Welcome | Orthodox Church of the Mother of God

Sunday Mornings Services

Sunday Mornings Private Confession – By appointment, contact Father Matthew 9:40 AM – Hours (9:45 AM – General Confession on the first Sunday of each month, except during Great Lent) 10:00 AM – Divine Liturgy – Holy Communion is offered to those baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves for the reception of the Sacrament… Read More

St. Thomas Sunday

^{By Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South}

^{(The following is a brief reflection on the Gospel reading for the Sunday after Pascha, John 20:19-31)}

When the disciples had gathered on the new Passover (Pascha), the Lord’s Day or Resurrection Day, Jesus entered the room where they were – “the doors being shut…for fear of the Jews” – stood in the midst of them and showed them His hands and side. Christ then greeted them with that salutation, retained by the Church through the ages, with which the priest greets the faithful at each of the important parts of the Divine Liturgy and other services: “Peace be unto you.” Twice our Lord delivers this message of peace to His disciples that “first day of the week.” We are reminded in this of the Savior’s words before the Crucifixion: “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” and “these things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.”^{(John 14:27; 16:33)} The Resurrection, of which the beloved disciples were witnesses, was the confirmation of Christ’s entire life of prophecy and sacrifice. It was a reassurance that the peace He had come to give the world was not vain or imagined. Nor was it peace on strictly a human level, for example the absence of war or strife among men. Rather this peace was the presence of the Prince of Peace in the midst of human existence. It was the long awaited reconciliation between God and man, and in God a profound “union of all men” as children of the Most High, a peace that the world is unable to provide or understand.

Icon of the Resurrection of Christ

Above the Royal Doors, in the middle of our Iconostas, is an icon of joyous event of the Glorious Resurrection expressed in Orthodox Iconography with the Descent of the Lord into Hades. Christ is shown tenderly pulling our ancestral parents, Adam and Eve, from their tombs. Through His resurrection, Christ has shattered the gates of hell and scattered the chains and locks that bind mankind.

Reminders

Reminders: The Sisterhood’s food drive is ongoing. Donation bins are located bothdownstairs and in the back of the church. Please be generous. Thank you! Please consider mailing your weekly donation to our treasurer:Church of the Mother of God, c/o Holly Dawson, treasurer,111 Main Ave, Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234Thank you to everyone who has been… Read More

The Paschal Service

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
^{(Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)}

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. St. Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain^{(I Cor. 15:14)}. Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut ^{(John 20:19)}. Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did^{(Acts 2-4)}: “… for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have”^{(Luke 24:39)}.

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

Our Church Building

Photo of our Church
Our church building, and the services celebrated within it, are from the tradition of the church, from the vision of St John the Apostle, as well as the Old Testament Temple. The interior of the Orthodox Church buildings are particularly styled to give the experience of the unity of all things in God. They are not constructed to reproduce the upper room of the Last Supper, nor to be simply a meeting hall for peope whose life exists solely within the bounds of this earth. The church building itself, is an image of the world.

About the Patron of our Parish

(the Icon of the Mother of God “the Joy of All the Sorrowful” is Commemorated on July 23, October 24, and November 19)

About the Patron of our Parish

^{By Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos}

Deep within the heart of the Church, in the place where sorrow and joy meet and where our bitter tears are kissed away by a mother’s love, we encounter the Most Holy Mother of God. The Church in its devotion to the Ever-Virgin Mary has always known that she is a mystery and a gift given to us by God. The Theotokos is a mystery that can be experienced and encountered, and yet never explained or described in words of logic and science, and she is a gift that brings radiant joy and comfort in the midst of darkness and need. Through the centuries the Church has expressed its love for her through countless hymns, has praised her in its most exquisite poetry and song, and has portrayed her in its most beautiful and beloved icons. No other saint is the subject of so much devotion, and no other saint has so many miracles attributed him or her.

Purpose

As the local community of the Church of the Mother of God, this parish, exists for the purpose of worshiping God according to the Holy Scriptures and Tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church, to encourage union with God among the members of the parish, to seek out the lost, the searching, and the un-churched and to strive to bring them into union with the Church, to provide religious education to its members and potential members, provide charitable aid, and to defend, promote, and witness to theOrthodox Christian Faith in southern New Jersey.

This website is a tool to help in this purpose. Primarily to publicize our existence in southern New Jersey, and hopefully, encourage people to “come and see”.

The many pages on this website contain information we hope is helpful.

Welcome to the official website of theOrthodox Church of the Mother of God,Joy of all the Sorrowful

St. Thomas Sunday

Icon of the Resurrection of Christ

The Paschal Service

Our Church Building

About the Patron of our Parish

Purpose

Welcome to the official website of the
Orthodox Church of the Mother of God,
Joy of all the Sorrowful