Weekly Newsletter for the week February 20, 2009 through Thursday, February 26, 2009
THIS WEEKEND
MEATFARE SUNDAY BREAKFAST - The annual Meatfare Sunday Breakfast sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine will be this Sunday, February 22. The suggested donation -$7 per person, $14 per family - will help support the many activities of the Fellowship at St. Mary's, including the annual Lessons and Carols evening; Learning in Lent lecture series; Wednesday evening potluck suppers after Pre-Sanctified Liturgies during Lent; the annual Father John vonHolzhausen lecture; Coffee House ministry; coffee hours and special meals; this weekly St. Mary Update e-mail newsletter; and much more.
HELP NEEDED - The Fellowship could use your help with prep work on Saturday, February 21, starting at 2:00 pm, and with setting up, cooking, and serving the breakfast on Sunday morning starting at 9:00 am.
FR. ANTONY MISSION TRIP - From Saturday, February 21 through Saturday, February 28, 2009, Fr. Antony will be leading a team of college students on a trip to an orphanage in El Salvador sponsored by Orthodox Christian Fellowship's Real Break Program. Fr. George Papademetriou of the Greek Metropolis of Boston will celebrate Divine Liturgy in his absence.
In case of emergency while he is gone, contact Fr. Timothy Ferguson at St. George Church, West Roxbury at 617-323-0323.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
WOMEN'S CLUB - The next meeting of the Women's Club will be held this coming Monday, February 23, in the kitchen.
LEARNING IN LENT - The Fellowship of St John the Divine (FSJD) will offers its annual lecture series on the following Fridays in Lent. After Akathist, which starts at 7:00 pm, we'll meet in the Church hall for refreshments and a presentation (approximately 8-9:30 pm).
March 6: Father Antony Hughes, (St Mary's Pastor) - Living Compassion: the Spiritual Path
(March 13: no speaker scheduled)
March 20: Robert Kowalik, (Master of Divinity, Holy Cross Seminary; Master of Arts in Religion, Yale Divinity School) - Title of talk TBA
March 27: Teva Regule, (Master of Divinity, Holy Cross Seminary) - Who are We? Christian Identity Formation in the Services of Pascha
April 3: David Vermette, (St Mary's Catechism Director) - "The Problem of Evil" and the Orthodox Tradition
ANTIOCHIAN WOMEN'S SPRING FLING - On April 4, 2009, the women of the diocese will sponsor a visit to the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, MA. Bus transportation is available, departing at 9:45 am from the Russian Church of the Epiphany at 961 South St . , Roslindale, and returning approximately 3:15 pm. The cost for this package, which includes bus transportation, museum admission with guided tour, and a $10 voucher for lunch at a local restaurant, is $49.95. For those who prefer to drive, the museum admission alone is $4. Please RSVP to Priscilla Goss, or contact her for further information, at pagoss@aol.com or phone 781-762-1527, by March 1, 2009.
NO PAN-ORTHODOX SERVICES - The Pan-Orthodox services scheduled for Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 8, have been cancelled.
REMINDERS
ANTIOCHIAN WOMEN'S MONTH - March is Antiochian Women's Month throughout the Archdiocese. Women of the parish will be reading the Epistle, holding the Communion cloths and bread baskets, taking the collection, and delivering the homily. If you can help, please contact Marilyn Robbat in the church office at 617-547-1234 or e-mail secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
MESSAGE TO ST. MARY WOMEN FROM FR. ANTONY -For Women's Month this year I hope to have four women from the Ladies Club and/or the Fellowship of St. John deliver short homilies as usual with this difference. The homilies should be on one of these themes or topics:
- The themes of the particular Sunday of Great Lent or
- The life of a female saint, her ministry, its impact on the Church and implications for women's ministry in our times.
We will have two resource people other than me on call for reference if any questions or the need for materials arise: Teva Regule and David Vermette. The homilies will need to be presented to me a week in advance so I will have a chance to review them. I sincerely hope some of you will choose to participate in this important ministry. The work of women in the Church is vital. Your voices need to be heard.
LENTEN FOOD SALE - The Women's Club is now taking orders for Spinach Triangles, Hoomos and Mjadara (lentils with rice). Please use the order form in the Sunday bulletin. Order deadline is next Sunday, March 1. If you would like to help cook, join us on Saturday, March 14 at 9:30 a.m.
ANTIOCHIAN VILLAGE CAMP 2009 - Schedules have been announced for the 2009 camping program at the Village - see http://www.antiochianvillage.org/camp.html Two Order of St. Ignatius scholarships are available - application must be submitted no later than March 1. See Fr. Antony for details ASAP.
PRE-LENTEN RETREAT - A Pre-Lenten Retreat will be held on Saturday, March 7, at St. George Orthodox Church, Norwood MA , sponsored by diocesan Antiochian Women. Elizabeth H. Prodromou, Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at Boston University, will speak on Orthodox Christian Unity: What, Why, Why Not Yet? See the registration form on the Church Bulletin Board. The requested donation, including lunch, is just $15; registration deadline is Sunday, February 28. All are welcome - this is not for women only!
