Parish announcements

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

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St Ephrem the Syrian

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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Zacchaeus Sunday

Today is Zacchaeus Sunday! (Lk 19:1-10)
 
“Behold, salvation now enters the city of Jericho. Behold, salvation has come to the house of Zacchaeus, the son of Abraham. May that same Salvation enter our hearts and our homes.”
 
Prep for the Great Fast (Lent) begins!

St Gregory the Theologian

Today the Church liturgically commemorates one the greats: St Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople. The Troparion for this feast reads:

The sweet-sounding shepherd’s pipe of your theology overpowered the trumpeting of the orators; for having searched the depths of the Spirit eloquence was also bestowed upon you. Pray to Christ God, Father Gregory, that our souls may be saved.

St Gregory said,

“If someone asked us, what is it that you worship and respect, we should readily reply, love, for in the Holy Spirit’s own words our God Is Love. This is in fact the name that God cherishes above all others. “What is the sum of the law and the prophets?” This is the only answer that the evangelist would accept. Why in the world then do we the disciples of Love hate one another so? Why do we do disciples of peace engage in wars which do not admit of treaty or truce?”

Can we say this in our parish? in our personal lives?

Real, authentic worship

There seems to be significant questions surfacing among Catholics as to what the worship of God entails. It is a rather deep and intricate answer but two paragraphs may begin to reflect upon what the Church gives witness to and what is reasonable. What does the Church teach regarding worship, relics and honor of the saints?

In the Catechism we read:

The Church also professes the Paschal mystery in the feasts of her saints, who suffered with Christ and with him were glorified. The Church offers the example of the lives of the saints to the faithful for imitation, in order to bring all to the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. The liturgical commemoration of saints is effected in the services and in the veneration of their icons and their relics. The date of the veneration of saints is usually the day of their death, that is, their birth to heaven. It can also be the day of the finding or transferral of their relics. Every day of the Church Year is dedicated to one or more particular saints. The liturgical services (hymnography) for the saints are collected month by month in twelve volumes called the Menaia (from the Greek, meaning monthly).

AND

One of the first Fathers who elaborated a theological foundation for icon veneration was Saint John of Damascus. He teaches: “I venerate the icon of Christ the incarnate God … because the honour that we render unto the image belongs to the Prototype.” In the icon, we venerate not the image but the imaged person, whom we prayerfully contemplate. This is because the icon raises our mind from the image to the Prototype. The Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787 condemned Iconoclasm and confirmed the veneration of icons of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most holy Mother of God, and the angels and saints. Along with this, the Council distinguished between adoration, which is due exclusively to God (in Greek, latreia), and veneration (in Greek, proskynesis), which we render unto icons, the Gospel Book, the cross, and the relics of saints. We venerate icons by kissing and censing them, and lighting candles and lamps before them. The icon is also the Church’s teaching expressed in images. Therefore it should be written not arbitrarily but only accord ing to iconographic canons which ensure that the faces of Christ, the Mother of God, and of the saints are recognizable in all instances.

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St Timothy

The holy apostle and martyr, Timothy, bishop of Ephesus, is honored by the Church today.

This disciple and companion of St. Paul was put in charge of the christian community at Ephesus (reportedly for 15 years) and is honored as their first bishop. Around AD 97, he was killed by an angry mob, not unlike the silversmiths’ riot triggered by Paul.

The two letters addressed to Timothy in the New Testament are considered by modern scholarship to be compositions of the Pauline community.

The Kontakion for the feast reads:

Let us the faithful praise the Holy Apostle Timothy, the companion of Paul in his travels and together with him let us honor the wise Anastasius, who came as a star from Persia for the healing of the passions of our souls and the diseases of our bodies.

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