Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Tuesday, we will begin Nativity Lent, the forty-day period of preparation leading to the forty day festal season that includes not only Nativity but also The Circumscion and The Presentation and the Great Feast of Theophany. All of the information that you need for the fast and for the special services is included in this week’s edition of The Happy Priest, so please be sure and read through this entire issue. We want you to be able to take advantage of every blessing this season affords.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, November 16, and Friday, November 18
Daily Services
Monday, November 14 to Friday, November 18
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
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 Hours and stream them to Zoom. The schedule is below:
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.
St. John Trapeza Readings
Also, Fr. Andrew, Matthew G., and Seth H. continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They re currently reading Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life by Archimandrite George of The Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios of Mount Athos. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm p.m.
If you would like to listen in, use this link to join the Telegram link shared in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Wednesday, November 16
The Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Thursday, November 17
The Bible Study at 7pm
Topic: St. John the Forerunner - Bible Study
Please see the login details in the emailed version of the newsletter to join Zoom meeting
Saturday, November 19
St. Thomas School 4 pm
Great Vespers at 6 pm
Sunday, November 20
The Ninth Sunday of St. Luke
Orthros at 8am
Church school 8:15am
Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Youth Group 1pm
Chess Club 6pm
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, November 19, Marcus McClary will lead the discussion of pgs 244-259 in Chapter Twelve in
Volume Two, “Man” 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, November 10; you will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
COMING UP
This coming Sunday, November the 20th, the burial society will host a graveside visit for Laverne H. at the Cedar Park Cemetery just down the street from Saint John’s. The group will walk or drive down together at the conclusion of Fellowship hour to lay fresh flowers, cense her grave, pray and sing Memory Eternal and exchange stories and memories we have of her. If you would like more information, contact Valerie G.
This past Wednesday we finished up our Fall Theological Seminar, but we continue to talk about the next steps in our building program, and we want to hear from everyone. To make that easier, a Frequently Asked Questions document is attached to this newsletter. Of course, you can also talk to Baker Galloway, Mike Brown, Will Hampton, or Father Aidan Wilcoxson in person or contact any of those folks via email.
THE NATIVITY FAST begins on November 15th and is divided into two periods: (A) November 15th through December 19th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil) is observed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil (some also permit fish) on Tuesday and Thursday, and for fish, wine, and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday, and (B) the period of the Forefeast, December 20th through 24th, when the traditional fasting discipline is observed Monday through Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday. The eve of the feast, December 24th is a strict fast day. December 25th through January 4th is fast-free. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father as soon as possible.
During the Nativity Fast, we always offer the Nativity Paraclesis on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. This year, there will be six of those services—on November 16,23,30 and December 7,14,21—so all of us should be able to make at least one of them. Also, this year, since these services follow our Fall Theological Seminar, we’re going to be using them to pray for discernment as we move forward with our Building Program. So please go ahead and note on you calendar the services in which you will be able to participate.
The Archdiocese expects us all to make our confession at least once during Nativity Lent. In our community, confession is offered on Saturday evenings after Great Vespers, or just about any other time by appointment. We will not be hearing confessions on Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24, but, between now and the end of December, all you need to do is show up on Saturday night or contact one of our priests to arrange a specific time to participate in this Holy Mystery.
Our sister parish, St Sophia, in Dripping Springs, is sponsoring a retreat for Nativity Lent on the weekend of December 9-10. A flyer for the retreat is attached to the emailed version of The Happy Priest. On Monday, November 21, we will celebrate the Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God. On Sunday afternoon, November 20, we will serve Great Vespers right after Fellowship Hour, and, on Monday morning, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. Please plan on joining us as we honor the Most Holy Theotokos on this beautiful feast.
And, finally, at the conclusion of this week’s edition of The Happy Priest is the schedule for 2023 House Blessings—yes, it will be here before you know it! So, please read through the list and make sure that your name appears on it; if the date that you’ve been assigned works, then please log that date into your phone and write it on all your calendars. If you have been left off the list, or if the date that you’ve been assigned will not work, then please get in touch with Father Aidan Wilcoxson as soon as possible.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
Let’s be sure and leave the chairs and the benches for folks who are older and for folks who have physical limitations. Now that the nave is crowded on a regular basis, children and young people should always sit on the floor or stand. We never know who is going to come through the door of the nave, so even if it appears that there are vacant chairs or benches, children and young people should remain sitting on the floor or standing.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Blessing Charles and Roxanne S. on their 11 th anniversary; hearing about the birth of Nehemiah C.(Congratulations, Maxiums and Julia—and Ray and Christine!); learning that Elon C. is now playing for Cuba (he used to play for Malta); offering the services for St Nectarius and St Martin of Tours; admiring the large hawk who was sitting on the playground fence; blessing Henri H. and Henri W. to serve in the altar, and hoping we can find six more Henri’s so we can have eight (we won’t take a Willie or a Sam); talking Thanksgiving menus with DeAnne M. and Sara H. and Beth C.; walking under a blood moon.
an unworthy priest,
aidan