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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
On Sunday, April 7, the Sunday of the Holy Cross, Stephan Polk was made a catechumen. Steve will be studying with Father John over the next few months until his baptism and chrismation.
Our newly consecrated Archpastor, Bishop Nikodhim of Boston and the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church in America
ANNOUNCEMENTS 08 27 2023:
We are unable to get a video of the Divine Liturgy out this week for technical reasons.
Next Sunday, September 3, 2023, the Church will be closed.
We will be returning to 10:00 AM liturgy beginning September 12.
ANNOUNCEMENT 07 30 2023: We will be closed next Sunday, August 6. As it is the great feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, please make every effort to attend our sister parish of St. Michael Romanian Orthodox Church. Divine Liturgy at St. Michael begins at 9:30 AM.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 06 25 2023
There will be a forty-
ANNOUNCEMENT 05 21 2023
• The parish will be closed on Sunday, May 28 as Father John will be away.
• On Pentecost Sunday, June 4, we will celebrate a memorial service for all the faithful departed from our families at the end of the Divine Liturgy. Following the memorial, we will have a potluck luncheon in the parish hall, after which we will go to Oakridge Cemetery for the blessing of graves.
• The Morris Street yard sale is Saturday, June 10th. The Daughters of St Nicholas are asking for donations of costume jewelry and small household items. Please NO books, appliances, or clothing. For more information, please contact Debbie Elliott or Barbara Tiberii.
• Church hours will change for the months of June, July, and August. Divine Liturgy will begin at 9:00 AM during the summer in order to minimize the heat in church.
ANNOUNCEMENTS 04 02 2023
Announcements:
Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at 6 PM, we will celebrate our last Presanctified Liturgy of the Lenten Season. Please bring a Lenten potluck meal to share after the service.
Sunday, April 9, 2023, 10 AM, Palm Sunday Liturgy. We will read the holy gospels for the Resurrection of Lazarus and the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem. There will be a procession with palms around the church at the end of the Liturgy—outside if the weather is good; inside if it is inclement.
Please bring a dozen red eggs to the church on Holy Thursday or Holy Friday for distribution after the Resurrection Liturgy on Saturday.
Holy Week and Pascha
Great and Holy Wednesday, April 12, 6 PM, Holy Unction
Great and Holy Thursday, April 13, 6 PM, the Reading of the twelve passion gospels and the procession of the Holy Cross.
Great and Holy Friday, April 14, 6 PM, The Lamentations Service and procession of the Epitaphion (the image of the crucified Lord after He was taken down from the cross with his weeping mother, the women disciples, and St John)
Great and Holy Saturday, April 15, 9 PM, the Nocturnes canon, the bringing out of the Light, and the Resurrection Liturgy
ANNOUNCEMENTS 03 05 2023
Sunday, April 2, General Confession following the Liturgy.
On Wednesday, April 5, we will have our second Presanctified Liturgy of Great Lent.
• Presanctified Liturgy this Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 6 PM. A Lenten potluck dinner will follow in the Parish Hall. Please bring something to share.
• Woman's retreat at St Michael Romanian Orthodox Church next weekend. Please contact Preoteasa Camilia Downie at: downie.camelia@yahoo.com
• Next Sunday, March 12, 2023, 3 year Memorial for Louise Guillot
ANNOUNCEMENTS 01 22 2023
• We had our first in-
• We are still collecting pasta for our local food pantries (Tri-
• On Saturday, January 21, Samuel Craig Cecchi was baptized into the Orthodox faith at St Nicholas Church. Samuel is the son of David Cecchi and Jessica Southard Cecchi. Rob Southard and Laura McCollough were the godparents.
• Metropolitan Tikhon’s Sanctity of Life Letter is attached above. It is beautifully written in the spirit of love and hope.
• We began a collection for Problem Pregnancy in Worcester today and will take another collection next week in honor of Sanctity of Life Sunday. Problem Pregnancy offers help to mothers in crisis pregnancies by giving them help with housing, clothing, and much more.
ANNOUCEMENT 01 15 2023
Next Sunday, January 22, is our annual icon auction.
The icon auction has its roots in Albania during the four-
ANNOUNCEMENTS 01 01 2023
• Next Sunday, January 8, 2023 We will celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Theophany) and the Great Blessing of Water. Please bring your own water bottles from home, if you have them. We will have bottles at church for those who don’t have them at home.
• We will continue to collect pasta for two local food pantries (Tri-
various soups).
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 12 18 2022
•
This will be the only liturgy for the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity. There will be no Sunday morning liturgy on the 25th.
We are collecting pasta for our local Tri-
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• On Sunday, November 20, following Divine Liturgy is the Annual Meeting of the Parish. Please be there to discuss the important matters we will be going over. The meetings generally last no more than an hour and your presence makes a difference.
• The Christmas Fast (Advent) begins on Tuesday, November 15. Except for the Thanksgiving weekend when we are allowed to relax the fast, this is a time of refraining from meat and other animal products. If we can keep the meat fast—especially in the last two weeks of the fast, let’s do so. If, from weakness, we cannot, then let’s try to keep the fast as strictly as we can on Wednesdays and Fridays during this time. It is not the letter of the law that counts, it is the effort we make to do our best at a time of year when there is so much temptation to “eat, drink, and be merry”. And in all things, let’s be thankful to God for the great gift that He has given us in the incarnation and birth of His only begotten Son, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.
ANNOUNCEMENT
ALBANIAN PIES AND ETHNIC DELICACIES
St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church
126 Morris Street, Southbridge
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“TAKE OUT ORDERS ONLY”
WHOLE PIES: BAKED OR UNBAKED FROZEN -
HALF PIES: BAKED ONLY -
Spinach, Leek, Sauerkraut, Squash
ETHNIC DELICACIES
Rolled Baklava -
Twist Cookies – 4/$3.00
Date-
Kourabias (Butter Cookies) – 4/$5.00
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Deadline: November 4, 2022
Call 508-
and phone number to receive confirmation.
Orders to be picked up at 126 Morris Street, Southbridge
November 21 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
ANNOUNCEMENT: Many of you know that one of our dear parishioners, Alexandra Lemoine, passed away this past week. The link to her obituary is below. The Trisagion service for the departed will be served at Sansoucy Funeral Home in Southbridge on Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM. The funeral service will be a 10:00 AM on Wednesday morning.
Link to Alex Lemoine's obituary: https://www.sansoucyfuneral.com/obituary/AlexandraAlex-
ANNOUNCEMENTS: This past Friday (September 23, 2022) our Archdiocese elected Igumen Nikodim as our bishop. Fr Nikodim has been our acting Chancellor since Fr. Arthur Liolin resigned in 2021. Fr Nikodim received 40 votes to the holy order of bishop and was proclaimed by the unanimous acclamation of the Assembly. Fr Nikodim election should be upheld by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America soon and a date will be set for his consecration.
In other news, the Archdiocese affirmed by an over 2/3 majority the current method of parish representation in our diocese. This would include all active clergy in the parish, plus the Parish Council President and two lay delegates. The cathedral has a slightly greater number of representatives due to the special nature of a cathedral. All other parishes are equally represented in the Assembly.
September 11 2022:
Next Sunday, September 18, at 10:00 AM we will receive our catechumen, Will Story, into the Holy Orthodox Church through the rite of chrismation. Will has been attending liturgy here at St Nicholas since this past winter and has been singing in our choir. It is a great joy to receive him into the fullness of the Orthodox faith!
Please remember our archdiocesan seminarian Juxhin Shkurti and his wife Livia in your prayers this week. Juxhin is scheduled to be tonsured a reader this coming Wednesday at St Vladimir's Seminary
June 2022
We raised $1029 at our St Nicholas Yard Sale on Saturday (June 4)
After a hiatus of two years due to COVID we will be having our traditional Albanian Picnic on the last Sunday of the month (June 26, 2022). For all who missed our ladies' famous Albanian pies and our renowned shish kebab, ethnic music and dancing, and all-
We have a new catechumen in our community. Will Story was enrolled in the catechumenate on the Sunday of the Paralytic, May15, 2022 and will be chrismated in the near future. It is a great joy to have him as part of our parish family. Will has been adding a very nice bass voice to our choir on Sundays.
Our fundraising for Ukraine has raised $1,400
The funds have been sent through the IOCC for direct aid to the long suffering people of Ukraine.