St. Mary e-Newsletter for Thursday, August 28, 2020
PRAYER AND WORSHIP
Every Sunday Orthros is at 8:45am, followed by Divine Liturgy at 10:00am. Members of St. Mary’s laity may attend Sunday services in rotation, with appropriate physical distancing throughout the nave. The list of voting members is subdivided into three or four parts, and members in each part will receive an invitation on a Tuesday afternoon, by telephone or by email, to attend on the following Sunday. Your response is requested by noon the following Friday.
All the Divine Services held in St. Mary’s Church can also be seen live-streamed at www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/live or www.facebook.com/stmarycambridge or www.youtube.com/stmarycambridge
Monday–Saturday you can join Morning Prayers on Zoom with James & Brooke Wilcox, who write: “Morning Prayer has now become part of our daily routine, where we are joyfully able to participate with others in the St Mary’s community. Along the way, Brooke and I have learned to include liturgical material which honors the saints for each day, in addition to incorporating festal hymns proper to each liturgical season. We’ve even come to adopt Patron Saints for our newly formed house chapel – Sts. Antony and Anastasia. And thanks to the power of the internet, and the influence of other participants, we now have people joining us each morning from Arizona, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York City and other portions of Massachusetts as well. And we are always happy to add more!”
We run morning prayers for 15 minutes each morning, Mon – Sat, beginning at 8:45am:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/377381275
password: 28052020
Thursday evenings at 7:00pm there is an Adult Education program (“Orthodoxy 102”) with Subdeacon James: https://zoom.us/j/92020118216
Password: 0611
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Memorial service
On Sunday, August 30 after Liturgy, we will have a Memorial for all who fell asleep in the Lord in the month of August.
New Liturgical Year
On Tuesday, September 1 Fr. Antony will join Morning Prayers on Zoom with James & Brooke (see Monday-Saturday, above), to offer petitions and prayers of supplication for the first day of the the new year.
Great Vespers
On Saturday, September 5 at 5:00pm we will have our monthly service of Great Vespers. Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-vespers-tickets-118628293419
Vesperal Liturgy
At 6:30 Monday, September 7 at 6:30pm there will be a Vesperal Liturgy for the Nativity of the Theotokos. Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vesperal-liturgy-for-the-nativity-of-the-theotokos-tickets-118626347599
Church School Registration
Please e-mail Deno Takles at takles67@yahoo.com if you would like to register your child for church school. This request is for new participants only. Children registered for last year will have their registration rolled over to this year.
Our church school includes a Pre-K class that works with children 3 years old and up. And we need 2 teachers for 2nd and 3rd grades. All our classes will be conducted over Zoom. We recognize that not all children will understand how a Zoom meeting works. That’s why we are asking all our parents to be with their child during the Zoom class to help out with the technology or in how to be part of the class. You will be the judge of when your child is able to negotiate a Zoom meeting and then you can step away.
Enquirers Class
The St. Ignatius Catechetical Group – Enquirers’ Class will begin meeting virtually on Monday, September 28 at 7:00pm, over the church’s Zoom account. Enrollment will be open until October 26. The group is for non-Orthodox adults who are interested in exploring the Christian Faith as it has been – and continues to be – understood, preached, and lived by members of the Holy Orthodox Church. Bob Kowalik will be teaching the group. If you would like to participate, please get in touch with Bob: phone 617-889-3436 or r.kowalik@comcast.net. For those seeking to be received into the Orthodox Church, participation in the group and Fr. Antony’s blessing are required.
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
The humility of our Lord Jesus Christ is a matter for as great wonder as are His miracles, together with His Resurrection - that Wonder of wonders. Clothing Himself in the cramped human body of a slave, He became the Servant of His servants.
- St. Nicolai Velimirovich
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
-Victor Frankel
...we ought to learn the virtues through practicing them, not merely through talking about them, so that by acquiring the habit of them we do not forget what is of benefit to us. "The kingdom of God," St. Paul says, "resides not in words but in power" (I Cor. 4:20). For he who tries to discover things through actual practice will come to understand what gain or loss lies in any activity that he pursues.
- St. Peter of Damaskos (Book 1: A Treasury of Divine Knowledge, The Philokalia)