Greetings & Welcome!

On behalf of myself, Father Seraphim, Deacon Joseph, our lay leadership, our Festival Committee, and the families of our Parish, we welcome you to the 2024 Roseville Greek Festival. Our stewards have gathered with grateful hearts on this weekend closest to the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anna (September 9), the blessed parents of Mary, the Birthgiver of Jesus, to whom we give all glory. Our festival is then a panigiri, which is a Greek word for a centuries-old, traditional festival held in Greek villages, which celebrates a holy man or woman of antiquity. This weekend is, first and foremost then, a celebration of our timeless love for our Patroness, Saint Anna, and the Orthodox Christian Faith, as well as that of our Mediterranean roots from which our parish was birthed, and finally, about our Roseville community in which we are so lovingly and blessedly situated within as well.

Though a small group of Greek Americans started the Orthodox Christian mission of Roseville, this parish is part of a much larger, worldwide Orthodox Christian Church, the oldest Christian Church in the world. Now this is not an esoteric theological statement or an expression stemming from some simplistic cultural pride, but rather, it is a statement of fact corroborated by the history of Christianity itself. Today, this parish aptly reflects not only the Hellenistic ideals but the greater American paradigm as well, being that we are comprised of approximately 250 families representing a whole host of cultural heritages and traditions (on a typical Sunday, for instance, we recite the Lord’s Prayer in variety of our parishioner’s native tongues: English, Greek, Slavonic, Romanian, Arabic, Spanish, two dialects from India, and Georgian, etc..), all witnessing to the Gospel (GoodNews) of Jesus the Christ; ever striving to reflect His love and live in accordance to the ancient principles and disciplines of the Orthodox Christian Church. Therefore, in the most historically accurate and meaningful manner, we thank God for His many blessings and enjoy fellowship with one another.

This year has been extraordinary for our community. For one, this is the first such gathering we’ve been able to host on our grounds for some years because of, one, the pandemic, and two, the construction of our Holy Sanctuary. Thanks be to God, we weathered the pandemic prayerfully and gracefully, and we have also completed the construction of our new Shrine Church dedicated to Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary.

The support of our stewards and patrons has allowed our Festival to grow in numbers and notoriety. Over the past twenty-five years, we’ve been blessed to assist numerous charities, including the Tommy Apostolos Fund, the Sacramento Crisis Nursery, the Receiving Home, Saint Vincent de Paul, Roseville Home Start, Trinity Children & Family Services, and the families of deployed soldiers. These beneficiaries are in addition to those funds, ministries, and charities supported by our community throughout the year – Scholarship Funds, Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, the University of St. Katherine, St. Basil Academy, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), the St. Anna Benevolence Fund, the Food Basket Program, Coats for Kids, Camp AGAPE/Kids n Cancer, St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center, Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), Campus Ministries, the parishes of St. Anna in Nairobi, Kenya and Mount Kenya, Kenya, and two monasteries! This year, some of our festival proceeds will again benefit our philanthropies, including the Tommy Apostolos Fund, which has provided warm winter school clothes and backpacks to underprivileged children in the Roseville community since 1990.

As I express my gratitude to the members of our parish for their tireless efforts in preparing for this annual festival and thank you once again for your attendance, I would be remiss were I not to invite you to join us for divine services that will be going on during this food festival as well. Following the lead of the Holy Disciple and Apostle Philip, I would say to all who attend our festival, please “Come and see!”

May our Gracious Lord keep the City of Roseville and our greater Placer County in His care.

Most Respectfully,

Rev. Fr. Christopher Flesoras