St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Church
Publish Date: 2015-02-22
Bulletin Contents
Eden
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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



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

    February 22 to February 22, 2015

    Sunday, February 22

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    12:00PM Forgiveness Vespers

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Announcements

Forgiveness Vespers will follow Liturgy and the breaking of our morning fast at 12pm. The Rite of Forgiveness is a most appropriate way to begin the Great Fast. Every Christian should seek to ask forgiveness of those around them. It is the expectation that those who are physically able, should prepare themselves for Lent by attending this service.
All parishioners of this parish are expected to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation through participation in the rite of Confession. You may come to Confession before or after (with the exception of Liturgy) any service. You may “drop in” any time Wednesday afternoons, or you may schedule a date and time that best meets your needs.

 

Taking Lent Seriously

The Great Fast is a gift to you and to me. It is God’s gift to s l o w down, to unplug, to refocus, to reprioritize. In short it is a trumpet call to you and to me to come to our senses, evaluate the reality of reality, and call on the Name of the Lord.

No one is too far gone. The Lord receives back the furthest one away as readily as the closest.

[Consider] the Nicene Creed, which ends with “I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come”. If you and I recite the Creed and mean it, how is our life changed NOW to conform to that reality?

If you and I wish to be “numbered among the just” as we pray in the funeral service, how are you and I ordering our lives to live that way now? If we desire God’s mercy, how are you and I merciful? If you and I desire that God be generous to us, how generous are you and I? If you and I wish to be forgiven, are we forgiving?

When we sing “Memory Eternal!” at funerals and memorials, we are asking God to remember us always, because while God remembers, there is Life, existence. If we are not in the living memory of God, we are “out of sight and out of mind”, and we are lost. If you and I wish for God to remember us always, how often do you and I remember Him?

If God is God, if God is real, and if we truly care, movement is required on our part. That movement in the Church is called gratitude and repentance. Gratitude is an inclination towards God for all his goodness to us. Repentance is turning away from the ways and activities which draw us away from the love of God and turning back to Him.

Heaven requires practice.

Singing.
Praying.
Worshipping.
Self-emptying.
Laying aside excuses.
Giving.

Great Lent, Fr Alexander Schmemann said, is a “Tithe of the Year”. 40 days are about 10% slightly more actually) of 365.

Ask yourself: Am I willing to give God 10% of my year? Am I willing to make some uncomfortable changes in my life for the better, for life? For me? For my family? For the sake of my children? My church community?

Please accept my Lenten Challenge: Tithing in the Tithe.

For the 40 Days of Lent, the Tithe of the Year:

Tithe your time and talent. Give 2 hours and 24 minutes of each day to the pursuit of being a true human being.
Tithe your income, your treasure. Give 10% of your income with thanks to God, to the Church. Say to yourself: “Maybe I have never done this before. But for 40 days, I will make the effort to be faithful in returning God thanks financially.” How: when you get paid, sit down and write the first check for 10 percent. In the memo line, write, “Thank you, Lord!”
Suggestions for Financial Tithing:
1. Do not eat out or order out during the Fast. Rather, cook your meals at home, or with a friend. Financially, this will put money back in your account from which to tithe. It also allows a spiritual principle of Lent to be active—to spend as little time thinking about, preparing, and eating as possible.
2. Keep the fast, and the spirit of it, too. One doesn’t have to trade inexpensive chicken for expensive chiqn (or whatever that “chicken-like” tofu product is called). The absence of meat in the diet also puts money back into the account which can be used for giving.
3. Cancel your Netflix for Lent. That is at least $8.00/month you could give.
Suggestions for Tithing Time and Talent:
1. Unplug electronics.
2. Disconnect facebook, snapchat, twitter, and other social media. Average Facebook usage is 21 minute per day.
3. Turn off the TV. Turn off Netflix. One movie per week is practically one day’s tithe of time. A movie takes about 10% of one day! If you watch 2 or 3 movies per week usually, you will find 2 or 3 days of Time-Tithe by fasting from film.

