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 card 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 in the narthex (back of the Church).

Members of our Parish Council are:

Susan Hayes - President: Ad Hoc ministires (25th Anniversary, Red House)

Deborah Bray - Vice President: Building & Grounds/ Maintenance Ministries

William Brubaker - Secretary: Communications Ministry

Susan Egan - Treasurer

James Pepitone - Member at Large: Outreach & Evangelism Ministries

Demetra Tolis - Member at Large: Fellowship & Stewardship Ministries

Announcements

On Wednesday, July 5th, the parish will be sponsoring the Soup Kitchen at the Clinton Unitied Methododist Church, beginning at 4:30. This is a comment that a few dedicated parishioners make approximately four times a year, and they could use more help. I would ask that each of you consider contributing your time and energy in supporting this outreach. Please talk with Susan Egan, Luba Martins or myself if you have any questions about how you might help. Thank you.

IOCC - School Kits are Needed!

Help a child in need. Find easy to follow kit assembly directions at iocc.org/kits

Pastoral Care - General Information

Emergency Sick Calls can be made at any time. Please call Fr Steven at (860) 866-5802, when a family member is admitted to the hospital.

Anointing in Sickness: The Sacrament of Unction is available in Church, the hospital, or your home, for anyone who is sick and suffering, however severe.

Marriages and Baptisms require early planning, scheduling and selections of sponsors (crown bearers or godparents). See Father before booking dates and reception halls!

Funerals are celebrated for practicing Orthodox Christians. Please see Father for details. The Church opposes cremation; we cannot celebrate funerals for cremations.

Saints and Feasts

June 25

Leavetaking of the Nativity of the Forerunner John the Baptist

June 25

The Righteous Martyr Febronia

This Martyr practiced the ascetic discipline in Nisibis of Mesopotamia; she was of such great beauty that the report of her came to the persecutor Selenus, and every attempt was made to make her deny Christ. After many horrible tortures, she was cruelly dismembered by the executioners, then beheaded, in the year 310 (or, according to some, in 302, during the reign of Diocletian).

Parish Calendar

Parish Calendar

June 25 to July 3, 2017

Sunday, June 25

3rd Sunday of Matthew

Buildings and Grounds Ministry Meeting

Olga Kucharski

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, June 26

David the Righteous of Thessalonika

Tuesday, June 27

Beth Veneri

Samson the Hospitable

St. Joanna the Myrrhbearer

8:30AM Daily Matins

9:00AM Study of the Sacarments

Wednesday, June 28

Finding of the Relics of Cyrus and John the Unmercenaries

4:30PM Open Doors

6:30PM Great Vespers with Litya

Thursday, June 29

Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles

Sts Peter and Paul

8:30AM Akathist to Sts Peter & Paul

7:00PM Study of the Sacraments

Friday, June 30

Synaxis of the Twelve Holy Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James & John the sons of Zebedee, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude the brother of James, Simon & Matthias

Saturday, July 1

Cosmas & Damian the Holy Unmercenaries

5:30PM Great Vespers

Sunday, July 2

4th Sunday of Matthew

Liturgical and Education Ministry meeting

St. John Maximovich

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, July 3

Hyacinth the Martyr of Caesarea & Theodotos and Theodota the Martyrs

Sophia Brubaker

Kristen McBride - B

Joan Skrobat - B

Prayers, Intersessions and Commemorations

Deborah, Robert, Olga, Daria, Daria, Dori, John, Evelyn, Alla, June, Nina, Joan, John, Alex, Alan, Aaron, Kathryn, Veronica, Nona, Darlyne, Irene, Nancy, Dionysian, Elena, Jevon, Ivan and Joscean.

and for…John, Jennifer, Nicholas, Isabel, Elizabeth, John, Jordan, Michael, Lee, Eva, Neil, Gina, Joey, Michael, Madelyn, Sofie, Katrina, Olena, and Valeriy.

All of our College Students: Aaron, Alex, Katy, Kaitlyn, Jack, Ellen, Luke and Connor; and those preparing to enter college: Nadia and Matthew.

We celebrate:

Olga Kurcharski on the occasion of her birthday and Joan Skrobat on the occasion of her Name's Day.

Pray for:

All those confined to hospitals, nursing homes, and their own homes due to illness; for all those who serve in the armed forces; widows, orphans, prisoners, victims of violence, and refugees;

All those suffering chronic illness, financial hardship, loneliness, addictions, abuse, abandonment and despair; those who are homeless, those who are institutionalize, those who have no one to pray for them;

All Orthodox seminarians & families; all Orthodox monks and nuns, and all those considering monastic life; all Orthodox missionaries and their families.

All those who have perished due to hatred and intolerance and all those departed this life in the hope of the Resurrection.

Today we commemorate:

All Saints of Britain and Ireland. Virgin Martyr Febronia of Nisibis (ca. 304). Ss. Peter and Fevronia (tonsured David and Euphrosyne), Wonderworkers of Múrom (1228). Ven. Dionysius the Hagiorite (1375). Ven. Dometius of Dionysiou (1405). Monk Martyr Procopius of Iveron.

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 2nd Tone

When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then didst Thou slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the powers in the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.

