The Slavonic-language moleben and akathist to Saint Panteleimon scheduled for 7.00pm on Wednesday 31 July has been cancelled as our parish rector will be interstate for work.  We apologise for any inconvenience.  Our next akathist will be at 7.00pm on Wednesday 28 August.  The August service will be entirely in English and will be our final regular moleben and akathist to Saint Panteleimon.

Our next services will be on the weekend of Saturday 3 August and Sunday 4 August, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost and the day of commemoration of the Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-th-Apostles Mary Magdalene (+1st C) and the translation of the relics to Constantinople in 404 AD of Hieromartyr Phocas , bishop of Sinope (+117 AD).  All-night Vigil will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday.  On Sunday Bishop George will be presiding at Divine Liturgy in anticipation of our patronal feast of Saint Panteleimon.  There will be a blessing of water at 8.00am, after which we will greet Bishop George.  Divine Liturgy will commence at approximately 9.30am and be followed by a moleben to Saint Panteleimon and a festive lunch at East Gosford Progress Hall.  The Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia will be singing at Divine Liturgy.

On Saturday 20 July and Sunday 21 July we had services for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the appearance of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in 1579 AD.  All-night Vigil with the singing of the Magnification of the icon was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy with a moleben before the icon was served on Sunday morning.  In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the history of the Kazan Icon and the long Christian experience of help through the prayers of the Mother of God.

On Thursday 11 July and Friday 12 July our parish clergy Archpriest James Carles and Protodeacon Martin Naef, together with a number of our parishioners, participated in services for the patronal feast of the Diocesan Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Strathfield, NSW.  On Thursday evening All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served with Bishop George presiding.  On Friday morning there was the Lesser Blessing of Water, a hierarchical Divine Liturgy, and a moleben to the Holy Preёminent Apostles Peter and Paul with a procession around the church.  At the services on Thursday evening and Friday morning the Cathedral clergy and clergy from other Sydney parishes concelebrated.  At the end of the service on Friday many parishioners were presented with beautiful parish Certificates of Appreciation for their work in support of the Cathedral.  A great many people then gathered in the parish hall for a festive lunch.  At lunch the Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia gave a brief concert.  A series of photographs can be viewed at the Cathedral Facebook page here, and some video footage of parts of the service can be viewed here.

On Saturday 6 July and Sunday 7 July we had services for the Third Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Holy Glorious Forerunner, Prophet and Baptist John.  These were the first services in our church following repainting the the rehanging of our icons.  As Protodeacon Martin Naef had been invited to serve at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral on Sunday, our parish rector served Divine Liturgy alone.  In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the miraculous circumstances recorded in the Holy Gospel concerning the birth of Saint John the Baptist, of the place of Saint John in the life of the Orthodox Church, and of the enduring relevance of his call to repentance.

Late on Wednesday 19 June we learned with great sorrow of the repose that evening of one of our oldest parishioners and a long-serving chorister, Ludmilla Roubanoff.  Ludmilla spent her childhood in Shanghai and knew Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco in her youth.  Like many Russian people from Shanghai, she came to Australia via the Phillipine island of Tubabao.  Her funeral was served in our church on Thursday 27 June.  At her funeral our parish rector spoke of Ludmilla's steadfast faith, service to the parish, and enduring love for Saint John.  She was afterwards laid to rest at Point Clare Cemetery.  May God grant her rest with Saint John and all the saints, and make her memory to be eternal!  Article updated on 13 July 2019.

On Saturday 15 June and Sunday 16 June we had services for the Great Feast of Pentecost, the commemoration of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and disciples.  In accordance with Orthodox custom, prior to the services our small church was decorated beautifully with green branches.  All-night vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine oil and five loaves was served on Saturday evening, and Divine Liturgy with Vespers and the “kneeling prayers” was served on Sunday.  After the long service on Sunday many stayed back to help empty the church of icons and furnishings in preparation for painting.

On Wednesday Wednesday 5 June and Thursday 6 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.  As it was on this feast-day in 2007 that the Act of Canonical Communion between the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate was signed, the Prayer for the Prosperity of the Russian Church was read after the Augmented Litany at Divine Liturgy. 

On the evening of Tuesday 4 June, the Eve of the Leavetaking of Pascha, a small group of parishioners gathered for the final Paschal Matins of the year. 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.

On Saturday 1 June and Sunday 2 June we had services for the Sixth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Blind Man.  This Sunday is so named because the reading from the Holy Gospel (John 9:1-38) appointed for Divine Liturgy gives an account of the healing by our Lord Jesus Christ of a man blind from birth.  In his sermon at Divine Liturgy the parish rector spoke about the continuing celebration of the Resurrection of Christ during the forty days of Pascha.  Following the service our Ladies’ Auxiliary served freshly-cooked piroshki with fillings of meat, mushroom, potato and apple.

On 29 May 2019 His Grace Bishop George of Canberra advised parish rectors and monastic superiors that the Nineteenth Diocesan Assembly of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese would be convened at the Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW, in November 2019.  Commencing on the evening of Thursday 14 November and concluding on the afternoon of Sunday 17 November, the Assembly will coincide with Diocesan celebrations of the thirty-fifth anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s consecration to the episcopacy on 10 December 1984.  As all Diocesan clergy will be participating in the Assembly and associated commemorative activities, the only services in our Diocese on Saturday-Sunday 16-17 November will be at the Strathfield Cathedral.  Information about the Eighteenth Diocesan Assembly, held in Cabramatta in November 2016, is available here.

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.