Schedule for Holy Theophany
on January 6 and Christmas (Julian Calendar) on January 7
Holy Theophany, January 6
9:00 a.m. Great Compline followed 10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy and 11:15 a.m. Great Sanctification of Water
Christmas (Julian Calendar), January 7
9:30 a.m. Great Compline and 10:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy
The organizational meeting of the newly formed Facilities Maintenance Team of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church will take place on Friday evening, January 18th starting at 6:30 p.m. During this meeting, the team will discuss what maintenance or repair projects will be worked on during this new year. The schedule of work sessions will also be established for the entire year so that plans can be developed for doing all of the projects and arrangements made for the purchase of required supplies and equipment.
Once the projects have been determined and prioritized, the group will spend the rest of this “meeting” beginning to work on the first project. The usual time frame for the work sessions will run from 6:30 to about 9:30 p.m. There will be occasions when it is necessary to work later than 9:30 to complete some of the projects.
All parishioners who would like to become part of the team should leave your contact information with Father Iura after the Liturgy. Forms for providing your contact information can be found in the vestibule of the church.
We ought to be concerned to know and appreciate the place of Sacred Scripture in our worship of God in the Divine Liturgy.
No Catholic can be ignorant of Scripture because we would be ignorant of Jesus Christ, to paraphrase St. Jerome.
Click on the image to enlarge, and perhaps print the page for your prayer book and bible.
Micah is the final prophet whose memory we celebrate in the Feast of Light. However, in many of his prophecies, he speaks out of darkness. He was an ancient prophet, of whom Jeremiah says: ““Micah of Moresheth used to prophesy in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem, a heap of ruins, and the temple mount, a forest ridge” (Jeremiah 26:18). Micah laments, in words that could be repeated in our own times: “The faithful have vanished from the earth, no mortal is just! They all lie in wait to shed blood, each one ensnares the other” (7:2). Yet for all that, he most clearly foretells the coming of the Prince of Peace.
Jesus is to come from the most humble town in Judah, “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathaha least among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times” (5,1), and the Hymn of Light for the Vigil of Theophany informs us, “In Bethlehem you were born in the flesh from a virgin, now you hasten to the Jordan to purify all the sins of those born on the earth, leading those in darkness to the light.” Micah tells us the Lord will come as both judge and man of peace, “He shall judge between many peoples and set terms for strong and distant nations; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again” (3,3). He will be our shepherd and the guarantor of peace, “He shall take his place as shepherd by the strength of the Lord, by the majestic name of the Lord, his God; And they shall dwell securely, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth: he shall be peace” (5:3-4).
Holy Prophet Micah, pray that we, as Christians, can be followers of Jesus and a people of peace.
Meditation by Archpriest David Petras
On Saturday, December 1, the University of New Haven hosted a very well-attended concert and public forum commemorating the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and the fifth anniversary of the Maidan Revolution of Dignity.
The concert was the brainchild of virtuoso pianist Victor Markiw, lecturer in music at the University of New Haven, and was co-organized with Olena Lennon, adjunct professor of political science at UNH.
Read the Ukrainian Weekly press on the event here.
A blessed new year to all of you! Christ is born! Happy 2019!!!
On January 1, in addition to Circumcision of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, we remember one of the great Fathers of the Church, St. Basil the Great. He is known as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs; Basil’s life and writings inspire the work we do in the Church. Pray for the Parish through the intercession of St. Basil, that God may bless our work in 2019.
From a biography by St. Nikolai Velimirovic, The Prologue of Ohrid:
St Basil was born in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, in about 330. While still unbaptised, he spent fifteen years in Athens studying philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and other contemporary secular disciplines. Among his fellow-students were Gregory the Theologian and Julian, later the apostate emperor. When already of mature years, he was in the Jordan together with his former tutor Ebulios. He was Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia for nearly ten years, and died at the age of fifty.
A great champion of Orthodoxy, a great torch of moral purity and zeal for the Faith, a great theological mind, a great builder and pillar of the Church of God, Basil fully deserved his title “the Great”. In the Office for his Feast, he is referred to as a bee of the Church of Christ, bringing honey to the faithful but stinging those in heresy. Many of the writings of this Father of the Church have survived – theological, apologetic, on asceticism and on the Canons. There is also the Liturgy that bears his name. This Liturgy is celebrated ten times in the year: on January lst, on the Eves of Christmas and the Theophany, on every Sunday in the Great Fast with the exception of Palm Sunday, and on the Thursday and Saturday in Great Week.
St Basil departed this life peacefully on January l, 379, and entered into the Kingdom of Christ.