CROSSROADS - High School Juniors and Seniors: The Office of Vocation & Ministry at Hellenic College is now accepting applications for its summer CrossRoad program. Two sessions are offered: June 20 - 30 and July 7 - 17, 2009. For more information and application see www.crossroad.hchc.edu or call 617-850-1309. Application deadline is March 1, 2009 for first consideration.
UPCOMING RETREAT OPPORTUNITIES - New Skete Monastery is offering a one-day Lenten retreat on Saturday, March 14, entitled, "Self-discovery and Spiritual Growth." The day will consist of presentations on aspects of self discovery, spiritual direction and sacramental confession and include time for discussions, meditation and reflection. An opportunity for sacramental confession will also be available. A donation of $15 is asked to help cover the expenses for the day. The number of retreatants is limited and available on a first come, first served basis. To register for the retreat, contact Robin Hetko at robin.hetko@gmail.com. In addition, the monastery will celebrate the Liturgy of St. James (the ancient rite of Jerusalem) on that Sunday (March 15). Those wishing to visit the monastery for the weekend (to take advantage of both opportunities), please contact Teva Regule (teva@mit.edu) for housing arrangements.
Also, May 22-24 (Memorial Day weekend), the Fellowship of St. John the Divine is sponsoring a weekend retreat Friday through Sunday at New Skete Monastery. The details of the retreat are still in the planning stages, but SAVE THE DATE! Please RSVP to Tiffany Conroy (trattus1@gmail.com or 617-990-7162) by April 1, or contact her for more information.
BLESSING OF HOMES - Fr. Antony will be blessing homes after Epiphany (January 6) and between Holy Pascha (April 19) and Pentecost (June 7). We bless homes to reveal the home as what God created it to be, a way to heaven; to rid the home of every evil; to show that the family is a small church unit in Christ; to consecrate the home and all activity in it to God; and to fill the home and all who live in it with the fullness of God. To schedule the blessing of your home please use the form in the weekly Bulletin or the monthly Cornerstone, or call the church office at 617 547-1234.
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE - St. George Church in Lawrence will be hosting the 2009 Parish Life Conference for the Diocese of New England, June 25-28, at the Wyndham Hotel in Andover , MA . Singles and Doubles: $95. Triples: $105 and Quads: $115. Hotel Reservation Deadline is June 4, 2009; mention Parish Life Conference for special rates. More information can be found on St. George's website at www.stgeorgelawrence.org/Conf2009
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION - The national convention for the whole Archdiocese will be held July 19 - 26 at Desert Springs JW Marriot Hotel, Palm Desert , California, hosted by St. Michael Church, Van Nuys. Check out their website at www.archdioceseconvention2009.org for more information.
2009 PLEDGE CARDS - Please take the time to fill out your 2009 pledge card, which was mailed out recently, and return it to the Church Office as soon as possible in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided. We especially need your pledge this year - not just a bare minimum, but a percentage of your income (10% is the biblical ideal). Everyone, including students and new arrivals, is encouraged to make a stewardship commitment to St. Mary's. If you do not have a pledge card, please contact the Parish Office so that you may receive a New Member Packet. Or you can take advantage of the new convenient electronic pledge card on the Stewardship page of our parish website: https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/ministries/stewardship.php
PARKING - Please note: If you do not plan on staying for the entire Coffee Hour on any given Sunday, please do not park in the Church Parking Lot. The first in will be the last out! Similarly, if you park in the driveway please plan to leave very promptly.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE
There are a number of ways you can help the Church, your fellow worshippers and those in need. Consider serving in one of these ways:
PARTICIPATION
Liturgical Service - Each Sunday, members of the congregation are needed to read the Epistle and assist during Communion by holding the Communion Cloths and Holy Bread Baskets. All Orthodox Christians in the Parish are welcome and encouraged to participate. We usually need one Epistle reader and six people to hold cloths and baskets. If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during the Communion, please contact Jeff Wasilko, 781-820-0882, jeffw@smoe.org.
Coffee Hour - People are needed every week to provide coffee, juice and cookies, or more if desired, and set it up Sunday morning. To sign up for an available Sunday, please put your name on the signup sheet on the bulletin board outside the Hall or call Marilyn Robbat in the Parish Office and she will write your name in. If you need any help with figuring out what to bring or do, check the list below the signup sheet (also printed in the Bulletin), or ask Marilyn at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.
VOLUNTEERING
Holy Resurrection Open Doors - The Holy Resurrection Open Door Meal Ministry in Allston needs volunteers every Monday evening (there is a special need in the summer). The official hours of the project are 4:30 pm-7:30 pm, but it is fine to come anytime and leave any time. Best times would be 5:30-5:45 to 7:15-7:30 pm. You can serve meals, coffee and tea to the people who arrive for dinner (6-7 pm) or just stay behind the scenes doing set-up and clean-up. It is a very rewarding, hands-on, face-to-face way to serve the community with (mostly) other Orthodox Christians-we even chant the Our Father together before the meal begins. Church info can be found at http://hrocboston.org.
