Parish News
Click one of the links below to jump to the news. You can also view our News Archives for past items.
- Prairie Oak Ensemble Concert - May 16, 2008
- Resurrection Victory - Posted May 2, 2008
- Memory Eternal - Posted May 2, 2008
- Mother Maryam Reclusion - Posted May 2, 2008
- Dalhousie Food Cupboard Thanks - Posted April 24, 2008
- Communications Update - Posted April 24, 2008
- Message from the Myrrhbearers in New York State - Posted April 13, 2008
- Fr John & Fr James Office Hours - Posted March 21, 2008
- OCA Chancery Updates - Posted March 21, 2008
- Orthodox Christian Steaming Radio - Posted March 21, 2008
- Meditations on Stewardship - Posted March 21, 2008
- Pastoral Care and Outreach - Posted March 21, 2008
- Hospitality - Posted February 22, 2008
- Parish Life Planning - Posted January 25, 2008
- Responsible Orthodox Recycling - Posted January 25, 2008
- Treasurer's E-mail Address - Posted January 10, 2008
- Updated Parish Directory - Posted January 10, 2008
- Cathedral News Deadline - Posted January 10, 2008
- Resolution of the Archdiocese of Canada Council - November 3 2007
- Council Meetings 2007/2008 - Posted October 21, 2007
- Annual General Meeting - Posted October 5, 2007
Prairie Oak Ensemble Concert - May 16, 2008
Friday May 16, 2008, Prairie Oak Ensemble presents their 3rd chamber music concert at St. Luke's Church, 760 Somerset St., 7:30 p.m.
Back in Canada are: Paul Wyse, piano; John Lindsay, violin; Nina Gordon, cello. The concert will feature music by Mendelssohn (Trio in D minor), Chopin, some spirited Bulgarian pieces and more.
TICKETS: $25, students $10 available at the door or at Book Bazaar, Compact Music, and Weekend Reader. Enquiries: (613) 261-9159 or concertcentre@gmail.com. The concert is for the benefit of Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral.
You can view the poster here.
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Resurrection Victory - Posted May 2, 2008
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Every Sunday throughout the year, century after century, the Orthodox Church proclaims the Resurrection of Christ. Each Sunday we relive once again our joy that Christ is risen. And that joy is so deep, so profound, that it bears witness of itself: we rejoice not only because the Lord is risen, but because his Resurrection is for us the beginning of new, renewed life. In the Sermon of John Chrysostom which is read on the night of Christ's Resurrection each year, it is said that 'Christ is risen, and there is none dead in the tomb...' And we ourselves continue to pass on this message from one century to the next. Yet is it true? Do we not see that death continues to reap its harvest around us? Are there not graves beside Christian churches as well? How can we say that 'there is none dead in the tomb', that Christ has conquered death by death?
We can say this because death has two completely different meanings, and the tombs are indeed empty. Until the coming of Christ, every human being, when he died - whether he was righteous or not - was deprived of the joy of meeting God. According to the Old Testament story of the primal sin of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, the whole human race was deprived of the radiance, the joy, the glory of God. Everyone who died thereafter entered into an abyss of horror, of separation from God and, as a result, of separation from those closest to him. And his death was twofold: not just an earthly death when the soul, separated from the body, flies upward towards God and worships at the throne of the Lord, who consoles it for its earthly sorrows. There was another death as well, a second separation. While someone lived on this earth, he could, in one way or another, with just the tip of his soul, touch at least the border of the Lord's garment. But after death, any separation became final, definitive, dreadful. And age after age people waited for the Saviour, for the one who would unite heaven and earth, God and creation. But until the Lord came, our Saviour Jesus Christ, that separation remained dark and terrible.
And then the Lord came and died on the Cross the death of every man, having first shared in the dreadful loneliness and torment that precedes death. Remember the garden of Gethsemene: 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me...' He shared in the horror of that separation when he cried out to God from the Cross: 'My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?' And he descended into hell... into hell!
And hell opened wide with joy in the hope that now the enemy whom it had found invincible on earth had been overcome and taken prisoner. Hell opened up, as John Chrysostom says, to take in flesh - and opened itself to God. Hell opened to imprison the incarnate Son of God become man - and before him stood, into him entered the Living God who fills all things, entering hell and destroying it for ever. Hell was no longer that former terrible hell of separation, because in it was the living God.
The Prophet David in his mysterious vision said: 'Whither shall I go then from thy presence? If I go up into heaven, thou art there: If I go down to hell, thou art there also'. For us this seems simple, because for us that eternal, hopeless hell of the absence of God no longer exists. But for the man of the Old Testament this was a puzzling statement: how can God be where God is not? How can he be in the place of separation from God? But David foresaw - and prophetically foretold - the coming of the Lord and the end of that final separation. Today death has become for us something else. Now it is a falling asleep. In the body we fall asleep to the anxieties of the earth, and peace descends upon our flesh. Our body now lies there like an icon of Christ lying in the grave on that mysterious, blessed Saturday when the Lord ceased from his works, from the work of saving mankind, from the labour of suffering, from the Cross, from crucifixion. Everyone who dies now, falls asleep in Christ, he falls asleep until the day his body rises at the last trumpet, on the day of the resurrection of the dead. 'Blessed are they who die in the Lord', as John the Theologian says in the Apocalypse.
This is why for the Christian, death is not something terrible. This is why someone who meant a great deal to me was able to say to me: 'Wait for your death as a young man waits for his bride'. With the same kind of trembling, with the same rejoicing of soul we can say to death: 'Come, open for me the doors of eternal life, so that my rebellious flesh may find peace, and my soul may soar up to the eternal dwelling place of God'. This is why we can say truly and rightfully proclaim that 'there is not one dead in the tomb'. For the grave has ceased to be a prison, a place of final and terrible captivity. It has become a place where the body awaits resurrection while the soul grows, to the extent it can, into eternal life.
Yet death, the separation of death, is none the less still present on earth to a certain extent. It has been defeated even in its own kingdom, yet man himself continues, by cutting off others from the mystery of love, to prolong that separation on earth. Just look at our human society. There is no need to look far: just look at your family, at those closest to you, at your friends, your parish, at the Church. Can we really say that we are so linked together by love that death, that separation, that separation from God, that separation from one another doesn't exist on earth? Sadly, God has conquered death everywhere, but in the heart of man it must be conquered by man himself.
Death and love are inseparable from one another. And it is because of this that it is such a fearsome thing to love. To love just a little, to love irresponsibly, to love in such a way that a relationship is begun and then allowed to end when it becomes painful or difficult or dangerous - we can all do this. But to love as the Lord loved - this we seem unable to do. The Apostle Paul says to us: 'Accept one another, love one another as the Lord loved you...' But do we realize how the Lord loved us? He loved us so much that he did not want to be a stranger to us and became one of us, one among many others - and not just temporarily, but for eternity, for ever - with all the pain, with all the horror of that union.
The glory of God was extinguished when the Word became Flesh. No one knew him. His victory appeared to be defeat. He became the one whom the Holy Scriptures declared would be 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief '. He became one with us forever. Can we become one with each other in this way? Can we so love one another that we can say: 'For ever! In sorrow and in joy, in horror and in exultation, whatever happens, I will stand by you for ever'? If this were the case, how marvellous our world would be, how marvellous our Church would be, what parishes we would have, what families, what friends! But our meetings are like two ships meeting on the sea: they meet and pass on. We haven't enough depth, not enough faithfulness, not enough readiness to do what Christ did: to descend into hell, into the hell of suffering of someone whom we love, into the hell of his temptations, into the hell of his pain, into the hell of his destruction. Instead, we stand on the shore and call out: 'Save yourself, swim over here to me - I will reach out my hand to you!' But we ourselves do not enter that hell, and so it is terrible for us to talk about love, it is so difficult to love - because we should love only as the Lord has loved us. Death and love are bound up together because to love means to forget oneself until one doesn't exist, not to remember oneself. The other becomes so dear to one that to think about oneself gets in the way. We need to say to ourselves what Christ said to Peter when he stood in front of him on the way to Golgotha: 'Get behind me, Satan; you are thinking about earthly things, and not about heaven'. Can we forget about ourselves to that extent, can we love like that, can we die like that?
At the same time, so long as we cannot do this, we are touching only the border of the Lord's garment, we are joined only to the outer edge of the light, the radiant light and brilliance of the Resurrection of Christ. To live the Resurrection is possible only for someone who has passed through death and is on the other side of death, not the death of this world, not material, bodily death, but the death which is also called love, when a person forgets about himself and loves so much that he lays down his life for his friend. Moses is called a 'friend of God' in the Scriptures, and what does he say? 'Lord, if you do not forgive your people their sins, then strike out my name from the book of life. I do not wish to live, if others go to their death'. The Apostle Paul says that he would prefer, if possible, to be separated from Christ, rather than see the destruction of the people of Israel. These are nonsensical words - nonsensical in the sense that when a man experiences such love, he is already on the other side of death. But humanly speaking that is all we are able to say: 'Yes, it is better that I should perish, than that I should be separated from anyone'. This is the standard shown us by the Cross - and by the Resurrection, for one is inseparable from the other. And so, from Sunday to Sunday, when you hear the news that Christ has risen, remember that we are all called to be, on this earth, people risen from the dead in love. But for this to take place, we must so love each other as to pass through the gates of death, to descend through the Cross into hell, to share through Love in the suffering of the other, to forget ourselves - and then suddenly discover that I am alive, alive with the life of Christ! Amen.
PS. In the 60s and 70s the visits of Metropolitan Anthony to Russia, where normal Church life was almost entirely suppressed, seemed like a breath of fresh air. Wherever he went, in parishes, in seminaries, he would preach the Gospel of Christ, and people would follow his progress, going from church to church as the 'grapevine' provided news of his movements.
Some of his many sermons were recorded on tape and are now being transcribed and published in Russia. The present text, a sermon delivered after the Vigil Service on Saturday, 29 May 1971, appeared in All-Conquering Love (Lubov Vsepobedaiushchaia), (St Petersburg: Satis 1994), pp. 68ff.
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Memory Eternal - Posted May 2, 2008
Long time parishioner Boris Goreloff fell asleep in the Lord on April 24, 2008. Boris was buried at Pine Crest Cemetery yesterday afternoon.
Many of us have fond memories of Heiko Schlieper a former parishioner whomade wonderful tortes with hazelnut butter cream frosting and who tried to spend Easter with us as often as he could .Heiko fell asleep in the Lord on April 13th. The Obituary that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen is below.
SCHLIEPER, Heinrich (Heiko) (May 25, 1931 April 13, 2008) Died on Sunday morning in Edmonton, Alberta. Mourned by his wife, Anne, his sons Paul and Mark, daughter-in-law Anna (Galt), grandson Luke, his nieces and nephews and many friends in Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal. He was Canada's foremost iconographer. St. George the Victory Bearer Ukrainian Catholic Church in Edmonton is his grand work. His panel icons are in museum and private collections around the world and were featured in a number of exhibitions including "Anno Domini: Jesus Through the Centuries" in the year 2000. The major collection of his work is held in the H.C. Schlieper Museum of Iconography at All Saints Monastery in Dewdney, British Columbia. He is remembered by the parish of St. Herman's of Alaska Sobor, 9930 - 167 Street. A prayer service will be held at Saint Herman's on Wednesday, April 16 at 8 PM, and the funeral will be at 10 AM on Thursday, April 17 at the church. Contributions in Heiko's memory may be made to the H.C. Schlieper Museum c/o All Saints of North America Monastery, Dewdney, B. C. V0M 1H0. Memory Eternal.
Published in the Ottawa Citizen from 4/15/2008 - 4/16/2008.
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Mother Maryam Reclusion - Posted May 2, 2008
MOTHER MARYAM, who was in complete reclusion for Great Lent, is continuing, and needs to continue a reclusive life --- for her sake, and ours.
She will continue to pray for those who ask or leave notes. She will continue to offer her work in the Temple, also. But please respect her need for silence. If you wish to talk with her, leave a note and ask for a specific time for this. If you meet her somewhere around, don't start talking, unless she begins. In this way we can help her keep her stability. Vladyka
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Dalhousie Food Cupboard Thanks - Posted April 24, 2008
Here is a nice note from Amy, the Dalhousie Food Cupboard coordinator:
I would like to thank you and your church; personally and on behalf of Dalhousie Food Cupboard and all our clients for your thoughtful food donation.
We need all the support that the community can give us more than ever before.
Again thank you so much. May God bless you all.
Amy.
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Communications Update - Posted April 24, 2008
Kudos to Pat Heard who cheerfully gives his time to keep our website updated and looking beautiful. Here is a brief overview of how our site is doing:
- Average visitors/day: 30
- Average stay on site: 2:02 minutes
- Total visits since January 1, 2008: 2,043
Most visited pages:
- Welcome (21% of traffic)
- News (13% of traffic)
- Photo (11% of traffic
- Parish (7% of traffic)
- Services (7% of traffic)
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Message from the Myrrhbearers in New York State - Posted April 13, 2008
Dear Friends
As we look at our calendar and realize how quickly Holy Week and Pascha are approaching, we also realize it is long past time to send out an update. Myrrhbearers Sunday, our Patronal Feast, seems to come even more quickly right after Pascha and we invite all of you to join us for any or all of the events of our Pilgrimage, Myrrhbearers Weekend May 10-11th.
With the blessing of our bishop, Metropolitan Herman, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia will preside on Saturday, May 10, 2008. The Divine Liturgy will begin at 10 AM, during which we plan, God willing, to have his grace tonsure to the schema (life-profess) two of our sisters and receive a third in her rank. We ask your prayers for these women as they prepare for this next step in their lives.
The day will continue with an Akathist at 1:30 PM, a Healing Service at 3:30 PM and Vigil at 6 PM
On the next day, Sunday, May 11th, His Eminence Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Archdiocese will preside at the Divine Liturgy at 10 AM. A Healing Service will follow at 2 PM and we will end with Vespers at 4 PM.
Since we cannot know how many guests to prepare for ahead of time for this weekend and so many of you are good cooks, we always have Potluck refreshments: Anything you would like to bring is welcome. However if all you can bring is yourself, please do that! In between services, we share whatever you bring. Our own contribution to refreshments traditionally includes our own homemade bread and cheese.
We will have open house with a chance to meet the sisterhood, see our monastery and tour our Zoar Farms. Lambing and kidding season will be in full swing and there should be a number of absolutely adorable babies to be hugged and petted. This year we have the further possibility that there will be baby chicks and ducklings. The recent gift of an egg brooder has our poultry manager very excited and already working on what she hopes will be her first hatching.
If you plan to join us, please "Google" information about local accommodations and make your motel reservations early! We are near historic Oneonta and Cooperstown in scenic upstate New York. You may also e-mail us (Myrrhbearers@aol.com) or phone the monastery at (607) 432-3179 for more information.
Sadly, we lost our two old house dogs this year, Rosie the Beagle mix and Megwyn the Corgi. Without knowing this, neighbors presented us with the runt of a litter of 12 purebred Beagle pups a couple of weeks ago, so little Daisy, Rosie's replacement as a greeter dog, is already in training. We will see what can be done to replace Megwyn. Nothing can replace either dog in our hearts. Our farm animals and our pets remind us constantly that we are all in the midst of birth, life and death as we make our journey on this earth in preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven.
We work hard to make sure that while they are with us, our animals all have a happy life in an environment where they know they are loved and cared for. Some of you have asked if you could help sponsor some of our animals. We are planning "adoption" packages for our sheep, goats, chickens and ducks, and will be making these available through our online catalog. Many livestock breeds are just as endangered as our world's wild life. We already have some endangered breeds on our farm, including our two Milking Devon Oxen, and with the continued help of our friends, plan to do our part to keep these wonderful animals on this earth.
We were saddened by the death of Metropolitan Laurus, head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia as well as the abbot of our nearest Orthodox neighbor, the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. We could only rejoice, however, that because of Vladika Laurus, for the first time in history, we were able to join the monks as they sang farewell to their beloved Abbot. We were also able to join our own Metropolitan Herman and many of the Upstate New York OCA clergy in a second Panikhida later that week and finally, all eight of us were able to be present in the main church for his funeral service the next day, an experience none of us will ever forget. Surely Vladika Laurus was one who allowed God to do great things through him, bringing healing and reconciliation. We can only be grateful to have been allowed to venerate his body and help sing praises to God for his life.
Our Pascha issue of Essays and Notes is at the printer and should arrive in most of your mail boxes soon. The first essay is a talk forwarded to us by a friend that surprised us by its depth of understanding of the relationship of the life of theology, liturgy, silence and prayer to every day life as well as to the life of the churches and ultimately therefore to all of us, hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laity, and to our response to all of God's creation. Our second, less theological essay is an interview between Carla Zell of The Handmaiden magazine and our abbess, Mother Raphaela published in the current issue by Conciliar Press in Ben Lomond, CA (www.conciliarpress.com) and used with their permission.
Along with the two essays and news of the monastery with pictures, all four of the new cards for 2008 may be found along with an order form.
We announced too soon that the new edition of our Catalog of Orthodox Greeting Cards, Prayer Books and Selected Supplies for Church and Home would be compiled and mailed early this year. The much higher costs we have had to pay ourselves for printing, packaging and mailing have led us to the reluctant conclusion that after many years we must raise prices on our notes and greeting cards and completely re-do our catalog. Our online-store at www.holymyrrhbearers.com has been updated to reflect these changes, and with the help this year of friends, our printed catalog is in progress and should be out in the near future.
In regard to postage for those of you who order our items from either our catalog or online store: While art and other hand-made items may be very light-weight and need less postage, special packaging is often needed to keep them safe. We cannot calculate these costs ahead of time for each and every order. If your actual postage and handling are much lower, we will attempt to refund a fair amount. Please contact us if you have questions about these costs.
As we conclude our Lenten journey to Pascha, we greet you with our love and prayers:
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
With love in the Risen Lord,
The Mothers and Sisters
PS. Anyone interested in going to visit the Myrrhbearers on their pilgrimage weekend, please contact Vera at (613) 565-1010 or vtheok@gmail.com.
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Fr John & Fr James Office Hours - Posted March 21, 2008
Father John is in the office on Wednesdays between 4:00pm & 7:00pm. To make an appointment, please contact Fr. John by phone 613-692-6278 or jjillions@sympatico.ca.
Father James can be reached at (613) 221-9533 and/or Tuesdays to Fridays between 9:30 am and 1:00 pm at the Cathedral number 613-230-2687.
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OCA Chancery Updates - Posted March 21, 2008
Most of you know that I've been going to the OCA chancery in Syosset, New York every month for meetings of the Preconciliar Commission chaired by Bishop Nikon. This is the ten or so people appointed by the Metropolitan Council and charged with planning the OCA's All-American Council next November in Pittsburgh (all bishops, plus clergy, lay representatives and observers from parishes throughout North America; 500-700 people are expected).
Anyone who has been following events for the last couple of years knows that this is a critical time in our church's life, so this council has both great potential and great risk. We had a good meeting last Monday and will meet again in early April (see www.oca.org for the latest report). Please keep praying that through this messy process we will find the way to do God's will.
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Orthodox Christian Steaming Radio - Posted March 21, 2008
A fantastic resource available to all on the internet is Orthodox Christian Network - an internet-based radio ministry of SCOBA (standing conference of all orthodox bishops in North America). www.myocn.net
This is one of the rare examples of pan-orthodox cooperation for the benefit of all churches and it is free - just follow the instructions for logging in. It is a vetted and credible source of good teaching and resources for parish development.
Check out the interview last week with Dr Albert Rossi, professor at St Vladimir's Seminary on the vocation of being a lay person in the church and how seeing Christ in each other makes every act of ministry an encounter with Him and many other resources for your own personal spiritual life (daily Bible readings) and our various ministries in the parish (including an interactive site for youth).
They will shortly be broadcasting Fr Thomas Hopko's Sunday sermons live from the church he is serving in retirement (monastery in Pennsylvania), and much, much more. This links us with a wider Orthodox fellowship that is so easy to lose sight of in a parish. A special gift to our youth who are away from the parish but never far from a computer
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Meditations on Stewardship - Posted March 21, 2008
Booklets guiding our parish-wide Lenten meditation on Stewardship have been distributed over the last week and there are a (very) few left it you missed it.
This booklet which is based on daily scripture readings and short questions for reflection -- is the result of ongoing work by the Ministry of Parish Development and Stewardship to sow seeds for a deeper understanding of the many faces of good stewardship - giving glory to God in how we invest the talents and blessings that we have as individuals and as a parish for the accomplishment of His will.
This is the beginning of a process to soften our hearts toward the plans of the Lord, discerning our priorities and our vocation as the Cathedral parish in Ottawa so that in the coming months we can respond with faith to the challenges and opportunities in our path. Please pray for those working on this Ministry -- that our efforts would be aligned with God's purposes and inspire generosity of spirit, deeper faith in His providence, better understanding of our parish's mission, and a willingness to act on faith. 'Who is so great a God as our God? Thou art our God who does wonders!'
Thursday Matins in the second week of Lent introduces the following aposticha:
In this season of repentance, let us stretch out our hands in works of mercy; and then the ascetic struggles of the Fast will bring us to eternal life. For nothing saves the soul so much as generosity to those in need, and almsgiving combined with fasting will deliver a man from death. Let us do all this with gladness, for there is no better way, and it will bring salvation to our souls.
