December 2014 Year 19— No. 11

Holy Cross Catholic Church Newsletter

Paphos Gate, 1010 Nicosia; PO Box 21964, 1515 Nicosia, Cyprus

Tel. (357) 22 662132; Fax: (357) 22 660767;

Email: holcross@logos.cy.net; URL: www.holy-cross-nicosia.com

Parish Priest: Fr. Zacheusz Dulniok, ofm

Today a light will shine upon us, for the Lord is born for us;

SUNDAY MASSES

8:00 am English

9:30 am Greek

10:30 am English

12:00 am French: Every 1st Sunday of the month

12:00 am Tagalog: Every 2nd Sunday of the month

12:00 am Indian: Every 3rd Sunday of the month

12:00 am Sinhala: Every 4th Sunday of the month

5:30 pm English (Children/Families)

7:30 am Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday - English

7:30 am Tuesday - Greek

St. Anthony Devotion

8.00 am Wednesday - English

6:30 pm Every day - English

4:00 pm Polish: Every 1st Saturday of the month

4:00 pm Spanish: Every 2nd Saturday of the month

6:30 pm English

WEEKDAY MASSES

SATURDAY VIGIL MASSES (For Sunday)

Mass every Sunday at 12:00 noon, in English

KYRENIA - SAINT ELIZABETH CHAPEL

Dear Family of the Holy Cross Parish,

At the beginning of Advent, I was wondering what I could do to make this time different from any other time. Can Christmas decorations, twinkling lights, seasonal food and carol singing make any difference in my daily life? Surely they can! But it will not last for a long time and as soon as Christmas holidays end, decorations and lights will be removed from our houses and the city streets and put away in our store rooms till next year. Our life will be back to normal.

On Christmas Day we celebrate the Incarnation of God’s Son who took our human nature and flesh. This miracle did not happen only once upon a time…! The miracle of Christmas is happening every day in our Christian life. Every day on the altars of the world the Word is coming to dwell among us. We are living Bethlehems, I am a living Bethlehem—Jesus is born in me every time I receive Him during the Eucharist and I welcome Him inside my heart, under my roof. This is the real meaning of Christmas; this Christmas will never end, even as the season’s gifts and celebrations are forgotten. Our joy will continue; so when we sing: "Give love on Christmas day…”, we should give it every day because Jesus is coming to our hearts and our brothers’ and sisters’ hearts every day.

I wish for you and your loved ones to feel the Christmas spirit of joy and love

every day of the New Year 2015.Fr. Zacheusz M. Dulniok, ofm

The Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Fouad

Twal will be in Cyprus from 3 to 7 December and

will visit all our Catholic parishes. The main

purpose of his visit is the inauguration and

benediction of the Archangel Michael Hospice in

Paphos.

In Holy Cross parish in Nicosia, H. B. will

celebrate the Holy Mass on Thursday 4 December at 6:30 pm. After the

Mass the meeting with H. B. Patriarch will continue in Saint Francis Hall

over the refreshments.

The Nuncio to Israel, Palestine and Cyprus, His

Excellency Giuseppe Lazzarotto, will visit Cyprus

from 11 to 16 December.

H. E. will visit various diplomats and will say the

annual Mass for Pope Francis. This Solemn Mass for

the intention of the Pope will be celebrated on

Thursday 11 December at 6:30 pm with the

participation of Diplomatic Corps and the faithful.

We invite our faithful to participate in these events on the occasion of

these two official visits.

and he will be called Wondrous God,

Season CELEBRATIONS

THE PROGRAMME FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD WILL BE PUBLISHED AND POSTED AT THE

ENTRANCE OF THE CHURCH VERY SOON.

BELOW WE GIVE SOME ESSENTIAL PRELIMINARY INFORMATION.

