Online Services and Get Togethers
As a way of reaching out to the shutins we have been asked to serve services, but behind "closed doors" and with handful of participants. Parish council and the choir directors are working to live-stream those services. Once that is setup, we'll email the details out to everyone and post them here. You'll also find them in our online calendar events.
Schedule
Tips for Participating
Other Online Services
Our Diocesan Cathedral will continue streaming services.
Our sister parish of Christ the Saviour in Ottawa will also be streaming services
For daily prayer the Monastery of the Holy Cross has a there entire daily prayer streamed live for the remainder of the epidemic
Schedule
- March 29: Sunday Divine Liturgy at 10am
- You'll find this stream on our facebook page
- It is suggested that you come for the first 40 minutes and after the Gospel/Fathers Sermon, you can switch to the final typika prayers with your family
- April 1: Great Canon and Little Compline at 6:30pm
- https://zoom.us/j/640710755
Meeting ID: 640 710 755
Dial by your location
+1 438 809 7799 Canada
- https://zoom.us/j/640710755
- April 3: Akathist followed by a group reflection at 6:00pm
- https://zoom.us/j/640710755
Meeting ID: 640 710 755
Dial by your location
+1 438 809 7799 Canada
- https://zoom.us/j/640710755
- We will also attempt to stream a additional services depending on the length of this lockdown
Tips for Participating
- Opening the conference link 10 mins prior to starting is a good idea so you are ontime
- Remember this isn't Netflix, there will be time over the next weeks for plenty of films and popcorn in your PJs — participating in these live-streamed services is not it.
- Make sure that your connection is muted (that is, turn off both your camera and microphone in the Zoom application)
- Stand in front of your icons, alone or with other family members, and pray along with the service, as far as possible as if you were standing in church . Rather than sitting in front of a desktop computer or laptop, take a portable computer or mobile phone to your icon corner or use a speaker. Only the audio is needed
- Light candles and even a small hand censer if you have one
- Make the sign of the cross, bow, or prostrate at all the normal times .
Other Online Services
Our Diocesan Cathedral will continue streaming services.
Our sister parish of Christ the Saviour in Ottawa will also be streaming services
For daily prayer the Monastery of the Holy Cross has a there entire daily prayer streamed live for the remainder of the epidemic
Resources for Prayer
We would like to offer a few online resources and texts for you to use at home. These are not meant to replace the liturgical offices but to provide parishioners who are at home a way to stay connected to the prayers of the Church. We are all on this journey to Christ's Pascha together, wherever we may be. It is even more important during these challenging times to uphold one another in prayer in our little churches at home.
- General Intercession:: A template to pray for the Church and the world at home
- Daily Texts You can access the daily service information if you would like to sing the hymns of the day/troparion or kontakion/readings of the day
- Daily Readings for each day
- Akathist to the Theotokos text for Fridays of Lent: If you are at home you can pray the verses read by the priest along with the Canon
- Typika (Readers Service) Typika Service for Sunday if you are at home. You may also want to look at the previous link for the hymns and readings of the Sunday. You may be familiar with these melodies for the Typika antiphon:
- Great Canon for the Fifth Week of Lent (St Mary of Egypt) f you are at home, replace the litanies (prayers) with Lord Have Mercy x 12
- Life of St Mary of Egypt: A valuable example of a saint who has experience with social isolation and is a model for never losing hope in the mercy of God
- Akathist of Thanksgiving or the Akathist Glory to God for all things. It may be helpful for us to practice giving thanks to God in difficult times
- The Lenten Triodion, the guide book for Lent
- Vespers Resources: All music and text needed to follow along with vespers
Following a Rule of Prayer at Home
While we are always called to pray. In a world full of fear and hopelessness we need prayer more than ever. This is a great opportunity to be with God, we have only ourselves to wrestle with.
Know when you will pray. The ancient custom is to pray “day and night” meaning as we begin the day and as the day ends. But do remember to "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16). Praying the Jesus Prayer in the in-betweens can help calm you, what is your handwashing prayer rule? Say the prayers before and after meals.
Know where you will pray. "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6) The answer to the questions of where and how you will pray is something that is timely. As we are unable to gather together for our usual services the space in which you pray,such as your icon corner, should be a place you pray when the Church would usually be gathering. It is in times like these that we should become even more familiar with these places in our homes and they probably shouldn’t be very dusty.
Know how you will pray. Standing, kneeling, prostrations, icons, candles, incense and a prayer rope are all good tools and can certainly be helpful and beneficial.
Know what you will pray It is important There is a myriad of resources available online if you do not already have a prayer rule. Our Diocesan website contains morning and evening prayer texts as well.
The key is to balance what is achievable knowing you and your families limits. Young children do especially well with familiar hymns, such as the ones from vespers. The following prayers are great starting points for a prayer rule, combine them with the Trisagian prayers and ending with the Lenten prayer of St Ephraim.
Morning Prayer of St. Philaret
Lord, give me the strength to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely on Your holy will. Reveal Your will to me every hour of the day. Bless my dealings with all people. Teach me to treat all people who come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unexpected events, let me not forget that all are sent by you. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me the physical strength to bear the labors of this day. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray in me. Amen.
Evening Prayer from Compline.
And grant rest, O Master, to our souls and bodies as we sleep; preserve us from the gloomy slumber of sin and from the dark passions of the night. Calm the impulses of desires, quench the fiery darts of the evil one which are craftily directed against us. Still the rebellions of the flesh, and put far from us all anxiety and worldly cares. Grant us, O God, a watchful mind, pure thoughts, a sober heart and a quiet rest free from every vision of the devil. Raise us up again at the hour of prayer, strengthened in Your precepts and holding within us steadfastly the thought of Your commandments. Grant that we may sing praises to You through the night and that we may hymn, bless and glorify Your all-honorable and majestic Name, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Know when you will pray. The ancient custom is to pray “day and night” meaning as we begin the day and as the day ends. But do remember to "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16). Praying the Jesus Prayer in the in-betweens can help calm you, what is your handwashing prayer rule? Say the prayers before and after meals.
Know where you will pray. "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6) The answer to the questions of where and how you will pray is something that is timely. As we are unable to gather together for our usual services the space in which you pray,such as your icon corner, should be a place you pray when the Church would usually be gathering. It is in times like these that we should become even more familiar with these places in our homes and they probably shouldn’t be very dusty.
Know how you will pray. Standing, kneeling, prostrations, icons, candles, incense and a prayer rope are all good tools and can certainly be helpful and beneficial.
Know what you will pray It is important There is a myriad of resources available online if you do not already have a prayer rule. Our Diocesan website contains morning and evening prayer texts as well.
The key is to balance what is achievable knowing you and your families limits. Young children do especially well with familiar hymns, such as the ones from vespers. The following prayers are great starting points for a prayer rule, combine them with the Trisagian prayers and ending with the Lenten prayer of St Ephraim.
Morning Prayer of St. Philaret
Lord, give me the strength to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely on Your holy will. Reveal Your will to me every hour of the day. Bless my dealings with all people. Teach me to treat all people who come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unexpected events, let me not forget that all are sent by you. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me the physical strength to bear the labors of this day. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray in me. Amen.
Evening Prayer from Compline.
And grant rest, O Master, to our souls and bodies as we sleep; preserve us from the gloomy slumber of sin and from the dark passions of the night. Calm the impulses of desires, quench the fiery darts of the evil one which are craftily directed against us. Still the rebellions of the flesh, and put far from us all anxiety and worldly cares. Grant us, O God, a watchful mind, pure thoughts, a sober heart and a quiet rest free from every vision of the devil. Raise us up again at the hour of prayer, strengthened in Your precepts and holding within us steadfastly the thought of Your commandments. Grant that we may sing praises to You through the night and that we may hymn, bless and glorify Your all-honorable and majestic Name, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
The Opportunity
In obedience to our Bishop , the health authorities and to the weakest among us we must suspend public services for the time being.
These are Holy times - this is the daily bread God has allowed us to have, and to be satisfied. Take it, and find sustenance in it. While the Eucharist is and will remain the center of our community this forced situation is very similar of Lenten custom practiced by the monastics that St. Zosimas describes in the Life of St. Mary of Egypt: "After crossing the Jordan, they all scattered far and wide in different directions. And this was the rule of life they had, and which they all observed — neither to talk to one another, nor to know how each one lived and fasted. If they did happen to catch sight of one another, they went to another part of the country, living alone and always singing to God, and at a definite time eating a very small quantity of food. In this way they spent the whole of the Great Fast and used to return to the monastery a week before the Resurrection of Christ, on the eve of Palm Sunday. Each one returned having his own conscience as the witness of his labor,and no one asked another how he had spent his time in the desert. Such were the rules of the monastery.”
God has given us the opportunity to relearn the importance of the home church - and dare I say, to even fast from the commonness of the Eucharist. St Mary only had it a few times in her entire life. Don't squander this time watching liturgies on your computer to supplement the loss of our liturgical worship . Rather go, light a candle, burn incense, and in front of even just one small icon, dedicate time to prayer (specifically those prayers we sent out yesterday). Take hold of your royal priesthood - let your prayer life be incarnational. Further, this is a fasting season, each of us, like St Zosima has been tasked with spending Great Lent apart and in the wilderness of an uncertain and arduous desert - but we will return together at that eventual Pascha, and that absence from Holy Communion, our liturgical worship, and each other will cause our hearts to grow fonder. This is a miraculous opportunity to relearn what is essential - seize it! In the meantime, keep watch and pray as individuals and as families, nurture that experience.
Do the Typika service, sing or read the Akathist service (what joy is punctuated there). For those who would still prefer a live stream of the services, we are working on that as well - but again, seize this hour of prayer for yourself. See the gift God presents in these times of trouble - we are never left alone, learn that first hand through the cultivation of a domestic prayer life.
These are Holy times - this is the daily bread God has allowed us to have, and to be satisfied. Take it, and find sustenance in it. While the Eucharist is and will remain the center of our community this forced situation is very similar of Lenten custom practiced by the monastics that St. Zosimas describes in the Life of St. Mary of Egypt: "After crossing the Jordan, they all scattered far and wide in different directions. And this was the rule of life they had, and which they all observed — neither to talk to one another, nor to know how each one lived and fasted. If they did happen to catch sight of one another, they went to another part of the country, living alone and always singing to God, and at a definite time eating a very small quantity of food. In this way they spent the whole of the Great Fast and used to return to the monastery a week before the Resurrection of Christ, on the eve of Palm Sunday. Each one returned having his own conscience as the witness of his labor,and no one asked another how he had spent his time in the desert. Such were the rules of the monastery.”
God has given us the opportunity to relearn the importance of the home church - and dare I say, to even fast from the commonness of the Eucharist. St Mary only had it a few times in her entire life. Don't squander this time watching liturgies on your computer to supplement the loss of our liturgical worship . Rather go, light a candle, burn incense, and in front of even just one small icon, dedicate time to prayer (specifically those prayers we sent out yesterday). Take hold of your royal priesthood - let your prayer life be incarnational. Further, this is a fasting season, each of us, like St Zosima has been tasked with spending Great Lent apart and in the wilderness of an uncertain and arduous desert - but we will return together at that eventual Pascha, and that absence from Holy Communion, our liturgical worship, and each other will cause our hearts to grow fonder. This is a miraculous opportunity to relearn what is essential - seize it! In the meantime, keep watch and pray as individuals and as families, nurture that experience.
Do the Typika service, sing or read the Akathist service (what joy is punctuated there). For those who would still prefer a live stream of the services, we are working on that as well - but again, seize this hour of prayer for yourself. See the gift God presents in these times of trouble - we are never left alone, learn that first hand through the cultivation of a domestic prayer life.
What Else Can I Do?
Is there anyone in the parish that is unable to get groceries or essentials for themselves, whether because they are elderly or immuno-compromised? If so would you please reach out to Father Paul directly
Go a be Christ to the World!
Go a be Christ to the World!