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Pastoral Care and Outreach - Posted March 21, 2008
Special Need: Two of our parishioners require dietary supplements but cannot meet the monthly cost of $25.00. If you feel that you could help with this for awhile, please contact Liana confidentiality is assured.
Clothing Cupboard: The clothing we collected for the residents of the Elizabeth Fry Centre have been picked up. The remaining shoes will be sent to "Families at the Dump", a Christian ministry in Mexico to be distributed to families who work in and live beside the local dump. At the "Dump" parents sort through city garbage to find things to re-use, re-cycle, eat or sell, while their children play nearby. Liana was there recently and returned deeply touched both by the profound faith in God that she saw in the people she met and the beauty of the children, despite their appalling living conditions. Liana would be happy to share the wonderful pictures she has of the children and women with anyone interested in knowing more about this Mexican ministry.
Prayer: Mother Maryam is pleased to be asked to pray for specific needs both within and outside our parish. If you have people or situations you would like her to pray for, look for the small wicker basket, paper and pencils on the "LeBreton" candle table. Please leave your written requests in the basket for her to pick up.
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Welcome to Fr. James - Posted February 22, 2008
Thank you to all who participated in the parish survey and in the meeting last Sunday. We had a very fruitful discussion around what should be the priorities right now in parish life. Providentially, and as announced last Sunday, Abp Seraphim has assigned Fr James Griggs to the Cathedral effective March 9, 2008. This will help our discussions this coming Sunday when we look at some specific proposals, especially concerning the most welcome arrival of Fr James to begin pastoral work in the Cathedral. Below are excerpts from Fr James' letter to the parish.
Excerpts from Fr James Griggs' letter to the faithful of the Cathedral.
February 11, 2008
Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
It has been suggested that I send a brief biographical sketch of myself to give those of you who do not know me, a sense of who I am. I, Fr James, and my wife, Tena, have four children: Kaitlin who is 22, Michael who is 20, Benjamin who is almost 17 and Peter who has just turned 13.
We met at Carleton University and were married in 1985. We began attending the Cathedral in 1992 as Roman Catholics and, along with our first three children, were eventually brought home to Orthodoxy by Holy Chrismation. I was tonsured reader by Archbishop Seraphim and eventually went to study at St Vladimir's seminary in 1994. Our fourth child was born while we were in New York. I was ordained sub-deacon and deacon by Vladyka in November of 1995 and was ordained priest by him when we returned to Canada in 1996. From that time, until the fall of 2006, we lived in Kingston where I served as rector of the OCA mission there. As well, I began serving the small Greek parish in Brockville on a twice-monthly basis in 2003. As it became increasingly difficult to make ends meet in Kingston, my family and I came back to Ottawa where, by verbal agreement between Archbishop Seraphim and Metropolitan Sotirios, I began serving as assistant priest at the large Greek parish here in town. I retained my duties in Brockville as well.
That brings us to the present. Vladyka Seraphim has assigned me to the Cathedral to help provide pastoral care for the community here and I will also continue to serve the Brockville community on a twice-monthly basis. I must say that my family and I are delighted to be coming home....
My family and I will have to be resourceful as we make this transition but do so happily. Those of you whom we have missed, we are anxious to see again and we look forward to getting to know those of you who will be new to us. It is my prayer that God will grant me many years of service at the Cathedral and that we will, together, grow in our witness
to the Holy Gospel in times that need it so badly. I assure you of my poor prayers and my love in Christ and look forward to the Lent that we will all enter together.
In Christ,
Fr James
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Hospitality - Posted February 22, 2008
Recently at Parish Council I heard a phrase that fits with what I have to say. "Share the load". We are divided into teams not to compete but to "share the load".
Currently the big task the teams undertake is to provide lunch once a month. We need to approach these lunches in a positive way. These lunches need to be more like our Paschal feast.
We should participate with our family and our team in selecting what we will bring and it should be offered with pleasure and it should be abundant. We plan to feed a 100 people.
We want the clergy and the greeters to be able to ask people to join us for lunch and know there will be enough to go around. We have been fasting and we don't know who we might be giving lunch to when we invite visitors down.
You provide food and clean up one Sunday a month then you can eat, socialize, attend adult education and leave early on the other three. I'd like you to think about that as you prepare for your lunches.
- Know which team you are on and who your fellow team members are.
