St. Mary Orthodox Christian Church

Update for the week Friday, October 26, through Thursday, November 1, 2012

THIS WEEKEND

TALK ON ANTIOCH –  This evening,  Thursday, October 25, The Diocesan Chapter of the Fellowship of St. John the Divine will host a lecture entritled Antioch: Yesterday and Today.  The speaker is Fr. Elia Khalife, a monk at the Monastery of St. George Dayr al-Harf, Lebanon, and Director of the Center for Antiochian Studies & Research at Oxford University in England. The talk will be held at St. George of Boston at 7:30 pm.

HELP MAKE KIBBEH – A few people are needed this Friday, October 26, starting at 9:00 am to help make kibbeh with the Women's Club.
   If you placed an order for kibbeh, you can pick it up in the kitchen on Sunday, October 28.  Any orders not picked up will be frozen.

VISITING PRIEST - We are pleased to welcome back V. Rev. Anthony Bahou, Pastor of Ss. Constantine & Helen Church, Houston, TX, who will be celebrating the Liturgy this Sunday with Fr. Antony and giving the sermon. Fr. Anthony was a seminarian at St. Mary a dozen years ago.

SEMINARIAN EDUCATION - October is both Youth Month and Seminary Month.  Following Liturgy this Sunday, there will be an Archdiocese Collection taken to support Seminarian Education. Make checks payable to St. Mary Church, earmarked:  Seminary Education

HARVEST COFFEE HOUR – St Mary's Church School will be hosting its Harvest Coffee Hour this Sunday, October 28. Come meet your child's church school teacher, join your son or daughter in a church scavenger hunt and learn more about opportunities for family participation in parish life. If you are able to contribute to the coffee hour, please contact Andrea Popa at maryandreapopa@gmail.com.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

LITURGICAL SERVICE PROGRAM – As part of the Harvest Coffee Hour this Sunday, we are planning a brief parents’ meeting in the church hall to highlight opportunities for family participation in liturgy and parish life. In particular, we will be introducing a new initiative to involve church school children and teens in liturgical service program through assigned teams. Teva Regule and Doreen Bargoot are leading this effort. We hope you will be able to join us this Sunday to learn more about this new opportunity for parish involvement.

DONATIONS FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS - If you missed the Teens’ collection for Special Olympics last week, you can still make a donation in one of the following ways:
   If you use eGive, there is a special gift category for “Teen SOYO:  Special Olympics”
   With a credit card, you can use the new One-time gift option on St. Mary’s website:  https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/contact/donate.php - just put “Teen SOYO:  Special Olympics” in the Additional Notes

REMINDERS

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. 

FALL DELEGATES MEETING – The Fall Diocesan Delegates Meetings of  Teen SOYO, Fellowship of St. John the Divine and Antiochian Women will be held on Saturday, October 27, at St. Mary Church, 249 High St., Pawtucket, RI. Morning Prayers at 10:00 am, followed by meetings, and Lunch at 12:30.

BAZAARS – Several churches in the area have upcoming bazaars and other fund raisers:

St. John, Dedham:  Annual Bazaar – Friday through Sunday, November 2-4.  Friday noon to 9:00 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am to 9:00 pm; Sunday noon to 2:00 pm.  Authentic Middle Eastern cuisine, live & silent auction. For more information:  www.stjohnd.org/bazaar

St. Mary, Pawtucket, RI:  Annual Bazaar – Friday through Sunday, November 9-11. Friday 5:00 to 8:00 pm; Saturday 11:00 am to 8:00 pm; Sunday 11:30 am to 3:00 pm.  Arabic food & pastry, American foods, village market, bargain basement, Christmas booth, St. Mary’s famous cashews, silent auctions, beer & wine, cash raffle & grand raffle.  For more information:  401-726-1202 or www.stmarypawtucket.org

St. George Church, West Roxbury:   Ladies Society Penny Sale – Saturday, November 10.

