prime Minister’s presence gave our event enormous branding. Because of the
PM’s attendance we were on the front page of the ‘Neos
Kosmos’ Greek newspaper in Melbourne. We were also
on the evening news on the Sunday night and in ‘The
Bulletin’ the next day.
We are very grateful to all the volunteers who assisted us
with the event.
We would like to recognise sterling efforts of so many but
rather than naming people, here are some of the jobs
that were done by so many of you and other volunteers.
The food had to be cooked and thousands of sweets made,
the posters had to be put up in business windows, the
banners had to be put up in the city, the park had to be
set up including electricity connection, labourers were
hired and their costs were donated, trucks were hired
and costs were donated, dancers had to be trained, costumes repaired, projects made at Greek School for the
Exhibition. Stock had to brought down from our storage
area and all stock counted. The Media Launch had to be
set up in our courtyard and Hospitality Marquee set up.
And all that was prior! On the day, 150 people ensured
the running of the event and we acknowledge the contribution of each and every one of you! We thank you and
hope to see you all generously assist at our next festival.
As mentioned, our event was not a successful one financially. In the days following the festival, we returned
whatever stock we were able and sold as much as we
could. We did not make a financial profit but we do have
equal to that amount in stock, which means we came out
square, just not with cash in hand.
So, dear members that is our festival for this year. We’ll
see what changes will need to be made in two years to
continue our event. Again, thank you.
GREEK WINES, BEERS AND SOFT DRINKS
If you would like to be prepared for Christmas with soft
drinks and wines, consider purchasing from us. We have
beautiful Tsantali wines, Mythos beer and a large range
of soft drink.
FATHER THEMISTOCLES’ VISIT FROM SIERRA
LEONE
Father Themi spent a Sunday with us after Church and
we were very happy to facilitate some fundraising to enable him to continue with his valuable work at his Orthodox mission in Sierra Leone. The Ladies Auxiliary and
other generous ladies within the community brought
sweets and savouries from home for our brunch buffet.
The proceeds of these ticket sales were donated to Father
Themi and other people very generously made their own
private donations. Father Themi showed us a very moving power point presentation which included the footage
of the human toll of the Ebola outbreak. The total donated for the day was $8142; thank you to all who assisted.
OTHER PAST EVENTS
Besides the festival, the Ladies Auxiliary has been busy.
We hosted a morning tea for 250 Police Officers and their
families who held the Police Remembrance Day at our
Church. We very proudly assisted with the Oxi Day
Greek School celebration, admiring our children of the
Greek School. As well, we honoured Father Roman with
morning tea after Church on his Name Day.
INFORMATION FOR WAKES AND MEMORIALS
For information on wakes and memorials, catering and costing, please contact:
Thalia Zakos on 0406 446 987 or Sandra Voukelatos on 0417 757 872
To arrange for Kollyva, contact Katerina Sen on 0431 561 248
must be ordered by the previous Wednesday
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Ladies Report cont.
UPCOMING EVENTS
GROCERY DRIVE – ALL OF NOVEMBER
Every year we ask you if you can donate non-perishable
goods to be made into hampers and distributed to needy
families. This is a fundraiser that has been embraced by
so many of you and brings a little Christmas cheer into
the homes of some financially disadvantaged Gold
Coasters. If you are able to assist, please deliver your
grocery donations to our Community Centre, any time
throughout November.
GREEK SCHOOL BREAKUP – Sunday, 6 December
After the Divine Liturgy on St Nicholas’ Day, we invite
you all to join the children of Greek School as they farewell another productive year. They will be receiving
their Report Cards and will be presenting a Program of
poems and songs that will put us in the Christmas
spirit. This is not just an event for the Greek School but
is for everyone. A light luncheon will be served. We ask
Greek School families to bring a sweet. Please see the
enclosed flyer for details.
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT – Sunday, 13 December
An evening has been set aside for our annual Carols by
Candlelight. The Esperinos service commences at 5pm.
Following, is a fasting sweets and coffee offering. At
7pm, the Carols commence. Carols will be sung in
Greek and English. And, you never know, Santa Claus
may come with treats for the children! If weather permits, the carols will be sung in the courtyard of the
Church. As is customary, it is a fundraiser and the
donations given will be used to help people in our community with welfare needs.
PHOTA – Sunday, 10 January
Bring your families and your house guests to the joyous
annual Blessing of the Waters celebration. Following
the Retrieval of the Cross at Evandale, do join us for a
Greek lamb luncheon. As this is a very sought after
function, bookings must be made to secure your table.
