Update for the week of August 24-31, 2017
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY
SUNDAY 8/27 – Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
WELCOME BACK BREAKFAST - Please join us Sunday, September 10 after Liturgy in the Hall downstairs to once again welcome students back to the area after summer. Breakfast will be co-hosted by the Hospitality Group and the Young Adults group. Please wear your collegiate colors on that Sunday to Church to help the college community feel welcome! Suggested donations for the breakfast: $7/person, $14/family. Questions? Contact Diana Yousef (yousefd@post.harvard.edu).
DINNER CRUISE - St. George Boston is sponsoring a Charles River Sunset Dinner Cruise at 7:30 on Saturday, September 9. Cost of Dinner and Boat Rental and donation to the St. George Endowment Funds is $150 perperson. For reservations contact: eileensaliba@gmail.com. Or 617-699-9987. Space is limited.
SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY – A training session on building social justice ministry teams in the church will be held on Saturday, September 16, here at St. Mary Orthodox Church. Details can be found at https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/news/events/2017/social-justice-ministry-teams Note that Registration by telephone or e-mail before September 6 is only $10; Registration at the door will be $40.
CHANTERS’ REHEARSAL – There will be a rehearsal and meeting for chanters on Saturday, September 16 at 4:00pm, after the Social Justice Training program.
VESPERS and YOUNG ADULTS – September’s Great Vespers service will be held on Saturday, September 16, at 5:00 pm (note revised date).
+ Following Vespers the Young Adults will gather for a delicious dinner out on the town.
+ September is “Young Adult Ministry Month” in our Archdiocese, where Young Adults can become more involved in the life of the parish. (see the Opportunities for Service section below.) To learn more or to get involved, send an email to youngadults@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or call/text Jamil (617-501-4427) or Adam (315-719-2101)
CREATIVE ARTS PRESENTATION - Award ribbons will be given to the children who participated in the Diocese of Worcester and New England Creative Arts Competition, following Liturgy on Sunday, September 17. The projects will be on display in the Church Hall following the presentation.
REMINDERS
HAPPY NEW YEAR – Friday, September 1 marks the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year.
NATIVITY OF THE THEOTOKOS –Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos will be celebrated on Thursday, September 7, at 6:30pm
CHURCH SCHOOL REGISTRATION - Registration for new students, and for children who have reached the age of 3, will be held on Sunday, September 10.
+ Classes will begin on Sunday, September 17.
BIBLE STUDY - Welcome back to the Bible Study/Adult Education Program at St. Mary's Church!. The Bible study for the coming year will focus on podcasts that introduce the History of the Bible, the Church Fathers, and the first three books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Due to construction in the church, our meeting day is being moved to Mondays. We meet every other week, and our first meeting will be Monday, September 11 at 7:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall. At this meeting we will discuss the podcasts found at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/overview and http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/inspiration-and-inerrancy-part-1 Everyone is welcome to attend; a snack to share is welcomed, but not required. If interested, please contact the new co-leaders: Steve Walker at smwalk@gmail.com or Ioana Popa at drioanapopa@gmail.com .
ELEVATION OF THE CROSS – Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross will be celebrated on Wednesday, September 13, at 6:00pm (note early start time).
WOMEN’S CLUB – The first Women’s Club meeting of the church year will be Monday, September 18 at 7:30. At this meeting we will formulate our yearly calendar, so come with any ideas you may have. We meet only once a month, and welcome all women of the parish to join us. The Women’s Club does charitable work both locally, nationally and internationally, and supports the Church School. Call Priscilla (781-762-1527) or the church office (617-547-1234) if you have any questions or are interested in joining us.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council will be Wednesday, September 20, at 7:30 pm.
SONIA’S RUN - Sonia’s Run and Fall Fair in memory of Sonia Daly Belcher, St. George’s, West Roxbury will be held on Saturday, September 23. Registration begins at 8:30am, race starts at 9:30am. St. Mary’s will run as a team again this year (last year we came in 2nd place). Please e-mail Charlie Marge, charlie.marge@verizon.net if you are planning on running so that you can be included in our team. All proceeds from the run will benefit Theophany School. Vendor tables are available. For more information go to www.soniasrun.org .
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - St. Mary’s 90th Anniversary Celebration with Metropolitan JOSEPH has been postponed. His Eminence has informed us that due to a synod meeting scheduled at the Patriarchate he regrets that he must postpone his Hierarchical visit to our parish, originally scheduled for the weekend of September 29-October 1, 2017. His Eminence will be making a visit at a date to be determined in the near future.
+ His Grace Bishop JOHN will be at St. Mary’s for a Hierarchical visit on Sunday, September 24, 2017 to celebrate liturgy and kick off our 90th year celebration.
ICON EXHIBIT – You are invited to an exhibit at the Museum of Russian Icons entitled Fantastic Beasts in Iconography. This Exhibit spotlights the many types of natural and unnatural creatures in iconography, exploring their origins, symbolism, stories, and myriad representations. This exhibit is family friendly, with images and activities that are appealing, accessible, and educational for both adults and children. This exhibit runs until Sunday, September 24. Special rates are available for group tours. Just call their Group Tour Manager, Amy Consalvi for information: 978.598.5000 x125. And more details of the exhibits are available on their website www.museumofrussianicons.org.
DIOCESE FAMILY CAMP – Our first Diocese Family Camp will be held the weekend of Friday-Sunday, October 13-15, 2017 at the St. Methodios Faith & Heritage Center in Contoocook, NH. Our Family Camp is modeled after the program at Antiochian Village. We will have daily services, Christian Education for children, a Keynote Speaker (TBD) for the parents, and sports and games for the whole family to participate. Experienced AV Staff Members are being recruited to serve as counselors for the weekend. More registration details, promotional flyer, bulletin insert, and tentative schedule are online at http://antiochian.org/FamilyCampNE . There is also a facebook event under the Diocese Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1425084937546643
COFFEE HOUR MADE EASY! - To make sponsoring a Coffee Hour a little bit easier, St. Mary’s offers a delivery service through “Instacart”, for the basic foods necessary to host a Coffee hour. Simply select a date, mail a check to the office and we will order the food and have it delivered to the church on that Sunday between 9:00 and 10:00 am. You will need to be at the church to accept the order and you will be required to set up for the coffee hour and clean up both the kitchen and hall at the end of the coffee hour. Two menus will be offered. Menu one will include: bagels, mini muffins, fruit, hummus/Syrian bread, juice and coffee for $160. Menu two will include: bagels, juice and coffee for $70. Prices do not include a 20% tip for delivery and are subject to change based on current market pricing of items. Cream cheese, peanut butter, jam and coffee creamer are included with each menu. As usual, St. Mary’s will provide the plates, cups, napkins, utensils, serving platters, and sweetener for coffee. If you are interested in taking advantage of this service and signing up for a coffee hour please contact the office at 617-547-1234 or e-mail secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
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:
Greeter: 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. To volunteer contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or e-mail: buddy@cjmabardy.com, or call the church office at 617-547-1234
Liturgical Service – Epistle: The Epistle is read each Sunday by a volunteer parishioner. To volunteer please contact Jeff Wasilko, jeffw@smoe.org
Liturgical Service – Procession: Church School children or parishioners carry the candles, icon, and bread baskets in the great procession. For information about this ministry contact Teva Regule at teva@mit.edu
Liturgical Service – Communion: Volunteers are needed every Sunday to hold the Communion cloths and the Holy Bread baskets during Communion. To volunteer please contact Jeff Wasilko, 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 contact Linda Arnold, our Coffee Hour volunteer coordinator at MMarmee52@aol.com or 978-270-0346, or Barbara Shoop in the Parish Office at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.
Prison Ministry: For information about the Prison Ministry at St. Mary you can subscribe to our mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/ocpm-concord. If you are interested in helping with this ministry, talk with Fr. Antony or Deacon Jeff. Another way to help is to donate Orthodox books, icon cards, and magazines (for security, please remove any personal mailing address) – Mitrophan Chin collects these to share with the inmates.
Hospitality Group: St. Mary's Donald D. Fiore Hospitality Group sponsors various events to welcome visitors and newcomers and to foster a spirit of fellowship and caring among all the people who worship here. To join us or to find out more, contact any of our officers: Julie Wasilko, President julie31415pi@gmail.com, Diana Yousef, Vice President dymartinek@gmail.com, Michael Decerbo, Treasurer michaeldecerbo@gmail.com, Socrates Deligeorges, Head Chef dr.socrates@gmail.com, Melissa Nassiff, eNewsletter editor mnassiff@gmail.com,
Choir: The St. Mary Church Choir is open to individuals interested in making a commitment to sing each Sunday at Divine Liturgy. Please feel free to join them and/or introduce yourself to the director, Michelle Mabardy, any Sunday after Liturgy.
"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: Madeline Homsy
REFLECTION
"Godliness is perfection that is never complete."
- St. Philotheos of Sinai
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."
- Francis de Sales