The Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God. (October 1/14)

Already from the 13th century the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God has been one of the most loved feasts of the Russian people. In its significance for Russian people it gives way only to the feasts of Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ and the Bright Resurrection of Christ. It is also a Russian national feast day.

Of great attraction is the underlying idea of this feast day itself. The Mother of God Herself keeps constant vigil over the Christian world and protects it.

As to the spreading of the celebration of this feast in Russia, it was doubtlessly influenced by spiritual and emotional peculiarities of the Russian people, who profoundly apprehended the veneration of the Mother of God.

At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century there lived in Constantinople a holy man, St. Andrew, the Fool for Christ. At the age of 17 he was brought (as a slave) by a certain Byzantine nobleman, the head of the Imperial Bodyguard. He was of Scythian origin (the region that is now southern Russia). In the house of his master he received the education common at the time, and thanks to his abilities he was shortly appointed a secretary to the nobleman.

Sisterhood

The Sisterhood of the Holy Protection Cathedral is calling!

Participate in the work of the Sisterhood.

One of the goals of the Sisterhood is to continue undertaking Buffet Lunches every Sunday for the raising of funds for the needs of the parish.

These Buffet Lunches also creates a great social environment for parishioners.

One of the current needs of the church is the raising of funds for completing the iconography on the 6 columns - 24 icons in total.

We are accepting donations for the cost of painting one icon as a permanent prayerful memory of your family.

Phone: (03) 9393 2839 or 0411090550

Protection Parish Newsletter - June/September 2012

News

• The Sisterhood prepared a wonderful buffet forFr Peter Sheko's namesday which was celebrated in the hall on July 12.
• This year's Annual General Meeting was held on 27th July. On this occasion it was conducted in both Russian and English. Parishioners are encouraged to become members and thereby contribute to the running of the Church.
• The Collingwood property has been listed for sale.
• Fr Kyril held a movie night on August 24. The film “Mr Vig and the nun” told the true story of a Danish convert who donated his castle to the church. It is now a thriving Russian Orthodox convent.
• In August, Archpriests Fr Nicholas Dalinkiewicz, Fr Michael Protopopov and Fr Igor Filianovsky attended a conference on the Life of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America and Oceania sponsored by the Russian Consulate in San Francisco. Fr Nicholas also served a moleben for the clergy and parishioners of Holy Protection Cathedral before the Relics of St John, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco.
• 13 years ago, a photo exhibition was held at Russian House which provided an insight into the history of the parish. The photos from that exhibition have been kept and a project is underway to scan them and store them digitally. For further information contact Ian Smith (ian.smith@csiro.au)
• World renowned Orthodox speaker Frederica Mathewes-Green gave a presentation to parishioners on Saturday, 1st September as part of her Australian tour. Our parish seminar was attended by about 130 people and the proceedings were filmed by Nicholas Sherman (ACS) who will be producing a 1-hour DVD. This video will also include highlights of an interview with her. Frederica speaks on a wide range of topics – movie reviews, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the pro-life cause, marriage, family, and culture. She has published nine books, and travels widely to give talks all year round. (www.frederica.com)
• Archbishop Michael of Geneva served liturgy on Sunday, 2nd September. After the liturgy the sisterhood prepared a delicious meal for the clergy to welcome the visiting hierarch.

Protection Parish Newsletter - April/May 2012

Procession on Sunday of
Myrrh-bearing Women

Baptisms

John, Catherine Makins, Yulia, and David D. and David S.(fewer numbers because of cold weather)

Weddings

Nicholas Dalinkiewicz and Natalia Zarva (27 April)
Anastasios Sheidaee and Maria Simion (6 May)

Laid to rest

Anna Chervev, Nedelko Canov, Penelope Efthimiadis, Ivan Kamenev (former parish treasurer), Alexander Lachno, Galian Tully and Ludmilla Plotnikova

Protection Parish Newsletter - February/March 2012

Baptisms (Dec-March):

Daniel, Alexandra, Aleksej, Alexandra, Julia, Mazor, Joshua, Marko, Edward, Ignaty, Nicola, Ekaterina, Alexander, John, Anton, Michelle, Nika

Chrysmation:

Jennifer

Weddings:

Morris Pudney/Yulia McGregor (22/01/12)
Jevdenijevic/Natasha Yakubowsky (29/01/12)
Michael Psaltis/Jennifer Coleman (10/01/12)
Joshua Eveson/Anastasia Karipoff (12/01/12)

Laid to rest (Dec-March):

Valery Rosalion, Vladimir Lefleur, Victoria Tereschenko, Katerina Andropof, Katerina Jansen, Tatiana Dekterev, Nikita, Gontscharow, Maria Kirilow, Jack Trembath,

Protection Parish Newsletter - October/November 2011

Baptisms in Sept.-Oct: 

Joseph, Nathan, Maxim.

Weddings: 

Michael O'Callaghan-Vasilisa Koposhilov, Saviour Calleja-Marina Chernih, Nathan Harris-Alexandra Nevzorova, Dennis Popov-Laura Harmes.

Laid to rest: 

Olga Verevkin

Thanks to 

Fr Nicholas Dalinkiewicz, other clergy, parish council and sisterhood members who “held the fort” while the Rector was away in September. In addition to regular services and other activities, a number of repair and maintenance projects were completed. Hopefully, our parish newsletter will not be affected by the Rector’s absences in the future.

News

• Early October saw intense activity inside the church as scaffolding was put up for installation of the icon canvases on the upper nave western wall. Thanks to Costa Diakoumakos who donated the scaffolding and labour. He was helped by altar server Nick Mantis and others. That saved well over $2,000 in costs.
  
  The murals were installed 3-8 October. On Monday 3/10/11 Costa came to consult with the iconographer Antonina Ganin in regard to the scaffold set-up. She admitted that she had not used such a good scaffold in any of her previous projects. Tonia first laid out the eleven pieces of canvas on the floor in our hall to trim them for a perfect fit. Helpers were needed on most days, especially on Tuesday 4/10/11 when the large and smaller pieces were glued and lifted into position. Thanks to Greg Uskhopov (with son Ben) and Dima Sbarsky who washed the windows he could reach. Andrei and Varia Davidoff helped with touch up and trim work.
• A working bee was conducted on Saturday 8 October in preparation for the patronal feast. Further cleaning had to be done after the scaffolding was removed on Monday 10 October.
  
  The patronal feast was held on Friday 14 October. Vladika was still in America at that time, thus the liturgy was headed by the Dean, Fr Michael Protopopov with all the Cathedral clergy and visitors from neighbouring parishes, a total of thirteen priests and four deacons. Over three hundred people attended the liturgy and the festal moleben with procession around the church. Every available seat at the banquet tables was taken and everyone enjoyed the delicious dishes served by the sisters. $2,220 was collected when the sisters went around with the plate in support of the continuing icon mural project. The murals created excitement and interest, making people turn their heads to look at the two large festal compositions: The Nativity and the Baptism of the Lord.
• The annual fund raising event for the nuns of Bungarby was held on Sunday 23 October and raised over $19,000. Despite lower attendance close to record result was achieved. Abbess Anna told those who were present about the progress of their building works
  
  The East Brunswick Primary School held a successful trivia night fund raiser at the church hall on Friday October 31.
• The Kursk thirteenth century icon was venerated on 7 and 8 November. More will be said about these events in the December issue, when the Kursk icon is celebrated.

Coming events: 

• Sun 27th November – Holy Land fundraiser;
• December 19-31 – Teen Retreat followed by 18+ Youth Conference (see posters)

Protection Parish Newsletter - September 2011

Baptisms in August

Daria, Scarlett, Andrew

Weddings in August

Michael and Vasilisa

Laid to rest: 

Sadly, +Elizabeth (Joy) Buxton passed away suddenly. She is remembered for being an active member of the sisterhood, regular attendee at the monthly theological lectures, working bees and member of the choir. She will be greatly missed by the church community and her friends. Her deeds and actions are an example to us. Memory eternal.

