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October 4, 2024

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Saturday October 5 6 pm Vigil
Sunday October 6 10 am Divine Liturgy
Tone 6
Catechumens meet after coffee at approximately 1300 that's 1pm
stream as usual here
If you are a Catechumen, you must attend these lessons if you wish to become member of the Orthodox Church and members of this parish.

Youth group initial gathering at the church on Friday was very good and enjoyable. I certainly enjoyed one of the peanut-butter and jam sandwiches and the marshmallows, which for some of us caught fire and were black. Did they taste good? Oh Yes! We played several rounds of 'I Spy' and some of the kids came up with real interesting things they spied. I don't think any of us got the one starting with the letter 'G,' which turned out to be Grey Clouds. The bonfire was really fun. We asked everyone what sort of activities they would like in the future and we heard things like: Rambles, Hikes, Movies, Camping, Skiing, Tobogganing, Games, Church Trivia, Orienteering in the Woods, Setting-up Tents, Hiking, Games Night, how to Bake Prosphora, making Prayer Ropes. This, I think is only the first few things. You should come to the next one and give us your ideas. Next one - SOON watch and listen for announcements. (Be prepared - there will be one on the evening of October 31, that's a Thursday night.)

Just around the corner:

• October 11 - Youth - Young Adults group? (to be confirmed)
• October 14 (Monday) - Liturgy 10am Protection of Theotokos (Thanksgiving)
• October 20 - Parish Annual General Meeting It is really important that you make sure your Membership is up to date. Attached is a link to the Membership forms for 2024/2025, there are also copies at the back of the church. This must be filed before the meeting. Give it to Dan or other member of the Parish Council.
• October 31 - Youth group at the church

Way - Way ahead

• November 2 - St. Demetrius Saturday
• November 28 - Nativity Fast begins
• December 4 - Entry of Theotokos into the Temple
• December 19 - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
• December 25 - St. Herman of Alaska (Western Christmas - possibly Liturgy with Western Christmas Carols - the ones that talk about Jesus!)

Do you remember that we set up a committee to look in to the possibilities of our moving the Parish or revamping where we are now. This committee will be reporting this Sunday, October 6 right after Liturgy. I think somehow that you will want to be present for this and you will want to have a say in they process. You are aware that we have been looking at a quite suitable Anglican Church in Tantallon. We have also been getting information about the revamping of our present premises. Mark and the committee have all the details.

I hope that we can switch from the sheets for the living and the departed to the family remembrance booklets, (donation of $8 per booklet). Every family or individual should have a booklet to list the Orthodox living and departed you wish remembered. Soon, we will be introducing small individual prosphora that will be sent up to the priest serving the Proskomedia, who will take a small portion for the living and a small portion for the departed - those Orthodox Christians you want to be remembered, the prosphora will then be returned to you and you can consume it at home, remembering those you have remembered. More about this later.

Aboard the Shawinigan:
"I am proud of His Majesty's Canadian Ships Shawinigan's crew for their dedication, flexibility and professionalism during the international monitoring effort that was recently conducted in concert with our NATO allies. The ship's company continues to showcase on a global stage that sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy are some of the best in the world, and we will continue to remain focused on our mission alongside our NATO allies for the remainder of our deployment."
Lieutenant-Commander Andrew Foran, Commanding Officer HMCS Shawinigan

We have 2 Catechumens aboard the Shawinigan. I hesitate to include names and positions and any of that sort of information. It's probably OK but you never know how far this bulletin goes and you never know what sort of information is 'classified.'

Church Musician Sunday October 6 (St. Romanus the Melodist on the new calendar).

To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,

My Beloved Children in the Lord,

On this third annual Church Musician Sunday, we once again honor our Church's singers, choir directors, composers, arrangers, chanters, readers, bell-ringers, hymnologists, translators, hymnographers, and all who help our parishes and their congregations to make a "joyful noise to the Lord" (Ps. 99:1).

Despite a proliferation of musical resources-printed music books, online scores, web-based tutorials and distance trainings, new on-site programs at our institutions-in many places, our parishes and missions are struggling musically. Qualified choir directors are often difficult to find; ensembles are routinely short on voices; and, both outside our choirs and within them, there is an increasing unfamiliarity with the basics of Orthodox church singing.

This reminds us that, even though we devote this Sunday to honoring musical "specialists," in fact, church music is the responsibility of the entire Orthodox Christian community. "Let us sing to the Lord, for gloriously has he been glorified," the holy prophet and God-seer Moses exhorts us. "Bless the Lord, O children of men; let Israel bless the Lord," sang the Three Holy Children, calling us to join them in praise. The Psalmist, too, commands us: "Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good" (Ps. 146:1); "Sing unto the Lord a new song, his praise in the church of the saints" (Ps. 150:1).

In the same way that we share responsibility for our temples' visual beauty, making sure that they are clean, neat, radiantly adorned with holy images, so do we share responsibility for the beauty of our church music. St. Tikhon of Moscow once reminded his flock that, when we truly wish to honor someone's deeds, we must do so with more than kind feelings: rather, we must do as that person did, as that person would wish us to do. "If you love me, keep my commandments," says the Lord (Jn. 14:15).

Therefore, today, in order to honor our church musicians, let us-all of us-redouble our own commitment to our community's life of sacred song and worship. Can we join the choir? Can we use an online tutorial from the Department of Liturgical Music to hone our skills? Can we encourage our children, grandchildren, godchildren, nieces, or nephews to sing? Do we support compensation for our choir directors and funding for choir activities? Has our community supplied itself with honorable Orthodox liturgical bells, and have we encouraged bell-ringers to learn how to use them? Do we sing at home - "Our Father," "O heavenly King," "Christ is risen," the troparia for the great feasts? And this is but a short list of suggestions concerning what we, each of us, could do to support an abundance of musical vocations and the flourishing of sacred music in the Church.

Let me conclude then with this challenge: as we celebrate this Church Musician Sunday, I encourage each parish or mission community, each family, and each individual to find one new way to support our common life of music and worship in the year to come. Sacred song is a major part of our Church's holy Tradition, one of the most important expressions of our timeless Orthodox faith, and it is up to all of us to preserve and propagate ecclesiastical music for the edification and salvation of generations to come.

To all our Church's singers, choir directors, composers, arrangers, chanters, readers, bell-ringers, hymnologists, translators, hymnographers, and to all who support the liturgical and musical life of our holy Church: my primatial blessing and many years! Sincerely yours in Christ,

Tikhon

We join the Metropolitan in thanking the music makers of our Church and particularly of our Archdiocese and even more we thank our choir, all who sing, conduct, duplicate, search the internet for music, compose, and all of us who sing along.

I actually got to meet my brother for breakfast on Monday morning. Julian was with us hence the photo.

May God bless each of us
Love in Christ,
-- Father David

The Mission of St. Seraphim of Sarov