Commemoration of our Holy Father John of the Ladder

Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast: Commemoration of our Holy Father John of the Ladder

We know little about the life of John, the Hegumen [abbot] of the Monastery of Mt. Sinai, but he has left us one of the greatest spiritual testimonies of the Christian faith, his work called the “Ladder of Virtues.” It was written, certainly, in a monastic environment, which has always been the home for the seeking of perfection as commanded by Christ: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)” His book, then, was read in Eastern monasteries during the Great Fast. Though his work was for monks, each of us has a vocation common with monks to seek perfection in Christ, and so we can all profit from his work. He reminds us that sanctification is not instant, but it is a lifetime project, “All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)” This is what our Father John teaches us: “The Christian is one who imitates Christ in thought, word and deed, as far as is possible for human beings, believing rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity.” (Step 1, Section 4)

“Having heard the Gospel of the Lord, O venerable Father John, you left this world, counting as nothing the riches and glory that it offered. Then you cried out to everyone: Love the Lord and you shall find eternal favor, for nothing is preferable to his love. And when he shall come in glory, you will find repose with all the saints. Through their prayers, O Christ, grant mercy to our souls.” (Doxasticheron at Psalm 140, Vespers of the Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast)

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

51st Ukrainian Day Festival announced

CT State Ukrainian Day Committee announces that the 51st Ukrainian Day Festival will be held on Sunday, September 9, 2018 at St. Basil’s Seminary in Stamford, CT..

The first Festival Committee Meeting for this year will be held on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 2 :00 p.m., at The Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall, 255 Barnum Avenue, Bridgeport, CT.

Those interested in working on the festival committee are invited to attend.

For information, contact Roman Stanislavskyy or Gloria Horbaty (203-269-5909).

Wellness and Nutrition as a Means to Healthy Longevity

The Ukrainian National Association will host a free presentation by Dr. Petrusia Kotlar on “Wellness and Nutrition as a Means to Healthy Longevity” on Sunday, March 18, 2018, at noon, at Holy Protection of Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall, 255 Barnum Ave.,  Bridgeport.  It will also include healthy snack tasting.

For information, contact Gloria Horbaty at 203-269-5909.

Church parking on March 11

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 
 
Christ is among us!
 
Tomorrow, Sunday, March 11th is the St. Patrick’s Day celebration and the City of New Haven has their parade starting at 1:30 p.m. Our church is only one block from the parade route and the church and Knights of Columbus will be raising some funds by using the church parking lot for attendees to the parade.
 
If you are attending the 2nd Divine Liturgy there will be Knights of Columbus members to direct your parking upon arrival. We want to keep all the parishioners parked to one side of the lot to allow paid parkers to use the other side. This will also allow easier flow when leaving after the Mass. The parade steps off at 1:30 p.m. 
 
Parishioners who wish to attend the parade may leave their car in the lot after Mass. The Knights will have water and soda for sale if you wish to take some to the parade.
 
We thank you for your support and cooperation, God Bless.
 
Hank Lindgren
Grand Knight, Knights of Columbus

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 3/11/18 Fourth Sunday of Lent  —Commemoration of Saint John of the Ladder (Climacus)
9:00 a.m. For the people of the parish
10:00 a.m. All Souls Remembrance — Sorokousty
10:30 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Brandon and Andre requested by the Czabala Family

Epistle: Hebrews 6:13-20
Gospel: Mark 9:17-31, Tone 7

Monday, 3/12/18 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theophanes of Sigriana; Our Holy Father Gregory of the Dialogist, Pope of Rome
9:00 a.m. +Myron (30th Anniv., Pan.) requested by Anastasia Gali

Tuesday, 3/13/18 The Transfer of the Relics of Our Holy Father Nicephorus

Wednesday, 3/14/18 Our Venerable Father Benedict of Nursia

Thursday, 3/15/18 The Holy Martyr Agapius and the Six Martyrs with Him
7:00 p.m. +Anna, Volodymyr, Tymofij, Eva (Pan.) requested by the Ivantsiv Family

Friday, 3/16/18 The Holy Martyrs Sabinus and Papas
7:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Saturday, 3/17/18 Our Venerable Father Alexis, Man of God

Sunday, 3/18/18 Fifth Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of Our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt
Parish Mission
9:00 a.m. +Ella Sowa requested by Bohdan Sowa
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-14
Gospel: Mark 10:32-45, Tone 8

Parish announcements this week

Christ is among us!

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

VIGIL LIGHT: This week vigil light is offered to God’s glory by Vasyl and Nadia Ivantsivimo for +Anna, Volodymyr Tymofij.

ASLEEP IN THE LORD: +Allan Yursha. Please remember him in your prayers. ETERNAL MEMORY!

SCHEDULE FOR GREAT WEEK AND PASCHA

Holy Thursday, March 29: 7:00 p.m. Matins — Proclamation of the Passion Gospels

Good Friday, March 30: 4:00 p.m. Vespers and Veneration of the Holy Shroud —Plashchanytsya

Holy Saturday, March 31: 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Foods; 6:00 p.m. Prayer at the Tomb and Paschal Matins

Pascha, April 1: 10:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy in English and Ukrainian.

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.

EASTER EGG HUNT: 15th Annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by Ukrainian National Association Branch 414-New Haven, will be held on Sunday, March 25th at 12:00 noon on St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church grounds, 569 George Street, New Haven CT. Free –Open to young members of the UNA Ridna Shkola students and New Haven Area Ukrainian youth. For more information contact: Gloria Horbaty 203-269-5909. Participants: Please bring basket for collecting eggs.