30 November: 1st

Sunday of Advent, Parish Recollection and Penitential day

7 December: 2nd

Sunday of Advent

8 December, Monday: The Immaculate Conception of the BVM

7:30 am: Holy Mass

6:30 pm: Holy Mass

14 December: 3rd

Sunday of Advent

21 December: 4th

Sunday of Advent

24 December, Wednesday: Christmas Vigil

6:30 pm: Christmas Vigil Mass for Children

10:00 pm: Reading of the Gospel of Christ’s Birth and Carol Singing

At 11:00 pm

Solemn High Mass of Christ's Nativity

25 December, Thursday: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day)

Holy Masses as on Sundays

26 December, Friday: St. Stephen, Martyr

7:30 am: Holy Mass

6:30 pm: Holy Mass

27 December, Saturday: St. John, Apostle & Evangelist

28 December, Sunday: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Holy Masses as on Sundays

31 December, Wednesday: Last day of 2014

In the evening, during the 6:30 Mass, we will conclude the year 2014 with a Solemn

Te Deum of Thanksgiving. After the Mass parishioners will exchange New Year wishes

in Saint Francis Hall.

1 January 2015, Thursday: New Year’s Day

Feast of Mary, Mother of God, Θεοτόκος, World Day of Peace

Holy Masses as on Sundays

During the 10:30 am Solemn Mass, singing of “Veni, Creator Spiritus”

PARISH NEWS

As we approach the end of 2014, the Parish Council will be praying for our Parish of the Holy Cross and seeking the Lord's guidance for the year ahead. Over the past year, we have been working together to serve our church as best as we could, in various ways. The Annual Plan included the monthly Movie Night, the Holy Cross calendar, parish pilgrimages to Machairas and to Rome, the live transmission of the canonisation of the two popes, John Paul II and John XXIII, the Holy Cross Parish lunch, consideration of various issues which were brought to our attention concerning our parish. Over the last month or so, we have been working on the 2015 Parish Calendar which will have as its theme “Consecrated & Family Life”, given that 2015 is dedicated by Pope Francis to the “Consecrated Life” and that the Church will also be looking at “Family Life” with a Synod in the autumn of next year. The calendar will include pictures from the life of our Parish and the religious of Cyprus and should be available before mid-December 2014. The Movie Night for December will be held on Friday 5 December 2014 at 7.15 pm, after the evening Mass, in St. Francis Hall and it will feature a movie entitled “Jesus”. It will be a movie to help us prepare for the feast of Christmas. Do not miss it! Refreshments and snacks to be offered at the interval. The Parish Council will soon meet to consider its 2015 Annual Plan and all are invited to submit proposals for discussion to our Parish Priest or any other member of the Parish Council. We wholeheartedly wish you every blessing and abundant hope in the mercy and power of Our Lord and His promises especially at this time of Advent and we implore Him to bless and protect each one of us. May we deeply experience and strongly witness His presence in our lives as the great feast of Christmas approaches!

Akis HjiIossif (Chairman)

Prince of Peace, Father of future ages;

St Anthony Benevolent Society Christmas Bazaar

13 and 14 December

The Christmas Bazaar of the Society will take place on

Saturday 13 December, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm with

a hot punch offered, and on Sunday 15 December, from

9:00 am to 11:00 am (without punch) in St. Francis

Hall. We kindly ask for donations in form of cakes, bottles

and any items for the White Elephant stall.

With the proceeds the St. Anthony Benevolent Society

supports some very needy families throughout the year.

For more information, please contact Gladys

(99553489) or Ninette (99543330/22665871)

Social Centre of St. Joseph the Migrant

Grand Bazaar : Sunday 7 December

The annual bazaar of the association will take place on

7 December, in St Joseph’s courtyard, from 9.00 a.m. to

3.00 p.m. Any items you can donate for the success of this

yearly event will be greatly appreciated: groceries, drinks and

clothing new or in good condition, used books, toys, knick-

knacks, etc.

We will also be selling raffle tickets for the New Year

raffle. Tickets are € 1 each. There are very good prizes.

Our thanks to all who will contribute to make this event

successful.

For more information please contact: Sr. Adeline.

Christmas concerts

17 December (Wednesday), 20:30 pm

Pancyprian Thalassaemia Association “Opera Concert”

19 December (Friday), 20:00 pm

Katie Economidou Christmas Concert

22 December (Monday), 20:30 pm

Polyphonia Choir Christmas Concert

We hope that this Christmas Jesus will

find a place where to be born and to

stay. For this reason we will prepare

first our hearts for Him.

