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PEACE AND GRACE, PARISHIONERS!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Behold and see, sons of God, and know today, that you are appointed since time immemorial to become saints without blame in the fullness of God’s love, that is Christ’s, who is in you and you in Him. Have you accepted this grace today? Have you pledged in your hearts and consciences to truly be sons of God in accordance to the pleasure of His will? This grace is offered to you today and every day. Accept it, and live it, as you should in accordance to the ethics, principles, and behavior of the saints, as sons of God and the eternal life you were called to."

+Abouna Matta El-Meskeen, commemorated on 16 December/7 Kiahk

FOR YOUR EDIFICATION

Peter the Iberian and the Legacy of Chalcedon

KIAHK PRAISES & AGAPE MEAL

On Saturdays during the month of Kiahk, we will be praying the Kiahk midnight praises immediately following Vespers. In order to allow families to stay and participate without impacting bedtime for the kids, we will begin with the first several canticles and then break for a time of fellowship and a light meal together. For those who are able to stay, after the meal, we will resume Tasbeha. To bring food and snacks for the meals, please reach out to Silvia Guirguis. 

PARISH CLEANING DAY

This Saturday, we ask for as many as possible to come help clean our parish in preparation for decorating for the Nativity Feast! While many diligently help every week to keep things clean, we are overdue for a deep cleaning. We will be focusing on tasks like cleaning windows and blinds, washing the carpet, and organizing. Additionally, we are hoping to have several men join us who are willing to help clean and organize in the altar. We will be there from around 11 a.m. until Vespers starts, so please drop in any time. God willing, we hope to make this a quarterly event, in order to decrease the amount of work and time needed each time.

SERVICES & EVENTS THIS WEEK

Thursday: San Diego Coptic Club: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Friday: St. Katherine's Fellowship: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Saturday: Parish Cleaning Day: ≈11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Vespers, Kiahk Praises, and Agape Meal: 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 

Sunday: Divine Liturgy: 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

SAN DIEGO COPTIC CLUB

The San Diego Coptic Club is a fellowship for the college-aged youth of San Diego and hosts weekly spiritual meetings and social events. The meetings take place every week on Thursday evenings at 7 pm, alternating between spiritual meetings at the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla and social events which are held at a variety of places, like the beach, bowling, and many more! Coptic Club provides a fellowship to help youth grow in the love of Christ together and have a bond of unity in His name during a critical time of their lives. If you have questions or to join their mailing list, please reach out to Mariam Guirguis and David Kneiber.

NATIVITY FEAST CHURCH DINNER

God willing, on Sunday, January 8th, St. Basil's will be hosting a dinner and celebration for the Feast of the Nativity. We would like our youth to have the opportunity to share their gifts and talents with their church family, so all youth are invited to participate and share their musical, artistic, and other gifts. If you or your children are interested in participating, or you can contribute food, please let Fr. Antony know.

NATIVITY FAST

November 25th marked the first day of the "Little Fast," also known as the Nativity Fast. It's also sometimes called "the Winter Lent". Fasting is not just about changing ingredients; it should be a real spiritual discipline with goals. Technically, all the faithful are supposed to be fasting the fast if they wish to partake of Eucharist. At the same time, I know that I am not everyone's spiritual father, and I know that there are limitations to people fasting that need to be considered. I encourage each of you to take the discipline seriously and to consult with your spiritual father for an appropriate prescription for your fasting period, as well as what spiritual disciplines to partake of during this blessed time. If you want to sit with me to talk about it, no problem! We can arrange a program for each to follow. We'll be discussing the fast during the Sermons and possibly take on a book study for this period. May the Lord bless this fast for all of us and let it be a source of fruit to all of us. -Abouna Antony

WEBSITE & HYMNS

We encourage all congregants to take some time to check out the parish website.

All are also encouraged to listen to the liturgical hymns as they are chanted at St. Basil, which can be found here.

FOOD & CLEAN-UP

To sign up to bring food for the agape meal on Sundays, please see the bulletin board at church or contact Erene Hanna. We need as many volunteers as possible to keep the church clean on Sundays after the Divine Liturgy. Please consider this important expression of stewardship.