Theosis magazine is published as a collection of short spiritual readings on various topics and the prayers for the Saint of the Day according to the Byzantine calendar. It is full color with many illustrations and icons of each saint. It is pocket-size to carry with you and read when you have time. Some of the essays are short excerpts from books published by Eastern Christian Publications as an ongoing series. Other essays are especially written for that month, season or featured topic by various contributors. Each month also usually includes commentary from an Eastern Father like St. John Chrysostom, and a homily by a well-known Byzantine Catholic priest.
The print edition, $7.00 per month, is available as a single subscription for 12 or 24 months, or can be paid month-to-month through the website. Bulk orders are also available for quantities of five or more per shipment for parishes to make available to their faithful for spiritual reading, education and prayer. An electronic “ezine” version is available through the ECPubs app (Apple or Android), or by email at no cost (but we ask for voluntary stipends of $5-10 per month).
Subscribe to the print version, register for the electronic email version, or offer a monthly stipend on our website here: https://ecpubs.com/theosis-monthly-magazine/
Christ is born!
“O Jesus enthroned on high together with Your eternal Father and divine Spirit ….” (Troparion of the Circumcision)
Divine Liturgy on January 1, New Year’s Day. On Tuesday, we liturgically remember that 8 days ago we celebrated Christmas. Today according to Jewish custom, we recall Jesus underwent the Circumcision.
It is also the feast day of Our Father Among the Saints, Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Father Iura will use the Eucharistic prayers of St. Basil.
~10:45 a.m. Lytia and blessing of Bread
~11:00 a.m. For the people of the parish with the Anointing – Myrovann
Following the Divine Liturgy we will have some champagne in the church hall; please bring something sweet to eat to celebrate the —New Year’s Day 2019!
PS: the image is of St Basil the Great from our parish.
Usually in the week before Theophany, the course readings of Scripture in the Divine Liturgy (the daily Epistles and Gospels) have to be adjusted, so that the Sunday of Zacchaeus (the 32th Sunday after Pentecost) is read the week before the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. Because Pascha is so late in 2019 (April 21), this means that the Sunday of Zacchaeus is February 3, and so, on Monday, December 31, we adjust the calendar to repeat from the 28th Week after Pentecost. This will mean, of course, a number of repetitions on weekdays, but because of the special Sunday before and after Christmas and Theophany, there will be only one Sunday repetition (January 20). This is fine with me, after all, we cannot hear the gospels enough, but I know some pastors don’t like repetition, and will read the gospels from the Menaion rather than the course readings. They might also replace the one Sunday repetition with the Matthew Gospel of the Caanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28). The Greeks and Melkites regularly do this. (DPetras)
On this Sunday, we commemorate three men who had a relationship with Jesus: David, his forefather; Joseph, his foster father; and James, his brother through Joseph. Each of these man were shown mercy by God. David committed a great sin, to win the wife of Uriah, he had Uriah put into the front lines of battle, so that he was killed. The prophet Nathan brought this sin to light and David did repentance and lost his son. Joseph found Mary pregnant and decided to divorce her, but an angel told him to take her as his wife. James was among Jesus’ relatives who did not accept him as a prophet, but after the resurrection, he repented and became the leader of the church at Jerusalem.
We might remember also three women who were among Jesus’ foremothers. Rachel was the wife of Jacob, who loved her more than Leah. However, when Jacob worked for seven years for Laban to win Rachel’s hand, Laban insisted he marry his eldest daughter Leah. Jacob then worked another seven years for Rachel. However, Rachel was barren until finally she gave birth to Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son. Jacob took his family and fled Laban, and Rachel stole Laban’s family icons. When Laban caught up with Jacob, Jacob cursed the thief of his icons, not knowing that it was his beloved wife Rachel. The curse was fulfilled when Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. Rachel is mentioned in today’s Gospel as weeping when the children of Bethlehem are massacred by King Herod, but the gospel says, “no comfort for her, for they are no more.”
We might also mention Ruth, who was a foreigner – like the Magi. She married a Hebrew man from Bethlehem who died, and Ruth followed her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem, and there tricked Boaz into marriage, becoming the great-grandmother of David and ancestor of our Lord. We might also mention Tamar, who lost her husband, whose brother refused to have children by her. She disguised herself as a prostitute and became pregnant with her father-in-law, Judah, who wanted to have her executed for prostitution until he was shown to be the father. So she, too, became an ancestor of Jesus through trickery. Does not today’s feast remind us that we all have a relationship now with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and we are all in need of his mercy.
Meditation by Archpriest David Petras