Tag: Byzantine Liturgy

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Sunday, 4/02/17  Fifth Sunday of Great Lent —Commemoration of Our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt
9:00 a.m.  +Ella Sowa requested by Walnycky family
10:30 a.m. Pro Popolo

Epistle: Heb. 9:11-14
Gospel: Mark 10:32-45, Tone 5

Monday, 4/03/17  Venerable Father and Confessor Nicetas, Abbot of the Monastery of Medicius
8:00 a.m. +Ivan and Halyna Lobay requested by Maria Lobay

Tuesday, 4/04/17  Our Venerable Fathers Joseph the Hymnographer and George of Maleum
9:00 a.m. +Mary Plaskonos (40 days, Pan.) requested by the Plaskonos family

Wednesday, 4/05/17  Holy Martyrs Theodulus and Agathopedes and companions
9:00 a.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Thursday, 4/06/17  Repose of Our Holy Father Methodius, Teacher of Slavs
8:00 a.m. no intention for the Divine Liturgy

Friday, 4/07/17  Venerable Father George, Bishop of Mitylene
7:00 p.m.  Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Saturday, 4/08/17  Lazarus Saturday —Holy Apostles Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Asyncretus, Phlegontus, and Hermes
8:00 a.m. no intention for the Divine Liturgy

Sunday, 4/09/17  Palm Sunday —the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem
8:40 a.m. Lytja and the Blessing of Bread
9:00 a.m. Special Intention

Second Sunday of the Parish Mission preached by Father Robert Markovitch

Blessing of Pussywillows and Anointing
10:30 a.m. Pro Popolo

Epistle: Phil. 4:4-9
Gospel: John 12:1-18, Tone 6

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Sunday, 3/26/17 Fourth Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of St. John Climacus
9:00 a.m +Mary Plaskonos requested by Cathy Kolesnik
10:30 a.m. Pro Populo

Epistle: Hebrews 6:13-20
Gospel: Mark 9:17-31, Tone 4

Monday, 3/27/17 Our Holy Mother Matrona of Thessalonica
8:00 a.m.  no intention for the Liturgy

Tuesday, 3/28/17 Our Venerable Father Hilarion the New; the Holy Stephen, the Wonderworker
8:00 a.m. +Carol Floramo requested by the Walnycky family

Wednesday, 3/29/17 Our Venerable Father Mark, Bishop of Arethusa; the Deacon Cyril and Others Martyred during the Reign of Julian the Apostate
9:00 a.m. Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Thursday, 3/30/17 Our Venerable Father John Climacus, Author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent
8:00 a.m +Ivan Bodnaruk requested by the Walnycky family

Friday, 3/31/17 Our Venerable Father Hypatius, Bishop of Gangra
7:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Saturday, 4/01/17 Our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt
9:00 a.m. +Wolodymyra Basladynska (Pan.) requested by Dionizia Brochinsky

Sunday, 4/02/17 Fifth Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of Our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. Pro Populo

Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-14
Gospel: Mark 10:32-45, Tone 5

Annunciation of Mary, the Mother of God

Annunciation of Mary, the Mother of God (Theotokos), March 25th
 
The Solemnity of the Annunciation is a Holy Day of Obligation. Our Worship begins at 9:45 a.m. with Lytijia and Blessing of Bread and at 10:00 a.m. with the Divine Liturgy, followed by anointing.
 
“Today is the Prelude of joy for the whole world. Let us then anticipate the feast and celebrate with glee, for behold, Gabriel is on his way with the glad tidings for the Virgin; he is about to cry out in fear and amazement: ‘Hail, O Woman full of grace! The Lord is with you!'” (Troparion)

Second Sunday of the Great Fast

Paralytic ManThe Epistle to the Hebrews begins today: ““At the beginning, O Lord, you established the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; and they will all grow old like a garment. You will roll them up like a cloak, and like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” In the first part of the journey we call the Great Fast, we remembered first the story of creation, and how God found it very good. But at the end of these two weeks, we heard that because of our sins, “The Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created. (Genesis 6:6-7)” What is the inspired Scripture telling us – that the human race is completely broken and dysfunctional because we have refused to follow God’s loving providence? The Gospel (Mark 2:1-12) becomes a key hinge in this story. The paralytic man lowered through the roof is a symbol of our crippled, broken and dysfunctional human race. Fortunately, there are still some who know this and want to help heal it – the four friends who lower the broken man through the roof. And the healing follows, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’” (v. 5) We are broken and sinners, but if we can have faith, creation can be made good again – this is our hope. Sin is an offense against God, so those who do not have faith grumble, “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (v. 7) Who but God alone can repair the damage done by rebellion against his plan? And so this story is key in the Gospel, Jesus is God, the Son of the Father, as he created the world, and is always “the same.,” he alone can repair the damage. To prove this, he makes the man to walk again. But Jesus is also a human being, and as such, has imparted the power to forgive sin to the Church, which is his body, and in which we find healing and forgiveness. This is truly a mystery beyond expression. Yet a further point can be made.

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First Sunday of the Great Fast –Sunday of Orthodoxy

Christ and 2 ApostlesThis Sunday is called the “Sunday of Orthodoxy” because it commemorates the restoration of the Church’s teaching on making images (icons) of our Lord and the saints in the year 843. Before that, it was the Sunday of the Commemoration of the Holy Prophets. This explains the Gospel, Phillip witnesses to Nathanael: “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” This is our goal in the Great Fast – to find our faith in Jesus. The Great Fast was the training period for those about to be baptized, and it was a time for the whole community to rediscover its faith. Along the journey to Holy Week, we read especially from the book of Genesis and from Isaiah to guide us to Christ, who will perfect his covenant with us by his death and resurrection. This is why, in the Apostolic reading, we remember Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and all the prophets. It was all for Jesus, “Yet all these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised. God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39)”

How, then, should we keep the Fast? Hebrews tells us: “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)” The Sunday of Orthodoxy helps us to fulfill this plan, for “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,” gazing upon his image, we are led to God, to faith, to life.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Divine Liturgy for the coming week

During Great Lent the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is prayed at Divine Liturgy and not the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.

Sunday, 3/05/17     First Sunday of Lent — The Sunday of Orthodoxy
9:00 a.m. PRO POPULO
10:30 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Anna requested by Maria Wysowskyj

Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2
Gospel: John 1:43-51, Tone 1

Monday, 3/06/17     The 40 Martyrs of Ammorium
8:00 a.m. +Sophie Plachtyna requested by Sestrichi

Tuesday, 3/07/17      The Holy Priest-Martyrs and Bishops of Cherson
8:00 a.m. +Eugenia Harvey (Pan.) requested by Carl Harvey

Wednesday, 3/08/17     Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theophylactus
8:00 a.m. +Helen Wasylyk requested by Sestrichi

Thursday, 3/09/17     The Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste
8:00 a.m. +Catherine Levitzky (Pan.) requested by Joseph M. Levitzky

Friday, 3/10/17     The Holy Martyr Condratus, Cyprian and those with him
7:00 p.m.  Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Saturday, 3/11/17     Our Holy Father Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
8:30 a.m.  For All deceased members of the Parish
9:00 a.m. Sorokousty
9:30 a.m. +Myron Gali (29th Anniv., Pan.) requested by Anastazia Gali

Sunday, 3/12/17 Second Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of St Gregory Palamas
9:00 a.m. PRO POPULO
10:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy  requested by Maria Wysowskyj

Epistle: Hebrews 1:10-2:3
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12, Tone 2

Cheesefare Sunday

Christ with Adam and Eve“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.” (From today’s Gospel, Matthew 6:16)

