Brothers and Sisters,
As we wrap up the old Liturgical Year and begin the New Church Calendar, we have offering a couple of very special series of services to mark that transition:
We will wrap up the old year this coming Wednesday, August 30th, with our first non-Paschal All Night Vigil in honor of St. Eanswythe of Folkestone. St. Eanswythe has been the patroness of our building program for the last ten years, and we are serving the vigil as a prayerful way to officially kick off the first round of fundraising for our new temple. The All Night Vigil is actually made up of five services: Little Compline, Great Vespers, Litia and Artoklasia, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy. The services will start at 10pm, and will likely last well into the early morning. We are thinking it will take about 5-6 hours to complete, but we aren’t totally sure since we’ve never done this before. Of course, everyone is welcome to come and pray with us. You don’t have to stay for the whole service. Feel free to come and go as you please, even if you can only drop by for 30 minutes. The Holy Fathers say there is a special blessing in night prayer, so this is your chance to experience that while also asking that the Most Holy Trinity, the Theotokos, and St. Eanswythe would make firm the foundation of our new temple.
The new Liturgical Year begins on September 1 with the Feast of the Indiction. We will serve Great Vespers on Thursday, August 31, at 7pm, and on Friday, September 1, we will offer Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. Everyone is welcome to join us as we begin the new church year.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Tuesday, August 29 (The Beheading of the Forerunner), Wednesday, August 30, and Friday, September 1.
Daily Services
Monday, Aug 28 - Friday, Sep 1
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
If you plan on attending the in-person services, it’s always a good idea to check the day before and make sure the regular schedule will be observed
Also, Seth H. and friends will be at the online chanter’s stand, offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours this week: 1st hour: 6:45 a.m.; 3rd hour: 8:45 a.m.; 6th hour: 11:45 a.m. 9th hour: 3:45 p.m.
Fr. Andrew, Seth H., Matthew G., and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are reading Welcoming Gifts by Father Jeremy Davis. The schedule is M-F at 12pm.
Tuesday, August 29
Orthodoxy 101 at 7 pm in the Parish House (also on Discord)
Wednesday, August 30
Vigil for St. Eanswythe at 10 pm
Thursday, August 31
Great Vespers for The Indiction at 7 pm (Bible Study will return in 2 weeks)
Friday, September 1
The Feast of The Indiction
Orthros at 5 am
Divine Liturgy at 7 am
Saturday, September 2
St Thomas School 4 pm
Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday, September 3
Thirteenth Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8 am
Church School 8:15 am
Divine Liturgy 10 am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Since this is the first Sunday of the month, it is also Blessing Sunday, so if you’re going to be traveling during September 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.
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.
Our memorial service on September 3rd will be for Carol L., who departed this life in 2009. Many of you may recognize her name from the many books that she generously donated to our parish library. May her memory be eternal.
St. Thomas School
On Saturday September 2, Father Aidan and Bessie J. will be leading our next First Saturday of the Month Practical Orthodox Stuff Class. Our topic for September is The Structure of our Parish. We will be talking about our Parish Constitution and our Parish Council and the way our diocese and archdiocese are put together, and we will show you how to make the most of these structures to draw closer to the Most Holy Trinity.
An Opportunity for Generosity
The Parish Council has approved the plans for expanding and revamping the Parish House Garden. The Garden is used by our Church School children, and it has the potential to be a lovely area. But, right now, it is too small and too crowded and too dusty to be of much use. So, the plans call for the expansion of the fenced area, the installation of some permeable cover, the addition of an outdoor sink, and the overall beautification of the area. The project will cost $15,000, and we have already raised $5,000 of that amount. If you would like to contribute towards the total—or cover the remainder of the cost—in honor or in memory of someone, please get in touch with Father Aidan.
Saturday Sessions for Church School
Our Church School staff has been hard at work, and one of the great ideas that they have put together is a monthly session on a Saturday. If you have questions or would like further information, please get in touch with Sandi A.
Coming Up
The 2023 Fall Theological Seminar will kick off this coming Wednesday, Aug 30, with an All Night Vigil for St Eanswythe of Folkestone. Then on the following three Wednesday evenings—September 6, 12, and 20—Father Andrew W. will offer presentations on Iconography. But then the fun really begins, because, on the weekend of September 23-24, all three of our temple iconographers will be with us: Martin Earle, Seraphim O’Keefe, and our own Baker Galloway. We will be able to get to know them and their families, and they will be talking to us about the iconography for our new building. That will be an amazing weekend, but the rest of the fall will be every bit as amazing, because, on the rest of the Wednesday evenings through November 8, we will be working with the iconographers via Zoom to fill out the plans for the iconographic temple program. This is something that folks never, ever get to do; most of these decisions are made by the clergy or large donors, so be sure and reserve the weekend of September 23-24 and every Wednesday evening from August 30-November 8! See you at the Seminar.
The first major feast of the year will be The Nativity of the Mother of God on Friday, September 8. We will offer Great Vespers for the feast on Thursday, September 7, at 7pm, and on Friday morning, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. Plan on joining with us as we honor the Most Holy Theotokos on her birthday.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Let’s be sure and pick up after ourselves when we are done with fellowship hour. Please make sure that all your plates and silver ware and coffee cups make it back to the kitchen in the Long Fellowship Hall, and please put all napkins and food scraps in one of the trash cans. If you are sitting outside, be sure that you haven’t left anything on or under the picnic tables; if you are sitting inside, check the carpet and pick up any food or crumbs. If your children are not sitting with you, please make sure that they also clean up after themselves.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Blessing Joe and Misty W. on their 13th anniversary; learning about the Miracle of the Queso from our resident Velveeta Maven, Matt H.; talking with Maggie and Jerry B. about how much has changed in the last thirty years; hearing the story about how Matt H. once repaired a riding lawn mower with Velveeta Cheese; assuring Clara C. that we’re going to eventually get our act together when it comes to the blessed bread; confirming that Matt H. once built a scale replica of the Taj Mahal using blocks of Velveeta Cheese (and that he’s currently working on the world’s biggest Velveeta model of the Battle of Marathon); moving one of the big green trash cans and uncovering a big grey and black lizard.
An unworthy priest,
aidan