On Saturday 21 February and Sunday 22 February we will have services for the Sunday of Forgiveness, the final preparatory Sunday for Great Lent.  Matins will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served from 9.00am on Sunday.  In accordance with the usual parish practice of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Vespers with the rite of asking forgiveness will be served immediately after Divine Liturgy.  Following the services on Sunday, the Ladies’ Auxiliary will be serving pancakes (“blini”) in the church hall.

On Saturday 7 February and Sunday 8 February we had services for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and in honour of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.  Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning.  At Divine Liturgy the customary prayers were offered for the unity of the Orthodox Church, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.  

On Saturday 24 January and Sunday 25 January we had services for the Thirty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday after Theophany, and in honour of Virgin-Martyr Tatiana of Rome (+ 226 AD).  Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy with the Great Blessing of Water were served on Sunday morning.  Following the blessing of water a brief moleben of thanksgiving was served for the work of the former Theophany parish (est.1994) in Mayfield, Newcastle, the remaining members of which joined our parish seventeen years ago, in 2009.  Eternal memory was later sung for the departed founders, benefactors and parishioners of that community.

On Saturday 10 January and Sunday 11 January we had services for the Thirty-First Sunday after Pentecost, which this year was also the Sunday after the Nativity of Christ.  Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning.  At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for the unity of the Orthodox Church, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.  Following the services on Sunday a group of our parishioners and friends gathered in the church hall for a festive meal and a visit from Father Christmas. 

In 2026 our major focus will be commencing work on improvements to the church and grounds, beginning with our outside toilet facilities.  Although we have the funds to complete the first stage, we will also be working on raising funds to make the entire project possible.  We plan to repaint the interior of our church and reorganise the icons.  In April we will have a midnight Paschal service for the first time since 2024, and later that month, God willing, we will celebrate the marriage of a young couple active in parish life.  During the course of the year, we will begin planning celebrations in 2027 to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the foundation of our parish in 1952.  In the second half of the year we hope to welcome Archbishop George on a pastoral visit and look forward to the tonsure at that time of another new reader for service in our parish. 

"Once again we hear the message of the angelic host, God’s messengers to mankind, as they announce the glad tidings of the Birth of Christ our Saviour, Emmanuel, Who has become incarnate in order to free mankind from the bondage of sin... Let us hearken to their angelic message, and let us make every effort to worship and glorify God every day of our lives. In this way we will bear witness to the presence of Christ in our hearts, Who was incarnate for our salvation."   Archbishop George’s Epistle is available in full in English here and in Russian here.

"For every Christian, the feast of the Nativity of Christ is beloved and joyful. Throughout the world on this day, people remember the Star of Bethlehem and the manger, the shepherds and angels, the Mother of God and Righteous Joseph the Betrothed, while the Orthodox celebrate, confessing the cornerstone of faith—the Incarnation of Christ, the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Out of His greatest love, the Lord descended to be born of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, uniting fallen humanity with God through Himself. "The Word became flesh so that we might be renewed and divinized in Him," says St. Athanasius the Great."  Metropolitan Nicholas’s Epistle is available in full in English here and in Russian here.

The November 2025 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 is the third and final issue (#3-4) for 2025.  Content includes a report on the Twenty-First Diocesan Assembly; the text of the Diocesan Assembly Resolution; an obituary of Archpriest Alexander Skorik; a report on and an extensive photo gallery of the consecration of a new church in Dandenong, Victoria, dedicated to Saint John of Kronstadt; a report on the Diocesan Liturgical Music Conference; and more.  Copies are $5.00.

On Tuesday 10 March and Wednesday 11 March 2026 the clergy of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese will gather in Brisbane for their customary Great Lenten Pastoral Conference.  On Tuesday the clergy will meet at Saint Nicholas Cathedral for the Rule of Preparation for Holy Communion at 5.00pm and Lenten Matins and confession at 6.00pm.  On Wednesday from 8.00am the Lenten Hours, the Typika and the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts will be served at the Cathedral with Archbishop George presiding and Diocesan clergy concelebrating.  Those of the faithful who have the opportunity to do so are welcome to attend the services on Wednesday morning and may – if properly prepared – receive Holy Communion.  Following Divine Liturgy the clergy will meet in the cathedral hall for lunch, to hear two lectures and to discuss pastoral, liturgical and administrative matters.