Troparion of St. Alexis, St. Elizabeth and St. Herman in the 1st Tone

O righteous Father Alexis,
Our heavenly intercessor and teacher,
Divine adornment of the Church of Christ!
Entreat the Master of All
To strengthen the Orthodox Faith in America,
To grant peace to the world
And to our souls, great mercy!

Causing meekness, humility and love to dwell in your soul,
You did earnestly serve the suffering,
O holy passion-bearer Princess Elizabeth;
Wherefore, with faith you did endure suffering and death for Christ,
with the martyr Barbara.
With her pray for all who honor you with love.

O blessed Father Herman of Alaska,
North star of Christ's holy Church,
the light of your holy life and great deeds
guides those who follow the Orthodox Way.
Together we lift high the Holy Cross
you planted firmly in America.
Let all behold and glorify Jesus Christ,
singing His holy Resurrection.

Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Tone

O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the creator most constant: O despise not the voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, O thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 2nd Tone. Psalm 117.14,18.
The Lord is my strength and my song.
Verse: The Lord has chastened me sorely.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 5:1-10.

BRETHREN, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Gospel Reading

3rd Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 6:22-33

The Lord said, "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well."

Wisdom of the Fathers

And let me beg you to consider how he everywhere sets down these two points;His part, and our part. On His part, however, there be things varied and numerous and diverse. For He died for us, and farther reconciled us, and brought us to Himself, and gave us grace unspeakable. But we brought faith only as our contribution. And so he says," "by faith, unto this grace"What grace is this? tell me. It is the being counted worthy of the knowledge of God, the being forced from error, the coming to a knowledge of the Truth, the obtaining of all the blessings that come through Baptism. For the end of His bringing us near was that we might receive these gifts. For it was not only that we might have simple remission of sins, that we were reconciled; but that we might receive also countless benefits...A person has acquired rule and glory and authority, yet he does not stand therein continuously, but is speedily cast out of it. Or if man take it not from him, death comes, and is sure to take it from him. But God's gifts are not of this kind; for neither man, nor occasion, nor crisis of affairs, nor even the Devil, nor death, can come and cast us. out of them. But when we are dead we then more strictly speaking have possession of them, and keep going on enjoying more and more.

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 9 on Romans 4, 4th Century

Unless the grace of God comes to the help of our frailty, to protect and defend it, no man can withstand the insidious onslaughts of the enemy nor can he damp down or hold in check the fevers which burn in our flesh with nature's fire.

St. John Cassian

Conferences, Conference Two: On Discernment, Paulist Press pg. 74, 5th century

In House

The Beatitudes: Jesus’ Power Point Presentation

1. Blessed, are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
We must overcome our pride and become humble. Learn to not to put our priority in the pleasure we derive from the material things of this world but aim for a life of virtue. Gregory of Nyssa says the one who is poor of spirit is He who is given the riches of the soul in exchange for material wealth, who is poor for the sake of the spirit. He has shaken off earthly riches like a burden so that he may be lightly lifted into the air and be borne upwards…

2. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
To become meek we need to develop self-discipline so we can control our passions and remain calm even in the face of wrath. This requires the humility gained from the first Beatitude.

3. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
We are to mourn after the Goodness we do not yet know, the joy of eternal life with God. This gives us the desire to seek to perfect ourselves. As we mourn for what we do not yet have, God will comfort us and help us to become worthy.

4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill.
The justice we must hunger for is our salvation, which is available equally to all. This requires a keen discernment of God’s will coupled with the discipline to act on it instead of our earthly passions. We hunger for all the virtues.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
To become merciful we need to have a voluntary sorrow that joins itself to the suffering of others. Our own mercy may come at the time of our Final Judgment.

6. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
When we purify our heart from all evil thoughts, we find the inner light of God within. Gregory says, you wash off by a good life the filth that has been stuck on your heart like plaster, the Divine Beauty will again shine forth in you. With a pure heart we are able to choose what is virtuous and the light which is within will shine brightly becoming a beacon of goodness for others.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Peace is essential for a good life. A peacemaker is one who gives peace to others. This involves having a loving disposition to others. To become a peacemaker, we must first have peace within ourselves and a clean heart. Saint Gregory says, I think that man is called a peacemaker par excellence who pacifies perfectly the discord between flesh and spirit in himself and the war that is inherent in nature, so that the law of the body no longer wars against the law of the mind, but is subjected to the higher rule and becomes a servant of the Divine ordinance.

8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Once mastering the above, we will be able to endure pain and suffering from those who persecute us for upholding God’s goodness. This leads us to a greater Goodness. God’s grace will transform us and give us strength in such situations helping us see the wisdom in what is not visible. The martyrs of the Church give us vivid examples of this.

http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2009/09/beatitudes-jesus-power-point.html

General Information

Contact Information

Services Schedule

Past Bulletins

Welcome

Announcements

Saints and Feasts

Leavetaking of the Nativity of the Forerunner John the Baptist

The Righteous Martyr Febronia

Parish Calendar

Parish Calendar

June 25 to July 3, 2017

Prayers, Intersessions and Commemorations

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the 2nd Tone

Troparion of St. Alexis, St. Elizabeth and St. Herman in the 1st Tone

Seasonal Kontakion in the 2nd Tone

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Gospel Reading

Wisdom of the Fathers

In House