Our next services will be All-night vigil at 6.00pm on Tuesday 21 May and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Wednesday 22 May, the feast of Mid-Pentecost and the day of commemoration of the Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari, Italy, in 1087.  This is the patronal feast-day of our church.  Divine Liturgy on Wednesday will be preceded by the Lesser Blessing of Water at 8.15am.  As the day of the feast is a working-day, the customary moleben to Saint Nicholas, procession and festive lunch will be on Sunday 26 May when Bishop George visits.

Our next weekend services will be Matins at 6.00pm on Saturday 25 May and Divine Liturgy on Sunday 26 May, the Fifth Sunday after Pascha and the Sunday of the Samaitan Woman, so named because the appointed reading from the Holy Gospel is the account of the conversation of Christ with the Samaritan Woman at Jacob's Well (John 4:5-42).  On Sunday His Grace Bishop George of Canberra will preside at Divine Liturgy and the Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia will sing in place of our parish choir.  Following Divine Liturgy there will be a moleben to Saint Nicholas, a procession around the church, and a festive lunch in the church hall for our parishioners and guests.  Please join us!

On Monday 6 May and Tuesday 7 May we had services for the second Tuesday of Pascha, “Radonitsa” - the day of rejoicing.  In the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church, this is the first day after Pascha on which services for the departed are customarily offered.  Matins was served on Monday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Tuesday morning.  Immediately following Divine Liturgy a general panikhida was served in church, at which all of the departed clergy of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese were mentioned by name, together with our departed parishioners, family members and friends.  Prayers were also offered for those who perished in the aircraft fire in Moscow on 5 May 2019.  Graveside litias were then served in Wallsend, Sandgate and East Maitland cemeteries.

This year, our parish again had a number of traditional services for Holy Week and Pascha.  In the evening on Thursday 25 April, Great and Holy Thursday, Matins with the reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels was served.  On Friday 26 April, Great and Holy Friday, Vespers with the bringing out of the Shroud of Christ was served at 3.00pm.  On Saturday 27 April, Great and Holy Saturday, Midnight Office was served late in the evening, with Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy following in the early hours of Sunday 28 April, the Sunday of Pascha.  Easter baskets containing eggs, cakes and other festive foods were blessed following Matins.  Following Divine Liturgy, a small group of the faithful gathered in the church hall for a festive meal.

On Friday 19 April and Saturday 20 April we had services for the sixth Saturday of Great Lent, Lazarus Saturday.  On this day the Orthodox Church commemorates the resurrection of Lazarus of Bethany from the dead after four days in the grave.  Many parishioners received Holy Communion at Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning.  At the end of the service palms and pussy-willow branches were blessed in anticipation of Palm Sunday and a collection was taken up to assist the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.

On the evening of Tuesday 16 April our parish rector presided at a General Service of Anointing with Oil.  Serving together with him was Priest Dalibor Pavlovic of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Nahum of Ohrid in Broadmeadow.  Together with the clergy, approximately 35 faithful from both parishes gathered in our church to pray and receive anointing with oil for the healing of soul and body.  For Orthodox Christians this service, otherwise served only for individuals who are grievously ill, is a customary part of Great Lent.

On Saturday 13 April and Sunday 14 April we had services for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent and in honour of Saint Mary of Egypt (c.421 AD).  After a period of three weeks without services, our small church looked beautiful with the floor newly sanded and polished for the first time since it was laid in the 1960s.  In his sermon at Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector spoke about the life of Saint Mary of Egypt and of her as a model of repentance.  

On Sunday 14 April the parish rector baptised Jason Greig, the infant son of Chris Greig and Maria Olyunina.  He was baptised in honour of the Apostle Jason of the Seventy.  Jason had as his godparents Alexander and Virinea Sukhikh.  We warmly congratulate Chris, Maria, Alexander and Virinea and wish the newly-baptised Jason many years!

On Saturday 23 March and Sunday 24 March we had services for the Second Sunday of Great Lent and in honour of Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (+AD 1359).  As Saturday 23 March was a day of commemoration of the departed, the service on Saturday evening was preceded by a general panikhida at which many departed clergymen of our Diocese, parishioners, relatives and friends were commemorated by name.  In his sermon at Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector spoke about the life and teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas and about the approachability and mercy of God.  Following Divine Liturgy a collection was taken up to benefit the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY.

The April 2019 issue of “Word of the Church” (“Церковное Слово”), the official journal of the Australian-New Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, is now available in our parishes.  As usual, it contains a range of interesting articles in both Russian and English.  In Russian: Пасхальное Послание Митрополита Илариона; "О призвании общественном служении женщины-христианки"; and more.  In English: The Paschal Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; the Communique of the 2019 Lenten Conference of the Clergy of the Diocese; a brief obituary of Father Seraphim Slade;  details of a number of awards given to clergymen of the Diocese; and more.  A Russian-language copy of the decision of the Synod of Bishops to deprive Abbot Christopher (Vakhabov) of the priesthood is also included, together with an English-language translation. Copies are $5.00.