WELCOME
August
17, 2008
9th
Sunday after Pentecost
Commemorating the Holy Seven Youths (the
“Seven Sleepers") of Ephesus
Dormition Fast
Thank
You!
From Helen Coons to all the faithful of St. Mary’s
for their prayers, visits, cards, calls and flowers during her recent
hospitalizations and recouperation at home. Your thoughtfulness and love were greatly needed and greatly
appreciated.
Trip to
Rochester Zoo
Our parish children will be attending the
Transfiguration Divine Liturgy on Tuesday, 8/19 and then will leave for the
Rochester Zoo for an enjoyable day together. Come enjoy Liturgy together, the custom of the blessing of first-fruits
and then a day at the zoo. If you are
interested in going on this trip, please talk with Nancy Coons.
Dormition
Fast Continues this Week
Please remember that the Dormition Fast continues
until the Feast Day of the Dormition of the Mother of God on August 28. Prayerfully make a rule of fasting and
prayer. Ask Fr. Stephen if you have any
questions or are considering a rule you are uncertain about. Avail ourselves of the healing of the
Sacrament of Confession, which will be offered several times throughout the
Fast. Also, attend the special services
in honor of the Mother of God throughout the Fast. Give alms and visit the sick as part of the
rule of prayer. The Fast is given as a
means of preparation for the Feast. We
need to engage it.
Blessing
of Flowers and Fragrant Herbage
As part of the celebration of the Dormition of the
Mother of God, and according to pious custom, we will bless flowers and
other fragrant herbage at the Liturgy of the Feast. You may bring in flowers or plants and place
them on the tetrapod or around the tomb upon which we place the Plaschanitsja
of the Mother of God.
First
Day of Church School
Is on Sunday, September 7. We will have special prayers during the Divine Liturgy for our children, their parents and their teachers. We pray that God would bless our children and that we would raise them in the feat of God, with faith, reverence and love.
Church
Picnic
A church picnic will be held on Saturday, September
13th. Set aside the date. More details will follow in the next couple
of weeks.
3-D
Dinner
Our deanery’s 3-D Dinner will be held on Sunday,
October 19 in Binghamton at St. Michael’s Recreation Center at 5pm. 3-D (Distinguished Diocesan Donors) are those
who give a $100 or more contribution to Camp Nazareth each year. Let’s give our support and have at least 10
parishioners give at this level. Checks
may be made payable to ACROD and marked 3-D on the memo line. The address to mail them to is: Diocesan Chancery, 3-D Fund, 312 Garfield
Street, Johnstown, PA 15906.
Church
Baking Session
Scheduled for Tuesday, 8/26 at
9am. Plan on lending a hand.
Blessing
of Fruit
The Blessing of Fruit will take
place, as is the Orthodox Church’s pious custom, on the Feast of the
Transfiguration, Tuesday, August 19th. Plan on attending and bringing a basket of fruit to be blessed. Share some of the blessed fruit with your
families and friends. As we do, let us
also remember to cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In the Orthodox Church we understand that as
human beings we were created to offer back to God everything. There is nothing we possess that is not a
gift from Him, including our very lives. When we were a more agrarian society the custom was clearer, but it
requires some explanation in this day and age.
Let’s make sure our children participate in this custom. Parents and grandparents are asked to bring our children to the Divine Liturgy on that day. Help them make a basket of fruit and bring it to the Church. Have them stand up front during the blessing of the fruit to see their baskets of fruit being blessed.
Pop-can
Fundraiser for our Kids
Our Parish children will be collecting cans in the
church hall over the next few months to help offset the cost of the church
school program. There will be a special
large can set up for this purpose. Bring
your cans in and drop them in the hall. If you need the kids to come get them, please see Nancy Coons. Thank you to Anna Dumbaugh for suggesting
this idea.
Thank
you!
To Gloria Ewsuk for helping change the covers to
the liturgical blue for the Dormition Fast. Thank you for the labor of love.
