On Wednesday 19 August the great feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord will be celebrated. The Savior was transfigured before three of His apostles forty days before His death on the cross, to show them (and us) that He was going to suffer of His own free will, and thereby to strengthen the disciples' faith in Jesus Christ. The Church decided that such a great feast should not be celebrated during Lent, and so it began to be celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Cross. According to an ancient Russian tradition, on this day we bless the fruits, the first fruits of the harvest (in the Northern Hemisphere). The next services in our church will be: Tuesday 18 August at 6:00 PM: Vigil. Wednesday 19 August at 8:30 AM: Liturgy, ending with the blessing of fruit. Saturday 24 August at 6:00 PM: Vigil. Sunday 25 August at 8:30 AM: Liturgy.
The warden, the responsible person for the economy of the entire parish is James Tobolov. He is directly assisted by members of the parish council, as well as many parishioners.
Sisterhood
Monitors the cleanliness and decorum of the church and on the territory of the church, organizes various events to maintain our traditions, raises funds for the parish. Organizes dinners and funeral wakes. Our Senior Sister Tatyana Pye heads the sisterhood.
Jurisdiction
Our parish is a part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and is in the Australian and New Zealand Diocese, in the deanery of the state of Victoria. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.
His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas, is the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
The Diocesan Bishop is Archbishop George.
The Dean of the state of Victoria is Archpriest Mikhail Protopopov.
In a legal sense, our parish is governed by the Normal Parish By-laws of the ROCOR. According to the by-laws, the Rector is appointed by the Diocesan Bishop; the Warden is elected at the AGM of the parish for three years; members of the parish council are elected for one year at the AGM. The Sisterhood is governed by the Regulations on Church Sisterhoods; the Senior Sister and the Sisterhood Board are elected at the Annual Meeting of the Sisterhood. All parish officials are approved by the Diocesan Bishop and work on a voluntary basis.
