Update for the week Thursday, July 10, through Thursday, July 17
THIS WEEK
OFFICE CLOSED - The St. Mary Church Secretary will be out of the office through Friday, July 11, so the deadline for both the July 6 and July 13 Sunday Bulletins was noon on July 1. Any information and/or donations made to the church after the July 1 deadline will appear in the July 20 Bulletin.
MEMORIALS – Trisagion Prayers for Donald DiFiore (40 days) and for Fr. Gregory Phelan (25 years) will be prayed this Sunday, July 13, 2014.
VACATION CHURCH SCHOOL - St. George West Roxbury will offer Vacation Church School 2014, Monday through Thursday, July 28-31, from 9:00 am-noon each day. Join them for lessons about the major feasts of the church, crafts and fun, Preschool through grade 5. Cost is $20 for 1 child, $30 for 2 children, $40 for 3 children. Registration must be received by Sunday, July 13. Download a registration form at http://www.stgeorgeofboston.org/ministries/vcs. For more information contact John Abud at abudjohn@gmail.com.
BIBLE STUDY – Come join us next Thursday, July 17, at 7:00 pm in the church library as we continue our study of Exodus. Listen to the podcasts at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/genesis-part-7/ and http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/exodus-part-8/. The Bible Study at St. Mary, sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, meets every other Thursday, and is based on a course originally broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio, entitled Search the Scriptures. For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mksayeg@gmail.com) or Fr. Antony (frawhj@gmail.com ). New members are always welcome.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN JOSEPH – A transcript of His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph's first remarks after his return from the Antiochian Unity Conference held in Balamand, Lebanon, can be found here: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/features/metropolitan_josephs_inaugural_address. An audio version of these remarks, as well as an audio of the homily he delivered on Sunday, July 6, while presiding over the 2014 San Francisco Parish Life Conference of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Eagle River, can be heard here: http://www.antiochian.org/his-eminence-metropolitan-joseph-speaks-2014-san-francisco-parish-life-conference .
DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS – Friday, August 15 is the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, our feast day at St. Mary's. Watch for information on how we'll celebrate this year. And meanwhile, you can listen to not one but two new CDs:
(1) An audio CD of the hymns of Great Vespers, the Lamentations, and the Orthros hymns for the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, chanted by Dr. Sam N. Cohlmia, Protopsaltis of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America at St. George Cathedral in Wichita, KS. This CD is available for $15.00 by contacting Dr. Cohlmia at samcohlmia@yahoo.com
(2) Full of Grace: Great Vespers for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, chanted by the St Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale – which includes St. Mary alums Brooke Wilcox, Sophia Stratakis Huling and Danielle Miller, among others. Cost is $18; for full information and to order, see http://www.svspress.com/full-of-grace-great-vespers-for-the-feast-of-the-dormition-of-the-theotokos/
REMINDERS
TANGLEWOOD OUTING – Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary’s as we carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy next Sunday, July 20. We’ll picnic on the lawn and listen to music by Beethoven and others, with violinist Joshua Bell and new BSO conductor Andris Nelsons. For more information see http://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/60929. (Rain date August 10: http://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/60938.) The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are $21.00 (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).
ROOM NEEDED – Lianour Barakat, a Syrian student from the Antiochian Orthodox church in Mezze, Damascus, will be a graduate student at Northeastern this fall and is looking for a room or roommates in the Boston area. Please feel free to contact Lianour at 857-389-4313 or by e-mail: lia.barakat@gmail.com .
PAPPAS PATRISTICS INSTITUTE SUMMER PROGRAM - The Pappas Patristics Institute is pleased to announce its eighth annual week-long Summer Patristic Studies Program at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA, Sunday through Friday, July 20-25, 2014. 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. 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 Pappas Patristic Institute at pappaspatristic@comcast.net at your earliest convenience. You will then be sent a registration form. Complete information found here: http://www.hchc.edu/assets/files/patristics/2014_SumInst_AnnouncmentProgram_140503.pdf
CONGRATULATIONS: BIBLE BOWL WINNERS - Congratulations to our Bible Bowl team, Thomas and Anthony Marge and Alex Dalton, and their coach Violet Robbat! The St. Mary team took first place in the Bible Bowl at the Parish Life Conference in Plymouth. The team and their coach will continue on to the National Bible Bowl in July. We wish them well!
CONGRATULATIONS: SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS - Congratulations to Victoria Sayeg and Thomas Marge, recipients of 2014 New England Region FSJD Scholarships, which were presented to them at the Parish Life Conference in Plymouth. The scholarships are awarded to those high school seniors who are faithful and active Orthodox Christians and whose high school records indicate a potential for being successful in an accredited college.
Thomas Marge is also the recipient of the National Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting Scholarship!
