Category: News

Remember to support your parish

Dear Parishioners of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church:

Although we are all saddened by the loss of our beloved Divine Liturgy in church, we are encouraging everyone who uses envelopes at the parish to please mail them in. We rely on the weekly collection to meet the mission of the Parish and our budget.

Please be so kind as to place your donation into your weekly donation envelope and enclose that into an envelope addressed to:

St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church
569 George Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Thank you and be assured of my continued prayers for all our parishioners,

Fr. Iura Godenciuc

Parish announcements this week

Christ is among us!

This week vigil light is offered to God’s glory by Natalyia and Roman Sokhan in memory of Yaroslava Kalynec.

Asleep in the Lord: Lew Markiw. Please remember him in your prayers. Eternal Memory! 

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, there will be no Knights of Columbus meetings until further notice.

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the 1st meeting of the CT State Ukrainian Day has been rescheduled to April 26th, 3:00 p.m. in Ansonia at SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church.

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. 

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SAINTS AND LADDERS –St John Climacus

SAINTS AND LADDERS

This coming Sunday, the fourth of Lent, the Eastern Churches will commemorate St John of the Ladder (Climacus)(c579-649) monk and abbot of Mount Sinai and author of “The Ladder of Divine Ascent”, 30 stages rising through attention and humility into love and union with God.

The image of ascent remains perhaps for most of us when the exact words of the saint are forgotten and we may also find inner resonance to these words about Ascent this time of a stairway not obviously what some would expect the way to heaven to be. (see End Notes also if interested)

Mother to Son
By Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

END NOTES
1.with title we nod to an unrelated board game and
2. the photo is of Hughes with his mother and step father.
3. Jacob’s Ladder seen in a dream as connecting earth and heaven is not simply of ascent but a circulation up and down like the flow of arterial and veinous blood , may this be another and complamentary image of what in fact prayer and the psychospiritual life of a person may be.
— this circulation of heaven and earth is not I think John Climacus’ intention but he is the first to in writing give the Jesus Prayer in its full form and all centering or mantric prayer has the effect of following the circulation of breath and blood and life…
4.”Now I am climbed up and mounted so very high that I dare not look back for fear a giddiness should take me; and I have now but a short length of ladder to the mark to which it is the whole desire, longing, and delight of my heart to reach fully. When I go upward I have no giddiness at all; but when I look back and would return, then am I giddy and afraid to fall.”

St. Michael’s open for prayer

St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church open for prayer
 
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, regular Sunday Divine Liturgies are cancelled until further notice.
 
Thank you for your understanding.
 
The Church is open for private prayers
Daily 9:30 AM-10:30 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM -12:00 AM
or for
Confession & Holy Communion
Call Father Iura (203) 865-0388
 
Let us keep each other prayer, especially our medical professionals and those who have died and those who are living with virus.

Ukrainian Bishops on COVID-19

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

“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
(Mt. 25, 40)

Dear clergy, religious, and faithful!

Responding to the outbreak of the global pandemic virus COVID-19, which has been spreading with lightning speed across the globe, we, bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States, united in solidarity, wish to address you with assurances of our joint prayers and efforts. Bound together in our care for the spiritual and physical health of our faithful, we would like to inform you about certain norms and practices intended to confirm us in faith and truth, safeguarding all members of our communities, especially the most vulnerable, and preventing the spread of disease.

Keeping in mind the fragility of human life and acknowledging with humility the limits of human reason and resources, we are called to do all that is possible to help the national government, local authorities, and medical personnel to fight the spread of the virus.

Medical workers and scientists are unanimous in warning that this fight will be protracted, one that will require the solidarity of all people across the globe.  The speed of transportation and the globalization of today’s world facilitate the spread of the virus. But the quality of our interpersonal relations and our solidarity—and it is Christ who grants these gifts—are able to slow down the contagion that takes more and more lives every day. The experience of the countries that squarely faced the consequences of the virus and acted quickly and decisively shows that it is possible.

“Love your neighbor!” These times call us to faith in God, trust in each other, focused efforts, solidarity and coordinated actions. Love, we know, entails closeness, even intimacy. In today’s circumstances, however, a certain distance may be

the proper expression of interpersonal love and civic responsibility. Thus, the Ukrainian Catholic Church supports governmental regulations and public health measures connected with the pandemic. We ask you, our dear faithful, to follow the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and take care of your personal safety and hygiene as well as of those around you.

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Українські єпископи США на COVID-19

Звернення єпископів Української Католицької Церкви у Сполучених Штатах Америки з приводу пандемії вірусу COVID-19

“Усе що ви зробили зробили одному з Моїх братів найменших – ви Мені зробили”. (Мт. 25,40)

Дорогі священнослужителі, монахи і монахині та вірні!

У зв’язку з пандемією вірусу COVID-19, який блискавично поширюється нашою планетою, ми, єпископи Української Католицької Церкви у Сполучених Штатах Америки, дбаючи про духовне і тілесне здоров’я наших вірних, бажаємо разом звернутися до Вас і запевнити Вас у нашій спільній молитві та солідарній дії. У соборний спосіб бажаємо донести до Вас інформацію про запровадження певних норм і практик, що мають на меті скріпити нас усіх у вірі і правді, захистити всіх членів наших спільнот, зокрема найбільш вразливих, та запобігти поширенню недуги.

Пам’ятаючи про крихкість життя та зі смиренням усвідомлюючи обмеженість людського розуму і ресурсів, ми все ж покликані робити те, що в наших силах, щоб допомогти урядам і державам, органам місцевого самоврядування та медикам боротися з поширенням вірусу.

Медики та науковці одноголосно попереджають, що боротьба буде затяжною і вимагатиме солідарності всіх мешканців земної кулі. Швидкість транспорту та глобалізованість сучасного світу сприяє поширенню вірусу, але якість стосунків і солідарність — а їх нам дає Христос — здатні призупинити хід недуги, що забирає все нові і нові життя. Досвід країн, які першими зіткнулися з наслідками вірусу і змогли швидко та рішуче організуватися, показує, що це можливо.

«Любіть ближнього свого!» Цей час вимагає від нас віри в Бога, довіри одне до одного, зосередженості, солідарності та злагоджених дій. Зазвичай, ми розуміємо любов як близькість. За нинішніх обставин, саме належна дистанція може бути властивим виявом автентичної любові до ближнього та громадянської відповідальності. Тому Церква підтримує цивільні норми та медичні приписи, які видає уряд та місцеві органи влади у зв’язку з епідемією. Закликаємо Вас, дорогі вірні, слідувати порадам Центру з контролю та профілактики захворювань, дбати про особистий захист та гігієну.

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Joshua J. Brezicki fell asleep in the Lord

Joshua J. Brezicki, 31, fell asleep in the Lord on Saturday, March 7, 2020, as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. He was a parishioner of St. Michael’s where he also served at the altar.

The funeral services:

Visiting hours will be Friday, March 13 from 4:00 to 8:00pm at the North Haven Funeral Home with the Panachyda service at 6:00pm.
The Funeral Liturgy on Saturday, March 14, at 10:00am at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church

Joshua’s obituary may be read here.

Let us pray for the peaceful repose of Joshua’s soul, for beloved wife, Tiffany and son Joshua J. Brezicki, Jr., and his family.

May Our Lady, the Holy Theotokos and all the saints assist Joshua before the Throne of Mercy.

May Joshua’s memory be eternal.

Parish announcements this week

Christ is among us!

This week vigil light is offered to God by by Katia and Andrew Bamber in memory of +Orest Dubno.

Liturgy of Pre-sanctified Gifts will be celebrated on Friday, March 6 at 7:00 PM. Please come and join in this beautiful tradition of our Church.

The next meeting of Knights of Columbus Blessed Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Ukrainian Council will be held on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Holy Name Room. All men of the parish are invited to attend.

Sestrechi will resume their monthly meetings, beginning next week on Sunday, March 8, in Classroom 1 after the 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy.

Pysanky Lecture on Sunday, March 15, 2 p.m. at The Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Fr. Paul Luniw will present a lecture on Pysanky – Ukrainian Easter Eggs. He will explain the history of Pysanky and the process by which they are created. Come and see as he shares examples of his magnificent artwork.

Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop (Pysanka) will be held on Sunday, March 29, in the church hall from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. It is open to youth and adults, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Bring your children and grandchildren to learn their beautiful heritage. Free to parish youth and Ridna Shkola students. Charge for class is $10.00 to others. See flyer for details or call Gloria Horbaty (203)-269-5909 for information. Sponsored by: UNWLA-Branch 108, the Heritage Center and the CT Ukrainian American Historical Society.

EPARCHIAL SOBOR 2020 will take place on March 28, at Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, 161 Glenbrook Rd., Stamford, CT. The theme for the upcoming VII Session of the Patriarchal Sobor of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to held this summer is”Immigration/Migration, Settlements and Unity”. Each parish will send three lay parish delegates in representing parish community. For more information call rectory office.

Sorokousty will be celebrated on All Souls’ Saturdays, March 7th, March 14th, March 21st, May 30th. Please take a book found in the entrance of the church, fill it out, place it in envelope, and drop it in the collection basket. Let us remember all our loved ones who have gone to their heavenly reward. Eternal Memory!

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