Update for the week Friday, June 28, through Thursday, July 5, 2013
THIS WEEK
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE – The 2013 Parish Life Conference for our diocese is this week - Thursday through Sunday, June 27 – 30, 2013, at the Wyndham Hotel, 123 Old River Rd, in Andover, MA, hosted by St. George Church, Lowell. The complete schedule of events can be found at http://www.saintgeorgelowell.org/events.html. Note: NO services will be held at St. Mary this weekend.
ORATORICAL FESTIVAL and BIBLE BOWL – Theo Smith will represent St. Mary in the Oratorical Festival on Thursday, June 27, at 8:00 pm. Then Thomas and Anthony Marge and Thais and Tycho Traumann-Davis will compete in the Bible Bowl on Friday, June 28, at 8:00 pm. Come and support our participants. We wish them all much success!
GREAT VESPERS on Saturday will be held at the hotel at 5:00 pm.
DIVINE LITURGY - Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday will be at 10:00 am at the hotel
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW SKETE PILGRIMAGE - The Monastic Communities of New Skete Monastery in Cambridge, New York (www.newskete.org), invite you to their Annual Pilgrimage on Saturday, August 10, 2013, between 8:30am - 6:00pm. The day will include Church Services, Church Tours, a Photo Exhibit, and a Healing Service with Anointing as well as talks by the monastics on Monastic Life and Iconography and by Chapel Community members on their relationship with the monastery. This year’s guest speaker will be Art Historian, William Hood. His talk is entitled, "Praying with Two Eyes: Icons in the Christian Life." A event flier can be found here: http://www.newskete.org/pdfs/2013Pilgrimage%20SchedulePosterAccommodationsFINAL.pdf
In the past, a crew from Boston has usually gone out to help with the logistics of the day. If you would like to do so (and also stay at the monastery), please contact Teva Regule at teva@mit.eduby July 28. (Caveat: Housing requests for the monks' guest rooms must be received before July 10. We have more time with other housing requests.)
OUR PRISON MINISTRY ON RADIO - Our own Deacon Jeff Smith can be heard in a recent interview with Ancient Faith Radio, talking about the blessings of ministering to prisoners in Concord, MA. Deacon Jeff gives listeners an inside look at prison ministry, recounting the nervousness of visiting a prison for the first time, the deep faith he's encountered among men in prison, and how his parish has even involved their Sunday school children in the ministry.
Listen to Deacon Jeff's heartfelt interview here: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/features/prison_ministry_awareness_sunday1
PAPPAS PATRISTICS INSTITUTE SUMMER PROGRAM - The Pappas Patristics Institute is pleased to announce the seventh annual week-long Summer Patristic Studies Program on the campus of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA on July 21-26, 2013. This week-long program is a unique opportunity to study and discuss classic texts of the early Church through small group-study and brief lectures from leading patristic scholars. The intended audience for the program includes theology and religious studies students at the masters and undergraduate levels, along with clergy, lay people, and undergraduates with an interest in learning more about the Church Fathers. Course offerings include "Exploring the Ancient Baptismal Liturgies" taught by our own Teva Regule, Doctoral Candidate at Boston College. For more information, or to register, please send an email to the Director of the Pappas Patristic Institute, Dr. Bruce Beck (pappaspatristic@comcast.net) at your earliest convenience. Complete information found here: http://www.hchc.edu/assets/files/patristics/2013_SumInst_AnnouncmentProgram_Short_130607.pdf
REMINDERS
SUMMER HOURS - Starting next Sunday, July 7, we change to Summer Hours – Orthros: 8:15 am, and Liturgy: 9:30 am.
BIBLE STUDY – The Bible Study at St. Mary, sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, meets every other Thursday and is based on a lecture series originally broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio. Join us at 7:00 pm on Thursday, July 11, in the church library, for a discussion of Patristic Interpretation (Part 3) and the School of Alexandria (Part 1) . For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mksayeg@gmail.com) or Fr. Antony (frawhj@gmail.com). New members are always welcome!