SVIACHENE: The traditional Easter parish “SVIACHENE” will be held on April 15, 2018. On that day we will have only ONE Divine Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. We will be running a raffle. If you would like to donate any items to be raffled please give it to Anya Hanson. We ask you to donate cakes for desert. Tickets are available through Luba Dubno. Tickets: adults – $20, youth between 12 to 16 – $10, under 12 and altar boys and Ridna Shkola students free.

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Presanctified Liturgy Friday March 9

The Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts will be served at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 9.

As a reminder, Father Iura will offer the panachyda for Allan Yursha at Wallingford Funeral Home at 6:00 p.m. These are the traditional prayers conducted on the eve of a funeral.

Allan Yursha falls asleep in the Lord

Allan Yursha, 82, of Wallingford, died peacefully at home March 4, 2018. He was the beloved husband of Mary Ann (Herceg) Yursha.

He was born in McAdoo, PA, July 23, 1935, a son of the late William and Mary (Suhena) Yursha and was a U.S. Air Force Korean War Veteran. He worked as a design draftsman at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft until his retirement in 1992 and then worked at the Wallingford Public Library until 2001. He was an active member of St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church in New Haven where he served as Past Treasurer and as Past President of St. Michael’s Holy Name Society. He was awarded the Papal recognition in 2005.

In addition to his wife Mary Ann, he is survived by his three daughters, and sons-in-law, Ann E. and Paul Lehr, Mary L. Johnston and Hans Hanson, and Juliann M. and Neil Bukowski; his three grandchildren, Jessica M. Sanchez (David), Neil “Rob” Bukowski (Mariah Franco), and Alexis S. Bukowski; his great granddaughter, Delanney Luz Sanchez; Bernandine Elko; his sister-in-law, Betty Jane Yursha; and many nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his siblings, Vladimir Yursha, Eugene Yursha, and Dorothy Yursha. Allan loved his family very much and his family always came first.

His family will receive relatives and friends in The Wallingford Funeral Home, 809 N. Main Street Ext., Wallingford, on Friday, March 9, from 4 to 7 p.m. The Panahyda service of prayer will be at 6:00 p.m. at the Funeral Home.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday at 10 a.m. directly at St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church, 569 George St., New Haven. Interment will be private in the State Veterans’ Cemetery in Middletown. In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory may be sent to Masonicare Hospice, 33 N. Plains Industrial Rd., Wallingford, CT 06492.

Third Sunday of the Great Fast

The first half of the Great Fast tells us the stories of Adam and Eve and their children, and the flood of Noah. It is a story of the creation of a perfect world and how that has been marred by human sin. It tells of the end of paradise, “The Lord God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24).

Today, however, begins a new story, and we sing, “No longer does the flaming sword guard the gates of Eden, for the tree of the cross has come to quench it wondrously. The sting of death and the victory of Hades have been driven out. For you, O my Savior, stood and called out to those in Hades: Enter again into paradise.”

The tree of life, which Adam and Eve attempted to seize against the will of God, is the tree of the cross. And the fruit of this tree is the Body of Christ, which we receive in Holy Communion “for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.” We receive it together with his Holy Blood, “shed of the life of the world,” for today’s Gospel tells us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Today we understand the words of our Lord,  “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you” (John 6:53).

The Romans crucified thousands of people, many of whom were innocent. Yet of all these people, only our Lord Jesus Christ is remembered. This is because it is not the method of torture, or the gruesome of his death that matters, but the infinite love that shone forth from his sacrifice on the cross. This is what is important for us, we may not have to die in such a painful or unjust way, but we do have to be united in the love that God shows forth on the cross. This is what it means “to take up the cross.” I personally think that for each and every one of us, it means denying for ourselves something that we crave very earnestly, a painful self-denial, if you will, for the sake of true deifying love for God and for others. This is why the cross, originally an instrument of torture and shame, has become for us the trophy of salvation. The joy of the Fast is that through God’s love we come to the fullness of life.

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Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 3/04/18  Third Sunday of Lent — Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross
9:00 a.m.  +Mary Plaskonos (1st Anniv.) requested by the Family
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

Monday, 3/05/18 The Holy Martyr Conon
9:00 a.m. +Helen Wasylyk requested by Sestrethi

Tuesday, 3/06/18 The Holy Forty Martyrs of Ammorium
9:00 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Mary Ann Yursha requested by Sestretsi

Wednesday,  3/07/18 The Holy Priest-Martyrs and Bishops of Cherson Basil, Ephrem, Capiton, Eugene, Etherius and companions; Passing into Eternal Life of Blessed Leonid Feodorov, Exarch of the Russian Catholic Church, and Martyr in 1935

Thursday, 3/08/18 Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theophylactus
9:00 a.m. +Catherine Levitzky (Pan.) requested by Joseph Levitzky

Friday, 3/09/18 The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
7:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Saturday, 3/10/18 The Holy Martyr Condratus and Those with Him

Sunday, 3/11/18 Fourth Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of Saint John of the Ladder (Climacus)
9:00 a.m. For the people of the parish
10:00 a.m. All Souls Remembrance — Sorokousty
10:30 a.m. +God’s blessing and health for Brandon and Andre requested by the Czabala family

Epistle: Hebrews 6:13-20
Gospel: Mark 9:17-31, Tone 7