On Saturday 9 July and Sunday 10 July we will have services for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, the day of commemoration of Venerable Sampson the Hospitable of Constantinople (+c.530 AD).  Matins will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday, and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday.  At the end of Divine Liturgy on Sunday prayers of blessing will be read over a beautiful new emboidered image of the Mother of God for veneration at the services for the Great Feast of the Dormition.

On Monday 27 June, a meeting of the Parish Council was held.  This was the first meeting of the Parish Council in 2022 and the first face-to-face meeting since September 2019.  The parish rector tabled detailed reports covering the life of the parish and the wider church from October 2021 until June 2022.  Decisions were made concerning requests for assistance, donations and collections, and new acquisitions.  A report was given on the implementation of new financial management software and the new reports were tabled and discussed.  Suggested changes to the scheduling of services, particularly during Great Lent and at Pascha, were noted and endorsed.  It was agreed that our parish Annual General Meeting would be held on Sunday 25 September 2022.  The Parish Council will meet again in July to discuss several policy documents and a draft Annual Report.

On Saturday 25 June and Sunday 26 June we had services for the Second Sunday after Pentecost, the day of commemoration of All Saints who have shone forth in the land of Russia.  Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning.  At Divine Liturgy the parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michael Matys and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.  Following Divine Liturgy on Sunday there was  a memorial litia for the evr-memorable Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), Friday 24 June having been the fortieth day of his repose.

On Saturday 11 June and Sunday 12 June we had services for the Great Feast of Pentecost.  All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Saturday evening.  Prior to the service our small church had been beautifully decorated with flowers and green branches in honour of the life-giving Holy Spirit.  On Sunday morning, the Hours and Divine Liturgy were immediately followed by Vespers with the reading of the customary "kneeling prayers".  At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine and for deliverance from the coronavirus.  At the end of the services on Sunday the faithful were reminded of a Diocesan collection to assist the Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute, the theological and higher education institute of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

On Thursday 23 June and Friday 24 June, clergy of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese gathered at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW, to offer prayers on the fortieth day of the repose of Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), Ruling Bishop of our Diocese since 1996 and First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia since 2008.  Friday 24 June was also the day of commemoration of the wonder-working “Kursk-Root” Icon of the Mother of God, the “Directress” of the Russian Diaspora; of the wonder-working “Tabynsk” Icon of the Mother of God, revered by both the Russian Orthodox faithful and the Chinese people in Harbin, China, where it was kept from 1918 until 1948; of the Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas; and of the of the Hieromartyr Mitrophan and 222 other New Martyrs of China, slain during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.  All-night Vigil was served on Thursday evening, with Mitred Archpriest Gabriel Makarov presiding and Protodeacons Alexander Abramoff and Vasily Konstantinidis assisting.  All the clergy vested for the singing of the magnification of the Mother of God before copies of the two wonder-working icons.  On Friday morning the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served, with Mitred Archpriest Michael Protopopov presiding and twenty-eight other clergymen concelebrating.  His Grace Bishop George of Canberra, recovering from illness, prayed in the altar on both days.  Following Divine Liturgy a panikhida was served for our departed First Hierarch, with the kontakion “With the saints give rest” sung together by the choir, clergy and all the faithful.  The clergy, their spouses, and special guests later gathered in the cathedral hall for a commemorative meal.  Over lunch there was discussion of Vladyka Hilarion’s gentleness, kindness, and pastoral warmth, characteristics that remained steadfast even as he rose in the church hierarchy; the possibility of a memorial within the cathedral grounds to all our departed Diocesan bishops; and missionary efforts in Vladyka’s memory.  Many years was sung for Bishop George, the Administrator of the Diocese, and for Archpriest Barnabas Jellings, celebrating his name-day that day.

Since the repose of Metropolitan Hilarion on Monday 16 May 2022, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) has made several decisions concerning church life.  On Tuesday 17 May it was resolved, amongst other things, that our newly-reposed First Hierarch be especially commemorated at each Divine Liturgy during the Paschal season and that a panikhida be served on the fortieth day of his repose, Friday 24 June; that the name of Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany be commemorated during the divine services in all ROCOR churches immediately following the commemoration of Patriarch Kyrill; and that Bishop George of Canberra would be appointed Acting Ruling Bishop of the Australian-New-Zealand Diocese.  On Monday 23 May it was resolved, amongst other things, to convene a Council of Bishops in New York from 13-21 September 2022 with the purpose of electing a new ROCOR First Hierarch; and to especially commemorate Metropolitan Hilarion on Sunday 26 June, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, as well as on the fortieth day of his repose.