Praying for the Unborn

The March for Life in Washington DC for 2023 was observed this past Friday giving thanks to God for the gift of human life, to witness to its ultimate importance and inviolability, and to implore the Divine Assistance for the conversion of the hearts of all people. Today is the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling which legalized abortion in all 50 states.

“The right to life is a human right. Our defense of that right is a joyful witness to the beauty and dignity of every human person.”

Prayer for the Unborn

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, in Your love for us, protect against the wickedness of the devil, those helpless little ones to whom You have given the gift of life. Touch with pity the hearts of those women pregnant in our world today who are not thinking of motherhood.

Help them to see that the child they carry is made in Your image – as well as theirs – made for eternal life. Dispel their fear and selfishness and give them true womanly hearts to love their babies and give them birth and all the needed care that a mother can give.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen!

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Christ is Born!

Sunday, 1/22, Sunday of Zachaeus
9:00 a.m. +Stuart Maybury (40 days) requested by Paul Zalonski
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle 1 Timothy 4:9-15
Gospel: Luke 19: 1-10, Tone 8

Monday, 1/23, Holy Hieromartyr Clement
9:00 a.m. God’s blessing and health of John and Mark Buciak and Cathy requested by Cathy Kolesnik

Tuesday, 1/24, Our Venerable Xenia of Rome
9:00 a.m. God’s blessing and health of Jaroslaw Paluha

Wednesday, 1/25, Holy Gregory the Theologian
9:00 a.m. +Danylo Begej (29th Anniv. Pan.) requested by Irene Morgan

Thursday, 1/26, Our Venerable Xenophon and Mary
9:00 a.m. No particular intention for the Divine Liturgy

Friday, 1/27, Translation of relics of John Chrysostom
9:00 a.m. No particular intention for the Divine Liturgy

Saturday, 1/28, Our Venerable Ephrem the Syrian
9:00 a.m. No particular intention for the Divine Liturgy

Sunday, 1/29, Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
9:00 a.m. Special Intention

Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:10-15
Gospel: Luke 18:10-14, Tone 1

Parish announcements

Christ is among us!

Blessings of Homes: If you would like to bless your house please fill the form that are in the vestibule or call the rectory office 203-865-0388.

If you would like to have a Confession, Holy Communion or prayer of the sick at your house or nursing home, please call the rectory at 203-865-0388.

Sorokooutsy (All Souls Saturdays) will be celebrated on Saturdays, February 18, March 4, 11, 18 and May 27. Please take a book found at 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!

Tantsi —Ukrainian Folk Dancing for older kids, 6 and up, started on Friday, January 20, with a Parent Meeting 6pm with Stephanie Tomaszewsky, instructor and in partnership with Artistic Director Orlando Pagan. Classes will start on January 27. All parents and students should attend. Any questions will be answered that night. Please contact Halia Lodynsky by text if you have any questions at 203-494-6278.

FOOD DONATIONS: A container is in our church vestibule for non-perishable food. This collection will be taken twice per month. Father Iura will distribute the food to the Little Sisters of the Poor who have offered to help in the Ukrainian crisis. Thank you for your generosity and your support.

PYROHY: There will be pyrohy (varenyky, pierogi) for sale in the church hall as long as supplies last.

The Sunday of Zacchaeus

Though there is no special office for this Sunday, it is commonly seen as the beginning of our preparation for the Feast of our Lord’s Resurrection. Today we must be Zacchaeus. When Jesus came to Jericho, “Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.” Today is where we start our search for God, who is coming to take away the sin of the world. Today we must be filled with the desire to see God, as was Zacchaeus. Today we must acknowledge our sins, for Jesus is coming to our church, today he is coming into our homes, more exactly, into the home of our heart. What a contrast between Zacchaeus and the Blind Man of Jericho who could not see and begged Jesus for sight.

Zacchaeus could see and yet climbs the sycamore tree to get the best possible view. What a contrast between Zacchaeus and the rich young man. The rich young man could not let even one penny of his riches escape his grasp, but Zacchaeus says, “Half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” Today, Jesus tells us, “Salvation has come to this home.” It is already Pascha, if we turn to our Lord in his mercy, if we seek him with the zeal of Zacchaeus.

Today St. Paul’s promise is fulfilled, “We have set our hope on the living God, who is the savior of all, especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10)” Today we must be among those who believe.

Generator arrives

Father Roman Manulak tells us today that the 30 kW power generator has arrived! Glory to God. Glory to Ukraine. This generator is going to the children of the Dobromyl Special school.

During the war, when the enemy, in the cold winter time, left this establishment, like all Ukraine without electricity, we bought a power generator, which became a real Christmas miracle-gift. The children of the Dobromyl Special school will be able to have light, heat and the ability to cook food, because everything is on electricity.

Thank you for all your generosity! We are grateful for the collaboration of Father Roman and his colleagues who oversee humanitarian relief projects. And God bless everyone of you who gave so generously so that these children with special needs will suffer less.

A Merry Christmas indeed!!!

Benedict XVI buried

“The foundation of the world is love.” – Pope Benedict XVI

The coffin of the late Pope Benedict XVI is placed in its final resting place in the grottos of St. Peter’s Basilica. The cypress coffin is placed inside a zinc coffin which is placed inside an oak coffin and then buried.

Eternal memory.

Coats arrived in Ukraine

Yesterday, January 3rd, the container we packed with boxes of winter coats for kids, clothes and medical supplies on November 12, 2022 finally arrived to our people in Ukraine. Father Roman (our point person in Ukraine) AND his team have unpacked and distributed the donations.

Thank you for all your help!

Preparation for Theophany

Eve of Theophany on January 5th

In preparation for the Feast of the Theophany of Our Lord, the Eve of the Feast, which is Thursday, January 5th, is a day of fasting/strict abstinence for all Byzantine Catholics.

All feasts have a period of time of preparation which calls us to prayer with fasting and/abstinence.

Great Compline will be prayed on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in Church. Join us.

Circumcision of the Lord and St Basil the Great

Today on the Byzantine calendar, the Church commemorates both the Circumcision of the Lord and our father among the saints Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Our Lord was circumcised on the eighth day after His Nativity in accordance with Jewish law as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants. The significance of this is manyfold; in emptying Himself, He who wrote the Law submitted Himself to it, which He came not to destroy but to fulfil. This submission also demonstrated that Christ was truly incarnate, truly robed in flesh, and not simply appearing to be a man.

Saint Basil the Great was born to a wealthy yet pious family at Caesarea in 330. Highly educated in philosophy, philology, oratory, law, naturalist, astronomy, mathematics and medicine, he developed a close friendship with Saint Gregory the Theologian in Athens. He later returned to Caesarea, where he became an ascetic and laid the foundations of Eastern monasticism, later being joined by Saint Gregory.

As the heresy of Arianism spread through the Empire and even to the imperial throne, Saint Basil arose as one of the principal defenders of Orthodoxy, being consecrated Archbishop of Caesarea in 370. He died on 1 January nine years later, shortly after blessing his friend Saint Gregory to accept consecration as Archbishop of Constantinople, and was immediately acclaimed as a saint. The Church continues to celebrate the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great today and on nine other occasions during the year. (SSC)