Update for the week Thursday, March 5, through Thursday, March 12, 2015
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY, 3/5 - The Bible Study group meets tonight - Thursday, March 5 - at 7:00 pm in the church library. The Bible Study at St. Mary meets every other Thursday, and is based on a very interesting course originally broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio, entitled Search the Scriptures. For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mailto:mksayeg@gmail.com ) or Fr. Antony (mailto:mksayeg@gmail.com ). New members are always welcome.
FRIDAY, 3/6 – Akathist (Madayeh) service 7:00 pm (and every Friday through March 27)
SATURDAY, 3/7 - Great Vespers at St. Mary 5:00 pm
+ You are invited to a Marriage Preparation and Enrichment workshop this Saturday, March 7, 10 am-4pm, at the Chancery, 2 Lydia’s Path, Westborough. Cost: $35 per couple. Mail your check payable to NER Deanery, to St. John of Damascus, 300 West Street, Dedham, MA, 02026.
SUNDAY, 3/8 – Enquirers Class (St. Ignatius Catechetical Group) 9:00 am; Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Teens remain upstairs for the sermon; Church School lesson 16
+The Women's Club Lenten Food Sale deadline is this Sunday, March 8. Please use the order form in the Sunday bulletin to order your Hoomos (hummus), Mjadara (lentils with rice), and Spinach Triangles. Pickup date is next Sunday, March 15.
Also, please plan to come help make the Spinach Triangles on Saturday, March 14, at 9:00 am.
MONDAY, 3/9 – Great Compline at St. John of Damascus, Dedham, 7:00 pm
WEDNESDAY, 3/11 – Presanctified Liturgy 6:30, followed by Potluck Supper (and every Wednesday through April 1). Potluck leader for 3/11 is Melissa Nassiff, mnassiff@gmail.com
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION – We will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation to the Holy Theotokos with Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom for the Annunciation and the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel on Wednesday, March 25, at 6:30 pm. Because this year the Feast of the Annunciation falls on Wednesday in Lent when we usually celebrate the Pre- Sanctified Divine Liturgy, we will follow the ancient order for services allowing us to celebrate the Feast at the end of the day with the Chrysostom Liturgy. Fish, wine and oil are permitted this day. Afterwards, we return to the strict fast. (We will not offer the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy that week.)
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE:
- The New England Region Fellowship of St. John the Divine is awarding scholarships to students who are faithful and active Orthodox Christians, whose high school records indicate a potential for being successful in an accredited college and who are in need of financial assistance. Applications are available through the Church Office and must be received by the Scholarship Committee Chairperson by May 1, 2015.
- Antiochian Women’s Scholarships are available to females 25 years of age and older in good standing of the Antiochian Archdiocese, actively involved in their parish and who demonstrate need. The application deadline is June 1, 2015. Applications are available in the Church Office. E-mail cindy@cnyhondas.com with any questions.
ETHIOPIAN ICON EXHIBIT - The Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, MA is featuring an exhibit on the History of Ethopian Icons through April 18. For information call 978-598-5000 or see www.museumofrussianicons.org.
BBC LENTEN RECORDINGS – You can span the liturgical cycle from Lent to Pascha with the triad of recordings from the Boston Byzantine Choir: Lenten Journey, Thy Passion, and Thy Resurrection. These CDs, $15 each or $40 for all three, are available from the Church Office or from Charlie Marge.
DONATIONS FOR HOLY WEEK – For the special services of Holy Week, the Church needs donations of olive oil for the Unction Service (Wednesday), flowers for the tomb of Christ (Friday), flowers to distribute on Great and Holy Friday, rose water to anoint the faithful (Friday), incense, Paschal lilies and other flowers, and candles. Deadline for donations is Palm Sunday, April 5. Please use the donation form in the Sunday Bulletin.
REMINDERS
WOMEN'S MONTH – March is Antiochian Women’s Month. Our women will be reading the Epistle (1 woman), taking the Collection each Sunday (2 women) and assisting during Communion (6 women). We are inviting all Women of St. Mary Church to be included: If you wish to participate, sign up on the sheet at the Bengarri or contact Mary Ellen at 781-729-6303 or the church office.
WOMEN'S MONTH SERMONS - This month a number of women from the parish will be sharing their thoughts on the various "Themes of Holy Week." By reflecting on Holy or Great Week, it is our hope that we can gain a greater understanding of the services that mark our yearly celebration of our Lord's death and resurrection and its meaning for our lives today. This Sunday Sarah Byrne-Martelli will talk about Unction: "Healing and Forgiveness"
LENTEN POTLUCKS – Every Wednesday during Lent the Presanctified Liturgy at 6:30 pm will be followed by a Potluck Supper, if we have a volunteer leader for each week.
Being the leader simply means a) providing a main dish, b) coordinating what others bring if they ask, and c) coordinating setup and cleanup. As with coffee hour, if there is no potluck leader, then there is no potluck. We still need three more volunteers - contact Julie Wasilko (julie31415pi@gmail.com) or Melissa Nassiff (mnassiff@gmail.com) to sign up to lead a potluck.
Everyone else, please bring a dish to share. Any Lenten fare is welcome: main courses, sides, salads, desserts, as well as beverages and snacks. This is a wonderful opportunity for fellowship during Lent, plus we get to sample each other's Lenten recipes.
WOMEN'S RETREAT – The Sts. Martha and Mary Sisterhood of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, 62 Harvard Ave., Allston, invites you to a Lenten Women’s Retreat on Saturday, March 14. The theme is Becoming a Living Sacrifice, with speaker Matushka Constantina Parker, author of The Scent of Holiness. Registration begins at 8:30 am; $35 adult fee/$20 student fee includes lunch and afternoon tea. Contact Lydia Hutchinski for registration questions: 617-323-5989 or hutchinski@verizon.net
ANNUAL MEETING RESCHEDULED – The Annual Meeting of St. Mary's Parish, repeatedly postponed because of snow, is now scheduled for Sunday, March 15, immediately after Liturgy. It is important that all members of St. Mary’s Church attend this meeting to approve the 2015 budget.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council will be Wednesday, March 18 at 8:00 pm
LENTEN RETREAT – Our teens are invited for the annual Lenten Retreat at the Saint Methodios Retreat Center in Contoocook, New Hampshire, on Friday-Sunday, March 27-29. The speaker will be Father Gregory Christakis, a Greek Orthodox priest from Medford, MA.
BAKE SALE – The St. Mary Women’s Club's annual Pascha Bake Sale will be held Sunday, March 29, during Coffee Hour. Plan on purchasing all your Pascha/Easter desserts, pastries and goodies. If you can bake something please call Mary Ellen Mabardy at 781-729-6303
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE - Scholarships ($1,000) are available to young women of Syrian and Lebanese origin, residing in Massachusetts within 50-mile radius of Boston, who plan to pursue a four-year college education. Scholarships are based on outstanding academic achievement, extra-curricular activities, charitable and civic involvement and good character; and applicants must be in good academic standing in her school and possess those personal attributes, which best serve the community. Applications are available through the Church Office and must be postmarked by March 31, 2015. If you have any questions, contact Mary Winstanley O’Connor at 617-523-1010 or email at moconnor@koilaw.com .
DIOCESAN COMPLINE – Great Compline services are offered every Monday evening at 7:00 pm in a different church of the diocese. The schedule is as follows: Feb. 23rd St. George, Norwood; March 2nd St. Michael, Cotuit; March 9th St. John of Damascus, Dedham; March 16t h St. George, Lowell; March 23rd St. George, West Roxbury; and March 30th St. George, Worcester (6:30pm).
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – You are urged during this season of prayer, self-discipline and fasting, to be generous in your contribution to the Food for Hungry People program of our Archdiocese. Money Boxes for collecting alms at home will be on the Bengarri; please pick one or two up and place them throughout your home, fill them up, and return them on Palm Sunday, April 5. “Whoever gives a hand to help his neighbor is helped by God’s own hand.” - St. Isaac the Syrian
COFFEE HOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – People are needed every week to provide coffee, juice and bagels, cookies, or more if desired, and set it up Sunday morning. Some do it to celebrate a special event or anniversary, but you don’t need a reason, and it can be as simple or fancy as you like. To sign up for an available Sunday, please put your name on the signup sheet on the bulletin board outside the Hall or call Barbara Shoop in the Parish Office (617-547-1234) and she will write your name in. When no one volunteers, there’s no coffee! The next several weeks are available.
