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| | Fellowship Bowls for the Bayou - 10/09/05 On Sunday, October 9, the Cathedral Fellowship of St. John the Divine raised more than $1600.00 in pledges to help three familes from New Orleans that are now living in the greater New York area as a result of Hurrican Katrina. This is part of a series of events our Fellowship will be holding throughout the coming year to help these three families get back on their feet. May God bless them.
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 | St. Nicholas Cathedral Celebrates 110th Anniversary and Elevation of Father Thomas Zain - 06/07/05
St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral of Brooklyn, the Mother Cathedral and oldest parish of the Archdiocese, celebrated her 110th anniversary June 4-5, 2005. The anniversary coincided with the spring meetings of the Local Archdiocesan Synod of the Self-Ruled Archdiocese, the Archdiocese Board of Trustees and the Governing Council of the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch. All three meetings proved to be very productive, historic and fruitful.
Click here to see pictures from the banquet and the historic Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.
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Fr. Thomas' Pilgrimage to Russia - 09/01/06
From August 14 to August 29, Father Thomas and his family travelled to Russia with His Grace, Bishop MARK. They spent one week in St. Petersburg and one week in Moscow visiting the historical and holy places of both cities as well as the famous monastery of Valaam located on islands about three hours by high-speed boat north of St. Petersburg on Lake Lagoda.
In addition to visiting many monasteries, churches and palaces of the czars, other highlights of the trip included being received by Bishop MARK of the Department of External Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, being graciously received and hosted many times by His Grace, Bishop NIPHON, the representative of our Patriarchate of Antioch in Moscow, being graciously received and helped by Archimandrite Zaccaheus, the representative of the Orthodox Church in America in Moscow and former classmate of Bishop MARK and Fr. Thomas. A special thanks to Nick Roberts of the Cathedral who, in additon to his wonderful hospitality, made his driver available to Bishop MARK, Fr. Thomas and his family during their stay in St. Petersburg.
The trip concluded with two special events. The first was serving the Divine Liturgy on Sunday August 27 at the Antiochian Metoxion (Representation Church of the Archangel Gabriel) with His Grace, Bishop NIPHON of our Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. After the liturgy, Bishop NIPHON hosted a lunch on our behalf with representatives of the diplomatic corps present from Lebanon and Syria, including the Lebanese ambassador to Russia and his wife.
The second event occured on the final full day in Russia and was the highlight of the trip. Bishop MARK and Fr. Thomas were invited to serve the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 28, old calendar) in the Dormition Cathedral inside the Kremlin with His Holiness, ALEXY II, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. This Cathedral is used only on special occasions and is the principal Cathedral for all of Russia where the former czars were coronated. Following the historic liturgy, Bishop MARK and Fr. Thomas were invited to join Patriarch ALEXY and the other clergy for a lunch in the Patriarchal Palace inside the Kremlin.
Please enjoy the following photos of the trip.
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Fellowship of St. John the Divine participates in CROP Walk - 04/29/07
On Sunday, April 29th, our Fellowship of St. John the Divine headed for Manhattan via the subway after Divine Liturgy to walk in the annual city-wide CROP walk for hunger. They collected over $2500.00 in sponsors by pledging to walk 40 blocks down 5th Avenue with other area churches. Enjoy the pictures.
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Cathedral Roof Replacement - 05/24/07
Eariler this month, contractors began the replacement of the Cathedral roof. The entire roof is being replaced with new wood panels and slate. The dormers (areas around the windows) are being covered with copper too.
This major repair to the exterior of the Cathedral will last into mid-June and will cost approximately $250,000. If you are willing and able, please consider sending a special donation to St. Nicholas to help pay for this needed and costly repair.
Enjoy the pictures!
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Visit of Metropolitan ILYAS - 09/23/07
On Sunday, September 23, 2007, the faithful of the Cathedral were blessed with the surprise visit of His Eminence, ILYAS, Metropolitan of Tripoli, El-Koura and Dependencies. Sayidna ILYAS is the senior member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. Known for his exceptional chanting skills and knowledge of Byzantine music, he did not fail to live up to his renowned reputation.
His Eminence served as a deacon in the Cathedral in the 1950's and as a priest in St. George Church of Boston, MA before his election as the Metropolitan of Tripoli in the early 1960's. He also served our Archdiocese as locum tenens during the transition between the late Metropolitan ANTONY and the election, consecration and enthronement of Metropolitan PHILIP.
May God grant him many years!
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St. Raphael of Brooklyn Festival 2007 - 10/06/07
This year, thanks be to God, we were blessed with summer-like weather for our 4th annual St. Raphael of Brooklyn Neighborhood Festival. As usual, we worked hard to open our church and our hearts to the local community. In addition to good food, music and, fun and fellowship, people from the surrounding community were able to see our beautiful cathedral, many for the first time. We were even honored with a visit from our district United States Congresswoman, The Honorable Yvette Clarke.
This year, in addition to raising much needed funds for our recently replaced roof, we nevertheless remembered one of the main goals of the festival, to give something back to our local community. This year we once again chose the Gowanus Tutoring program to help children in the area receive tutoring after school. Please view the slideshow and enjoy!
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Many Years to the Hamelat El-Teeb - 10/07/07
On Sunday, June 7, 2007, our Hamelat El-Teeb (Myrrh-Bearing Women Society) celebrated their 90th anniversary. Rather than a big event, they chose to go out to lunch and spend the afternoon together. Since their beginnings, they have been the backbone of our Cathedral and we pray for eternal memory to those who have gone to their rest and many years to those living members who continue to carry the torch for the next generation.
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Trip to Holy Protection Monastery - 11/17/07
Our Pre-Teen Church School class went on an overnight trip with Fr. Thomas and Khouriah Claudia to Holy Protection Monastery for women in White Haven, PA. They left Friday evening after school and enjoyed dinner in a Mexican restaurant and a swim in a nearby hotel before visiting the monastery on Saturday. In preparation for their visit they viewed a DVD in the van on the life of the Prophet Elias made for children and spent time before going to bed praying and learning about the patronal feast of the monastery, the Protection of the Theotokos, and reading about the life of the Mother of God.
For most of them, it was their first trip to a monastery and they enjoyed their time there learning more about their faith and bonding together with their parish priest and each other.
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Join us on a Pilgrimage to Russia in 2008!
After much anticipation, the plans for our 2008 pilgrimage to Russia are coming together. The plan is to depart from New York on Monday, August 18, 2008 and return on Monday, September 1, 2008. We intend to spend 8 nights in St. Petersburg and 5 nights in Moscow. The cost is $4800.00 a person based on double occupancy and the group will be limited in size. Please email Fr. Thomas at abouna@aol.com with your questions. Click here for a brochure with details about the trip.In the meantime, you can see pictures from Fr. Thomas' 2006 trip with his family and His Grace, Bishop MARK to see many of the places the pilgrimage will visit by clicking on the "archived news" link at the bottom of this page. SOLD OUT!
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St. Nicholas Church School Christmas Party - 12/09/07
Our church school children had their annual Christmas party on Sunday, December 9, 2007, follwing the Divine Liturgy. Before going down to the church hall, our seminarian, Sub-deacon Rico Monge gave a children's sermon about the true meaning of our Lord's nativity. The children who regularly attend church school were also presented with gift cards from Fr. Thomas on behalf of our parish council chairman, Mr. George Stephan, who could not be there.
In the church hall, St. Nicholas/Santa Claus paid the children a visit and presented each of them with a gift. In turn, the children all brought gifts for the Toys for tots program that firemen from the local firehouse came to pick up later in the afternoon.
We thank our church school superintendant, Lila Coury for her efforts in making today a great success. We also thank those who donated money and gifts for the children. God bless you all!
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St. Nicholas Luncheon honoring Bishop ANTOUN - 12/02/07
This year's annual St. Nicholas Day luncheon was very special in that we honored His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN of Miami (and our former dean) on the occasion of his 25th anniversary as a bishop. Bishop ANTOUN was consecrated on January 8, 1983 at St. Nicholas Cathedral. Since that time he has made hundreds of trips to parishes all over the United States and Canada. We pray that God will grant Bishop ANTOUN many more years as he continues to serve his diocese and the Archdiocese.
At the same time, as we celebrated our partonal feast, we were able to collect over $7,500.00 to put toward the loan for the new roof. A special thank you to the chairlady for the day, Ms. Norma Khoury and her entire committee for a job well done!
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