Carol Service for the Eve of the Nativity of Christ: Zoom service 1800 hrs (Try to join around 17.45 hrs)

The words of all the carols are available on our website. Login addresses for other services are also on the website.

At 17.50  Christina Antoniadou will play some Christmas music before we worship.

Welcome           Father Leonard

Introduction     Deacon Christine

Lord’s Prayer:   Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;

                             Thy kingdom come, thy will be done; in earth as it is in heaven.

                             Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our

                             trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

                             And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil;

                             For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,

                             For ever and ever.  Amen.

Carol   1 It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
from heaven’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
to hear the angels sing.

2 Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heavenly music floats
o’er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains,
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o’er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.

3 And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing!

4 For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years
shall come the time foretold
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world send back the song
which now the angels sing.

1^st Reading   Luke 1 (26-38)    The Annunciation

Anthem:        Angel’s Carol (John Rutter) sung by Clary Read in Canterbury

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Christmas Tree Appeal!

We thank you all from far and near

For helping bring some Christmas cheer

Our Christmas tree as you can see

Now has some presents on the tree

But there are still so many branches

That do not have a gift to bear

So won’t you send a little something

To fill the tree and show you care.

But don’t forget to let us know

Click on the link and feel the glow

That comes with giving this time of year

Full of love and hope and festive cheer.

http://anglicanchurchathens.gr/support-st-pauls/donations/

www.paypal.me/StPaulsathens

*Please mark your donation “Christmas Tree”.

Advent Message – The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan, Athens. November 2020

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25, 1-13).

November 29^th is Advent Sunday. We begin a new church year. The liturgical cycle has come round full circle. A new season begins, a short punchy and powerful season. A new year begins also in the CofE three year cycle of liturgical readings. From this Advent we will be on Year 2 readings.

Advent is a season set aside in time, to mark time – to mark time before the birth of the timeless one. It has many seasonal riches. Advent calendars are among the favourite accompaniment for this season – and now available in a full range of chocolate products behind every door! There are advent candles that burn down for each day of Advent, so long as you remember to blow it out each time! In our churches we would normally have Advent candle stands, with our 4 purple candles and a central white candle. If you are very exotic the candle for the 3^rd Sunday in Advent will be pink – not for Our Lady, as some think, but for what is called ‘Gaudete Sunday’ or ‘Rejoice Sunday’ when the normal fasting and austerities of Advent were relaxed.

Another favourite feature for me are the days of Advent that lead directly into Christmas, the ‘Great O’ days. It begins with ‘O Sophia’, so not surprisingly it is called Holy Wisdom day. Each of these days addresses Christ by one of the many titles given him by scripture or the church. They are probably best preserved in the popular mind by the great Advent hymn,

O come, O come, Emmanuel!

Redeem thy captive Israel,

That into exile drear is gone

Far from the face of God’s dear Son.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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Zoom login for Night Prayer in Advent

Fr Leonard is inviting everyone to join him in Night Prayer each evening in Advent – 1st – 23rd December, at 9.00pm – 21.0 hrs.  Please have available a candle to light during the service.  Please follow the link below for access to the Zoom service.  Please encourage friends and relations to join with us in this season of preparation and expectation.

Leonard Doolan is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85222931221?pwd=QmdkWW4xaytYcWlKM3VZdlp0aUxSZz09

 Meeting ID: 852 2293 1221

Passcode: 3jNShp

Topic: Night Prayer

Time: Dec 1, 2020 09:00 PM Athens

        Every day, until Dec 23, 2020, 23 occurrence(s)

        Dec 1, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 2, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 3, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 4, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 5, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 6, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 7, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 8, 2020 09:00 PM

        Dec 9, 2020 09:00 PM

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Audio Pastoral Letter from Fr Leonard – November 2020

Pastoral Letter 4 From Fr Leonard

Dear Friends,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In his letter to the church community in Rome St. Paul says, ‘For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8, 38-39).

I would add to this list Covid-19, the pandemic that has the world in its vice-like grip in increasing numbers yet again. This virus will not separate us from the love of God, nor in our life in the Holy Spirit will it separate us from each other. Our strength together is more than just our meeting together, though being together gathered around the holy table, side by side, is our royal calling as the baptized holy people of God. We pray for that day when this is possible again.

In response to the current developments of the virus the Government has issued new restrictions for places of worship. These restrictions are in place first and foremost to keep us safe. This is how it affects our own situation.

St. Paul’s will be closed for public worship during this period of lockdown. Sunday services will continue on Zoom either from my apartment or occasionally from St. Paul’s Church.

You can access Zoom by going to the St. Paul’s Anglican Church Athens website where you will find the link. It will be the same link each week. In addition Deacon Christine and I will offer additional worship and spiritual resources for you. Chris will offer something weekly on Facebook. Please contact her directly about this. I will make arrangements for a mid-week evening service on Zoom. It will be 4 Wednesdays in November beginning at 19.00 and I will build in time for a chat afterwards. The link for this will be on our website also. The order of service for this will also be on the website.

We will work on ways to keep the monthly raffle draw going.

As we approach the time when the legendary Christmas Bazaar, a great social occasion as well as fund-raiser, would normally be taking place we are all once again reminded of the need to address the loss of income to St. Paul’s. Please use internet banking for your donation, if you possibly can. The details are on our website. Contact me if you have any questions about financial giving to St. Paul’s. If you cannot use the bank, please put aside your normal weekly offering and bring it with you when you next come to St. Paul’s, whenever that might be.

Stay safe and well, and remain thankful to God for his blessing of love, from which nothing can separate us.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.

Father Leonard

PASTORAL LETTER 3 – 6TH OCTOBER 2020

Dear Friends at St. Paul’s

This is the third Pastoral Letter I have issued since the lockdowns began back in March 2020. This time some of you will receive it as a voice recording – and my apologies if you receive it in a printed version also.

With Greek Government Covid-19 restrictions in place, we have been blessed compared to most other countries in that we have been permitted to hold public worship since May 17^th. After a cautious start we have slowly built up our worship experience again – I am stressing familiarity rather than normality, as we are far from what we knew and loved up until the beginning of March this year.

As I reported before, Zoom has become a familiar feature in the worshipping, praying, and studying life of many in our congregation and with our wider and much cherished group of friends and supporters. Even after we could begin to worship publicly again, we continued to have Zoom Sunday services until the end of June, as well as weekly Evening Prayer, and a weekly bible study. These possibilities have been warmly welcomed and appreciated. I am delighted to say that since the 4^th October (St. Francis Day) we can now ‘live Zoom’ our Liturgy from St. Paul’s. The sound is not perfect – we have to negotiate a complex mix of microphones, organ playing and congregational responses and gentle singing. However it is a wonderful way of keeping in touch with the Sunday worship.

These weeks and months of 2020 have been challenging. We are all in one way or another feeling spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically ‘abused’ by this potent virus. It is stretching us and billions of others to their limits, and we are nowhere near resolving its capricious impact on human life. Many are in isolation – either by choice or by imposition. Over a million are sick with the virus, and hundreds of thousands have died.  Many are fearful. Although we have every right to have human responses to this pandemic, as Christians we have to reflect also on the words of Christ, spoken when his fishermen disciples were terrified in the eye of a storm, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matthew 14, 27). Sunday 18h October is the Feast of St. Luke – we will include the ‘anointing with oil’ for healing of body, mind and soul, within our Sunday Liturgy.

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Zoom Service on Sundays

Leonard Doolan is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Please sign in by 10.00 or you may not be admitted!

Time: Oct 4, 2020 10:00 AM Athens

Every week on Sun, until Dec 27, 2020, 13 occurrence(s)