St. Mary e-Newsletter for Thursday, July 9, 2020
PRAYER AND WORSHIP
Every Sunday Orthros is at 8:45am, followed by Divine Liturgy at 10:00am. Both services are live-streamed - please join us by clicking the live broadcasts button on the church website: http://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org. They can also be seen at facebook.com/stmarycambridge or youtube.com/stmarycambridge or https://bit.ly/stmarylive If you LIKE St. Mary on Facebook you’ll get advance notice of live-streamed services.
After Divine Liturgy every Sunday the Young Adult Ministry invites you to a virtual coffee hour. Please use this link to join it: https://zoom.us/j/392596633
Password: 0815
Monday–Saturday Morning Prayer on Zoom with James & Brooke Wilcox, who write: “We simply read the Trisagion Prayers, a Psalm, the NT reading for the day, we honor the Theotokos and the Saints of the day, and then say a prayer ‘waking from sleep,’ followed by prayers for the sick and the reposed (with names given from Orthodox parishioners and friends). And finally we close with ‘The Angel Cried.’ If anyone would like to join, we start at 8:45 each morning, Monday through Saturday, and go for about 15 minutes.” The link to join is:
https://zoom.us/j/377381275.
Password: 28052020
Every Tuesday at 6:30pm, Paraklesis to the Theotokos will be held in the church through the end of July. The Paraklesis service is traditionally sung during times of great distress.
The text for the service can be found here:
http://ww1.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/paraklesis_little-with_music.pdf
To attend in person, you must register on EventBrite. The link for Tuesday 7/14 is:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/paraclesis-to-the-theotokos-tickets-111288079642
For 7/21: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/paraclesis-to-the-theotokos-tickets-111290380524
For 7/28: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/paraclesis-to-the-theotokos-tickets-111290420644
Password for all dates is 0815
There are 20 distinct pew spots for family units/households. Each household only needs 1 ticket. The site will automatically suggest the closest pew. To change the selection, go to the map, deselect the ticket chosen and click on the pew number you would like instead. Arrive between 6:15pm and 6:45pm.
Thursday evenings at 7:00pm there is an Adult Education program(“Orthodoxy 102”) with Subdeacon James: https://zoom.us/j/92020118216
Password: 0611
On Saturday, July 18, we will celebrate Great Vespers for the Holy Fathers in the church at 5:00pm. The Sacred Music Institute, run by the Antiochian Department of Sacred Music, will be joining us via livestream. For those who would like to attend in person, the EventBrite link will be https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-vespers-for-the-holy-fathers-tickets-111291184930 (Password 0815)
Also, you can pray the liturgical services at home - The Archdiocese has published online instructions for reader services (services without a priest present). You can find them at the Online Liturgical Guide. Look at the list of services on the right side of the page and click on the ones marked ‘Reader Service’.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Icon Webinar
On Saturday, July 18, from 1:00-2:00pm, the Museum of Russian Icons will present a Zoom webinar on “Icons in the Time of Trouble.” Have you ever wondered what people did with icons during fires, wars, invasions, and pandemics? Join iconographer Lydia Lynette Hull as she explores this topic. Cost for nonmembers is $5 – limited to 100 participants. A link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to each registered participant on the morning of the program.
Plea from Fr. Antony
A parishioner is still in dire need of a room or an apartment, having recently lost his. If you have one or know of anyone who has one, please call Fr. Antony as soon as possible: 781-507-5938 or email frawhj@aol.com
People Helping People
A number of parishioners have made known their desire to help people who need assistance. The church office is keeping a list of volunteers. Call the office if you would like your name added to the list of volunteers. There can’t be too many.
If you know of anyone who needs any sort of help call the church office (617) 547-1234 to make the connection. Remember, many people are ashamed/afraid to ask for help. Keep your eyes and ears open and ask about needs with kind concern.
REFLECTION
For the man who believes, all things are possible because "Faith is counted as righteousness," and "Christ is the end of the Law." Belief in Him justifies and perfects the believer, for belief in Christ is considered to correspond to the works of the law. It is confirmed and witnessed by the evangelic precepts and so earns for the faithful a participation in eternal life, in Christ Himself.
- St. Symeon the New Theologian
When John said: "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?", He answered thus: "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." (Mt 3:14-15). … By righteousness is meant the fulfillment of all the commandments … Since fulfilling this righteousness was necessary for all people, but no one of them kept it or fulfilled it, Christ came then and fulfilled this righteousness. … As Christ was circumcised, offered sacrifice, kept the sabbath and observed the Jewish feasts, so also He added this remaining thing, that He was obedient to having been baptized by a prophet. … Thus, if obedience to God constitutes righteousness, and God sent John to baptize the nation, then Christ has also fulfilled this along with all the other commandments.
- St. John Chrysostom
As the physical eye looks at written letters and receives knowledge from them through the senses; so the mind, when it becomes purified and returns to its original state, looks up to God and receives Divine knowledge from Him. Instead of a book it has the Spirit, instead of a pen, thought and tongue ('my tongue is the pen' says Psalm 45:1); instead of ink - light. Plunging thought into light, so that thought itself becomes light, the mind, guided by the Spirit, traces words in the pure hearts of those who listen. Then it understands the words: 'And they shall be all taught of God' (John 6:45)
- St. Gregory of Sinai, Texts on Commandments and Dogmas