Update for the week Thursday, November 1 - Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Note: Daylight Savings Time ends this Saturday, November 3. Don’t forget to change your clocks back one hour.
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY’S
SATURDAY 11/3 – Chanters’ Rehearsal at 4:00pm
- Great Vespers at 5:00pm.
- Young Adult Fellowship Night following Vespers: potluck dinner and Coffeehouse with live music
SUNDAY 11/4 – Orthros 8:45am
- St. Ignatius Catechetical Group (Enquirers’ Class) 9:00am
- Divine Liturgy 10:00am, with Church School following
- Kibbeh and Grape Leaves order pick-up after Liturgy
THIS WEEK ELSEWHERE
FRIDAY 11/2 – You are invited to Family Night at St. George West Roxbury, this Friday from 6:00 to 9:00pm.. Family dinner at 6:00pm, speaker presentations at 7:00pm, and movies for the kids. Topic: Social Media, Technology & Faith. Speakers are our own Jamil Samara and Bill Bowman. RSVP to stgeorgeofboston@verizon.net .
FRIDAY- SUNDAY 11/2-11/4 - St. John of Damascus in Dedham (300 West St.) will be holding their annual bazaar this Friday through Sunday: Friday 12pm-9pm, Saturday 10am-9pm and Sunday 12pm- 2pm.. Middle Eastern cuisine, country store, Christmas corner and more. For more information visit www.stjohnd.org/bazaar.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARRIAGE AND ENRICHMENT WORKSHOP – On Saturday, December 1, the Diocese of Worcester and New England will offer a Marriage and Enrichment Workshop with Bishop JOHN. Time: 10:00am-3:00pm. Place: Chancery - 2 Lydias Path, Westborough, MA. Cost, $30 per couple, includes lunch and workshop materials. RSVP to Bp. JOHN at frjpa@aol.com
HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT - St. John’s Dedham invites you to a Holiday Pops Concert presented by the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, on Saturday, December 1 from 6:00 to 9:00pm. Cocktail hour and Mazza 6pm; Concert 7pm, Coffee and pastry 8pm. $15 for adults; $5 for children. To reserve tickets call 781-326-3046, or go to www.stjohnd.org/pops
MESSIAH TICKET DEADLINE EXTENDED – If you’d like to go with friends from St. Mary’s to the Handel and Haydn Society’s performance of Handel’s Messiah, a few of our discounted tickets are still available. The performance is Sunday, December 2, at 3:00 pm. We will carpool to (or meet at) Symphony Hall after Liturgy and have lunch together at a nearby restaurant before the concert. Our group rate tickets are just $29 - to reserve one please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com.
WOMEN’S CLUB DINNER - On Monday, December 3 the Women’s Club will be going out to dinner for our Christmas gathering. We will meet at the Cheesecake Factory at the Mall at Chestnut Hill at 7:00pm. All women of the parish are welcome to join us. If you are interested contact Barbara (barbara @dsaarchitects.com) or the church office (617-547-1234 or secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org ). We hope you will join us!
CHURCH SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT - If your child is interested in participating in the Christmas Pageant on Sunday, December 16, please see Sarah Byrne-Martelli or Chris Addis. We also need parents to assist at rehearsals (dates to be announced).
REMINDERS
DIOCESAN CHOIRS DAY - The Mission Council of the Diocese of Worcester and New England is sponsoring a day for church musicians and clergy to explore how the physical acts of breathing, making sound, and singing ground us in the present moment and bring us into the presence of Christ. Our own Fr. Antony Hughes is one of the guest speakers along with Robin Freeman, Director of Music at St. Vladimir's Seminary. The event, on Saturday, November 10, will be held at St. George Church in W Roxbury from 9:30am-3:00pm. All are welcome, even if not a current church musician. RSVP by Sunday, 10/28. For questions, contact Charlie Marge at Charlie.Marge@verizon.net
MEMBERSHIP SUNDAY – On Sunday, November 11, for the first time at St. Mary’s, we’re going to have a Membership Sunday. During Coffee Hour, we will have a table set up where people can sign up to join the parish. We’ll be able to answer questions about membership and ways to give, financially and by volunteering time and talents. We’ll also be able to answer questions about eGive.
LITURGY RETREAT – A Fall Liturgy Retreat for Church School Students and Families will be held on Monday, November 12 (This is the observed day for Veteran’s Day this year, when most students have the day off and some adults are off from work.) This year’s theme is Liturgy and the Arts. Come and explore the intersection of Liturgy with Hymnography, Culinary Arts, Architecture, Iconography, Textile Arts, and Prayerful Arts. $5/student, $10/family (includes Breakfast snacks, Lunch, and supplies). To register, contact Doreen Bargoot (dbargoot@aol.com)
BIBLE STUDY - St. Mary’s Bible Study/Adult Education Program is scheduled to meet Tuesday, November 13 from 7:00-8:30pm, at Christina Palis's apartment in Cambridge. Each bi-weekly session will be an in-depth look at the lectionary reading for the next Sunday. Come join us - everyone is welcome to attend! For questions or directions please contact the co-leaders: Steve Walker at smwalk@gmail.com or Christina Palis at christina_palis@mail.harvard.edu.
BAKE SALE – The Women ‘s Club will be holding its annual Thanksgiving Charity Bake Sale on Sunday, November 18. Please volunteer to bake - e-mail our Chairperson Violet Robbat (vmkrobbat@yahoo.com ) or the church office, if you can bake and/or donate – and plan to purchase all your holiday breads, pies, goodies, Syrian pastries and much more! All proceeds will benefit the Convent of Saidnaya in Syria.
N.G. BERAM AWARDS BANQUET – The Nicholas G. Beram Veteran's Association will hold its 72nd Anniversary Celebration and Scholastic Achievement Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 24 at the Hilton Inn, Dedham, 12noon-4pm. Our own Alexander Dalton is one of the Scholastic Achievement Award recipients!
PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5 at 7:30pm.
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – Help support our Canned Food Drive! From now through December 31, bring in canned goods and place them in the plastic bins in the room outside the kitchen. (Canned goods only, please.) They will be distributed to food pantries in our area. Since 1984, churches throughout the Archdiocese have collected and distributed over 5,000,000 pounds of food!
HOSPITALITY GROUP NEEDS MORE VOLUNTEERS – St. Mary’s Donald DiFiore Memorial Hospitality Group works to build community among the larger St. Mary’s congregation, so that we can come together in service, celebration and fellowship outside of liturgy and coffee hour. We need members to join our ranks, and help with planning and running fellowship events such as Lenten Potluck Suppers, the Dormition Feast, special coffee hours, our annual Picnic, etc. Even if you could commit to just one event per year, this would immeasurably help strengthen the sense of community and family in our parish. We also welcome new ideas for fellowship gatherings – anything that brings us together in communion. If interested, please email Diana Yousef (yousefd@post.harvard.edu).
BE A GREETER - We could use your help in being a Greeter. This is a great opportunity to meet all the parishioners of St. Mary’s. 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 (9:45am). Greeting time ends when Communion starts. Sign up for one Sunday or several Sundays. If you are interested, contact Buddy Mabardy at buddy@cjmabardy.com or 781-729-6303, or the church office at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.
JOIN US ONLINE - 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 or online). If you have questions or comments about this ministry please contact us at live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org
REFLECTION
...a man has no right to be called faithful, if his faith is a bare word and if he has not in him a faith made active by love or the Spirit. Thus faith must be made evident by progress in works, or it must act in the light and shine in works, as the divine Apostle says: "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18), thus showing that the faith of grace is made evident by works performed in accordance with the commandments, just as the commandments are fulfilled in deed and are made bright through the faith which is in grace.
- St. Gregory of Sinai, Texts on Commandments and Dogmas
People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works.
- Meister Eckhart