Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
Axios! Special Thanks to the newly ordained Father Gerasimos, and Extra Special Thanks to Shamassy Irene and their wonderful children, Felicia, James, John, and Anna Christine.
Congratulations, as well, to the newly tonsured Reader Savvas Grandalski, his wife, Keri, and their wonderful children, Mason and Morgan.
There is a lot going on this week, so please be sure and read through this entire issue of the newsletter. We don’t want you to miss out on anything.
OUR CALENDAR
Fasting Days
The Apostles’ Fast begins on Monday, June 20, and, this year, it runs through Wednesday, June 28.
During this Fast we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, oil, wine, hard liquor, or fish with backbones) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a blessing for fish, wine and olive oil on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
Daily Services
Monday, June 20 and Friday, June 24
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
Check the schedule for festal services, too. 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
Seth Hart is continuing to read the Hours on ZOOM.
First Hour, 6:45 a.m.
Third Hour, 8:45 a.m.
Sixth Hour, 11:45 a.m.
Ninth Hour, 3:45 p.m.
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Tuesday, June 21
Orthodoxy 101 at 7pm in the Parish House.
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Wednesday, June 22
Akathist to the Apostles at 7:00 p.m.
This service is a wonderful time to pray for those who are not yet part of the Church or those who have fallen away from the Church.
Thursday, June 23
Great Vespers for the Nativity at 7:00 p.m.
Friday, June 24
The Feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner (Our Parish Feast Day)
Orthros at 6:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 8:00 a.m.
Saturday, June 25
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Soup & Saints at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 26
2nd Sunday of St Matthew
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Fellowship Hour at Noon
In between Orthros and the Liturgy, four individuals will be baptized. A family and another individual will be chrismated, and four individuals, and three families will be made catechumens. Please arrive early to take part in these Holy Mysteries.
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, June 25 Michael Ruse will lead the discussion of Chapter Eight, pgs. 210-256 in Volume One, “The Russian Church during the Synodal Period”. In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, June 23. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
Church School Registration
During the month of June, we would like to get all of the children and young people registered who will be attending Church School in the fall. Classes will begin in September and will meet at 8:15 a.m. on the first and third Sundays of each month. The youth will meet at 12:30 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of the month.
Here is a link that you can use for registration: https://forms.gle/1kMZFje2a4cDE8jdA.
Please fill out a form for each child or young person that will be participating. Your child’s teacher will be contacting you in August but, in the meantime, if you have any questions, please get in touch with either Sandi Andrews or Father Aidan Wilcoxson.
COMING UP
Apostle’s Fast
On Monday, June 20, we begin the Apostle’s Fast. This short fasting season runs through the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul on Wednesday, June 29.
Tuesday, June 28
Great Vespers at 7pm
Wednesday, June 29
Orthros at 5am and
Divine Liturgy at 7am
During this short fasting season, we observe the traditional fasting discipline on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with a blessing for fish, wine, and olive oil on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
St. Constantine school presentation
Have you been praying for a local, quality Orthodox school for your children to attend? Have you looked into how to start one, but didn't know where to start? Save the date! On Saturday, July 9th, a team from the Saint Constantine School in Houston (an Orthodox school with a classical curriculum) will be coming to Saint John the Forerunner church to explain their established process that could be used to start a classical, Orthodox school in our area. If you would like more information about this project, get in touch with Julie Chien. See the St. Constantine Flyer here.
WHAT’S NEXT?
St. Eanswythe of Folkstone knows, so does St John the Forerunner, the Most Holy Theotokos (of course) knows, and, on Wednesday, August 31….
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
We should always remember to dress appropriately for the Divine Liturgy. It is our encounter with the Most Holy Trinity and our clothes should reflect the importance of that encounter. If you have questions about what is or is not appropriate, you can consult the article from the archdiocese, “Clothe Me with a Garment of Salvation”. If you have specific questions that are not addressed in the article, please feel free to ask one of the clergy. However, if you see someone who is wearing something that is inappropriate, under no circumstances should you say anything to that person because only clergymen have the authority to do that.
THINGS THAT MAKE PRIESTS HAPPY
Blessing Cameron and Julie C on their sixth anniversary; removing the crowns for Ethan and Sophia Yg; participating in the ordination of Father Deacon Gerasimos Juliano and the tonsuring of Reader Savvas Grandalski; hearing Bishop Basil quote Tim McGraw; resolving that, on the very next trip through Oklahoma, we simply have to stop at the International Action Figure Museum in Paul’s Valley, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, and the Free Pickle Bar in Guthrie; sitting on a terrace overlooking the Wichita River, watching the sun come up, seeing a large fish leap up out of the water, and realizing that it must have been an expression of sheer joy.
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 Father Deacon Gerasimos Juliano. Our Webmasters are Lily Halsey and Seth Hart. Our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson. Our Roving Reporter is Ron Updyke. Our Pickle Ball Team took silver at the International PB (But No J) Tournament in Nepal, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.