Brothers and Sisters,
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 us as we honor the Most Holy Theotokos on her birthday.
Also, this coming Wednesday, September 6, we are kicking off the Fall Theological Seminar. Father Andrew Wilson will make three presentations on iconography (this Wednesday, as well as on September 13th and 20th), then, on the weekend of September 22-24, we will be hearing from the iconographers who will be adorning our new temple: Martin Earle, Seraphim O’Keefe, and our very own, Baker Galloway. We hope that lots of folks will be able to join us in person—especially when the iconographers are with us—but if you need the online option, the seminar will also be streamed on Discord.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, September 6, and Friday, September 8 (though there is a blessing for fish and wine since the 8th is also a feast day.
Daily Services
Monday, Sep 4 - Friday, Sep 8
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 Hart 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 Hart, and Matthew Groh 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.
Also, we will now be reading the Daily Synaxarion on the #synaxarion Discord channel.
Tuesday, September 5
Orthodoxy 101 at 7 pm in the Parish House (also on Discord)
Wednesday, September 6
Fall Theological Seminar at 7
Thursday, September 7
Great Vespers for The Nativity of the Mother of God at 7 pm (Bible Study will return next week)
Friday, September 8
The Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God
Orthros at 5 am
Divine Liturgy at 7 am
Saturday, September 9
St Thomas School 4 pm
Youth Group 4 pm
Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday, September 10
The Sunday Before The Elevation
Orthros 8 am
Divine Liturgy 10 am
Fellowship Hour Noon
St. Thomas School
On Saturday September 9, Baker Galloway will be leading the discussion on Chapter 10 of Volume III “Early Christian and Byzantine Church Singing”. Online access is available on Discord; like to participate online, you still need to sign-up ahead of time. Just send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by Thursday, September 7, to reserve your spot.
Coming Up
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.
On Thursday, September 14, we will celebrate the Feast of the Elevation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. We will offer Great Vespers on Wednesday, September 13, at 6pm, right before the Fall Theological Seminar, and then on the next day, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am.
Womens' Fall Monastic Visit and Retreat
On November 10 -12, the ladies of St John's will be visiting the Monastery of The Holy Nativity in East Texas. This trip is limited to the first 20 women who reserve their spot by paying for their share of the Air B&B bill. If you would like to participate, please contact Misty W. for the details.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
On the first and third Sundays when Church School is in session, let’s remember that this is an opportunity for all the parents to participate in Orthros or offer some private prayers or catch up on some spiritual reading. The common room in the parish house is available for those who prefer not to be in Orthros, but, when we are in that room, we need to be as quiet as possible with our personal devotions, and we need to remember that Fellowship Hour does not start until after the Divine Liturgy has ended.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Blessing Ray and Christine Y. on their 24th anniversary; celebrating the new Ecclesiastical Year; driving full toll all the way home from Bastrop; running across this quotation from St Ambrose of Milan about the Most Holy Theotokos: “She, when the angel entered, was found at home in privacy, without a companion, but she seemed to herself to be less alone when she was along. For how could she be alone, who had with her so many books, so many archangels, so many prophets?”; welcoming Mary K. home from Germany and Ben C. home from the Antipodes; keeping vigil with St Eanswythe; getting excited about Rob T.’s sport coat; realizing, with John H., Father Andrew, and Herman Melville, that most of our efforts are “like a pinch of snuff to the Kraken”; blessing the very large crows that hang out on the picnic tables throughout the week.
An unworthy priest,
aidan