ANTIOCHIAN VILLAGE SUMMER CAMP - Summer Camp registration is now open. Last year most sessions were full by the end of February, so make sure you register right away! There are currently over 300 campers registered. Please visit the Registration Page for instructions on how to register. Please note that you are not registered until they receive a deposit and you receive a confirmation email. For more information go to http://www.antiochianvillage.org/camp.html
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION – The 52nd Antiochian Archdiocese Convention, hosted by St. Mary Church, will be held Sunday, July 19, 2015-Sunday, July 26, 2015 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, MA. The convention room rate is $199.00 per night, plus tax. To book rooms at the hotel, register for the convention, purchase convention event tickets and tickets for Boston excursions and obtain forms to place a message in the Souvenir Journal, go to www.acboston2015.com. Rooms are booking quickly for this historic convention. Please call the church at (617) 547-1234 with any questions.
THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS
Greeter: Ray Sayeg
Liturgical Service:
Epistle: Melissa Nassiff
Procession: Teva Regule, Doreen Bargoot, Cathryn Alias, Cindy Mazzoni and TBD,
Communion: Anna Higgins, Amanda Bourell, Ann Bezzerides, Azeb Mitiku, and TBD
Collection: Juliana Paraschiv and Diana Yousef
Coffee Hour: An anonymous donor
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY – March 1, Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas
Epistle:
“... Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the message declared by angels was valid and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him.”
- Hebrews 1:10-2:3
Gospel:
... And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." ... “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your pallet and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-he said to the paralytic-"I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home."
- Mark 2:1-12
REFLECTION
God is kind and he is kind to an immeasurable extent. … Your sins piled one above the other do not overlap the greatness of God’s love. Your wounds are not too great for the skill of the Doctor. There is only one course of treatment for you to follow: rely on him in faith. Explain frankly what is wrong to the Doctor and say with the Psalmist: “I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity.” (Psalm 32:5) Then you will be able to go on with the Psalmist to say: “Then did you forgive the guilt of my sin.”
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Failure to do the good that is within your power is hard to forgive. But mercy and prayer reclaim the negligent.
- Mark the Ascetic
My brother asked forgiveness of the birds: it seems senseless, yet it is right, for all is like an ocean, all flows and connects; touch it in one place and it echoes at the other end of the world.
- Fr. Zossima, the monastic elder
O Lord, Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, have compassion and mercy on Thy sinful servant and pardon my unworthiness, and forgive me all the sins that I humanly committed today, and not only humanly but even worse than a beast - my voluntary sins, known and unknown, from my youth and from evil suggestions, and from my brazenness, and from boredom. If I have sworn by Thy Name or blasphemed it in thought, blamed or reproached anyone, or in my anger have detracted or slandered anyone, or grieved anyone, or if I have got angry about anything, or have told a lie, if I have slept unnecessarily, or if a beggar has come to me and I despised or neglected him, or if I have troubled my brother or quarreled with him, or if I have condemned anyone, or have boasted, or have been proud, or lost my temper with anyone, or if when standing in prayer my mind has been distracted by the glamor of this world, or if I have had depraved thoughts or have overeaten, or have drunk excessively, or have laughed frivolously, or have thought evil, or have seen the attraction of someone and been wounded by it in my heart, or said indecent things, or made fun of my brother's sin when my own faults are countless, or been neglectful of prayer, or have done some other wrong that I cannot remember - for I have done all this and much more - have mercy, my Lord and Creator, on me Thy wretched and unworthy servant, and absolve and forgive and deliver me in Thy goodness and love for men, so that, lustful, sinful and wretched as I am, I may lie down and sleep and rest in peace. And I shall worship, praise and glorify Thy most honorable Name, with the Father and His only-begotten Son, now and ever, and for all ages. Amen.
- St. Ephrem the Syrian, Prayer to the Most Holy Spirit