TEEN SOYO SPAGHETTI DINNER - The annual Spaghetti Dinner sponsored by Teen SOYO will take place on Sunday, November 11, following Liturgy. Come enjoy a meal of Spaghetti, Meatballs (just before the Fast!), Salad and Bread, Dessert and Coffee/Beverage.  Your Goodwill donation will be much appreciated.

WINE & CHEESE LECTURE SERIES – The Fellowship of St. John the Divine at St. John Church, Dedham, is sponsoring a Wine & Cheese Lecture Series beginning Friday, November 16. Topic of Part 1 will be Bringing the Eucharist into your Interfaith Relationships, with guest speaker Bishop JOHN. Wine & cheese at 6:30; Lecture at 7:00 pm.

AL-KAFAAT GALA DINNER – Please come to a gala dinner to help Al-Kafaat, a private, nonprofit and nondenominational organization that delivers education and rehabilitation services across seven different campuses in Lebanon. Under the Patronage of Metropolitan Philip and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in North America, Al-Kafaat is raising funds across North America to build a new compound. The dinner, on Saturday, November 17 at 6:00 pm (following Vespers at 4:30), is sponsored by St. George of Boston, 55 Emmonsdale Rd, West Roxbury. Tickets are $125 – contact Violet Robbat at 781-862-4388 or vmkrobbat@yahoo.com.  You can read an article about Al-Kafaat at http://www.antiochian.org/node/25836.

CHARITY BAKE SALE –The Women’s Club will hold its annual Thanksgiving Charity Bake Sale on Sunday, November 18, 2012 (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 in Syria.  Call Priscilla Goss 781-762-1517, if you can help bake or donate something to sell.

BERAM AWARDS BANQUET - The Nicholas G. Beram Veteran's Association 66th Anniversary Celebration and 46th Scholastic Achievement Awards Banquet will be held Saturday, November 24, 2012, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm at the Holiday Inn in Dedham.  Our own Mary Winstanley O’Conner will receive a Distinguished Service Award.

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 2, at 3:00 p.m.  Group tickets are just $20. 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 - please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com   or order your own tickets online at http://www.handelandhaydn.org.  

CANNED FOOD DRIVE – The annual FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE food drive will be held October through December, 2012. Bring in your 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 3 days - since 1984 we have collected over 3,281,200 pounds of food!

BOOKS FOR SALE – The Fellowship of St. John the Divine has  several copies of the book "A Life Together: Wisdom of Community from the Christian East," by last year's von Holzhausen lecturer, Bishop Seraphim Sigrist. List price is $15.99, but you can purchase it for our cost of $9.00 per copy. This is your last chance to buy it at cost before we return our unsold books to the publisher. Please talk to or email Michael Decerbo, Fellowship treasurer at mdecerbo@alum.mit.edu, if you are interested in buying the book. If you are out of town, send your check to the church with an additional $4 for postage -- and please also email Mike so he can expect it and set your copy aside.

DANCING WITH THE ABBA STARS DVD - The AABA Board of Directors wish to thank all who attended, supported and enjoyed "Dancing with the AABA Stars 2012".  A professionally made DVD is available for $25.  Make your check payable to Cheriton Heights and send to:  Olivia Waishek, 5 West Boundary St, West Roxbury, Ma. 02132

REGULAR REMINDERS

DONATE VIA eGIVE– Did you know that you can make your donations to St. Mary through eGive, and have no more envelopes or checks to worry about?   If you have not yet set up an account, you can do it at www.egive-usa.com, or contact Charlie Marge (marge@alum.mit.edu) for help. The Recipient Organization is “St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.”

STREAMING VIDEO – 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 below or online).  If you have questions or comments about this ministry please contact us at live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.

VIDEO STREAMING FOR EVENTS – Now you can video stream your wedding or baptism live from St. Mary’s to friends and family who can't attend your event in person.  The cost for Event Video Streaming is $150 for members, $300 for non-members, and includes a password- protected viewing page and setup and breakdown of the streaming service for your event by a trained staff member.   You can also get a copy of your streamed event on CD: $50 for members, $100 for non-members. Fees are payable to the church. Streaming is subject to staff availability. For general questions on the video streaming ministry or event streaming, please contact live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.  To schedule your event and/or request Event Video Streaming, please contact the Church Office.

