Author: eHewlett

As you all know, this Thursday is our winter patronal feast, the feast-day of St. Nina of Georgia. This year, we will be celebrating on the feast-day itself (for logistical reasons), rather than on the eve of the feast. So, instead of celebrating with an evening liturgy which would mean that those of us who were planning to partake would spend half the feast-day fasting, we will instead celebrate with a simpler Vespers + Litya service. This will allow us to feast on the feast-day itself and will mean that the service will include a few more hymns to St. Nina and will conclude with anointing and partaking of blessed bread and wine (Litya).

In other words, no liturgy and therefore no fast on St. Nina’s feast-day – only feasting! May the joy of the feast be with you!

Just a quick reminder that our beloved Vladyka Seraphim is coming to celebrate Divine Liturgy and to eat and to talk with our little community this Saturday, September 19th! Saturday’s Divine Liturgy will begin with the Hours at 9am, and will be followed by a meal with the archbishop. Some food will be provided, but please bring your favorite kind of cheese, fruit, dessert, and/or anything else you would like to share with the community if you are willing and able to do so.

While this will not be a full hierarchical liturgy (at least not this time…), Vladyka Seraphim will be presiding, and we will be further blessed with the presence of the newly ordained Deacon Gregory Wright from St. Herman’s, who has kindly consented to serve his second liturgy ever (well, as a deacon, anyway) with us!

Just a brief reminder that, starting tomorrow, our mid-week Little Compline service will be held not at the heretofore usual “7:30pm on Thursday” time-slot, but will instead be held at 7:00pm on Wednesdays. Also, tomorrow after Compline we will begin our quick overview of the post-apostolic Church Fathers, starting with the First Epistle of Clement.

Unfortunately, a number of factors, not least of which is the upcoming meeting for all Lower Mainland St. Arseny camp workers, have combined to force the cancellation of the Vesperal Liturgy we were planning to hold for St. Vladimir on Tuesday, July 14th.

It’s our summer patronal feast day! To celebrate, we will serve an Akathist to St. John of Shanghai in place of Little Compline tonight (Thursday, July 2nd), and, following the custom of the church in which he was glorified (ROCOR), we will celebrate his feast-day with a Divine Liturgy (at 9am) on the Saturday closest to the date of his repose (July 4th). Suggested topic for discussion after the service tonight: the life and significance of St. John of Shanghai. OrthodoxWiki.org provides some links to relevant resources: http://orthodoxwiki.org/John_Maximovitch