Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Saturday, December 6, we will be celebrating the Feast of St Nicholas. We will serve Great Vespers at 7pm on Friday, December 5, and on Saturday, the day of the feast, we will offer Orthros at 6am and Divine Liturgy at 8am. Of course, St Nicholas is the patron of children, so this will be a really good opportunity to pray for all of our children and grandchildren and godchildren.
This coming Sunday, December 7, we will have our final Safety and Security Rehearsal of the year. This rehearsal is for an active shooter, and while we are far more likely to have to deal with a medical emergency or a weather related crisis, this scenario is one that makes lots of folks anxious. So, we try to keep things as relaxed as possible. Here’s what will happen: At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the priest will explain what we are about to do and provide directions. Then one of the ushers will say, “Gun, Gun, Gun” in a loud voice; we will all get down on the floor for ten seconds, just as we do during our severe weather rehearsal, and then we will all exit the building and walk to the rally signs out on the parking lots, as we do with each and every one of our rehearsals. If you have any questions about what we will be doing on Sunday, please contact one of our priests.
Fasting Days
The Nativity Fast runs through Wednesday, December 24. According to our Archdiocese’s Calendar, the Fast is divided into two periods: (1) November 15th through December 15th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil) is observed on Wednesdays and Fridays, with a blessing for wine, olive oil and fish on other days; and (2) the subsequent period after December 15th, including that 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. Wednesday, November 12, and Friday, November 14. The Nativity Fast begins Saturday, November 15, and runs through, Wednesday, December 24. Women who are pregnant or nursing, children who are still growing, and anyone with a medically supervised diet is not to keep the full fast. Many American Orthodox Christians also obtain a blessing to celebrate Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 27). If you need a blessing to modify the fast in any way, please check with one of our priests.
Daily Services
Monday, December 1-Friday, December 5: Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm; (but check the schedule for the festal services; it’s always a good idea to check the day before and make sure nothing has come up to change the regular schedule). However, Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading Made For Union by Father George Dokos. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
In addition to the daily Synaxarion readings posted in the #synaxarion channel on Discord, the online team is now posting daily Bible Readings that will allow you to read through the Bible in a year. These readings are posted in the #bible-365 channel.
Tuesday, December 2
The Inquirer’s Class 7pm
Wednesday, December 3
The Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Friday, December 5
Great Vespers 7pm
Saturday, December 6 The Feast of St Nicholas
Orthros 6am
Divine Liturgy 8am
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, December 7 10th Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Youth 1pm
Coming Up
We are offering the Nativity Paraclesis on Wednesday evenings throughout the Fast. The service will begin at 7pm; there will be three more of those services, and our hope is that we will all be able to participate in at least one, so please plan on joining us (it’s an especially nice way to begin the Thanksgiving Holiday). To make these services even more meaningful, we are encouraged everyone to bring canned goods for the Hill County Community Ministries basket.
The archdiocese expects all of us to make our confession before Christmas. That holy mystery is available on Saturday evening after Great Vespers and just about any other time with a specific appointment. However, we will not be hearing confessions after Tuesday, December 23, so our clergy can prepare for the festal services.
Our Catechesis of The Good Shepherd students (L1, L2 and L3) would like to extend everyone an invitation to their upcoming Nativity Pageant on Sunday December 14th at 8:45 a.m. in the parish house. This is an informal re-enactment of the Nativity of Christ Jesus that is part sing-along and part dialogue with costumes, simple props and plenty of charm. Please plan on joining in! (And please note that we have moved the materials making session originally scheduled that day to Sunday January 4th from 1-3pm.)
It's time to start planning for the Feast of Nativity. Here is the schedule for the Divine Services: on Wednesday, December 24th, we will offer Orthros at 5am, the Royal Hours at 9am, and The First Liturgy of the Feast, The Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St Basil, at noon. On Christmas Day, we will serve Orthros at 8am and Divine Liturgy at 10am. Please know that we will not have a Fellowship Hour after either of the liturgies and that coffee will not be available, so please be sure and make your own arrangements in that regard.
The 2026 House Blessing Schedule is included in the email version of this week’s newsletter. Please check to make sure your name or your family’s name appears on the list; if not, please email Father Aidan and tell him to check the list twice. We send out the schedule over a month in advance so everyone can do their best to be present for the House Blessing.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Let’s remember to stay out of the construction area—and that includes all of us: children, adults, children accompanied by adults. We are all drawn to big machines, and we all want to see the changes on the property, but it is a dangerous space, and none of us are authorized to be back there.
This Week’s Recommended Baby Name
Since we have so many babies, all of us at One Take Productions thought it would be helpful if we highlighted a saints’ name each week to help with the process of name selection. So, straight out of the Synaxarion, this week’s Certified Orthodox Baby Name is Vakthang.
an unworthy priest
aidan