Parish announcements this week

Christ is among us!

VIGIL LIGHT: This week vigil light is offered by Halya Lodynsky for God’s blessing and health for Stefan Yurchak.

SOROKOUSTY (All Souls): will be celebrated on every TODAY. The next All Soul’s Remembrance will March 11 and May 19. 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!

PYSANKA — Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop will be held TODAY 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. Sponsored by UNWLA branch 108, the Heritage Center and the CT Ukrainian-American Historical Society.

PARISH MISSION:  Mission in our parish will be on Sunday, March 18th and March 25th. Father Albert Forlano will be giving Mission in our parish. Father Albert is going to be in confessional half an hour before AND during both Divine Liturgies. For confession in Ukrainian language Father Stepan Yanovski will be in confessional each Sunday during Lent.

Father Bohdan Prach, Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University, will be giving a Ukrainian-language presentation of his new book on April 20th in Stamford and on April 21st in New York. Father Prach will give a book presentation on The Clergy of the Peremyshl Eparchy and the Apostolic Administration of Lemkivshchyna.

Christ Our Pascha, the Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is now available online in English, http://catechism.royaldoors.net

By the threefold discipline of fasting, prayer and almsgiving the Church keeps the Great Fast/Lent from Monday, February 12, after the Cheesefare Sunday to the day before Easter, Holy Saturday, March 31.  The following regulations apply, in general to all Ukrainian Catholics of the Stamford Eparchy between ages 21 to 60: Abstinence from meat and dairy products on the first day of the Great Fast, February 12, and Good Friday, March 30. The following regulations apply, in general, to all Ukrainians Catholics of the Stamford Eparchy between ages 14 to 60: Abstinence from meat is to be observed on all Fridays of the Great Fast. Abstinence from meat is suggested and encouraged on all Wednesdays of the Great Fast. The following are exempt from abstinence: 1. The poor who live on alms; 2. The sick and the frail; 3. Convalescents who are returning to their strength; 4. Pregnant women, and women who are nursing their children; and 5. Persons who perform hard labor. Meat is to be understood as including not only the flesh, but also those parts of warm-blooded animals that cannot be rendered, i. e., melted down, e.g., the liver, lungs, blood, etc. meat gravy or soup made from meat is included in this prohibition. Dairy products are to be understood as comprising products derived from mammals and birds, but not regarded as meat, e. g., cheese, lard, butter, milk, eggs, etc.  Eucharistic Fast: A fast of one hour from food(prior to service begging time) should be kept by those receiving the Eucharist at the evening celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as well as, the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great.

Prayer intention for March

The prayer intention for Pope Francis, March 2018

That the Church may appreciate the urgency of formation in spiritual discernment, both on the personal and communitarian levels.

Let us keep this intention in our morning offering, and our other daily prayers before the Lord.

The Flood and Baptism

One the key parts of the Great Fast is attending to Baptism. Do we realize the import of Baptism and its roots?

St. John Damascene lists eight baptisms:
1) the Flood, which was the eradication of sin;
2) the sea and the cloud, the baptism of Moses;
3) the baptism of the Law, in which every unclean person washed himself with water (Leviticus 14:8);
4) the baptism of John;
5) the baptism of our Lord;
6) the baptism of repentance and tears;
7) martyrdom, the baptism of blood;
8) the last baptism in hell, which is not saving, but which destroys the soul.

One common theme in all of this is that baptism is a fire, a death, a purification, as we say in the Creed, “I profess one baptism for the remission of sins.”

In this third week of the Great Fast, we remember the first of these, the flood. We are reminded that the Great Fast is a journey, but also a preparation for baptism. It is our weakness today that we do not evangelize people to come into the faith. We no longer see the connection between baptism and the passion and resurrection, as St. Paul did, and which is proclaimed in the Great Paschal Vigil, “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). Our goal in Pascha is to renew our baptisms, renouncing the evil of Satan and committing ourselves again to Christ, so that “We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. (Romans 6:6)”

The flood is a foretelling of the true baptism of our Lord. In both the power of sin is destroyed. The ark represents the loving providence of God; it represents the strength of his grace, working in our human weakness; it represents our faith that life is found in God’s creative wisdom. We must hear last Sunday’s reading, “we must attend all the more to what we have heard, so that we may not be carried away. For if the word announced through angels proved firm, and every transgression and disobedience received its just recompense, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3)

