Mon Feb 01, 2010
A Walk In The Clouds
I took this picture today while Kosta B. was fixing the wall in the altar:
Wed Jan 27, 2010
Water Damage And Repair
Our beloved Cathedral church building recently had some water damage. We found the areas of the roof that were leaking and fixed them. Now comes repairing and refurbishing of the inside damage. Kosta Bloumis and his crew have been on the job fixing up the five or so areas that we identified. When they are done Anatoly will do the finishing and art restoration (no icons were affected but some decorative pieces will need to be touched up). Thank God we have such dedicated and talented people who are so quick to offer their time and talent. Here is a photo of one damaged area in the process of being redone (the southeast part of the nave, right before the south part of the transept)
One Of The Nicest Things Ever
We had our monthly HOPE (the group for children after Little Angels, roughly K-second grade) session on Monday, which happened to be my name day. Since we didn't meet in December due to holiday busyness, we focused on St. Spyridon at this meeting. I even brought out the slipper relics for the children and parents to venerate (this is something that almost never happens, so it was a big treat). After the religious section we went downstairs and the children did a project related to our Haitian relief efforts. Olga told me that we would be having pizza delivered from her store - Brothers' Pizza in Southbridge. We usually only have light snacks at HOPE so I asked what was up. It was pizza for my name day! Of course, since I am going gluten-free, I cannot have pizza, so part of me was a little disappointed. Olga didn't skp a beat - her husband Jimmy would be bringing me a gluten-free pizza, whicih is one of their specialties. I couldn't believe it - I was truly touched! The children devoured eight or so pizzas while I enjoyed my special 'za. It was the perfect ending to a great name day.
Mon Jan 25, 2010
Dedication
The dedication of our parishioners never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday our GOYA basketball team bounced back from a tough loss Saturday with an impressive win. After the game, Jimmy V. said to me "64 by 112". Wha???? I asked him what he was talking about and he said "Those are the dimensions of the gym (at Mt. Carmel). I counted the ceiling tiles". Jimmy is a driving force in our Family Center project and even while watching his son's basketball game was in Building Committee mode measuring the dimensions of the gym.
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Thu Jan 14, 2010
Worcester Mag
Every Thursday I pick up Worcester Mag (formerly Worcester Magazine) to catch up on local events and also to see if my blog has been excerpted (I think it has happened twice). I was delighted to find that the person interviewed in the "Two Minutes With..." section was Kathy Tsandikos - check out the interview here. In addition Maddie B. is questioned in the "People On The Street" feature, so we have a good Cathedral presence this week in the mag. I have not been to Coney Island since going gluten-free a month or so ago, so I will have to figure out how I am going to have my delicious dogs next time I go...
Tue Jan 12, 2010
Vasilopita Adventures
January is vasilopita time, and tonight I was involved in the cutting of my fourth of the year. On New Year's Day we had one with my in-laws and more recently with my side of the family. This past Sunday was the annual Philoptochos Vasilopita Brunch. On this day the ladies pass a tray in church and then put on a delicious meal followed by a cutting of a bunch of vasilopites. All proceeds benefit St. Basil Academy. This single event raised close to $8000 for the academy! Tonight, with everyone still recovering from Sunday, the group had its monthly meeting and we joyously cut another vasilopita (in this case a cake rather than sweetbread) - this one specially made by Rubina with the year 2010 spelled out on it. I have been saying it is going to be a great year, and our spirits were all raised by this pretty and delicious cake.
Tue Jan 05, 2010
Epiphany
This morning we had services for the eve of Epiphany, and tomorrow we will celebrate the feast itself, also with liturgy and the blessing of the water. As Fr. Dean pointed out in his sermon this morning, there is absolutely no difference in the two blessing services (although we omit one of the prayers the day before but include it in the service on the day of the feast). Epiphany is celebrated like Christmas - two services are offered (one in the evening and one in the morning) in order to allow more people to attend. Somehow through the years at the Cathedral we started doing the evening service the morning before. Fr. Dean and I discussed restoring today's vesperal liturgy to an appropriate evening setting next year - stay tuned.
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Mon Jan 04, 2010
2009 By The Numbers
Here are the sacrament numbers from the Cathedral for the past year:
Funerals - 31. This number is about average, although it always seems like a lot more.
Baptisms - 38. This is down; generally we are in the 40 to 50 range. Our baby boom continues, and as always around 5 per cent of our baptisms were of adults, so I look forward to more this year.
Weddings - 2. This was the shocker. It would have been one but we ended up with a wedding on December 28. Normally we have 10-25 weddings - it is a pretty big range. What happened? Some people got married in Greece or at other churches, but I think the big factor is the economy and people holding off another year. We had a fabulous wedding January 3 - yesterday - so that bodes well for this year:)
Sun Jan 03, 2010
Church Is A Go, No Sunday School
We are cancelling Sunday School for today due to the weather but will still be having liturgy. Please use good judgment in deciding whether to drive to church or not.
Sat Jan 02, 2010
GOYA Hoops Cancelled...
...due to today's impending snowstorm. Let's hope we don't get hit too badly on Sunday - we have liturgy and a big wedding at 3pm.
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