Welcome

Jesus Christ taught us to love and serve all people, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. To understand that, we need to look no further than to the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Every time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, it is offered "on behalf of all, and for all." As Orthodox Christians we stand against racism and bigotry. All human beings share one common identity as children of God. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatian 3:28)

Members of our Parish Council are:
Greg Jankura - Vice President
Susan Davis- Council Member at Large
Carolyn Neiss - President Sharon Hanson - Council Elect
Marlene Melesko - Council Member at Large Luba Martins - Council Elect
Susan Egan - Treasurer
Dn Timothy Skuby - Secretary

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.

Announcements

First Sunday of Advent
Candle: green (faith)
Symbolism: The first candle reminds us of faith, the faith we have in God that He will keep His promise to send His Son.
Scripture: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; 40:3-5; 52:7
Theme: God’s promise to send the Messiah.

Second Sunday of Advent
Candle: blue (hope)
Light both candles and review the meaning of the first candle.
Symbolism: The second candle reminds us of the hope we have that Christ will come again this year to bring new joy into our lives.
Scripture: Luke 1:5-31
Theme: Ways in which Christ brings joy to our hearts today and why should a Christian be joyful.

St. Tikhon’s Seminary Choir comes again to Connecticut for a special Sacred Music Concert!

Three Saints Orthodox Church in Ansonia, CT will again be hosting a Concert of Sacred Music, sung by seminarians from St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA on Sunday, December 3^rdat 4 PM.

In honor our former chancellor and beloved pastor emeritus, we will be funding “The Very Rev. Mitered Archpriest Nicholas Timpko St. Tikhon’s OCA Seminarian Memorial Scholarship”. There is no admission fee, but donations will help fund the scholarship, to help prepare priests and leaders within the Orthodox Church. Please see the Flyer Posted on your Church Bulletin Board for more information.

Donation checks made out to Three Saints Orthodox Church (with STOTS written on your memo line) may be mailed to:

Three Saints Orthodox Church
ATTN: Scholarship
26 Howard Ave,
Ansonia, CT 06401

Don’t hesitate to contact Dn.Peter Romanovsky at 203-305-5683 or [email protected] for more information or look us up at threesaintschurch.org.

May our good Lord bless you for your generosity!

Prayers, Intercessions and Commemorations

Please pray for Evelyn Leake and Victor Hoehnebart who are in need of God's mercy and healing.

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, intolerance and pestilence; all those departed this life in the hope of the Resurrection.

Please let Fr. Steven know via email if you have more names for which to pray.

Departed: Bishop Tikhon, Erin
Clergy and their families: Mat. Clara, Mat. Evelyn, Mat. Ann, Mat. Amanda
Catechumen: Robert, Abbie, Matthew, Joseph, Mary and Lynn
Individuals and Families: Susan, Luba, Suzanne, Gail Galina Evelyn, Rosemary, John, Lucille, Kenneth, Karen, Oleg, Lucia, Victor, Melissa, Christine, Sebastian, Olga, Daniel & Dayna, Branislava, Alton, Richard
Birthdays and Name’s Days this Month: Daniel Cummings, Natalie Kurcharski, Alexei Hoehnebart, Thomas Brubaker, Gregory Jankura (ND)
Anniversaries this Month:
Expecting and Newborn: Megan and her unborn child, David & Rachel and the newborn child Kaleb
Traveling:
Sick and those in distress: Maria, Zena

The Righteous Gideon. Ven. Alypius the Stylite of Adrianopolis (7th c.). Dedication of the Church of the Greatmartyr George at Kiev (1051-54). Repose of St. Innocent, first Bishop of Irkutsk (1731). Ven. James the Solitary of Syria (457).

Parish Calendar

Schedule of Services and Events

November 26 to December 4, 2023

Sunday, November 26

🐟 13th Sunday of Luke

Christine Boyd - B

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, November 27

🐟 James the Great Martyr of Persia

Page - A

Tuesday, November 28

🐟 Stephen the New

Daria Krawchuk - B

8:30AM Daily Matins

7:00PM Catechumens

Wednesday, November 29

☦️ Paramonus, Philumenus, and their 370 Companion Martyrs in Bithynia

4:30PM Open Doors

Thursday, November 30

🐟 Andrew the First- Called Apostle

St Sebastian Dabovich of San Francisco

A Boyd - N

Ezekiel Joseph Watson

8:00AM Akathist to St Andrew

8:30AM Daily Matins

Friday, December 1

☦️ Nahum the Prophet

Saturday, December 2

🐟 Habakkuk the Prophet

5:30PM Great Vespers

Sunday, December 3

🐟 14th Sunday of Luke

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, December 4

🐟 Barbara the Great Martyr

Glorification of St Alexander Hotovitzky

Saints and Feasts

November 26

Alypios the Stylite of Adrianopolis

Saint Alypius was from Adrianople of Bithynia; having lived upon a pillar for fifty-three years, he reposed about the year 607, at the age of one hundred.

