Our next services will be Matins at 6.00pm on Saturday 21 April and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 22 April, the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearers.  On this day the Holy Orthodox Church remembers those righteous women and men who came to the Tomb of Christ bearing myrrh and sweet spices: Mary Magdalen; Mary, the wife of Cleopas; Joanna; Salome, mother of the sons of Zebedee; Susanna; Martha and Mary, the sisters of Saint Lazarus; Mary, mother of the Apostle James; Righteous Joseph of Arimathea; and Nicodemus.

Our next services will be Matins at 6.00pm on Saturday 12 May and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 13 May, the Sixth Sunday of Pascha.  As the appointed Gospel reading (John 9:1-38) concerns Christ's healing of the man blind from birth, this Sunday is known as the Sunday of the Blind Man.

On Monday 16 April and Tuesday 17 April 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 a great many of the departed were mentioned by name.  Amongst those commemorated were the ever-memorable Archbishop Sava (Raevsky)(+1976), the anniversary of whose repose it was, and the ever-memorable Monk Joseph (in the world, Reader Isaac Lambertsen)(+2017).  Archbishop Sava was the second Ruling Bishop of our Diocese and the hierarch who, in 1966, consecrated our church.  Monk Joseph was a graduate of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY, who translated the entire Menaion, Octoechos and Pentecostarion from Church Slavonic into English.  Eternal memory!  Graveside litias were then served in Wallsend, Sandgate and East Maitland cemeteries.

On Friday 13 April and Saturday 14 April we had services for the Saturday after Pascha, Bright Saturday.  Paschal Matins was served on Friday evening and the Paschal Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Saturday morning.  At Divine Liturgy the choir sang under the direction of Elena Gan.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon at Divine Liturgy the prayer at the breaking of the Artos was read.  In place of a sermon, the parish rector read aloud the Paschal Epistle of Metropolitan Hilarion in Russian and in English.  At the dismissal, pieces of the blessed Artos were given to the faithful.

This year, our parish had a number of traditional services for Holy Week and Pascha.  Matins with the singing of the exapostilarion “Thy Bridal chamber” ("Чертог твой") was served in the evening on Wednesday 4 April. On Thursday 5 April, Great and Holy Thursday, Divine Liturgy was served in the morning and Matins with the reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels was served in the evening.  On Friday 6 April, Great and Holy Friday, Vespers with the bringing out of the Shroud of Christ was served at 3.00pm.  On Saturday 7 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 8 April, the Sunday of Pascha.   Concelebrating with the parish rector at Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy was Priest Theodor Postelnisescu, the rector of the Romanian Orthodox Community of the Apostle Andrew.  Easter baskets containing eggs, cakes and other festive foods were blessed following Matins.  Following Divine Liturgy, the clergy and a small group of the faithful gathered in the church hall for a festive meal.

On Friday 30 March and Saturday 31 March 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 confessed their sins in preparation to receive Holy Communion on Saturday.  At the end of the service pussy-willow branches were blessed in anticipation of Palm Sunday and a collection was taken up to assist the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.  A memorial litia was also served for the men, women and children who perished in the fire in Kemerovo, Russia, on 25 March 2018.

On the evening of Tuesday 27 March 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.  Approximately 25 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 in circumstances of great need, is a customary part of Great Lent. 

On Saturday 24 March and Sunday 25 March we had services for the Fifth Sunday in Great Lent, the day of commemoration of Saint Mary of Egypt (+AD 421).  Joining us for Divine Liturgy on Sunday was Father Theodore Postelnisescu, the rector of Newcastle’s Romanian Orthodox Community of the Holy Apostle Andrew.   In his sermon at Divine Liturgy the parish rector spoke about the life of Saint Mary of Egypt and of her enduring example of repentance.

On Saturday 10 March and Sunday 11 March we had services for the Third Sunday in Great Lent, the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross.  As Saturday 10 March was a day of commemoration of the departed there was a general pannikhida prior to the service on Saturday evening , at which were commemorated the departed hierarchs and clergy of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese, together with our departed parishioners, family members and friends.  In accordance with Orthodox custom an image of the Holy Cross, beautifully decorated with flowers, was set forth for veneration at the end of the Saturday evening service.

On Sunday 29 April 2018 at 2.00pm at the Russian Club, 7 Albert Road, Strathfield, Orthodox Action Sydney will present its seventeenth charity concert, “Heart of Gold” 2018.  The program will feature a mixture of classical music, Russian folklore, humour, and dancing.  All funds raised will benefit orphaned and abandoned children and the needy in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.  Tickets are $30.00 for adults, $25.00 for pensioners and students, and $10.00 for children 5-10 years of age.  More information can be obtained by contacting Vera on 9747-3109 or Natasha on 9730-2367.

At 5.00pm on Sunday 20 May 2018 a fundraising dinner will be held in the church hall at Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral, 3 Vernon Street, Strathfield, to assist the Presentation Sisterhood in Bungarby, NSW, a monastic community of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  A French-themed dinner will be served, and during the evening well-known Serbian Orthodox priest Father Rade Radan will give a talk entitled 'Serpents and Doves'.  Child-minding will be available.  Tickets are $50.00 for adults, $40.00 for pensioners, and $15.00 for children aged 15 and younger.  Seating will be at tables of 8.  More information is available at https://cabrapokrov.org/fundraising-for-monasteries.

Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute (SCMOI) is the newly-established theological and higher learning institute of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  It provides undergraduate and postgraduate award courses by arrangement with the Adelaide College of Divinity and the Uniting College for Leadership and Theology.  SCMOI is offering a free online lecture series on "Sexuality, Homosexuality and the Bible" beginning on Thursday 19 April 2018.  Online registration is available here: https://www.scmoi.edu.au/free-lecture-series.