August 1 to 14: The Fast of the Dormition

On Friday, August 1 we begin a time of fasting, in preparation for the great Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God on August 15. This is one of the little fasts of the Church year, but it is of particular importance to us since the Dormition is the patronal feast of our parish. The Church urges us to set aside these two weeks, as a time to draw near to God through prayer, fasting, and good works, with particular devotion to His Holy Mother. How? Try spending ten minutes with the Lord in prayer every day. Fast. Call on the Holy Spirit to empower you to live a renewed life in Christ. Attend one of the weekday services in the church. Read a little from the Bible each day. Make an effort to extend love and forgiveness to someone. Let us resolve as a parish to seek God together during these days, and to ask His blessing upon our community.

July 27: The Holy Great-Martyr Panteleimon

Saint Panteleimon was born of a pagan father but his Christian mother raised him in the True Faith. He learned the medical profession, and he exercised it with a wonderful charity, showing compassion for soul and body and healing every illness through the power of Christ. One day by the invocation of God's name, he opened a blind man's eyes and by this miracle he also opened the eyes of the man’s heart to the light of faith. The miracle came to the attention of the authorities, and the formerly blind man was arrested. He was interrogated concerning the person who had cured him and upon the method of his cure. The man revealed that it was St. Panteleimon who had cured him, and had converted him to the True Faith in Christ. The man was immediately put to death. As for Saint Penteleimon, he was seized, and after many cruel beatings, he was beheaded in the year 305.

Mahrajan 2008 Update

• Please buy and sell raffle tickets. You can get additional raffle tickets to sell from Najwa Moussoba or Nazem Wehbe. The parish needs your help with this!
• Don’t forget to invite your friends, neighbors, and family to the Mahrajan. They will have fun, you will be proud of your church, and you will be helping your parish!

Rummage Sale: August 23! It is time once again for our annual rummage sale. If you have any items that you would like to donate to the rummage sale (marketable items--no junk, please!), please see Father Tom or Robin Anderson. The proceeds of the event support our youth group

Send us your email address!

In order to help save on postage, we are asking parishioners to submit their email addresses, so that we can send regular mailings via email. If you would like to be on the parish email list please send an email to oloc.church@comcast.net. Don’t forget to identify yourself in the email!