Divine Liturgy for the week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 9/09, 16th Sunday after Pentecost—Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
9:00 a.m. For the people of the parish
10:30 a.m. +Myroslaw Trojan (10th Anniv.) requested by Nadia Trojan and Family 

Epistle: Galatians 6: 6-18
Gospel: John 3: 13-17, Tone 7

Monday, 9/10, Post-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God; the Holy Martyr Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora

Tuesday, 9/11, Post-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God; Our Venerable Mother Theodora of Alexandria

Wednesday, 9/12, Leave-taking of the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God; the Holy Priest-Martyr Autonomus

Thursday, 9/13, Fore-feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross; the Holy Priest-Martyr Cornelius the Centurion

Friday, 9/14, The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross
Note: Day of abstinence
9:00 a.m. +Petro and Maria Makarenko, Clementyna & Stepan Lobay (Pan.) requested by Maria Lobay

Saturday, 9/15, Post-feast of the Exaltation of the Cross; the Holy Great-Martyr Nicetas

Sunday, 9/16, 17th Sunday after Pentecost —Post-feast of the Exaltation; The Holy, Great Woman-Martyr Euphemia the All-Praised
9:00 a.m. +Michael Waselik (33rd Anniv.) requested by the Family
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: Galatians 2: 16-20
Gospel: Mark 8: 34-9:1, Tone 8

Parish announcements for the coming week

Christ is in our midst!

WELCOME NEW PARISHIONERS! New parishioners are always welcomed in our parish. If someone wants to register with our parish please contact Father Iura Godenciuc at (203) 865-0388 or our financial secretary Natalia Chermak.

PARISH COFFEE HOUR: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

VIGIL LIGHT: This week the vigil light is offered by Christopher Komondy in memory of All deceased members of the Komondy family.

Asleep in the Lord:  Irina Leschuk Dubno fell asleep in the Lord on September 1, 2018, at home with her loving family. Irina was the beloved wife of Orest Dubno and the devoted and loving mother of Danna Dubno-Blowers and the late Gregory Dubno.  Please pray for the repose of her soul.  May her memory be eternal.

We have frozen Pyrohy for sale while supplies last. More information can be read here: https://stmichaelukrainian.org/pierogies/

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: The Blessed Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Ukrainian Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday September 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the church hall. All men of the parish are invited to attend.

The Connecticut State Ukrainian Day Committee wishes to thank those parishioners who attended last year’s Ukrainian Day Festival in Stamford, especially those who assisted us during the day or prepared food in their parishes. The Connecticut State Ukrainian Day Committee wishes to invite all parishioners to attend this year’ s Ukrainian Day Festival to be held on Sunday, September 9, 2018. This Festival is the 51st festival and a time to renew friendships of the past and make new ones. Please make an effort to attend. The Festival will be held on the grounds of St. Basil Seminary, 161 Glenbrook Rd., Stamford, CT. The day will begin with a Pontifical Divine Liturgy at 11:00 AM, celebrated by the Most Rev. Basil H. Losten, Bishop Emeritus. Immediately following the Divine Liturgy and throughout the day, Ukrainian food, picnic food and other refreshments will be available. In the afternoon, a lively and colorful program of Ukrainian dances, songs and music will take place, which will include dance groups from various areas of Connecticut and New York. Following the program there will be a Zabava until 8:00 PM. Tours will be given at the unique Ukrainian Museum on the grounds as well as the Diocesan Cultural Center and you can browse through the outdoor arts and crafts exhibits with over twenty vendors who have a variety of items for sale. Advance general admission tickets are $5 per person, 12 and over and are available from members of the committee in your parish or your pastor. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $10 per person. No food or liquor is to be brought onto the grounds of the festival, liquor will be confiscated by the Stamford police. This festival can only continue to exist if volunteers sign up to help out during the day. Please contact your pastor or members of the Ukrainian Day Committee in your parish to sign up. Please make that effort to volunteer; we need your assistance to continue this Festival, which helps sustain our Diocese, Seminary and our Ukrainian people.

