As yesterday was the last Sunday in August – and thus the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year of September 1- August 31 – it seemed as if we were practically back to “full strength” as a parish.   After the summer months of vacationing families, the church was quite filled yesterday, a tangible sign of our parish’s growth through the years and of the parish as a community of faithful believers from the old to the young.  All of this was realized in a very lively Liturgy and a long line of communicants.  In addition, we currently have a couple of “official” catechumens with other “inquirers” who are joining us with regularity.  There are many things to thank God for.

On Tuesday, September 4, at 7:00 p.m., we will chant the beautiful and profound Akathist Hymn Glory to God for All Things.  We have been doing this for some years now in conjunction with the beginning of the new Church Year on September 1.
 
On Friday evening, September 7, we will serve the Great Vespers for the Feast of Nativity of the Theotokos, and the Liturgy for the Feast on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.  This is a change from may have been previously announced.
 
A Prayer Service and Dinner are scheduled for September 9, at 5:00 p.m.  hosted by Dinara Cox and Chynara Archie.  Please contact Dinara if you plan to attend:  ddd28cc@yahoo.com
 
On Thursday evening, September 13, we will serve Great Vespers with the procession of the Cross; and the Liturgy for the Feast day of the Exaltation of the Cross on Friday morning, at 9:30 a.m.
 
Parents and their children are invited to the home of Radu and Dana Zidarescu on Friday, September 14, at 7:00 p.m. for the chanting of the Akathist hymn to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children.  The evening will also include a discussion about Church School and further socializing.  Please contact the Zidarescus if you plan to attend (email corrected on 8/31/12): drantz@gmail.com
 
We are currently anticipating the beginning of the Church School year on Sunday, September 16.   This will be a Sunday of organizing the various classes and practicing safety precautions in the Education Center.  Parents, please prepare your children for the beginning of Church School and be present on that day.  Later in the afternoon, we have reserved a pavilion at the same place at Montgomery Park as in the last few years.  This year, however, instead of a parish-sponsored picnic, the plan will be for any interested families to prepare and bring their own meals and spend some time with other parish families.

After a short vacation, I am back in the church office if anyone needs to contact me.  (Due to limited personnel, the church office is not quite as dysfunctional as “The Office” as seen on television).

Over the years, we have developed a close relationship with the Monastery of the Dormition in Rives Junction, MI.  Mother Gabriela has been to our parish twice, I believe, and we have made many annual pilgrimage trips to the monastery over the years.  The monastery is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and the culminating event of that celebration will be the consecration of their new temple on Friday & Saturday, October 5-6.  The new church is stunningly beautiful, built in the traditional and unique Romanian Orthodox style. Presvytera and I will make the trip for this event (I will serve at the Liturgy following the consecration of the church) and I simply wanted to inform everyone else in case you may want to join us.  If so, please let me know and I will provide you further with reservation information.  Guest house accommodations are limited and reserved for fellow monastics, so anyone else going will have to stay in a local hotel (within 7.5 miles of the monastery).

Another reminder that for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, we will serve the Vesperal Liturgy on Tuesday, August 14, at 6:00 p.m.  This will be the culmination of the two-week fast.  The tomb will be decorated and in the middle of the nave with an icon of the Mother of God in blessed repose for our veneration.  I am anticipating and looking forward to a splendid feast with a “packed” church filled with believers who venerate and love the Theotokos.

Fr Steven

Dormition Festal Resource Page, newly updated for 2012

On this Feast of divine splendor – The Transfiguration of Christ - we had a splendid Liturgy this morning.  The church was filled with many worshippers, including many of our parish youth, from small children to teens.  (At the Sunday evening Great Vespers, we had fairly good attendance on the eve).  An enormous amount of fruit was blessed and then shared toward the end of the Liturgy, which is traditional for this Feast.   Initially associated with the summer grape harvest – and these were grapes that would then eventually be offered as the wine for use at the Holy Table; the blessing of fruit now confers a cosmic or all-embracing quality to the Feast, anticipating a transfigured creation at the end of time by God’s uncreated energy.  This “eschatological” dimension of the Feast is also very prominent when we consider the destiny of human nature transfigured by Christ.  As Archbishop Kallistos Ware writes:

We commemorate the official glorification (canonization) of St. Herman of Alaska on August 9.  This event occurred in 1970, when the Orthodox Church in America first received its autocephaly.  Therefore, we will serve Vespers on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Bible Study; and the Liturgy for St. Herman on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.  For articles, videos and more on St Herman, visit our Special Resource Page.

Since we concentrate on the Mother of God for this two-week period leading up to her Dormition or “falling asleep,” I would suggest finding some good reading material about this feast and about the Theotokos in general.  As always, there are many good links on our parish website put there by our website director, Ralph Sidway.   I have a wonderful essay – something of a classic - by Archbishop Kallistos Ware on the Orthodox veneration of the Theotokos.  If anyone is interested, I would be glad to make a copy for you.  This may also be a good time to visit our parish library which will also have some good sources there on the Theotokos.

Since the Transfiguration falls on a Monday this year (August 6), we will not be able to serve a Vesperal Liturgy for the feast.  Thus, we will serve Great Vespers with the blessing of loaves and anointing with oil on Sunday evening beginning at 6:00 p.m.  Apparently, it is never easy to return to church on Sunday, but this is a beautiful and meaningful Feast that reveals a great deal about Christ to us and our own humanity created in the image and likeness of God.  To be anointed at the end of the service is a blessing from God that we then take home with us.  If you are available, the Liturgy will be served on Monday morning, August 6, at 9:30 a.m.  At the end of the Liturgy, we have the tradition of blessing our fruit baskets.  Please bring your fruit basket with you for that blessing.   Our children are much more available in the summer than at any other time during the year.  Bringing them, or having them brought to the Feast, is important in nurturing and nourishing them with the liturgical life of the Church.  This Feast is a wonderful opportunity for that experience.

For more on the Transfiguration, visit our Festal Resource Page.

I understand that Emily Farison has returned from her OCMC trip to Kenya “safe and sound.”  We are very glad to hear that and I would like to welcome Emily home on behalf of the parish.  We will look forward to eventually hearing from Emily about her experience.

The following link is to the Antiochian Village web site pictures for those who would interested in seeing what the camp activities are like or are following our parish children activities. We are in Session 3 and the pictures are broken down by day and note the numbers of services they attend throughout the week!    

As a side note there is a Clergy Symposium currently being held at the Conference Center. The campers are interacting with Metropolitan Siloan, various Bishops and about a hundred Priests. This past Wednesday campers were also able to attend the ordaining of the camp Head Counselor as a Sub-Deacon before Divine Liturgy.

We are sending off ten of our young adults to the Antiochian Village where they will “unite” for this year’s  two-week summer camp session beginning this Sunday, July 15.  Please keep the following campers in your prayers for the next two weeks:

The St. Katherine’s Society business meeting will not meet on Saturday, July 21, as originally scheduled.  The next date of the Sisterhood’s social/spiritual meeting  will be Tuesday, August 7, at the home of Dinara Archie and Chynara Cox.

Please contact Presvytera Deborah if you are willing to be added to the Coffee Hour list for 2013, at kostoff@xavier.edu or 521-0934.  We would gladly welcome any new additions who will take their part in providing the food and preparation on a given Sunday as we fellowship together in the church hall following the Liturgy.  Providing food and beverage is a key component to that fellowship.  This will lighten the load of those already on the list for, I believe, three times a year as it is.