Weekly Newsletter for the week Friday, November 13, through Thursday, November 19, 2009
THIS WEEKEND
Saturday
FAMILY VESPERS - Attention Church School Parents & Students: Join us for a Church School Family Vespers at 5:00 pm this Saturday, November 14. Fr. Antony will be hearing confessions. For a small donation, we will have pizza together in the church hall after Vespers. This is a great way to prepare for the Nativity Fast, which starts on Sunday, November 15th.
Sunday
PAGEANT REHEARSAL - The first rehearsal of the Church School Christmas Pageant will be held upstairs during coffee hour. Performance will be Sunday, December 20.
NATIVITY FAST - The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, begins this Sunday, November 15. This is the forty days of fasting and prayer in preparation for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ. On most Wednesdays during this period there will be a Paraklesis service at 6:30 pm, and most Fridays there will be Akathist to our Sweetest Lord Jesus at 7:00 pm
IOCC WINE TASTING - The Metropolitan Committee of International Orthodox Christian Charities -Boston (IOCC) announces an Afternoon of Jazz, Wine Tasting & Hors d'oeuvres Sunday, November 15th. It will take place at the X & O Restaurant in Stoughton from 2:00 - 5:00 pm. This is a great chance to find out about the work of IOCC and support their projects -- both in America and around the world. Tickets are $50 each or $40 if you order in advance at http://iocc.org/boston Designated Driver and Under-21 tickets are just $20. For more information email BostonMet@IOCC.org
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
WOMEN'S CLUB - The next meeting of the Women's Club will be Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 pm. All are welcome.
PARISH COUNCIL - The next meeting of the Parish Council will be Tuesday, November 24 and 7:30 pm.
REMINDERS
BAKE SALE - The Women's Club presents its Annual Thanksgiving Charity Bake Sale next Sunday, November 22, 2009 (the Sunday before Thanksgiving). Plan on purchasing all your holiday breads, pies, goodies, Syrian pastries and much more! All proceeds will benefit the Convent of Saidnaya, North West of Damascus in Syria. Call Renay DiFiore @ 617-327-6361, if you can help bake and/or donate.
WOMEN'S CLUB CHRISTMAS OUTING - Join us for the Reagle Players' 40th Anniversary Season Christmas Show: "It's Christmas Time!" with featured singer Sarah Pfisterer, leading Broadway entertainer, on Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm in Waltham, MA. Discounted tickets: $36/each (regular price: $46). Make checks payable to St. Mary Women's Club. Advanced payment required. Reservation Deadline: Sunday, November 22, 2009. See MaryEllen Mabardy or, if questions, call 781-729-6303. ALL WOMEN ARE WELCOME!! Information about the show can be found at http://www.reagleplayers.com/current.html
N.G. BERAM AWARDS BANQUET: The N. G. Beram Veterans Association will present its Distinguished Service Award, Veterans Service Award and 13 Scholastic Achievement Awards at its banquet Saturday, November 28, 2009 at the Holiday Inn, Dedham from 12:30-5:00 pm. For more information see http://www.stjohnd.org/ngberam/banquet/index.htm
SCHAEFFER TO SPEAK - Frank Schaeffer, best-selling author of Keeping Faith and Crazy for God, a frequent commentator on MSNBC and other news outlets and contributor to The Huffington Post, will be speaking here at St. Mary on the evening of Saturday, December 5, 2009. His talk, which promises to be both witty and provocative, will be entitled "Can Christianity Be Saved from the Christians?" Great Vespers will begin at 5:30 pm, followed by the lecture at 7:00 pm in the Church Hall. For more information about Mr. Schaeffer and his latest book, see https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/newsevents/2009-frankschaeffer.php.
ST. MARY CHRISTMAS CARD - Save yourself time, let us do the work and have all proceeds benefit Antiochian Women's new Project 2009/2010: The Convent of St. Thekla at Antiochian Village. 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. Use the order form in the Sunday Bulletin. Deadline is Sunday, December 6, 2009.
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. Contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com for discounted tickets - possibly separate from the rest of the St. Mary group - or order your own tickets online at http://www.handelandhaydn.org. Either way, plan to join us for lunch first!
LESSONS AND CAROLS - The Fellowship of St. John the Divine cordially invites you to a service of prayers, scripture readings and Christmas Carols - Western Rite Evensong with Lessons and Carols - on Saturday, December 12, 2009 (snow date: Saturday, December 19, 2009) at 5:00 pm. A festive Lenten Pot Luck Supper will follow - last names A-P please bring a main dish or salad, Q-Z please bring dessert. For more information, contact Tiffany Conroy at trattus1@gmail.com
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE - Canned Food Drive: October - December, 2009. Bring in canned goods to the Church and place them in the large, blue plastic containers outside the Church Office. They will be distributed to local food pantries in our area. 42 pounds of food will feed a family of four for three days, and 37 million people in America need our help!
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
November 14: Sandra Kondratiuk
LITURGICAL SERVICE
Sunday, November 15: Epistle: Bob Kowalik; Left Cloth: Melissa Nassiff and ; Right Cloth: Maggie and Linda Arnold; Left Bread: Lisa Abebe; Right Bread: Jeanne Brickman
COFFEE HOUR
Sunday, November 15: Sayeg family
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, November 14: Church School Family Vespers 5:00 pm, with confessions and Pizza to follow
Sunday, November 15: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 7; Pageant rehearsal during coffee hour
SCRIPTURE READINGS for November 15:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 2:4-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God: not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37 At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live." But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers ... Which of these three (priest, Levite, Samaritan), do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Wednesday, November 18: Paraclesis 6:30 pm
LOOKING AHEAD
Friday, November 20: Evening Liturgy for the Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple 6:30 pm
Saturday, November 21: Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple; Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, November 22: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 8
Friday, November 27: No Akathist at St. Mary
Saturday, November 28: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, November 29: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; No Church School
Saturday, December 5: Great Vespers 5:30 pm, followed by Frank Schaeffer talk 7:00 pm
Saturday, December 12: Western Rite Lessons and Carols 5:00 pm, followed by Pot Luck Supper
INSIGHT
Faith is not just one moment of the spiritual life, not just a step to something else. It is that acceptance of God which is the very climate of all spiritual living. It is the beginning of communion. As faith deepens, and as communion deepens with it, it becomes more and more intensive and at the same time reaches out to affect everything else we think and do.
- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works.
- Meister Eckhart
God created us in His image and likeness; and every Christian is obliged to keep himself, and to preserve and honor in himself God's image, and to be sanctified by good works.
- St. John Chrysostom
Try to remember that all real Christian work is local - right here and now, between myself and God and my neighbor.
- Fr Seraphim Rose, "Letters"
Love reveals itself in works of mercy. Among such works are to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit and help the sick and the imprisoned, to give refuge to the homeless, and to be concerned about orphans. All this should be done with sincere and unselfish love, without any boasting or expectations of gratitude. The Savior teaches regarding this: "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly" (Matt. 6:3-4).
- St. Innocent of Irkutsk, Indication of the Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven