The 2019 New Testament Challenge

Beginning, today, November 15th (the beginning of the Advent/Nativity Fast), we will once again be embarking on our annual challenge event to read through the entire New Testament (aloud) by Christmas! This is a great endeavor and exercise and you should join it! Read with your spouse as an Advent discipline! Even children can do this, and they have. You can do it, too.

Join the many of us who do this every year and prosper your soul in the effort. You won’t be the same. Begin today!!!

The New Testament Challenge is kind of a tradition. We invite you to join us in this 40 day offering and make more time for the reading of Holy Scripture this Advent.

Here is schedule (a .pdf) for The 2019 New Testament Challenge

As our bishops said in the message for the Philips Fast 2019, we find ourselves at the present moment: Pylypivka: the 40-day period of waiting and watching for the fulfillment of God’s promises, and the coming together of humanity and divinity in the Christ child, who, with his nativity, will bring new life and new hope into our world and our lives. No better way to see God’s promises than to pray, read, study sacred Scripture!

Pylypivka (Advent) message 2019

Pylypivka (Advent) Pastoral of the Ukrainian Catholic Hierarchy of the USA to our clergy, hieromonks and brothers, religious sisters, seminarians and beloved faithful,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

We, the faithful experience the life of the Church by means of the unending cycle of the liturgical year. The liturgical year is not simply how we mark the passage of time in the church calendar year. The liturgical year tells the story of God’s life in the world, a story in which we are participants, not just spectators or listeners. It is a re-living of the life of Christ, His Most Holy Mother and the Saints. And liturgy is the means by which we tell, live, and experience the story. Through liturgy it becomes real to us and becomes part of our own lives.

It has been said that liturgy is humanity’s yearning for God, and that grace is God’s yearning for humanity. Liturgically, this story of holy yearning – God’s yearning for us and our yearning for God – begins at the point in the liturgical year that we find ourselves at the present moment: Pylypivka: the 40-day period of waiting and watching for the fulfillment of God’s promises, and the coming together of humanity and divinity in the Christ child, who, with his nativity, will bring new life and new hope into our world and our lives.

Too often we see this time of Pylypivka, through the secular lens of our modern post-Christian society, as the final countdown to Christmas, the time when we get things ready for the holidays. By now the malls and stores have long been decorated for Christmas. Christmas gift lists are growing and the number of shopping days is shrinking. Party menus are being planned. Travel plans are being made. Families are gathering. Expectations and hopes are growing. Christmas trees need decorating and presents need wrapping. The pressure is mounting. There is so much to do and so little time to do it in. We feel stressed and distracted.

This is not the liturgical or spiritual understanding of Pylypivka proposed by the Church. This is not the ideal way of spending this holy time. Pylypivka is not the time when we prepare for Christmas. It is the time in which we are prepared for Christmas. It is the time not so much for action as for reflection, a time not for doing but for being open and receptive. Pylypivka is the time when the Church offers to us an alternative to the secular model of “getting ready for the holidays” and asks us to slow down, be still, and be quiet. We are called to keep awake, to be looking and listening for the God who is coming to us. We are called to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts. It is a time to watch and reflect on who we are. It is a time to look for Christ in all the unexpected places – in the ordinary events of everyday life, in the poor, the hungry, and the needy. And we wait and watch for the angelic messenger who will tell us of the birth of the Christ child.

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Anya Rohmer-Hanson fell asleep in the Lord

We are sad to announce that Anya Rohmer-Hanson fell asleep in the Lord on Friday, November 8, 2019. She was 74 and was undergoing medical treatment at Yale.

No funeral arrangements are made as yet. According to the wishes of Anya, no funeral liturgy will be served. A memorial service will likely happen in August 2020.

Take a moment today to pray for the peaceful repose of the soul of Anyaand the consolation of her family and friends who mourn her.

May Mary, the Holy Theotokos, St. Michael the Archangel and all the saints and blesseds present Anya to the Lord of Life.

Eternal memory.

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 11/10, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m. For our parishioners
10:30 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Gloria and Donald Horbaty (50th wedding Anniversary) requested by children and family

Epistle: Galatians 6:11-18
Gospel: Luke 10:25–37, Tone 5

Monday, 11/11, Our Venerable Father Theodore and Martyr Victor
9:00 a.m. +Paul and Johanna Patrylak (Pan.) requested by Maria Radawiec

Tuesday, 11/12, Holy Priest Martyr Josaphat
9:00 a.m. +Henryka Atonyszyn requested by Alicja Krenta

Wednesday, 11/13, Our Holy Father John Chrysostom
9:00 a.m. + Maria Sowa requested by Sestretsi

Thursday, 11/14, Holy and Praiseworthy Apostle Philip
7:00 p.m. +Stefan Jurczak (40 days, Pan.) requested by Halia Lodynsky and children

Friday, 11/15, Holy Martyrs Gurias and Samonas
9:00 a.m. +Stefan Jurczak ( Pan.) requested by Gloria and Donald Horbaty

Saturday, 11/16, Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew
9:00 a.m. +Stefan Jurczak requested by Jerry, Donna, Adam, Jaimee and Andew Lodynsky

Sunday, 11/17, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m. For our parishioners
10:30 a.m. +Ivan Godenciuc

Epistle: Ephesians 2:4-10
Gospel: Luke 12:16-21, Tone 6

Parish announcements this week

Christ is in our midst!

This week’s vigil light is offered God’s glory by Vasyl Ivantsiv in memory of Dmytro.

We would like to congratulate Vasile and Andra Godenciuc on the occasion of the Holy Baptism and Chrismation of their son August Vasile, which took place on Saturday, November 7th in our church. Many happy and blessed years!

We would like to congratulate Aart and Erin VanWilgen on the occasion of the Holy Baptism and Chrismation of their daughter Olivia Tatijana, which took place on Saturday, November 7th in our church. Many happy and blessed years!

CONGRATULATIONS to our Ukrainian American Veterans on a successful National Convention and also thank you to all those who helped out and contributed to their success.

PHILIP’S FAST, ПИЛИПІВКА, the pre-Christmas fast which begins on November 15, the day after the feast of St. Philip, is a 40 day period of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the Nativity/Theophany cycle of the church year. Once a period of strict fasting, it has now been changed to a period of voluntary fasting and works of penance.

The next Sestrechi meeting will be held on Sunday, November 17, after the 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy. The meeting will be held in the church hall, classroom 1.

The Pyrohy Project will be making Pyrohy on Saturday, November 16. Please come and help.

St. Michael’s Day will be celebrated on November 24th. On this day we will have only one (1) Divine Liturgy at 10:30 a.m.. After the Divine Liturgy, we will have a dinner and short program. All parishioners are cordially invited to this celebration. Tickets are available through Margaret Maybury, Svitlana Nakonechnyj and Fr. Iura Godenciuc. Tickets are $25.00 for adults, $10.00 for youth between 14and 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 for donations for dessert.

The Ukrainian Ridna Shkola of New Haven had started its school year with 3 classes: 1.) A nursery school program for children 3-5 years old; 2.) A class to teach Ukrainian to English language-speaking children ages 6-10; 3.) A class where instruction is only in the Ukrainian language for children 8-11 years old. Classes are from 9:30 to 11:30 each Saturday morning. Religious instruction follows at 11:30 am. We have dance instruction as well from 12:00 noon.

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Saint Michael’s Feast Day today

The Archangel Michael. Russian Byzantine icon. 2nd half 14th
© Scala / Art Resource

As you know, today is the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel and angels and it is a holy of obligation for members of our parish.

The Divine Liturgy will be served:

~at 9:00 a.m. in Ukrainian
~at 7:00 p.m. in English.

Saint Michael who says of himself that he is “who stands always in sight of the Lord. And undertaking to protect this place and the people of this land, I resolved to demonstrate by this sign that I am the watcher and guardian of this place and all things which are done here.”

As we celebrate the presence of Saint Michael and the Angels in our midst, let us remember that we are not alone in this life nor in the next. The Angels dwell among us (that’s why your parish church is never empty!).

Let us pray for one another through the intercession of Saint Michael the Archangel and the angels.

Infant fed at baptism

An Orthodox priest was captured by a professional photographer as he was feeding a baby girl while proclaiming the Gospel at the child’s baptism service at the Ascension of the Lord Church in Podu Olt, Brasov County, Romania.

Read the story here.

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ

Sunday, 11/03, 21st Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyrs Acepsimasthe Bishop, Joseph the Priest and Aithalis the Deacon
9:00 a.m. +Orest Dubno requested Maria Sobko
10:30 a.m. For our parishioners
Panachyda for the deceased Ukrainian-American Veterans

Epistle: Galatians 2:16-20
Gospel: Luke 8:41–56, Tone 3

Monday, 11/04, Our Venerable Father Joannicius the Great
 9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Tuesday, 11/05, The Holy Martyrs Galaction and Epistemis
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Wednesday, 11/06, Our Holy Father Paul, Archbishop of Constantinople and Confessor
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Thursday, 11/07, The Thirty-three Holy Martyrs of Militene
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Friday, 11/08, Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers of Heaven—Our parish’s feast day
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
7:00 a.m. For our parishioners

Saturday, 11/09, Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers of Heaven
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Sunday, 11/10, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Apostles Erastus, Olympus, Rodion and companions
9:00 a.m. For our parishioners
10:30 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Gloria and Donald Horbaty (50th wedding anniversary) requested by their children and family

Epistle: Galatians 6:11-18
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37, Tone 4

Parish announcements this week

Christ is in our midst!

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

St. Michael’s Day will be celebrated on November 24th. On this day we will have only One 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 Anya Rohmer Hanson. Tickets are $25.00 for adults, $10.00 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 for donations for dessert.

The next Pyrohy Saturday is November 16th. Anya Rohmer Hanson will be away for 2-3 months. For ordering pyrohy, call Alexis Hickerson at (475) 221-8399.

The Ukrainian Ridna Shkola of New Haven had started its school year with 3 classes: 1.) A nursery school program for children 3-5 years old; 2.) A class to teach Ukrainian to English language-speaking children ages 6-10; 3.) A class where instruction is only in the Ukrainian language for children 8-11 years old. Classes are from 9:30 to 11:30 each Saturday morning. Religious instruction follows at 11:30 am. We have dance instruction as well from 12:00 noon.

November 8 is the feast day of our patron, Saint Michael the Archangel. St. Michael, which means “Who is like unto God”, is mentioned four times in Scripture: Daniel 10:13 and 12:1, in Jude 9 and in Revelation 12:7. Scripture reveals to us that Saint Michael is known as the “Prince of the Heavenly Host,” hence the leader of all angels. It is to the Prince of the Heavenly Host that we owe a debt of gratitude for casting Lucifer and the evil spirits down to Hell; he is invoked for protection against Satan and all evil. Sacred Tradition teaches that there are four offices connected to Saint Michael: 1.) To fight against Satan, his minions and the power of evil; 2.) To rescue and protect the faithful from evil, especially at the hour of death; 3.) To lead the people of God to full communion with God Himself; 4.) To call our souls to judgement before God.

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