At 10.00am on Saturday 22 September, the Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Divine Liturgy will be served at Saint Naum of Ohrid Serbian Orthodox Church in Broadmeadow (Newcastle), NSW, in honour of the patronal feast of the parish sisterhood.  God willing, our parish rector and parishioners will be joining Father Dalibor Pavlovic and his congregation for this important feast-day in the life of our closest neighbouring Orthodox parish.

Our next services will be Matins at 6.00pm on Saturday 23 September and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 23 September, the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and the day of commemoration of the Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora at Nicomedia (+310 AD).  God willing, His Grace Bishop George of Canberra will be presiding at Divine Liturgy on Sunday.  The service on Sunday will be followed by a lunch reception for Vladyka George in the church hall.

In accordance with a 2015 resolution of the Synod of Bishops, on Sunday 14 October a collection will be taken up to support the work of the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  Envelopes for this purpose will be available in church as of Sunday 23 September 2018. Please give generously!

On Saturday 8 September and Sunday 9 September we had services for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the day of commemoration of Venerable Poemen the Great (+450 AD), a wise spiritual guide and one of the greatest of the Egyptian Desert Fathers.  At Divine Liturgy, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for rain.  In his sermon the parish rector spoke about monasticism in the Egyptian desert and the teachings of Saint Poemen.  Noting that it was the name-day of Patriarch Pimen (Izvekov) (+1990), Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia from 1970 until 1990, the rector also spoke about the difficult conditions of church life in Russia during the Soviet years and of the immense changes in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church since Patriarch Pimen’s repose.

On Monday 27 August and Tuesday 28 August we had services for the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.  All-night vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Monday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Tuesday morning.  The feast of the Dormition has a special significance for our parish as it was on this day in 1949 - 69 years ago this year - that the first known Orthodox Christian services in the Hunter Valley were served by Archpriest John Lupish (+1977) in the Anglican chapel at Greta Migrant Camp.  Despite it being a working day, Divine Litugry on Tuesday was well-attended, with friends from Gosford joining our parishioners.  Prayers were again offered for rain, and after the service many of those present gathered in the hall for light refreshments.

Our Spring 2018 Schedule of Services - covering September, October and November - is now available in PDF format.  A copy of the English-language Spring 2018 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Spring 2018 Schedule of Services is available here.  Printed copies in both languages are available in church.  Services of note during Spring are Bishop George's visit on Sunday 23 September, services for the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God on Saturday-Sunday 13-14 October, a memorial service for Orthodox soldiers fallen in war on Sunday 11 November, and services on the anniversary of the repose of Archpriest John Lupish (+1977) on Wednesday-Thursday 21-22 November.

On Saturday 25 August an Sunday 26 August we had services for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost and for the Leave-taking of the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.  At Divine Liturgy on Sunday prayers were offered for relief from drought in accordance with Bishop George’s directive.  Receiving Holy Communion for the first time were the newly-baptised children Larissa and Nicholas Korlevic.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon there was a blessing of honey, a gift to the parish, that was then distributed amongst the faithful.  After the dismissal a memorial litia was served for the ever-memorable Alexander Medwedew (+2005), one of our church builders and a long-serving warden (starosta), it being the anniversary of his repose.

On 19 August 1949, just four days after his arrival in Australia, Archpriest John Lupish served the funeral of one year-old Irene Solomko. She was then laid to rest in the Greta Cemetery together with a number of other infants who died in an epidemic of measles that swept through the Greta Migrant Camp at that time.   Father John went on to preside at five more burials at Greta: Wsewolod (Vsevelod) Shipilow (+1949, a boy of 18 months), Larisa Klebakin (+1950), Lydia Elagin (+1956), Alexander Melnik (+1970) and Ivan Elagin (+1977).  In June 2015 our parish rector resolved that a general memorial service would be held in the Greta Cemetery each year on the Saturday closest to the anniversary of that first burial.  This year’s memorial service was held on Saturday 25 August.  Although in previous years our rector was joined by Archpriest Michael Solomko, Irene Solomko's younger brother and the President of the Consistory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand, Father Michael was travelling abroad this year and so unable to be present.  As usual, prayers were offered for the repose of the ever-memorable Archpriest John (+1977), his matushka Maria (+1979), and all those Orthodox Christians buried in the Greta Cemetery, amongst whom are a great many Ukrainian Orthodox.  May their memory be eternal!

On Sunday 19 August, the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the parish rector baptised two year-old Lorelei and five month-old Nello, the children of Andrew and Olga Korlevic. In baptism Lorelei was given the name Larissa in honour of the Martyr Larissa, and Nello was given the name Nicholas in honour of Saint Nicholas of Myra in Lycia. Larissa’s godparents were Anastasia Harwood, Mark McGee and Rachel McGee and Nicholas’s godparents were Anastasia Harwood, Angello Korlevic and Olivia Korlevic.  We warmly congratulate Andrew and Olga and the godparents of their children, praying that God will grant His newly-baptised servants Larissa and Nicholas many years!

On Saturday 11 August and Sunday 12 August we had services for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Apostles of the Seventy Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus and Andronicus (+1st C.).  In accordance with Bishop George’s directive, prayers were offered at Divine Liturgy for relief from drought.

In view of ongoing severe drought conditions in significant parts of Australia, His Grace Bishop George issued a directive on 1 August 2018 that all parishes and monasteries of the Diocese offer prayers for God’s mercy and for rain.  These prayers will continue until further notice.

The July 2018 issue of 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: Послание митрополита Восточно-Американского и Нью-Йоркского Илариона, Первоиерарха Русской Зарубежной Церкви, по случаю 100-летия мученической кончины святых и благоверных Царственных Страстотерпцев; "Прислужник Св. Иоанна Шанхайского - История Русского рассеяния"; "Созерцатель или созидатель" - памяти прот. Симеона Кичакова; and more.  In English: "Why do we pray for the dead on the second, ninth and fortieth day of a person's repose, and what is the basis for the practice?"; "Eight tips for Christian parents on raising chldren in today's world"; "The life story of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir"; and more.  Copies are $5.00.

This year our Diocese is again convening a Diocesan youth conference or "Syezd".  Established in 1965 at the instigation of the ever-memorable Archbishop Sava (Raevsky, +1976), these conferences have been an important spiritual and social event for the youth of our Diocese ever since.  This year’s conference – the theme of which is ‘The Life and Wisdom of the Holy Fathers’ – will be held from 27-31 December in Melbourne and is open to young people aged 18 - 30.  More information is available here.

On Tuesday 26 March and Wednesday 27 March 2019 the clergymen of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese will gather in Sydney for their customary Great Lenten Pastoral Conference.  On Tuesday evening the clergy will meet at the church of All Saints of Russia in Croydon for the Rule of Preparation for Holy Communion at 5.00pm and Lenten Matins and confession at 6.00pm.  On Wednesday morning from 8.00am the Hours and the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts will be served at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield with Bishop George presiding and the clergy concelebrating.  Those of the faithful who wish to do so are welcome to attend the service on Wednesday morning and – if properly prepared – to receive Holy Communion.  Following Divine Liturgy the clergy will meet to discuss a range of pastoral and liturgical matters.