Weekly Newsletter for the week Friday, October 2, through Thursday, October 8, 2009

THIS WEEKEND

BISHOP ALEXANDER COMING TO  ST. MARY- This  weekend, October 3 and 4, 2009, we welcome His Grace Bishop ALEXANDER for a visit to St. Mary's.

The Bishop will be available on Saturday beginning at 4:00 pm to meet informally with whoever might like to do so.  You can chat, ask questions, whatever.

Vespers with His Grace will be at 6:30 pm (note corrected time).

After Vespers will be a Welcome Reception and Cocktail Party at 7:30 pm, including a wide array of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, open bar, dessert and Arabic dancing.   Prepaid reservations only - no tickets will be sold at the door.

On Sunday, October 4, His Grace will be with us for Orthros at 8:45 am and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am, followed by a celebratory Coffee Hour. 

There will be no Church School; instead the children will go downstairs to the Church Hall after communion to rehearse briefly, and then will return to reserved pews on the left side of the Church to sing the recessional.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

YOUTH MONTH - October is Youth Month throughout the Antiochian Archdiocese. In our parish young people will be reading the Epistle, holding the Communion cloth and Holy Bread baskets, and taking the collection. 

ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN PRISON MINISTRY -  Chaplain Patrick Tutella, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministries, will visit St. Mary's next Sunday, October 11.  (Chaplain Tutella is the father of our own Liz Straghalis.) For more information about this ministry see http://ocpm-scoba.org/about_ocpm.html

NEW SKETE FALL RETREAT - The Communities of New Skete will host their annual Fall retreat on Saturday, October 17, beginning with Matins at 8:00 am, breakfast and registration at 9:00, and concluding with Vigil from 5:00 to 6:00 pm.  A few of us from St. Mary's will be going.  If you would like to join for the weekend (and would like to stay at the monastery/nearby), please let Teva Regule know so she can arrange for housing - TEVA@mit.edu

TEEN SOYO - On Sunday, October 25, St. Mary's Teen SOYO (ages 12-18) will be going apple picking immediately after Liturgy.  The Teen SOYO at St. George West Roxbury will be joining us for liturgy and for apple picking fun!  The group will carpool to the orchards together, and will return to St. Mary's for parent pick-up around 4:00 or 5:00 pm.  Teens should plan to bring a change of clothes to church, as well as a few dollars for purchasing apples or snacks. If your teen is interested in attending, please RSVP by October 17th to Liz Straghalis at (617) 974-5005 or elizabeth.straghalis@gmail.com.  This will be a great opportunity for fellowship and fun! 

FALL DIOCESAN MEETINGS - Fall meetings for Antiochian Women, the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, and Teen SOYO will be held on Saturday, October 31, 2009 at St. George Cathedral, Worcester.  The schedule includes Morning Prayers at 10:00 am followed by Coffee:    Meetings at 10:30 am;   and Lunch at 12:30 with a presentation by Fr. Michael Nasser, pastor of St. Innocent Orphanage & Project Mexico, in Tijuana , Mexico .  Please join us.  Everyone is welcome to come!

REMINDERS

HELP  OCMC- Next Sunday,  October 11th, there will be a coffee hour to help the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) raise funds for their Agape Canister Program. Here's an excerpt from a letter from Ted Theodorou, the Agape program coordinator:  " it is with great sadness, however, that I must convey to you that the Agape Canister Program is projecting a deficit of nearly $8,500 this year.  This shortfall in revenue is attributed to a number of factors, most notably a decline in charitable giving during the last six months.  If these funds are not raised, projects like the Kosovo Day Camps, the Fellowship of Love Soup Kitchen, the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center, and the St. Dimitrie Program may go unsupported in the future."  There will be a canister there for those wishing to give a freewill donation. For those donating by check, please make  it out to St. Mary's Orthodox Church. To learn more about OCMC and its Agape Canister program, see http://ocmc.org/programs/agape.aspx.  If you have any questions, or would like to help with the coffee hour, please contact Michelle  Chin at javachip23@hotmail.com

INQUIRER'S CLASS - Classes began last week for the St. Ignatius of Antioch Catechetical Group: Inquirer's Class.  This class is still open to any Non-Orthodox adult who is interested in learning more about the Orthodox Church. It meets each Sunday from September to May from 9:00 until 10:00 a.m. The class meets in the St. Mary library which is next to Fr. Antony's office. For more information please contact David Vermette:  dgvermette@sysmatrix.net   or 617-776-5635.