Ways to use Tithing Time:
1. Pray. Morning and Evening. Pray the Jesus Prayer for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes per day.
2. Read the Bible. A chapter or two will take 10 or 20 minutes.
3. Go to Church Services. Presanctified on Wednesday is a tithe of Wednesday. Matins at 8am on weekdays are 1.25 hours.
4. Read the Appointed Psalms for the day. This will take 10 to 20 minutes.
5. Exercise. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Take care of it. Go for a walk outside. Breathe air.
6. Practice the Ancient Art of Conversation, as Dn Mark calls it. Talk about meaningful things with someone.
7. Read a spiritual book. Great Lent by Fr Alexander Schmemann. The Lenten Spring by Fr Thomas Hopko. These are two good starts.
8. Listen to Ancient Faith Radio. Www.ancientfaith.com
9. Do something good for someone else. Here are two suggestions:
Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries - http://shorelinesoupkitchens.com
Clinton Social Services - http://clintonct.org/social_services.php

Written by Fr John Parker, Rector of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in Mt Pleasant, SC, to his parish, this has been 'editied' for your consideration.

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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, Robert and Ann, Edward and Susan, Gail, Ezekiel, Elisha, Sharon & William and their unborn child, and Nina.

Many Years! to Connor Kuziak on the occasion of his birthday!

 

 

We commemorate: 

Sunday commemorating the expulsion of Adam from Paradise. 

Uncovering of the Relics of the Holy Martyrs at the Gate of Eugenius at Constantinople (395-423). Martyrs Maurice and his son, Photinus, and Martyrs Theodore, Philip, and 70 soldiers, at Apamea in Syria (ca. 305). Ven. Thalassius, Limnæus and Baradates, Hermits, of Syria (5th c.). St. Athanasius the Confessor, of Constantinople (821)

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Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 4th Tone

Having learned the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from the Angel, and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, the women disciples of the Lord spake to the Apostles exultantly: Death is despoiled and Christ God is risen, granting great mercy to the world.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 6th Tone

O Master, Prudence, Guide of Wisdom, Instruction to the foolish and Defender of the poor, strengthen my heart and grant it discernment. Give me words, Word of the Father, for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying out to You, "O Merciful One, have mercy on me who has fallen."
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Saints and Feasts

Eden
February 22

Forgiveness Sunday

The Holy Fathers have appointed the commemoration of Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight here, on the eve of the holy Forty-day Fast, demonstrating to us not by simple words, but by actual deeds, how beneficial fasting is for man, and how harmful and destructive are insatiety and the transgressing of the divine commandments. For the first commandment that God gave to man was that of fasting, which the first-fashioned received but did not keep; and not only did they not become gods, as they had imagined, but they lost even that blessed life which they had, and they fell into corruption and death, and transmitted these and innumerable other evils to all of mankind. The God-bearing Fathers set these things before us today, that by bringing to mind what we have fallen from, and what we have suffered because of the insatiety and disobedience of the first-fashioned, we might be diligent to return again to that ancient bliss and glory by means of fasting and obedience to all the divine commands. Taking occasion from today's Gospel (Matt. 6:14-21) to begin the Fast unencumbered by enmity, we also ask forgiveness this day, first from God, then from one another and all creation.


Allsaint
February 22

Anthousa the Martyr & her 12 Servants


Allsaint
February 22

The Finding of the Precious Relics of the Holy Martyrs in the Quarter of Eugenius

The holy relics of these Saints were found in the quarter of Constantinople called Eugenius when Thomas was Patriarch of that city (607-610).


Allsaint
February 22

Our Righteous Fathers Thalassius and Baradatus


07_john2
February 24

First & Second Finding of the Venerable Head of John the Baptist

The first finding came to pass during the middle years of the fourth century, through a revelation of the holy Forerunner to two monks, who came to Jerusalem to worship our Saviour's Tomb. One of them took the venerable head in a clay jar to Emesa in Syria. After his death it went from the hands of one person to another, until it came into the possession of a certain priest-monk named Eustathius, an Arian. Because he ascribed to his own false belief the miracles wrought through the relic of the holy Baptist, he was driven from the cave in which he dwelt, and by dispensation forsook the holy head, which was again made known through a revelation of Saint John, and was found in a water jar, about the year 430, in the days of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, when Uranius was Bishop of Emesa.


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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

The Reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 13:11-14; 14:1-4

Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.


Gospel Reading

Forgiveness Sunday
The Reading is from Matthew 6:14-21

The Lord said, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."


