Brothers and Sisters,
Happy Feast!
The festal season continues this week with the Great Feast of Theophany. On the Eve of the Feast, Thursday, January 5, we will offer The Royal Hours at 9:00 a.m. and The Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil with the First Blessing of the Waters at Noon. On Friday, January 6, the day of the feast, we will offer Orthros at 5:00 a.m. and The Divine Liturgy with the Great Blessing of the Waters at 7:00 a.m. Holy Water will be available at both liturgies, but you need to bring a suitable container if you wish to take some home with you.
House Blessings begin on Friday, January 6. So, check the schedule printed at the conclusion of this newsletter one final time and be watching for that all important email that will give you the details for your specific time slot. You will need to respond to that email in order to confirm your house blessing.
Our Calendar
Fasting
Thursday, January 5, the Eve of Theophany, is a strict fast day. Most strict fasting days fall on the day before a major feast. Strict fasting means that we should not only observe the regular fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, fish with backbones, oil, wine, and hard liquor), but that we should also eat and drink as little as possible.
Tuesday, january 2 to Friday, january 6
Daily Services
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
Please note the schedule for the festal services and house blessings. 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 back at the online chanter’s stand. The schedule is below:
1st hour: 6:45 a.m.
3rd hour: 8:45 a.m.
6th hour: 11:45 a.m.
9th hour: 3:45 p.m.
Here’s the login information is available in the emailed version of the newsletter.
St. John Trapeza Readings
Fr. Andrew, Seth Heart, and Matthew Groh 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: Monday to Friday at 12:00 p.m.
If you would like to listen in, use the link to join the Telegram group shared in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Tuesday, January 3
orthodoxy 101
Orthodoxy 101 at 7:00 p.m.
Topic: Orthodoxy 101
Please see the emailed version of the newsletter for login information.
Thursday, January 5
Orthros at 5:00 a.m.
Royal Hours at 9:00 a.m.
Vesperal Liturgy with First Blessing of Waters at Noon
The Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.
Topic: Bible Study. Please see the login information in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Friday, January 6
The Feast of Theophany
Orthros at 5:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy with Great Blessing of the Waters at 7:00 a.m.
Saturday, January 7
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 8
The Sunday After Theophany
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Typika with Holy Communion at 10:00 a.m. at Central Texas Behavioral Center 315 East Avenue D, Killeen, TX, 76541
Fellowship Hour at Noon
Akathist to the Mother of God of the Inexhaustible Cup after Fellowship Hour
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, January 7, DeAnne Maisano will lead the discussion of Chapter Eighteen in Volume Two, “The Descent into Hades”. In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, January 5. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
building program next steps
We continue to talk about the next steps in our building program, and we want to hear from everyone.
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.
Service for victims of abortion
On Friday, January 27, we will offer The Service for the Victims of Abortion. By Orthodox standards, the service is pretty short, but we will start promptly at 7:00 p.m. and we will offer up to the Most Holy Trinity our prayers for all children, parents, and those folks who are victims of the great moral evil of our age. We will also be collecting supplies for Bastrop Pregnancy Resource Center (www.bastropprc.org). Lindsey Bell volunteers with the center and she has provided us with a list of things they need. The list includes Baby Monitors, Pacifiers, Books for babies age 2 and under, Books for moms on pregnancy and baby care, space heaters, and baby washcloths. So please buy a number of those items and bring them with you to the service on the 27th.
St. Emmelia Orthodox Homeschool Conference
Registration is now open for the 2023 Saint Emmelia Orthodox Homeschool Conference, which will be held Thursday, January 26, to Sunday, January 29th, at St. Elias Orthodox Church, North Campus. The conference will feature practical homeschooling advice, spiritual encouragement, and fellowship. The keynote speaker is Fr. Turbo Qualls. Workshop leaders include Dr. John Mark Reynolds, Adam Lockridge, Matt Bianco, Hiedi White, and Katrina Kern. Children’s workshops will include iconography and chanting. If you are interested in volunteering for childcare, food service, or other opportunities, please contact our own Anna Comer.
Registration is available at https://www.saintemmelia.com/south-2023.
Scholarships/financial assistance is available by contacting St. Emmelia Ministries at saintemmeliaministries@gmail.com.
Annual Community Meeting
The Annual Community Meeting will take place on Sunday, February, 12, after Divine Liturgy. During the meeting we will have a lot of business to take care. So, in order to prepare for that meeting and to keep the length of the meeting to a minimum, it is important that everyone read through the Annual Meeting Document before attending the meeting.
You can view that information at the link provided in the emailed version of The Happy Priest.
Please take a moment to read through and familiarize yourselves with agenda and please read through all the reports.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
If you wish to receive communion during the Divine Liturgy, please remember that you must arrive no later than the gospel reading. Children who arrive late may come forward and receive the gifts. Adults who arrive later than the gospel lesson must wait until the following week.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Blessing Thomson and Anna C. on their 12th anniversary; hearing about the birth of Andrea L.; realizing that the acorn barrage has almost subsided; pointing out to Chris F. that you have to keep your expectations low; discovering that there is a registry for rodeo bulls and that it currently includes 400,000 animals; talking to the youth class about the difference between Holy Water and holy mustard; visiting with Keri G. about Watch Night services and Running for Jesus; reading Christmas books (Festal Icons by Aidan Hart and History and Spirit by Henri De Lubac); listening to a mockingbird sing just before dawn.
An unworthy priest,
Aidan