Vespers of the Holy Nativity of Christ . 5pm Saturday 24^th December.

We look forward to this service of prayer and worship in preparation for the Feast of the Holy Nativity which we celebrate on Sunday 25th December at 9.30am with the Holy Liturgy of St Basil.

Here are the words of the Hymn. Do join in as we sing them!

Troparion of Nativity Feast. Tone 4

     ‘Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone upon the world with the light of knowledge: for thereby they who adored the stars through a star were taught to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know Thee the dayspring from on high. O Lord, glory to Thee.’

 Father Christodoulos, Presvytera Mary, Fr. Deacon Dionysios and Diaconissa Bec thank you for your Christmas greetings and  wish all of you a peaceful and joyful Christmas time and a very happy New Year. May God bless you and your dear Families.

Nativity almsgiving

Remember to bring your gift. The money will be given to our Orthodox Youth Camp fund; recently an arson attack ruined all their camp equipment. Everything will need to be replaced in time for the young people’s camping activities in 2012.

Theophany

On Thursday 5th January at 7.00pm, we will serve Vespers for Eve of Theophany. A beautiful service full of hymns teaching what this important Orthodox Feast is about. On Friday morning, at 9.30am, we serve the Holy Liturgy followed by the Blessing of the Water. Make every effort to plan to attend these services, remembering to bring a bottle or two to fill with blessed water for use at home.

For the very first time in the life of our Community, we plan to go to nearby Cuerden Valley Park, straight after blessing the water at Church. There we will gather close to the River Lostock and bless the waters! A lunch in a local hostelry will complete the special celebrations! So dress warmly! You never know, we may have to break ice before we can bless the water!

Postcode is PR5 6BY for Cuerden Valley Park at Berkeley Drive, Bamber Bridge.

Blessing of Homes

Fr Christodoulos & Fr Dionysios will be available to bless your home following the Feast of the Theophany on the 6th January. Please consider this and book an appointment with him in January.

As we go around your home blessing it with Theophany Holy Water, we sing the hymn of the Feast of Theophany.Here is the text of it for you to enjoy.

Troparion of the feast.  Tone 1

 ‘When Thou, O Lord, wast baptised in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness unto Thee, calling Thee the beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed His word as sure and steadfast. O Christ our God who hast appeared and enlightened the world, glory to Thee.’

If you know the hymn in your own language and would like to sing it at your house blessing, please do!

Children’s Sunday School

 Diaconissa Bec  holds classes twice a month on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays. January 8th will be the next class. Bec and her assistant will take the young people out after they have received Holy Communion and the class will last around 30 minutes.

Greek class

Christos will recommence this on January 14^th  at 10.15am  in the Hall, until the February half term. A Total of  6 weeks. Adults and children are welcome.

The Way:- The Orthodox's answer to the Alpha course. 

This is the Orthodox version of the Alpha course, a discipleship course created by the evangelical church.  The evening involves a meal together, then watching the video of the talk, time for questions and then finishes with compline (prayer service).  Speakers include Metropolitan Kallistos and other teachers on the Orthodox theology course run in Cambridge. Some prior knowledge of Orthodoxy is required, but they are not too theological. The course will be run on a Wednesday evening once a month for 12 months at our house. (So long as we get it!) We do need to know numbers so that we can cook for you. There is no charge for the course but from time to time you might be asked to bring a pudding or bottle of wine. The first session is on Wednesday 11th of January  at 7.30pm. Look forward to seeing you.  Contact Deacon Dionysios on 07738870750 to confirm your interest.

Tidy-up day in October …..

Half a dozen people braved a cold wet morning and did a massive amount of tidying up outside. A big thank you!

Children’s Library

Your children will enjoy reading or having books read to them from our children’s library. Have a word with Diaconissa Bec and she will gladly help you.

Church Library

Have a browse at the Library, situated in the children’s room. You are welcome to borrow one or two books to enjoy at home. If you need any help, ask Diaconissa Bec.

Bookstall

We have a collection of children’s and adults’ books and Bibles.

Treat someone , or yourself, to a gift of a good book this Christmas. Presvytera Mary can assist, if help is needed.

We offer our condolences to Barbara Kelsall. Her dear husband Brian died in October. May his memory be eternal.

We were happy to receive two groups of visitors during Autumn. Students from Edge Hill College and local Cubs appreciated their visits to our Church.

And, finally, to the newly-baptised little girls, Sophia Regan and Penelope Dunkow, Many Years!