Update for the week Thursday, June 6 - Wednesday, June 12, 2019

THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY’S

SATURDAY 6/8 - The Diocese of Worcester & New England Oratorical Festival will be held this Saturday, June 8 at St. George Church, 6 Atwood Ave, Norwood.  Please come and cheer on our own Nicholas Mazzoni, who is representing St. Mary’s in the Junior Division.  Oratorical Presentations will begin at 4:00pm, followed by Vespers at 5:00pm and dinner at 6:00pm.

SUNDAY 6/9- Orthros 8:45am, Divine Liturgy 10:00am

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

PENTECOST – On Sunday, June 16, we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Pascha.  Known as the “Birthday of the Church,” Pentecost marks the descent of Holy Spirit on the Apostles.  At the end of Divine Liturgy, Fr. Antony will lead us in the beautiful Kneeling Prayers.

DORMITION – The fast preceding the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Theotokos, our patronal feast day, begins on Thursday, August 1 and continues through Wednesday, August 14, the eve of the Feast.

TRANSFIGURATION – Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration will be celebrated on Monday, August 5, at 6:30.
 
FOUND – A gold earring with 3 pearls was found in the church office area.  Please see Barbara in the Church office if you lost this earring.    

REMINDERS

WOMEN’S CLUB DINNER – The Women’s Club will have its end-of-the-year dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in the Mall of Chestnut Hill, on Monday, June 17 at 7:00pm

PARISH LIFE CELEBRATION – The Diocese of Worcester & New England Parish Life Celebration will be held on Saturday, June 22 at St. George, West Roxbury, hosted by St. Stephen Church, Springfield and Emmanuel Church, Warren. Register online at www.antiochianevents.com/worcesterhtml. Registration forms are also available at the Bengarri.

CROSSROAD SUMMER INSTITUTE - CrossRoad Summer Institute, a 10-day academic summer institute for Orthodox high school juniors and seniors to help them grow closer to Christ, will be held June 15-25 and July 2-12 at Hellenic College Holy Cross.  Apply today at www.crossroadinstitute.org
 
SACRED MUSIC INSTITUTE – This year’s Sacred Music Institute will be held Wednesday-Sunday, July 10-14, at Antiochian Village. The theme this year is “Sacraments and Song.” Contact Charlie Marge with any questions: charlie.marge@verizon.net.  Online registration is available through the Village website.

PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Wednesday, July 17 at 7:30.

ANTIOCHIAN ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION – This year’s Convention will be in Grand Rapids, MI, July 21-28, 2019. See https://ac2019gr.org 

TANGLEWOOD OUTING – Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary’s and carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy on Sunday, August 4. We’ll picnic on the lawn and listen to music by Rachmaninoff and Sibelius, featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. For more information see https://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/100161. The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are $22.00 - pay at the door; children are free. Bring lawn chairs if you want them, and picnic food for yourself and to share.  For more information and to let us know you're coming, contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com.
 
NEW SKETE PILGRIMAGE – The annual New Skete Pilgrimage is set for Saturday, August 10 this year (the Saturday after Transfiguration).  In years past, a number of St. Mary people have gone out for the weekend (this year, 8/9-11, 2019) to help the Communities with this event—to be extra sets of “helping hands” for the day.  They are hoping a number of us will do so again this year. In the past, this has been a wonderful community building activity for all of us.  Moreover, if you have never been to the monastery, this may be a good way to be introduced to their life and work.  In addition to the services, there are tours of the church and talks by various members of the communities about their lives.  The main talk will be given by Gayle Woloshak, Ph. D. who is a Professor of Radiation Oncology, Radiology, and Cell and Molecular Biology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.  (In addition, she is Past President of the Orthodox Theological Society of America and Treasurer of the International Orthodox Theological Association and wears MANY other “hats” in the Orthodox world.  (Her ecclesial resume is quite long…)  Her talk is entitled, “Good Earth: Caring for God’s Creation."  There are also the dogs, great hiking trails, nearby tubing, and more (e.g. usually a picnic at Hedges Lake on that Sunday), etc.  More information about the Pilgrimage can be found here: https://newskete.org/events.
   Once again, Teva Regule (teva@mit.edu) will be coordinating the Boston helpers and as much housing as she can. (In particular, any women wanting to "camp out" at the nuns’, let her know.  The Emmaus house is now a guest house - anyone wishing to stay there should contact Br. Gregory directly at brgregory@newskete.org)  Housing is first come, first served.
 
JOIN US ONLINE - St. Mary’s Church services are broadcast live each week through an internet video stream. If you can't attend a service in person, or want to share this ministry with a friend or loved one, the live stream can be viewed at www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/live during regularly scheduled service times (see the schedule of services or online). If you have questions or comments about this ministry please contact us at live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org

REFLECTION

You, O Christ, are our God of exceeding praise, who established our holy Fathers as luminous stars upon earth, and through them guided us unto the true Faith, O most merciful One, glory to you.
   - Troparion of the Holy Fathers:
 
When you fulfilled your dispensation for our sakes, uniting the terrestials with the celestials, you ascended in glory, O Christ our God, from where you were never separated; and remaining inseparable from us, you cry out to those who love you: I am with you, and no one shall be against you.
   - Kontakion of the Ascension