Our next services will be All-night Vigil with the blessing of five loaves, wheat, wine and oil at 6.00pm on Saturday 18 August and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 19 August, the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.  In accordance with the custom of the Russian Orthodox Church there will be a blessing of grapes, apples and other fruit at the end of the service.

At 7.00pm on Thursday 30 August 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 English.  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 Church Slavonic will be on Thursday 27 September.

On Monday 13 August and Tuesday 14 August we had services for the feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord and in honour of the Holy Maccabean Martyrs (+166 BC).  Prior to Matins on Monday evening a panikhida was served to mark the anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Archbishop Theodosy (Putilin) (+13 August 1980) and the fortieth day of the repose of Bishop Ilia (Kazantsev) of Birsk and Beloretsk (+5 July 2018).  Following Divine Liturgy on Monday the Lesser Blessing of Water was served and there was a blessing of honey.

On Wednesday 8 August and Thursday 9 August we had services in honour of the Great-Martyr and Healer Panteleimon.  All-night vigil was served on Wednesday evening and the Lesser Blessing of Water, Divine Liturgy, and a moleben to Saint Panteleimon were served on Thursday morning.  Concelebrating at All-night vigil, Divine Liturgy and the moleben were Archpriest Alexander Korjenevski , Rector of the parish of Saint George in Carlton, NSW, and Priest Dionysios Halim, a cleric of Saint John the Baptist Skete in Kentlyn, NSW.  Following the services on Thursday those present enjoyed a festive meal in the newly-renovated church hall.

On Saturday 4 August and Sunday 5 August we had services for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God.  These were the first services following the completion of a choir-loft in our parish centre that has greatly increased the size of our small church.  Prior to All-night vigil on Saturday evening our parish rector served a panikhida to mark the fortieth day of the repose of Archpriest Simeon Kichakov (+25 June 2018).  Joining us on Sunday morning in anticipation of our parish feast-day on 9 August were Bishop George, Protodeacon Alexander Kotlaroff, and a great many friends from Newcastle and from the Sydney parishes.  In his sermon at Divine Liturgy Bishop George spoke about the history of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God and of the importance of seeking help in prayer from the Mother of God, Saint Panteleimon and all the saints.  Following a moleben to Saint Panteleimon “Many Years” was intoned for the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church and for the parish, its clergy and office-bearers.  The parish rector then presented Protodeacon Alexander with an embroidered protodeacon’s orarion, a gift from the Gosford parish to mark the twentieth anniversary of his ordination to the diaconate.  All later enjoyed a festive banquet at the East Gosford Progress Hall.

On Monday 16 July and Tuesday 17 July we had night-time services to mark the centenary of the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, the Royal Passionbearers of Russia, together with their faithful companions.  All-night vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves commenced at 9.30pm on Monday and Divine Liturgy commenced in the early hours of Tuesday morning.  Despite the lateness of the hour approximately a dozen people were able to attend the services, the majority of whom received Holy Communion at Divine Liturgy.  The services ended after 2.00am with a brief moleben and the customary prayer of repentance.  The Epistle of Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, on the 100th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Righteous Royal Passion-Bearers can be read in Russian here and and in English here.  Holy Royal Passionbearers of Russia, pray to God for us!

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.

The July 2018 issue of the official journal of the Australian-New Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is now available in our parishes.  As usual, it contains a range of interesting articles in both Russian and English.  In Russian: Послание митрополита Восточно-Американского и Нью-Йоркского Илариона, Первоиерарха Русской Зарубежной Церкви, по случаю 100-летия мученической кончины святых и благоверных Царственных Страстотерпцев; "Прислужник Св. Иоанна Шанхайского - История Русского рассеяния"; "Созерцатель или созидатель" - памяти прот. Симеона Кичакова; and more.  In English: "Why do we pray for the dead on the second, ninth and fortieth day of a person's repose, and what is the basis for the practice?"; "Eight tips for Christian parents on raising chldren in today's world"; "The life story of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir"; and more.  Copies are $5.00.

In view of ongoing severe drought conditions in significant parts of Australia, His Grace Bishop George issued a directive on 1 August 2018 that all parishes and monasteries of the Diocese offer prayers for God’s mercy and for rain.  These prayers will continue until further notice.