Under the patronage of His Eminence Metropolitan Basilios, Fr Phillip Saba from St Nicholas Punchbowl visited Melbourne on Sunday the 15th of January 2023 to run and conduct an educational music retreat for the faithful, as well as to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and the release of the new Archdiocese CD, “Come, Let us Rejoice in the Lord”.
The day began with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at the parish of the Holy Apostle Paul Dandenong, where the service was followed by a short recital from the St Ephraim the Syrian Choir in the presence of Fr Phillip and the community.
Following the Liturgy and CD celebration, the music retreat was held in the St Paul Community Centre (Dandenong). Fr Phillip led the faithful choristers of all ages in the learning and practising of the newly composed Great Compline English hymns for Great Lent. The evening concluded with dinner, after which Fr Phillip was thanked for his service.
The new compositions will be followed by a new Archdiocese text prepared by the Liturgics Committee for the service of the Great Compline, which will be distributed across the Archdiocese in time for Great Lent. We hope that these new resources will be prayed, chanted and read in harmony by all the faithful of Australia in Arabic and English.