November 27

James the Great Martyr of Persia

This Saint was from the city of Bythlaba and was of noble birth; he was the closest and most honoured friend of Isdiger (or Yazdegerd) I, King of Persia (reigned 399-420). Though a Christian from his youth, James renounced Christ because he was allured by the King's friendship and flatteries. When his mother and his wife learned of this, they declared to him by letter that they would have nothing more to do with him, since he had preferred a glory that is temporal to the love of Christ. Wounded in soul by these words and coming to himself, the Saint wept over his error, and repudiated the worship of the idols. Therefore, becoming exceedingly wroth, the King - this was Bahram (or Varahran) V (reigned 421-438), Isdiger's son and successor - condemned him to a most bitter death, the likes of which not even a brute beast was ever condemned to: that is, his body was dismembered at every joint of his arms and legs. And so, when he had been cut asunder limb by limb to his very hips and shoulders, the courageous Martyr was finally beheaded, in the year 421.

November 28

Stephen the New

The righteous Stephen was born in Constantinople in 715 to pious parents named John and Anna. His mother had prayed often to the most holy Theotokos in her church at Blachernae to be granted a son, and one day received a revelation from our Lady that she would conceive the son she desired. When Anna had conceived, she asked the newly-elected Patriarch Germanus (see May 12) to bless the babe in her womb. He said, "May God bless him through the prayers of the holy First Martyr Stephen." At that moment Anna saw a flame of fire issue from the mouth of the holy Patriarch. When the child was born, she named him Stephen, according to the prophecy of Saint Germanus.

Stephen struggled in asceticism from his youth in Bithynia at the Monastery of Saint Auxentius, which was located at a lofty place called Mount Auxentius (see Feb. 14). Because of his extreme labours and great goodness, he was chosen by the hermits of Mount Auxentius to be their leader. The fame of his spiritual struggles reached the ears of all, and the fragrance of his virtue drew many to himself.

During the reign of Constantine V (741-775), Stephen showed his love of Orthodoxy in contending for the Faith. This Constantine was called Copronymus, that is, "namesake of dung," because while being baptized he had soiled the waters of regeneration, giving a fitting token of what manner of impiety he would later embrace. Besides being a fierce Iconoclast, Constantine raised up a ruthless persecution of monasticism. He held a council in 754 that anathematized the holy icons. Because Saint Stephen rejected this council, the Emperor framed false accusations against him and exiled him. But while in exile Saint Stephen performed healings with holy icons and turned many away from Iconoclasm. When he was brought before the Emperor again, he showed him a coin and asked whose image the coin bore. "Mine," said the tyrant. "If any man trample upon thine image, is he liable to punishment?" asked the Saint. When they that stood by answered yes, the Saint groaned because of their blindness, and said if they thought dishonouring the image of a corruptible king worthy of punishment, what torment would they receive who trampled upon the image of the Master Christ and of the Mother of God? Then he threw the coin to the ground and trampled on it. He was condemned to eleven months in bonds and imprisonment. Later, he was dragged over the earth and was stoned, like Stephen the First Martyr; wherefore he is called Stephen the New. Finally, he was struck with a wooden club on the temple and his head was shattered, and thus he gave up his spirit in the year 767.

November 29

Paramon & his 370 Companion Martyrs in Bithynia

Saint Paramonus contested for piety's sake during the reign of Decius, in the year 250. A ruler named Aquilinus, seeking relief from a bodily malady, visited a certain therapeutic hot spring. He brought with him captive Christians from Nicomedia, and commanded them to offer sacrifice in the temple of Isis. When they refused, he had them all slaughtered, to the number of 370. Saint Paramonus, beholding their murder, boldly cried out against such an act of ungodliness. When Aquilinus heard this, he sent men to take the Saint. Some smote him with spears, others pierced his tongue and body with sharp reeds, until he died.

Saint Philumenus' contest in martyrdom took place during the reign of Aurelian, in the year 270. Coming from Lycaonia, he was conveying a load of wheat into Galatia when he was denounced as a Christian to Felix, Governor of Ancyra. Nails were driven into his hands, feet, and head, and he was commanded to run. While running in the road, he fell and gave up his holy soul into the hands of God.

November 30

St Sebastian of Jackson & San Francisco

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2022/11/30/100486-venerable-sebastian-dabovich

November 30

Andrew the First- Called Apostle

This Saint was from Bethsaida of Galilee; he was the son of Jonas and the brother of Peter, the chief of the Apostles. He had first been a disciple of John the Baptist; afterwards, on hearing the Baptist's witness concerning Jesus, when he pointed Him out with his finger and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1.29,36), he straightway followed Christ, and became His first disciple; wherefore he is called the First-called of the Apostles. After the Ascension of the Saviour, he preached in various lands; and having suffered many things for His Name's sake, he died in Patras of Achaia, where he was crucified on a cross in the shape of an "X," the first letter of "Christ" in Greek; this cross is also the symbol of Saint Andrew.

