With the blessing of Abp. Peter, we will have our first cycle of services at St. Mary & Mark Coptic Church, which Fr. Stefanous and the faithful of St. Mary & St. Mark Coptic Church, with the blessing and permission of their bishop, are graciously allowing us to use.
On Saturday, October 15, 2022, Vespers will be at 5 p.m. with Confession before and afterward.
On Sunday, October 16, 2022, Divine Liturgy will be at 9:30 a.m. with the Hours preceding.
For those wishing to partake of Holy Communion, the practice of the Russian Church Abroad is for Orthodox Christians over 7 years of age to:
a) make Confession on Saturday evening (or Sunday morning for extenuating circumstances, or have gone to Confession the previous week),
b) fast from midnight on Sunday morning (unless one needs to partake of a little food or drink with medication), and
c) read (or listen to) the preparatory prayer rule (for those who do not have a prayer book at home, the prayers can be found here:
https://pomog.org/preparation-to-holy-communion-en/).
For children, it is good if they can abstain from food and drink from midnight on Sunday if they are over 7. Regarding their prayer rule, the number of prayers (from the 10 at the end) should roughly correspond to their grade in school (e.g. 3 prayers for a 3rd grader).
At this time, the faithful of St. Mary & St. Mark Church are almost finished renovating the church basement, so those facilities will not yet be available to use for fellowship after Liturgy. However, since the weather appears like it will be cooperative, we plan on having refreshments and fellowship outside in the parish lawn and parking lot. If you would like to bring anything to share, please contact Fr. Gabriel.
We look forward to having you join us - either physically or in spirit - for our inaugural Liturgy!