Weekly Newsletter for the week of Friday, November 23, 2007 through Thursday, November 30, 2007

Weekly Newsletter for the week Friday, November 23, 2007 through Thursday, November 30, 2007
 

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

KATYA POLISHCHUK MEMORIAL - A one-year memorial will be held for Katya Polishchuk this Sunday on the feast day of her patron saint, St. Katherine.  The coffee hour is offered by the Marge and Orlovsky families in her memory.  The Polishchuks (Sasha, Masha, Anna, Katya) were parishioners of St. Mary's for a number of years before moving to Oregon 4 years ago.  Katya was baptized at St. Mary's, with Arlene Marge and Alex Orlovsky as Godparents.  In the year since her untimely passing from this world at the age of 5, donations in Katya's memory were used to acquire a set of three beautiful bronze bells from Russia for St. John Maximovich Serbian Orthodox Church in Eugene, OR, the community to which the Polishchuks belong, and now they are raising money for the St. Katherine bell tower to house the bells: http://users.rio.com/bamm/ST.JOHN/katya2.html May her memory be eternal. 

PARISH COUNCIL BALLOT - The Parish Council ballots will be mailed out soon.  Please return them in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided no later than Tuesday, December 18, 2007.    

OFFERING ENVELOPES - Envelopes for 2008 are ready for pick-up outside of the Church Office.  If you have requested envelopes, you should find your box there.

WOMEN'S CLUB - Our Christmas "Evening Out" is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m. at Joe's American Bar & Grill in Dedham, MA   Everyone is welcomed to join us-just bring a $10 Grab-Christmas Wrapped with No name on it, please!  Anyone who plans to attend must call Renay DiFiore by November 28, at 617-327-6361. 

PRE-HOLIDAY SHOPPING EVENT - Come to Macy's Downtown Crossing on Friday, November 30, from 7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m. to benefit the Women's Bar Foundation (WBF), a local non-profit providing pro bono services to low-income individuals throughout Massachusetts with a focus on women's issues.  Tickets are $10 each --  plus enjoy Breakfast and the special

Friends/Family shopping discounts of 20%.   Call 617-973-6666 to order tickets.

HIGH SCHOOL CHRISTMAS RETREAT - St. Vladimir's Seminary, in cooperation with Orthodox Youth Outreach, invites high school students to a retreat entitled Who Is My Neighbor - The Challenge of the Good Samaritan,  December 26 - 29, 2007.  Registration Fee is $100.   Registration Deadline:  December 17.  For more information  call 914-961-8313  Ex. 328 or dbethanc@svots.edu or www.svots.edu. Call the Church Office for required consent forms.

REMINDERS

FATHER ANTONY WILL BE AWAY - Fr. Antony is out of town for Thanksgiving through Monday, November  26.  This Sunday, Fr. Anastasios Majdalani will be celebrating the Divine Liturgy.  In case of emergency during Fr. Antony's absence, call Fr. Timothy Ferguson at St. George Church, West Roxbury 617-323-0323.  

LESSONS AND CAROLS - The Fellowship of St. John the Divine cordially invites you to  a service of Western Rite Evensong with Lessons and Carols, Saturday, December 8, at 5:00 p.m.  This service of prayers, scriptures, and Christmas carols will be followed by a festive pot luck supper.  People whose last names begin with A-P are requested to bring a main dish or salad; Q-Z bring dessert. Drinks will be provided.  For more information contact Tiffany Conroy (chairman of the Fellowship of St. John the Divine) at trattus1@gmail.com.

MUSICAL HELP NEEDED - Can you play a musical instrument? Would you be willing to help out at the Lessons and Carols service on Saturday, December 8? Over the past few years we've had a wonderfully varied assortment of instruments in our ad hoc orchestra, and we hope this year will continue the tradition.  Please contact Charlie Marge at marge@alum.mit.edu  if you can take part in this musical group, or if you know someone who can.

PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD - Save yourself time! Let us do the work and have all proceeds  benefit Antiochian Women Project 2007/2008:  Retired Clergy Fund!   Let the Women's Club send a lovely Christmas Card on your behalf to our parishioners.  You will receive this card with the names of parishioners, like yourself, who are wishing  a Blessed Nativity and a Merry Christmas to all.  Please use the form in the Bulletin  or mail your request to MaryEllen Mabardy, St. Mary Church - Women's Club, 8 Inman St. , Cambridge , MA  02139 .  Deadline is Sunday, December 9.

DIOCESAN CHRISTMAS PARTY - The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch invites you to a Diocesan Christmas party on Sunday, December 2, 2007 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.  at St. John Church , Dedham , MA . All are welcome. The cost is $20.00 per person, and your donation will benefit the Al-Kafaat Foundation. Make checks payable to The Order of St. Ignatius. RSVP no later than Monday, November 26, 2007. For further information, contact Christine Bezreh 781-449-1230 or stignatius@stjohnd.org

NATIVITY FAST - The Nativity Fast, the period of six weeks anticipating the Nativity of Christ, began Thursday, November 15 and continues through Monday, December 24.  There will be a Paraclesis service on Tuesday, November 27, and an Akathist service on Friday, November 30.