HELP GIVE SHOES TO CHILDREN IN NEED – FOCUS North America and the Antiochian Women of the Archdiocese are working with a major American shoe company to distribute thousands of pairs of shoes to economically disadvantaged children in Boston and other large cities throughout the US. Volunteers are needed to help sort, organize, and distribute these shoes and other items. Your efforts are essential to the program’s success! For more information or to volunteer, please contact our own Kailen Hodge, the FOCUS “Operation Lace Up” coordinator in our area, at 857-277-8323 or Kailen.Hodge@gmail.com. Information can also be found on the web at www.FOCUSna.org/LaceUp
GREETERS NEEDED – We’re still looking for Summer Greeters – please help out! Volunteers are needed for these Sundays: August 11, 18, 25, and September 1. 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. Arrive at Church 15 minutes before Liturgy. Greeting time ends when Communion starts. Please contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or e-mail: buddy@cjmabardy.com. Summer Hours are: Orthros: 8:15 am, and Liturgy: 9:30 am. Summer might be a GREAT time for you to start participating in this Ministry!
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION – The 2013 national convention of the Antiochian Archdiocese will be held July 21-28 in Houston TX, hosted by St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church. For information and registration see http://www.achouston2013.com.
TANGLEWOOD OUTING – Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary’s as we carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy on Sunday, July 28. We’ll picnic on the lawn and listen to music by Dvorak (Carnival Overture and New World Symphony) and Prokofiev (Piano Concerto), with pianist Garrick Ohlsson. (For more information see http://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/48875) The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are $19.00 (pay at the door). Bring lawn chairs if you want them, and picnic food for yourself and to share. For more information and to let us know you're coming, especially if you'll need a ride, contact Melissa Nassiff by email (mnassiff@gmail.com) or phone (508 877-7483).
PARISH SECRETARY – Marilyn Robbat will be out of the office during the summer months of June, July and August. Barbara Shoop will be filling in for her during this time. If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to call Barbara in the office at 617-547-1234.
PRISON MINISTRY: Please donate unwanted past issues of Orthodox magazines such as The Word, OCMC or other periodicals to prison ministry to hand out to inmates. Please remove any personal mailing address for security purposes and give them to Mitrophan Chin.
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 EDITING HELP WANTED – We are looking for volunteers to assist with some basic video editing to post the sermons and lectures from St. Mary's online. If you have experience with digital video editing, please let Jamil Samara or Erick Straghalis know you are interested in helping by emailing live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
PHOTOGRAPHERS AND GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WANTED – Are you a photographer or a graphic designer and want to share your talents with St. Mary Church and her ministries? We are looking to get you involved to help photograph the divine services and events and to design promotional material for events and programs at our parish. Please contact Jamil Samara at webmaster@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org with any questions and to let him know that you are interested in getting more involved.
PARKING RESTRICTIONS – Please do not park in the Church parking lot if you need to leave quickly after church. Cars parked there will be staying until the end of coffee hour.
Additionally, do not park beyond the sign that prohibits parking at the corner of Inman Street and Bishop Allen Drive. (An orange cone will be placed in that No Parking area.) It is difficult for large vehicles to turn the corner if cars are parked there. Failure to heed this warning may result in the City preventing parishioners from parking on Inman Street. Your cooperation is appreciated.
And remember, there is no parishioner parking in the church parking lot Monday through Friday until after 6:00 pm.
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Thursday - Sunday, June 27- 30: Church and office closed – Parish Life Conference (Wyndham Hotel, Andover, MA) – no services at St. Mary
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 27, 28, and 29: Vespers at Wyndham Hotel in Andover
Sunday, June 30: Matins and Confessions 9:00 am, Hierarchical Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, July 6: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, July 7: Summer hours begin: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM
Sunday, July 14: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM
Sunday, July 21: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM
Saturday, July 27: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, July 28: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM