St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Church
Publish Date: 2015-01-25
Bulletin Contents
Welcome
St. Alexis Parish Calendar
Announcements
Prayers, Intersessions and Commemorations
Hymns of the Day
Saints and Feasts
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Community
Royalfamily
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St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Church

General Information

  • Phone:
  • 860-664-9434
  • Street Address:

  • 108 E Main St

  • Clinton, CT 06413-0134
  • Mailing Address:

  • PO Box 134

  • Clinton, CT 06413-0134

Contact Information

Rector Fr Steven Hosking

frsteve@stalexischurch.org | 860-866-5802

Services Schedule

Weekly Services

Tuesdays at 8:30a - Daily Matins

Wednesdays at 6:00p - Daily Vespers

Thursday at 8:30a - Daily Matins

Saturday at 5:30p - Great Vespers

Sunday at 9:30a - Divine Liturgy

The Church is also open on Wednesdays for "Open Doors" - confession, meditation and reflection.

Please see our online calendar for dates and times of Feast Day services.

Past Bulletins


Welcome

We welcome all visitors to our Divine Liturgy and services. While Holy Communion may only be received by prepared Orthodox Christians, our non-Orthodox guests are welcome to participate in our prayers and hymns and to join us in venerating the Cross and and receiving blessed bread at the conclusion of the Liturgy. Please sign our guest book and join us for refreshments and fellowship after the services.

Feel free to ask questions before or after the services. Any member of our Council or Congregation are glad to assist you. Literature about the Orthodox faith and this parish can be found at the candle desk.

Members of our Parish Council are:

Deborah Bray - Secretary

Natalie Kucharski - Treasurer

Glenn PenkoffLidbeck - Member at Large

Demetra Tolis - Member at Large

Phyllis Sturtevant - President

Sophia Brubaker - Vice President

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St. Alexis Parish Calendar

  • Events of the Week

    January 25 to January 26, 2015

    Sunday, January 25

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    11:15AM Church School

    Monday, January 26

    Fr. Steven Voytovich - B

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Announcements

Souper Bowl Sunday - Sunday, February 1st. Prepare your Chilis and Chowders! Proceeds are for the International Orthodox Christian Charities. Between now and Souper Bowl Sunday, we are also collecting food-stuffs for the Clinton Shoreline Pantry. Please have all your food-stuffs to the parish by Feb 1st.

Many thanks to Victor Hoehnebart for his efforts in coordinating the donation of the “new” refrigerator and stove for the parish kitchen; and thanks as well for his work cleaning and preparing the appliances for their installation.

 

His Grace Nicholas (Ozone), auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn for the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), will speak at the 32nd Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture, Friday, January 30, 2015, 7 p.m. on "The Life and Ministry of St. Raphael of Brooklyn,” at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 575 Scarsdale Road, Yonkers, NY 10707, svots.edu.

St. Photios the Great Faith & Learning Symposium
UNDERSTANDING THE OTHER: 
Perspectives on Religious Freedom, Extremism, and Suffering in Crisis and Conflict
Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:30 am–3:30 pm
Concerned about what is happening in the Middle East? Worried about the spread of Ebola? Frustrated by racial tensions in the wake of Ferguson? Wondering how to make sense of it all as an Orthodox Christian college student? The Office of Vocation & Ministry invites you to join other Orthodox college and graduate students from around the Boston area to reflect on current crises and conflicts, both local and global, with leading experts and scholars.

Boston Theological Institute Third Annual Choirfest
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 7:00– 8:00 pm
Andover Newton Theological School, 210 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA
Members of HCHC's St. Romanos the Melodist Byzantine Choir will perform a selection from Psalm 140 and the Resurrectional Stichera of Vespers in the plagal fourth mode. Participants will have the opportunity to enjoy the musical traditions of other faith communities, while at the same time showcasing the high aesthetic standards and profound theological foundations of the liturgical arts of the Orthodox Church. The event is free and open to all. For more information, please contact btioffice@bostontheological.org.

Book offering for Lent
“Fire From Ashes: The Reality of Perpetual Conversion” by Joseph Huneycutt & Steve Robinson. Published by Ancient Faith Publishing.
Popular bloggers and podcasters Fr. Joseph Huneycutt and Steve the Builder Robinson explore the reality of life in Christ as perpetual conversion falling and rising, falling and rising again. No matter how cold the ashes of our hearts, with Christ s help we can fan them back into flame. Illustrated with Steve's inimitable cartoons.
Available on Amazon in softbound or ebook format.
Please let me know if you would like a copy as I will be placing an order by the end of the month.

