He's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew "Andy" David Gabriel Lanteigne was born at 3:42am on Thursday, June 26th. He weighed 7lbs 14 oz and was 53 cm (20.75") long. He is perfect!

We are home from the Hospital now and are all doing great (besides being slightly sleep deprived). Thank you for all your prayers - we'll see you in about a month!

Love the Lanteigne's - Gabe, Amy, Owen and Andy!

with trepidation...

the Deacon and I are going ahead with the traditional Canada day party this coming Monday June 30th/Tuesday, July 1st. However, as many of you know, we are in the middle of trying to sell our house, so the issue is how to have the house back in mint condition for the next day.
Solution: how about if the people who choose to stay overnight for the post-party breakfast volunteer to be part of the clean-up crew the next morning, to get the house back in shape?
sound reasonable? good. so it's on.
byo: bottle, brush, bbq (& sleeping bags if you're an overnighter.)

see you there!!

welcome Andrew David Gabriel Lanteigne!

weighing in at 7lb14oz, he arrived on the scene at approximately
4:30 am this morning with the help of doula Matushka Sarah.

good work mom and dad! a baby brother for Owen.

St Herman's Monastery

Apparently there is a wild fire, out of control, on the ridge above the monastery in Platina, California. The monks have been evacuated to Redding, and they are asking for prayers to save the Monastery.

I had to beat her to it!!

Phil and I are excited to welcome into the great wide world our new daughter, Macrina.
Macrina kicked her way into the world at 2:33 pm with a beautiful cry and an energetic shove.
She weighed 3.33 kgs (or 7 lbs 5 1/2 oz) with a head circumference of 33 cm.
She is absolutely gorgeous.
Her patron saint is St. Macrina the Younger, older sister of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa and credited by them with being the driving force behind the saintliness of their entire family (including their mother). We thought this an appropriate name for an older sister.
We are overjoyed to meet her face to face.

Thank you for your prayers,
Phil, Biss, and Macrina

memories of camp

Long time no see!

That's right! We're coming home for a visit. And bringing our offspring to meet you all...

My cousin is getting married in Abbotsford on Friday the 27th, and we found a seat sale, and it's a great excuse to see old friends, family, and church family, and get away together for a week, all in one go...and introduce our son to everyone...the long and the short of it is that we'll be in town from June 24th to July 2nd, and at church on Sunday and hopefully even Saturday night vespers. We just can't wait to be there again and see you all...

We're also looking for places to stay while we're there. Do you, or does anyone you know have room to sleep two plus a baby (we're bringing a portable crib)? For all or any portion of the week we'll be in town (we don't mind hopping around if we have to)? We'll likely rent a car so we can get around, and we can look after our own food, but we don't have a place to stay yet.

I just can't believe the tickets are booked and we're actually coming...

Can't wait!

Cheryl, Matthew, and John Samuel

“Members of one another”

“Members of one another”

ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
15th ALL-AMERICAN COUNCIL
November 10-13, 2008 ~ Pittsburgh, PA


November may seem a long way off, but this upcoming council should be the subject of all our thoughts and prayers well in advance.

The latest issue of the Canadian Archdiocesan Messenger is now available at church in hard copy. It should also soon be posted online at our Archdiocesan website. There you will read Vladika SERAPHIM’s article “The Time for Reconciliation”.

The OCA, of which our Archdiocese and thus our parish are both part, has been struggling with a crisis of trust for a long time, more and more openly since the last AAC in Toronto in 2005. This is not a crisis about the Holy Orthodox Faith, but with our failure as a church to live up to that faith in everyday matters of church governance, in particular the stewardship of finances.

You can find a timeline of the development of the crisis at this link. This site, Orthodox Christians for Accountability, is the initiative of concerned lay people. There have been posts from respected clergy and lay leaders in our church, such as Fr. Thomas Hopko and Fr. Theodore Bobosh.

You can find the blog about preparations and news of the upcoming council at this link.

Please pray for the clergy and lay representatives who will go to this council from all over the continent; for the Holy Synod of Bishops; for the Metropolitan Council; for the Pre-Conciliar Commission who are making the plans and preparations; for the ‘town hall’ meetings happening in several locations in advance of the council; and for all the clergy, monastics and faithful of the OCA. The first of these has already taken place in Ottawa, and I have heard an encouraging report of it from Mat. Laurie Rodger, who was there and who presented a statement which is now available online here.

Here is an appropriate prayer to Saint Herman by Mat. Julianna Schmemann.