Questions? Please contact Liz Straghalis at liztutella@gmail.com phone 617-974-5005, or Tiffany Conroy at trattus1@gmail.com, 617-990-7162.
St Paul's Food Pantry - Two to four volunteers help each week in the food pantry at St Paul 's Roman Catholic Church in Harvard Square , Saturday mornings from 9:30-11:45. If you are interested in helping, please contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.
DONATIONS
Food and Clothing - Holy Resurrection in Allston takes donations of non-perishable food items and clothing to distribute at the Open Door Ministry on Monday evenings. You can bring your donations by on Monday nights between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm or contact Tiffany Conroy, trattus1@gmail.com, 617-990-7162, for more information.
- St. Paul 's Food Pantry in Harvard Square , where volunteers from St. Mary help every Saturday, depends upon regular donations of canned and packaged foods. To help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.
Monetary Contributions - The Agape Canister Program is an Orthodox non-profit development program of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center . It is dedicated to meeting the needs of children, families, and communities throughout the world, regardless of race, color, or creed. All funds collected by the Agape Canister Program are earmarked for medical care and clinics, water wells, agricultural development, food and clothing, support personnel (e.g. doctors, nurses, teachers), the construction of schools, and the education of indigenous people in their own communities. Please contribute each Sunday - A clear plastic box is on the Bengarri.
"As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me," says our Lord.
THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS
FOOD PANTRY - February 21: David Vermette and Mitrophan &
Michelle Chin & family
LITURGICAL SERVICE - February 22: Epistle: James Wilcox; Left Cloth: Larisa and Marc Patacchiola;
Right Cloth: Brooke Wilcox and James Wilcox;
COFFEE HOUR - February 22:
FSJD Meatfare Sunday Breakfast
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, February 21: No
Vespers at St Marys
Sunday, February 22:
Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; followed by FSJD Meatfare Breakfast; Church School lesson 15
SCRIPTURE READINGS for February 22, Meatfare Sunday:
Epistle: St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 8:8-13; 9:1-2
Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ... Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
"... Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' ... 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'"
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, February 28: No Vespers at St. Marys
Sunday, March 1, Cheesefare Sunday,
Forgiveness Sunday:
Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 16; Forgiveness Vespers 6:00 pm
Monday, March 2, beginning
of Great Lent: Great Canon
of St. Andrew 7:00 pm; Lenten Compline at St. George, Norwood 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 3: Great Canon of St. Andrew 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 4: Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 pm, followed
by Pot Luck Supper (also March 11, 18, & 25)
Thursday, March 5: Great Canon of St. Andrew 7:00 pm
Friday, March 6: Akathist Service 7:00
pm, followed by Learning In Lent
Speaker, Fr. Antony Hughes
Sunday, March 8, Sunday
of Orthodoxy: No Pan-Orthodox
services this year (note change)
Sunday, April 19: Holy Pascha
Saturday, May 2: FSJD von Holzhausen lecture
INSIGHT
When you fast and are nourished with abstinence, do not store the leftovers for tomorrow, but, as the Lord became poor and enriched us, feed someone who does not want to be hungry, you who hunger willingly. Then your fast will be like the dove who brings and joyfully proclaims salvation to your soul from the flood.
- St. Gregory Palamas
The parable of the Last Judgment is about Christian love. Not all of us are called to work for "humanity," yet each one of us has received the gift and the grace of Christ's love. We know that all men ultimately need this personal love - the recognition in them of their unique soul in which the beauty of the whole creation is reflected in a unique way. We also know that men are in prison and are sick and thirsty and hungry because that personal love has been denied them. And, finally, we know that however narrow and limited the framework of our personal existence, each one of us has been made responsible for a tiny part of the Kingdom of God, made responsible by that very gift of Christ's love. Thus, on whether or not we have accepted this responsibility, on whether we have loved or refused to love, shall we be judged.
-Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent
And the Savior also, when He manifested Himself to the world in the Jordan , began at this point. For after His baptism the Spirit led Him into the wilderness and He fasted for forty days and forty nights. Likewise all who set out to follow in His footsteps make the beginning of their struggle upon this foundation. For this is a weapon forged by God, and who shall escape blame if he neglects it? And if the Lawgiver Himself fasts, who among those who keep the law has no need of fasting? This is why the human race knew no victory before fasting, and the devil had never experienced defeat from our nature; but this weapon has made him powerless from the outset.
- St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies
Bodily purity is primarily attained by fasting, and, through bodily purity, spiritual purity is also attained. Abstinence from food, according to the words of that son of grace, St. Ephraim the Syrian, means: ''Not to desire or ask for various foods, either sweet or costly; not to eat anything outside the designated time; not to succumb to the spirit of gluttony; not to excite hunger in oneself by looking at good food; and not to desire at one moment one kind of food and at another moment another kind of food.'' Great is the fallacy that fasting and Lenten food harm the health of the body. It is a known fact that the ascetics lived the longest and were the least prone to illness.
- Prologue of Ochrid