St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2024-09-01
Bulletin Contents

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St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Orthodox Church

General Information

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

  • PO Box 134, 108 E Main St

  • Clinton, CT 06413-0134


Contact Information




Services Schedule

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


Past Bulletins


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- President
Sharon Hanson - Member at Large
Luba Martins - Member at Large
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) 322-2906, 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.

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Announcements

Cleaning up

Please, everyone who does cleanup downstairs, please be sure to not unplug the refridgerator nor the water cooler. These need to remain powered continually. 

Nominations

Please know that the parish council is in need of three replacement members; two to fill a three-year term and one to fill a two-year term. We will also need to fill the auditor position. We will also need a volunteer for the Diocene Assembly and a volunteer for the All-American Council.

All American Council

Please find included with this bulletin, a letter from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon with regards to the upcoming All American Council. As a parish community we will be discussing and reflecting on various issues proposed by His Beatitude. More information will be forth coming.

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Prayers, Intercessions and Commemorations

Many Years! To Zachary and Michael Neiss, Aaron Hosking on the occasions of their Names' Days.

Memory Eternal to Archbishop Nikon on the anniversary of this repose in the Lord.

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: Galina, Olga, Mat Lillian, Dorothy, ArchBishop Nikon (9/1), Deborah Brey (9/10), Kelley Hosking-Billings (9/27)
  • Clergy and their families: Fr Sergei, Fr Ceriphim
  • ​Catechumen: Robert, Abbie, Matthew, Joseph, Mary, and Kevin
  • Individuals and Families: Luba, Suzanne, Gail Galina, Evelyn, Rosemary, John, Daniel & Dayna, Kristen, Charles, Victor, Susan
  • Birthdays and Name’s Days this Month: Zachariah Niess (9/5), Michael Niess (9/6), David Miller (9/11), Kathryn Jankura (9/12), Melissa Josefiak (9/16), Sophia Brubaker, Luba Martins, Nadia PenkofLedbeck (9/17)
  • Anniversaries this Month: Lloyd and Susan Davis
  • ​Expecting and Newborn: Lynn, David and their unborn child, Keree, Steve and their unborn child 
  • ​Traveling: Michael, Jason, Dn Timothy, Maureen
  • ​Sick and those in distress: Thomas, Sheri, Joanna, Joshua, Remy, Stormy, Scott, Anne, Noah, Nancy, Cathy, Joe

Today’s commemorated feasts and saints

9th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 8. Return of the Relics of the Apostle Bartholomew from Anastasiopolis to Lipari (6th c.). Holy Apostle Titus of the Seventy, Bishop of Crete (1st c.). Ss. Barses and Eulogius, Bishops of Edessa, and St. Protogenes, Bishop of Carrhæ, Confessors (4th c.). St. Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople (536-552).

  • Again we pray for those who have lost their lives because of the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East: that the Lord our God may look upon them with mercy, and give them rest where there is neither sickness, or sorrow, but life everlasting.
  • Again we pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, for those who are suffering, wounded, grieving, or displaced because of the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.
  • Again we pray for a cessation of the hostilities against Ukraine and the Middle East, and that reconciliation and peace will flourish there, we pray thee, hearken and have mercy.
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Parish Calendar

  • St Alexis Parish

    September 1 to September 9, 2024

    Sunday, September 1

    Ecclesiastical New Year

    +Archbishop Nikon

    Church New Year

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    Monday, September 2

    Mammas the Martyr

    Tuesday, September 3

    Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedea

    8:30AM Matins

    7:00PM Bible Study

    Wednesday, September 4

    Babylas the Holy Martyr

    Righteous Priest Aaron

    Thursday, September 5

    Holy Prophet Zacharias, Father of the Venerable Forerunner

    8:30AM Matins

    Friday, September 6

    The Commemoration of the Miracle Wrought by Archangel Michael in Colossae (Chonae)

    Saturday, September 7

    The Forefeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos

    5:30PM Great Vespers

    Sunday, September 8

    Sunday before Holy Cross

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    Monday, September 9

    The Holy & Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna

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Saints and Feasts

September 01

Ecclesiastical New Year

For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was reissued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the fifteen years. This imperial decree, which was issued before the season of winter, was named Indictio, that is, Definiton, or Order. This name was adopted by the emperors in Constantinople also. At other times, the latter also used the term Epinemisis, that is, Distribution (Dianome). It is commonly held that Saint Constantine the Great introduced the Indiction decrees in A.D. 312, after he beheld the sign of the Cross in heaven and vanquished Maxentius and was proclaimed Emperor in the West. Some, however (and this seems more likely), ascribe the institution of the Indiction to Augustus Caesar, three years before the birth of Christ. Those who hold this view offer as proof the papal bull issued in A.D. 781 which is dated thus: Anno IV, Indictionis LIII -that is, the fourth year of the fifty-third Indiction. From this, we can deduce the aforementioned year (3 B.C.) by multiplying the fifty-two complete Indictions by the number of years in each (15), and adding the three years of the fifty-third Indiction. There are three types of Indictions: 1) That which was introduced in the West, and which is called Imperial, or Caesarean, or Constantinian, and which begins on the 24th of September; 2) The so-called Papal Indiction, which begins on the 1st of January; and 3) The Constantinopolitan, which was adopted by the Patriarchs of that city after the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453. This Indiction is indicated in their own hand on the decrees they issue, without the numeration of the fifteen years. This Indiction begins on the 1st of September and is observed with special ceremony in the Church. Since the completion of each year takes place, as it were, with the harvest and gathering of the crops into storehouses, and we begin anew from henceforth the sowing of seed in the earth for the production of future crops, September is considered the beginning of the New Year. The Church also keeps festival this day, beseeching God for fair weather, seasonable rains, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. The Holy Scriptures (Lev. 23:24-5 and Num. 29:1-2) also testify that the people of Israel celebrated the feast of the Blowing of the Trumpets on this day, offering hymns of thanksgiving. In addition to all the aforesaid, on this feast we also commemorate our Saviour's entry into the synagogue in Nazareth, where He was given the book of the Prophet Esaias to read, and He opened it and found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for which cause He hath anointed Me..." (Luke 4:16-30).

It should be noted that to the present day, the Church has always celebrated the beginning of the New Year on September 1. This was the custom in Constantinople until its fall in 1453 and in Russia until the reign of Peter I. September 1 is still festively celebrated as the New Year at the Patriarchate of Constantinople; among the Jews also the New Year, although reckoned according to a moveable calendar, usually falls in September. The service of the Menaion for January 1 is for our Lord's Circumcision and for the memorial of Saint Basil the Great, without any mention of its being the beginning of a new year.


September 01

Symeon the Stylite

Our righteous Father Symeon was born about the year 390 in a certain village named Sis, in the mountain region of Cilicia and Syria. Having first been a shepherd, he entered the monastic discipline at a young age. After trying various kinds of ascetical practices, both in the monastery and then in the wilderness, he began standing on pillars of progressively greater height, and heroically persevered in this for more than forty years; the greater part of this time he spent standing upright, even when one of his feet became gangrenous, and other parts of his body gave way under the strain. He did not adopt this strange way of life out of vainglory, a charge that some of his contemporaries made against him at the first: because he was already famous for his asceticism and holiness before ascending his first pillar (in Greek, style, whence he is called "Stylite"), many pious people came to him wishing to touch his garments, either for healing or for a blessing; to escape the continual vexation they caused, he made a pillar about ten feet high, and then higher and higher, until the fourth and last was about fifty feet high. The Church historian Theodoret of Cyrrhus, an eyewitness of his exploits who wrote of him while Symeon was yet alive, called him "the great wonder of the world." God gave him the grace to persevere in such an astonishing form of asceticism that multitudes came to see him from Persia, Armenia, South Arabia, Georgia, Thrace, Spain, Italy, Gaul, and the British Isles. Theodoret says that he became so famous in Rome that the Nomadic Arabs by the thousands believed in Christ and were baptized because of him; the King of Persia sent envoys to inquire into his way of life, and the Queen asked to be sent oil that he had blessed. He also was a great defender of sound doctrine, and confirmed the Orthodoxy of the Holy Council of Chalcedon for many who had been beguiled by the teachings of the Monophysites, including the Empress Eudocia, widow of Theodosius the Younger. After a life of unheard-of achievements and struggles, he reposed in peace at the age of sixty-nine, in the year 459.


September 04

Moses the Prophet & Godseer

The Prophet Moses-whose name means "one who draws forth," or "is drawn from," that is, from the water-was the pinnacle of the lovers of wisdom, the supremely wise lawgiver, the most ancient historian of all. He was of the tribe of Levi, the son of Amram and Jochabed (Num. 26:59). He was born in Egypt in the seventeenth century before Christ. While yet a babe of three months, he was placed in a basket made of papyrus and covered with pitch, and cast into the streams of the Nile for fear of Pharaoh's decree to the mid-wives of the Hebrews, that all the male children of the Hebrews be put to death. He was taken up from the river by Pharaoh's daughter, became her adopted son, and was reared and dwelt in the King's palace for forty years. Afterward, when he was some sixty years old, he fled to Madian, where, on Mount Horeb, he saw the vision of the burning bush. Thus he was ordained by God to lead Israel and bring it out of the land of Egypt. He led Israel through the Red Sea as it were dry land and governed the people for forty years. He wrought many signs and wonders, and wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, which are called the Pentateuch. When he reached the land of Moab, he ascended Mount Nabau, on the peak called Phasga, and there, by divine command, he reposed in the sixteenth century before Christ, having lived for some 120 years. The first two Odes of the Old Testament, "Let us sing to the Lord" and "Attend, O heaven, and I will speak," were written by him. Of these hymns, the first was chanted by the shore of the Red Sea as soon as the Israelites had crossed it; the second, in the land of Moab, a few days before his repose. The Holy High Priest Aaron was the elder brother of the Holy Prophet Moses. He was appointed by God to serve as the spokesman of Moses before the people, and also before Pharaoh, in Egypt. Afterwards, in the wilderness, he was called to the ministry of the high priesthood, as narrated in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in the Old Testament. The name Aaron means "enlightened."


September 04

Hermione the Martyr, daughter of St. Philip the Deacon


September 05

Zacharias the Prophet & Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Baptist

According to the opinion of many Fathers of the Church, based on an ancient tradition, this is the Zacharias whom, as our Lord said, the Jews slew between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35), first, because even after the Virgin Mary gave birth, he continued to refer to her as virgin and number her among the virgins; second, because Zacharias' son John was not found during the slaughter of the Innocents, since the elderly Elizabeth had taken him and carefully hid him while he was yet an infant, in an unnamed place somewhere in the desert, where, according to the Evangelist, "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel" (Luke 1:80). When the child was not found, his father was slain by Herod's command.


September 05

Elizabeth, Mother of the Forerunner


September 06

The Miracle at Colassai of Archangel Michael

The feast today in honour of the Archangel Michael commemorates the great miracle he wrought when he delivered from destruction a church and holy spring named for him. The pagans, moved by malice, sought to destroy the aforesaid church and holy spring by turning the course of two rivers against them. But the Archangel appeared and, by means of the Cross and a great earthquake that shook the entire area, diverted the waters into an underground course. Henceforth, the name of that place changed from Colossae to Chonae, which means "funnels" in Greek.


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Hymns of the Day

Tone 1 Troparion (Resurrection)
When the stone had been sealed by the Jews,
while the soldiers were guarding Your most pure body,
You rose on the third day, O Savior,
granting life to the world.
The powers of heaven therefore cried to You, O Giver of Life:
“Glory to Your Resurrection, O Christ!
Glory to Your Kingdom!//
Glory to Your dispensation, O Lover of mankind!”

Tone 2 Troparion (Indiction)
O Creator of the Universe,
You appointed times by Your own power;
bless the crown of this year with Your goodness, O Lord!
Preserve in safety Your rulers and Your cities://
and through the intercessions of the Theotokos, save us!

Tone 1 Troparion (St. Simeon)
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, O Simeon, our Father.//
Beseech Christ God that our souls may be saved!

Tone 1 Kontakion (Resurrection)
As God, You rose from the tomb in glory,
raising the world with Yourself.
Human nature praises You as God, for death has vanished.
Adam exults, O Master!
Eve rejoices, for she is freed from bondage and cries to You://
“You are the Giver of Resurrection to all, O Christ!”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit

Tone 2 Kontakion (St. Simeon)
Seeking the things of the Highest,
and having made a fiery chariot, you were joined to the heights.
Therefore, you have become a companion to the angels, O venerable Simeon,//
and with them you are praying incessantly to Christ God for us all.

now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 4 Kontakion (Indiction)
O Creator and Master of time and the ages,
Triune and Merciful God of all:
grant blessings for the course of this year,
and in Your boundless mercy save those who worship You and cry out in fear://
“O Savior, grant blessings to all mankind!”

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 1st Tone. Psalm 32.22,1.
Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us.
Verse: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.

The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 4:9-16.

Brethren, God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.


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Wisdom of the Fathers

And while one calls on Jerusalem, saying, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, for lo! thy King cometh to thee meek, riding upon an ass, and a young colt;" another proclaims His second coming also, saying on this wise, "The Lord, whom ye seek, will come, and who will abide the day of His coming? Leap ye as calves set free from bonds." And another again, amazed at such things, said, "This is our God; there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of Him."
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 19 on Matthew 6, 4th Century

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Beyond the Sermon

Ecclesiastical New Year 
The Reading is from Luke 4:16-22

At that time, Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.

