Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
The Feast of the Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross is this coming Tuesday, September 14. We will offer Great Vespers for the feast at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 13, and, on Tuesday the day of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 4:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 6:00 a.m. We hope that you can join us at some point during the course of this great and glorious celebration.
And 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 on joining our brothers and sisters in Dripping Springs for their feast day.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, September 15 and Friday, September 17
Daily Services
Monday, September 13 to Friday, August 17
Orthros 5am;
Vespers 5pm
There will be No Daily Vespers on Thursday, September 16. Also, please check the festal service schedule. If you plan on attending 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.
Monday, September 13
Great Vespers for the Elevation at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 14
The Feast of the Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross
Orthros at 4:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 6:00 a.m.
Wednesday, September 15
Fall Theological Seminar at 7:00 p.m.
If you live at a distance from the parish or have health concerns and wish to join the group online, please make a reservation by Monday, September 13. Just send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org. This week, we will be discussing Experiences After Death, which begins on pg. 111
Thursday, September 16
Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.
See the emailed newsletter for login info.
Saturday, September 18
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 19
The Sunday After the Elevation
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Fellowship Hour at Noon
St. Thomas School
On Saturday, September 18, Dr. Chris Speckhard will lead the discussion of Chapter Three, pgs.129-145 in Volume IV, “The Divine Liturgy”.
The following link will provide a summary of the material that will be covered:
www.theforerunner.org/blog/2021/9/11/orthodox-christianity-vol-iv-chp-3-the-divine-liturgy
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, September 16. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
It’s Getting Crowded!
As you may have noticed, there are now a lot of folks in our services. That means we need to start talking seriously about the next steps in our building program. So, this fall, Mike Brown and Baker Galloway are going to be leading a series of discussion groups that will focus on various aspects of our overall plan for the property. The first meeting is scheduled for Sunday, October 10. All of the meetings will be held in Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore and each one will begin at 8:30 a.m. Attached to this edition of The Happy Priest is a document which has all the information about all the meetings, so read through that and plan on joining in the discussion.
Fr. Deacon Andrew’s Ordination to the Holy Priesthood
Of course, the big news is that Father Deacon Andrew Wilson will soon be Father Andrew Wilson! Father Deacon will be ordained to the Holy Priesthood on Sunday, October 24, at St. George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas. Everyone is welcome to attend the service but, since that’s an eighteen hour drive and since it will require an overnight stay, not everyone will be able to participate. However, we will be offering all the Divine Services at St. John’s that weekend and, when he returns, the newly-ordained Father Andrew will serve the traditional “Week of Liturgies”. So, beginning Monday, October 25, through Sunday, October 31, Father Andrew will offer the Divine Liturgy each morning. Monday through Friday, Orthros will begin at 4:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 6:00 a.m. and we will be requiring masks for the services on Tuesday and Thursday of that week. On Saturday, we will also be requiring masks and Orthros will be offered at 7:00 a.m., with the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 a.m. The Sunday morning schedule will be the same as it always is: Orthros at 8:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. So, even if you can’t make it to Wichita, you can be a part of this exciting event and receive the blessing of our newly ordained priest.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
An important aspect of our stewardship is keeping our property looking as nice as possible. Parents, grandparents, and godparents have a big role to play in that effort. For example, landscaping features often attract children and, while we certainly want our children to enjoy their time at the parish, when children play with the gravel, mulch, and stones that are part of our landscaping, those children should also be taught the good stewardship of restoring those materials to their original appearance.
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 (“Yeah, I got a 95 in my Lossky class”) Juliano. Our Webmaster is Seth Hart. Our Keeper of Lists is Father Deacon Andrew Wilson. Our Roving Reporter is Nina Romina. All of our internal memos are written in Esperanto and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.