SFEEHA AND KIBBEH SALE - The Women's Club is offering for purchase freshly made Sfeeha (ground lamb-meat pizza pies with onion, pine nuts & seasonings) and Kibbeh (8 ½"x 11" tray made with ground lamb-meat and burghul).  Everything is cooked with the finest of ingredients and ready to eat now or freeze for the holidays!  To order, please use the order form in the Bulletin or Cornerstone.  Deadline for orders is next Sunday, October 11.  Pick-Up dates will be Sunday, October 25 for Sfeeha, and Sunday, November 1 for Kibbeh.

"WELCOME BACK COLLEGE STUDENTS" BREAKFAST - After Liturgy on Sunday, October 18, the Fellowship of St. John the Divine (FSJD) will host a special breakfast to welcome college students back to their "Church home away from home." Please join us in welcoming and supporting students who strive to remain connected to the Church while away from their families.  All are welcome! A suggested minimum donation of $5 will be gratefully accepted from non-students.  Please RSVP so we'll know how much food to prepare:  call the church office at 617-547-1234, or reply to this e-mail.

COME SEE THE MESSIAH - Join friends from St. Mary's for the Handel and Haydn Society's  annual performance of Handel's Messiah, on Sunday afternoon, December 6, at 3:00 p.m.  We will carpool to Symphony Hall after Liturgy and have lunch together before the concert.  Those who have done this before have thoroughly enjoyed it - not only do we hear a world-class orchestra and chorus with famous soloists singing glorious words (taken directly from the Bible), but we also have an opportunity to spend time getting to know some fellow parishioners we normally may not encounter.  Good seats go fast - for discounted tickets ($22.50) please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com by Sunday, October 18, or order your own tickets online at http://www.handelandhaydn.org .

HELP MAKE SFEEHA AND KIBBEH- Plan to come to the church on Saturday morning, October 24, starting at 9:30 am to help make meat pies with the Women's Club.   Lots of help will be needed - young and old, women and men are all welcome - and it's always lots of fun.  Also, come at 9:30 Friday morning, October 30, to help the Women's Club cook Kihbbeh

ATTENTION COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - If you are a new or returning college or university student, please fill out a blue College Student Address Form on the Bengarri (desk in the Narthex) so that we have your current addresses and information and you can receive announcements about activities at St. Mary's and on campus.  See Charlie Marge if you have questions.

ATTENTION PARENTS OF ST. MARY PARISH COLLEGE STUDENTS - If you would like your sons or daughters to receive a copy of the CORNERSTONE each month while they are away at school to keep them in touch with what's going on at St. Mary's, please fill out one of the blue College Student Address Forms and return it to Marilyn Robbat.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE

There are a number of ways you can help the Church, your fellow worshippers and those in need.  Consider serving in one of these ways:

PARTICIPATION

Liturgical Service - Each Sunday, members of the congregation are needed to read the Epistle and assist during Communion by holding the Communion Cloths and Holy Bread Baskets.  All Orthodox Christians in the Parish are welcome and encouraged to participate. We usually need one Epistle reader and six people to hold cloths and baskets.  If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during the Communion, please contact Jeff Wasilko, 781-820-0882, jeffw@smoe.org

Coffee Hour - People are needed every week to provide coffee, juice and cookies, or more if desired, and set it up Sunday morning. 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 Robbat in the Parish Office and she will write your name in. If you need any help with figuring out what to bring or do, check the list below the signup sheet (also printed in the Bulletin), or ask Marilyn at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.