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Nativity of Mary

THE REPROACH OF CHILDLESSNESS
The Nativity of Mary
(Saturday, September 8)

“By Your Nativity, O Most Pure Virgin, / Joachim and Anna are freed from the reproach of childlessness (ὀνειδισμοῦ ἀτεκνίας); / Adam and Eve, from the corruption of death. / And we, your people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you: / The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our life!” (Kontakion-hymn of the Nativity of the Theotokos)

As those of us on the “New” Calendar celebrate the great feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos this Saturday, our attention is drawn to the whole topic of the “reproach of childlessness,” endured for decades by the Holy Virgin’s parents, Joachim and Anna. They were liberated from this “shame,” just as we were freed from the “guilt” of sin, by the birth of the Birth-Giver of God, the “only” child from a marriage that endured even as it was “reproached.”

Many of us can relate, on some level, both to the “guilt” and the “reproach” (often from the voices inside our own heads) of being unproductive, or not productive enough, in the ways we or others might expect us to be. We don’t “do” enough; we don’t “make” enough (money, for example); we procrastinate, and neglect, and find ourselves failing to check off all the items on our “To Do” list, at the end of the day. Or perhaps we are single or divorced, and feel that we’ve failed to “produce” the family we “should” have. What to do, with the human “guilt” and constant “reproach” we might carry around, as a result of this state of affairs?

Two things: 1. Faith, and 2. Gratitude. We embrace faith in a God Who does produce new life from otherwise-“barren” and unexpected places, in His own time, – for example, from a Virgin-womb, and from a stone Tomb just outside Jerusalem. In reliance on Him, we can move forward, and do move forward, even if our growth is not noticeable, or fast enough, to our minds at the moment. And we can embrace gratitude for things as they are, at the moment, in the here and now, in the gentle realism that is humility, rather than stare into the gaping hole of our “should have done’s” and “must do’s,” in constant dissatisfaction. Because, as they say, Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, – that’s why it’s called a “present.” Give us “this day” our daily bread, I say to God today, and forgive us our debts, those “guilts” and “reproaches” we carry around, as we forgive our debtors. By the prayers of the Theotokos, Saviour, save us!

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Irina Leschuk Dubno fell asleep in the Lord

Irina Leschuk Dubno fell asleep in the Lord on September 1, 2018, at home with her loving family.  Irina was the beloved wife of Orest Dubno and the devoted and loving mother of Danna Dubno-Blowers and the late Gregory Dubno.

The family will receive visitors from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 5, at the Celentano Funeral Home, 424 Elm St., New Haven.

The funeral will take place at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 6, at the funeral home, with burial immediately following at East Side Burying Ground in Woodbridge, CT.

The full obituary may be read here: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nhregister/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=190120734

May Mary, the Mother of God and all the saints intercede for Irina’s soul and give comfort to those who mourn her.

Eternal Memory.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:6-15; Matthew 22:35-46

“But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10).

St. Paul today gives us a word of hope. Yes, he was speaking about persecution of the Body of Christ from outside forces. Perhaps, however, not all “outside forces,” for he acknowledges, “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.” The Church is run by human beings, the “earthern vessels,” which we see can fail spectacularly, giving, of course, a justifiable reason for attacks from the outside. Today, we are “afflicted,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down,” as much from the faults of our shepherds as from the outside. On the other hand, there is indeed hope. Hope that we will “clean up,” from the inside, and, in America, much has been done since the safe environment program beginning in 2002. In the meantime, sadly, many will lose the treasure of their faith. We are truly “perplexed” by what has happened. However, the Church remains always the vessel of Christ’s resurrection, “so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.” The Church of Christ is firmly founded on the faith of Peter, even though Peter himself denied Christ, and had to be rebuked by Paul at Antioch for his hypocrisy. Christ’s power shines through, as St. Paul proclaims, “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Jesus, Lord and Savior, Son of the living God, is the treasure of the Church, and his life is manifested in us.

In the gospel, Jesus proclaims that he is the Lord, for he “said to them, ‘How, then, does David, inspired by the Spirit, call him “lord,” saying: ‘The Lord said to my lord,’“Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet’’? (Matthew 22:43-44). If we are “perplexed,” do not despair, but pray always, “Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

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September 1: the New Year

We call this the “Church” New Year, but it was, of course, the civil New Year of the Byzanrine 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).

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Divine Liturgy this week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 9/02 15th Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyr Mamas; and Our Venerable Father John who practices the Fast
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4: 6-15
Gospel: Matthew 22: 35-46, Tone 6

Monday, 9/03, Labor Day; The Holy Priest-Martyr Anthymus, Bishop of Nicomedia
8:00 (Private Intention)

Tuesday, 9/04 The Holy Priest-Martyr Babylas, Bishop of Antioch; the Holy Prophet Moses Who saw God
8:00 (Private Intention)

Wednesday, 9/05 The Holy Prophet Zachary and Elizabeth, Parents of John the Baptist
8:00 (Private Intention)

Thursday, 9/06 Commemoration of the Miracle Performed at Colossus in Chone by the Archangel Michael
8:00 (Private Intention)

Friday, 9/07 The Fore-feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God; the Holy Martyr Sozon
8:00 (Private Intention)

Saturday, 9/08 The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
9:00 Special Intention

Sunday, 9/08 16th Sunday after Pentecost —Post-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God; the Holy and Righteous Forebears of God Joachim and Anna
9:00 a.m. For the people of the parish
10:30 a.m. +Myroslaw Trojan (10th Anniv.) requested by Nadia Trojan and Family

Epistle: Galatians  6: 11-18
Gospel: John 3: 13-17, Tone 7

Parish announcements for the coming week

Christ is in our midst!

WELCOME NEW PARISHIONERS! New parishioners are always welcomed in our parish. If someone wants to register with our parish please contact Father Iura Godenciuc at (203) 865-0388 or our financial secretary Natalia Chermak.

PARISH COFFEE HOUR: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

VIGIL LIGHT:  This week the vigil light is offered to God’s greater glory by Catherine Kolesnik for Special Intention.

PASSING:  Together as a parish, we mourn the passing of Senator John McCain. He was truly an American hero who dedicated his life to the service of our country. Please pray for the repose of his soul. May his memory be eternal.

PASTOR’S ABSENCE: During my vacation, if you need a priest you may call: Fr. Stepan Yanovsky (203) 468-6457, or Fr. Ivan Mazuryk (203) 367-5054. From September 8, Fr. Volodymyr Piso can be reached at the rectory office (203) 865-0388. Blessings, Fr. Iura.

SEPTEMBER 1st: The Byzantine Church inaugurated the First of September as the beginning of the liturgical year in A.D. 312. The Birth of the Mother of God, celebrated on September 8, is the first major feast day of our Church’s liturgical year. The great significance of the liturgical year’s first feast becomes apparent when we meditate on the fact that Mary’s birth is the beginning of salvation. She is going to carry God in her womb. It is her cooperation with God that enables Him to become man and that makes us more like God and brings us closer to Him. In a hymn, on the feast day, we sing: “Your Nativity, O Mother of God has made joy known to all the world, for from you dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God. He abolished the curse and by making death of no effect, He bestowed on us eternal life.” Let us pray:

Christ our Lord, You who provide the rains and fruitful seasons, and hear the prayers of those who humbly seek You, accept also our requests about our needs and concerns and deliver us from worry, danger and sin. Your mercies are as abundant as Your works.

Bless all our activities, direct our steps by Your Holy Spirit, and forgive our shortcomings. Lord, bless the year with Your goodness and make it a year of grace for all of us. Amen.

Resolve to make each day the beginning of a new year, a new morning, a new adventure. Christ wipes the slate clean so we can be filled up again with His spirit and give it out all day long.

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Martyrdom of St John the Baptist

Today is the feast of the beheading of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist.

Sacred Scripture reveals that John the Baptist was a cousin of Our Lord whose mission was to preach repentance to Israel in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The famous rebuke of King Herod for his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, landed John in prison and on the wrong end of Herodias’ admiration. Concluding Salome’s dance for the King’s birthday he promised to give her whatever she asked for, even up to half his kingdom. Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod ordered the execution. We honor St. John the Baptist as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

The Kondakion (in the Byzantine Liturgy) reads:

The beheading of the forerunner was indeed a dreadful crime, somehow fitting into the plan of God, for John thereby became the herald of the savior’s visit to those in hades. As for you, Herodias, cry your eyes out, bewail your deed, for you preferred murder to the law of God, rejecting eternal, everlasting life, for a false and passing one.