We begin the month of June with the episcopal visit of Bishop JOHN on the weekend of June 1 and 2. Sayedna JOHN is the Bishop for the Antiochian Western Rite parishes but also serves as the Bishop of Worcester and as the editor of the Word magazine. He will be with us for Vespers at 6PM on Saturday, June 1, at which time he will bless the Eucharistic Dove which has been given to St. Gregory’s and he will tonsure Patrick Woolley to the rank of Reader. Dinner will be served after the service. On Sunday morning, June 2, at the end of High Mass, we will anticipate the Rogation processions by singing the Litany of the Saints as we process around the grounds (weather permitting).
Ascension Day will be celebrated on the Eve, Wednesday, June 5, with Vespers at 7PM, Mass at 7:30, and a pot-luck supper following. The Paschal Candle, which has been burning since the Easter Vigil, representing the presence of the Risen Lord on earth, will be extinguished after the Gospel at this service.
The great feast of Pentecost, fifty days after Pascha, falls on June 16 this year. As we celebrate the appearing of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire and hear about them speaking in many languages, we will repeat a portion of the Epistle in as many languages as are represented at St. Gregory’s.
Trinity Sunday, when in the Western Rite we celebrate the great mystery of God as One in Three Persons, is June 23. The feast of Corpus Christi in celebration of the Holy Eucharist will be observed on the Sunday in the Octave, June 30.
The Parish Life Conference for the Eastern Dioceses will be held at Antiochian Village June 26-30.
Read the full June newsletter here.