Saturday, February 19 is the first of the five All Souls’ Saturdays. We will serve the Divine Liturgy TODAY at 9am.
Prayer for the departed is one of the best acts of charity we can perform. It is also an expression of our faith in the resurrection of the dead.
The Byzantine Church remembers the faithful departed differently than the Latin Church. For example, All Soul’s Saturdays at St Michael’s New Haven are: February 19, March 12, 19, 26 and June 4.
Join us, live and in person only.
Patriarch Sviatoslav of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has urged us to remain united in “the face of this great threat … on our borders.”
The Catholic World Report has the story. Read:
Major archbishop urges Ukrainians to be united in face of ‘great threat’
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will pray the Moleben to the Holy Mother of God at 7:00 p.m.
It is crucial that you are present for this prayer.
Join us in prayer for peace!
The parable read today is usually called “the parable of the Prodigal Son,” who is at the center of the story. It might also be called “the parable of the Merciful Father,” who welcomes back his son, embracing him, restoring him to his position, declaring a joyous celebration without even seeming to hear or listen to his son’s confession or protestation. It might also be called “the parable of the Petulant Son,” who is grumpy and peeved at the father’s merciful loving kindness because he thinks that he himself is so much better than his brother. As we prepare for the Great Fast, do we see a pattern developing? The pharisee thought he was much better than the tax-collector, the older son thought he was so much better than his prodigal brother, but God overflows in love for all his creatures. Perhaps the real main purpose of the Great Fast is to turn from pride to humility, to begin to see others through the eyes of God, to overflow in love for others. Truly, what does it mean to be a Christian?
The return of the prodigal Son was marked by a great banquet given by the Merciful Father. We are all invited to that banquet, celebrated at every Divine Liturgy, where the food is not the “fattened calf” but the body and blood of our Lord, the only-begotten Son of the Father. How do we approach this banquet, in the humility of the son who acknowledges his unworthiness or in the pride of the older son, who objects to the presence of his weaker brother? The answer is what it means to be a Christian.
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“Receive me now, Lord, as you once received the Prodigal. Open to me your fatherly arms, and in thanksgiving I will sing of your glory and goodness” (Sunday of the Prodigal Son Canon, Ode 1, troparion 3)
The parable of the Prodigal Son is also commemorated on the Second Sunday of the Great Fast, in the Canon of Matins, because the origin of the Triodion is from Palestine, where this Gospel was read on the Second Sunday.
Meditation by Archpriest David Petras
Glory to Jesus Christ
Sunday, 2/13, Sunday of the Prodigal Son
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel: Luke 15:11-32, Tone 5
Monday, 2/14, Repose of Cyril apostle of Slavs
9:00 a.m. +Anna Lipcan (13th Anniv., Pan.) requested by Barbara and Patrick Bagley
Tuesday, 2/15, a.m. Holy Apostle Onesimus
9:00 a.m. No particular intention for the Divine Liturgy
Wednesday, 2/16, a.m. Holy Martyrs Pamphilius and Porphyrius
9:00 a.m. No particular intention for the Divine Liturgy
Thursday, 2/17, Holy Great Martyr Theodore
9:00 a.m. +George Olive Briere requested by a Friend
Friday, 2/18, Our Holy Father Leo, Pope of Rome
9:00 a.m. +Hanya Danylo requested by the Family
Saturday, 2/19, Holy Apostle Archipus
9:00 a.m. All deceased of Parish —SOROKOUSTY
Sunday, 2/20, Meatfare Sunday
9:00 a.m. +Gregory Dubno requested by Luba Dubno
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:1
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46, Tone 6
Christ is among us!
This week vigil light is offered by Chris Komondy in memory of Henri Heinrich.
SOROKOUSTY will be celebrated during Lent in All Soul’s Saturdays, February 19, March 12, 19, 26 and June 4. 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!
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.
A container is in our church vestibule for non-perishable food. This collection will be taken every week or twice per month. Father Iura will distribute the food to those in need. Thank you for your generosity.
Glory to Jesus Christ
Sunday, 2/6, Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
9:00 a.m. +Olga Pospolita requested by Luba Dubno
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish
Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:10-15
Gospel: Luke 18:10-14, Tone 4
Monday, 2/07, Our Venerable Father Parthenius
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy
Tuesday, 2/08, Holy Great Martyr Theodore
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy
Wednesday, 2/09, Holy Martyr Nicephorus
9:00 a.m. +Volodynyra Harkava (Pan.) requested by the Faryna Family
Thursday, 2/10, Holy Martyr Charalampias
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy
Friday, 2/11, Holy Priest Martyr Blaise
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy
Saturday, 2/12, Our Holy Father Meletius
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy
Sunday, 2/13, Sunday of the Prodigal Son
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel: Luke 15:11-32, Tone 5
Christ is in our midst!
This week vigil light is offered by Mary Ann Mikosky in memory of Eugenia Kozak Harvey.
There will be frozen PYROHY for sale in the church hall for as long as supplies last.
SOROKOUSTY will be celebrated during Lent in All Souls’ Saturdays, February 19, March 12, 19, 26 and June 4. 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!
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.
A container is in our church vestibule for non-perishable food. This collection will be taken every week or twice per month. Father Iura will distribute the food to those in need. Thank you for your generosity.
The Ukrainian School of New Haven
If you have any questions:
Elementary School: Halia Lodynsky at 203-494-6278
Middle School: Volodymyr Dumalskyy at 203-988-2923
Nataliia Dankevych (203) 901-7168.
A nursery school program for children 2-5 years old is currently ongoing.
Instruction will be primarily in Ukrainian language with accommodations for English. Connecticut Covid guidelines will be followed.
Having just finished the Nativity Cycle we start moving toward the Lenten Cycle and Zacchaeus is our man. In fact, he’s the model of Christian conversion: turning toward the Lord.
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”(Luke 19:5) Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.” (19:9)
Jesus is passing through the town of Jericho and there is a crowd of people gathering to catch sight of the Lord passing by. Zacchaeus is one such person who had heard of Jesus’ talks (sermons) and miraculous deeds. However, Zaccheus has a disadvantage, an impediment: he is of small stature. So what does Zaccheus do? He climbs up a sycamore tree and this way he’d be able to catch a glimpse of the Lord passing by. This does not go unnoticed. Our Lord sees Zaccheus and says: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”
A reaction from the crowd follows. They had begun to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” Zaccheus was a tax collector who worked for the Roman government. And thus Zaccheus was not well-liked and looked down upon. Besides that, the crowd is judgmental over the Lord’s decision to become a guest at a sinner’s home, namely Zaccheus.
Nonetheless, Zaccheus holds his ground, defending his integrity: “Behold, 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.” (19:8) Repayment or restitution fourfold is indeed a great amount. For according to today’s Catholic moral teaching, restitution or repayment is to be made as close to the value or worth of what was wrongfully taken.
There is a simplicity and honesty in the dialogue between Zaccheus and Our Lord. Zaccheus was not hard-hearted, but rather had an openness of heart by which God finds a path to enter. Yes, He can even enter the heart of any and every sinner, no matter how great a sinner he or she is. To Zaccheus, Jesus had become the source of true joy and happiness here on earth, but more importantly for all eternity.
