Summer 2003

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Fr. Antony PortraitChrist is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

By the time you receive this Cornerstone, the Paschal Season will be over; but the light of the Resurrection is always shining. This is the light that illumines the path of Orthodox believers every day of their lives. Every Divine Liturgy on normal Sundays is a celebration of Christ's rising from the dead. St. Seraphim of Sarov welcomed people to his hermitage with the Paschal greeting all year round.

This summer will be busy with the Regional Conference and the Archdiocese Convention. I hope that many of you will attend these important events in the life of our God-protected Archdiocese. I will make my annual pilgrimage to work during the Fourth Session of the camping season at Antiochian Village at the end of July and the first week of August. Before you know it, September will arrive, our children will be back to school; and we will be preparing to welcome His Grace Bishop DEMETRI for the celebration of St. Mary's Seventy-Fifth Anniversary.

Life is never dull at St. Mary's. We are making more and more opportunities for you to participate, to learn, to grow in your faith and spiritual life, to work with the poor and needy, as well as to deepen your commitment to the community through practical service and prayer. Would you like to help in any way? Please let me know or contact one of the heads of our auxiliary organizations and volunteer your time and talents. Everyone has a gift. Everyone has something to offer. Our common purpose is to build and strengthen our community and to make pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Heaven together.

May our Gracious Lord bless you,

Fr. Antony Hughes