As you prepare for Christmas, St. Mary’s is also getting ready for this joyous celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether or not you’ve ever been here before, each of you are invited to join us as we worship and sing praises to our good God who loves mankind.
Our celebrations begin on Wednesday, December 21 at 6 PM when we hold our Akathist to the Theotokos. An akathist is a fancy Greek term meaning “unseated (i.e. standing) hymn” and Theotokos means “Mother of God,” our patroness, St. Mary. This beautiful veneration of the Virgin Mother is an excellent way to prepare for Christmas as it centers our thoughts on the truly important meaning of the holiday, the miraculous incarnation of God in the flesh. This is a short service and is also a good introduction to Orthodox prayer.
Christmas Eve, Saturday December 24 at 4PM is our vespers service. Vespers is an solemn evening service in preparation for the Lord’s Day. Begin your holy evening in our parish as we pray, hymn, and give thanks to God for the birth of His Son.
On Christmas, Sunday December 25 at 9:30 AM, we will celebrate with our Typika service. Typika is a variation of our usual Divine Liturgy served without a priest (St. Mary’s is a small parish and we share priests with other local parishes, so we don’t always have one on hand, but that doesn’t keep us from worship!). Afterwards, join us for fellowship and coffee before you head home to exchange presents.
If you are looking for a place to celebrate Christmas — even if you haven’t been to church in a long time, or have never been there before — God and our parish family would love to welcome you this special time of year and for every day afterward!