The Sri Lankan community will prepare

a Manger this year inside our church.

We wish them the spirit of creativity

to help us meditate on the mystery of

Christ’s Incarnation.

The Holy Cross Parish Calendar for the year 2015 is dedicated to the Consecrated and Family Life.

It contains wonderful pictures and reading references for every day. It will be available for sale very soon!!!

Holy Cross Parish Council News & MessagES

MOVIE NIGHT FRIDAY 5 DECEMBER

7.30pm St. Francis Hall

Jesus by Roger Young

Today, you will see that the Lord is coming and in the morning you will see His glory.

From the Catechesis of Pope Francis I [12 Nov 14] The Lord continues to shepherd his flock through the ministry of bishops, assisted by priests and deacons. It is in them that Jesus makes himself present, in the power of his Spirit, and continues to serve the Church, nourishing within her faith, hope and the witness of love. These ministers are thus a great gift of the Lord for every Christian community and for the whole of the Church. But what is asked of them, in order that they may live out their service? Along with the gifts inherent in the faith and in spiritual life, they must possess human qualities such as acceptance, temperance, patience, meekness, trustworthiness, goodness of heart. This is the alphabet of every ministry! It must be the basic grammar of every bishop, priest and deacon. Without this predisposition it is not possible to offer truly joyous and credible service and testimony. Paul tells his disciples about these in his ‘Pastoral letters’. Paul also says that in all those called to pastoral ministry, the gift which has been received must be continually rekindled. Thus one is not a minister because he is more worthy than the others, but by the gift of love bestowed by God, through the Holy Spirit, for the good of his people. For ministers to be aware of this is very important and constitutes a grace to ask for every day! Indeed, a pastor who knows that his ministry springs only from the heart of God can never assume an authoritarian attitude, as if everyone were at his feet and the community were his property, his personal kingdom. The awareness that everything is a gift, everything is grace, also helps a pastor not to fall into the temptation of placing himself at the centre of attention and trusting only in himself. Then there would be problems. As the first recipient of the mercy and compassion of God, the minister should be led to always be humble and sympathetic with respect to others. He should listen to the people, thinking that always he has something to learn, even from the unbelievers. We must always be grateful to the Lord, for in the person and in the ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, he continues to guide and shape his Church, making it grow along the path of holiness. At the same time we must continue to pray for our pastors… [Selected and adapted by Loris Kasapis]

THE MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH

MORE NEWS

THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH

Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament in which Jesus gives His Body and Blood –

Himself – for us, so that we too might give ourselves to Him in love and be united

with Him in Holy Communion. The Holy Communion unites us more deeply with

Christ, makes us living members of the Body of Christ, renews the graces that we

received in Baptism and Confirmation, and fortifies us in the battle against sin.

The celebration of the Eucharist (the Mass) is the “Source and Summit of the

Christian Life” (Second Vatican Council: Lumen Gentium 11).

While the other sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation) can be received only

once, we are invited to participate in the Mass regularly. Catholics are expected to be at Mass at

least every Sunday and to receive Holy Communion at least once a year. Although it is possible and

important to build up a personal prayer life, being a part of the Sunday Eucharist plugs us more

deeply into the Body of Christ. To ensure that we have a proper hunger for Christ, we also choose to

fast (eat nothing and drink only water) at least an hour before Holy Communion. Attending Church

in some of our finest clothes (our Sunday best) is in recognition of the divine encounter offered

each and every Sunday. [Adapted from YouCat]

COFFEE MORNINGS IN THE LIBRARY There will be no coffee morning

in December. Next: 15 January 2015

The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of December 2014 General: That the birth of the Redeemer may bring peace and hope to all

people of good will.

Missionary: That parents may be true evangelisers, passing on to their

children the precious gift of faith.

You can receive the

Parish Newsletter electronically.

Go to http://groupspaces.com/HCNewsletter/

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Notices, Contributions, etc. for Parish Newsletter

Please send your notices and other contributions for the next newsletter to Monique (moniqueburston@yahoo.com) and/or to the Parish priest (holcross@logos,cy.net), or leave them in an envelope in the Church Library.

Deadline for submissions: 20 December

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