Update for the week Friday, July 6, through Thursday, July 12, 2012

THIS WEEKEND

VESPERS – There will be Great Vespers this Saturday at 5:00 pm.

SUMMER HOURS – EverySunday during July and August,Orthros begins at 8:15 am, and Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONFERENCE THANKS AND PHOTOS– The Parish Life Conference in Ogunquit was a tremendous success.  The PLC Committee in Norwood is so grateful to everyone who traveled to Maine, participated in the events and ate lobster.  To Bishop John, to those who made the fine services so beautiful and prayerful, to the Archdiocese Trustees, Clergy, Parish and Diocesan leaders, to those who attended meetings and workshops, to the participants in the Bible Bowl and Oratorical, to the students in the Creative Arts Festival, to everyone who shared their talents, our very generous sponsors, and all of you…A job well done, God Bless.  Enjoy the photos at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4hi2aackz154gtw/TN3PpUQb8M, or check out the slide show at www.stgeorgenorwood.org.

REMINDERS

SUMMER GREETERS NEEDED – Volunteers are needed for most Sundays in July and August, plus September 2 (Labor Day Weekend).  Please contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or e-mail: buddy@cjmabardy.com.  Summer Hours: Orthros: 8:15 am & Liturgy: 9:30 am.  Summer might be a GREAT time for you to start participating in this Ministry! 

CONGRATULATIONS, BIBLE BOWL WINNERS! –  St. Mary’s Bible Bowl team, consisting of Alex Dalton, Anthony Marge, and Theo Smith, and coached by Violet Robbat, won the Bible Bowl at the Parish Life Conference last week.  Now they will go on to represent the Diocese of Worcester and New England at the North American Bible Bowl Competition at Antiochian Village at the Summer Meetings, July 20-22, 2012.

CLERGY SYMPOSIUM – The 17th Biennial Clergy Symposium will be held Monday through Friday, July 16-20, at the Antiochian Village Heritage and Learning Center.  Fr. Antony will be attending; the St. Mary Church office will be open Monday through Wednesday of that week.

ORGANIZATIONS’ SUMMER MEETINGS -  The Summer Meetings of the Antiochian Women, Fellowship of St. John the Divine, and Teen SOYO will be held Friday through Sunday, July 20-22 at Antiochian Village Heritage and Learning Center. At this time our winning Bible Bowl team will compete in the North American Bible Bowl Competition!  
   Note: St. Mary Church office will be closed Thursday through Sunday, July 19-22, but Fr. Antony  will be available.

ANTIOCHIAN VILLAGE CAMP – Registration and information about summer camp at the Antiochian Village can be found at http://antiochianvillage.org/camp/programs/campdates.html
A big  “Thank you” to the organizers and benefactors of St. Mary’s Antiochian Village Camp Scholarship fundraiser. The fundraiser is enabling eighteen of St. Mary's kids to attend with generous partial scholarships. You can view the daily photos for Session  3, July 15 – 27, 2012, (when our kids attend) at http://www.antiochianvillage.org/camp/memories.   The photos currently posted are from last year but they will be updated daily from July 15-27. The spiritual growth they experience at The Village returns with them to St. Mary's each fall.

NEW SKETE PILGRIMAGE–The Monastic Communities of New Skete Monastery in Cambridge, New York (www.newskete.org), invite you to their Annual Summer Festival on Saturday, August 11, 2012, between 8:30am - 6:00pm.  The day will include  Church Services, Church  Tours, Food Court,  Photo Exhibit,  Gardens, Children's Activities, Gift Shops, Guided Hike, and a Healing Service with Anointing.  This year’s guest speaker will be Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes Fitzgerald, Theologian and Psychologist, whose theme will be Persons in Communion: A Theology of Authentic Relationships. Information and Registration:  http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1x7fv/NewSketeAnnualPilgri/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F540613%2FNew-Skete-Annual-Pilgrimage-Program---2012For housing arrangements and more information contact Teva Regule, teva@mit.edu no later than July 29.

VACATION CHURCH SCHOOL 2012– St. Mary Church, 535 Salisbury St., Worcester, will offer Vacation Church School for Grades K – 7, Tuesday through Friday, August 14 – 17.  Theme:  Our God-Bearing Fathers.  Registration:  $40 per child (includes ticket for Tornadoes Picnic & Game);  Adult Ticket: $25.  For more information,  contact Greg Abdulah 724-518-6811; abdulah.g@gmail.com 

VACATION CHURCH SCHOOL 2012– St. George Church, West Roxbury will offer Vacation Church School, Tuesday through Friday, August 21 – 24, for Pre-School (at least 3 yrs. old AND potty trained)  through 4th Grade.  Theme:  Heroes of the Bible. There will be lessons, crafts, playtime, singing and fun!  Snack provided each morning.  Registration Donation:  $15/1 child; $20/2 children; $25/3 children. Volunteers are needed.  Contact Elisabeth: Elisabeth@stgeorgeofboston.org or call 617-323-0323.

ARCHDIOCESE SCHOLARSHIPS – In order to download scholarship applications and information available through our Archdiocese, log on to http://www.antiochian.org/scholarships(note corrected link).