The reason is not to be hypocritical, in the pattern we’ve seen over the past three Sundays, to think that we are better than others. In this saying, we may see something deeper, the wisdom of what it means to live a godly life. Fasting is the more difficult decision. It’s easier to eat what we want, to be the person we want to be, to follow our own “nature.” It’s a modern mantra, “Be the person that you are! Don’t let others – even God – tell you what to do!” But it’s really not “modern,” it goes back to Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit so that they would “know” – that is, determine what is good and evil for themselves. We have to discern “easy nature” from “real nature,” for God has created us to surpass “nature” and become “godlike.” The army tells us, “Be all that you can be,” but faith tells us, “Be more than you can be.” To choose for ourselves wraps us up in ourselves, and closes us to the whole universe of others and to God. Fasting is a symbol, of refusing the decision of Adam and Eve, of opening ourselves up to others and to God.

Nicholas Denysenko recently wrote, “Fasting is about changing one’s ways for the sake of the other; one dies to excesses and indulgences in one’s life to become aware of the other and his needs, and to rehearse loving the other.” The gospel tells us that we should be joyful in opening ourselves up to the other, a whole new universe awaits us! Fasting is an “alleluia.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Meatfare Sunday — Sunday of the Last Judgement

Last JundgementIn our preparation for the Great Fast, we must notice a theme emerging. In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the Pharisee was not justified because he failed to see the image of God in the tax collector. (“I thank you that I am not like this tax collector,” Luke 18:11). In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the older son was not justified because he failed to see the image of God in the prodigal returned home. (“But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him,” Luke 15:20). Today, in the final judgment, the Lord says to the condemned goats, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it (show charitable works of mercy) to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” (Matthew 25:45)” In the popular mind, Lent is a time for self-denial. Stop, that’s it. But why? Because if we do not deny ourselves, we cannot see the image of God in the other, in each and every other human being that he has created.

Possibly the Last Judgment was commemorated on this Sunday, because it is the conclusion of a “Church Year.” Next Sunday, Cheesefare Sunday, we begin again with the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall. The Great Fast is our journey through the Old Testament, which is concluded with the New Covenant: the Mystical Supper, the Crucifixion and the Glorious and Life-giving Resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. We then see through the lens of the Resurrection how God’s plan is fulfilled in Christ in the Gospel of John the Theologian (until Pentecost), in the Gospel of Matthew (from Pentecost to the Exaltation of the Cross), and in the Gospel of Luke (from the Exaltation of the Cross until the Sunday of the Prodigal Son). Then tomorrow, we celebrate the last and final and eschatological mystery of the Final Judgment, in which God brings to completion and perfection the whole human story. That may be why, on the day before the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we remember the death of each human being, which is the completion and perfection of our own individual story and our inclusion in God’s ultimate divine plan. Interestingly, the Roman Church read the Gospel of the Final Judgment on the last Sunday before Advent, which began their liturgical year.

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Prodigal SonThe 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.

***

“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.

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee

Pharisee and PublicanThis Sunday’s Gospel begins our preparation for the Great Fast. It seems to turn the whole purpose of the Fast on its head. The Pharisee boasts of “fasting twice a week,” and “giving tithes of all I possess,” and thanks God that he is not like other men. But Jesus says he is not justified. Our Lord does not speak of how these two men lived their lives outside the temple. He does not speak explicitly of whether the tax collector repented, though Zaccheus did repent to receive the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. But our Lord focuses on one reality only: what do we believe in our heart. I had a friend who said that if he didn’t fast during Lent, he would not feel himself worthy of Communion on Pascha. But to win salvation for ourselves is not the purpose of the Fast – we fast only to come to an understanding that we cannot save ourselves by our own merits.

The tax collector understood this and was saved. The Pharisee was proud and missed God’s grace. Certainly our Lord does not consider fasting and tithing “bad behavior,” but to take pride in them is ignorance. In every Communion and in the whole great fast, we must pray in the depths of our hearts and minds as the Liturgy does: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner! O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me! O God, forgive me for I have sinned without number!”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras