Seminary Choir
- The Seminary Choir of Blessed Theodore Romzha Academy in Mukačevo, Ukraine will perform a concert at St. Gregory’s on Thursday evening, September 29th at 7:00 PM. The concert will include selections from liturgical services and religious hymns in Old Church Slavonic. The seminarians will visit a number of Byzantine Catholic parishes throughout the Northeast during their visit.
- Prior to the Concert, we have been asked to provide dinner for the seminarians. There are about 16 seminarians in the group, 2 chaperones, and 3 drivers. Bishop Nil Lushchak, Auxiliary Bishop of Mukačevo, may accompany the seminarians. Dinner should begin at 6:00 PM with the concert following at 7:00 PM. The public will be invited to the Concert itself with dessert and coffee to follow after the Concert.
Thank You!: It is virtually impossible for me to suitably express my gratitude for all the help you have provided me in this arduous process of packing, purging, cleaning, sorting, boxing, stacking, moving, etc …. This has been going on for weeks now and I appreciate every moment you have pitched in to help. May God bless you abundantly for your hard work and perseverance throughout this process!
Baking: It is not too early to consider the scheduling for kolácsi baking for this year’s Slavic Food Festival – Saturday, 5th November. We depend upon your generous donations to minimize the costs involved with baking: flour (name brands), sugar, butter (salted and unsalted), and margarine (not the ‘spreads’). At this point we have all the walnuts we need for this year’s baking- all generously donated!
Closer to the designated baking dates we will need donations of large eggs. Butter and margarine are needed throughout Food Festival prep: butter and margarine are used for kolácsi (60 lbs.), haluški (18 lbs.), sauerkraut (8 lbs.), and pirohi (30+ lbs.).
Thank You!: For all your hard work, for your dedication to the parish, for your generosity, for your moral support, for all you have done over the course of nearly 24 years – I thank you! Your support at the time of the death of my mother has sustained me through a very difficult year. St. Gregory’s will occupy a special place in my heart for the rest of my days: s’ Bohom!
Byzantine Internet Resources: To learn more about Eastern Christian theology, Liturgy, and tradition there are several valuable resources available to us on the Internet. “Coffee with Sister Vassa” is a series of podcasts available on YouTube that cover a wide range of topics. In a very informal manner Sister Vassa Larin, an Orthodox nun and a highly accomplished scholar and writer who is a member of the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Vienna, explains complex theological and liturgical topics with us as neighbors sharing a morning Cup of coffee. In the course of about 10 minutes Sister Vassa manages to clarify the complexities of our faith in terms that are easy to understand and allow us to gain a new perspective on some aspects of our Christian tradition.
“Be the Bee” is a series of podcasts presented by Steven Christoforou, the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. This series also presents a wide range of topics including theology, Scripture, tradition, iconography, and Liturgy. Steven, like Sister Vassa, presents the topics in a simple and straightforward manner so that we can say after each presentation that we learned something new or have gained a new perspective on something we are already familiar with. For instance, Podcast #55 “Rise like Incense” or #75 “Memory eternal!” provides fresh insight into a few things are already very familiar to us. In light of the upcoming Dormition Fast (1 August) you may wish to view #41 “God’s Mother, Our Mother.”
Let us remember in prayer all those who are in some special need of God’s loving kindness and mercy at this time. Let us remember particularly the “Prayer Requests” of all who have asked for the prayerful support of our Parish Family in their special intentions.