On September 1st, we celebrate the Ecclesiastical New Year. This feast has its roots
in 4th century Constantinople, when Emperor Constantine introduced an imperial decree,
or Indiction, following his vision of the Holy Cross in the sky and subsequent victory over
Maxentius. The Indiction established a new taxation period for the Roman army and
marked the beginning of a new year. Taking the Indiction as a reference to God’s cre-
ation of the world (the beginning of time), the Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council
set September 1st as the beginning of the Church year. Since then, the late Ecumenical
Patriarch Demetrios I, declared September 1st, 1989, the first annual “Day of Prayer for
Creation.” Later, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew named September
1st the “Day of the Protection of the Environment,” encouraging the faithful to rediscover
their commitment to protecting the environment.
His All-Holiness continues the early Church’s practice of praying for the environ-
ment on September 1st. The new Ecclesiastical year marks a time when farmers finish
harvesting crops from the previous year and prepare to plant new seeds for the coming
year. On this feast day, the Church thanks God for the rich harvest He granted the prior
year and prays for favorable weather in the coming year.
Just as the Church blesses the earth to yield abundant fruits in the coming year
on September 1st, so does the Church bless us to produce abundant spiritual fruit. The
Apostle Paul writes, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, good-
ness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). As we begin a new year,
we can ask ourselves if we bear these fruits. We can reflect, seeing if we have love for
God and others, peace in our hearts, kindness toward others’ suffering, goodness in our
thoughts, faithfulness in our relationships, gentleness in our speech, and self-control in
our actions. With the new Ecclesiastical year, the Church calls us to grow these virtues by
orienting our lives to eternity.
In the Gospel reading, Christ stands up to read in the middle of the synagogue.
Opening the book given to Him, He turns to the prophecy of Isaiah and says: “The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” All eyes in the synagogue are on this unassum-
ing Jewish Man as He sits back down. Simply, humbly, and gently, He says: “Today, this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Christ begins His public ministry with these
few words, proclaiming a new era—a new “acceptable year of the Lord.”
By saying “Today,” He sanctifies time. He is the Word that came forth out of si-
lence, leaving the bosom of the Holy Trinity to create all things out of nothing. He is the
Word of God, Who took on human nature as a divine person and became like us in every
way—except sin. He is the anointed One Who appears in the midst of the synagogue as
a humble Man to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy. His presence in time redeems time, transform-
ing it into a meeting place with Him, a vehicle of salvation. His presence in time brings
eternity into the present. “Today” becomes an eternal today. Christ gives humanity a new
perspective—a perspective of eternity. On September 1st, the Church calls us to adopt
this perspective of eternity.
To guide us, the Church gives us a clearly devout example: Saint Simeon the Styli-
te, commemorated on September 1st. He lived in intense prayer and fasting. Later, he
built a tower upon which to live and increase his dedication to God. That is, he wanted
to focus his mind on God alone and not on the things below. Progressively, he made the
tower higher and higher as people flocked to him for guidance. As he fled from people,
he drew closer to God, so great was his longing to be with Him. Still, on earth, he had an
eternal perspective. While Saint Simeon’s way of living is challenging, we can still strive to
imitate his longing for God by orienting our lives toward eternity.
Many of us find it challenging to be present. Our homes are full of technology that
steals our attention. The news drowns the sound of birds singing in the early morning
hours. Social media consumes us with scrolling from image to image, each one prompting
us to look at “just one more.” How difficult it is to come home from work or school ex-
hausted, unable to focus on our families, friends, or loved ones, let alone God. How easy
it is to lose sight of God, of eternity. How easy it is to lose perspective.
The Church calls us to regain perspective, to see eternity amid all our cares and
difficulties. Like Saint Simeon the Stylite, we need a pillar from which we can look down
upon our many worldly cares and see that God is there amid them. What pillar can lift us
above our worldly cares? Prayer.
Prayer makes us present to God’s presence in our lives. He is present in our prob-
lems because He cares for us. Prayer fills us with God’s presence, with the grace of the
Holy Spirit. In turn, we bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
says, “We must become filled, replete with the Holy Spirit. This is where the essence of
spiritual life lies. This is an art––the art of arts. Let us open our arms and throw ourselves
into Christ’s embrace.” The Holy Tradition of the Church says that we learn to pray by
praying. The art of prayer takes time and practice. We can perfect it in all our daily diffi-
culties by surrendering ourselves to “Christ’s embrace.”
Many people set New Year’s resolutions on January 1st. With the Ecclesiastical
New Year, we can set a resolution to pray more––not with more words, but with more of
our heart. We can set an intention to turn all the difficulties we face into prayer by putting
“Lord” in front of every thought and feeling we have. For example, “Lord, I am sad. Lord,
I am angry. Lord, I do not know what to do.” In this way, the Lord becomes present in
our sadness, anger, and confusion. Similarly, we can call on the Holy Spirit to “come and
dwell” in our inner pain––whether it is anxiety, depression, or any difficult state of being––
so that He transforms it into peace beyond understanding and joy that cannot be taken
from us. May God bless the coming year with spiritual fruit and help us orient our lives to
eternity in every moment.

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A Little Extra

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