Our next services will be Great Vespers at 6.00pm on Saturday 19 August and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 20 August, the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, the Afterfeast of the Transfiguration, and the day of commemoration of Monk-Martyr Dometius of Persia (+363 AD).  A reliquary containing portions of the relics of twenty-four New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia will be present during these services.  Great Vespers on Saturday evening will be followed by a moleben and an akathist to the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.  A short service of intercession to these saints will also follow Divine Liturgy on Sunday.

At 7.00pm on Thursday 31 August we will have a moleben and akathist to Saint Panteleimon.  This service will be entirely in English.  At these services 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 in Slavonic will be at 7.00pm on Thursday 28 September.

On 6 June 2017 His Grace Bishop George announced that a reliquary containing relics of the New Martyrs of Russia will, in this year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution and the beginning of persecution by the godless authorities, visit parishes, monasteries and missions of our Diocese.  The reliquary will visit New South Wales parishes during July and August.  UPDATE, 16 July 2017: God willing, the relics will visit our parish on the weekend of 19-20 August.  Further information will be posted soon about the services to be held and the saints whose relics are enshrined in the reliquary.

On Saturday 29 July and Sunday 30 July we had services for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils.  Many friends of our parish from Sydney were present at Divine Liturgy on Sunday.  Announcements were made concerning Bishop George's planned visit on Sunday 6 August and the services in honour of the Great-Martyr Panteleimon scheduled for Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 August.  Early on Sunday afternoon a memorial service was served at the grave of Alexander Momot in Point Clare Cemetery, it being the fortieth day of his repose.

On Saturday 29 July the July 2017 issue of our parish newsletter was published.  It contains news from June and July 2017, information about parish activities planned for August 2017, and more.  The newsletter can be viewed here or by visiting our newsletter page.

On Saturday 15 July and Sunday 16 July we had services for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Martyr Hyacinth (+108 AD).  At Divine Liturgy on Sunday the Prayer for Ukarine was read.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon the prayers of blessing were read over a copy of the "Port Arthur" Icon of the Mother of God, a gift to our parish from Arthur and Natasha Tane.  In his sermon at Divine Liturgy the parish rector spoke about the history and significance of Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, the specific guidance for Christian living given in the appointed reading from that Letter (Romans 12:6-14), and the example of Martyr Hyacinth in resisting the civic piety of his day and remaining faithful to Christ.

An article about Orthodox Christianity entitled 'Feasts and fasts: the Eastern Orthodox Church', appeared in the July 2017 edition of Aurora, the magazine of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.  Written by our parish rector at the invitation of Aurora 's editor, the article briefly summarises the history, beliefs and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church.  The article can be read here.

On Saturday 1 July and Sunday 2 July we had services for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Holy Apostle Jude, Brother of the Lord (+c.80 AD).  In his sermon at Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector spoke about the evidence in the recently-published 2016 Census data of increasing unbelief in Australian society, of our Lord's words to the Apostle Jude that He will be manifest to those love Him and keep His words (John 14:21-24), and of the need "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3).  Following the service many enjoyed a range Lenten piroshki - with mushroom, cabbage, rice and spinach, potato and apple fillings - freshly cooked by our hard-working Ladies' Auxiliary.

The August 2017 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 Epistle of the Council of Bishops of ROCOR in both Russian and English, there is a range of interesting articles in both languages.  In Russian: "На восстановление единства Русской Церкве была воля Божия"; "К 100-летию Февральской буржуазно-демократической революции"; "Успение Пресвятой Богородицы" and more.  In English: "Bishop George of Canberra visits the Eastern American Diocese"; "The opening of the relics of our Father among the Saints Mardarije, first Serbian bishop of America and Canada", "The Life of Saint Mardarije of Libertyville (+1935)"; and more.  Copies are $5.00.

From Wednesday 27 September until Monday 2 October this year, a Russian Orthodox Sacred Music Conference will be held in Brisbane.  Organised by the Diocesan Liturgical Music Committee, the conference programme will include lectures from eminent guest speakers including Archpriest Andre Papkov from Chicago, USA, intensive choral workshops and rehearsals at Saint Seraphim’s church and Saint Nicholas Cathedral, common meals, and a hierarchical All-night Vigil and Divine Liturgy at the church of Our Lady of Vladimir.  The cost – not including accommodation – will be $200.00 per person and $150.00 for students, with discounts available for early registration.  Details of accommodation packages will be made available in due course.  See also: https://www.facebook.com/ROCSingersANZ/ 

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 10 December - 16 December 2017.  The cost will be $399.00 per person.  For those interested, more information is available here.

Under the leadership of Sophia Mikhailovna Boikov, the Sydney-based Russo-Chinese Orthodox Mission is raising funds for the construction of a church in Shonoktui, a small village in the Borzinsky district of the Zabaykalsky Krai.  The Zabaykalsky Krai, or Transbaikal Territory, is a federal subject of Russia that shares borders with China and Mongolia.  The church is to be dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the wonderworker of Myra in Lycia, and will be within the Chita Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The building project has the blessing of the Diocesan authorities in Russia and the collection of funds in this Diocese has the blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion and Bishop George.   In July 2016 a cross was blessed at the site on which the church will be constructed.   Donations can be made at the candle-desk in our church, or by direct deposit to the account of the Russo-Chinese Orthodox Mission (Commonwealth Bank of Australia BSB 062-130 ACN 10484933).  This is a worthy project – please give generously!