Update for the week Thursday, November 14 - Wednesday, November 20, 2019
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY’S
FRIDAY 11/15 – The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, begins on Friday, November 15. This is the forty days of fasting and prayer in preparation for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ.
+ Tomorrow (11/15) is the deadline for submitting your pledge card. Please return your pledge card to the church office or fill out the ePledge form on our website (https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/ministries/stewardship/). A new pledge is requested each year. Thank you for your continued support of our parish through volunteering and financial giving.
SUNDAY 11/17 – Orthros 8:45am; St. Ignatius Catechetical Group, and Orthodoxy 102, 9:00am; Divine Liturgy 10:00am, followed by Church School
+ If you wish to join friends from St. Mary’s for the Handel and Haydn Society’s annual performance of Handel’s Messiah on Sunday afternoon, December 1, at 3:00 pm, please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com by this Sunday, November 17. Tickets are just $29 ($36 without our group discount!).
WEDNESDAY 11/20 - Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple will be celebrated next Wednesday, November 20, at 6:30pm
THIS WEEK ELSEWHERE
FRIDAY and SATURDAY, 11/15-16 – St. George Cathedral in Worcester will be holding “Camp at Home” this weekend. This is a program meant to introduce young people to camp and Antiochian Village. AV staff Alumni help run the program. Teen SOYO members (7th-12th Grade) are welcome to arrive Friday 11/15 at 7:00pm for an overnight camp experience. Campers age 8 years old or older will begin at 9:00am on Saturday 11/16.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
YOUNG ADULTS PAINT NIGHT – On Saturday, December 7, the Young Adults will have a 2nd Annual Orthodox Paint Night following Great Vespers. All young adults are invited to participate.
WOMEN’S CLUB - The next Women’s Club meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday, December 8, during coffee hour. The St. Mary Women’s Club does charitable work locally, nationally and internationally, and also supports the Church School. And we hold delicious fund-raising events! We invite all women of the parish to bake for our bake sales and to join us at our monthly meetings. E-mail Melissa Nassiff (mnassiff@gmail.com) if you have any questions or would like to join us.
NATIVITY DONATIONS – If you would like to donate toward the poinsettias and other decorations for Nativity please use the form in the Sunday bulletin or mail a check to St. Mary’s Church, 8 Inman St., Cambridge MA 02139-2407.
CHRISTIAN WITNESS RETREAT - On Saturday, November 23, the Orthodox Christian Witness Program: Spiritual Pilgrimage, of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Diocese of Worcester and New England, will hold the last retreat of this semester at St. Mary’s from 9:30am-4:00pm, entitled Mentorship Skills: Opening to the Other – Kenosis and Listening Skills. This retreat is an opportunity to deepen mentoring and listening skills, as we are invited into the reality of another person through their story, in order to witness and make authentic connections in Christ.
The retreat will use small presentations, personal reflections, and small and large group discussions. Although a donation of $35 per retreat is suggested (or any other amount), the donation is not a requirement for participation. Coffee, tea and a light breakfast will be provided at 9 am (lunch is not provided). Anyone can register. To register or for questions, please email IP.AlongTheJourney@gmail.com or call 617-274-8336.
REMINDERS
BAKE SALE – The Women’s Club will be holding its Thanksgiving Bake Sale on Sunday, November 24 after Liturgy. All proceeds will benefit the Convent of Saidnaya, northwest of Damascus in Syria. If you can bake or donate funds please contact our event Chair, Madeline Homsy (madeline2798@verizon.net).
N.G. BERAM AWARDS BANQUET – The Nicholas G. Beram Veterans Association will hold its 73rd anniversary celebration and 53rd Scholastic Achievement awards banquet on Saturday, November 30, from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm at the Holiday Inn, Dedham. Andrew Bargoot II, one of our teens, will be receiving a Scholastic Achievement award. Tickets for the luncheon are $35.00 and tables of eight may be reserved. Luncheon reservation and ad book forms are available in the church office.
PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD – Let the Women’s Club send a lovely Christmas card on your behalf to our parishioners. Save yourself time, let us do the work, and have all proceeds benefit the Antiochian Women’s Project 2019-2020: Building a New Cathedral at Antiochian Village You will receive this card with the names of parishioners, like yourself, who are wishing a Blessed Nativity and a Merry Christmas to all. Please use the order form in the Sunday bulletin, and donate whatever amount you choose. Deadline: Sunday, December 1.
PLC meeting – The next meeting of the Parish Life Conference Committee will be on Wednesday, December 4 at 7:00pm.
HOLIDAY CONCERT – You are invited to the MetWinds (Metropolitan Wind Symphony) 2019 Holiday Pops Concert at St. John of Damascus Church, Dedham, on Saturday, December 7, 6:00pm-9:00pm. Adults: $15 Children: $5. To purchase tickets, visit at http://www.stjohnd.org/pops.
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT – The Church School Christmas Pageant is scheduled for Sunday, December 22, after Liturgy. If your child is interested in participating, please see Sarah Byrne-Martelli or Chris Addis. We also need parents to assist at all rehearsals, which will take place during Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 8 and Sunday, December 15.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT – St. Mary’s will be hosting a concert of Christmas Carols and liturgical music from the Eastern and Western Christian traditions featuring local Orthodox Choirs on Sunday, December 8 at 4:00pm, followed by a reception to be sponsored by the Young Adult Ministry and the Hospitality Group. Joining St. Mary’s parish choir and the Boston Byzantine Choir will be the Arabic Choir of the Theotokos from St. Mary’s Pawtucket and the St. Romanos the Melodist Byzantine Choir from Hellenic College/Holy Cross. The concert will conclude with St. Mary’s choir leading a Western Christmas Carol Singalong accompanied by strings from the Boston Civic Symphony.
PARISH COUNCIL – The Parish Council is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, December 11.
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – Help support our Canned Food Drive! From October 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.
CHOIR MEMBERS NEEDED - The Choir is looking for new members, especially Alto (woman) and Bass/Baritone (men), but of course we welcome all parts. Please e-mail Michelle Mabardy at mmmabardy@gmail.com if you are interested.
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
The more you love money, the more securely you close the Kingdom of God.
- Saint Basil the Great
If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen.
- The Epistle Of Polycarp To The Philippians
But how can those who are tethered to their inheritance be following Christ? And those who are weighed down by earthly desires be seeking heaven and aspiring to the heights above? They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is they rather who are owned; enslaved as they are to their own property, they are not the masters of their money but its slaves. The Apostle was pointing to our times and to these very men when he said: "They that desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many hurtful desires, which drown a man into perdition and destruction. For the desire of money is the root of all evil; for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Timothy 6:9-10)
- St. Cyprian of Carthage, The Lapsed