Hymns of the Day

Tone 8 Troparion (Resurrection)

You descended from on high, O Merciful One!
You accepted the three day burial to free us from our sufferings!//
O Lord, our Life and Resurrection, glory to You!

Tone 1 Troparion (Ven. Alypius)

You were a pillar of patient endurance,
having imitated the forefathers, O ^Venerable One:
Job in suffering and Joseph in temptations.
You lived like the Bodiless Ones while yet in the flesh, Alypius, our father.//
Beseech Christ God that our souls may be saved!

Tone 8 Kontakion (Resurrection)

By rising from the tomb, You raised the dead and resurrected Adam.
Eve exults in Your Resurrection,//
and the world celebrates Your rising from the dead, O greatly Merciful One!

Tone 8 Kontakion (Ven. Alypius)

The Church glorifies and praises you today, O Alypius,
as a perfect example of virtue and the boast of ascetics.//
Through your prayers, grant remission of sins to all who venerate your life and your struggles!

Communion Hymn

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! (Ps. 148:1)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 8th Tone. Psalm 75.11,1.
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them.
Verse: God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 4:1-7.

Brethren, I, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Wisdom of the Fathers

So great an evil is envy. For not against strangers only, but even against our own, is it ever warring.

St. John Chrysostom

Homily 40 on Matthew 12, 4th Century

Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when ye assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to the Ephesians Ch. 13, 2nd century

Receive the Light

St Paul's Epistle to the Romans

Lesson 3: Formal Greetings, and Sinfulness in the World

Reading

Romans 1:1-15
Romans 1:18-23
Romans 1:24
Biographies of the Emperors Claudius and Nero
Romans 1:26-31

St. Paul opens the Epistle to the Romans (letter) with a formalgreeting, typical of letters at that time which contained the name of the sender, the addressee, and a salutation. Since St.Paul had not yet visited the Church of Rome, he established his Christian credentials early in the letter. He called himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ – literally a slave. He was exuberant beyond the normal conventions of a traditional
greeting, in spreading the Gospel to all the nations of the world, including Rome. (Romans 1:1-15)

In Romans, following establishing his credentials to both Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians, St. Paul quickly turned to the pagan cultural environment in which the Roman Christians were living. St. Paul wrote that while God’s attributes, such as His love, creativity and power, can be clearly seen throughout all creation, men have brought suffering upon themselves by worshiping creation rather than the Creator. All around Rome were the pagan images of their gods—men and women (their own images), birds, animals and other aspects of nature. (Romans 1:18-23)

Roman society turned from God and followed their own earthly passions of lust, greed, sexual immorality and just about every form of sinfulness against God and their fellowman. This was particularly evident in the highest circles of Roman society, especially the emperors. (Romans 1:24, Biographies of Emperors Claudius and Nero)

St. Paul says that Roman society had exchanged their natural desires for those that are unnatural. In doing so they destroyed themselves and their society and brought about their own destruction. Roman society, much like our own, had abandoned its love and knowledge of God and
in so doing, their love for one another. (Romans 1:26-31)

Discussion & Reflection

Q1: St. Paul says that Roman society, the most sophisticated and affluent society in the ancient world, “served the creature rather than the Creator” by creating gods in the images of men and women, and animals around them. We have done much the same. What have become the “gods” in ou advanced society?

A1: Our society has exchanged its faith in God for those things that are material and carnal. We put our faith in money and possessions. We are the wealthiest society that has ever existed and at the same time one of the unhappiest. Our society worships celebrity and fame and has become obsessed with its own images and personas created on social media. Our love of self, our own technology, and material possessions will bring about self- destruction of our society.

Q2: St. Paul says that the “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. ”What attributes of God are seen in His creation?

A2: God’s energies are expressed through his creation. Through His creation, we can see His genius and power. Most importantly we can see and experience His love for us.

Q3: St. Paul says the “wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness”. What does this mean?

A3: The “wrath of God” is God’s righteousness and holy judgement that we experience when we turn away from His love and truth. It ends in our own self-destruction as individuals and as a society.

Resources

Emperor Claudius biography, wikipedia.com
Emperor Nero biography, wikipedia.com
Podcast: "The Whole Counsel of God" Romans, Chapter 1 Cont. by Fr. Stephen
De Young (www.antientfaith.org/podcasts/wholecounsel)

Meditation & Activity

Meditate and journal or brainstorm as a family, and make a list of three things that you think are most important you. Have family members reveal their choices to the group and discuss their values. Or write out why you chose the things you did and what their values are to you.

Brainstorm again on three ways our society pressures us to conform to non-Christian values. Have everyone reveal their lists to the rest of the family members and discuss. Or write you thoughts on your choices in a journal.

If discussing with your family, take the discussion outside and ask each family member where in God’s creation they see God’s love, creativity and power. Encourage each person to answer.

Church Wisdom

St. Paul’s words:
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”Romans 12:9