Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
On Tuesday, December 6, we will celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas. We will offer Great Vespers at 7pm on Monday, December 5, and then, on the day of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. St Nicholas is the patron saint of all children; in addition to buying presents for our children and grandchildren and godchildren, what better gift to give them than to spend an hour or so interceding on their behalf with the assistance of this great hierarch?
Our Calendar
The Fast
The Nativity Fast 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.
Daily Services
Monday, December 5 to Friday, December 9
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
But check the schedule for the festal services; also, 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 are currently reading Guiding to a Blessed End: Andrew of Caesarea and his Apocalypse Commentary in the Ancient Church, by Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
If you would like to listen in, use this link to join the Telegram link shared in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Monday, December 5
Great Vespers 7pm
Tuesday, December 6 Feast of St. Nicholas
Orthros 5am
Divine Liturgy 7am
Orthodoxy 101 7pm
Please see the login details in the emailed version of the newsletter to join Zoom meeting
Wednesday, December 7
The Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Saturday, December 10
St. Thomas School 4 pm
Great Vespers at 6 pm
Sunday, December 11 The Eleventh Sunday of St. Luke
Orthros at 8am
Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children following Fellowship Hour
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, December 10, Baker Galloway will lead the discussion of Chapter Fifteen in Volume Two, “Two Natures, Two Energies, Two Wills” https://theforerunner.squarespace.com/blog/2021/5/9/orthodox-christianity-vol-iii-ch-2. In In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, December 8; you will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
COMING UP
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.
During the Nativity Fast, we always offer the Nativity Paraclesis on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. This year, there are three more of those services—on 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 St Nicholas Toy Box is in the narthex, and it’s not too late to bring a new, unwrapped toy and put it in the box. All the toys will be donated to a children’s charity in Georgetown.
This coming Sunday, December 11, the Burial Society will be leading a group to the Liberty Hill Cemetery following Fellowship Hour to visit the graves of Nadja and Nikolaus O. These are beloved parishioners and the parents of Michael O. and Vera P. We will bless their graves and pray the prayers of the departed for them and see pictures of them and hear memories of them shared by their children and other parishioners who knew them. The Burial Society will provide thermoses of Christmas Tea and cookies to share; the group will leave for Liberty Hill immediately following the singing that signifies the end of Fellowship Hour. The address of the Liberty Hill Cemetery is: 16101 TX-29, Liberty Hill, TX 78642.
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.
And, finally, at the conclusion of this week’s emailed 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
We should always put something in the offering bowl whenever we attend the Divine Liturgy. Even if we support the parish through automatic bank draft, we should still place something in the offering bowl, because it's not just about supporting the parish, it's about expressing our on-going gratitude to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Blessing Mike and Linda B. on their 35th anniversary; congratulating Dino and DeAnne M. on the birth of their grandson, Abel; singing with Tawni M. at the Nativity Paraclesis; discovering what makes deacons happy (and really, really hungry); visiting with Corey D. about Tuba S. and with Christie D. about St John of Kronstadt; hearing Stephen G. talk about how bees keep warm; listening to leaves scutter down the sidewalk.
an unworthy priest,
aidan