Brothers and Sisters,
Happy Feast!
Now that we’ve had all the festal fun, we need to be sure and honor our patron and protector, The Holy Forerunner. Tonight, we will serve Great Vespers at 7pm, and, on Tuesday morning, we will offer Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. We will be joined by some of the clergy in our area and by folks from other parishes in Central Texas, so please plan on being a part of our Nativity celebration for St John.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
The Apostles' Fast runs through Saturday, June 28. During this season, we observe the regular fasting discipline (no meat, dairy products, most kinds of fish, oil, wine, and hard liquor) on Wednesdays and Fridays, with a blessing for wine and oil on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Fish, wine, and oil are permitted on Saturday and Sunday and on our parish feast day, June 24. If you need to adjust the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
Daily Services
Monday, June 23-Friday, June 27; Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (be sure and check the schedule for the festal services; but, when it comes to the daily 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 “Touching Heaven” by Father John Oliver. 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.
Monday, June 23
Great Vespers 7pm
Tuesday June 24 Nativity of the Forerunner
Orthros 5am
Divine Liturgy 7am
Parish Council 7pm
Inquirer’s 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, June 25
Akathist to the Apostles 7pm
Thursday, June 26
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition
Saturday, June 28
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, June 29 Feast of Sts Peter and Paul
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fifth Sunday Potluck and Live Music
Coming Up
During the Apostles' Fast, it is the custom in our parish to offer The Akathist to the Apostles each Wednesday evening. During this service, we pray for those who are not yet part of the Church and for those who have fallen away from the Faith. This year, we will be offering the service twice, on Wednesday, June 18, and Wednesday, June 25. All of us can make at least one of those services, and all of us should do so, since all of us know folks who are not yet part of the Church or who have fallen away from the Faith.
On certain Sundays in June, July, and August, we will be meeting in small groups to hear about next steps in our Building Program. Father Aidan is sending out email invitations to these sessions, so be watching for that note, and, if you don’t receive one in the next few weeks, just let him know, and he will get you into a group, because we want everyone to be able to participate in these meetings.
Our Arch Episcopal Vicar, Father Calinic Berger, would like all communities to do their best to participate in the feast days for the parishes in their deanery. Our mother parish, St Elias, will be celebrating their feast day on the weekend of July 19-20, so, on that Saturday evening, July 19, we will not have St Thomas School or Great Vespers at our parish. Instead, we will join our brothers and sisters at St Elias’ downtown location for Great Vespers at 5pm and refreshments afterwards.
Sunday, July 20, is the Feast of St Elias, so, at the end of the Divine Liturgy, we will have our Annual Blessing of Vehicles. That means just as we clean up our homes and apartments before they can blessed, we need to wash and polish our sedans, SUVs, trucks, and roadsters and have them in the parking lot on that Sunday morning so the clergy can bless them with Holy Water as we process around the property.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
When we offer a weekday Divine Liturgy, there are typically no ushers available to serve. However, just because those friendly folks aren’t at the doors, the rules for entering the nave still apply. So, we need to remember and wait in the narthex during either one of the entrances, while the scripture lessons are being read, during the homily, and during the Holy Eucharist.
an unworthy priest
aidan