Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
The canned goods and non-perishable food items are starting to re-appear in the Hill County Community Ministries Basket in the narthex. That’s an important way we can support an important ministry in our area, so please remember to pick up a few extra items each week when you do your grocery shopping and then place them in the basket when you are next at the Divine Services.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, July 23 and Friday, July 25
Daily Services
Monday, July 21-Friday, July 25; Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (though there won't be any daily vespers on Monday, July 21, or Friday, July 25; 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 The Life of Moses by St Gregory of Nyssa. 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-3655 channel.
Tuesday July 22
Parish Council 7pm
Inquirer’s 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Thursday, July 24
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition on Discord
Saturday, July 26
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, July 27 The 7th Sunday of St Matthew
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Church School Registration
Please note: Beginning this year, our Archdiocese is requiring all children who participate in Church School to register ahead of time. So, please read the following announcement carefully, and let us know if you have any questions.
It is time for church school registration for the 2025-26 school year!! As a reminder, children need to be at least 3 years of age by September 1, 2025 and potty trained to register for Level 1, 6 years of age to register for Level 2, and 9 years of age to register for Level 3. SOYO (youth) is for ages 13-18. If you have any questions about CGS (Levels 1-3), feel free to reach out to Sandi A. If you have any questions about SOYO, you can reach out to Father Aidan or Father Andrew. The new CGS calendar will be posted to our parish website shortly and like last year, CGS will be offered at its regular time (8:15 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Sunday morning) for the first three Sundays of each month. We would like to encourage you to register your child if you have any intention of them participating at all in the upcoming school year as it assists us tremendously with our planning. Please note that the first day of church school will be Sunday, September 7th. Look for the link for all church school registration on Discord.
Finance Report
Thanks to the mercy of the Most Holy Trinity and your on-going generosity, we ended June with a surplus. That means, through the first half of the year, we have gratefully received 47.7% of what folks have pledged for the year. So, at the half-way point in the year, we are at the half-way point in our giving. That's a really impressive achievement, and we should attribute it all to the grace of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We now have the remaining 52.30% of our giving to fulfill, so please check on Realm to make sure you are up to date with your commitment, and, if you are, please consider giving a bit more to help out all those who simply are not able to contribute as much as they had originally intended.
Coming Up
On certain Sundays in 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.
On Friday, August 1, we will begin the Dormition Fast. During this Fast, which runs through Wednesday, August 14th , the eve of the great feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, wine and olive oil) Monday through Friday with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday, and for fish, wine and olive oil on the great feast of the Transfiguration on Wednesday, August 6th. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
During the Dormition Fast, we offer The Paraclesis to the Mother of God just about each week night between August 1 and August 13. That means, this year, there will be eight opportunities to participate in this lovely service, and that means all of us should be able to be present at least once during the fast. So please look at the website calendar and then look at your calendar and make plans to join us as we ask the Most Holy Theotokos for her intercessions.
Before the Feast of the Dormition on Thursday, August 15, the Archdiocese expects all of us to make our confession. In our parish, that Holy Mystery is offered on Saturday evenings after Great Vespers and just about any other time with a specific appointment.
Our sister community, Transfiguration Greek Orthodox parish in Austin, will celebrate their feast day in August. They will offer Great Vespers on Tuesday, August 5, at 5:30pm, and on Wednesday, August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration, they will serve Orthros at 9am and Divine Liturgy at 10am. Their bishop will be present, refreshments will be served, and we are all invited.
Our sister community, St Luke's Serbian Orthodox parish in Leander, will be blessing the foundation for their new temple on Saturday, August 9. They will serve Great Vespers on Friday, August 8, at 6pm, and Divine Liturgy on Saturday, August 9, at 9am. Their bishop will be present, lunch will be served on Saturday, and we are all invited.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
Let’s be sure and leave the chairs and the benches for folks who are older and for folks who have physical limitations. Children and young people should always sit on the floor or stand. We never know who is going to come through the door of the nave, so even if it appears that there are vacant chairs or benches, children and young people should remain sitting on the floor or standing.
an unworthy priest
aidan