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Wisdom of the Fathers

Henceforward then we must be free from our listlessness; "for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."[*] You see how he puts the Resurrection now close by them. For as the time advances, he means, the season of our present life is wasting away, and that of the life to come waxes nearer. If then thou be prepared, and hast done all whatsoever He hath commanded, the day is salvation to thee...Yes, for the day is calling us to battle-array, and to the fight. Yet fear not at hearing of array and arms. For in the case of the visible suit of armor, to put it on is a heavy and abhorred task. But here it is desirable, and worth being prayed for. For it is of Light the arms are! Hence they will set thee forth brighter than the sunbeam, and giving out a great glistening, and they place thee in security: for they are arms, and glittering do they make thee: for arms of light are they!...It is the deadly kind of passions then that he is for extinguishing, lust, namely, and anger. Wherefore it is not themselves only, but even the sources of them that he removes. For there is nothing that so kindles lust, and inflames wrath, as drunkenness, and sitting long at the wine...
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 25 on Romans 13, 4th Century

Here it were well to sigh aloud, and to wail bitterly: for not only do we imitate the hypocrites, but we have even surpassed them.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

For I know, yea I know many, not merely fasting and making a display of it, but neglecting to fast, and yet wearing the masks of them that fast, and cloaking themselves with an excuse worse than their sin.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

What He said is like this: Bury not gold in the earth, nor do any other such thing, for you do but gather it for the moth, and the rust, and the thieves. And even if you should entirely escape these evils, yet the enslaving of thine heart, the nailing it to all that is below, you will not escape: "For wheresoever thy treasure may be, there is thine heart also." ...
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

For the same is both treasure and seed; or rather it is more than either of these. For the seed remains not for ever, but this abides perpetually. Again, the treasure germinates not, but this bears thee fruits which never die.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 20 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

Spiritual delight is not enjoyment found in things that exists outside the soul.
St. Isaac of Syria
Unknown , 7th century

Do we forgive our neighbors their trespasses? God also forgives us in His mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself, man. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation.
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
Unknown, 18th century

Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons. . . We do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family.
His Grace Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia
20th Century

For he who is praying as he ought, and fasting, has not many wants, and he who has not many wants is not covetous. He who fasts is light, and winged, and prays with wakefulness, and quenches his wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles his soul when lifted up ... nothing is mightier than the man who prays sincerely.
St. John Chrysostom
Fourth Century

The value of fasting consists not in abstinence only from food, but in a relinquishment of sinful practices, since he who limits his fasting only to an abstinence from meat is he who especially disparages it. The change in our way of life during these blessed days will help us to gain holiness. Therefore we should let our soul rejoice during the fast.
St. John Chrysostom
Fourth Century

The basis of all good things is the liberation of the soul from the captivity of the enemy. The light and life that accompany this freedom is attained by settling steadfastly in a single place and always fasting. That is, by regulating your life wisely and prudently, practicing restraint of the flesh, and remaining in a quiet place. He who puts these two rules into practice will eventually attain all the virtues.
Abba Isaac

A vainglorious ascetic is cheated both ways: he exhausts his body and gets no reward ... It is not he who depreciates himself who shows humility, but he who maintains the same love for every man who reproaches him.
St. John Climacus

. . .humble men like this are not men who have been converted, who have repented. They are men who are being converted, who are repenting. The Lord's call to repentance does not mean that we are to be converted once only, nor that we should repent from time to time (though one ought to begin with that). It means that our whole life should be a conversion, a constant repentance.
Archimandrite Vasileios
Hymn of Entry, 20th Century

It is required that not only with the body should we fast, but with the soul. Now the soul is humbled when it does not follow wicked opinions, but feeds on becoming virtues. For virtues and vices are the food of the soul, and it can eat either of these two. Bend your appetite toward virtues, as Paul says, "Being nourished by the word of truth."
St. Athansios of Alexandria

That great man Moses, when fasting, conversed with God, and received the law. Great and holy Elijah, when fasting, was thought worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up like Him who ascended into heaven. And Daniel, when fasting, although a very young man, was entrusted with the mystery, and he alone under-stood the secret thing of the king. . .
St. Athanasios of Alexandria

If we have true love with sympathy and patient labor, we shall not go about scrutinizing our neighbor's shortcomings. As it is said, "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). . . True love screens anything of this kind, as did the saints when they saw the shortcomings of men. Were they blind? Not at all! But they simply would not let their eyes dwell on sins.
St. Dorotheos of Gaza

One must not trust one's feelings, since because of his limitedness a man cannot know everything, and therefore his judgment is also relatively limited. "Even if you see with your own eyes that someone sins, do not judge, for the eyes also may be deceived."
St. John Climacus

0ne must in every way flee from judging, and pray in secret for those who have sinned. "This form of love is pleasing to God." Judging is bound up with impudence and is incompatible with true repentance: "To judge is to impudently appropriate to oneself the rank of God."
St. John Climacus

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Community

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