Holy Thursday

Today we celebrate three mysteries of the church

The mystery of Holy Oil for Anointing the Sick. The Eastern Church has a much broader interpretation of the sick. Ordinarily, those who are suffering the crisis of physical illness receive to anointing to strengthen their whole being – body and soul – by renewing our faith in Christ the Messiah – the Anointed One. When we were baptized we received a holy anointing as a part of our Christian decision to reject evil and commit ourselves wholly to Christ. When the sick were anointed, not only the sick person him/herself but those who were to give care and those present were also anointed, a sign of our solidarity in fighting illness through faith. Perhaps the Holy Anointing of the whole congregation on Holy Thursday is because of the epistle for this day: “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. (1 Corinthians 11:27-30)” The anointing is a response to our unworthiness to receive Communion.

The Mystery of Reconciliation. In the ancient church, Holy Thursday —before the baptisms of Holy Saturday— was the time for the reconciliation of those who were in public penance. This is why Judas is presented in the liturgical texts as one who did not repent. He is contrasted with Peter, who denied our Lord but repented. Judas did not repent. “The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born. (Matthew 26:24)” The constantly repeated hymn in the Divine Liturgy of this day proclaims that we should not follow Judas, but remain ever faithful to our commitment to Christ. “Accept me today as a partaker of your mystical supper, O Son of God, for I will not reveal your mystery to your enemies, nor will I give you a kiss as did Judas.” We now repeat this every time we receive the mysteries of our Lord’s Body and Blood.

The Mystery of the Eucharist. Today is the day our Lord revealed the mystery of the Divine Liturgy. The bread and wine that we bring to the Holy Table becomes the Body and Blood of Christ. This makes the passion, death and resurrection an everlasting participation of the sacrifice of our Lord, it is for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. Our remembrance of the infinite love of our Lord on the Cross is not “history,” it is an eternal reality, for our salvation today and for all times. Therefore, we sing (Irmos of the Ninth Ode): “Lifting up our minds to the Upper Room, O faithful, let us enjoy the lordly hospitality and the eternal banquet. Having learned from the Word about the Word, we extol him who has ascended.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Holy Wednesday

The Matins gospel proclaims that Christ has reached the hour of his glory. His glory is his infinite divine love for the human race, by which he tramples death by death:

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.(John 12:27-29)” It is truly “time for the Lord to act.”

The evening gospel is a study in contrasts. This meal at the home of Simon the Leper is juxtaposed with the meal in the upper room, the last or mystical supper. It is a tradition that Judas Iscariot was the son of Simon the Leper. The sinful woman is contrasted with the elite apostle, one of the twelve. The woman finds salvation through an effusive outpouring of expensive myrrh, the apostle disapproves (though not alone in his disapproval), feigning a virtuous love for the poor.

“A woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table. She has done a good thing for me …. In pouring this perfumed oil upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.(Matthew 26:7-12) But “one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:14-15)” What does betrayal of the Lord mean? It was for this action of Judas that this Wednesday was called “Spy Wednesday,” and that abstinence was prescribed for Wednesdays.

The holy nun Cassia wrote a beautiful sticheron on this theme. The corpus of her works is not large, but very important, it includes also the doxasticheron for Christmas.

“O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, sensing your divinity, O Lord, assumed the myrrh-bearers’ role; preparing you with myrrh before your burial. She said: Woe is me, for gloomy, moonless night incites mu unbridled desires and lust for sin. You who draw down sea water from the clouds accept the fountain of my tears. Incline to the groaning of my heart as you bowed the heavens when you emptied yourself. I will kiss your immaculate feet, and wipe them with the hair of my head; those feet whose steps Eve heard at dusk in Paradise, and hid herself in fear. Who will search out the multitude of my sins or plumb the depths of your judgments, do not despise me your servant, O Savior of my soul, for your mercy knows no measure.”

