On March 1st, on the first Sunday of Great Lent, the parish of St. George celebrated Divine Liturgy commemorating the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The first Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy, (or the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy) which is a historical feast commemorating the return of the Icons to the churches in the year 843.  During the Great Entrance at Divine Liturgy, the children and parishioners carried their Konizmat icons, returning the Icons back to the church. Click onto the following link to learn about the Albanian tradition of Konizmat. Click onto the more information link below to view a few photos from the day.

On Friday, Feb 13th, Linda Kolton, the newly appointed Director of the FOCUS Bridgeport Center, and her husband Van, came to St. George to pick up frozen hams and turkeys that parishioners donated over the past 3 months. The initial charity project’s intent was to donate the hams and turkeys to local soup kitchens, but it was decided to forward these donations to the newly activated FOCUS Bridgeport Center who is working with Holy Ghost Church to organize a monthly weekend meal service for the children and families of Beardsley Elementary School. The first meal will be on Saturday, February 28 at 5:30PM at Holy Ghost Church. Thank you to those who donated the frozen hams and turkeys – they will go to good use! Click onto the more information link below to view a larger photo of the one on the left.

UPDATE from Feb 26th: Click onto the following link to view an update/newsletter from Linda Kolton talking about her experiences from the first month as the Director of the FOCUS Bridgeport Center.  FOCUS Bridgeport Feb 2026 Update.  Linda acknowledges St. George for some of our early assistance. 

As a reminder:
FOCUS (Food, Occupation, Clothing, Understanding, and Shelter) has the following Mission Statement:
As an expression of Christ’s love, FOCUS exists to serve the poor by bringing together Orthodox Christian churches and community partners to provide Food, Occupation, Clothing, Understanding, and Shelter and other assistance to address the needs of local communities.
 
FOCUS North America currently has set-up 12 Centers around the country, Bridgeport being the most recent addition.  The other 11 Centers include: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Gateway City (St. Louis), Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Orange County (Southern CA), Philadelphia, and Phoenix. 
 
Click onto the following link to learn more about FOCUS North America.
 

On Sunday, Feb 1st, St. George celebrated the Feast of “The Meeting of the Lord in the Temple” (or "Papandia" in Albanian). The feast was transferred from February 2nd, which is the day it is normally celebrated. Thanks to Nardi Tollkuci who read the Gospel lesson for this day in Albanian. Addtionally, the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple is the Teuta Ladies Society’s Patronal Feast Day. Along with the Teuta Society, St. George celebrated their Patronal Feast Day with prayers after Divine Liturgy. Traditionally the Teuta Society offers 5 loaves, wheat, wine and oil for the celebration, and grure, (a boiled-wheat confection) for the health of the parish family. The "Queen Teuta" Ladies Society of St. George was formed/organized in 1931.  This year, (2026), the parish recognizes and thanks them for their 95 years of service to St. George.  May God grant them all many years! Click onto the more information link below to view a few photos.

On Sunday, Jan 11th, St. George parish conducted the Great Blessing of Water after the celebration of Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Theophany (this feast is normally celebrated on Jan 6th, but was being transferred to Sunday, Jan 11th).

The Troparian for this feast day is: When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan / The worship of the Trinity was made manifest / For the voice of the Father bore witness to You / And called You His beloved Son. / And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, / Confirmed the truthfulness of His word. / O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself / And have enlightened the world, glory to You! 

Click onto the more information link below to view a few photos.