On Saturday 21 May and Sunday 22 May we will have services for the Fifth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, and in honour of the Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari, Italy, in 1087 AD.  This is the patronal feast-day of our church.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday. Divine Liturgy on Sunday will be preceded by the Lesser Blessing of Water at 8.15am and followed by a moleben to Saint Nicholas with a procession around the church.  Upon completion of the services on Sunday there will be an informal parish lunch in the church hall.  All are welcome!  For friends from Sydney and further afield, information about visiting the Hunter Valley is available here.

On Saturday 11 June and Sunday 12 June we will have services for the Great Feast of Pentecost.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday, and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday.  Divine Liturgy will be immediately followed by Vespers with the reading of the customary "kneeling prayers".

Our Winter 2022 Schedule of Services - covering June, July and August - is now available.  Services of note during this period include those for the Great Feast of Pentecost on 11-12 June; for the beginning of the Dormition Fast and the Procession of the Wood of the Cross on 13-14 August; and for the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God on 27-28 August.  A copy of the English-language Winter 2022 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Winter 2022 Schedule of Services is available here.  Printed copies in both languages are also available in church.

On Saturday 21 May and Sunday 22 May we had services for the Fifth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, and in honour of the Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari, Italy, in 1087 AD.  This was the patronal feast-day of our church.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. Divine Liturgy on Sunday was preceded by the Lesser Blessing of Water and followed by a moleben to Saint Nicholas.  At Divine Liturgy the parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michal Matys and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.  Following the moleben the parish rector congratulated those present and spoke about the unfailing help that Christians throughout the centuries have found in the prayers of Saint Nicholas.  Many of our parishioners then gathered in our church hall for a festive meal, the first such gathering in two years.

On Saturday 21 May, immediately before All-night Vigil for the Fifth Sunday of Pascha and in honour of Saint Nicholas, our parish rector served a panikhida for the newly-reposed Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and much-loved Ruling Bishop of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese for over twenty-five years.  Following the service, our rector spoke spoke briefly concerning Vladyka Hilarion’s great humility, kindness and pastoral dedication.

On Saturday 7 May and Sunday 8 May we had services for the Third Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers.  Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning.  At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.  At the end of Divine Liturgy the Artos was cut and distributed.

This year, our parish again had a number of traditional services for Holy Week and Pascha.   Divine Liturgy was served in the morning on Great Thursday, 21 April.  On Great Friday, 22 April, Vespers with the bringing out of the Shroud of Christ was served in the afternoon.  On Saturday 23 April Midnight Office was served late in the evening, with Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy following in the early hours of 24 April, the Sunday of Pascha.    Easter baskets with cakes, eggs and other festive foods were blessed following Matins.  At the services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michal Matys.

On Saturday 9 April and Sunday 10 April we had services for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, the commemoration of Saint Mary of Egypt.  Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  At both services the parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michal Matys.  At Divine Liturgy on Sunday prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus. Following the Prayer before the Amvon on Sunday, prayers of blessing were read over a new Shroud ("плащаница") of Christ, new blue and green sets of priests' vestments donated in memory of the departed servants of God Michael and Alla, and an analogion cover embroidered with an image of the Holy Trinity.  All these items were the work of the Saint Elisabeth Convent in Minks, Belarus.

The April 2022 issue of “Word of the Church” (“Церковное Слово”), the official journal of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, is now available in our parishes. This edition continues the beautiful glossy colour format introduced in December 2020.  Content includes Metropolitan Hilarion’s 2022 Paschal Epistle in Russian; the Ukase concerning Priest Alexei Jukoff’s transfer from Dandenong to Adelaide to assist and then replace the retiring rector of the Saint Nicholas parish, Archpriest Vladimir Deduhin; a Russian-language obituary of the late ever-memorable Protodeacon Constantine Moshegov; information about the 2022 Great Lenten Pasoral Conference of our Diocese; Part II of ‘The Relationship Between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia in the period from 1950 until 1969’, the English-language text of a lecture presented to the ROCOR Centenary Conference; and more.  Copies are $5.00.