CAMP COUNSELORS NEEDED - The Greek Metropolis of Boston Camp in Contoocook, NH is looking for male staff who have completed at least one year of college and have prior camp experience for the following weeks: Week 4 (July 21-27), Week 5 (July 28-August 3), Week 6 (August 4-11). To learn more, visit http://boston.goarch.org/ministries/mbc/ . If you are interested, please email mbcamp@boston.goarch.org
ICON WORKSHOP - St. Michael’s Orthodox Church, Woonsocket, RI, is offering an intense six day course Monday through Saturday, August 11-16, where the student will create an icon. Tuition $450. Class size limited to 10 students. For complete info and registration: archangelicons@verizon.net or 412-527-5359.
HELP PROVIDE A WARM WELCOME – Two things we do every week - all through the summer too! - to welcome visitors and newcomers, and to strengthen the bonds of fellowship with all who worship at St. Mary, are: 1.) Greet everyone who enters the church, and 2.) Provide coffee hour after Liturgy. We need more help with both of these ministries. To become a greeter please contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or email at Buddy@cjmabardy.com ; to provide a coffee hour please sign up on the sheet downstairs on the bulletin board or contact Barbara in the office at 617-547-1234 or secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org .
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.
Also - please donate unwanted Orthodox books, icon cards, and magazines to our prison ministry to share with inmates. Please remove any personal mailing address for security purposes and give them to Mitrophan Chin. Note: Our inmates are specifically interested in the recent June 2014 issue of The Word magazine, as they recognize Fr Antony, Bp John and couple of parishioners in one of the photos taken at St Mary's. They recollect with fondness the hierarchical Orthodox baptismal service performed a couple of years ago, for the first time in a Massachusetts correctional facility, for one of the inmates (Michael in baptism), and still remember the chanters Abraham and Thecla.
CHURCH SCHOOL TEACHERS NEEDED – If you are interested in teaching Church School next year, or being an assistant or substitute teacher, please contact Barbara Shoop at Barbara@dsaarchitects.com. Being a Church School teacher can be a very rewarding and exciting opportunity. Teachers are provided with all the materials they will need.
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, July 12: Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 13: Summer hours - Orthros: 8:15 am, and Liturgy: 9:30 am , followed by Trisagion Prayers for Donald DiFiore (40 days) and for Fr. Gregory Phelan (25 years)
Scripture Readings for Sunday, July 13:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to Titus 3:8-15
… But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious [definition: schismatic, discordant, conflicting, argumentative, disputatious, quarrelsome, clashing, warring, at loggerheads, at odds, rebellious, mutinous], after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned. ...
Gospel: Matthew 5:14-19
The Lord said to his disciples, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. ...."
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, July 19: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, July 20: Summer hours - Orthros: 8:15 am, and Liturgy: 9:30 am , followed by Tanglewood outing
Friday, August 1: Dormition fast begins
Tuesday, August 5: Vespers/Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration 6:30 pm
Wednesday, August 6: Paraclesis for the Dormition 6:30 pm
Wednesday, August 13: Paraclesis for the Dormition 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 23: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, August 31: Last day of Summer Hours
REFLECTION
True morality consists far more in how well we care for one another than in what kind of external behavior we wish to force on other people. Too often, moralism is confused with morality, but they are far from being the same. The moralistic notion that Christianity has a duty to try to force one or another denomination’s understanding of biblical morality on any nation or community is quite destructive and usually leads to persecutions and violence. People with such ideas will usually ignore the Gospel itself and rummage through the Old Testament seeking a bludgeon to use against someone or some group. Another construct that appears to be problematic is focussing the whole concept of morality on sexual matters, often to the exclusion of other very serious issues.
- Archbishop Lazar Puhalo
You were sincere and uncorrupted, and forgetful of injuries between one another. Every kind of faction and schism was abominable in your sight. You mourned over the transgressions of your neighbors: their deficiencies you deemed your own. You never grudged any act of kindness, being "ready to every good work." Adorned by a thoroughly virtuous and religious life, you did all things in the fear of God. The commandments and ordinances of the Lord were written upon the tablets of your hearts.
- Pope St. Clement I of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians
One must not argue, for an argument can sometimes cause great unpleasantness. It has been said: “He is great before God who behaves humbly towards his neighbor, and God will exalt the humble, but the proud and argumentative God will humble.” One must reproach only himself for his own faults, and not his neighbor.
- St. Joseph of Optina
Don't wage your Christian struggle with sermons and arguments, but with true love. When we argue, others react. When we love people, they are moved and we win them over. When we love we think that we offer something to others, but in reality we are the first to benefit.
- Elder Porphyrios
There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love. Love admits of no schisms: love gives rise to no seditions: love does all things in harmony. By love have all the elect of God been made perfect; without love nothing is well-pleasing to God.
- St. Clement I of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians