On the eve of Pentecost on Satuday, June 11, 2022, our parish received four catechumens into the Orthodox Church! Michael and Michelle DiBaggio, and their children Victor and Penelope, were received by Chrismation. Victor and Penelope also received their first Holy Communion that day! Fr. Tim celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
The DiBaggios come to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church from the Roman Catholic Church. They were sponsored by Larissa Holowaty of St. Mary’s and Richard (Seraphim) Rohlin, co-host of the Amon Sul podcast on Ancient Faith Ministries, who came all the way from Texas for their special day.
Our parish gathered on Good Friday, April 22 for Vespers and Lamentations, including a procession of the Holy Plaschanitsa, led by Fr. Joseph.
Christ is Risen!
The next evening, the Parish gathered to celebrate Nocturns, Matins, and the Paschal Divine Liturgy, followed by the blessing of foods and agape supper. Much joy was had as the long fast of Great Lent was broken!
Bright Monday Feast
On Bright Monday, we gathered again for Divine Liturgy, this time led by Fr. Tim with a few of his sons assisting as altar servers. Afterwards, we enjoyed fellowship and a catered meal.
More photos from these feasts, and from many other local churches, can be found in the Photo Gallery of the Diocese of Eastern PA.
Parish faithful and guests enjoying fellowship and a delicious lunch!
On the first Sunday of each month, our Parish family joins together with members of the community for fellowship and food! We believe that reaching out and showing hospitality is one of many Christian virtues practiced by a strong Church family. This will be an ongoing tradition to “Let our lights shine before men”. All are welcome to attend. Please contact the Church for details.
Conversations are at a minimum when the food is good!
Fr. Joseph begins the service of Chrismation with Lynn Sinco.
On January 30, 2022 our Parish welcomed Lynn Sinco into the Orthodox Church. Lynn came to us from the Ukrainian Catholic church after seeking out healing and the Truth found in Orthodoxy.
Leading the catechumen into the Body of the Church.The annointing with Holy Oil.Lynn receiving the Holy Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
On Sunday December 15th with the Arch-pastoral blessing of Archbishop Mark, our parish family gathered early in the morning for a “field trip” to Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Mechanicsburg, PA. We organized this excursion to help our parishioners see how a vibrant Orthodox community can grow from a small seed planted by faithful Christians.
As we arrived at Holy Apostles, we were immediately greeted and welcomed by the parish faithful. The temple was filled with old and young alike. During the Divine Liturgy the parish rector, Fr. Timothy Hojnicki, Chrismated a baby girl recovering from her first heart surgery. This was the completion of the emergency baptism performed at the hospital on the day she was born. It was beautiful to see the entire community offer prayers on her behalf!
After the Divine Services were completed, our faithful were able to socialize and get to know the wonderful people of Holy Apostles. We participated in judging a gingerbread house competition with donations helping local charities.
Before we left for home, we met with Fr. Timothy (our Dean) to discuss our plans going forward. Fr. Tim graciously encouraged us to remain faithful in our attendance of Divine Services, and to grow our presence in the community at large. He also volunteered his time to visit with us in the coming months to help steer our vision and educate our faithful.
On the drive home, we discussed the beauty
of the Services and shared some ideas on what we need to strengthen our mission
in Schuylkill County.
We would like to thank Fr. Timothy and
the entire Holy Apostles community for their hospitality and prayers as we
prepare to celebrate our Lord’s Nativity!
St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Saint Clair, PA decorated for Nativity.
Cleaning and beautifying God’s house.
The morning of Saturday, November 30th our parish family came together to clean and decorate our small Temple for the upcoming Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. In the past the Church was decorated by one of our faithful parishioners, but this year we decided to do something a little different and organize a “crew”. With renewed leadership, we invited our people to participate and the call was answered with a resounding YES!
We started by preparing the decorations to be placed on the window sills. It was decided to add a candle and some green and holly to accent the beauty of the stained glass. Our parish youth helped by making sure all of the tree decorations had hooks suitable for the tree branches. A long time parish member gratefully donated a new (to us) tree to be placed in the Church.
All of the glass was cleaned, the pews wiped down, candle stands polished, and floor vacuumed. After all of the cleaning and decorating of both the Church and parish hall, we decided that it would be best to feed our worker-bees! As we sat in fellowship sharing a meal, we reminisced about days gone by and shared stories of our unique family experiences during the holiday season.
At the end of each Divine Liturgy, the Priest prays that our Lord will “sanctify those who love the beauty of Thy House”. May our offering of time and effort be accepted and blessed by the Lord of Hosts, who’s Temple we adorn in celebration of His blessed Nativity!
We cordially invite to come and celebrate with us as the Church is robed in majesty in anticipation of our Savior’s birth!
On Sunday November 24th, members of our Parish
family took part in an Acrylic Icon painting workshop.
Ms. Larissa Holowaty, seated at the head of the table, instructed Parishoners in our class.
Organized and led by Ms. Larissa Holowaty, our students of all ages were able to trace an Icon of St. Nicholas of Myra and then apply paint filling in the outline. Reader Gregory Sagan discussed the importance of Icons in Orthodox worship, the difference between worship and veneration, and how traditional Icons are written with natural materials given to us by God.
We learned that in all of Orthodox worship, we give back to God what he has given us. When we sing we offer our voices, when we celebrate Liturgy we offer gifts of bread and wine for the Eucharist, and when we write (paint) icons, we use natural wood for the base and brush handle, egg tempera for the paint, and natural colors for pigment. Reader Gregory also noted that icons are an important theological tool to help the faithful clearly understand the events or Saints being depicted. We know that the icon is two dimensional, and that we become the third dimension (bringing the icon “to life”) by our participation in veneration.
Each student had their own unique take on vestment colors,
and enjoyed the fellowship while participating in the workshop.
Icon of St. Nicholas of Myra , as painted by students in acrylic medium.
