Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Friday, August 1, The Dormition Fast begins, and what better way to kick off that beautiful season that by attending the very first Paraclesis Service that evening. It will begin at 7pm and run about forty-five minutes.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, July 30 and Friday, August 1. Friday, August 1, also marks the beginning of 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.
Daily Services
Monday, July 28-Friday, August 1; Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (though there won't be any daily vespers on Tuesday, July 29; 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-365 channel.
Thursday, July 31
The Bible Study, Old Testament Edition on Discord
Saturday, August 2
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, August 3 The 8th 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.
Calling All Church School Friends and Volunteers
Our hard-working Director of The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Sandi A., is getting closer and closer to being fully certified—that means she will be able to do in-house training for our parish. One of the important tasks in the certification process is putting together all the materials for each of the classrooms—and Sandi needs our help with that work, so, below are some dates for materials making over the next few weeks.
Here are the dates and times of each session:
Sunday August 3rd 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. (snacks provided)
Saturday August 9th 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (lunch provided)
Sunday August 17th 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. (snacks provided)
We will have all three atria available as work spaces and plenty of supplies, so please plan on pitching in and helping out with this tremendously important project.
An Important Announcement
With the new parish security procedures being implemented for all master key holders, we are going to also implement limits on our practice of giving out the code to the key lockbox. Moving forward, the lockbox code will only be approved for contracted cleaning and professional services. If you are dropping off items, looking for lost belongings, setting up for parties, showers, classes, etc., please know that someone is at the parish just about every afternoon of the year, and on Saturday afternoons and evenings, and Sunday mornings. It will be necessary for you to coordinate your time within the parameters of those key holders who plan to be present at the parish.
Coming Up
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
Sometimes it’s difficult to find a parking spot on our property, but we ask that everyone 1) not park on the grass, along a fire lane (look for the red stripe), or in the circular drive on the front of the property. If you cannot find a spot on either of the lots, please drop off any passengers and then park in one of the surrounding neighborhoods (our clergymen do that every Sunday). In the City of Cedar Park, you cannot leave your vehicle within four feet of a private driveway or on a bridge (just look for the metal abutments), and your vehicle must be facing in the direction of traffic.
an unworthy priest
aidan