Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Wednesday, September 1, we will begin the new liturgical year with the Feast of the Indiction. We will serve Great Vespers on Tuesday, August 31, at 7:00 p.m. and, on Wednesday, September 1, we will offer Orthros at 4:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 6:00 a.m. Come join us as we bless the new Church Year.
This coming Wednesday, September 1, also marks the beginning of the 2021 Fall Theological Seminar. We are reading Metropolitan Hierotheos’ book Life After Death and we will be discussing it each Wednesday this fall at 7:00 p.m. in the parish house. Folks who live at a distance or who are concerned about health issues are welcome to join us online (but you’ll need to make a reservation by Monday evening and we will be asking you to turn on your camera). Attached to this edition of The Happy Priest is a letter about the seminar with the full schedule, so please read through all the details, and plan on joining us either in person and online each Wednesday evening throughout the fall.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, September 1 and Friday, September 3
Daily Services
Monday, August 30 to Friday, August 3
Orthros 5am;
Vespers 5pm
Please check the festal service schedule. Also, if you plan to attend the daily services, it’s generally a good idea to check the day before to make sure that the service will be offered. Sometimes pastoral situations require a change of plans and the service cannot be offered on that particular day.
The Hours
This month, Seth Hart will be starting a new job! He will still be at the online chanter’s stand, offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours every day on ZOOM. However, from Monday, August 23 through the end of September, he will be reading the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours together each morning at 6:45 a.m. Once he’s settled into the new job, then he will have a better idea of how to schedule his day and the hours.
See the emailed newsletter for login info.
Tuesday, August 31
Great Vespers for the Indiction at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 1
The Feast of the Indiction
Orthros at 4:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 6:00 a.m.
Fall Theological Seminar at 7:00 p.m.
If you live a good distance from the parish or have health concerns and wish to join the group online, please make a reservation by Monday, August 30. Just send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org.
Thursday, September 2
Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.
See the emailed newsletter for login info.
Saturday, September 4
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 5
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Fellowship Hour at Noon
The first Sunday of the month is always blessing Sunday. So, if you have icons, crosses, prayer ropes, new cars, or if you will be traveling during September, please wait at the chanter’s stand following the Divine Liturgy for your blessing.
Financial Update
Thanks to the merciful provision of the Most Holy Trinity and thanks to your sustained generosity, we finished the month of July with a surplus of $1900. That brings our budget surplus for the year to just over $50,000. That’s a great place to be in the closing weeks of summer, but please remember that we hope to get started on the new parking lot this fall and that means we will need all the support we can generate to tackle that major effort. So, please check on REALM to make sure that your commitment is up to date and, if you can afford to, please give a little extra to help all those who aren’t able to give what they had hoped.
St. Thomas School
On Saturday, September 4, DeAnne Maisano will lead the discussion of Chapter 1 in Volume IV, “Formation of the Daily Liturgical Cycle”.
Reopening of Church Library
The church library will reopen this coming Sunday, September 5. Head Librarian, Seth Hart, wants us all “to celebrate the return of church school and the completion of the parish house repairs and come by the library during fellowship hour next Sunday for a celebratory open house! We will have snacks and drinks. After a year of COVID restrictions and then a drawn-out renovation, many of us may have forgotten or never known that our parish has a very good library with over 1200 books and other stuff. Now that the parish house is back up and running, come by for a refresher on how to check out books and info on coming changes.”
Picnics for the Departed
This coming Sunday, September 5, The St. Joanna Myrrh Bearers will be offering one of their Picnics with the Departed. However, because of the hot weather, it won’t be a picnic, just a visit. They will be going to the graves of some faithful members of our community: Al, Lorraine, and Bruce Khoury. The caravan will leave the parish at 12:15 p.m., after a short Fellowship Hour. For more information, contact Becky Thurner.
Church School
Attached, to this edition of The Happy Priest, is a letter outlining our plans for the 2021-2022 Church School year. The letter also contains assignments for each class and each Sunday. Please read all of that material carefully and, if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, get in touch with Father Aidan.
Online Meeting Participation
Starting Wednesday, September 1, online participation in St. Thomas School, The Fall Theological Seminar, and any parish events or meetings that we host will be limited to folks who live at a distance from the parish (Bastrop, Burnet, and Killeen). However, in order to participate online, each of us will need to make a reservation 48 hours prior to the event by sending an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org. We will also need to keep our cameras on during the event. We will readily make exceptions for folks who have health concerns or other issues, but you’ll need to address that with Father Aidan (just send him an email).
The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
The first major feast of the year is The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on Wednesday, September 8. We will serve Great Vespers on Tuesday, September 7, at 7:00 p.m. and, on Wednesday, the day of the feast, we will offer Orthros at 4:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 6:00 a.m. Come and celebrate with us the birthday of the Mother of God!
The Feast of St. Sophia
The Central Texas Festal Season continues with the patronal feast of our sister parish, St. Sophia, in Dripping Springs. Those folks will be serving Great Vespers on Thursday, September 16, at 6:00 p.m. and, on Friday, September 17, they will offer Orthros at 8:30 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. Please plan to join our brothers and sisters in Dripping Springs for their feast day.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Now that the parish house is open again, we need to remember that, during the Divine Liturgy and during Fellowship Hour, the building is off-limits to unaccompanied pre-school and school-age children. This is for the safety and protection of all our children and young people. Parents and their children are welcome to use the nursery and the common room during Divine Liturgy and visit the Bookstore and the Library during Fellowship Hour, but children should never ever be by themselves or in groups with other unaccompanied children in the building at any time. Restrooms and water fountains are available in the Long Hall, so there is no reason for any unaccompanied children to be in the parish house.
An unworthy priest,
Aidan
The Happy Priest is a publication of Life at a Dead Run Media, which is a subsidiary of One Take Productions. Our IT Guy is Jerry Juliano (“Go, Jerry, Go!”). Our Webmaster is Seth Hart. Our Keeper of Lists is Father Deacon Andrew Wilson. Our Roving Reporter is Dutton Peabody. We always start the new Liturgical Year by activating the Palantir of Goofiness (Jerry loves to yell, “Activate the Palantir!”) and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.