December's Recipe:
Puff Pastry Stars

• 1 lb puff pasty (in 2 large sheets)
• 1 lb (450 gr) cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups cherry sauce*
• 8 oz (250g) whipping cream
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar

Preparation:
Beat the cream cheese with the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl, until mixed. On a well-floured worktop, open the pastry sheets. Using a cardboard cutout as a guide, cut each sheet into 6 pentagons, with 3.5inch (9cm) sides. Place on 2 buttered baking sheets. At the center of each side make a 1.5 inch cut from the edge towards the center. Put 3 tablespoons of cheese filling onto the center and spread towards the corners. Starting at one corner, bring up 2 adjacent sides; overlap to form point. Wet sides and press lightly to seal. Repeat with remaining corners, to form a 5-pointed star. Brush with a little melted butter. If you have a convection oven you can bake them all together in a 400 F (200 C) oven for 15-20 minutes. Otherwise, bake one sheet at a time. Because puff pastry expands better when baked cold, refrigerate the pastries for 2 hours before baking. After baking, cool on a rack. Meanwhile, make the cherry sauce*. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Put in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and chill until ready to use. Put 2 tablespoons cherry sauce in the center of each pastry. Pipe a wreath of whipped cream around the cherries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Preparation time 2 hrs.


*Cherry Sauce
Various canned fruit sauces (pie fillings) are available on the market. To make homemade cherry sauce, drain and measure the juice from a 28 oz (800 gr) can of cherries. For each cup of juice, add two tablespoons of cornstarch (and two tablespoons sugar if the juice is not sweet). Stir over low heat until thick and clear. Remove from heat, stir in 1/8 teaspoon almond extract, and the cherries. Cool to room temperature before using.

Every parish constitutes both an entity of communicants from that particular locale as well as the fullness of the universal (catholic) Church. One does not exist outside the other. With this understanding, every Orthodox parish receives the name of a Saint or event in the life of Christ or the Theotokos. While the procedures vary as to how the naming occurs, the name ties the local community to the Church throughout the ages. The name often gives the local community inspiration and something to emulate as members progress on their Christian walk. Below are the names of the parishes in the Metropolis of Chicago with a brief explanation about the Saint(s) or events and the date of the feast day on which they are commemorated.

Continued from last month...

Holy Trinity
Although the Trinity is revealed at various times throughout the Bible (e.g. Jesus' baptism), the Sunday of Pentecost is the day set aside to celebrate the One God in Three Persons. Fifty days after Easter (Pascha), as promised, God sends the Holy Spirit upon the twelve Apostles as tongues of fire. In this action we see the final, definitive revelation of the dogma of the Holy Trinity.

St. Andrew
St. Andrew (the First Called) was the first Apostle chosen by the Lord and Simon Peter's brother. Tradition holds that he was crucified in Patras, Greece, after  having served as the first Bishop of Constantinople. In 1964 AD his relics were returned to the Patriarch of Constantinople after having been taken and put in the Vatican in 1462 AD.

St. Athanasios
A disciple of St. Anthony the Great (whose biography he wrote) and eventual Patriarch of Alexandria, while still a Deacon he refuted Arius' heresy at the First  Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 325 AD. Exiled over seventeen years because of his orthodoxy and continuing fight against Arius' followers, he died in peace on May 2, 373.

St. Anthony the Great
Considered the Father of monks, he was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 251 AD into a wealthy family. Orphaned at a young age, he distributed his inheritance to the poor and moved into the desert to devote himself to prayer, fasting, and manual labor. He died in 356 AD at the age of 105 on January 17th.

St. Basil the Great
One of the Three Hierarchs, and author of the Divine Liturgy that bears his name, Basil was born around 329 AD in Cappadocia to a family where his grandmother, mother, and all his brothers and sisters became Saints of the Church. Although very learned, he abandoned a worldly career to become an ascetic and wrote many homilies on asceticism. He defended the Church faithfully against pro-Arian Emperors and died peacefully at age 49 on Jan. 1, 379.

St. Dionysios of Zakynthos
Born and raised on the island of Zakynthos, Greece, St. Dionysios is remembered as the forgiving Saint. He reportedly gave shelter and aid to a murderer who confessed to killing the Saint's brother. Not revealing that the man has killed his own brother, Dionysios remained quiet, both forgiving the man and helping him escape. St. Dionysios passed away in 1611 AD, and His incorrupt body still remains on Zakynthos where his intercessions are credited with countless miracels. His feast day is celebrated on December 17.

St. Elias the Prophet
Known also as Elijah, he was a hero of faithfulness to God and powerful prophet during a time when Israel had turned away from God and returned to pagan practices (850s BC). After fleeing the wrath of King Achab of Israel and his pagan Queen Isabella, Elias was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire in front of his disciple Elisha. His memory is celebrated on July 20.

St. Demetrios
A beloved Saint of Greek Orthodox, Demetrios was a Roman soldier from Thessaloniki who was martyred by order of the Emperor Maximian in the beginning of the fourth century. He drew the Emperor's wrath by encouraging a young man named Nestor to fight and defeat the pagan gladiator Lyaios. Remembered on October 26, countless miracles have been ascribed to the Saint from the time of his martyrdom.

St. George
A revered captain in the Roman army and faithful Christian, he appeared before the Emperor Diocletian and publicly tore up an edict ordering a new wave of Christian persecution. After various tortures could not get him to recant, he was beheaded in 296 AD in Nicomedia. Celebrated on April 23, his steadfast faith caused Diocletian's wife (Queen Alexandra) to become a Christian.

St. lakovos (Tames)
Known from earliest Christian times as "brother of the Lord" (adelfotheos), he was the first Bishop of Jerusalem and presided over the first Apostolic council there in 49 AD. He was martyred under Emperor Nero in 62 AD and is remembered on October 23.

St. John the Baptist
The cousin of Christ, St. John is known as the Forerunner because he prepared the way for Christ's teaching with his preaching and baptism of repentance. In Orthodox churches his icon is immediately next to Christ's on the iconostasis and he typically gestures toward Christ. His feast is celebrated the day after Epiphany (Theophania) on January 7.

Excerpts and Photography from
Ecclesia: Greek Orthodox Churches
of the Chicago Metropolis
by Panos Fiorentinos

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