December 30th, 2021

Christ is born!    Glorify Him!

Christós raždájetsja!    Slavíte Jehó!

Pronunciation:

Khree-stos   Raj-da-yet-sya!   Sla-vee-te  yea-ho!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

I wish you all a blessed Nativity season. As was requested, above is the Nativity greeting in Slavonic, also known as Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic. I included it in Latin letters with the phonetical version underneath. We will be using this greeting until the feast of the Theophany on January 6.

Just a reminder that January 1 is the Feast of St. Basil the Great, our patron Saint and we will celebrate his feast with the following schedule:

Friday, Dec. 31

6pm Great Vespers with Artoklasia (together with the Melkite Community)

Saturday, Jan. 1

10am Divine Liturgy and procession

 Because of the increase in the spread of Covid especially of the Omicron variant, I would like to ask that if you feel sick, please be prudent in your decision to come to church. We have some in our parish who are at a higher risk for complications and we must be careful at this time as the variant Omicron is very contagious and easy to spread.

For this same reason I ask that if you will attend the Saturday evening Liturgy, please do mask and distance, out of charity and concern for each other.  By the grace of God we will all make it through this challenging time.

This Saturday’s crowning of Mary Kathryn Norrell and David Ulloa-Miralrio has been postponed because of the pandemic and we pray that very soon we will be able to celebrate this joyous event with the happy couple and their families. In the meantime this Sunday, through the generosity of the Norrell and Ulloa-Miralrio families we will enjoy some of the treats that were prepared especially for the wedding. May God bless Mary Kathryn and David with many blessed years ( and not for a prolonged engagement ).

I also would like to thank Fr. Deacon Brian and Pani Missy Norrell and their son Nicholas for all the work they have put into preparing the Temple and hall for the upcoming wedding. Know that your efforts are not wasted and we appreciate the days you have spent in cleaning and waxing and polishing and dusting and so much more. Although your efforts will not be seen by wedding guests, your work has glorified God and our patron and protector, St. Basil the Great.

This weekend we will have Fr. Deacon Brian serving at the altar and I am so happy to have him and Pani Missy back home at their home parish. We look forward to Fr. Deacon Brian’s ordination to the Holy Priesthood and his first Divine Liturgy. It is a great honor for our parish to have vocations and Fr. Brian will be the first priest ordained from St. Basil’s.  So although this weekend is not the happiest for the Norrell family, there is so much to look forward to! 

I wish you all a most blessed New Year and invite you to join us as we celebrate St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia  (and the circumcision of Our Lord). Below is the schedule for the remaining holidays.

Please note the the time for the Vigil Liturgy this Saturday Jan. 1, will remain as previously scheduled at 4 pm. This is the distanced and masked Liturgy specifically for our parishioners at high risk during the pandemic. There will be no serving of Great Vespers this Saturday. Next weekend (Jan. 8-9) we will return to the usual schedule.

Fr. Elias