Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
The final Saturday of Souls for 2023 will be June 3. In addition to the services (Orthros 6am; Divine Liturgy 8am), the Burial Society will host a light breakfast and provide lots of helpful information about end of life and funeral planning. We will also bless the new Memorial Garden Cross at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. So, if you have not yet prayed for your departed loved ones and friends this year, please join us on June 3.
Sunday, June 4 is the Great Feast of Pentecost. We will observe the regular Sunday morning schedule, but, after the Divine Services, we will have our annual Pentecost Picnic (this year with live music), and the, no later than 1pm, the beautiful Service of Kneeling Vespers.
Here are the hymn texts for the Blessing of Animals composed by our very own Father Andrew Wilson.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, May 31, and Friday, June 2
Daily Services
Monday, May 29-Friday, June 2
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
Seth Hart and friends will be at the online chanter’s stand offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours this week.:
1st hour: 6:45 a.m.
3rd hour: 8:45 a.m.
6th hour: 11:45 a.m.
9th hour: 3:45 p.m.
Join the Daily Hours on Discord.
Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and Matthew Groh and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are currently reading Commentary on Psalm 118 by St Theophan the Recluse. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
Please see the emailed version of the newsletter for the link to join the Trapeza Readings on Discord.
Tuesday, May 30
Orthodoxy 101 7pm
You can access the group on Discord.
Thursday, June 1
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition 7pm
You can access this group on Discord
Saturday, June 3
Orthros 6am
Divine Liturgy 8am
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, June 4 The Great Feast of Pentecost
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Pentecost Picnic Noon
Kneeling Vespers No later than 1pm
Since this is the first Sunday of the month, it is Blessing Sunday, so if you’re going to be traveling during June or if you have icons, prayer ropes, and crosses to be blessed, just show up at the chanter’s stand after liturgy for those prayers. But the first Sunday of the month is also Claim Your Stuff Sunday; that means you need to check the Lost and Found Box in the kitchen because it will all go to Goodwill after Fellowship Hour is over.
Membership update
Carl B. has officially joined St John’s; he is an Orthodox Christian who is originally from Florida and who has just recently moved to Austin. Alexandria C., sister of Maximus C., and Micah W., husband of Natasha and father of Evelyn, Victoria, Owen, and Josiah, were both made catechumens today. Please let Alexandria and Micah know that you will be praying for them as they prepare to be received into the Church.
st. thomas school
On Saturday, June 3, Seth Hart will be leading our next First Saturday of the Month Practical Orthodox Stuff Class (And let’s just say it again: Is that Name great, or what?). Our topic for June is How To Navigate REALM and DISCORD. Seth has been working in tech accessibility for many years, so he understands the challenges folks can have when they are online. Just bring your phones or laptops to the Parish House at 4pm, and Seth will get you connected to everything that’s going on in the parish so you can be better connected to the Most Holy Trinity.
coming up
The Pascha Book Study has now ended, but all the presentations are available in print (thanks to Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore), and we will have a follow-up session on Wednesday, May 31; for this session, we will ask folks to 1) actually read through the material in the presentations and 2) submit questions ahead of time. Also, this session will be in person only to better facilitate our work together.
On Sunday, June 11, we will be hosting Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center for a presentation during Fellowship Hour. We offer this presentation every other year, and we encourage everyone to attend. The session will cover recognizing the signs and symptoms of child abuse, responding to concerns and disclosures of abuse with appropriate questions, understanding the legal implications of being a mandated reporter and lastly, building resilient youth within our community. Check with Joe Wright for additional information on this important opportunity.
The week after Pentecost is fast-free (Wha-Hoo!), but the following week, we will begin The Apostles’ Fast. It will run from Monday, June 12 through the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul on Thursday, June 29. During this fasting season, we observe the traditional fasting discipline on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (no meat, dairy products, oil, wine, or hard liquor), with a blessing for fish, wine and olive oil on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please plan ahead and get a blessing from your spiritual father.
During The Apostles’ Fast, we always serve The Akathist to the Apostles on Wednesday evenings. This year, the clergy will be out of town at the Parish Life Conference on the first Wednesday of the fast, so mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 21, at 7pm when we will offer the Akathist, and Wednesday, May 28, at 7pm when we will serve Great Vespers for the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul.
Our parish feast day, The Nativity of the Forerunner, also falls during The Apostles’ Fast, on Saturday, June 24. On Thursday, June 23, we will serve Great Vespers at 7pm, and then on the morning of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 6am and Divine Liturgy at 8am. Come join us as we thank our patron and protector for his intercessions—and, this year, at the conclusion of Great Vespers on Friday, we will have our first ever Beating of the Bounds. We will process around our property in thanksgiving for the beautiful land with which we have been blessed, so, if you’ve never been on the back two and a half acres of our five acre lot, here’s you’re chance!
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
We should always put something in the offering bowl whenever we attend the Divine Liturgy. Even if we support the parish through automatic bank draft, we should still place something in the offering bowl, because it's not just about supporting the parish, it's about expressing our on-going gratitude to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Baptizing Nicolai D. ; making Alexandria C. and Micah W. catechumens; offering the services for Bede of Jarrow; blessing some really beautiful birds, some really skittish cats, and a dog named Tolstoy; hanging out with The OWO (Older and Wiser Ones) and enjoying being with people that know who Eddie Haskell is; hearing about Rigel T.’s new job (and free meal); admiring Leland E.’s crane; making concert plans with Kenneth C.; hearing the story of Stephen G. driving down Interstate 30 with a minivan full of airborne bees; discovering that Beth C. plays the bagpipes; discussing goat ratings with Nathan and Sarah B.; arriving for Orthros and walking past three deer sleeping on the lawn.
Attached to this edition of The Happy Priest are the hymn texts for the Blessing of Animals composed by our very own Father Andrew Wilson.
an unworthy priest,
aidan
The Happy Priest is a publication of Life At A Dead Run Media, which is a subsidiary of One Take Productions. Our IT Guy is Christian Perez; our Webmasters are Lily Halsey and Seth Hart; our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson; our Roving Reporter is PantanaTufillo, we always end our monthly staff meetings with the speed of light, in a cloud of dust, and with a hearty “Hi Ho, Silver!”, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.