The Altar Candles are burning during the month of August in memory of +Michael and +Juliana Dolgosh. May their memory be eternal!
The Candles Before the Iconostasis are burning during the month of August in memory of +Olga Hatchel. May her memory be eternal!
The Transfiguration: This week we celebrated the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. Forty days before his crucifixion Jesus revealed his glory to Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor in the presence of Moses and Elias. This Feast is not an obligation, but it still enjoys being celebrated for an octave, meaning we celebrate the Feast for 8 days until its closing on August 13th.
Upcoming Holyday: The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God is a Day of Precept/Holyday of Obligation in the Byzantine Ruthenian Metropolia of Pittsburgh. The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated Monday, August 15th at 7:30PM with the Blessing of flowers of follow.
The Dormition Fast begins on August 1st and continues through August 14th. Traditionally this preparatory period before the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God was a time of Strict Fast on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (no meat or dairy products) and a lesser fast on Tuesdays and Thursdays (no meat) with mitigations of the fast on Saturdays, Sundays, and the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th). While the observance of this fast today is voluntary, we should practice Simple Abstinence (from meat) on all Fridays and extend the abstinence to Wednesdays during the fast period.
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.
Stewardship Rebate: Thanks to the very generous donations of our parishioners to the 2015 Eparchial Stewardship Appeal, we have received a rebate! Thank you so much for your generosity, and for adhering to Christ’s teaching: “But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt 6:3-4). Indeed, we have been rewarded for the secret generosity of many. May God continue to bless you.
Baking: The baking process for this year’s Slavic Food Festival — Saturday 5 November 5th— will begin this Saturday at 10AM. We depend upon your generous donations to minimize the costs involved with baking. Curently we need:
- flour (name brands)
- sugar
- butter (salted and unsalted)
- margarine (not the ‘spreads’)
- large eggs
- monetary donations to fill in the gaps
Donations requested by noon on Friday, Aug 12.
At this point we have all the walnuts we need for this year’s baking – all generously donated! Butter and margarine are needed throughout Food Festival prep: butter and margarine are used for kolácsi (60 Ibs.), halupki (18 Ibs.), sauerkraut (8 Ibs.), and pirohi (30+ lbs.).
Pilgrimage in Honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help: This year will mark the 82nd annual Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Mount St. Macrina in Uniontown, PA on Labor Day weekend, Friday, September 2nd through Monday, September 5th. The full schedule of events is published in the July and August issues of the Eastern Catholic Life newspaper. Fr. Lewis will be attending this year’s Pilgrimage and Fr. Conan Timoney will be Celebrating the Divine Liturgy for the Faithful of St. Gregory of Nyssa at 10:30AM and there will be no Matins this day.
Email Communications: We will be compiling a list of parishioners’ email addresses for emergency or alternate communication needs.Please fill out your address on the sheet provided in the hall, or email your address to: frlewis@stgregoryofnyssa.net
Baseball Game: The Patronage Men’s Club is inviting our altar servers to join them for a free outing to see the Orioles baseball game on Sat. Sept. 24th. Others are welcome as well for the normal ticket price, please contact our parish office.
Upcoming Events
Sat. Aug. 13 10AM Nutroll Baking
Fri–Mon Sept. 2-5 Uniontown Pilgrimage No Matins, Fr. Conan will be celebrating the Divine Liturgy at 10:30AM. Fr. Lewis will be
at the 82nd Annual Pilgrimage in Uniontown, PA
Fri. Sept. 14 11AM-1PM “Rome Sweet Home” lunch with the pastor book series with Fr. Conan at Patronage of the Mother of God in Arbutus
Sat. Sept. 17 5PM Divine Liturgy and Crabfest at Arbutus Parish
Thurs. Sept. 29 7PM Seminary Choir Concert at
St. Gregory’s
Sat. Oct. 1 11AM Slavonic Divine Liturgy by the Seminary Choir with Bishop Nil Luschak, O.F.M. as main celebrant at Patronage of the Mother of God Church in Arbutus, MD
Sat. Oct. 15 Men’s Retreat in Arbutus conducted by Fr. Lewis