On Saturday 2 July and Sunday 3 July we will have services for the Third Sunday after Pentecost.  All-night Vigil will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday.

On Monday 8 August and Tuesday 9 August we will have services in honour of Great Martyr Panteleimon (+305 AD), the heavenly patron of our parish.  On Monday, All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served at 6.00pm.  On Tuesday, the lesser blessing of water will be served at 8.00am, and the Hours, Divine Liturgy and a moleben to Saint Panteleimon will be served from 9.00am.  Following the services on Tuesday, a festive lunch will be held in the church hall for our parishioners and friends.

On Tuesday 21 June, a meeting of the Parish Council was held.  The parish rector tabled a detailed report on the life of the parish and the wider church during April, May, and June 2022.  It was agreed that this year’s celebration of our patronal feast-day of Saint Panteleimon would be a modest event with a parish lunch in the church hall following the services on Tuesday 9 August.  Donations to the Diocesan Mission Fund and to assist Ukrainian refugees now living on the Central Coast were approved.  Suggested changes to the scheduling of services, particularly during Great Lent and at Pascha, were noted and endorsed.  It was agreed that our parish Annual General Meeting would be held on Sunday 18 September 2022.  The Parish Council will meet again in July to discuss our iconostasis project, a number of policy documents, a draft Annual Report, and the 2021-22 financial reports.

On Saturday 18 June and Sunday 19 June we had services for the First Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday of All Saints.  All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At Divine Liturgy the parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michal Matys, and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.  The newly baptised Orla (Mary) Krikunov received Holy Communion for the first time.  In his sermon, the parish rector spoke about the history and significance of the commemoration of All Saints on the First Sunday after Pentecost.  He also spoke about the Day of Youth of the Russian Church Abroad, noting with regret that this commemoration had yet to be deeply established in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

On Saturday 4 June and Sunday 5 June we had services for the Seventh Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council.  All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning.  At Divine Liturgy the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef, and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.  In his sermon, the parish rector spoke about the history and significance of the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD.  At Bishop George’s request, a collection was taken up to assist the Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute.

On Wednesday 1 June and Thursday 2 June we had services for the Great Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Wednesday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Thursday morning.  On Thursday the small number of people present included visitors from Newcastle and Canberra.  As it was on this feast-day in 2007, fifteen years ago this year, that canonical communion was re-established within the Russian Orthodox Church, the Prayer for the Prosperity of the Russian Church was read at Divine Liturgy and a moleben of thanksgiving was served following the Prayer before the Amvon. At Divine Liturgy prayers were also offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.

On the evening of Tuesday 31 May, the Eve of the Apodosis of Pascha, we served the final Paschal Matins of 2022. In accordance with the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church, Matins was served as it is during Bright Week – sung in its entirety, and with the doors to the sanctuary open.  The icon of the Resurrection of the Lord was then returned to the sanctuary, the Shroud of Christ was removed from the Holy Table, and the church was made ready for the festive services for the Ascension of the Lord.

Our Winter 2022 Schedule of Services - covering June, July and August - is now available.  Services of note during this period include those for the Great Feast of the Ascension of the Lord on Wednesday-Thursday 1-2 June; for Saints Peter and Paul on Monday-Tuesday 11-12 July; for our patronal feast of Saint Panteleimon on Monday-Tuesday 8-9 August; and for the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Thursday-Friday 18-19 August.  A copy of the English-language Winter 2022 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Winter 2022 Schedule of Services is available here.  Printed copies in both languages are also available in church.

On Saturday 14 May and Sunday 15 May we had services for the Fourth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Paralytic.  All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning. At Divine Liturgy the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef, and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.

On Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May we had services for the Second Sunday of Pascha, Thomas Sunday.  All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning.  At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus. At the end of Divine Liturgy on Sunday the Artos was cut and distributed.

The April 2022 issue of “Word of the Church” (“Церковное Слово”), the official journal of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, is now available in our parishes. This edition continues the beautiful glossy colour format introduced in December 2020.  Content includes Metropolitan Hilarion’s 2022 Paschal Epistle in Russian; the Ukase concerning Priest Alexei Jukoff’s transfer from Dandenong to Adelaide to assist and then replace the retiring rector of the Saint Nicholas parish, Archpriest Vladimir Deduhin; a Russian-language obituary of the late ever-memorable Protodeacon Constantine Moshegov; information about the 2022 Great Lenten Pasoral Conference of our Diocese; Part II of ‘The Relationship Between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia in the period from 1950 until 1969’, the English-language text of a lecture presented to the ROCOR Centenary Conference; and more.  Copies are $5.00.

On Thursday 23 June and Friday 24 June, clergy of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese gathered at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW, to offer prayers on the fortieth day of the repose of Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), Ruling Bishop of our Diocese since 1996 and First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia since 2008.  Friday 24 June was also the day of commemoration of the wonder-working “Kursk-Root” Icon of the Mother of God, the “Directress” of the Russian Diaspora; of the wonder-working “Tabynsk” Icon of the Mother of God, revered by both the Russian Orthodox faithful and the Chinese people in Harbin, China, where it was kept from 1918 until 1948; of the Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas; and of the of the Hieromartyr Mitrophan and 222 other New Martyrs of China, slain during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.  All-night Vigil was served on Thursday evening, with Mitred Archpriest Gabriel Makarov presiding and Protodeacons Alexander Abramoff and Vasily Konstantinidis assisting.  All the clergy vested for the singing of the magnification of the Mother of God before copies of the two wonder-working icons.  On Friday morning the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served, with Mitred Archpriest Michael Protopopov presiding and twenty-eight other clergymen concelebrating.  His Grace Bishop George of Canberra, recovering from illness, prayed in the altar on both days.  Following Divine Liturgy a panikhida was served for our departed First Hierarch, with the kontakion “With the saints give rest” sung together by the choir, clergy and all the faithful.  The clergy, their spouses, and special guests later gathered in the cathedral hall for a commemorative meal.  Over lunch there was discussion of Vladyka Hilarion’s gentleness, kindness, and pastoral warmth, characteristics that remained steadfast even as he rose in the church hierarchy; the possibility of a memorial within the cathedral grounds to all our departed Diocesan bishops; and missionary efforts in Vladyka’s memory.  Many years was sung for Bishop George, the Administrator of the Diocese, and for Archpriest Barnabas Jellings, celebrating his name-day that day.

Since the repose of Metropolitan Hilarion on Monday 16 May 2022, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) has made several decisions concerning church life.  On Tuesday 17 May it was resolved, amongst other things, that our newly-reposed First Hierarch be especially commemorated at each Divine Liturgy during the Paschal season and that a panikhida be served on the fortieth day of his repose, Friday 24 June; that the name of Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany be commemorated during the divine services in all ROCOR churches immediately following the commemoration of Patriarch Kyrill; and that Bishop George of Canberra would be appointed Acting Ruling Bishop of the Australian-New-Zealand Diocese.  On Monday 23 May it was resolved, amongst other things, to convene a Council of Bishops in New York from 13-21 September 2022 with the purpose of electing a new ROCOR First Hierarch; and to especially commemorate Metropolitan Hilarion on Sunday 26 June, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, as well as on the fortieth day of his repose.