Brothers and Sisters,
Christ is Risen!
This coming Saturday is our re-schedule parish work day. There’s a lot to do, but if we have a good turn-out, we should be able to wrap it all up (and save a whole bunch of money) in about three hours. We will get started at 9am; doughnuts and coffee will be available; if you have questions, contact our hard-working facilities coordinator, Linda Brown.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, May 29, and Friday, May 31
Daily Services
Monday, May 27-Friday, May 31
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
(Don’t forget that since life in our parish community can be pretty busy, sometimes the starting times for the daily services has to be shifted. So, if you know ahead of time that you will be attending a particular service, it’s always a good idea to send Father Aidan a note at fraidan@austin.rr.com to confirm when the service will actually begin.)
Tuesday, May 28
Parish Council Meeting 7pm
Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting, but if you wish to address the council or speak to a particular issue, please contact our president, Christ Lewis, ahead of time
Wednesday, May 29
Pascha Book Study 7pm
Thursday, May 30
Choir Practice 7pm
Saturday, June 1
Parish Work Day 9am
St Thomas School 4pm Karen Morgan will be leading the discussion on Chapter 10 Music in Ancient Israel and Ancient Greece
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, June 2
Sunday of the Blind Man
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
As we wrap up the Church School year, be sure and do something nice for our hard-working teachers and staffDivine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
This week, Team Big Hat—Clayton Stewart, Michael Ruse, and Vera Poe—will be cleaning the Long Hall. Please thank them and ask them how you can help out
This Week at St. Thomas School
Chapter 10 Background: Music in Ancient Greece and Ancient Israel
As the title says, this chapter is a background for the next chapter on Early Christian and Byzantine singing traditions. Ancient Greece and Israel – both being Mediterranean cultures – form the backbone of Orthodox Church singing. For example, much of our notation, rhythm, style, and content of early Christian musical tradition draws from these two sources. But the perennial philosophical question is what does Athens and Jerusalem really have in common? As far as Church singing is concerned, a lot of both ancient traditions come together in early Christian and Byzantine singing. The Greeks imparted much of our notation and style while Israel’s psalmody and temple worship gave much content and structure in terms of what we sing. That liturgical singing draws much from King David and the Psalms. So there are two major sections to this chapter: 1) Music and Song in the Old Testament and 2) Musical Arts of Antiquity. Join us this Saturday at 4:00 to learn about more how these two ancient traditions formed our own singing tradition.
Coming Up
This coming Saturday, June 1, is the rescheduled Parish Work Day. We will get started at 9am. Please bring shovels, buckets, disposable trash bags, pruning clippers and shears, wheelbarrows, and work gloves. We need to clean the flower beds of overgrowth and weeds, spread mulch around the atrium courtyard and some of the flower beds, clean out Parish House gutters, and whatever else needs to be accomplished. With many helping hands the work will be accomplished in a couple of hours. Donuts and coffee will be provided.
A few days after our parish work day, during the first week of June, we will also celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. We will serve Great Vespers on Wednesday, June 5, the eve of the feast, at 7pm, and then on Thursday, June 6, the day of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. Please plan on joining us as we wrap up the Paschal Season with this beautiful celebration.
This year, Pentecost Weekend is Saturday, June 15, and Sunday, June 16. On Saturday, we will offer the final Saturday of Souls for 2019, so if you did not make it to any of the three Lenten Saturdays of Souls, this will be your final chance to pray for the departed during this year—please do not miss this important opportunity; the departed need your prayers just as the living do. We will offer Orthros at 7am and Divine Liturgy at 9am. We will follow the regular weekend schedule on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, but, following Fellowship Hour on Sunday, June 16, we will also offer Kneeling Vespers, beginning no later than 1pm. This is the service that caps off the entire liturgical cycle that began with the Triodion back in February, so this is another opportunity that you won’t want to miss.
The annual Parish Life Conference is always an enjoyable time of fellowship and learning and worship, and, this year, the conference is being held at The Westin Hotel at DFW Airport, June 19-22. That’s within easy driving distance, and the website for the 2019 DOWAMA PLC is now live. You can go to www.dowamaplc.org to access registration for the PLC as well as secure hotel rooms—and the discount price for early registration has been extended, so be sure and take care of that this week.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
If you are the parent or grandparent of a young child, please remember that, whether you are outside or inside one of the buildings, you must be able to see that child at all times. If you need assistance with your children, please do not hesitate to ask, but it is not enough to simply assume that others in the parish will keep track of your child. Parenting styles differ, but, please remember that, when you are at church, the expectation of our community is that your child will be in your direct line of sight at all times.
Please bring your wheelbarrows and yard tools and join us this coming Saturday at 9am for the Work Day.
An unworthy priest,
aidan