Monthly Archives: December 2017

THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST: THE FEAST OF RENEWAL

St. John of Kronstadt

We are approaching, beloved brethren, the world-saving feast of the birth in the flesh of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. For several days before the feast, the holy Church will celebrate this wondrous mystery in the spiritual hymns of her daily services. These hymns remind us of our divine birthright, and the squandering of our sonship through sin; of its restoration through repentance of our common spiritual kinship and of the spirit of love and care for one another. Continue reading

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WEEKLY PROGRAM | 10 – 17 DECEMBER 2017

SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER
† 10th Sunday of Luke | Luke 13: 10-17
• 7.30 – 11.00am  Orthros and Divine Liturgy
• 10.30 – 11.00am 
Sunday School Classes

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR ALL AGES!
(A free voluntary program organised by the Church)
Lessons take place in the building behind the church and begin at the time of Holy Communion until Church dismissal. We have classes for ages ranging from 5yrs to teenage years. Lessons are taught in a relaxed, friendly environment. Please bring your children along to learn of their rich Orthodox faith and come close to God and His Love.

This week’s readings:

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Homily on A Woman Healed on the Sabbath

 Luke 13:10-17

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There are few things in life more difficult to bear than a prolonged illness or permanent condition. In the Gospel today, we meet a woman who probably expected a lifetime of physical pain and struggle. She had been contorted not just for a week or a month or a year, but for a full eighteen years. There was no reason to believe her situation would change. She was bent over at the waist – contorted, the Fathers say, by an evil spirit. She had a most abnormal crease in the middle of her body. She couldn’t straighten up. The Lover of mankind looked with concern and sympathy on this miserable human creature, and saw in her not a withered and twisted animal, but a daughter of Abraham, a soul created by God and deserving of His mercy. Continue reading

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St Isaac the Syrian – God is greater!

∼ Words from the Church Fathers ∼

God is greater!
Greater than your illness whatever it may be.
Greater than your deepest disappointment.
Greater than your greatest worry.
Greater than your worst enemy.
Greater than your most difficult problem.
Greater than life.
Greater than death.
God is greater!
Believe it! Live by it! Affirm it! Claim in by faith and use it as a pillow to rest your weary soul. God is greater!
If your God is not greater, then the God you believe in is too small. He is not the God the Church believes in.

– St Isaac the Syrian

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Filed under Readings, Wisdom of the Church Fathers

WEEKLY PROGRAM | 3 – 10 DECEMBER 2017

SUNDAY 3 DECEMBER
† 14th Sunday of Luke | Luke 18: 35-43
• 7.30 – 11.00am  Orthros and Divine Liturgy
• 10.30 – 11.00am 
Sunday School Classes

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR ALL AGES!
(A free voluntary program organised by the Church)
Lessons take place in the building behind the church and begin at the time of Holy Communion until Church dismissal. We have classes for ages ranging from 5yrs to teenage years. Lessons are taught in a relaxed, friendly environment. Please bring your children along to learn of their rich Orthodox faith and come close to God and His Love.

This week’s readings:

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St Nicholas of Myra, the Wonderworker

6 December

A very popular saint, St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, a city in Asia Minor, lived during the fourth century, St. Nicholas became known for his warm and generous heart, his love for children and the poor, his care for the sick and his gift-giving. Poor many he was, and continues to be, a shining symbol of Christ’s love and compassion. Continue reading

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ELDER IAKOVOS (TSALIKIS) OF EVIA CANONIZED BY CONSTANTINOPLE

Constantinople, November 27, 2017

According to exclusive information from the Greek-language Orthodox site Romfea, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate resolved today to officially number the blessed Elder Iakovos (Tsalikis) of Evia among the saints of God. Continue reading

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Saint Barbara, Great Martyr

Saint Barbara was from Heliopolis of Phoenicia and lived during the reign of Maximian.

She was the daughter of a certain idolater named Dioscorus. When Barbara came of age, she was enlightened in her pure heart and secretly believed in the Holy Trinity. About this time Dioscorus began building a bath-house; before it was finished he was required to go away to attend to certain matters, and in his absence Barbara directed the workmen to build a third window in addition to the two her Father had commanded. She also inscribed the sign of the Cross with her finger upon the marble of the bath-house, leaving the saving sign cut as deeply into the marble as if it had been done with an iron too. (When the Synaxarion of Saint Barbara was written, the marble of the bath-house and the cross inscribed by Saint Barbara were still preserved, and many healings were worked there.)

When Dioscorus returned, he asked why the third window had been added; Barbara began to declare to him the mystery of the Trinity. Because she refused to renounce her faith, Dioscorus tortured Barbara inhumanely, and after subjecting her to many sufferings he beheaded her with his own hands, in the year 290. Saint Barbara is commemorated on December 4th.

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Elder Iakovos Tsalikis Canonized

It has been announced that today, 27 November 2017, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has canonized the late Elder Iakovos Tsalikis.The petition for his canonization was submitted by the Holy Metropolis of Khalkida and 22 November has been appointed as his feast day.

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WEEKLY PROGRAM | 26 NOVEMBER – 3 DECEMBER 2017

SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER
† 13th Sunday of Luke | Luke 18: 18-27
† St Stylianos of Paphlagonia
• 7.30 – 11.00am  Orthros and Divine Liturgy
• 10.30 – 11.00am 
Sunday School Classes

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR ALL AGES!
(A free voluntary program organised by the Church)
Lessons take place in the building behind the church and begin at the time of Holy Communion until Church dismissal. We have classes for ages ranging from 5yrs to teenage years. Lessons are taught in a relaxed, friendly environment. Please bring your children along to learn of their rich Orthodox faith and come close to God and His Love.

This week’s readings:

Continue reading

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