PROTECT YOUR VALUABLES – Please do not leave valuables unattended in the Church Hall or Coat Room.

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.  Please pull all the way in to the parking space, and please do not block the driveway – if the lot is full, you can park on the street.

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:

BECOME A GREETER – If you do not sing in the choir, or chant, serve in the Altar or at the Bengarri, and  are not a Church School teacher,  please consider serving the Church as a GREETER!  Greeters arrive at 9:45 am., get a Greeter Name Tag  from the Bengarri, pin it on and greet visitors/parishioners at the Church Entrance and direct them upstairs to the Church, or to the CloakRoom or RestRooms.  Greeting time ends when Communion starts.  Send your name and e-mail address to Buddy Mabardy: buddymabardy@cjmabardy.com or phone him 781-729-6303. 

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  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 new 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.

PRISON MINISTRY – If you would like to find out more about Prison Ministry at St. Mary’s Church, please subscribe to our mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/ocpm-concord

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

THIS SUNDAY'S VOLUNTEERS

GREETER:  Marc Patacchiola  

LITURGICAL SERVICE:  St. Mary young people

COFFEE HOUR:   Church School staff and parents

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK

Saturday, October 27:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm, with Confessions before and after Vespers

Sunday, October 28:  Orthros 8:45 am; Enquirers’ Class 9:00 am;  Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 5

SCRIPTURE READINGS for Sunday, October 28:
   Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20
You know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ ... I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

   Gospel: Luke 8:41-56
… As he went, the people pressed round him. And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and had spent all her living upon physicians and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased. And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the multitudes surround you and press upon you!" But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; for I perceive that power has gone forth from me." And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." …

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, November 3: No Vespers at St. Mary

Sunday, November 4:  Daylight Savings Time ends.  Orthros 8:45 am; Enquirers’ Class 9:00 am;  Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 6

Wednesday, November 7:  Fr. Antony visiting St. Michael, Cotuit, for Vespers  7:00 pm.

Saturday, November 10:  Church School Family Vespers and Confession

Sunday, November 11:  Orthros 8:45 am; Enquirers’ Class 9:00 am;  Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 7;  followed by Teen SOYO Spaghetti Dinner

Thursday, November 15:  Nativity Fast begins

Saturday, November 17: No Vespers at St. Mary – Vespers at St. George in West Roxbury 4:30 pm, followed by dinner for Al-Kafaat

REFLECTION

Few are they who by faith touch him; multitudes are they who throng about him.
   - St. Augustine

Glory to you, hidden Son of God, because your healing power is proclaimed through the hidden suffering of the afflicted woman. Through this woman whom they could not see, the witnesses were enabled to behold the divinity that cannot be seen. Through the Son’s own healing power his divinity became known. Through the afflicted woman’s being healed her faith was made manifest … He saw through to her hidden faith, and gave her a visible healing.
   - St. Ephrem the Syrian

It is by faith that we touch Jesus. And far better to touch him by faith than to touch or handle him with the hands only and not by faith. It was no great thing merely to touch him manually. Even his oppressors doubtless touched him when they apprehended him, bound him, and crucified him, but by their ill-motivated touch they lost precisely what they were laying hold of. O worldwide church! It is by touching him faithfully that your “faith has made you whole.”
   - St. Augustine

That power which may not be handled came down and clothed itself in members that may be touched, that the desperate may draw near to him, that in touching his humanity they may discern his divinity.
   - St. Ephrem the Syrian

Lord, You invite all who are burdened to come to You. Allow your healing hand to heal me. Touch my soul with Your compassion for others. Touch my heart with Your courage and infinite love for all. Touch my mind with Your wisdom, that my mouth may always proclaim Your praise. Teach me to reach out to You in my need, and help me to lead others to You by my example. Most loving Heart of Jesus, bring me health in body and spirit that I may serve You with all my strength.
   - St. Poeman