St. Nicholas Orthodox Church Scarborough, Toronto, English Language Orthodox Church Toronto,Orthodox Services English

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Parish Announcements

Pascha 2025 – Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

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St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral
Christ is Risen!   Truly He is Risen!
Pascha 2025

Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,

Christ is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

May Our Saviour’s victory over Hades, trampling down death by death, and His glorious Resurrection from the dead, be for all of us a wellspring of enlightenment and hope throughout the year ahead.

How blessed we were throughout Holy Week to hear together the magnificent hymns, readings from the Scriptures and to be present in the sacred Services.  We stood at the Cross of our Saviour and in the deep of night on Saturday heard the announcement from the Gospel of Matthew: ‘He is Risen, He is not here… go quickly and tell His disciples that He is Risen from the dead.’                                                                                                         

“Christ is Risen from the dead, by death hath He trampled down death,
and on those in the graves hath He bestowed life!”

We rejoiced also at the Baptisms of the newly illumined servant of God Edward, and the newly illumined servant of God Laurence.  May Christ our God strengthen them on the firm foundation of the Faith and Traditions of the Apostles in the holy Orthodox Church!   And how magnificent a blessing it was at the Agape Vespers of Love on Sunday afternoon to hear the holy Gospel read in thirteen different languages: English, Slavonic, Cantonese, Amharic, Italian, French, German, Hindi, Greek, Macedonian, Telugu, Ukrainian, and Spanish!

Renewed in Spirit and in Faith, let us come together each Sunday and Feast day ahead and worship Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

To Him be glory and dominion unto the ages! Amen.

Father Anthony

Paschal Encyclical of Metropolitan Gregory 2025

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Paschal Encyclical of Metropolitan Gregory

St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral

Dear and faithful Orthodox Christians,

Christ is Risen!    Truly He is Risen!

Our Metropolitan Gregory issued the following Encyclical for Pascha 2025.
Please read through his beautiful and instructive words.

The pdf may be found here:

https://mcusercontent.com/f55360c0bbb65ffab2f6730b5/files/3bba68c7-ee53-ab58-af44-1aeeb815c202/PaschalEncyclical2025.pdf

Father Anthony

Celebrating the Feasts of Saint Nicholas and the Nativity of Our Saviour

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Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,

Thanks to God for our joyous Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ!

These have been truly remarkable and grace-filled days!  Bringing our gifts of prayer, chanting, our offerings to support the Church, and our community spirit of fellowship, it was as if we ascended mystically to Bethlehem and stood in the Church at the cave with the Magi and the Shepherds as our Christian companions.  Following the Nativity Services of Royal Hours, Vesperal Liturgy, the Great Vigil, and then the Divine Liturgy of Nativity Day, the joy of the Feastday resounded throughout our Luncheon and the happy singing of Christmas Carols.

   Saint Nicholas Church magnificently decorated for Nativity

And just over two weeks before, our Nativity Fast had been illumined at the Feast of our holy patron Saint Nicholas!  We can recall now the compunctionate All-night Vigil Service, the Hierarchical Liturgy that was celebrated on the Feast of Saint Nicholas with our Metropolitan Gregory of Boston and Toronto, who presided, together with John, Bishop of Woodside, New York.   Father Protodeacon George and I were also accompanied by a number of visiting clergy including our beloved Elder and Abbott Isaac of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Father Sergey from Saint Seraphim Parish, Father Pedros of Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Boston, Father Bohdan and Presbytera Donna, from the Parish of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, Father Demjan of Saint Andrew’s in Saskatoon, and our own dear Father Ephraim, monk.

Metropolitan Gregory and Clergy at the Vigil on Saint Nicholas Feast

On Saint Nicholas morning before the Liturgy, Reader Elijah from Boston was ordained to the Subdeaconate.  May God grant him strength to serve Christ’s Church with diligence and joy!

Ordination of Subdeacon Elijah

In his sermon at the Liturgy, Metropolitan Gregory encouraged us to continue in our steadfastness in the Faith and to act with Christian compassion towards others as Saint Nicholas did.  The Metropolitan outlined that Saint Nicholas exemplifies using, ‘the right hand of exactness and zeal in matters of the Faith, without compromise, never adding nor subtracting, and using the left hand of compassion, having a compassionate heart with our brethren and towards all.  Then peace reigns in the Church.’  After the Liturgy we celebrated the Feast with a Luncheon in the Church hall which was filled with vibrant conversations, and delicious food.

On the Sunday after Saint Nicholas day, the Hierarchical Liturgy was celebrated by Metropolitan Gregory. After the Liturgy, we received a special blessing as the sacred relics of the holy Martyr Saint Maurice of the Theban legion and relics of several of his martyred fellow Soldiers were brought into the Church for veneration.  Encompassed with grace and wonder that the sacred relics of these ancient martyred Saints were present before us, we reverenced them with honour, giving thanks for the mercy of God.  This was followed by a second Parish Luncheon and a Question and Answer period with Metropolitan Gregory.  There was a wide array of interesting questions and the discussions covered areas including: the introduction of Christianity and Orthodoxy in Japan, the different categories and levels of interpretation that the Fathers reveal in the holy Scriptures, and many others, an enlightening conversation for us all.

Metropolitan Gregory, Bishop John and Clergy on the Feast of Saint Nicholas

And now as we progress to the great Feast of Theophany, celebrating the Baptism of Our Saviour and the manifestation of the Holy Trinity, may we rejoice now in this Feast of Lights, and come to draw from the blessed waters, and receiving sanctification from Our Saviour Jesus Christ, may He receive our worship and join it together with the Angels in Heaven.

As King David prophesied, and we have seen fulfilled, ‘The waters saw Thee O God, the waters saw Thee and were afraid.  The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory hath thundered, the Lord is upon the many waters!’ (Psalm 76)

Services for Theophany:

Friday January 17, 2025 – Royal Hours and Typika for Theophany
6:30 pm Royal Hours

Saturday, January 18, 2025 – Eve of Theophany

8:30 am  Vespers and Divine Liturgy followed by the first Blessing of the Waters
3:30pm  Vigil of Theophany

Sunday, January 19, 2025 – The Theophany of Our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ

9:00 am  Divine Liturgy followed by the Great Blessing of the Waters
After Coffee Hour we will proceed to Lake Ontario to bless the waters there.

With prayers and blessings of the Feasts!

Father Anthony

Celebrating the Upcoming Feast of Saint Nicholas

By

St. Nicholas English Orthodox Parish

Dear and Faithful Orthodox Christians,

As the Feast of our holy Patron Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker approaches, and as we continue our Fast in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Saviour, it is a good time for us to look back and consider the many blessings we have received from Christ through the intercessions of Saint Nicholas!

Chief among these blessings, we are grateful to God that we have Hierarchs and Clergy that are diligent and faithful in our holy Orthodox Faith! And secondly, we are blessed with a caring and loving community of Faithful, journeying together on the path of salvation with the help of our Saviour and the Saints.

I am reminded of the words the Priest says quietly during the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, ‘For all these things we give thanks unto Thee, to Thine Only-begotten Son, and to Thy Holy Spirit, for all Thy benefits which we know, and which we know not, benefits manifest and concealed which have been wrought for us.’

We recall with thanksgiving and joy so many blessings: the baptism of our brother Anthony in March, receiving our dear sister Gabriela into the Church in May, celebrating the Liturgy of Saint James the brother of God for the first time at Saint Nicholas in November, receiving the magnificent icon of Saint Elizabeth the Grand-Duchess and New Martyr, written for us at Holy Nativity Convent, and the vibrant discussion we had together at our talk, ‘On the Divine Liturgy’ in October. The excitement of our parishioners who participated at the Saint Peter the Aleut Camp in August, being blessed by the prayers of our Elder Isaac and dear Mother Seraphima, and for me personally, the honour of serving at our Church of the Mother of God in Calgary and visiting the faithful in Montreal. Most recently on December 9th, we all rejoiced together at the holy Baptism of George and Paraskeve, the newly illumined.

With all these blessings and so many others in mind, we will come together to honour Saint Nicholas our heavenly intercessor in just a few days. There will be the Vigil and Hierarchical Liturgy with our Metropolitan Gregory and other visiting clergy, a celebration Lunch and a talk with the Metropolitan on the following Sunday. Let us put aside as much of the daily commotion as we can and dedicate time for prayer with our beloved Saint. Come to the Vigil in his honour for the full evening, for as your able for a few hours of the Service, and rejoice in the Liturgy on his Feast Day. In our homes also we should pray his Dismissal Hymn in our Icon Corner:

Saint Nicholas Dismissal Hymn – Tone 4
The Truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock, * as a rule of Faith, and Icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance. * For this cause though hast received the heights by humility, * riches by poverty.* O Father and Hierarch Nicholas,* intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Celebrating The Feast of Saint Nicholas – Wed Dec 18 and Thurs Dec 19

We will celebrate the Feast of Saint Nicholas with the following Services and activities:

6:30pm Wednesday Dec 18, Vigil on the Feast of Saint Nicholas

8:45am Thursday Dec 19, Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Gregory, Bishop John, Elder and Abbot Isaac, and visiting clergy
Festive Luncheon following the Divine Liturgy on Thursday Dec 19.

3:30pm Saturday Dec 21, Vigil Service

8:45am Sunday Dec 22, Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Gregory presiding
Q&A with Metropolitan Gregory at Coffee hour following Divine Liturgy

Honouring Saint Nicholas

As our forbears have done for centuries, we look forward to coming together on these festal days to honour Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas, the wonderworking Bishop of Myra! The defender of Orthodoxy at the First Council! The instructor in humility! The Protector and Father of our Church.

Let us make real our thanks to God for our blessings and attend and participate in as much as we can!

O Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker of Myra, intercede for your flock, for we call upon thee with faith!

Father Anthony’