On Saturday 14 December and Sunday 15 December we will have services for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Prophet Habbakuk (7th Century BC).  All-night Vigil will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday.

On Tuesday 3 December and Wednesday 4 December we had services for the Great Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Tuesday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Wednesday morning.  At Divine Liturgy many of those present received Holy Communion.  In a departure from our usual practice, the morning service commenced at 8.00am rather than 9.00am, a practice that we are likely to adopt for weekday services in future.

On Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December we had services for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Martyrs Platon of Ancyra (c.+302 AD) and Romanus of Caesarea (+303 AD).  All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  A great many people were present on Sunday morning for our first morning service in four weeks.  Receiving Holy Communion for the first time at Divine Liturgy was the newly-baptised Martin Westcott.  Following the service on Sunday our church was cleaned and adorned in new blue vestments in preparation for the Great Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple on 3-4 December.

On Saturday 30 November the parish rector received into Orthodoxy a convert from the Anglican Confession, Martin Westcott.  With Bishop George’s blessing, a modified form of 'The Office for Receiving Converts from the Reformed Confession' was used in the place of the usual 'Prayers at the Making of a Catechumen', followed by the Holy Mysteries of Baptism and Chrismation.  Martin's sponsor was the parish rector, Archpriest James Carles, and his heavenly protector is Saint Martin of Tours (+397), one of the great saints of the Orthodox West.  May God grant his servant Martin, newly united to the Holy Orthodox Church, many years!

On Tuesday 12 November our 2019-20 Parish Council met for the first time.  Convening by teleconference, the meeting included newly-elected members Kate Marcotrigiano and Alla Karmadonoff as well as our parish clergy and returning lay members Vladimir (“Rick”) Golovin, Anna Kourbatov, Nina Golovin, and Anne Nielsen.  The meeting heard reports on parish life and finances; considered charitable projects; discussed support for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Centenary Icon project; appointed office-bearers for 2019-20; approved membership applications; and finalised plans for participation in the Diocesan Assembly to be held in Strathfield from 14-17 November.  God willing, the Parish Council will meet next on Tuesday 10 December.

Our Summer 2019-2020 Schedule of Services - covering December, January and February - is now available in PDF format.  A copy of the English-language Summer 2019-2020 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Summer 2019-2020 Schedule of Services is available here.  Printed copies in both languages will available in church as of the weekend of 30 November-1 December.  We will have a number of important services this Summer - for for the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, Christmas, Theophany, and more.  Please join us!

From the evening of Thursday 14 November until the afternoon of Sunday 17 November, our parish clergy Archpriest James Carles and Protodeacon Martin Naef, together with parish delegates Vladimir Golovin, Anna Kourbatov, and Nina Golovin, participated in the work of the Nineteenth Diocesan Assembly of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the associated divine services.  The Assembly was held on the grounds of Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW.  On Friday and Saturday the Assembly heard reports and considered proposals concerning the life and administration of the Diocese and its various parishes, missions, monasteries and organisations.  Consideration was also given to the Diocesan observance of two significant anniversaries in 2020: the two hundredth anniversary of the first Russian Orthodox services in Australia, and the centenary of the foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  On Saturday a Diocesan Council was elected to assist His Grace Bishop George of Canberra administer the Diocese over the coming three years.  On Sunday morning the gathering of clergy and delegates from across Australia and New Zealand culminated in Divine Liturgy at which His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada presided together with Bishop George.  During the Divine Liturgy a number of clergymen received awards for their service to the Holy Orthodox Church.  Photographs of the service are available here.

On Saturday 9 November the parish rector baptised the infant Natalia, the first child of Christopher and Sandra Karonin.  Natalia, who was baptised in honour of the Martyr Natalia of Nicomedia, had as her godparents Matthew and Evgenia Shvetsoff.  We warmly congratulate Christopher, Sandra, Matthew and Evgenia, and pray that God will grant His newly-baptised handmaiden good health, every blessing from above, and many years!

On Saturday 2 November and Sunday 3 November, we had services for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Saint Hilarion the Great of Gaza (+371 AD).  Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  As Saturday 2 November was Saint Demetrius Saturday, a day of commemoration of the departed, there was a general memorial service prior to Matins on Saturday evening.  At Matins and Divine Liturgy we were joined by Protodeacon German Polorotov of Saint Xenia Russian Orthodox Church, Tweed Heads.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon, new blue vestments for the altar and table of oblation, the church and altar servers were blessed.  At the dismissal, the protodeacons intoned Many Years for Metropolitan Hilarion – whose name-day it was – and for the parish rector – in anticipation of his name-day on 5 November.  A collection was then taken up for the Fund for Assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, raising $233.00.

A group of young families working under the auspices of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin parish in Cabramatta, NSW, is again organising a camp for Russian and other Orthodox children and young people aged 8-17 to be held in Toukley, NSW - here on the Central Coast - from 15 December - 20 December 2019.  The cost will be $425.00 per person, or $399.00 if payment is made by 30 September 2019.  For those interested, more information is available here.