Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Saturday, February 29, St Thomas School begins Volume I of the series Orthodox Christianity. It’s called The History and Canonical Structure of the Orthodox Church, and it will be a great time to start participating in the school or to get back in the habit. Just check out the summary of the lesson later in this newsletter, and join us Saturday at 4pm. Stephanie Crown, our hard-working bookstore manager, has let us know that she will have more copies of the text available this Monday, February 24, so if you would like to get a copy before Saturday, February 29, just let her know.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
During this week, the final week of the Triodion, we abstain from all meat (beef, chicken, and pork), but eggs, cheese and other dairy products, as well as fish, are permitted on all days of the week. Also, since the full fast begins Monday, March 1, this would be a great time to contact your spiritual father if you need to modify the fast in any way.
Daily Services
Monday, February 24-Friday, February 28
Orthros 5am;
Vespers 5pm
(Please 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.)
Saturday, February 29
St Thomas School 4pm
Father Deacon Michael Coleman will lead the discussion on Chapter 1, pgs 15-25 on Early ChristianityGreat Vespers 6pm
Sunday, March 1
The Sunday of Forgiveness/Blessing Sunday
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15 am
Divine Liturgy 10am
If you have icons, prayer ropes, crosses, new vehicles or a trip that needs to be blessed meet at the chanter’s stand immediately after reverencing the crossFellowship Hour Noon
Forgiveness Vespers No later than 1pm
This Week at St Thomas School
On this leap day, we jump from Volume 5 back to Volume 1 in which Metropolitan Hilarion discusses the history and canonical structure of the Orthodox Church.
Nearly two years ago, the St Thomas school began and our first study was with Volume 2 of the Metropolitan’s 5 volume set. Circling back and completing Volume 1 will take us through the first complete cycle of this work.
One cannot be a Christian without being a member of the Church
So starts this volume.
In the first section of chapter 1, which is the topic of the class this week, the Metropolitan discusses early Christianity, specifically Christ, the founder of the Church and the apostolic community.
Following Christ has always meant being part of a community of disciples, the body of Christ. Christianity is a set of teachings and rules, but to reduce it to that is to miss Christ Himself. Quoting Florovsky, the Metropolitan writes: “Christianity is not only the teaching on salvation, but salvation itself.” Through the Church, the body of Christ, Christ “reveals himself to the faithful…with the same fulness he once revealed Himself to His disciples…” No one can be a Christian by oneself.
Moving to the early apostolic community, the Metropolitan points out that the small community of Christ’s original followers was the original Church. The first task given by Christ to this community was to imitate Christ. Their central teaching was not moral or spiritual teaching; rather, it was the Good News of the death and resurrection of Christ. There was no news crew filming the resurrection; early believers were invited to experience Christ just as Christ Himself had invited His first followers: “Come and see.”
These first few pages mark an extraordinary beginning to this volume on the Church. Come and see with us.
Coming Up
During this final week of The Triodion, we abstain from all meat (beef, chicken, and pork), but eggs, cheese and other dairy products, as well as fish, are permitted on all days of the week. Of course, the Triodion is also a good time to prepare for the full fast which begins on Monday, March 2. From that day until Pascha, the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil) is kept on weekdays (unless otherwise noted on the calendar); if we need to get a blessing to modify the full fast in any way, this is the time to go ahead and contact our spiritual father.
We always begin Great Lent with Forgiveness Vespers. After a brief Fellowship Hour this coming Sunday, we will start that service no later than 1pm, and, at the conclusion of the service, we will exchange words of forgiveness with everyone who is present (Person #1 says, “Forgive me a sinner.” Person #2 says, “God forgives, and so do I”. Then the roles are reversed). It’s a very simple process, but it also very profound, and it allows us to start Great Lent with a clean heart and a peaceful mind.
In the past, the women of our community have come together to do daily Psalter readings during Great Lent. Each day, the entire Psalter will be read by our community with each of us reading a Kathisma a day. The women will each work through the Psalter, reading a Kathisma a day with the next Kathisma being read on a subsequent day. In this way, each woman will work through the Psalter twice while it is read in its entirety by our community daily. If you would like to participate, please contact Mary (sarah) Brown.
The weekday Lenten services begin on Monday, March 2. During that week, there will be special services each night: On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, we will serve Great Compline; on Wednesday, we will serve the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy; on Friday, we will offer the Akathist Service. Each of those services will begin at 7pm, and our parish goal is to make one service each and every week.
There are two more Saturday of Souls between now and Pascha. On those Saturdays we serve Orthros at 7am and Divine Liturgy at 9am. The Memorial Book is available in the narthex, so please legibly print the names of the folks that you wish to commemorate in the section for the particular Saturday when you will be in attendance. Those Saturdays fall on March 14 and March 21, and our goal is for everyone in the parish to make at least one of those services.
The expectation of our archdiocese is that each of us will make our confession before Pascha. In our parish, we do not offer that Holy Mystery during Holy Week, so that means we have until Friday, April 10 to fulfill that obligation. Confession is offered each Saturday evening following Great Vespers and just about any other time by specific appointment, so let’s be sure and get that done during the next nine weeks.
During Great Lent we always try to do some spiritual reading, so why not get a head start on the Pascha Book Study and read through the book that we will be using during that six week discussion? The book is called The New Media Epidemic; it’s by a French Orthodox scholar, Jean Claude Larchet. It’s a fairly short book, so you can read a couple of pages a day during Great Lent and be ready to join the book study when it kicks off on Wednesday, April 22. The book is available at Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore, so pick up a copy in the next week or so.
This is the final week that we can take advantage of the matching funds offer for the new altar project. If you aren’t yet familiar with the project, just check out the new bulletin board in the kitchen of the Long Hall. It’s got all the details. The project will unfold throughout the coming year, and, when it’s all over, we will have a new carving on the front of our altar, a new crucifix behind our altar, and a polychromed episcopal throne. All of this is being done by our good friend from the UK, Martin Earle, but our very own Baker Galloway is managing and contributing to the project, so if, after you have looked over the bulletin board, you would like to get in on the project by donating in honor or in memory of someone important to you, just let Baker know. Altar Project Update: The overall project will cost between $13,000 and $15,000 (that difference in price is primarily due to the fluctuating value of pounds and dollars). However, a very generous, anonymous donor has promised to match whatever we give to the overall project! So, between now and the start of Great Lent, on Sunday, March 1, if you make a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one, our special donor will match that gift and make it possible for us to double our generosity. For further details, please check with our project manager, Baker Galloway.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Please remember that the bread you receive after communion and after reverencing the cross has been blessed at the altar. That means we all need to make sure that we pick up whatever crumbs may fall on the floor. Parents and grandparents need to watch their children and grandchildren and assist them in this important and respectful work. Once the crumbs have been picked up, you may consume them or simply take them outside and scatter them for the birds.
Forgiveness Vespers is one of the most important services of the entire year, so please plan on staying for that service this coming Sunday, March 1; we will begin no later than 1pm.
an unworthy priest
aidan