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Prayers, Intersessions and Commemorations

Cross2

Olga, Richard, Daria, Daria, John, Evelyn, Alla, June, Nina, Joan, Alex, Alan, Nadia, Glenn, Kathryn, Ivan, Elena & Jevon and their newly-born child, William, Christine, Andrew, Samuel, Kyra, Roderick, Albert, Barbara, Irene, Susan, Eva, Richard, Phyllis, Kathleen, Dionysia, Krystal and Ezekiel, Elisha, Sharon & William and their unborn child, Nina, Susanne, and Nancy.

 

Many Years! to Mary Ella Luft on the occasion of her birthday.

We commemorate: 

Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople (389). Sunday of Zacchaeus. St. Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod (1362). Martyrs Felicitas of Rome, and seven sons: Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis and Martial (ca. 164). Ven. Publius, Ascetic, of Syria (ca. 380). St. Mares the Singer, of Syria (ca. 430).

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 8th Tone

From on high didst Thou descend, O Compassionate One; to burial of three days hast Thou submitted that Thou mightest free us from our passions. O our Life and Resurrection, Lord, glory be to Thee.

Apolytikion for Gregory the Theologian in the 1st Tone

The shepherd's pipe of thy theology conquered the trumpets of the philosophers; for since thou didst search out the depths of the Spirit, beauty of speech was added to thee. But intercede with Christ God, O Father Gregory, that our souls be saved.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 1st Tone

Your birth sanctified a Virgin's womb and properly blessed the hands of Symeon. Having now come and saved us O Christ our God, give peace to Your commonwealth in troubled times and strengthen those in authority, whom You love, as only the loving One.
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Saints and Feasts

Royalfamily
January 25

The Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Russia

On the Sunday that falls nearest to January 25, we commemorate all the faithful throughout the former Russian Empire who died at the hands of the atheists, beginning in the year 1917. Among them are the Royal Family (see July 4), followed by Patriarch Tikhon the Confessor (see Mar. 24), and an innumerable multitude of clergy, monastics, and layfolk who confessed the Name of Christ in the face of every conceivable mockery, torment, and bitter death.

25_gregory1
January 25

Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople

This great Father and Teacher of the Church was born in 329 in Arianzus, a village of the second district of Cappadocia, not far from Nazianzus. His father, who later became Bishop of Nazianzus, was named Gregory (commemorated Jan. 1), and his mother was named Nonna (Aug. 5); both are among the Saints, and so are his brother Caesarius (Mar. 9) and his sister Gorgona (Feb. 23). At first he studied in Caesarea of Palestine, then in Alexandria, and finally in Athens. As he was sailing from Alexandria to Athens, a violent sea storm put in peril not only his life but also his salvation, since he had not yet been baptized. With tears and fervour he besought God to spare him, vowing to dedicate his whole self to Him, and the tempest gave way to calm. At Athens Saint Gregory was later joined by Saint Basil the Great, whom he already knew; but now their acquaintanceship grew into a lifelong brotherly love. Another fellow student of theirs in Athens was the young Prince Julian, who later as Emperor was called the Apostate because he denied Christ and did all in his power to restore paganism. Even in Athens, before Julian had thrown off the mask of piety; Saint Gregory saw what an unsettled mind he had, and said, "What an evil the Roman State is nourishing" (Orat. V, 24, PG 35:693).

After their studies at Athens, Gregory became Basil's fellow ascetic, living the monastic life together with him for a time in the hermitages of Pontus. His father ordained him presbyter of the Church of Nazianzus, and Saint Basil consecrated him Bishop of Sasima (or Zansima), which was in the archdiocese of Caesarea. This consecration was a source of great sorrow to Gregory, and a cause of misunderstanding between him and Basil; but his love for Basil remained unchanged, as can be plainly seen from his Funeral Oration on Saint Basil (Orat. XLIII).

About the Year 379, Saint Gregory came to the assistance of the Church of Constantinople, which had already been troubled for forty years by the Arians; by his supremely wise words and many labours he freed it from the corruption of heresy, and was elected Archbishop of that city by the Second Ecumenical Council, which assembled there in 381, and condemned Macedonius, Archbishop of Constantinople, the enemy of the Holy Spirit. When Saint Gregory came to Constantinople, the Arians had taken all the churches and he was forced to serve in a house chapel dedicated to Saint Anastasia the Martyr. From there he began to preach his famous five sermons on the Trinity, called the Triadica. When he left Constantinople two years later, the Arians did not have one church left to them in the city. Saint Meletius of Antioch (see Feb. 12), who was presiding over the Second Ecumenical Council, died in the course of it, and Saint Gregory was chosen in his stead; there he distinguished himself in his expositions of dogmatic theology.

