Update for the week Thursday, February 6 - Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Update for the week Thursday, February 6 - Wednesday, February 12, 2020
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY’S
SUNDAY 2/9 - Orthros 8:45am; St. Ignatius Catechetical Group, 9:00am, Orthodoxy 102 9:00am; Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with Bp. John 10:00am, followed by Church School
+ Scout Sunday – Today is the observance of Scout Sunday in the Orthodox Church. The scouts of our parish will be performing liturgical service. At the end of liturgy, Bishop JOHN will present Scout patches and awards to our scouts.
+ Women’s Club meeting during Coffee Hour
THIS WEEK ELSEWHERE
THURSDAY 2/6 – Orthodox Christian Witness Program: Spiritual Pilgrimage "Courage to Live - Fruits of the Holy Spirit". One of ten Thursday evening discussions. Time: Thursdays 7:00pm-9:00pm at the Bishop’s residence: 2 Lydias Path, Westborough MA 01581. Anyone can register - email at IP.AlongTheJourney@gmail.com or call at 617-274-8336
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
JOIN THE CHOIR – St. Mary Church Choir welcomes individuals (especially basses and altos!) 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.
MISSIONS COFFEE HOUR - A parish-wide collaboration of groups (Young Adults, Hospitality etc.) is planning a special coffee hour for the Sunday of Orthodoxy (March 8) to celebrate and learn about Orthodox missions activities around the world and to enjoy food from those places. (Featured will be China Translation Project; Project Mexico; OCMC work in Albania, Guatemala, Kenya, S Korea, New Zealand, Romania, and Sweden; and possibly more.) If you would like to help with planning and with preparing food, please contact Shannon Sakellariou at srsakellariou@gmail.com or 617-792-75780
REMINDERS
THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS PROGRAM: Spiritual Pilgrimage is an opportunity for anyone interested to learn, to reflect, and to be transformed through the Orthodox Christian Faith in preparation for various ministries. This spiritual pilgrimage is an interdisciplinary approach to create a cadre of leaders in the church. It is aimed to empower and equip Orthodox Christians to nourish and share the faith in the 21st century. This semester the program has a Round Table discussion unit and a Retreat unit. Anyone can join at any point in the program. We welcome you on behalf of the Program Interdisciplinary Leadership Team: Bishop John of Worcester and New England, Archpriest Antony Hughes, Ioana Popa MD, BCC, Richard J. Robbat Ph.D., Sebastien Falardeau, MA, PhDc.
ROUND TABLE: "Courage to Live - Fruits of the Holy Spirit". Ten Thursday evening discussions, beginning January 23. Anyone can register. Dates and Time: Thursdays 7:00pm-9:00pm. February 20, 27, March 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9, 23 (snow date alternative). Location: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Diocese of Worcester and New England Chancellery: 2 Lydias Path, Westborough MA 01581
RETREATS: "Free will and Christian Choice". Two Saturday daylong retreats – anyone can register for one retreat or for both. Dates and Time: Saturdays 9:00am-4:00pm. February 22, March 21, 2020. Location: Emmaus House, New Ipswich NH, 03071
To register or for questions, please email at IP.AlongTheJourney@gmail.com or call at 617-274-8336
PLC MEETING – The next meeting of the Parish Life Conference planning committee will be Wednesday, February 26, at 7:00pm in the church hall.
FORGIVENESS VESPERS – Forgiveness Vespers will be Sunday, March 1, at 6:00pm. Great Lent begins the following day: Monday, March 2.
TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY – Pan-Orthodox Vespers for the Triumph of Orthodoxy will be Saturday, March 7 at 6:00pm, at St George Cathedral, Worcester. Note: If you are interested in singing with the Pan-Orthodox 4-part SATB or Byzantine Chant choir, please e-mail Charlie Marge, charlie.marge@verizon.net
MISSIONS COFFEE HOUR - A parish-wide collaboration of groups (Young Adults, Hospitality etc.) is planning a special coffee hour for the Sunday of Orthodoxy - March 8 - to celebrate and learn about Orthodox missions activities around the world and to enjoy food from those places. (Featured will be China Translation Project; Project Mexico; OCMC work in Albania, Guatemala, Kenya, S Korea, New Zealand, Romania, and Sweden; and possibly more.) If you would like to help with planning and with preparing food, please contact Shannon Sakellariou at srsakellariou@gmail.com or 617-792-75780
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE - Scholarships ($1,000) are available from the Syrian-Lebanese Women’s club of Greater Boston 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. If you have any questions, contact Mary Winstanley O’Connor at 617-523-1010 or email at moconnor@koilaw.com.
+ Diocese of Worcester and New England Scholarship: Students graduating in 2019 from high school who are children of members of St. Mary’s may apply. Deadline is March 31. Contact Mary Winstanley O’Connor at 617-523-1010 or email at moconnor@koilaw.com for more information.
RETREAT and YOUTH DAY – The 2020 Lenten Retreat and Youth Day of the Diocese will be held on Saturday, March 28 from 9:00-3:30, at St. John of Damascus, Dedham. The theme of the retreat will be Don’t Stop Believin’, a Journey to the Kingdom of Heaven. Dr. Gregory Abdalah will be the guest speaker.
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE – St. Mary’s is hosting the 2020 Parish Life Conference at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa in Hyannis, June 19-21. Hotel registration is now open - special conference rate is $189/night + tax for the evenings of June 19 and 20; Pre-Conference Rate is $109/night + tax for up to 3 days before (Tuesday-Thursday nights) the conference; Post-Conference Rate is $139/night + tax (Sunday - Tuesday nights). To register for the hotel call 1-888-297-2200 and mention the “Parish Life Conference hosted by St. Mary’s” or book online by visiting www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/plc/hotel-reservation. To learn more, visit www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/plc
AV SUMMER CAMP – Antiochian Village summer camp registration has opened. Be sure to register early as the sessions fill up quickly - see https://avcamp.org/summer-camp. St. Mary’s children attend 3rd Session, July 12-24.
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
On the eve of this day, on Saturday at Vespers, the liturgical book of the Lenten season – the Triodion – makes its first appearance and texts from it are added to the usual hymns and prayers of the weekly Resurrection service. They develop the next major theme of repentance: humility. … As for the Publican, he humbles himself and his humility justifies him before God. …
But what is humility? The answer to this question may seem a paradoxical one for it is rooted in a strange affirmation: God himself is humble! … It is almost impossible to put across to the modern man, fed on publicity, self-affirmation, and endless self-praise, that all that which is genuinely perfect, beautiful, and good is at the same time naturally humble; for precisely because of its perfection, it does not need "publicity," external glory, or "showing off" of any kind.
The Lenten season begins then by a quest, a prayer for humility which is the beginning of true repentance. For repentance, above everything else, is a return to the genuine order of things, the restoration of the right vision.
- Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent