Welcome!

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Whether you are visiting us for a brief time, looking for a new parish community, are returning to the practice of your Catholic faith, or are interested in finding out more about the Eastern Catholic Church, we’re happy to have you here.

St. Michael’s is a faith-filled people of the Ukrainian Catholic tradition. We strive to make the Divine Liturgy the heartbeat of our faith community and we stand ready to bear witness to the Lord with our life. Saint Michael’s is a parish rooted in Jesus Christ, active in our love of neighbor, on the path toward salvation in the Holy Trinity.

Join us today in supporting the St. Michael’s Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief Fund!

Your gift today will provide food, medical supplies, clothing, and items for children. These items will all be immediately distributed, and 100% of your gift will go directly to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. No amount is too small.

Oktoberfest 2023

We are having an Oktoberfest at the parish on Sunday, October 8, 12 to 3pm.

Tickets are $20.00 for adults and children are free.

The Parish Sestretsi (the Ladies’ group) are hosting this beautiful gathering to share friendship and to raise funds for the Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief efforts located at the parish.

Call or text Alexis for tickets: 203-843-4247

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ

Sunday, 9/24, 17th Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m. +Michael Dzubaty requested by Stefan Dzubaty
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11, Tone 8

Monday, 9/25, Our Venerable Mother Euphrosina
9:00 a.m. +Maria Sowa (10th Anniv. Pan.) requested by Bohdan Sowa

Tuesday, 9/26, St. John the Apostle and Evangelist
9:00 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Katharyna Szymkiw requested by Lesia Allderige

Wednesday, 9/27, Holy Martyr Calistratus and companions
9:00 a.m. +Bohdan Iwaniw (Pan.) requested by Emilia Ivaniw

Thursday, 9/28, Holy Confessor Chariton
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy

Friday, 9/29, Our Venerable Father Cyriacus the Anchorit
9:00 a.m. +Kateryna Berezowski (Pan.) requested by Angela Racki

Saturday, 9/30, Holy Martyr Gregory of Armenia
9:00 a.m. +Stefania Kramarenko (Pan.) requested by Emilia Iwaniw

Sunday, 10/1, 18th Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Katharyna Szymkiw requested by Sestretsi
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Gospel: Luke 6:31-36, Tone 1

Parish Announcements

Christ is among us!

This week vigil light is offered by Nadia Ivantsiv for health of Vasyl

St. Michael’s Day will be celebrated on November 5th. On this day we will have only one (1) Divine Liturgy at 10:30 AM. After the Divine Liturgy, we will have a dinner and short program. All parishioners are cordially invited to this celebration. Tickets are available through Miss Luba Dubno, Margaret Maybury and Svitlana Nakonechna. Tickets are $35.00 for adults, $15.00 for youth between 14 and 18. Free for students Ridna Shkola, altar boys and for children under $12 . We will be running a raffle. If you would like to donate any items to be raffled, please bring them to our church hall on Sundays before our Feast Day. Also we ask donations for dessert. Last day to buy tickets October 31. We will not sale tickets at the door.

STAMFORD CHARITIES APPEAL REMINDER: Please don’t forget to donate for Charities Appeal. Please make check payable to the Byzantine Rite Eparchy of Stamford. DO NOT MAIL THIS FORM TO THE CHANCERY OFFICE. We sincerely ask all parishioners to make generous contributions.

Sestretsi will be having Corporate Communion in October 1st at 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy and a short important meeting in the church hall after Divine Liturgy.

SESTRETSI OCTOBER GERMAN BEER FEST: On Sunday, October 8th Sestretsi will host a German beer Festival, with traditional German food, Beer and Music. Tickets are $20.00 for adults. Children are free. All Profits will be donated to the Ukrainian Humanitarian relief effort.

We will be making Pyrohy for regular orders on October 14th. We need your help on Fridays to peel potatoes and Saturdays to make pierogis. Please come and help.

Saint Moses, the great and holy prophet

Today we liturgically recall the Holy Great Prophet Moses, revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. His commemoration is mostly recalled by Eastern Christianity though he is list among the holy people in the Latin Church. Moses died sixteenth centuries before Jesus Christ, having lived for some 120 years.

The Troparion for Saint Moses reads:

O prophet Moses, you reached the summit of virtues. By this you came to see the glory of God. You received the tablets of the grace-giving Law and became the crown of prophets and a mystery of piety; for you carried grace deep within you.

The Prophet Moses, whose name means “one who draws forth,” or “is drawn from,” that is, from the water –was known as the one who spoke to Spoke, and even saw him. Moses also has the very rare and interesting title of “God seer.” Many scholars will say Moses is the model for people of faith: he “was the pinnacle of the lovers of wisdom, the supremely wise lawgiver, the most ancient historian of all.”

Fr Petras writes,

On Mt. Horeb the great prophet Moses saw God in the bush that burned without being consumed, and God revealed his Name to him, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). It is this Name of God that we invoke in the Anaphora of St. Basil the Great, “O Eternal Being ….” On Mt. Sinai God revealed a portion of his glory to Moses when he gave him the ten commandments. On Mt. Tabor, Moses stood with Elijah to witness the glory of God revealed though Jesus. Today we honor this Great Prophet who has led us into the presence of God, who led his people into the land promised by God, who today leads us to an understanding of God, essential Being, the Creator of all that is, the Cause of all that is good and the Lover of each and every person, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

A new liturgical year begins today, a new year of grace

“The beginning of the New Ecclesiastical Year urges us to sanctify the time of our earthly life as a time of salvation.”
– Patriarch Daniel

September 1st is known as the first day of the New Liturgical Year for those who follow the Byzantine Church. It’s an observance we had since the 4th century. Here is Father David Petras’ brief explanation:

We call this the “Church” New Year, but it was, of course, the civil New Year of the Byzantine Emperor. The book, Mapping Time, by E. G. Richards, says, “In AD 312 Constantine had instituted a 15-year cycle of indications (censuses of people’s ability to pay taxes). These started on 1 September …. The Byzantine year started on 1 September and this system was used by the supreme tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire until it was abolished by Napoleon in 1806.” The ancient Roman Empire began the year on January 1, and therefore September was the seventh month (from the Latin word for seven, “septem”). Of course, it is now the ninth month (!) Because of the interpolation of July (for Julius Caesar) and August (for August Caesar). Many seriously advocate making September 1 the New Year again, because, after all, this is the beginning of the school year and fall programs. It would also enable people to get home on dry roads rather than on snow and ice.

In any case, the gospel today has the blessing of our Lord on the New Year, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

Blessings for a New Church Year, which we start today in our Greek Catholic Church!