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Third Week of the Great Fast

During this week, at Vespers, we read the story of the flood and the salvation of the righteous man Noah and his family. At first, this might seem to be the dark side of God, and on Friday, we heard: “When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them.” The story of the flood may have some historical basis, as a great flood in the Mediterranean basin in pre-history, but the story is iconic. (Noah could not have brought all the animal species on the ark.) The story tells us that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Christian faith has seen a positive image in the flood: it is the waters of baptism, which wipes out all sin (pride and rebellion against the divine plan) from the earth. It is these waters which carry us to salvation. On the third Friday, then, we hear: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, the Lord said to himself: Never again will I curse the ground because of human beings, since the desires of the human heart are evil from youth; nor will I ever again strike down every living being, as I have done,” and on Tuesday of the fourth week, the day before Mid-lent, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” The Great Fast is the coming of the Redeemer.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 2/25/18  Second Sunday of Lent — Commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas

9:00 a.m. +Gregory Dubno requested by Luba Dubno
10:00 a.m. All Souls Remembrance — Sorokousty
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish; +Joseph Slipyj —Panachyda

Epistle: Hebrews 1:10-2:3
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12, Tone 5

Monday, 2/26/18 Our Holy Father Porphyrius, Bishop of Gaza
9:00 a.m. +Myroslaw Trojan (Pan.) requested by Nadia Trojan

Tuesday, 2/27/18 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Procopius of Decapolitan
9:00 a.m.  God’s blessing and health for Viorica and Iuliu

Wednesday, 2/28/18 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Basil, Ascetical Companion of Procopius

Thursday, 3/01/18 The Holy Venerable-Martyr Eudocia
9:00 a.m. +Vira Kudla (40 days, Pan.) requested by Emilia Iwaniw

Friday, 3/02/18 The Holy Priest-Martyr Theodotus
7:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Saturday, 3/03/18 The Holy Martyrs Eutropius and His Companions Cleonicus and Basiliscus
9:00 a.m. +Ivan and Halyna Lobay (Pan.) requested by Maria Lobay

Sunday, 3/04/18 Third Sunday of Lent —Veneration of the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ —Our Venerable Father Gerasimus of the Jordan

9:00 a.m.  +Helen Wasylyk requested by Sestrichi
10:00 a.m. All Souls Remembrance — Sorokousty
10:30 a.m.  For the people of the parish

Epistle: Hebrews 4:14-5:6
Gospel: Mark 8:34-9:1, Tone 6

Parish announcements this week

Christ is among us!

1. VIGIL LIGHT: This week vigil light is offered by Halya Lodynsky for God’s blessing and health for Stefan Yurchak.

2. AFTER DIVINE LITURGY: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

3. SOROKOUSTY (All Souls): will be celebrated on every TODAY. The next All Soul’s Remembrance will  March 4 and 11, May 19. 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!

4. The Annual Meeting of the Ukrainian National Association Br. 414 will be held on Sunday, February 25, 2018, at 12:00 noon in St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall. All members are invited to attend in order to elect a delegate to attend the convention in May of 2018.

5. PYSANKA — Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018 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. Sponsored by UNWLA branch 108, the Heritage Center and the CT Ukrainian-American Historical Society.

6. Replica of the Shroud of Turin will be displayed in St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in NYC until TODAY. Father Emilian Dorosh invites all faithful to take opportunity to venerate God by praying by the Shroud of Turin.

7. Living the Great Fast (Lent): By the threefold discipline of fasting, prayer and almsgiving the Church keeps the Great Fast/Lent from Monday, February 12, after the Cheesefare Sunday to the day before Easter, Holy Saturday, March 31.  The following regulations apply, in general to all Ukrainian Catholics of the Stamford Eparchy between ages 21 to 60: Abstinence from meat and dairy products on the first day of the Great Fast, February 12, and Good Friday, March 30. The following regulations apply, in general, to all Ukrainians Catholics of the Stamford Eparchy between ages 14 to 60: Abstinence from meat is to be observed on all Fridays of the Great Fast. Abstinence from meat is suggested and encouraged on all Wednesdays of the Great Fast. The following are exempt from abstinence: 1. The poor who live on alms; 2. The sick and the frail; 3. Convalescents who are returning to their strength; 4. Pregnant women, and women who are nursing their children; and 5. Persons who perform hard labor. Meat is to be understood as including not only the flesh, but also those parts of warm-blooded animals that cannot be rendered, i. e., melted down, e.g., the liver, lungs, blood, etc. meat gravy or soup made from meat is included in this prohibition. Dairy products are to be understood as comprising products derived from mammals and birds, but not regarded as meat, e. g., cheese, lard, butter, milk, eggs, etc.  Eucharistic Fast: A fast of one hour from food(prior to service begging time) should be kept by those receiving the Eucharist at the evening celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as well as, the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great.

