Fellow Citizens and Friends of Florence and the Pee Dee,

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 135

 For more than fifty years you, the generous citizens of our city, have continuously expressed your support and love for our Greek Orthodox Church Community. For more than fifty years you, our neighbors and friends, have turned to our ladies and their delicious delicacies to satisfy your sweet tooth. For more than thirty years you have come to visit our Church “in the thousands” to enjoy our Greek Heritage, Culture and Ancient Greek Orthodox Christian Faith during our annual Greek Festival. Many of you, each and every year, look forward to “becoming Greek” for a few days, some even testing your dancing skills to our music. We are humbled by your love and grateful for your support these many years.

 

Please accept our sincere gratitude and appreciation. There would be no Greek Festival without YOU! We are thankful to Almighty God for the support and honor you continue to bestow upon our Church and the Greek Orthodox Community of Florence, and we pray that God will bless you, your families, your businesses, and our city!

 

We’ll see you next year!

OPA…and God bless!

 

Rev. Fr. Athanasios C Haros, Pastor

Mr. George T Kampiziones, Parish Council President

Missionaries to Attend Annual Greek Festival in Florence, May 16-18, 2013

For Immediate Release:

 

Contact:

Rev. Athanasios C Haros, Pastor

Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church of Florence

Office: 843-662-5471 Cell: 843-496-4533

FrAthanasiosHaros@mail.goarch.org

www.GoFlorence.org

 

Missionaries to Attend Annual Greek Festival in Florence, May 16-18, 2013

 

(Florence, SC., May 15, 2013) – The 31^st Annual Greek Festival will feature a “new attraction” this year with the arrival of Blake and Pamela DiLullo, of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), located in St Augustine, FL.  Blake DiLullo is a Purepecha Indian from Michoacán, Mexico who, at an early age, immigrated to the United States with his mother and six brothers and sisters. He discovered Greek Orthodox Christianity later in life in 2003 and will soon begin an extended mission in Alaska.

 

In Alaska, the DiLullo family will serve as a living witness to the faithful, where Blake will utilize his more than twenty years of experience in construction to help many of the remote communities renovate and rebuild their churches while gaining further knowledge of arctic construction techniques. God willing, he will also acquire skills in addictions counseling through the St. Dimitrie Program, developed by OCMC missionary to Romania, Floyd Frantz, and offered at St. Herman’s Seminary on Kodiak Island. Pamela will continue to home school their children while assisting the staff of St. Herman’s Seminary in developing and implementing Orthodox educational curricula for the youth of Alaska. Both will assist with other projects, as determined by the Hierarch in the Diocese of Alaska.

 

“We are very excited about having Blake and his family with us this year for the Festival,” said Father Athanasios C Haros, Pastor of the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence. “We love to share who we are as Greek Orthodox people. We are a great deal more than just baklava and gyro sandwiches,” Haros said, “The food is great, for sure, but it is our Greek Orthodox Faith that unites all of us as Greeks, Russians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Native Americans, Arabs, Filipinos, Hispanics, African Americans, Northerners and Southerners. We are all Greek Orthodox!” Haros said as many as five different languages can be heard during worship every Sunday.

 

The DiLullo family will feature information on Orthodox Christian Missionary efforts from throughout the world in a special booth at the Greek Festival. As it does every year, the Greek Festival will also feature delicious homemade Greek food and pastries, authentic LIVE Greek music and dancing, carnival rides for the kids, helicopter rides, gift shops and Cultural displays. The Church will also be open for guided tours and lectures.

 

The Greek Festival runs Thursday, May 16 through Saturday, May 18^that the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church – 2990 S Cashua Dr in Florence. For more information, visit www.FlorenceGreekFestival.com.

 

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ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS TO CELEBRATE EASTER MAY 5TH WITH ANCIENT RITUALS

(Florence, SC – May 1, 2013) More than 300 Million Orthodox Christians worldwide will celebrate the last days of Jesus Christ’s time on Earth with ancient rituals commemorating His crucifixion, burial, and ultimate resurrection from the dead. The last few days of Jesus’ life have been remembered by Christians with prayer, fasting, and special rituals from the earliest days of Christianity.

 

For members of the Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Florence, the celebration of Pascha (Easter) is the pinnacle of the year. According to Father Athanasios C Haros, Pastor of the Church since June 2008, “Most parishioners will be in Church every night beginning Wednesday. Each evening has a specific theme from the betrayal of Jesus through His trial, conviction, crucifixion, burial, and glorious resurrection from the dead.

 

Thursday at 7pm the Church commemorates the Passion of Christ with the reading of “The 12 Gospels of the Passion” stories recalling the trial, conviction and crucifixion of Jesus.

 

Friday at 7pm the Church commemorates the death of Jesus and His journey to Hades to defeat death.

 

Saturday morning at 10am the Church commemorates the raising of Adam and Eve and the other righteous men and women of the Old Testament.

 

Saturday night beginning at 11pm the Church commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The service of the Holy Fire which commemorates the continuous miracle at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to this day takes place at 12 MIDNIGHT and leads into the Divine Liturgy (Holy Communion service) ending in the early hours of the morning.

 

The Community will gather for a small meal at 2am to share fellowship and the joy of the resurrection with the breaking of red Easter Eggs and enjoying traditional Paschal soup.

 

The complete Holy Week Schedule is available at www.GoFlorence.org.