Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
The Dormition Fast begins today. Please read through this entire edition of The Happy Priest; we want you to be able to take full advantage of everything that this beautiful season has to offer.
OUR CALENDAR
Fasting Days
The Dormition Fast
During this Fast, which begins on Monday and runs through Sunday, August1 14th , the eve of the great feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, wine and olive oil) Monday through Friday with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday, and for fish, wine and olive oil on the great feast of the Transfiguration on Saturday, August 6th . If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
Daily Services
Monday, August 1- Friday, August 5
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
(But Great Vespers for the Feast of the Transfiguration on Friday evening will be served at Transfiguration Greek Orthodox parish in Westlake at 6pm.) 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 will be at the online chanter’s stand, offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours this week 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.
Monday, August 1
The Paraclesis Service 7pm
Tuesday, August 2
The Paraclesis Service 7pm
Orthodoxy 101 will return after the Dormition Fast on Tuesday, August 16
Please see the emailed newsletter for Zoom login details.
Wednesday, August 3
The Paraclesis Service 7pm
Thursday, August 4
The Paraclesis Service 7pm
The bible Study will return on Thursday, August 18
Saturday, August 6 The Feast of the Transfiguration
All Festal Services at Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Parish
Orthros 9am
Divine Liturgy 10am
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, August 7
Orthros 8am
Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Since this is the first Sunday of the month, it is Blessing Sunday, so if you’re going to be traveling during
August or if you have icons, prayer ropes, and crosses to be blessed, just show up at the chanter’s stand after liturgy for those prayers. But the first Sunday of the month is also Claim Your Stuff Sunday; that means you need to check the Lost and Found Box in the kitchen because it will all go to Goodwill after Fellowship Hour is over.
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, August 6, Father Deacon Michael Coleman will lead the discussion of Chapter Fourteen in Volume One, “Schisms” https://theforerunner.squarespace.com/blog/2021/5/9/orthodox-christianity-vol-iii-
ch-2.
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, August 4. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
Membership Update
This past Sunday, we made Christian, Natali, and Athena P., Joshua and Sofia S., Mereim
and Touria E., Collier and Rachel W., and Zaida S. catechumens. Please keep all these
folks and their sponsors in your prayers.
COMING UP
The Dormition Fast
On Monday, August 1, we will begin the Dormition Fast. During this Fast, which runs through Sunday, August 14th, the eve of the great feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, wine and olive oil) Monday through Friday with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday, and for fish, wine and olive oil on the great feast of the Transfiguration on Saturday, August 6 th. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
During the Dormition Fast, we offer The Paraclesis to the Mother of God each week night between August 1 and August 13. That means, this year, there will be ten opportunities to participate in this lovely service, and that means all of us should be able to be present at least once during the fast. So please look at your calendar and make plans to join us as we ask the Most Holy Theotokos for her intercessions. Before the Feast of the Dormition on August 15, the Archdiocese expects all of us to make our confession. In our parish, that Holy Mystery is offered on Saturday evenings after Great Vespers or just about any other time by special appointment.
The Feast of the Transfiguration will fall on Saturday, August 6. All services will be held at our sister parish, Transfiguration Greek Orthodox parish in Austin. Great Vespers will be served on Friday, August 5, at 6pm, and, on Saturday morning, Orthros will be served at 9am and Divine Liturgy at 10am. The Dormition Fast ends with the Great Feast of the Dormition on Monday, August 15. We will serve Great Vespers with the Lamentations for the Mother of God following Fellowship Hour on Sunday, August 14, and then, on Monday morning, we will offer Orthros at 6am and Divine Liturgy at 8am. This week, we all received an announcement about The 2022 Fall Theological Seminar. In case you missed that announcement, a copy of it is attached to this edition of The Happy Priest. During this year’s seminar, we will be talking about What’s Next in our building program and in the life of our parish community. This will be one of the most important things we have ever done at St John’s, and we want to hear from everyone during this process, so please go ahead and reserve your Wednesday evenings this fall, beginning on August 31 and running through November 9.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
This year’s Fall Theological Seminar is going to be a very important time in the life of our parish, so, in the weeks ahead, we’re going to use this space to provide you with some ideas on how to maximize your participation. For example, if you live at a distance from the parish that makes in-person participation difficult, why not get together with other folks in your area and have a watch party for the online version each week? It will be a whole lot more fun—and a whole lot more informative—if you make your participation as personal as possible.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Chrismating Emily B. and Junna C.; blessing Chris and Sarah S. on their 7 th anniversary; talking Legos with Joseph and William H. ; visiting with Felicia J. about Kurt Vonnegut, with Jared H. about St Ephraim the Syrian, and with Luke B. about St Ambrose of Milan; looking out the window at work and watching two very long geckos sunning themselves on the wall.
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 (‘Respect The Bling’) Gerasimos Juliano; our Webmasters are Lily Halsey and Seth Hart; our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson; our Roving Reporter is George Faber; our land diving team only uses lianas that are imported from Vanuatu, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.