- When your Sunday is. We keep the same schedule all year. 1st Sunday of the month is Yellow, the 2nd , Blue, the 3rd. Green, and the 4th - Pink. Months with a 5th Sunday are Parish wide Pot Lucks and referred to as Rainbow Sundays. So you should always know if it is your teams turn by looking at a calendar and counting the Sundays. We also publish this information in the bulletin, on the calendar and on the food table.
- Sign up for the food you or your family will be bringing.
- Also whether you can set up or stay for clean up. Realizing it takes many more people to clean up than set up. Don't let it be the same 2 or 3 people each time. We know that many people have jobs to go to or someone waiting to pick them up but as much as possible try to leave your Sunday free so you can fully participate.
- Involve the children. Find jobs they can do. It is never too early.
Please realize that each team is like a mini family with a variety of people on it. Let us all be Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
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Parish Life Planning - Posted January 25, 2008
Dear friends,
Last September at our Annual General Meeting I told you that a process was underway in the Parish Council to take a look at parish life as part of planning for the future. This is what I said in my annual report.
We are faced with a number of questions:
- How does our vocation as the national cathedral affect our pastoral life? After last summer's Archdiocesan Assembly in Ottawa it ought to be clear to everyone that we are indeed the national cathedral. Those demands will only increase, especially with the start of the archdiocesan pastoral training program to begin here in the next year.
- What exactly are the parish needs around pastoral care and outreach?
- What part of these needs should be fulfilled by clergy? What part can be fulfilled by lay people?
- Do we need to add more deacons?
- Or can we think of another full time priest, as in similar parishes where the dean has duties that take him outside the parish (Edmonton, for example)? This is a possibility envisioned by the Archbishop, and personally, that is the vision I would like to see us work towards for the long-term health of the Cathedral.
But then we have to ask how we can plan responsibly for such changes. These are the kinds of questions we need to discuss over the next year, in order to have a plan ready for the AGM next September.
We need to involve everyone in addressing these questions, and we are now ready for the next step. Based on a draft prepared by Fr Symeon, a parish survey will be introduced on Sunday after Liturgy. Once we have the responses from the survey we will arrange a number of parish discussions in February. Then I and the council will look at all of this and make some proposals for the way forward.
May God guide our steps.
With love in Christ,
Fr John
PS. I hope you will all take a look at the OCA's website to inform yourselves about planning for the approaching All American Council. The Preconciliar Commission met on Monday and we have now publicized all the ideas received from across the OCA.
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Responsible Orthodox Recycling - January 25, 2008
Wondering what to do with your old cellphones and printer cartridges? Bring them to church, and Laurie Rodger will make sure that they get recycled through a program at one of the OCDSB schools. This offer is good until further notice!
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Treasurer's E-mail Address - Posted January 10, 2008
Our treasurer, KAREN EDMONDS would like everyone to know that her new e-mail address is: annunciationtrea@gmail.com.
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Updated Parish Directory - Posted January 10, 2008
An updated version of the Parish Directory is available on request by contacting Vera at vtheok@gmail.com.
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Cathedral News Deadline - Posted January 10, 2008
The deadline for getting announcements into the weekly bulletin is on Tuesdays Please use the annunciationortho@gmail.com address. Thank you.
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Resolution of the Archdiocese of Canada Council - November 3 2007
As the Council of the Archdiocese of Canada, meeting under the leadership of His Eminence Archbishop SERAPHIM, we note with satisfaction the positive and hopeful proceedings of the recent joint meeting of the Holy Synod and Metropolitan Council. At the same time, other recent events serve to highlight the ongoing conflict and polarization within our Church.
In view of the approaching All American Council, we urge the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Council and Pre-Conciliar Commission to lead all of us in taking whatever steps are necessary to foster a climate that will promote the dual processes of seeking truth and effecting reconciliation in the time leading up to, during and beyond the All-American Council in 2008.
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Council Meetings 2007/2008 - Posted October 21, 2007
Parish council meetings will be held in the Vestry between 7:00 pm and 9:00 on the following dates:
2007
2008
- January 28
- February 11
- March 17
- April 14
- May 5
- June 9
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AGM Report - Posted October 5, 2007
I want to thank Sasha Lopoukhine (Warden) and everyone who was involved in planning and presenting at the AGM last Sunday. It was a substantial meeting that was well prepared and well run and gave everyone a clear sense of what has been done, what is being planned and how many people are involved (and there's room for many more...).
An abbreviated version of my report can be viewed here (the full report and all the other reports distributed that day are available in church).
Fr John
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