Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
Our parish feast day, The Nativity of the Forerunner, is Wednesday, June 24. On Tuesday, June 23, we will offer Great Vespers at 7pm, and, on the day of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 4am and Divine Liturgy at 6am. Please join us at some point in the cycle of services to offer thanks to our Patron and Protector.
Fasting Days
This year, The Apostle’s Fast runs through, Sunday, June 28. During this fast, the normal fasting discipline (abstaining from meat, fish with backbones, dairy products, oil, wine, and hard liquor) is kept on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is a blessing for oil and wine; on Saturdays and Sundays, there is a blessing for fish, oil, and wine. Women who are pregnant or nursing, children who are still growing, and anyone with a medically-prescribed diet should not try and keep the full fast. If you need to modify the fasting guidelines in any way, speak to one of our priests.
Daily Services
Monday, June 22-Friday, June 26: Orthros 4am; Vespers 5pm (but check the schedule for the festal services; in general, if you plan on attending one of the daily services, it’s a good idea to check with Father Aidan the day before to make sure the schedule has not changed).
Tuesday, June 23
Great Vespers 7pm
Wednesday, June 24 The Nativity of the Forerunner
Orthros 4am
Divine Liturgy 6am
The Akathist to the Apostles 7pm
Saturday, June 27
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, June 28 Fourth Sunday of St Matthew
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Great Vespers for Sts Peter and Paul No Later than 1pm
Monday, June 29 The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
Orthros 4am
Divine Liturgy 6am
Coming Up
During The Apostle’s Fast, we offer The Akathist to the Apostles on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. That’s a great time to pray for all of our loved ones and friends who are not yet part of the Church or who have fallen away from the Church. The akathist will be offered one more time, this coming Wednesday, June 24. If you have not yet been able to participate in one of these services, please consider joining us Wednesday night.
On Monday, June 29, we will wrap up The Apostle’s Fast with the Feast of our Patriarchate, Sts Peter and Paul. On Sunday afternoon, June 28, no later than 1pm, we will serve Great Vespers, and then on Monday morning, we will offer Orthros at 4am and Divine Liturgy at 6am. Please plan on joining us during those festal services.
Our sister parishes, St Elias and St Gregory, will be offering Vacation Church School in July. Children entering Pre-K4 through 5th grade are invited. The program will run July 27–30 from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. You can register here: https://steliasaustin.breezechms.com/form/9f2710
Working on the Building
If you want us to get into that new temple as soon as possible, there are four things you can do this week:
Join us in offering The Akathist for a New Temple each week. Copies are available in the bookstore and online; a recording is available on Discord, and there is a group that meets on Discord each Friday at noon to offer the service.
Join us for the 6am Wednesday Morning Divine Liturgy. Since the rest of June will be taken up with The Apostle’s Fast, and since there will be weekday festal liturgy during the last week of the month, we will not be offering the Wednesday Morning Divine Liturgy again until July. However, at the conclusion of The Akathist to the Apostles on Wednesday night, and of the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, you will have the opportunity to reverence our relic of St Eanswythe of Folkestone, the Patroness of our Building Program.
Check to make sure that you’re current on your Three Year Commitment to our Building Program. If you have not make a commitment to our Temple Fund, please check with our Finance Guy, Ray W.; he’ll get you set up.
Take out a (totally free) subscription to our Substack, Come See Something Beautiful, and forward each of the three weekly posts to absolutely everyone you know.
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.