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To the newly ordained from our parish: Deacon Michael, Sub Deacon Maurice, Sub Deacon Aubrey, Axios, Axios, Axios! During the first weekend of October, we enjoyed a wonder-filled and joyful couple of days at Camp Nazareth, culminating in ordinations of St. Silouan's newly minted clergy! The sweetness of the Holy Spirit seemingly enveloped our every gathering and activity as though He was affirming and blessing all of us, as well as the ordained. We are thankful for the memories we will cherish for a lifetime and are fortunate to have witnessed these good happenings. Pease warmly welcome and pray for our newest parish servants and their families. We will celebrate their ordinations after our Divine Liturgy on Sunday, Oct 22 Πάντα άξιος Always Worthy! Dear beloved brothers and sisters, Christ is among us! This year we were blessed to celebrate our 20th year as a parish, which is shaping up to be a red letter year in the life of our community! We eagerly await the extra "staffing" on the liturgical and pastoral side of our growing parish. We are wowed by all the many makeovers and facelifts to our temple space, particularly the addition of the 'Communion of the Apostles' icon installed in the apse of our parish. And we are blessed this year with a reinvigoration of life from the service and activities of the whole community through the work of our Ministries Council. The warmth and liveliness of this year's Parish Slava accurately reflects the mood of our praying community. A very special thank you to everyone who helped bring this event together. A great thank you to Theda and the Special Events Ministry team. Kathy and the Beautification Team, and Alexei and the Agape Ministry Team! As well, I would like to thank the many others who each helped in their own way whether small or large:
The joy of the day would not have been received without your generous, selfless offering. And thanks so much for Father Pau and Matushka Catherine for visiting us and celebrating with us. Your presence truly made the day extra-special! May our parish ever continue to be known for our collective dedication to Christ and to others. Thank you all once again for making our Slava a special day! Peace and blessings, Fr. Paul We are overjoyed that several members of our parish community are assuming the cross of service.
On Sunday October 2nd, 2022 at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, Pennsylvania the following ordinations will take place:
Please note. Due to the ordination, there will be no service at St. Silouan's on Sunday October 2nd. The service will be streamed to a link sent out via the email list. If you wish to receive the link please contact t frpaul@stsilouan.ca for details. Parishioners and friends of the parish are cordially invited to attend, witness, and pray for our brethren. If you wish to attend contact frpaul@stsilouan.ca for details.  We will be holding our annual celebration in honour of our patron, St. Silouan this Sunday, September 25 immediately following our Divine Liturgy.
We are ever grateful to God and our patron, St. Silouan for our 20 beautiful and grace-filled years as a parish. We have many reasons to count our blessings, and to continue the good work which Christ has established here. We will also bless our nearly completed altar icon which will be installed in the apse of our temple! We will also bless and thank our in-house iconographers Kathy, Sharon, Taz - guest starring Mena K for the many hours they generously spent to bring this gift forward for the community's edification! Please join us! Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη! Христосъ воскресе! Воистину воскресе! Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat! Le Christ est ressuscité! En verité il est ressuscité! !المسيح قام! حقا قام ⲠⲓⲬⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁϥⲧⲱⲛϥ! Ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲙⲉⲑⲙⲏⲓ ⲁϥⲧⲱⲛϥ! Kristus nousi kuolleista! Totisesti nousi! Cristo è risorto! È veramente risorto! ¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado! 基督復活了 他確實復活了 Please find a few pictures from our Joyous evening celebration of the feast of Pascha. We had a crowded church with much joy, singing, and then a sumptuous feast into the early hours of the morning. Congratulations to the newly illumined Nicolai baptised on the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy. We invite you to join us over the next 40 days of the Paschal Season, you haven't lived until you experience the joy of Pascha! 2022 has been a busy and full Lenten season at St. Silouan’s. With capacity restrictions lifted, please join us for all that the culminating days of Holy Week and the joy of Pascha. Check our calendar for the details of all Holy Week services. Not up to staying up Saturday night for the Paschal services? Consider the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil at 1pm on the 23rd. This year, the Saturday night Paschal services – Midnight Office, Matins and Divine Liturgy -- begin at a family friendly time of 10 pm. Parents, please feel free to make whatever accommodations to allow your kids to rejoice in the feast. Should you like to bring sleeping bags or pillows for them to sleep on, please feel free to do so! The service will be followed by the blessing of baskets and our traditional feastal potluck! Please sign-up on our parish corkboard to bring a dish or help clean up. Come let us revel in the night - let it be a sign that we eagerly await the dawn of the Day of the Lord. Christ is risen! Join us! We’re so looking forward to being altogether again! Our dear brother in Christ, Michael, was finally laid to rest after nearly two months after his death. Our sadness was mitigated by the knowledge that in the last days of his life Michael was able to clearly request that he be baptized. Father Paul was able to fulfill his wish, mere moments before EMS came to take him to hospital. We miss him sorely and pray to God that we will one day meet again where the bitter things of this life no longer encumber us. We love him and commend him to our God. May his memory be eternal! In accordance with public health guidelines, we have lifted capacity limits in our church. Feel free to come and join us for our services and share all the joys that Lent has to offer.
We recognize, however, COVID-19 has not gone away. So, to protect our entire community including those who are immune-compromised and the elderly, we will continue practices to help keep everyone safe.
We look forward to visiting us and joining us at St. Silouan's as we look forward to renewing our community outreach and full church life. As the threat of Covid has greatly reduced we have ramped up our efforts to socialize and gather after liturgy outside. This last month we had our Parish Slava on the feast of St Silouan the Anthonite. With a good attendance and even more who dropped in for the after liturgy potlach in the nearby park. Our 2021 Great Lent coincided with Ontario's 2nd and 3rd Waves, leading to severely reduced attendance and splitting our church into small weekly and biweekly pods. Despite the challenges, we were grateful to actually worship and all those who devoted their time to keep our prayer lives uplifted. The Pre-sanctified Liturgies where somber and prayerful. Despite only having 10 people for Pascha, a highlight was the dozens that showed up that night in their cars to sing Christ is Risen, have baskets blessed and bring home the light. Also this year has included both baptisms and funerals. A number of new faces joined with multiple people deciding to explore pitching their tent with us as Catechuman's and 3 adult baptisms planned this year. Some people moved away from our community and some moved in. All this without having our community face to face in over a year. Despite all the darkness, life continued with great beauty and joy. We continue our witness for Christ as a English Orthodox church in the heart of Toronto and Regent Park. Christ is Risen! |
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