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Presanctified Liturgy TONIGHT

TONIGHT, February 23, the lenten Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts will be offered at 7:00 p.m. in English and Ukrainian. This is a great way to “get into” spirituality of Great Lent.

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Communing from the Body and Blood of the Master during the period of spiritual combat.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is attributed to Saint Gregory the Dialogist (†604), Pope of Rome, but in actuality, it is not the work of one individual, but is a composite work coming down to us from Holy Tradition.

The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which consists of the Service of Vespers and the Communion of the Faithful with the Holy Gifts. It is commonly celebrated daily in monastic communities, and on Wednesdays and Fridays in parishes, with Holy Bread—that is, the Body of Christ—which has been intincted in the Holy Blood and consecrated at the preceding complete Liturgies on Saturdays or Sundays. The Presanctified or “abridged” Divine Liturgy (since it is affixed to Vespers), is normally celebrated in the late afternoon, when Christians, having fasted until that time, commune, afterwards eating a meal of dry foodstuffs (dried fruits and nuts).

The celebration of the Divine Liturgy, because it is festive and Resurrectional in character, is not allowed during Great Lent and the somber period of the fast, according to ancient tradition and the forty-ninth Canon of the Synod of in Laodiceia [336]. However, from their side, the faithful children of the Church, engaged in the abstemious struggle of the Great Fast and having a clear and particular need for reinforcement by the Holy Mysteries during this period of intensive spiritual combat, desired to commune as often as they could, since Holy Communion was indeed their life and sustenance.

For this reason, so that the faithful not be deprived of the Holy Eucharist on the weekdays of the Great Fast, but that they might be able to commune from the Presanctified Holy Bread [the Body if Christ], the Church, by way of the fifty-first Canon of the Fifth-Sixth [Quinisext] Synod [692], appointed that the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts take place on the weekdays of the Great Fast.

Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite [†1809], in his Rudder, citing the Byzantine canonologist Matthew Blastaris [fl.14th century], reminds us that the faithful resemble wrestlers, and just as wrestlers cease their matches in the afternoon to take nourishment in order to strengthen themselves for the upcoming bout, so the faithful commune from the Body and Blood of the Master during the period of spiritual combat in the Great Fast, that they might be reinvigorated and reinforced by the Lord, thus to continue their match against the passions and the spiritual enmity of the devil with renewed powers and more valorously.

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Thursday of the Second Week

To inspire our prayer today, here are 2 texts from the Liturgy and a reflection on them.

Matins:
This is the season for repentance, the struggle of the Fast. It gains eternal life for us if we stretch out our hands to do good. For nothing is better for the salvation of our souls than to share with the poor; and almsgiving together with fasting free us from death. Let us dearly love this rich treasure which can bring salvation to our souls.

Vespers:
Of old our first parents did not fast from the tree of knowledge according to the command of the Creator, and they received death as the fruit of their disobedience. They were deprived of the tree of life and the sweetness of paradise. Therefore, O faithful, let us fast from perishable food and our deadly passions, so that we might acquire life from the divine tree of the cross, and return with the good thief to our ancient homeland, through the mercy of Christ our God.

Reflection:
The Great Fast is Christ as the way of life. He came that we might have life in abundance, which means fasting “from perishable food and deadly passions.” Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Does that mean God does not want us to “know” about good and evil. No, what it means is that we do not define good and evil for ourselves, but only according to God’s commands. The fast often meditates of the tree of life – it is Christ who said, “I am the vine and you are the branches (see the icon). The third Sunday of the Cross gives us access to the tree of life, which is the cross, and the fruit of which is Holy Communion. A second reflection: can we “buy” eternal life? Apparently so, for the price is “to share with the poor, and almsgiving” that frees us from death.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras