Weekly Newsletter for the week Friday, December 18, through Thursday, December 24, 2009
THIS WEEKEND
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT and FESTIVITIES - Join the Church School this Sunday after Liturgy for the Church School Nativity Pageant and Christmas Festivities Coffee Hour. Pizza, salad, dessert, and beverages will be served. Adults: $5.00, College Students: $3.00, Church School Students: FREE
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
FASTING - The Nativity Fast continues until the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas) on December 25. Then from Christmas Day until January 4th there is a general dispensation from all fasting.
PARISH COUNCIL - Congratulations to the newly elected members of the Parish Council: Mitchell Bezreh, Paul Demerjian, Paul Nahass, Erick Straghalis and Constantinos (Dino) Takles.
FR. ANTONY OUT OF TOWN - Fr. Antony and his family will be away for the Christmas/New Year holidays from Saturday, December 26 through Saturday, January 2, 2010. In case of emergency, please call Fr. Timothy Ferguson at St. George Church, West Roxbury at 617-323-0323.
The Church Office will be open Tuesday, December 29 through Thursday, December 31, 2009, with an early deadline of Wednesday, December 30 at noon for the Sunday Bulletin.
TEEN SOYO DANCE - The Diocesan TEEN SOYO is sponsoring a Winter Wonderland Sock Hop (Dance) on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at St. Mary Church Hall, Cambridge. Vespers at 5:00 pm with the Dance 6:00-9:00 pm. Ages: 7th - 12th Grades. Refreshments will be served. Donation: $3 per teen AND one pair of new, packaged socks to be donated to the City of Cambridge Sock Drive for the Homeless. Bring your friends! A special DJ will be on hand to mix some great tunes! Parents should plan to arrive at 9:00 pm for pick-up. Your Host: St. Mary, Cambridge Teen SOYO.
FIRST IN, LAST OUT - Please do not park in the small lot behind the church unless you intend to stay through the end of coffee hour. The only way out is the single lane driveway, which is sometimes blocked by other cars. Please pull all the way in to the parking space, and please do not block the driveway - if the lot is full, please park on the street or in the lot at the corner of Prospect Street and Bishop Allen Drive.
WELCOME TO E-GIVING! - St. Mary's is pleased to announce that in 2010, parishioners will have the option to fulfill their pledge through electronic funds transfer (EFT). No more envelopes, remembering to write checks, etc. If you are interested in learning more about this program, please e-mail Charlie Marge (marge@alum.mit.edu).
REMINDERS
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE - Canned Food Drive continues through next Sunday, December 27, 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!
ENVELOPES AND CALENDARS - 2010 Offering Envelopes are ready for pickup outside the Church Office. Look for your names carefully in alphabetical order. Remember: if you have chosen to pay periodically, you have not been assigned weekly envelopes. If you wish to change your payment arrangements, call Marilyn Robbat in the Church Office at 617-547-1234 Tuesday - Friday. Church Calendars are also available for pickup - one per family, please.
CHURCH RESTORATION PROJECT - We are about to embark on another phase of restoration of the church. This next phase, which will focus on the exterior of the church including work on the foundation, roofing, siding, and exterior trim, will begin in Spring 2010. More details to follow - please see Raymond Sayeg or Mary Winstanley O'Connor about contributing to this restoration project.
ORDER OF ST. IGNATIUS - Save the date for the St. Ignatius Holiday Gathering Sunday, January 31, 2010. Mother Alexandra, Abbess of the Convent of St. Thekla at the Antiochian Village will be our special guest. Invitations to follow.
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 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 - The Food for Hungry People canned food drive continues through December 27, 2009 - see Reminders, above. Bring in canned goods to the Church and place them in the large, blue plastic containers outside the Church Office.
- 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
December 19: John Rodriguez and Maggie Arnold
LITURGICAL SERVICE
Sunday, December 20:
COFFEE HOUR
Sunday, December 20: Christmas Festivities
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Friday, December 18: Akathist 7:00 pm
Saturday, December 19: Great Vespers 5:00
Sunday, December 20: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School Christmas Pageant and Festivities
SCRIPTURE READINGS for December 20:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 11:9-10; 32-40
Brethren, by faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundation, whose builder and maker is God.
Gospel: Matthew 1:1-25
The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ... and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. ... and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. ...
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way...
Wednesday, December 23: Paraclesis 6:30 pm
Thursday, December 24: Royal Hours for the Nativity 9:00 am, Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil 11:00 am; Orthros 6:30 pm, Divine Liturgy for the Nativity 8:00 pm
Friday, December 25, Feast of the Nativity of our Lord: No services at St. Mary
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, December 26: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, December 27: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; NO Church School
INSIGHT
Now the Virginity of Mary, and he who was born of her, was kept in secret from the prince of this world; as was also the death of our Lord: three of the mysteries the most spoken of throughout the world, yet done in secret by God. How then was our Savior manifested to the world? A star shone in heaven beyond all the other stars, and its light was inexpressible, and its novelty struck terror into men's minds. All the rest of the stars, together with the sun and moon, were the chorus to this star; but that sent out its light exceedingly above them all. And men began to be troubled to think whence this new star came so unlike to all the others. Hence all the power of magic became dissolved, and every bond of wickedness was destroyed: men's ignorance was taken away, and the old kingdom abolished, God himself appearing in the form of a man for the renewal of eternal life. From thence began what God had prepared: from thenceforth things were disturbed, forasmuch as he designed to abolish death.
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
No man professing a true faith, sins; neither does he who has charity hate anyone. The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so they who profess themselves to be Christians are known by what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an outward profession; but shows itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end.
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
I have observed that you are settled in an immoveable faith, as if you were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit; and are confirmed in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded of those things which relate unto our Lord - who truly was of the race of David according to the flesh, but the Son of God according to the will and power of God; truly born of the Virgin, and baptized of John; that so all righteousness might be fulfilled by him. He was also truly crucified by Pontius Pilate, and Herod the Tetrarch, being nailed for us in the flesh - by the fruits of which we are, even by his most blessed Passion - that he might set up a token for all ages through his resurrection, to all his holy and faithful servants, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, in one body of his church. Now all these things he suffered for us that we might be saved; and he suffered truly, as he also truly raised up himself; and not, as some unbelievers say, that he only seemed to suffer ... But I know that even after his resurrection he was in the flesh; and I believe that he is still so. And when he came to those who were with Peter, he said unto them, Take, handle me, and see that I am not an incorporeal demon. And straightway they felt and believed, being convinced both by his flesh and spirit. For this cause they despised death, and were bound to be above it. But after his resurrection he did eat and drink with them, as he was flesh; although as to his Spirit he was united to the Father.
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
Pray also without ceasing for other men. for there is hope of repentance in them, that they may attain unto God. Let them therefore at least be instructed by your works, if they will be no other way. Be mild at their anger; humble at their boasting; to their blasphemies return your prayers to their error, your firmness in the faith; when they are cruel, be gentle, not endeavoring to imitate their ways. Let us be their brethren in all kindness and moderation, but let us be followers of the Lord - for who was ever more unjustly used, more destitute, more despised?
- St. Ignatius of Antioch