Deepest
Sympathies…
Are extended to Debbie Breon and Matt Becraft on
the passing of their father, Thomas Becraft, into eternal rest this past
week. We pray God that He would grant
the newly departed a place in His heavenly Kingdom where there is no more pain,
sighing, sickness or sorrow, but only life everlasting. May his memory be eternal. Vicnaja jemu pamjat. May our Lord also comfort the grieving family
on every side.
Are also extended to Deacon Michael Kozar on the
passing of his wife Evelyn into eternal rest this past Thursday. Deacon Michael serves in our sister diocesan
church of St. Mary’s in Dickson City, PA. We pray God that He would grant the newly departed a place in His
heavenly Kingdom where there is no more pain, sighing, sickness or sorrow, but
only life everlasting. May her memory be
eternal. Vicnaja jej pamjat.
From a
Few Weeks Ago…
If you have internet access,
check out pictures from our display of icons on Market Street and Joyce
Merletti’s display at the Arts Center of the Southern Finger Lakes. The pictures are located at
www.kevingomez.com/gallery/main.php.
Parishioner Trip to New Orleans
For pictures click here
Thank you to all the parishioners who prayed for our team’s trip to New Orleans. Thank you to all those who were part of our team going to New Orleans. It was a great experience to work side-by-side with each other to help build a home in a region of our country still in great need of the basic necessity of housing. We had 8 parishioners, plus 2 from St. Mary’s in Endicott and 6 others to make 16 total. We all stayed in the same house, not too far from our worksite for the week. It seems that each one of us enjoyed the others’ company, encouragement and fellowship throughout the week as we labored in a great deal of heat with a lot of hammer-and-nail work. Surprisingly there were few bugs to be seen or felt (apparently there has been a lot of spraying in and around New Orleans), but the heat and humidity were certainly felt by all. Despite the adversity of the heat, each member of our team would go back (although probably not in July). You can look at the pictures in the bulletin from the trip and visit habitatforhumanitystw.org and visit the IOCC part to see other pictures.
From the experience in New Orleans, there is interest in partnering with Habitat for Humanity locally to help build homes for those who could not otherwise afford decent housing. The Mission Committee will be helping the parish to organize a team or teams to do this. We will be contacting the local Habitat chapter soon to see what opportunities are available to us. Thank you again to all who participated in this work for the glory of God, whether you were one who went on the trip, a spouse left alone at home, someone who prayed for the group, a child who missed their mom or dad, those who have given money to the Mission Committee to support our team, or a parent who helped their child to go, etc. This was not just an event for those who went, it was a parish-wide project and there were many who supported it. Thank you and may our Lord bless you for your charity.
Our Children’s Week at Camp Nazareth
Our parish sent 6 children to Camp Nazareth a few weeks ago. Thanks to the parishioners’ generosity through the Mission Committee, through the prosphora and simply by donation, our children had an outstanding week at Camp. Let your pastor say up front that your children represented their families and this parish in a way that should make all of us give thanks to God and re-commit ourselves to the rearing of these children in the Orthodox Faith. The week was full of opportunity to grow spiritually, grow in friendships with other Orthodox Christian children, and grow in awe of the love and mercy of God in His wonderful creation. Our children did this in a pious and humble way, whether in church, on the sports fields, in crafts, chant practice, skit practice, or just hanging out with their cabin mates and friends. As your pastor, I am personally grateful for the parish’s support of Camp Nazareth and of our children in going to Camp. The parents need to be thanked, the parishioners who prayed for our children need to be thanked, those who gave money to support this need to be thanked, and the children need to be told that their behavior was, I believe, as God would have it.
Please take a look at the pictures in today’s bulletin and visit the diocesan website at acrod.org to see more pictures from our deanery’s week at Camp. Please also begin to set aside money to support the Camp’s annual 3D drive to raise money. Our 3D dinner will be at the end of October. 3D donors are those who give $100 or more to the Camp annually.
Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Danbury, CT ANNUAL DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE IN HONOR OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD & THE DORMITION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD AUGUST 16 – AUGUST 17, 2008 CAMP NAZARETH - MERCER, PENNSYLVANIA SATURDAY AUGUST 16, 2008 7:00 pm - Great Vespers with the Blessing of Bread, Fruit and Flowers followed by the singing of Marian Hymns at the Tomb of the Most-Holy Mother of God. Confessions Before and After Service. SUNDAY AUGUST 17, 2008 10:00 am - Hierarchical Divine Liturgy His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas Assisted By Diocesan Clergy. Choral Responses Sung By St. Nicholas’ Church Choir, Homestead, PA. Selected Plain Chant Responses by Diocesan Youth. Enthronement of Relics of Saints For Veneration. Panachida For Departed Diocesan Faithful Following Liturgy : Lunch (Cost: Adults: $15.00 Children: 4-12 $8.00). Prepaid Reservations Only. Deadline August 10 Following Lunch : Paraklis to the Mother of God. Annointing of the Faithful With St. Nectarios Oil. Please see the flyers posted in the church hall for more information. Please also see the flyers regarding the Youth Sojourn which will be held in conjunction with the Pilgrimage on the same weekend. Summer Sunday Stories This summer our children will be treated to what we are calling Summer Sunday Stories. Each Sunday any adult or older child of the parish will read a book to the children as a group and then answer any questions about the book. The adult or older child who is reading can choose the book as long as it covers a church related, Biblical or other moral theme appropriate to church. This promises to be a worthwhile and rewarding experience for our children and for those who would like to read to them. Pick a book out of our children's book library or bring in a book of your own. There will be a signup sheet for the Summer Sundays. Please see Diane Rodrigues or Nancy Coons. Bathroom Cleaning Schedule Remember: Each person or family is asked to clean the bathroom one time in the two week period throughout the course of the year. Remember that we asked for a volunteer to do this necessary, and perhaps thankless, job in the church, but we received no response. The result is that all the parishioners need to take responsibility for the cleanliness of our facilities. The list is posted outside the Ladies’ bathroom. Please note that there is a basket by the restrooms filled with items that you can use to clean the bathrooms. There are also some cleaning supplies in the Ladies’ bathroom. Please remember your week. If you can’t clean at the time assigned, it is your responsibility to change with someone else. Please make a note of this change on the master schedule that is posted by the Ladies Room. Thank you. Pantry Corner The Food Pantry is in need of BABY FOOD which is not provided by the local Food Bank. Please continue to support the Corning Community Food Pantry in its mission to feed the hungry in our area. Coffee Social Sign-Up Periodically we need to re-visit the Coffee Social. Many people enjoy it, only a few people sign up to host it. See Mary Leonard to sign up. We enjoy the Social together. Let’s work together so that keeping it going does not just depend on a few. Birthday Bags of Love We are in need of many items to make the monthly Birthday bags for the Food Pantry in October, November, and December. Each month we make up six birthday bags, each with enough goodies for 8 children, for a total of 48 children each month. Monetary donations would also be greatly appreciated to purchase the necessary items. Please check with Millie Sosonka to see what is needed so we do not get more of one item and less of another item that is needed. Thank you and may you truly be blessed! Lastest Sponsors Bulletin Happy Birthday, Anna Dumbaugh. God grant you many blessed years in peace, health and salvation. Na Mnohaja I Blahaja L’ita. Millie Sosonka, sponsor In loving memory of our father and grandfather, Metro Topichak. God grant him blessed repose and eternal memory. Vicnaja jemu pamjat. Topichak Family, sponsor Vicnaja Lampa Happy Birthday, Anna Dumbaugh. God grant you many blessed years in peace, health and salvation. Na Mnohaja I Blahaja L’ita. Millie Sosonka, sponsor In loving memory of our father and grandfather, Metro Topichak. God grant him blessed repose and eternal memory. Vicnaja jemu pamjat. Topichak Family, sponsor