Through the Cross our Lord leads us to the tree of life that was in Paradise, on the Paschal night, not “moonless” but brightened by the full moon of the Passover, for his mercy knows no measure.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Holy Tuesday

Troparion at Matins:
“Behold, the Bridegroom is coming in the middle of the night. Blessed is the servant he shall find awake. But the one he shall find neglectful will not be worthy of him. Beware, therefore, O my soul! Do not fall into a deep slumber, lest you be delivered to death and the door of the kingdom be closed to you. Watch instead, and cry out: Holy, holy, holy are you, O God. Through the intercession of the Theotokos, have mercy on us.”

This troparion is sung at the beginning of Matins on Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, giving these services the name of “Bridegroom Matins.” They have become the main service in the Greek and Melkite traditions. Here Holy Week preserves the most ancient traditions of the Divine Praises. In antiquity, the Matins was a middle of the night service, and therefore this troparion expressed the Christian need for constant watchfulness for the presence of God. In Holy Week the parable of the wise and neglectful virgins in read in the Gospel for the Presanctified Divine Liturgy. We must be aware that the Lord is coming. In every Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, when the presider begs the Father to send the Holy Spirit, he prays that the Spirit may be for a spirit of vigilance. St. Paul warns us: For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6). This is especially important in Holy Week, where the disciples fail in watchfulness in Gethsemane: “When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test” (Matthew 26:40-41). Holy Week tests our spiritual awareness.

Indeed, the Matins Gospel has Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and pharisees. “They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them …. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. (Matthew 23:4.13)” This is so often the clerical sin, to neglect the welfare of people for the sake of a prideful ideology. The Holy Week is a direct challenge to our spirituality – how have we failed to proclaim the gospel. Have we learned the lesson of love? The story of the Last Judgment, read at the evening gospel, tells us what we must do for one another, and especially to see the image of Christ in the other. In the long run, this is where “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus” leads us.

Holy Monday

The Synaxarion [the abridged collection of the “Lives of the Saints,”] discerns two themes in Holy Monday:

1) A comparison between Jesus and Joseph, the son of Jacob:

“[Jesus] was sold by a disciple for thirty pieces of silver and was imprisoned in the dark and gloomy pit of the grave, whence He broke out by His own power, triumphing over Egypt, that is, over every sin. In His might He conquered it, and He reigns over all the world. In His love for mankind He redeemed us by a distribution of grain, inasmuch as He gave Himself up for us and He feeds us with Heavenly Bread, His own Life-bearing Flesh. For this reason, Joseph the All-comely is brought to mind at this time.”

2) the cursing of the fig tree.

The Synaxarion said this was a cursing of the Jewish people, who did not bring forth the expected fruit. The gospel itself sees it as the power of prayer: ““Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive” (Matthew 21:21-22).

Many of the texts of Holy Week can be interpreted in an anti-Jewish sense. The Synaxarion is more explicitly so. I think it is a problem. But did the Church formally condone persecution of the Jews? I don’t think so, but some pretty strong texts have led weak-minded and hateful people to interpret them so, causing a series of pogroms and culminating in the Nazi holocaust. In 1998 Pope St. John Paul II wrote: “We deeply regret the errors and failures of those sons and daughters of the Church. We make our own what is said in the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra Aetate, which unequivocally affirms: ‘The Church . . . mindful of her common patrimony with the Jewish and motivated by the Gospel’s spiritual love and by no political considerations, deplores the hatred, persecutions, and displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews at any time and from any source’”

Conservative priests have upbraided me: the reality is that those who condemned Jesus were Jews, and we should not deny the historical truth. Yes, it is real that the mob that cried out “Crucify him,” were Jews, but then the apostles were Jews, the women at the foot of the cross were Jews and Jesus was a Jew.” He was not condemned by the Jewish nation, but by the pharisaical high priest (and pharisaism is an endemic disease of clerics of all religions) and by the mob misled by their leaders, and mobs are still with us. Hatred and suspicion of the other (racism) is a human disease. I remember when I was a boy, family gatherings almost always degenerated into hate sessions of “nig***s” and Jews. Racism continues to be an infection among Slavic peoples (and indeed any white race, and probably any human race, hatred of the “Other”) but it an evil to be rooted out. We’re not doing a great job of that. At Jesus’ trial, it is recorded that the mob cried out, “His blood be upon us and our children.” This has been conceived as curse, but was it really a blessing? For we have all received redemption through drinking of the blood of the new covenant.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Palm Sunday

The epistle of the Sunday of Orthodoxy asks us to “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus …” As the forty-day fast ends, we follow Jesus into Jerusalem, where he is received like a king and as the Messiah. Ideally, if we have kept the Fast, we have overcome our evil passions, and are ready to enter the kingdom of God; we have confronted our weakness. This means, as St. Paul points out in today’s epistle: “ … whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).
 
Isn’t this what faith and God’s rule is really about: the true, the honorable, the just, the pure, the lovely, the gracious? But the Messiah does not establish a kingdom on earth. He is arrested and dragged before Pontius Pilate, where he declares, “My kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36)” This brings us into the true spiritual kingdom, which exists in those who love God with their whole heart and their neighbor as themselves. In Holy Week, we are to learn that by following Jesus to the Cross and resurrection, we learn the true meaning of “life.”
 
Meditation by David Petras

The Annunciation

Today is Palm Sunday; it is also the solemn feast of the Annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel. We celebrate both on the same day.

The Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary that she would be the Theotokos almost always falls during the Great Fast. (*) According to the liturgical norms, it is celebrated on whatever day it falls, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, even on Good Friday. (**) The meaning of the Annunciation, however, is in conformity with the meaning of the Great Fast. The Great Fast is a journey from the sin of Adam and Eve to the Resurrection of our Lord. It is a passage from human pride to fidelity to God’s plan of salvation. The sin of Eve, which became the fundamental sin of the whole human race was to choose one’s own plan for salvation over God’s. It’s result, though, was death. Jesus in the resurrection, takes the power of death and twists it into life, as St. Paul said, “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)” Jesus was able to do this because he became a human being in the womb of Mary, who replaced Eve’s disobedience with obedience to God, “ “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)” Thus, God “condescended” (that is, he came down to be with us) so that the plan of God could be lifted up. “Though he was in the form of God, [Christ] did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)” Therefore, the Annunciation is a part of Pascha, as Melito of Sardis explained in his Paschal Homily: “And indeed there were many other things proclaimed by numerous prophets concerning the mystery of the passover, which is Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.

When this one came from heaven to earth for the sake of the one who suffers, and had clothed himself with that very one through the womb of a virgin, and having come forth as man, he accepted the sufferings of the sufferer through his body which was capable of suffering. And he destroyed those human sufferings by his spirit which was incapable of dying. He killed death which had put man to death. (65-66)” We sing, “Today is the summit of our salvation.” (Troparion)

(*) It may fall in Bright Week, but this is rare. In 2035 and 2046, it will fall on Pascha itself, and these are the only two instances in the rest of the twenty-first century. On the Julian calendar, it will fall on Bright Tuesday in 2037 and 2048.

(**) This has been the case since the Council of Trullo (692 a.d.). The feast itself was established in its modern form about 560 a.d. Earlier, it may have been transferred to Saturday or Sunday (Akathistos Saturday may be a remnant of this). Also, it may have been celebrated only with a Liturgy of a Word, or only in churches dedicated to the Theotokos. This is discussed by Stefanos Alexopoulos in his book, The Presanctified Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite, pp. 67-77.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Lazarus Saturday

Jesus said to her [Martha], “Your brother [Lazarus] will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:23-26)

Blessings!

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 3/2518 Palm Sunday – the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem

The Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary

Mission Preached by Father Al Forlano, confessions will be heard

8:45 a.m.  Lytija and Blessing of Bread
9:00 a.m. For people of the parish
Blessing of Pussy willows and Anointing
10:30 a.m. +Valentyna Kulish Chubyj requested by Halia Lodynsky

Epistle: Philippians 4:4-9
Gospel: Mark 12:1-18, Tone 1

Monday, 3/26/18 Holy Monday —Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel
9:00 a.m. +Allan Yursha requested by Katia and Andrew Bamber

Tuesday, 3/27/18 Holy Tuesday —Our Holy Mother Matrona of Thessalonica
9:00 a.m. +Frances Harvey requested by Katia and Andrew Bamber