MEN’S WEEKEND –  There will be an Orthodox Men's Get-Away Weekend September 21-23, 2012, at The Saint Methodios Faith and Heritage Center - 329 Camp Merrimac Road Contoocook, NH 03229 (www.boston.goarch.org/faith_heritage_center.html), sponsored by  St. Stephen's Orthodox Church (www.stsoc.org).  Guest Speakers will be  Fr. Michael Keiser and Fr. Kenneth DeVoie, both of the Department of Missions & Evangelism for the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, and others TBA. Cost:  $189.00  (2 night stay, all meals, snacks and use of recreational facilities).  For more information  see the brochure at https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=c173523fb2&view=att&th=138145dad9b77f31&attid=0.1&disp=safe&zw  or contact Jeff St. Jean at  jeffstjean11@verizon.net.

REGULAR REMINDERS

COFFEE HOUR SIGNUP – A signup sheet for coffee hours is posted on the bulletin board outside the coat room.  There are plenty of dates to choose from after Pascha – sign up now for the date you will sponsor the coffee hour!

DONATE VIA eGIVE– Did you know that you can make your donations to St. Mary through eGive, and have no more envelopes or checks to worry about?   If you have not yet set up an account, you can do it at www.egive-usa.com, or contact Charlie Marge (marge@alum.mit.edu) for help. The Recipient Organization is “St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.”

STREAMING VIDEO – St. Mary’s Church services are broadcast live each week through an internet video stream.  If you can't attend a service in person or want to share this ministry with a friend or loved one, the live stream can be viewed at www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/live  during regularly scheduled service times (see the schedule of services below or online).  If you have questions or comments about this ministry please contact us at live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.

VIDEO STREAMING FOR EVENTS – Now you can video stream your wedding or baptism live from St. Mary’s to friends and family who can't attend your event in person.  The cost for Event Video Streaming is $150 for members, $300 for non-members, and includes a password- protected viewing page and setup and breakdown of the streaming service for your event by a trained staff member.   You can also get a copy of your streamed event on CD: $50 for members, $100 for non-members. Fees are payable to the church. Streaming is subject to staff availability. For general questions on the video streaming ministry or event streaming, please contact live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.  To schedule your event and/or request Event Video Streaming, please contact the Church Office.

PROTECT YOUR VALUABLES – Please do not leave valuables unattended in the Church Hall or Coat Room.

FIRST IN, LAST OUT – Please do not park in the small lot behind the church unless you intend to stay through the end of coffee hour. The only way out is the single lane driveway.  Please pull all the way in to the parking space, and please do not block the driveway – if the lot is full, you can park on the street.

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:

BE A GREETER - The Parish Council is continuing the Greeter Program, similar to other churches, to greet and aid parishioners, guests and visitors into the Church each Sunday.  As a Greeter, you will welcome people into the Church and help to direct visitors upstairs to the Liturgy, as well as keeping an eye on the Vestibule, hallways and entrance ways during church, arriving at Church at 9:45 am.  Greeting time ends when Communion starts.  We need volunteers.  If you would like to be a Greeter, a Sign-Up Sheet is posted on the Church Bulletin Board.  If you have any questions, please contact Buddy by e-mail buddy@cjmabardy.comor call him at 781-729-6303. “I was a stranger, and you invited me in………”   (Matthew 25:35)

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  and six people to hold cloths and baskets.  If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during 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 new 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.orgor 617-547-1234.

PRISON MINISTRY – If you would like to find out more about Prison Ministry at St. Mary’s Church, please subscribe to our mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/ocpm-concord

"As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me," says our Lord.

THIS SUNDAY'S VOLUNTEERS

GREETER:  Barbara Shoop

COFFEE HOUR:   FSJD

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK

Saturday, July 7:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm (note correction)

Sunday, July 8:  Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am  (Summer Hours) 

SCRIPTURE READINGSfor Sunday, July 8: 
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 10:1-10
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified.

Gospel: Matthew 8:28-34; 9:1
At that time, when Jesus came to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one would pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, July 14:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm

Sunday, July 15:  Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am  (Summer Hours) 

Saturday, July 21:  No Vespers at St. Mary

INSIGHT

A man ... wrestles with many ... demons; and often the demon, whom many men could not master with iron bands, has been mastered by the man himself with words of prayer which is in him of the Holy Spirit …  Let us not be afraid of the demons, nor of the devil; for mightier is He who fights for us.
   - St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures

When we create conflict it comes from the anger or fear or ignorance within us. The conflict has its origins on the inside, not the outside. The ego is the source and the thing to which Jesus refers when he tells us we must die to ourselves. What we experience in a person filled with turmoil is...turmoil in the form of whatever passion it is that rules them.
   - V. Rev. Fr. Antony Hughes

It is already much not to be roused to any passion by material things. It is even more to remain dispassionate when presented with mental images of such things. For the war which the demons wage against us by means of thoughts is more severe than the war they wage by means of material things.
   - St. Maximus the Confessor

All of us sin constantly. We slip and fall. In reality we fall into traps set by demons. The Holy Fathers and the saints always tell us, “It is important to get up immediately after a fall and to keep on walking toward God.”
   - Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica