Welcome to the Orthodox Church of St. Stephen the Protomartyr!

On Tuesday, January 17th we will be celebrating the on Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Venerable and God-bearing Father Saint Anthony the Great.  Saint Anthony lived in the third century and is called the father of monasticism.   Saint Anthony wanting to follow the command of Christ " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." (Mat. 19:21) sold the family estate and went to live in the desert.   More information about St. Anthony can be found in The Life of St. Anthony by Athanasius and in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. 

 Apolytikion of Saint Anthony 

On Sunday December 8, the Sunday following Theophany, the celebration of the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ we welcomed Alessia into the life of the Chruch. 

 On Friday we celebrated the feast of Theophany which commemorates the Lord was

 baptised in the River Jourdan. On Thursday we prepared to celebrate the feast of Theophany with Royal Hours, vespers and liturgy followed by the great blessing of the waters. 

"Baptism is the symbol of death and resurrection; Christ came to the earth in order to die and be raised. Baptism is a symbol of repentance of sin and its forgiveness; Christ came as the

 Dear friends,

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

We had a glorious celebration of the Nativity of our Lord this past weekend! I hope your holiday was filled with joy. One of the highlights for us was the celebration of our patron, St. Stephen the Protomartyr yesterday. We had over 30 faithful gathered for a week day Divine Liturgy and after the Liturgy we enjoyed a delicious feast at Toojays. The Feast of Nativity continues so there is no fasting until the Eve of Theophany on January 5th. It is amazing to think that 2012 is just around the corner. I always like to set some goals for the coming year, and this year, I am using Fr. Thomas Hopko's 55 Maxims for Christian Living as a guide. One of my goals is to read through the Gospels in January using this plan. Did you know it takes an average of 3 minutes and 45 seconds per day to read the entire New Testament in a year? There are a few suggestions for you. What are your goals for 2012? 

- We will host a concert at the Church on January 8th. Sofya Dudaeva will play classical music on the flute. Local charity group CTG will provide drinks and appetizers. There will be a free will donation and all proceeds will go to the Ephraim Project, a ministry to the homeless in Orlando. The flyer is attached. Please come and invite your friends.

- We have been encouraged by our Diocesan leaders to start serving Vespers on Wednesday night. Many healthy parishes in our Diocese have seen benefit from their midweek Vespers service. The first midweek Vespers at St. Stephens will be January 11 and it will be followed by a full Panikhida for the departed priests who have served St. Stephens. Fr. Peter and Fr. Lawrence departed this life just over a year ago and we will also include Fr. Slava who served our Russian community.  

- The Akathist to St. Xenia of Petersburg is a good prayer for those who are looking for work.   

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

--From Fr. David's Parish Email