Wednesday, 3/28/18 Holy Wednesday —Our Venerable Father Hilarion the New
7:00 p.m. Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Thursday, 3/29/18 Holy Thursday —Our Venerable Father Mark, Bishop of Arethusa
7:00 p.m.  Matins with the Passion Gospels

Friday, 3/30/18 Holy Friday —A day of strict fast and abstinence —NO meat or dairy products
4:00 p.m. Vespers and Veneration of the Holy Shroud

Saturday, 3/31/18 Holy Saturday
9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
4:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Foods
5:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Foods
6:00 p.m. Prayer at the Tomb —Procession and Paschal Matins

Sunday, 4/01/18  The Glorious and Holy Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ

10:30 a.m. For people of the parish
Blessing of Artos
Blessing of Easter Foods

Epistle: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-8
Gospel: John 1:1-17, Tone 2

Parish announcements this week

Christ is among us!

AFTER DIVINE LITURGY: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

VIGIL LIGHT: This week vigil light is offered to God’s glory by Vasyl and Nadia Ivantsiv in memory of +Anna, Volodymyr, Tymofij.

A SPECIAL THANKS to Mr. Rudolph Brezicki for donating the beautiful Pussy willows for today Palm Sunday.

EASTER EGG HUNT: The 15th Annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by Ukrainian National Association Branch 414-New Haven, will be held TODAY at 12:00 noon on St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church grounds, 569 George Street, New Haven CT. Free and open to young members of the UNA Ridna Shkola students and New Haven Area Ukrainian youth. For more information contact: Gloria Horbaty 203-269-5909. Participants: Please bring basket for collecting eggs.

SVIACHENE: The traditional Easter parish “SVIACHENE” will be held on April 15, 2018. On that day we will have only ONE (1) Divine Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. We will be running a raffle. If you would like to donate any items to be raffled please give it to Anya Hanson. We ask you to donate cakes for desert. Tickets are available through Luba Dubno. Tickets: adults – $20, youth between 12 to 16 – $10, under 12 and altar boys and Ridna Shkola students free.

Christ Our Pascha, the Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is now available online in English, http://catechism.royaldoors.net

St. Basil Seminary invites young men ages 14 -and-up to an Open House that will be held on April 21, 2018. The theme of this seminary is “COME and SEE” for those who may be interested in serving Christ and the Church as a priest. For more information see the flyers at the entrance or call the rectory 203-865-0388.

K of C: The Knights of Columbus Blessed Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Ukrainian Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, April 9, at 7:00 p.m. in the church hall. All men of parish are invited to attend to see what the Knights are all about and what they do and what you can do with them for your parish.

Dr. Dovidio at Yale University is conducting a study on the well-being of immigrants in the United States to help understand some of the challenges they experience. He would like to invite you to participate in his study. Titanilla Kiss, his researcher will be on Sunday March 25th and will distribute a paper survey or a flyer containing information on how to access the survey online, at the end of each Divine Liturgy. The survey is anonymous and confidential and it is available in Ukrainian and English. In case you are 18 years or older, and were either not born in the United States or at least one of your parents were not born in the U.S. and you would like to participate, please either take a flyer or the paper survey from Titanilla after the Divine Liturgy. You will be able to return your paper survey at the church any of the next three Sundays before Divine Liturgy by dropping them into the box titled ”Immigration and Health Study”. Your help is deeply appreciated.

ST. GIANNA CENTER OF NEW HAVEN: The parish is collecting diapers, seats, strollers and gift cards to be given to the St. Gianna Center of New Haven (www.gianna center.org). Useful diapers sizes:3, 4, 5. Gift cards are needed from Wallmart or Target. Please place the gift card in an envelope marked “St. Gianna Center” and give it to directly Fr. Iura. Also, NEW car seats/strollers are needed (sorry, old car seats/strollers can` t be accepted due to legislation. Items can be placed in the labeled box at the entrance of the Church. The St. Gianna Center is a ministry of Catholics in New Haven helping at-risk pregnant women and their children. Thank you for your generosity!

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