Coming events:

Mission Movie Night, Friday 16 September, 7pm, at the Church Hall. Mt Athos CBS 60 Minutes and From the Little Mountain. Tickets $25 includes pizza, dessert, soft drinks, tea and coffee. Contact Fr Kyril (ascensionorthodox@gmail.com).

Helpers needed for:

• Setting up of tables for Pokrov Feast Day, Saturday 8th October: 10am
• 13th and 14th October: Kitchen
• 23rd October: Annual Nuns Night
• Contact Luba Cowall on 0411090550

News from the Annual General Meeting.

The AGM was held on August 21. Some highlights were:
Elected: Treasurer-Alex Bialocerkowski, Secretary-Nicholas Wirubov, Council members- Nicholas Rudakov, Kyril Kozulin, Ivan Bochkarev, Igor Sbarski and Inna Smith. Reserve council members- Alex Rudakov and Tamara Lefleur.
Over the year there were 48 christenings, 14 weddings and 10 laid to rest.
2 couples reached their 70th wedding anniversary.
Collingwood – plans have been submitted for permission to go ahead and redevelop the hall block.

Full details are available (contact a council member).

News from Boolarra

Olga Bursian and (often) Elizaveta Mihailovna Donetskaya live in Boolarra in the Strezlecki Ranges. Olga writes: “We are involved in a little community of Aussies who fell in love with Orthodoxy. Our mission is dedicated to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and we are part of the Antiochian parish of Fr Jeoff Harvey at Monash University, having liturgy once a month at Mirboo North. Gippsland is full of people who are very close to knowing God and, as converts go, they often put us to shame with their love. Thank goodness a representative of the holiest church (ours) is nearby to guide them”.

Brunswick Crosses

The current gold crosses on the Church are severely rusted (being made from mild steel). Also, the cupolas at first appeared to have deteriorated and needed to be inspected to determine the extent of the damage. A 'cherry picker' (see photo below) was hired to enable close up inspection. Thankfully the cupolas are structurally sound and will not require removal. New stainless steel crosses have been manufactured and are currently being painted prior to being gold leafed. Also, while the cherry picker was onsite we removed the flag pole from the hall roof; it was starting to jam and squeak on windy days, and has now been modified. It will be reinstalled when the new crosses are erected, hopefully by the end of October.

Trip to Cooma

Russian Ethnic Representative Council (RERC) had organised a pilgrimage to the Holy Transfiguration Monastery to celebrate their feast on Thursday 18 / Friday 19 August. Twenty one pilgrims left for the monastery on Wednesday. It rained that day and with nine kilometres to go the bus came to a steep muddy hill that it could not climb. The women passengers all disembarked and three men pushed the bus as it slowly made its way to the top. They returned safely on Sunday.

Meanwhile both Fr Nicholas's set out to conquer the 'mountain' on Thursday in a 4 wheel drive. They got 30 metres up the hill and then had to reverse to let an oncoming car pass. In the process they got bogged (see Fr Nicholas K in the driver’s seat below) and had to be towed out by the Cooma monks. From the spiritual perspective all went well.

Protection Parish Newsletter - August 2011

Baptised: 

• Semion, Artyom, Victoria, Apollinaria, Olivia 

Laid to rest: 

• +Natalia Baygar, 
• +Margarita Romanovsky

Thanks to 

• all who assisted with hosting the 6th Liturgical Music Conference including organisers, presenters, members of the Sisterhood for catering and those who billeted (or offered to billet) interstate delegates. Highlights included the massed singing of delegates during the All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy and the final “Icons in Sound” concert. The expertise of Fr Ivan Moody from Portugal, choirmaster Georgy Safonov and his wife Galina from Moscow added significant professionalism to the conference and we were very fortunate to have had them attend. (For a detailed article on the conference see ROCOR site and the next “Word of the Church” magazine.

Upcoming Events

• Annual General Meeting on 21st August at 12.30.
  
  Parishioners are encouraged to consider becoming fully paid members so that they can better participate in important decision making. The Church aims to be a spiritual family. Part of this process is taking responsibility for the proper functioning and expansion of services provided to members, visitors and the general public.
  
  What happens at an AGM? A standard agenda is followed from year to year. There is a presentation of reports: a. from the Rector about events and activities of the past year; b. from the Building Committee about various works and maintenance of buildings; c. from the Warden about housekeeping; d. the Treasurer responds to questions about the financial report usually sent to members in the mail beforehand and presents a proposed annual budget prepared by the Parish Council for discussion, amendments and ratification; e. there are reports from various parish organisations (e.g. the Sisterhood, book kiosk, etc) and St Elizabeth Benevolent Fund (Holy Land). In ‘General business” any current matters may be discussed. Special items may be added to the agenda as needed. Very important topics sometimes require meetings in addition to the Annual General meeting.These are called “Extraordinary general meetings”.

Interested in joining the Sisterhood? - contact Luba Cowall on 0411090550

Protection Parish Newsletter - July 2011

Baptised: 

• Maxim, Rufina, Seraphim Nikolai, Tatiana, Constantina

Weddings: 

• Taissa Danilovich ~ Lewis Hutton 5/06, 
• Oleg Valioukhov ~ Elena Ponomarenko 19/06

Parish School Event

A special ceremony was held after school on Saturday 18 June. We welcomed Mr Georgi Toloraya, the Regional Director of “Russkiy Mir”, who opened a library of about 400 books donated by this Russian government organisation to the school. School children entertained the VIP guest (former Russian Consul-General in Australia) with a small stage program.

Upcoming Events

• 6th Liturgical Music Conference at Our Lady's Protection: 13 - 17 July 2011
  We are looking for parishioners who are able to provide a bed for our interstate delegates of the musicconference, from July 14 – 17. Please contact Inna Smith on 0411 039 625 or 03 9489 3989 We also need drivers to collect people and bring them to the conference each day.
• Church beautification projects: July - October
  Murals on canvas are progressing well. The first installation covering the entire western upper wall, with icons of the Nativity of the Lord and His Baptism (Theophany) is scheduled for the first week of October in time for our patronal feast of the Holy Protection (Pokrov).
• Major restoration works (regilding) of crosses and cupolas will occur in the same period. After 15 years (Feb. 1996) the gold leaf on the upper surfaces pf the cupolas has somewhat eroded from rain, dust and wind. We are replacing the original crosses with new ones made from stainless steel. Cupolas and crosses will be gilded on the ground and raised (most likely) in two sessions.
• Joy and Ivor Buxton are looking for house sitters to stay in their Blackburn home, during Fr Gabriel's Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. August 30th-September 20th. They also have two cats. 

Interested in joining the Sisterhood? - contact Luba Cowall

Protection Parish Newsletter - June 2011

Baptised: 

Svetlana, Arkady, Nikita

Weddings: 

• David Giles & Anna Pollock (6/5/11); 
• Amedeo Bartolini & Veronica Link (8/5/11)

Laid to rest: 

Valerija Johansen (+4/5/11), Xenia Degrel (+18/5/11), Irina Perekrestov (+24/5/11)

The Rector and Parish Council extend condolences to matushka Elizabeth, Tanya, Dr Helen Kouzmin and their families on the recent loss of their brother, Alexander Kouzmin (Murwillumbah, NSW) and to the Honourable Alex Chernov and other members of Perekrestov/Chernov families on the death of Irina V.Perekrestov

Upcoming Events

• Holy Trinity Parish (Collingwood) patronal feast – Sunday 12 June.
  Rector of HT Parish Fr Igor Filianovsky extends his invitation to our clergy and parishioners to attend their festivities: 10.00 am liturgy, vespers and festive lunch.
• 6th Liturgical Music Conference at Our Lady’s Protection – 13-17 July 2011
  We are looking for people to billet interstate visitors attending the choral conference. As conference delegates will be provided with lunch and dinner, we are looking for people to provide just a bed and maybe breakfast. Please let Inna Smith know if you can either accommodate 1-2 people or can drive them to the church for the conference.

Interested in joining the Sisterhood? - contact Luba Cowall on 0411090550