VOLUNTEERING

Holy Resurrection Open Doors - The Holy Resurrection Open Door Meal Ministry in Allston needs volunteers every Monday evening (there is a special need in the summer).  The official hours of the project are 4:30 pm-7:30 pm, but it is fine to come anytime and leave any time.  Best times would be 5:30-5:45 to 7:15-7:30 pm.  You can serve meals, coffee and tea to the people who arrive for dinner (6-7 pm) or just stay behind the scenes doing set-up and clean-up.  It is a very rewarding, hands-on, face-to-face way to serve the community with (mostly) other Orthodox Christians-we even chant the Our Father together before the meal begins. Church info can be found at  http://hrocboston.org.    Questions? Please contact Liz Straghalis at liztutella@gmail.com  phone 617-974-5005,  or Tiffany Conroy at trattus1@gmail.com.

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

DONATIONS

Food and Clothing - Holy Resurrection in Allston takes donations of non-perishable food items and clothing to distribute at the Open Door Ministry on Monday evenings.  You can bring your donations by on Monday nights between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm or contact Tiffany Conroy, trattus1@gmail.com, for more information.

- St. Paul 's Food Pantry in Harvard Square , where volunteers from St. Mary help every Saturday, depends upon regular donations of canned and packaged foods.  To help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.

Monetary Contributions - The Agape Canister Program is an Orthodox non-profit development program of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center .  It is dedicated to meeting the needs of children, families, and communities throughout the world, regardless of race, color, or creed. All funds collected by the Agape Canister Program are earmarked for medical care and clinics, water wells, agricultural development, food and clothing, support personnel (e.g. doctors, nurses, teachers), the construction of schools, and the education of indigenous people in their own communities.  Please contribute each Sunday - A clear plastic box is on the Bengarri.

"As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me," says our Lord.

THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS

FOOD PANTRY

October 3:    Mitrophan and Michelle Chin and family and Sandra Kondratiuk

LITURGICAL SERVICE

October 4:     St. Mary Teens

COFFEE HOUR

October 4:   Celebratory Coffee Hour honoring Bishop ALEXANDER

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK

Saturday, October 3:  Vespers 6:30 pm, followed by Welcome Reception and Cocktail Party for Bishop ALEXANDER 7:30 pm (advance reservations only)

Sunday, October 4:  Orthros 8:45 am; Hierarchical Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; No Church School

SCRIPTURE READINGS for October 4: 

Epistle:  St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1  Brethren, you are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ..."  Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.

Gospel: Luke 6:31-36  The Lord said, "And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ...  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, October 10:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm

Sunday, October 11:  Orthros 8:45 am;  Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; No Church School

Saturday, October 17:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm

Sunday, October 18:  Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 3, followed by Welcome Back breakfast

INSIGHT

Love sinners and do not despise them for their faults. Remember that you partake in an earthly nature, and do good to all. Let your manner be always courteous and respectful to all. For love does not know how to be angry or lose its temper or to find fault with anyone out of passion.

   - St. Isaac of Syria

God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. Hence, if we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil - for the devil is cold - let us call on the Lord. He will come to warm our hearts with perfect love, not only for Him but also for our neighbor, and the cold of him who hates the good will flee before the heat of His countenance.

   - St. Seraphim of Sarov

The lover of money sneers at the Gospel, and is a willful transgressor. He who has attained to love scatters his money. But he who says that he lives for love and for money has deceived himself.

   - St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent

...the plain truth is this: love is not a matter of getting what you want. Quite the contrary. The insistence on always having what you want, on always being satisfied, on always being fulfilled, makes love impossible. To love you have to climb out of the cradle, where everything is "getting," and grow up to the maturity of giving, without concern for getting anything special in return. Love is not a deal, it is a sacrifice.

   -  Thomas Merton, "Love and Need" in Love and Living

One day I saw three monks insulted and humiliated in the same way at the same moment. The first felt he had been cruelly hurt; he was distressed but managed not to say anything. The second was happy for himself but grieved for the one who had insulted him. The third thought only of the harm suffered by his neighbor, and wept with most ardent compassion. The first was prompted by fear; the second was urged on by hope; the third was moved by love.

   - St. John Climacus