Christ is among us!

This week vigil light is offered to God by Katia and Andrew Bamber in memory of John Muzyka

Thank you to Mr. Rudpolh Brezicki and the Brezicki Family for their donation of pussy willows to our parish.

Easter Baskets will be blessed on Saturday, April 11.

This blessing will be live streamed via Facebook at 4:00 PM and will also be posted on the parish website. Parishioners will be able to sprinkle their baskets with holy water while Fr. Iura does this virtual blessing.

Those parishioners who do not have access to the internet and wish to have their baskets blessed may come to the church parking lot at 4:15 PM or 6:00 PM and Fr. Iura will bless your Easter Baskets while you remain in your vehicles.

Please do not bring your baskets into the church or the church hall.
Thank you for your understanding.

The CT State Ukrainian Day will have the 1st meeting of the Committee tentatively scheduled for April 26th, 3:00 p.m. in Ansonia at SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church. This meeting is subject to change as conditions warrant.

Memorandum of the bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States of America regarding of the COVID-19 pandemic

Public Services

1. All weekday and Sunday services will be celebrated temporarily without the participation of the assembly of the faithful. Our clergy will continue to celebrate and pray for you and with you vicariously. We will celebrate the Divine Liturgies and other services in behalf of and for all of you, especially for the sick and the healthcare providers. We will beseech the Lord for wise and prudent decisions on the part of government and medical authorities. We will pray for the eternal repose of the deceased. We are obligating our priests to be steadfast in prayer for their flock. Be as Moses, who raised his hands in prayer so that whole people of God could prevail over the enemy (cf. Ex 17, 11-12).
2. Our churches will remain open for private prayer at designated times. We ask the pastors to guarantee the safety and frequent disinfection of our churches.
3. We renew and confirm the dispensation from the obligation to participate in Sunday services. At the same time, we ask you to pray as a Domestic Church (as a family or household unit) on Sundays and on Holy Days. We suggest making use of the ZhyveTV and internet resources of your eparchy or parish. Read prayerfully the Holy Scriptures, reflect upon the source and meaning of your life, on God’s love and salvific action on our behalf.
4. We encourage you to make best use of the quarantine time, which coincides with Great Lent, for personal prayer, reading the Word of God, and building a more profound relationship with Our Lord, our neighbors and in our families.
5. We ask that all the Lenten practices — e.g., missions and spiritual exercises — be held with the aid of the internet and other means of social communication.

Sacraments and Sacramentals

1. We kindly ask that you postpone, in consultation with your pastor, the Sacraments of Christian initiation (Baptism and Chrismation) and Matrimony.
2. The faithful can avail themselves of the Sacrament of Repentance (Confession) in church, taking all necessary precautions for social distancing.
3. In cases of grave illness or danger of death, priests are obligated to administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, while assuring safety for all involved.
4. Priests will celebrate funerals with the participation only of the immediate family members of the deсeased, according to local regulations regarding public assemblies.

Practical advice

1. Dear priests, religious, sisters and brothers! If you feel sick, we urge you to stay at home, call your doctor, and obey all medical and civil regulations.
2. We encourage our pastors to maintain personal contact with their faithful, especially with the elderly and sick by phone and via social media. Our priestly ministry continues without ceasing.
3. Confessions are to take place in the open, not in a confessional. Safety of the penitent and priest must be assured.
4. Frequently sanitize with disinfectant whatever people tend to touch in the churches: pews, door handles, etc.
5. During private prayer in church, maintain a safe distance from each other (6 feet or 2 meters).
6. Venerate icons and the Cross by bowing your head and with a sign of the cross or by prostrations. Do not kiss icons or the Cross.
7. Comply with the guidelines and prescriptions of governmental authorities (town, county, state, federal) regarding public gatherings and personal safety.

These norms are effective immediately after being published on Wednesday, March 19, 2020. We carefully follow developments, consult experts and will update our norms and regulations according to new information and circumstances.