Newsletter for the Week of December 4, 2020
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY’S
SATURDAY, 12/5, Feast of St. Nicholas – There will be Great Vespers on Saturday, December 5 at 5:00pm for the feast of St. Nicholas. Sign up on EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-vespers-for-st-nicholas-tickets-128869144079
Password: 0815
SUNDAY, 12/6 - Pledge cards, Angel Tree donations, Christmas Card donations and Parish Council ballots are due this Susnday. See Reminders, below, for details
+ Sunday services - 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 by invitation, with appropriate physical distancing throughout the nave.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
STARLIGHT MINISTRY "GRAB & GO" CHRISTMAS DINNER - Last December St. Mary's partnered with Starlight Ministries to host their annual Christmas Banquet with volunteers from parishes across the Boston area and over 100 guests. This year, on Saturday, December 12, guests will come to our parking lot, see a friendly face, and receive their Christmas Dinner to go. If you are able to volunteer your time to help with this, please fill out this survey. If you have any questions please contact Cali Touloumes at cpantazis91@gmail.com.
ORTHODOXY 102 - The adult education class led by Subdeacon James (drjamesis@gmail.com) on Zoom will not meet during the rest of December. It will resume in January.
REMINDERS
STEWARDSHIP - Our 2021 Stewardship Pledge Drive is 100% on-line this year. To make a pledge: https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/donate/stewardship-2021-pledge-card.Please make your pledge for 2021 by Sunday, December 6.
For more information on our Pledge Drive, including FAQs, see https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/donate/stewardship-2021-pledge-drive
ANGEL TREE - Every year St. Mary’s supports the Angel Tree ministries by helping to purchase and deliver gifts to the children of people in prison. In the past couple of years your support for this effort has been tremendous and we’ve increased the number of children we serve from 50 to 150 a year! But this year so far we have far fewer donors.
Due to the pandemic, children will be sent a gift card this year, and donating is as easy as clicking this link and selecting your child and donation amount: click https://tinyurl.com/stmaryangel, code DLYFL, then select a child(ren) and level ($22/$42). Deadline is Sunday, December 6.
If you have any questions or need help navigating please contact Greg Flessas at flessas99@gmail.com or (608) 239-4887. THANK YOU!!
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 for 2020-2021. You will receive this card with the names of parishioners, like yourself, who are wishing a Blessed Nativity and a Merry Christmas to all. You can donate online via eGive - go to www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/donate/donate-now - or you can write us a note, telling us how you want your name to appear on the card, and send it with a check in any amount payable to St. Mary Women’s Club. Mail them to St. Mary Church – Women’s Club, 8 Inman Street, Cambridge MA 02139-2407. Deadline is Sunday, December 6.
PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS - Ballots for the Parish Council elections were mailed to all parishioners in good spiritual and financial standing last week. Ballots must be returned to the church by Sunday, December 6. If you did not receive one and are a member, please contact Fr. Antony (frawhj@gmail.com) or Mary Winstanley, Parish Council President (moconnor@koilaw.com)
DONATIONS FOR HOLY NATIVITY - If you would like to donate toward the Poinsettias and Nativity decorations, please provide us with your name, telephone, and email, and whether the donation is for the Good health of [name], Continued good health of [name], or in Memory of [name], and mail with your check to St. Mary Church, 8 Inman Street, Cambridge, MA 02139-2407. Or you can use the new form on our website: https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/donate/donate-now. In addition to bank ACH
transfers, we now accept credit cards for these donations, but kindly ask that you check the box to cover the 2.6% fee incurred by the church for this convenience. For pledge contributions, please sign up for eGive to make ACH transfers.
Donors’ names will be printed in the December 20, 2020 Bulletin. Deadline is December 13, 2020.
LIVE STREAMED SERVICES - All the Divine Services held in St. Mary’s Church can also be seen live-streamed at www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/live or https://www.facebook.com/stmarycambridge or www.youtube.com/stmarycambridge For the safety of all during the pandemic, please pray with us from home if you have a cough or cold.
MORNING PRAYERS - Every day, Monday–Saturday, you can join Morning Prayers on Zoom with James & Brooke Wilcox. They 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. And thanks to the power of the internet, and the influence of other participants, we now have people joining us each morning from Chile, Arizona, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York City and other portions of Massachusetts as well. We are always happy to add more!”
Morning prayers go for 15 minutes each morning, Monday through Saturday, beginning at 8:45am: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/377381275 password: 28052020
DONATIONS TO THE CHURCH - One-time donations to the church (For the Good Health of, In Memory of, etc.) can be made on our website using this form: https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/donate/donate-now
In addition to bank ACH transfers, we now accept credit cards for these donations, but kindly ask that you check the box to cover the 2.6% fee incurred by the church for this convenience. For pledge contributions, please sign up for eGive to make ACH transfers.
ENQUIRERS CLASS - The St. Ignatius Catechetical course – Enquirers’ Class is currently postponed due to the illness of Bob Kowalik, its leader.
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 Incarnation of the Word, and His assumption of human nature, took place for the overthrow of death and destruction and of that envy nourished against us by the wicked serpent, who was the first cause of evil. This is plainly proved to us by the facts themselves. And so He set free the daughter of Abraham from her protracted sickness, calling out and saying, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." A speech most worthy of God, and full of supernatural power, for with the kingly inclination of His will He drives away the disease. And He also lays His hands upon her and immediately, it says, she was made straight. And from this, too, it is possible to see that His holy flesh bore in it the power and activity of God.
- St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke
Because He cares for us, will this make us think less of Him? Or will we not be struck with amazement at our Savior's mighty power and love for mankind, who patiently endured to suffer our infirmities with us, and condescended to our weakness?
- St. John Chrysostom, On the Holy Spirit
If a single word of an earthly king causes great deeds to come to pass in his kingdom -- he speaks the work begins and is accomplished -- then will not the word of the Lord of all material and spiritual, visible and invisible creatures, accomplish everything He desires? Shall He speak and it not be created? Shall He speak and it not be done? O Almighty Power, able to accomplish everything in one single moment, do not leave us on account of our sins, and above all on account of our incredulity and despair, to be tormented by our own infirmities, lest we be destroyed like earthen vessels. Grant that we may not doubt in the fulfillment of our every right request.
- St. John of Kronstadt, My Life of Christ.