DONATE FOOD - As we enter the season that focuses on giving thanks and giving gifts, don't forget those who have too little.   Please bring cans, jars, and boxes of food and place them in the container outside the Church Office.

  • From now through December, our Teens will weigh the canned goods  and give them to the CEOC Food Pantry at 11 Inman St. for distribution, as part of the World Food Day project sponsored by the Archdiocese. 
  • Other packaged food (pasta and rice, boxes of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, jelly, boxes of cereal, parmalat milk, etc.) will be given to St. Paul 's Food Pantry in Harvard Square , where volunteers from St. Mary help every Saturday. 

Please be generous - it takes 42 pounds of food to feed a family of four for 3 days.

SOUP KITCHEN - Three or four St. Mary's volunteers are needed to help each week at the Open Doors Meal Ministry at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Allston, Mondays any time between 4:00 p.m. and 7:30. Contact Liz Tutella at 617-974-5005 or ETutella@sovereignbank.com.          

FOOD PANTRY - Two to four St. Mary's volunteers are needed to help each week in the food pantry at St. Paul 's RC Church in Harvard Square . Contact Christian Alcala  at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com or 617-876-5684.

INSIGHT

Labor to acquire thanksgiving toward God for everything, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and then you will find peace.

   - St. Barsanuphius

When evening comes, collect your thoughts and ponder over the entire course of the day: observe God's providential care for you; consider the grace He has wrought in you throughout the whole span of the day; consider the rising of the moon, the joy of daylight, all the hours and moments, the divisions of time, the sight of different colors, the beautiful adornment of creation, the course of the sun, the growth of your own stature, how your own person has been protected, consider the blowing of the winds, the ripe and varied fruits, how the elements minister to your comfort, how you have been preserved from accidents, and all the other activities of grace. When you have pondered on all this, wonder of God's love toward you will well up within you, and gratitude for his acts of grace will bubble up inside you.

   - John the Solitary

Bring before your eyes the blessings, whether physical or spiritual, conferred on you from the beginning of your life down to the present, and call them repeatedly to mind in accordance with the words: "Forget not all His benefits" (Psalm 102:2). Then your heart will readily be moved to the fear and love of God, so that you repay Him, as far as you can, by your strict life, virtuous conduct, devout conscience, wise speech, true faith and humility - in short, by dedicating your whole self to God. When you are moved by the recollection of all these blessings which you have received through God's loving goodness, your heart will be spontaneously wounded with longing and love through this recollection or, rather, with the help of divine grace.

   - St. Mark the Ascetic

...gratitude is a form of intercession. Only it must not be like the gratitude of the Pharisee, who condemned others and justified himself (cf. Luke 18:11). On the contrary, it must make one regard oneself as a greater debtor than all other men; one gives thanks in astonished bewilderment because one understands God's unutterable restraint and forbearance.

   - St. Peter of Damascus

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK

Saturday, November 24: No Vespers at St. Mary (Thanksgiving weekend)

Sunday, November 25:  Orthros  8:45 a.m., Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.; No Church School

SCRIPTURE READINGS for November 25:

Epistle:  St. Paul 's Second Letter to the Galatians 3:23-29; 4:1-5  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  (The entire reading may be found at  http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=epistle&code=210&event=307

Gospel: Luke 18:18-27  Jesus looking at him said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God ! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God ." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=gospel&code=252&event=1139&DL=EN  )

Tuesday, November 27:  Paraclesis 6:00 p.m.

Friday, November 30:  Akathist to our Sweetest Lord Jesus 7:00 p.m.

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, December 1:  NO Vespers at St. Mary

Sunday, December 2:  Orthros  8:45 a.m., Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.

Saturday, December 8:  Lessons and Carols followed by potluck supper

Monday, December 24:  

Royal Hours for the Nativity 9 a.m.
Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil  11 a.m.
Orthros 6:45 p.m.
Divine Liturgy for the Nativity 8 p.m.

Tuesday, December 25:   Feast of the Nativity of our Lord - No Services at St. Mary

VOLUNTEER SCHEDULES

FOOD PANTRY

Two to four volunteers help each week in the food pantry at St. Paul 's RC Church in Harvard Square , Saturday mornings from 9:30-11:45.  If you are willing to help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com or (617) 876-5684.

November 24: Bill Coyle, Steve Walker, and Christian Alcala

LITURGICAL SERVICE

The Epistle each Sunday is read by a member of the congregation, and six members of the congregation hold the cloth and Holy Bread baskets during Communion.  If you would like to help with these services,  please contact Jeff Wasilko at jeffw@smoe.org or 781-820-0882.

November 25:    Epistle - Christian Alcala
Communion Assistance - Brett Grainger, Peter and Melissa Nassiff, Altar Servers, James Jabbour

COFFEE HOUR

To sign up for an available Sunday, please put your name on the signup sheet on the bulletin board outside the Hall or call Marilyn in the Office 617-547-1234 and she'll write your name in.

November 25:  The Marge and Orlovsky families, in memory of  Katya Polishchuk
December 2:  The Popa family 
December 9: The Woldehemanot and Mazzone families
December 16: The Shoop and Mabbet families
December 23: Church School Pageant and Christmas Festivities coffee hour  
December 30:  Jeanne  Brickman