Having governed the Church until 382, he delivered his farewell speech - the Syntacterion, in which he demonstrated the Divinity of the Son - before 150 bishops and the Emperor Theodosius the Great; in this speech he requested, and received from all, permission to retire from the see of Constantinople. He returned to Nazianzus, where he lived to the end of his life, and reposed in the Lord in 391, having lived some sixty-two years.

His extant writings, both prose and poems in every type of metre, demonstrate his lofty eloquence and his wondrous breadth of learning. In the beauty of his writings, he is considered to have surpassed the Greek writers of antiquity, and because of his God-inspired theological thought, he received the surname "Theologian." Although he is sometimes called Gregory of Nazianzus, this title belongs properly to his father; he himself is known by the Church only as Gregory the Theologian. He is especially called "Trinitarian Theologian," since in virtually every homily he refers to the Trinity and the one essence and nature of the Godhead. Hence, Alexius Anthorus dedicated the following verses to him:

Like an unwandering star beaming with splendour,
Thou bringest us by mystic teachings, O Father,
To the Trinity's sunlike illumination,
O mouth breathing with fire, Gregory most mighty.

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Gospel Reading

15th Sunday of Luke
The Reading is from Luke 19:1-10

At that time, Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaios; he was a chief collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaios, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaios stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."

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Wisdom of the Fathers

For Christ's presence is like that of some life-giving, scented balsam which restores health, enriches life and gives savor to the soul, the thoughts, the words of a man. In brief, distance from Christ means corruption and death, and closeness to Him means salvation and life.
Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
Prolog, 4 February

Christ is the salvation that comes, and Zacchaeus is the house to which He comes.
Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
Prolog, 4 February

Each of us, my brethren, is a house in which sin dwells while Christ is afar off, and to which salvation comes as Christ draws near. Whether Christ is able or not to draw near to my house and yours depends on us.
Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
Prolog, 4 February

Little Zacchaeus had climbed up into a tree, to see the Lord Jesus with his own eyes. He had sought Him, desired Him. And we must seek Him in order to find Him, and desire that He draw near to us, and climb up high in spirit to meet His glance. Then He will visit our house as He visited the house of Zacchaeus, and bring salvation with Him.
Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
Prolog, 4 February

In this reading we note Zacchaeus' sense of eager expectation, the intensity of his desire to see our Lord, and we apply this to ourselves. If, as we prepare for Lent, there is real eagerness in our hearts, if we have an intense desire for a clearer vision of Christ, then our hopes will be fulfilled during the fast; indeed, we shall, like Zacchaeus, receive far more than we expect.
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia
The Meaning of the Great Fast from the Lenten Triodion

As long as he is in the crowd, Zacchaeus does not see Christ; he climbs above the crowd and sees Him, namely, having transcended base ignorance, he deserved to perceive Him for Whom he longed.
St. Cyril of Alexandria
The Orthodox New Testament, The Holy Gospels, Volume 1

He had sought to see Him, but the multitude prevented him, not so much that of the people, as of his sins. He was little of stature, not merely in a bodily point of view, but also spiritually. In no other way could he see Him, unless he were raised up. . .
St. Cyril of Alexandria
The Orthodox New Testament, The Holy Gospels, Volume 1

He saw Zacchaeus high up, for he already stood out in loftiness of faith amid the fruits of new works as if at the top of a fertile tree. . . He was at the top of the tree, because he was above the law. Already beyond the law, he abandoned his treasures and followed the Lord.
St. Ambrose of Milan
The Orthodox New Testament, The Holy Gospels, Volume 1

He who lately was a tax collector, or rather the chief of the tax collectors, gives up covetousness. He becomes merciful and devoted to charity. He promises that he will distribute his wealth to those who are in need, that he will make restoration to those who have been defrauded
St. Cyril of Alexandria
The Orthodox New Testament, The Holy Gospels, Volume 1

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Community

    HCHC Lecture

    HCHC Lecture

    Understanding the Other: Perspectives on Religious Freedom, Extremism, and Suffering in Crisis and Conflict

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