St. Nicholas Day - December 5, 2023

Once again, St. Michael’s Orthodox Church in Mt. Carmel did many activities in commemoration of St. Nicholas Day.

On December 5th, we celebrated Vespers for the feast of Saint Nicholas, and the kids of the parish brought an extra shoe to leave outside in case Saint Nicholas decided to stop by (he did!). After Vespers, Father Aleksey had a discussion with the kids about the life of Saint Nicholas and about some of his miracles.

In the body of the church, Fr. Aleksey addresses several children, telling them the story of St. Nicholas. The view is from the left row of pews, with the children seated in the right-hand pews, facing towards Father Aleksey, who is seated on the left side of the frame. There's a decorated Christmas tree to his left, and in the photo, the tree appears behind him. The children are seated in the first two pews, and there's an adult male seated behind them, in the fourth pew.
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After the discussion, the children of the parish made over 60 Christmas cards.

Photo of Matushka Natallia standing on the far side of a long table in the church hall. A young woman is seated at the table, to Matushka's right, which Matushka has an embracing arm around a young girl who standing to her left. The brown folding table is covered in a long sheet of white paper, with art supplies and finished Christmas cards spread across the table. Photo a table in the church hall. The table is covered by handmade Christmas cards, which are mostly red or green, but there are also white and blue cards. A pack of Crayola markers and a bottle of glue are also on the table. Several preteen and teenage girls creating Christmas cards at a long table in the church hall. A few adults are standing or sitting towards the back of the photo.
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And a group of elves decorated the church.

A woman and a man standing on the sideward next to the wrought iron fence that surrounds the backyard of the rectory. They have just finished putting large white bows every few feet along the length of the fence. Two women standing at the back of the church near the steps that descend into the church hall. One if holding a ball of thin, green ribbon, and both are looking at it, apparently working on a plan for where to use it in their decorating. A staircase that leads up to the choir loft is visible behind them. A woman and man are placing evergreen garland along the safety railing that runs around the stairwell to the church hall. The garland has needles like an evergreen tree, and there's a red bow within the garland.
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We also kept the children of the community warm this winter with 10 coats and a $900 donation to Central Susquehanna Opportunities.