The Eastern Catholic Bishops in the USA have been in Rome this week for their every 5 year pilgrimage to the Shrines of Saints Peter and Paul, meetings with the various offices at the Holy See and a meeting with the Pope. 
The family of William Celentano announce the death of their dear husband, father, and grandfather who fell asleep in the Lord with his family by his side.
Please remember William and the family in your prayers.
All are invited to pay their respects Sunday from 3-7 at the family funeral home which has cared for the greater New Haven community for over 90 years.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Bernadette Church Monday at 10:00. Interment will follow in St. Lawrence Cemetery.
Father Iura will be concelebrating the funeral liturgy.
As you know, William and the Celentano Family have been a good friend to the Parish.
May Our Lady, the Holy Theotokos, embrace William and lead him the Lord.
May William’s memory be eternal.
On February 10, 2020, the Holy Father received in audience the Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, his wife and members of the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus on the occasion of their annual pilgrimage to Rome, and to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Foundation.
As you know, our parish is very happy to have a KofC council at our parish named for the Venerable Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky. Our council is small but an extraordinary group of men who are serious about the Byzantine Catholic faith, service to the Church, fraternity and works of charity.
The following is the greeting the Pope addressed to those present:
Dear friends,
I offer you a warm welcome on the occasion of your pilgrimage to Rome in this year that marks the centennial of the charitable activity of the Knights of Columbus in this city.
In fact, it was one hundred years ago that my predecessor Pope Benedict XV invited the Knights of Columbus to provide humanitarian aid to young people and others in Rome following the terrible conflict of the First World War. The Knights responded generously, establishing sports centres for youth that quickly became places for education, catechesis and the distribution of food and other essentials so needed at that time. In this way, your Order proved faithful to the vision of your founder, Venerable Michael McGivney, who was inspired by the principles of Christian charity and fraternity to assist those most in need.
Today the Knights of Columbus continue their work of evangelical charity and fraternity in a variety of fields. I think in particular of your faithful witness to the sacredness and dignity of human life, evident at both the local and national levels. This conviction has also led the Knights of Columbus to aid, both materially and spiritually, those Christian communities in the Middle East that are suffering the effects of violence, war and poverty. I thank all the members of your Order for seeing in our persecuted and displaced brothers and sisters of that region neighbours for whom you are a sign of God’s infinite love.
Since its foundation, the Knights of Columbus has demonstrated its unswerving devotion to the Successor of Peter. The establishment of the Vicarius Christi Fund is a testimony to this devotion, as well as to the desire of the Knights to share in the Pope’s solicitude for all the Churches and in his universal mission of charity. In our world, marked by divisions and inequalities, the generous commitment of your Order to serve all in need offers, especially to young people, an important inspiration to overcome a globalization of indifference and build together a more just and inclusive society.
Dear brothers and sisters, with these thoughts and sentiments, I entrust you to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I offer my prayers for the members of the Knights of Columbus and their families, and for the good works accomplished by the local Councils worldwide. To all of you present here and to your loved ones, I impart my heartfelt blessing, and I ask you, please, to pray for me.
Thank you!
A recent story at CRUX online gives background. You’ll notice some parishioners of St Michael’s in the image. Carl Anderson, the head of the KofC makes some good points to attend to.Glory to Jesus Christ!
Note: Candles are blessed before the Divine Liturgy (cf. Molytvoslov, p. 867). After the Liturgy: Anointing of the faithful and distribution of prosfora.
Note: There is no fasting this week.
Sun. 2/02/20 Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee —Meeting of Our Lord with Simeon
9:00 Special Intention
Blessing of Candles
10:30 a.m. For our parishioners
Liturgy: Epistle: 1 Timothy 3:10-15 and Gospel: Luke 18:10-14, Tone 1
Blessing: Hebrew 7:7-17 and Luke 2:22-40
Monday, 2/03, Post-feast of the Encounter. The Holy and Just Simeon, Who Received God, and the Prophetess Anna
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy
Tuesday, 2/04, Post-feast of the Encounter. Our Venerable Isidore
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy
Wednesday, 2/05, Post-feast of the Encounter. Holy Martyr Agatha
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy
Thursday, 2/06, Post-feast of the Encounter. Holy Bishop Boucolus
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy
Friday, 2/07, Post-feast of the Encounter. Holy Bishop Parthenius
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy
Saturday, 2/08, Post-feast of the Encounter. Holy Great-Martyr Theodore
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy
Sunday, 2/09, Sunday of the Prodigal Son —Leave-taking of the Encounter. The Holy Martyr Nicephorus.
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For our parishioners
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel: Luke 15:11-32, Tone 2
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Christ is among us!
Fr. Iura Godenciuc will be away for short vacation. In case of emergency, you may call Fr. Paul Luniw (860) 583-7588 or Fr. Stepan Yanovski
This week’s vigil light is offered to God’s glory by Larissa and Svitlana in memory of Anya Rohmer-Hanson (Mykytey).
The February meeting of Knights of Columbus Blessed Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Ukrainian Council has been cancelled. The next regularly scheduled meeting will resume in March.
Thank you to the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, Branch 108, for the wonderful Prosphora they provided for our parish. The event was truly outstanding and special thanks go to all those who helped to make the event a success.
The yearly Hall Roof Repair report for 2019 is now in the vestibule of our church. Please take a copy and review the 2019 updates. Thank you.
Sorokousty —All Souls Saturdays will be celebrated on February 15th, March 7th, March 14th, March 21st, and May 30th. 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. Eternal memory.
Плекання духовної єдності Христової Церкви та сприяння єдності всіх християн (екуменізм) Із Пастирського листа Блаженнішого Святослава…
ПЛЕКАННЯ І СЛУЖІННЯ ЄДНОСТІ
Діяння святих апостолів показують глибоку єдність, яка існувала між члена- ми першої спільноти Христових учнів: «Громада вірних мала одне серце й одну душу, і ні один не називав своїм щось з того, що кому належало, але все в них було спільне» (4, 32). Цей духовний стан першої християнської спільноти можна виразити словом «сопричастя/кінонія», що вказує на єдність, згоду та співжиття. Бути Церквою – це перебувати в сопричасті Святого Духа, в благодаті Господа Ісуса і в любові Бога-Отця. Єдність Церкви є, такими чином, іконою єдності осіб Пресвятої Трійці. Ця єдність проявляється на різних рівнях: на рівні Вселенської і помісної Церкви, єпархії та окремої парафії. Трапляється, що через нашу неміч і гріховність ми не віддзеркалюємо цієї єдності. Будучи свідомими цього, всі ми маємо цінувати і плекати її, зберігаючи повне сопричастя з наступником апостола Петра – Святішим Отцем, з ієрархією нашої Церкви, з місцевими
єпископами та душпастирями, які діють від їхнього імені. Парафія є спільнотою спільнот. У ній існують різні молитовні групи, братства та молодіжні організації. Всі вони покликані укріплювати єдність і любов між членами парафіяльної спільноти. Підтримуючи одні одних молитвою, обміню- ючись Божими дарами та співпрацюючи в дусі Христового служіння, зможемо втілювати у життя синодальну програму «Святість об’єднаного люду Божого». Ми не можемо бути байдужими до того, що діти Володимирового Хрещення
нині поділені й відчужені між собою. Христос на Тайній вечері молився до Отця Небесного за своїх учнів, «щоб усі були одно» (Йо. 1 , 21). У світлі цих Христових слів нині бажаю щиро попросити вас усіх: молімося за єдність Церкви, молімося за поєднання усіх Церков київської традиції, а насамперед, у дусі Христової любові намагаймося уникати будь-яких висловів чи дій, які могли б завдати шкоди нашим братам і сестрам у Христі чи образити їх. Хоч часом ми самі стаємо об’єктами наруги і утисків, не піддаваймося спокусі відповідати злом на зло. Для нас нехай стане заповітом молитва Христа за своїх кривдників і повчання апостола народів: «Не дозволь, щоб зло тебе перемогло, але перемагай зло добром» (Рим. 12, 21).
The Flowers of the Month for February are Iris and Violet. These flowers suggest loyalty and faithfulness. The three upright pedals of an iris bloom can indicate courage, faith and wisdom, or friendship, hope and compliments.
Book launch for Christopher Guly’s book “Strangers in a Strange Church? New Faces of Ukrainian Catholicism in Canada,” Saint Patrick’s Basilica, Ottawa, Canada, 23 January 2020.
Watch the book launch here.
Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies
https://www.sheptytskyinstitute.ca/
Today, the Church liturgically recalls the life and work of Our Holy Father Ephrem the Syrian.
As we have seen, the theology of Syrian was a fountain of teaching about the incarnation of our Lord, especially his baptism in the Jordan. The feast of Theophany was the foremost manifestation of the Triune God. Among the Syrian theologians, none was most important than St. Ephrem.
Born of pagan parents, he found the Christian faith, was baptized and eventually ordained a deacon. His life was marked by asceticism, as he imitated our Lord in the desert. He had the ascetic gift of tears, sorrow for sin and joy in the salvation of our Lord. His Troparion begins, “Your abundant tears made the wilderness sprout and bloom, and your deep sighings made your labor fruitful a hundredfold. “His theology was equal to the greatest fathers, but his style was entirely different. He wrote in verse, so that it might be sung in hymns, and so he is called the “Harp of the Holy Spirit.”
The corpus of his work was huge, and over 400 hymns still exist, many of which are used in the Syrian Liturgy. He writes of the mystery of the Incarnation:
“A tiny stream from your teaching, Lord,
For us below makes a flood of interpretations.
In your Bread is hidden a Spirit not to be eaten,
In your Wine dwells a Fire not to be drunk.
Spirit in your Bread, Fire in your Wine,
A wonder set apart, [yet] received by our lips!
See, Fire and Spirit in the womb that bore you!
See, Fire and Spirit in the river where you were baptized!
Fire and Spirit in our Baptism;
In the Bread and the Cup, Fire and Holy Spirit!” (Hymns on the Faith 10)
Meditation by Archpriest David Petras
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Today, Sunday, at the Knights of Columbus Museum, Fr. Paul Luniw’s presentation of Ukrainian Christmas traditions.
Father Paul is the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church in Terryville, Connecticut, and the Judicial Vicar for the Eparchy of Stamford. He also decorates Easter eggs beautifully, one of which he presented to Pope Francis.
Picture and text by Luba Dubno
Today is Zacchaeus Sunday! (Lk 19:1-10)