Please see the enclosed flyer for further details.
PHOTA RAFFLE
Tickets for an opportunity to win some fabulous prizes
will soon be coming your way! Please assist by buying or
selling as many tickets as possible. The winning tickets
will be drawn at the Phota celebration,
HIGH TEA
Our High Tea, normally held on the 3rd March 2016.
Further details will be provided in the New Year.
CHRISTMAS WISHES
The Ladies Auxiliary extends warm Christmas wishes
to Father Roman and his family. We wish them joyful
times as they, along with us, celebrate Christ’s birth.
We extend best wishes for you all and for your families
at this Christmas season and for good health for 2016.
SPIRITUAL CORNER
Μελαγχολία, θλίψη, άγχος
Κανείς να µη σάς βλέπει, κανείς να µην καταλαβαίνει τις κινήσεις
της λατρείας σας προς το θείον. Όλ’ αυτά κρυφά, µυστικά, σαν
τους ασκητές. Θυµάστε που σάς έχω πεί για τ’ αηδονάκι; Μές στο
δάσος κελαϊδάει. Στη σιγή. Να πεί πως κάποιος τ’ ακούει, πως
κάποιος το επαινεί; Πόσο ωραίο κελάηδηµα στην ερηµιά! Έχετε
δεί πως φουσκώνει ο λάρυγγάς του; Έτσι γίνεται και µ’ αυτόν που
ερωτεύεται τον Χριστό. Άµα αγαπάει, «φουσκώνει ο λάρυγγας,
παθαίνει, µαλλιάζει η γλώσσα». Πιάνει µια σπηλιά, ένα λαγκάδι
και ζει τον Θεό µυστικά, «στεναγµοίς αλαλήτοις».
Περιφρονήστε τα πάθη, µην ασχολείσθε µε τον διάβολο. Στραφείτε
στον Χριστό.
Η θεία χάρις µας διδάσκει το δικό µας χρέος. Για να την
προσελκύσουµε, θέλει αγάπη, λαχτάρα. Η χάρις του Θεού θέλει
θείο έρωτα. Η αγάπη αρκεί, για να µας φέρει σε κατάλληλη
«φόρµα» για προσευχή. Μόνος Του θα έλθει ο Χριστός και θα
εγκύψει στην ψυχή µας, αρκεί να βρει ορισµένα πραγµατάκια που
να Τον ευχαριστούν· αγαθή προαίρεση, ταπείνωση και αγάπη.
Χωρίς αυτά δεν µπορούµε να πούµε «Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ ελέησόν
µε»
Ο παραµικρός γογγυσµός κατά του πλησίον επηρεάζει την ψυχή
σας και δεν µπορείτε να προσευχηθείτε. Το Πνεύµα το Άγιον, όταν
βρίσκει έτσι την ψυχή, δεν τολµάει να πλησιάσει.
Να ζητάµε να γίνει το θέληµα του Θεού· αυτό είναι το πιο
συµφέρον, το πιο ασφαλές για µας και για όσους προσευχόµαστε.
Ο Χριστός θα µας τα δώσει όλα πλούσια. Όταν υπάρχει έστω και
λίγος εγωισµός, δεν γίνεται τίποτα.
Όταν ο Θεός δεν µας δίδει κάτι που επίµονα ζητάµε, έχει το λόγο
Του. Έχει κι ο Θεός τα «µυστικά» Του. Αν δεν κάνετε υπακοή (σε
ιερέα-πνευµατικό) και δεν έχετε ταπείνωση, η ευχή (δηλ. το Κύριε
Ιησού Χριστέ ελέησόν µε) δεν έρχεται και υπάρχει και φόβος
πλάνης.
Να µην γίνεται η ευχή (το Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ ελέησόν µε)
αγγαρεία. Η πίεση µπορεί να φέρει µία αντίδραση µέσα µας, να
κάνει κακό. Έχουν αρρωστήσει πολλοί µε την ευχή, γιατί την
έκαναν µε πίεση. Και γίνεται, βέβαια, κι όταν το κάνεις αγγαρεία·
αλλά δεν είναι υγιές.
∆εν είναι ανάγκη να συγκεντρωθείτε ιδιαίτερα για να πείτε την
ευχή. ∆εν χρειάζεται καµιά προσπάθεια όταν έχεις θείο έρωτα.
Όπου βρίσκεσθε, σε σκαµνί, σε καρέκλα, σε αυτοκίνητο, παντού,
στον δρόµο, στο σχολείο, στο γραφείο, στη δουλειά µπορείτε να
λέτε την ευχή, το «Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ ελέησόν µε», απαλά, χωρίς
πίεση, χωρίς σφίξιµο.
Σηµασία στην προσευχή έχει όχι η χρονική διάρκεια αλλά η
ένταση. Να προσεύχεσθε έστω και πέντε λεπτά, αλλά δοσµένα στο
Θεό µε αγάπη και λαχτάρα. Μπορεί ένας µία ολόκληρη νύχτα να
προσεύχεται κι αυτή η προσευχή των πέντε λεπτών να είναι
ανώτερη. Μυστήριο είναι αυτό βέβαια, αλλά έτσι είναι.
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THE PHOS
Nov-Dec 2015
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THE PHOS
MOVIE SCREENING—GOLD COAST ARTS CENTRE
Magic Box Entertainment distribute the movie Alex & Eve, a romantic comedy directed by Peter Andrikidis about
love and family in the Greek and Lebanese communities of western Sydney. Alex & Eve is based on the successful
stageplay written and produced by Alex Lykos.
The film was chosen to open the 2015 Greek Film Festival in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra where it
was a huge success. Alex & Eve is now screening in over 30 cinemas in capital cities across Australia.
We are pleased to announce there will be a special screening on Sunday 29th November @ 2.45pm at the Gold Coast
Arts Centre, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise.
Details of the screening are available at this link: http://www.theartscentregc.com.au/whats-on/whats-on-items/alex-and-eve
PHOTO GALLERY
Gold Coast
Greek Festival
2015
OXI DAY
28TH OCTOBER 2015
THE PHOS
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BRIBIE ISLAND CHURCH CAMP
At the start of the September school holidays a church retreat for families was held at the Bribie
Island camp facility. The weekend proved to be a success with around 30 attendees present. The
camp gave the opportunity for kids to enjoy the beach, make prosphoro, enjoy a camp fire and
most importantly to make new friends. A big thankyou to Fr Roman and Fr Ananstasios and
Presbytera Maria for their involvement in organising the scripture talk and church services.
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THE PHOS
Senior Citizens
We meet at our Hall at 10.30 am on
Tuesdays. BYO Food
Θά συναντηθούμε στο χώλ μας 10,30
π.μ. με τα φαγητά μας
The Senior Citizens had their annual visit to the Coolangatta / Tweed
Golf Club on Tuesday 3rd November. They had a wonderful day and as
can be seen in the photos to the right, enjoyed the buffet lunch at Denny’s
restaurant
The Senior Citizens celebrated Nick Kyriakou’s 100th birthday on the
17th November at the community hall. He is our first community member
to reach 100, and we wish him many more years. (Photos will appear in
the next edition of the Phos).
The Christmas breakup will be held at Ashmore Steak & Seafood restaurant on the 15th December.
We thank the Committee and
President for their hard work
throughout the year and our
Senior Citizen members for
attending and joining in all
our activities.
We wish you all a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New
Year.
Memories
Providing Home Care Packages:
•
•
Providing in home services for ACAT approved seniors
Supporting your lifestyle needs and helping you stay
in your home longer.
For Enquiries contact Julie Firth or Kellie Burr on (07) 5574 3920 Mon –
Fri.
GOC Care Day Respite Centre for adults:
°
60 to 65years, with disabilities (chronic pain, vision or hearing loss,
chronic illness etc)
°
over age 65 years who are frail, have chronic conditions or are socially isolated
°
caring for spouses or adult children with disabilities
•
Mondays or Thursdays; morning tea and lunch provided. Based in
community Hall, with regular outings.
•
Older Men’s Group meets alternate Mondays: active,
excursion group. Members meet at community Hall.
For Enquiries contact Joanne or Rebecca: 5574 3920 or 0438 443 666,
Mon and Thurs only.
Father Romanos Stergiou—Parish Priest
Email: father@gocstanna.org
Kollyva
Memorials with Kollyva can not be conducted between the Sat. of Lazarus and
the Sun. of St. Thomas; on the major feast
days of our Lord and the Parish Church
nor on the 15th Aug, the Dormition of
the Virgin Mary.
To arrange for Kollyva, contact contact
Katerina Sen on 0431 561 248
Phone: 07 5574 0777 Mobile: 0414 740 477
Fax: 5574 2287
Office Hours: by appointment please call directly