Saint Michael’s Feast Day today

The Archangel Michael. Russian Byzantine icon. 2nd half 14th
© Scala / Art Resource

As you know, today is the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel and angels and it is a holy of obligation for members of our parish.

The Divine Liturgy will be served:

~at 9:00 a.m. in Ukrainian
~at 7:00 p.m. in English.

Saint Michael who says of himself that he is “who stands always in sight of the Lord. And undertaking to protect this place and the people of this land, I resolved to demonstrate by this sign that I am the watcher and guardian of this place and all things which are done here.”

As we celebrate the presence of Saint Michael and the Angels in our midst, let us remember that we are not alone in this life nor in the next. The Angels dwell among us (that’s why your parish church is never empty!).

Let us pray for one another through the intercession of Saint Michael the Archangel and the angels.

Infant fed at baptism

An Orthodox priest was captured by a professional photographer as he was feeding a baby girl while proclaiming the Gospel at the child’s baptism service at the Ascension of the Lord Church in Podu Olt, Brasov County, Romania.

Read the story here.

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ

Sunday, 11/03, 21st Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyrs Acepsimasthe Bishop, Joseph the Priest and Aithalis the Deacon
9:00 a.m. +Orest Dubno requested Maria Sobko
10:30 a.m. For our parishioners
Panachyda for the deceased Ukrainian-American Veterans

Epistle: Galatians 2:16-20
Gospel: Luke 8:41–56, Tone 3

Monday, 11/04, Our Venerable Father Joannicius the Great
 9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Tuesday, 11/05, The Holy Martyrs Galaction and Epistemis
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Wednesday, 11/06, Our Holy Father Paul, Archbishop of Constantinople and Confessor
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Thursday, 11/07, The Thirty-three Holy Martyrs of Militene
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Friday, 11/08, Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers of Heaven—Our parish’s feast day
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
7:00 a.m. For our parishioners

Saturday, 11/09, Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers of Heaven
9:00 a.m. No intention for the Divine Liturgy

Sunday, 11/10, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Apostles Erastus, Olympus, Rodion and companions
9:00 a.m. For our parishioners
10:30 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Gloria and Donald Horbaty (50th wedding anniversary) requested by their children and family

Epistle: Galatians 6:11-18
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37, Tone 4

Parish announcements this week

Christ is in our midst!

The next meeting of Knights of Columbus Blessed Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Ukrainian Council will be held TOMORROW at 7:00 p.m. in the Holy Name Room. All men of the parish are invited to attend.

St. Michael’s Day will be celebrated on November 24th. On this day we will have only One Divine Liturgy at 10:30 AM. After the Divine Liturgy, we will have a dinner and short program. All parishioners are cordially invited to this celebration. Tickets are available through Anya Rohmer Hanson. Tickets are $25.00 for adults, $10.00 for youth between 14 and 18. Free for students Ridna Shkola, altar boys and for children under 12. We will be running a raffle. If you would like to donate any items to be raffled, please bring them to our church hall on Sundays before our Feast Day. Also we ask for donations for dessert.

The next Pyrohy Saturday is November 16th. Anya Rohmer Hanson will be away for 2-3 months. For ordering pyrohy, call Alexis Hickerson at (475) 221-8399.

The Ukrainian Ridna Shkola of New Haven had started its school year with 3 classes: 1.) A nursery school program for children 3-5 years old; 2.) A class to teach Ukrainian to English language-speaking children ages 6-10; 3.) A class where instruction is only in the Ukrainian language for children 8-11 years old. Classes are from 9:30 to 11:30 each Saturday morning. Religious instruction follows at 11:30 am. We have dance instruction as well from 12:00 noon.

November 8 is the feast day of our patron, Saint Michael the Archangel. St. Michael, which means “Who is like unto God”, is mentioned four times in Scripture: Daniel 10:13 and 12:1, in Jude 9 and in Revelation 12:7. Scripture reveals to us that Saint Michael is known as the “Prince of the Heavenly Host,” hence the leader of all angels. It is to the Prince of the Heavenly Host that we owe a debt of gratitude for casting Lucifer and the evil spirits down to Hell; he is invoked for protection against Satan and all evil. Sacred Tradition teaches that there are four offices connected to Saint Michael: 1.) To fight against Satan, his minions and the power of evil; 2.) To rescue and protect the faithful from evil, especially at the hour of death; 3.) To lead the people of God to full communion with God Himself; 4.) To call our souls to judgement before God.

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Pray for the Beatification of Andrey Sheptytsky

Today is the 75th anniversary of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (+Nov. 1, 1944).

Prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey

Our Lord Jesus Christ – You always reward Your faithful servants, not only with special gifts of Your love, but also with the eternal reward of the saints in heaven, and in many cases You grant them the recognition of sanctity by Your Church here on earth.

We humbly pray: grant that Your faithful servant Metropolitan Andrey be numbered among the saints. Throughout his just life, “full of suffering and trials,” he was a good shepherd for his flock and a great labourer for Christian unity. And through his beatification and intercession, grant our entire people the great gift of unity and love. Amen.

Молитва за Прославу Слуги Божого Митрополита Андрея

Господи Ісусе Христе – Ти завжди нагороджуєш Твоїх вірних слуг не тільки особливішими дарами Своєї любови, але й вічною нагородою святих у небі, а в многих випадках і прославою на Твоїх святих престолах, тут на землі.

Покірно благаємо Тебе: зволь так прославити Твого вірного слугу Митрополита Андрея. Він упродовж свого праведного життя, „повного терпінь і досвідів”, був добрим пастирем свого стада і великим подвижником церковної єдности. А через його прославу і заступництво пошли і цілому народові нашому великий дар єдности і любови. Амінь.

Blessed Theodore Romzha

Today, the Church commemorates, “The holy priest-martyr Theodore Romzha. Born in Veliky Bychkiv in Carpatho-Russia in 1911, he came from a poor family and exhibited a vocation to the priesthood. Sent to Rome for studies, he was ordained in 1937 and sent to the country parish of Berzovo. In 1939, he was called to the seminary at Uzhhorod and taught there until 1944. In 1944, despite his youth, he was ordained bishop for the Mukachevo Eparchy. During the Soviet Army’s occupation of Carpatho-Russia, he was tireless in his care for his flock and in his defense of the rights of the Byzantine Catholic Church.

On October 27, 1947, he was severely wounded in a staged accident. He was taken to the hospital in Mukachevo, where he was subsequently poisoned, and died (1947).”

Romzha died just after midnight (Moscow time) on November 1st; a request made of or Congregation for Oriental Churches the feast day was changed to October 31.

Bishop Romzha was beatified as a martyr by Pope John Paul II on 27 June 2001.

Icon and text by the monks of Mt Tabor.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Read: Luke 8:26-39

The idea this gospel is addressing is fear. Jesus comes to the land of the Gerasenes and casts out a legion of demons from a possessed man. The gospel of Luke is succinct on this point and only notes that he lived among the tombs (that is, among the dead).

In the gospel of Matthew, we read the detail that “they were so savage that no one could travel by that road” (Matthew 8:28). Jesus’ cure is like a resurrection to life, making him free from the tombs. The demons are sent into unclean animals, the pigs, and this evil is promptly destroyed. The townspeople come out to see what had happened, and rather than welcoming Jesus as a healer and the conqueror of evil, the gospel says “they were seized with fear,” and St. Luke repeats, they “asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear” (Luke 8:35.37).

Of what were they afraid, that their commodity (the pigs) had been destroyed, or that the demoniac man was still possessed by demons? We often “demonize” and “dehumanize” what we fear. We, too, are God-fearing, when we approach Holy Communion the deacon warns, “Approach with the fear of God and with faith.” The townspeople were afraid and asked Jesus to leave, but a true “fear of God,” which is expressed in faith and love, draws us nearer to God in Communion.

The Lord can free us from evil, so approach and receive him who told us, “Take courage, for I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras
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