Church Phone: (781) 585-8907

Administrator and Dean: Archpriest Vasily Lickwar | (401) 658-0874

Attached Priest: Archpriest John T. Bacon | burbank302@aol.com

President/Warden: Catherine Condrick | 781-635-7481 | catherinecondrick@yahoo.com

Third & Sixth Hour: Every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM

Divine Liturgy: Every Sunday morning at 10:00 AM followed by Church School and a fellowship meal

Vespers: The First Saturday of every month at 6:00 PM

To arrange a confession, baptism, marriage or funeral, please contact Fr. John Bacon.

You may also speak with him during the fellowship hour on Sundays.

St. Mark of Ephesus is blessed with a small, but actively participating congregation. We are a warm, family-oriented body of faithful believers and our members are of all age groups and we embrace many cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The parish conducts a regular and traditional cycle of Orthodox liturgical worship throughout the course of the year. Great Vespers takes place on the first Saturday of every month. Church School classes meet every Sunday after Divine Liturgy. The Parish Council meets the first Tuesday evening of every month, under the guidance of the parish rector to maintain and promote the wholesomeness, stability and well-being of the parish. 

Each Sunday, Divine Liturgy is followed by a time of pleasant fellowship and hospitality, as an expression of Eucharistic unity. The St. Mark parish participates regularly in several community charitable ministries such as on-going charities to aid local shelters, grocery collections for our on-going food pantry, and visiting the ill and shut-ins in our community. All these inititatives are supported by the free-will offerings and volunteer assistance of the parishioners.

Saturday, September 14: The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross (repose of St. John Chrysostom 407)

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Creating Cross of the Lord: The pagan Roman emperors tried to completely eradicate from human memory the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and was resurrected for mankind. The Emperor Hadrian (117-138) gave orders to cover over the ground of Golgotha and the Sepulchre of the Lord, and to build a temple of the pagan goddess Venus and a statue of Jupiter. Pagans gathered at this place and offered sacrifice to idols there. Eventually after 300 years, by Divine Providence, the great Christian sacred remains, the Sepulchre of the Lord and the Life-Creating Cross were again discovered and opened for veneration. This took place under the Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) after his victory in the year 312 over Maxentius, ruler of the Western part of the Roman empire, and over Licinius, ruler of its Eastern part. In the year 323 Constantine became the sole ruler of the vast Roman Empire.  (if you would like to read futher about the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, please visit the OCA website for Saturday, September 14 - Feasts and Saints of the day).

Monday, September 9: Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Most-Holy Theotokos: Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God: Joachim and Anna (1st); Commemoration of the Third Ecumenical Council (431).

Friday, September 13: Forefeast of the Exaltation of the Cross: Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) in Jerusalem (335).

Sunday, September 15: Celebrating the feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross | Archpriest Mark Sherman, Celebrant | Readings: Feast: 1 Corinthians 1:18-24, St. John 19:6-111, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35

Sunday, September 22: Church School begins & Service of Thanksgiving for the beginning of a church school year.

Tuesday, September 24: Parish Council Meeting, 6:30 PM

Sunday, September 29: The St. Mark Book Club will hold its first meeting of the new church year after the fellowship hour. We will discuss our previous book "Truly Human" and we will discuss our next book and meeting dates and times. All are welcome to join! Please email Catherine at catherinecondrick@yahoo.com for more information, or if you would like to be a part of the club. 

Welcome to a new year at Church School on Sunday, September 22! A service of Thanksgiving will be held on this day as well to commemorate the beginning of the Church School year. Please click on the "Church School Tab" of our website for more information about church school.

For our elementary students, church school will begin immediately following Divine Liturgy. Ms. Jen is looking for a few simple, healthy, non-perishable and non-messy snacks that could be kept in a secure tote in the loft. Examples would be: fruit snacks, goldfish crackers and granola bars. If your child has a food allergy, please let Ms. Jen know. If you would like to donate snacks, please bring them with you on the first day of church school. Thank you!

Here are some highlights:

The Sunday school room has a new reading nook, which will allow each class to spread out and develop its own identity and focus on their work with minimal distractions

Class Break Down:

St. Anna: High School (independent study and teaching assistant)

St. Mary of Egypt: Fourth grade and up (church school time)

St. Jacob Netsetov: Third grade and younger (church school time)

Our St. Jacob students will continue to use the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese elementary curriculum; they are progressing to the second grade series: Loving God. The St. Mary class will use the Orthodox Christian Education Commission's fourth grade series: Jesus, the Promise of God.

Learing about Confession: This year, in coordination with Fr. John Bacon, we will be preparing all students for their first confession. Lessons relating to confession will be incorporated into the church school year. We hope to schedule a special time for all students to make their first confession and the commemorate this special occasion with a celebration.

October 19: Please join us for our 2nd annual trip to the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts!

Deadline to sign up: October 1

Current Exhibitions at the museum include: Wrestling with Angels Icons from the Prosopon School of Iconology and Iconography & Zhostovo: A Russian-American Odyssey.

We will be renting a 20-passenger van to the museum and our trip will end with a Mediterranean buffet dinner at Zaytoon Restaurant. Everyone is welcome to attend and there will be special activities at the museum for the children! If you would like to attend, please email Catherine Condrick at catherinecondrick@yahoo.com to secure your spot. 

Details about the price of the trip per person will be coming soon. Here is the itinerary of the trip:

12:00 PM - Van leaves St. Mark

1:30 PM - Arrive at the museum

4:00 PM - Walk to Zaytoon Restaurant for a buffet dinner

5:15 PM -  Bus leaves restaurant & homeward bound to St. Mark

Museum Admission Fees (depending on how many people sign up, we may be able to recieve a group discount, but here are the general fees)

Adults $10, Seniors (59 and over) $7, Children (3-17) $5, Children under 3 FREE

Sunday, November 3: Annual Harvest Fair 

This year's Baking & Cooking Contest Challenge is to bake a Maple-Flavored Dessert!

Your dessert can be a cake, cookies, muffins, scones, pie, custard, etc., but it must be flavored with pure maple syrup or maple sugar.

Contest Rules and Regulations

• All entries must be maple-flavored with pure maple syrup or maple sugar
• All entries must be made from scratch.
• Please write your full name and the ingredients on a flash card and tape it to the bottom of your dish. Please note if your dish is gluten free or has nuts.
• One entry per person.
• The judges will be judging your dish on 1. Taste, 2. Appearance, 3. Creativity

Prizes will be given out for: First Place, Second Place, Third Place and Honorable Mention

Judges and details for the Children's Harvest Fair will be posted soon.

Please consider sending a card to someone on our prayer list to show them that you care and please continue to pray for them.  Greeting cards are available in the bookstore at St. Mark for $3.00. If you would like to send a card to a parishioner and do not have their address, please contact Catherine Condrick at catherinecondrick@yahoo.com.

The ill and shut-in: George Sowpel, Greg Smith, Cecelia, Reader John Hood, Gina, Paula & Jeff Starr, Norma, Peter, Alexandra, Nicholas, Archpriest Steven Belonick, Alban Frank Ryles, Matushka Eleanor, Priest Antony, Child Joshua, Tatiana, Kh. Diana, Frances, Alexandra, Eugenia, Lydia, Reader George, Matushka Irene, Gregory, Alexandra; the Kidnapped Hierarchs Metropolitan Paul (Boulos Yazigi) & Archbishop John (Yohanna Ibrahim); the suffering Christians of Egypt/Syria; those who suffer from terrorist attacks, fires, storms, floods and earthquakes. 

Please pray for and visit those who are sick and suffering today, as many need our love and support.