Welcome, and thank you for visiting St. Mary Orthodox Church online. We hope that our website highlights the wide variety of worship, fellowship, ministery and education opportunities available. Please feel free to read more about our church on this site, or come join with us in prayer. We would love to greet you and share with you our love for Jesus Christ and for you, our neighbor.
files/Bulletin-August-30th.pdf (4603kb)
files/The-Laborers-are-Few.pdf (55kb)
Repent!
Not many words in our society make people recoil like the word “repent,” especially those who are not Christians. It may conjure up images of an individual on the street corner with a sign that says "repent" with the occasional warning of the impending doom of the world. Many in Western Christianity view the word "repent" as the same as “asking Jesus into your heart.” Once one has done so, they are now “saved.” But is that what it means to repent?
According to the Church Fathers, selling all of our possessions is repentance. However, this is not so much about the material things you own. The possessions we need to sell include lust, pride, envy, dishonesty, selfishness, egotism, worldly cares, anger, despondency, greed, laziness, gluttony, etc. All of the things that lead us to spiritual death and unhappiness. Many of us are at a point where we honestly don’t want those things anyway. As the Blessed Theophylact teaches, we sell these things back to their proper owners, that is the demons, for they are the rightful owners of these vices.
The word “repent” comes from the Greek word metanoia, which essentially means to turn around, to do an about-face. In the life of the Orthodox Christian, this is not a one time event. It is an ongoing process. "I am saved; I am being saved; I live in the hope of my salvation" is an acknowledgement of this process.
NOTES...
- Mark your calendars for the following:
Sunday, September 13th - 2026/2027 Sunday School Year commences.
Tuesday, September 15th - Fall Bible Study each Tuesday. Topic: The Gospel of John.
Wednesday, October 7th - Six Week Catechism Classes on "Acquiring an Orthodox Life" begin.
Pray with us this week at Saint Mary's:
Saturday, August 29th: Confessions from 6:00 to 6:30 PM; Great Vespers Service at 6:30 PM.
Sunday, August 30th: Confessions from 8:30 to 8:50 AM; Matins and Divine Liturgy 8:50 AM.
**There will be no Vespers Service Wednesday, September 2nd, or Saturday, September 5th.**
"Be ashamed when you sin. Do not be ashamed when you repent. Pay attention to what the devil did to you. These are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is a wound; repentance is a medicine. Just as there are for the body wounds and medicines, so for the soul are sins and repentance. However, sin has shame and repentance possesses courage." +Saint John Chrysostom
- Attached to this week's email is The Weekly Bulletin and Metropolitan Saba's Teaching
With love in Christ,
Fr. Peter
files/Bulletin-August-23rd.pdf (8171kb)
In today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 19: 16-26), we hear about a rich young man who was unwilling to share his wealth and thus become an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord then told his disciples that it’s "easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." +Saint Clement warns us not to interpret this passage to mean that wealth will keep us from the Kingdom of Heaven. He writes that it is the attitude of the soul that is important. It is the passion for wealth, not the wealth itself that condemns a man. Our attitude toward possessions reveals our true god and master. This may be troubling to us when we feel that we have made God our master and have kept all the commandments – as did the rich young ruler. Christian stewardship of our souls and bodies is the offering of our entire self to God, attaching our desire to Him rather than to the world.
- Just a few reminders of our fall schedule:
- Join us in prayer this week at Saint Mary's:
files/Bulletin-August-16th.pdf (4807kb)
Feast of the Dormition
This coming weekend (August 14th,15th & 16th), our church celebrates its feast day - the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Please join us for the upcoming services and celebrations.
Friday, August 14th - Eve of the Dormition
- Great Vespers and Artoklasia Service at 7:00 PM. Presided over by His Grace, Bishop Nicholas, and con-celebrated by Orthodox Clergy from throughout South Florida.
- A Lenten Reception hosted by our Saint Mary's Ladies Society will be held following the service.
Saturday, August 15th - Feast of the Dormition
- Festal Matins at 8:50 AM, Divine Liturgy for the Feast at 10:00 AM.
Sunday, August, 16th - The After-Feast of the Dormition
- Confessions from 8:30 AM to 8:50 AM; Matins at 8:50 AM; Divine Liturgy at 10:00 AM.
- Annual Feast Day Luncheon at 11:30 AM.
Wednesday, August 19th - The After-Feast of the Dormition
- Confessions from 6:30 to 7:00 PM; Vespers Service at 7:00 PM.
**There will be no Great Vespers Service on Saturday, August 15th.
“The Most Holy Mother of God prays for us ceaselessly. She is always visiting us. Whenever we turn to her in our heart, she is there. After the Lord, she is the greatest protection for mankind. How many churches there are in the world that are dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God! How many healing springs where people are cured of their ailments have sprung up in places where the Most Holy Theotokos appeared and blessed those springs to heal both the sick and the healthy! She is constantly, by our side, and all too often we forget her.” +The ElderThaddeus
- Attached to this week's email is The Weekly Bulletin.
With love in Christ,
Fr. Peter
files/Bulletin-August-9th.pdf (5529kb)
Fallen Asleep
We say that our dead have “fallen asleep” or “passed away.” What does this mean? This means that for the true Christian there is no death. Death was conquered by Christ on the cross. But there is a translation, i.e, a rearrangement of his condition - his soul is in another place, in another age, in another world beyond the grave, eternal, without end, that is what is meant by “falling asleep." It is as if it were a temporary dream after which, by the voice of the Lord and the fearful yet wonderful trumpet of the Archangel, all the dead shall live and come forth each to his place: either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:29). This is what the Christian means by translation. We should be ready for this translation, for the day of the general resurrection and judgment, for this indescribable world event, recorded in the Holy Scriptures.
The Holy Church solemnly glorifies the honorable Dormition or translation of the Mother of God from earth to heaven. A wonderful translation - she died without serious illness, peacefully. Her soul is taken up in the divine hands of Her Son and carried up into the heavenly abode, accompanied by the sweet singing of angels. And then, her most pure body is transferred by the apostles to Gethsemane where it is honorably buried, and on the third day it is resurrected and taken up to heaven. You see this on the icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos. On it is represented the life-bearing body of the Theotokos laying on a bier, surrounded by the apostles and hierarchs, and in the center of the icon the Lord holding in His hands the most pure soul of the Theotokos. The translation of the Mother of God is a paradigm of the translation in general of the souls of Christians to the other world. +Saint John of Kronstadt
NOTES...
- This coming Sunday (April 9th) at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, we will bless the school backpacks of all our youth (Pre-K through College) and offer prayers and blessings upon all the students (and teachers) as they begin their scholastic year.
- Coffee Hour following the Divine Liturgy will be hosted by our Saint Mary's Parents. During Coffee Hour, Sunday School registration for the coming year will take place
- The Church continues this week the Dormition Fast in preparation for the Dormition of the Theotokos. In addition to fasting, we encourage you to join us in prayer at Saint Mary's this coming week.
Saturday, August 8th
- Confessions from 6:00 to 6:30 PM; Great Vespers Service at 6:30 PM
Sunday, August 9th
- Confessions from 8:30 to 8:50 AM; Matins and the Divine Liturgy at 8:50 AM
Monday, August 10th and Wednesday, August 12th
- Confessions from 6:30 to 7:00 PM; Paraklesis Service at 7:00 PM, followed by anointing of oil from the Wonderworking Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.
Friday, August 14th
- Great Vespers Service and Artoklasia at 7:00 PM. Presided over by His Grace, Bishop Nicholas, and con-celebrated by the Orthodox Clergy from South Florida.
A Lenten Reception will follow hosted by our Saint Mary's Ladies Society.
Saturday, August 15th: Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos
- Festal Matins at 8:50 AM; Divine Liturgy at 10:00 AM.
**No Vespers Service on Saturday, August 15th**
- As always, attached to this email is The Weekly Bulletin.
"Whatever a man loves he inevitably clings to, and in order not to lose it he rejects everything that keeps him from it. So he who loves God cultivates pure prayer, driving out every passion that keeps him from it." + Saint Maximos the Confessor
With love in Christ,
Fr. Peter
files/Bulletin-August-2nd.pdf (4635kb)
Summer Pascha
On August 1st, the Church begins the two week fast in preparation for the final feast of the Church year: the Dormition (or falling asleep) of the Most Holy Theotokos. This feast is commonly referred to as the “Summer Pascha.” It is traditionally called the “Summer Pascha” because it reminds us how Jesus Christ has trampled down death by His death. It carries with it many similarities to the Pascha (Easter). Just as we, in procession, carry the shroud of our Lord and lay it in a tomb on Holy Friday, so too, on the eve of the feast, do we carry a shroud of the Theotokos, lay flowers before it, and venerate it.
We should fast in preparation for this Feast. The Mother of our Lord is approaching death, and we do well to prepare and to be vigilant. If, in our own families, a dear loved one were approaching death, would we not “drop everything” to be at their side? So too, this fast allows us to “drop” the cares of the world, to remind ourselves of our need to imitate the humble obedience of the Theotokos, and to view death in light of Christ’s Resurrection, not as an end, but as a beginning to eternal life.
In the midst of the Dormition Fast, another of the 12 major feast days of the Church - TheTransfiguration of our Lord is celebrated. This feast celebrates the understanding of Christ as both fully divine and fully human, revealing His glory and inviting humanity into a transformative relationship with God. As we commemorate this feast, we are reminded of the call to shine forth the light of Christ in the world, to seek our own transformation, and to honor Christ in every aspect of our lives.
Join with us in prayer this coming week as we prepare for the Feast of the Dormition and celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration.
Saturday, August 1st (Dormition Fast Begins) - Confessions from 6:00 to 6:30PM; Great Vespers Service 6:30 PM.
Sunday, August 2nd - Confessions from 8:30 to 8:50 AM. - Matins (Orthros) 8:50 AM; Divine Liturgy 10:00 AM.
Monday, August 3rd - Paraklesis Service 7:00 PM. (Anointing of oil from the Wonderworking Iveron Icon of the Mother of God following the service).
Wednesday, August 5th - Celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration - Confessions from 6:30 to 7:00 PM - Vesperal Divine Liturgy 7:00 PM (The traditional Blessing of the Grapes and First Fruits will take place at the conclusion of the service).
Friday, August 7th - Paraklesis Service 7:00 PM. (Anointing of oil from the Wonderworking Iveron Icon of the Mother of God following the service).
"God gave people the word "love" so that they could call their relationship to Him by this name. When people misuse this word to refer to their relationship with earthly things, it loses its meaning." +Saint Nicholas of Serbia
- With love in Christ,
Fr. Peter
