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MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK – February 2019

THE CUP AND THE BREAD.
LET US NOT FORGET HOLY COMMUNION…
One of the highlights of the coming Great Fast for every believing Christian is the receiving of the Holy Eucharist. “Take and eat,” Jesus commanded at the Mystical Supper before He died. “Drink you all of this,” He said at the Table as He met for the last time with His friends.

“Holy Communion is a communal act testifying the we comprise one family, the family of Christ.” We come as His children to the common Cup and Table. We gather at the Supper today as the Lord’s family, just as He gathered that family about Himself centuries ago.

Communion is also a personal act that brings us into an intimate union with Christ. The Lord once said the whosoever partakes of the Eucharist “abides in Me, and I in him.”

Holy Communion is also a pledge of eternal life. It is a foretaste of the eternal feast to come. “It is a sign of the Lord’s death and resurrection; therefore, of our own death to sin and resurrection to life.” By receiving Holy Communion in faith, we become one body with Christ and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR DESK – January 2019

The Blessing of Water…
As far as is known, our Earth is the only planet in our solar system that has liquid water for the sustaining of life. “This unique substance is the focus of serious attention throughout the world as the United Nations has declared the 1980’s as the “Decade of Water”

But the Church has always known how vital water is. The Church has blessed water for ages and called it holy. One of the most solemn acts of our ritual is the Great Blessing of the Water of the Jordan which takes place at the Feast of Theophany. This holiday commemorates the baptism of Our Lord at the hands of St. John the Baptism.

The baptism of Christ, which marks the beginning of His public life, has great theological significance. “The church views it as a symbolic act of considerable magnitude. It marks the redemption of nature, it typifies the reconciliation of creation which has been marred by man’s sin. Water, through the action of Christ at His baptism, has become the vehicle for the sanctification of earth and man.”

Note how extensively the Church uses water. We are born as children of God in the waters of Baptism. Water is mixed with wine as the cup is prepared for the Holy Eucharist. We bless ourselves, our churches, our homes, and various articles with the waters of Theophany. No wonder the child of the Church learns early in life to have a reverence for this basic element of nature.

We hear this proclamation at the blessing service: “Great art Thou, O Lord, and wonderful are Thy works, and no word does justice to the praise of Thy wonders.”

Annual Cathedral Picnic – June 23rd, 2019

Please join us for our annual picnic!

We have decided to host it again at Confederation Park in Burnaby. You can find the park North of Hastings Street just East of Willingdon Avenue.

You will find our group in Picnic Area #2. A more detailed map can be found here.

If you’re on Facebook, please RSVP on our event page.

There will be food, games and music and hopefully sunshine!

Date: Sunday June 23rd

Time: After Church Service to 8:00 pm

Christmas Service Schedule

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S SERVICES WILL BE HELD AS FOLLOWS

January 7th, 2019 – Christ’s Nativity – Great Compline 9:30 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
January 8th – Synaxis of the Theotokos Service 10:00 am
January 9th – First Martyr Stephen Service 10:00 am
January 14th – New Year’s Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
January 18th – The Eve of the Theophany: 6:00 pm Festal Vespers with the Great Blessing of Water. A Parish Theophany Meal (Spil’na Kutia) will follow at 7:00 pm in the Auditorium. We extend a warm welcome to one and all to join us in this special celebration. Cost for the dinner will be by donation. Please support the Parish with your generous donation.
January 19th – The Holy Theophany of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ: 9:30 am hours; 10:00 Divine Liturgy followed by the Great
Blessing of Water.

All members and visitors are invited to attend these Services.

Date: Sunday June 23rd

Time: After Church Service to 8:00 pm

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