Holy Trinity Orthodox Church

Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Boswell, Pa.

You are invited to join the parishioners of Ss. Peter and Paul Church in Boswell at an open house outreach event planned for Saturday, October 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come and welcome the community’s new priest, Fr. Elijah Bremer, and purchase delicious homemade baked goods that will benefit a parish restoration project.

Guided church tours and an historical display will also give local area inquirers an opportunity to encounter Orthodoxy.

For more information, call (814) 839-2657.

All parish ministry leaders and their spouses are invited to attend a dessert social in the Parish Hall on Tuesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. The informal evening is an opportunity for fellowship and personal renewal for the strengthening of Holy Trinity’s ministries.

All Holy Trinity families are invited to attend the annual Archdiocesan Family Day to be held at the Archdiocesan Center (8641 Peters Road in Cranberry Township; click here for directions) on Saturday, August 20 beginning at 3:30 p.m. There will be plenty of activities for kids of all ages, as well as music, contests, activities, and games. See you there!

The Very Rev. Archpriest Peter E. Gillquist — well known author, evangelist, and beloved friend of Holy Trinity and the Penn State Orthodox Christian Fellowship — has been diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma. Last weekend it was discovered that Fr. Peter’s cancer is much more extensive than first thought, and he has been placed under hospice care as a result.

Please keep Fr. Peter, his wife Marilyn, and his family in your prayers. Fr. Peter is a two-time cancer survivor, having survived stage III melanoma in 1999 and another bout in 2010.

Please go to the parish website of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Bloomington, IN, where Fr. Peter is a member and where his son, Fr. Peter Jon Gillquist, is the pastor: http://allsaintsbloomington.org/our-pastor/fr-peter-seniors-health/ to share your personal reflections and stories.

Parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania will rotate in celebrating the Divine Liturgy every day for forty days beginning May 21 and culminating with the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29). These liturgies provide the opportunity for hundreds of living and departed faithful to be commemorated each day. Holy Trinity’s turn is May 28 (Memorial Day) at 9 a.m., with Vespers celebrated the night before at 5 p.m.

To have you and your loved ones commemorated at each of these liturgies, please send your names to Deacon Alexander at dnalex@holytrinity-oca.org. (Please specify “living” or “departed” and indicate any non-Orthodox names with an asterisk.)  He will be collecting names through Wednesday, May 16 to send to the Archdiocese.

As they are able, Holy Trinity parishioners are also encouraged to support this Archdiocesan-wide initiative by attending a few liturgies at neighboring churches. Below is a complete schedule with Johnstown-Altoona deanery parishes bolded (click on the church’s name for information and directions).

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 25, a new 18-foot-high (including a six-foot high three-bar cross) 700-pound fiberglass dome was hoisted up by crane and set into place at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church at 119 South Sparks Street in State College. The church’s topping off completes a multiyear, half-million dollar renovation project that added 75 percent in additional program and worship space, as well as several large hand-painted murals that cover most of the building’s interior. The project was completely funded by the generous donations of dozens of local area parishioners.

The installation was completed by Vyacheslav (Slava) Dmitriyev of the State College-based Better Homes LLC, who spent the last three weeks readying the gold dome and constructing the external framework onto which it was laid.

Holy Trinity is a parish of the Orthodox Church in America (Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania), the local autocephalous Orthodox Church in North America. Its 200-plus member Christian congregation has been led by the Archpriest John Reeves since 1996.

To view pictures of the event, visit Holy Trinity’s Facebook page at facebook.com/holytrinitysc.

In celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection, three weekday morning paschal liturgies will be celebrated this week with Paschal Vespers each evening. Bringing the joy home, see the attached the Hours of Pascha, which may be printed out and festively sung in place of one’s Morning and Evening Prayers this Bright Week.

CRESTWOOD, NY [via svots.edu] — Interweaving icons, sacred texts, and a cappella music, the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale will present “ORIENT: Sacred Song and Image” on May 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Actor’s Chapel of New York City. The concert will combine the best elements of a professional choral performance with the depth of the Orthodox liturgical experience in a truly beautiful multimedia artistic performance. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at svots.edu.