Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Sunday, August 10, at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, we will have our quarterly Safety and Security Rehearsal. This rehearsal will be for a medical emergency, so we will practice evacuating the buildings and walking to the rally signs on the parking lots. Please be prepared to help us by participating in this important practice session.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
The Dormition Fast runs through Wednesday, August 14th , the eve of the great feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. During this season, 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, August 4-Friday, August 8; Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (though there won't be any daily vespers on Tuesday, August 5 or daily Orthros on Wednesday, August 6; 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.
Monday, August 4
The Paraclesis 7pm
Tuesday, August 5
Great Vespers 6pm at Transfiguration Greek Parish
Wednesday, August 6 The Feast of the Transfiguration
Orthros 8:15am at Transfiguration Greek Parish
Divine Liturgy 9:30am at Transfiguration Greek Parish
The Paraclesis 7pm
Thursday, August 7
The Paraclesis 7pm
Friday, August 8
The Paraclesis 7pm
Saturday, August 9
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, August 10 The 9th Sunday of St Matthew
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am followed by a Safety and Security Rehearsal
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.
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 6pm, and on Wednesday, August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration, they will serve Orthros at 8:15am and Divine Liturgy at 9:30amam. 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
The area between the main doors to the nave and the table that is just inside those doors needs to remain clear as much as possible. Folks are constantly coming in and going out, and if people stand in front of the door or by the table during the liturgy, that makes it difficult to enter and exit. The ushers will be reminding us to keep this area open, so please follow their directions.
an unworthy priest
aidan