At 7.00pm on Thursday 26 July we will have a moleben and akathist to Saint Panteleimon, the heavenly patron of our parish and an unmercenary healer.  This service will be entirely in Church Slavonic.  At akathists in our parish all of our parishioners, benefactors and friends are commemorated by name.  Others wishing to be commemorated at this service – or who wish to put forward names for commemoration – are welcome to contact us.  Our next moleben and akathist to Saint Panteleimon in English will be on Thursday 30 August.

Our parishioners and friends are reminded that there will be no services in our parish on the weekend of Saturday 28 July and Sunday 29 July.  On this weekend our rector Archpriest James Carles will be in Brisbane for a wedding and will serve at Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

Our next services will be All-night Vigil at 6.00pm on Saturday 4 August and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 5 August, the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost and the day of commemoration of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God.  Prior to the evening service on Saturday there will be a memorial service to mark the fortieth day of the repose of the ever memorable Archpriest Simeon Kichakov (+25 July 2018).  In anticipation of our parish feast-day on 9 August, on Sunday Bishop George of Canberra will preside at Divine Liturgy and a moleben to Saint Panteleimon.  Following the Sunday services there will be a festive lunch at the East Gosford Progress Hall, 10 Henry Parry Drive, East Gosford.  All are welcome!

In honour of the Great-Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, the heavenly protector of our parish, All-night Vigil will be served at 6.00pm on Wednesday 8 August.  On the following day, Thursday 9 August, the Lesser Blessing of Water will be served at 8.15am.   Divine Liturgy will commence at 9.00am, at the completion of which there will be a moleben to Saint Panteleimon.  There will be a festive meal in the parish hall for those present after the services on Wednesday.  Visiting clergy should bring gold vestments.

On Saturday 14 July and Sunday 15 July we had services for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the wonder-working "Akhtyrka" Icon of the Mother of God, the original of which is kept in the Diocesan Archbishop's Chapel of All Saints of Russia in Croydon, NSW.  As the water with which the original icon was washed healed a sick child, a moleben with the Blessing of Water was served prior to Divine Liturgy on Sunday.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon, prayers of blessing were read over a number of new items: gold vestments for the Holy Table and the Table of Oblation, silver zeon cups for altar use, silver candle-stands for the church, and gold covers for the icon-stands.  In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the history of the “Akhtyrka” Icon and of the help we receive through the prayers of the Mother of God.

On Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July we had services for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Saint John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco (+1966 AD).  A brief moleben to the saint was served following the Prayer before the Amvon at Divine Liturgy on Sunday.  At the veneration of the Cross at the end of Divine Liturgy the faithful were anointed with oil from Saint John’s shrine in San Francisco.

On Saturday 16 June and Sunday 17 June we had services for the Third Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Saint Metrophanes (Mitrofan), first Patriarch of Constantinople (+c.326 AD).  Amongst the saints also commemorated on this day were All Saints of Belorussia, an icon of whom was set forth for veneration during both services.   Receving Holy Communion for the first time at Divine Liturgy on Sunday was the newly-baptised Christopher Newton.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon prayers of blessing were read over a copy of the revered Georgian Icon, “Glory of Iveria” ("Слава Грузинской Церкви") - a gift to our parish from Alexei Kozlovski and Svetlana Bolonina – and a set of liturgical books containing all the services for the first and last weeks of Great Lent – a gift from Evgenia Druganova.  In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the importance of not “having it both ways” in the spiritual life, and of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

On the weekends of 2-3 June and 9-10 June a number of volunteers gathered at our parish centre to prepare for and begin work on the construction of the new second floor.  The teams working under Rick Golovin's leadership included Vlad Golovin, Chris Karmadonoff, Josh Koppman, George Karmadonoff, Craig Koppman, Joe Carles, Victor Bendevski, Philip Bendevski, Nickolay Kravchenko, Greg Alexandrovsky and Con Yakimov.  The hall flooring was removed on Saturday 2 June and in a huge effort over two days on 9-10 June the hall air-conditioning unit and all the ducting was moved; the steel posts, bearers and joists for the floor above the hall were put in place; and the wooden flooring for the upper level was laid.  Our Head Sister Nina Golovin fed the workers on Saturday 9 June and Kate Marcotrigiano prepared lunch on Sunday 10 June.  God willing, the team will be back on site on the weekend of 23-24 June to install the choir loft in church.  In addition to these major efforts work will continue on gyprocking and plastering, the electrics and the air conditioning, and the construction of an office and storage units upstairs.

On Saturday 9 June the parish rector baptised one year-old Christopher, the son of Joel and Svetlana Newton.  Christopher was baptised in honour of the Martyr Christopher and had as his sponsors Pressica Taber and the parish rector, Archpriest James Carles.  We warmly congratulate Joel, Svetlana and Pressica and wish the newly-illumined servant of God Christopher many years!

On Sunday 3 June our parish published an educational leaflet, 'What is prosphora?'.  This leaflet, prepared in collaboration with our neighbouring parish of Saint Nicholas, Wallsend (Newcastle) explains the symbolism and use of prosphora, the small loaves of bread offered during Divine Liturgy.  The leaflet also explains the commemoration of the names of the living and the departed at Divine Liturgy.  Printed copies are available in church.

On Saturday 2 June and Sunday 3 June we had services for the First Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of All Saints. At the end of Divine Liturgy a brief moleben was served for the children and young people of our parish, our Diocese and the whole Russian Orthodox Church Outisde Russia, the Sunday of All Saints being the Day of Youth of the Russian Church Abroad.  As 3 June (22 May on the Julian Calendar) was also the feast-day of All Saints of Ufa - a group of twentieth-century martyrs and righteous ones from the Bashkortostan region of Russia - their icon and a cross containing the relics of Righteous Moses of Ufa (+1983), Righteous Zosima Ennatskaya (+1935), and Blessed Barbara Skvorchikhinskaya (+1966) - three of the most revered saints of Ufa - were set forth for veneration.  In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the different paths to holiness of these three saints and of the need for each of us to pursue our own path to holiness.

The April 2018 issue of the official journal of the Australian-New Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is now available in our parishes.  In addition to the Paschal Epistle of Metropolitan Hilarion in both Russian and English, there is a range of interesting articles in both languages.  In Russian: "Догмат о Пресвятой Троице"; "Царь-Освободитель - 200 лет со дня рождения Александра II"; and more.  In English: "Why on the right hand: The meaning of [wedding] rings in the Orthodox Tradition”; "A few tips on helping your children grow to become faithful Orthodox adults"; and more.  Also included is a list of Diocesan recipients of the Partriarchal Medal commemorating the centenary of the re-establishment of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church and a list of living and departed Diocesan clergy for commemoration in prayer.  Copies are $5.00.