Please see our online calendar for dates and times of Feast Day services.
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
Position Vacant- 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.
Final Arrangements for Evelyn Leake
According to her wishes, Evelyn did not want a viewing at a funeral home. Her funeral will be held at St Alexis on November 2nd, beginning at 10a. The church will be open to receieve Evelyn at 9a. The burial will take place at St Agnes Cemetery in Brandford, where she will be buried along side her departed husband. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St Alexis Orthodox Church.
Diocean Assembly
The Assembly this year occurs on Oct 25th & 26th, and will be held in Cumberland, RI. Jim Ifkovic will be our delegate this year. I will be leaving for the Assembly on Thursday afternoon. There will be NO Vespers on Saturday Night, October 26th.
Stewardship
Stewardship forms were emailed out to everyone on our mailing list. The are also available in the back of the candle desk. Please be sure to return them to me before the end of the month as we will be using the pledges to generate our budget for the following year. We will also be putting our ministries together as well.
Parish on Cross Road
The "study guide" to be filled out by parishioners, at the request of His Beatitude, are also located at the candle desk.
Please return the Stewardship forms and the Study Guide questions to me by the end of the month, at the latest. We need the stewardship forms so that we can complete the budget for next year at our next council meeting in October. I need the the Metropolitan's survey forms so that I can review them and prepare a final report for the All-American Council.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon has issued the following call for prayer:
“On this day, in many of our churches, we celebrate the protecting veil of the most holy Mother of God. In light of the widening conflict in the Middle East, this commemoration of the merciful Protection of the Theotokos could not be timelier. I ask all our clergy and faithful to pray for peace in the region and in the world; for restraint and wisdom on the part of leaders; for healing and recovery for victims of violence; and for reconciliation, forgiveness, and love on the part of all. Our Lord Jesus Christ is himself the Peace of God, and this Peace came into the world through the most holy Theotokos. Let us pray to our most pure Lady with fervent supplications that the world might receive, through her, the peace from above.”
Clergy and faithful are encouraged to support International Orthodox Christian Charities in their emergency support work in the region.
Donations can be made at iocc.org
Looking for good introducctions to Orthodoxy?
First, please have a look at OrthodoxIntro: https://www.orthodoxintro.org/
OrthodoxIntro is a true first-stop introduction to Orthodox Christianity as a website. It has basic information, such as the content of the gospel and what the day-to-day life of an Orthodox Christian looks like, as well as the key feature -- Q&A email with qualified, canonical Orthodox clergy, which I believe is much-needed, considering how much confusion there is on the Internet. Our team of clergy not only answer questions but also help people find local parishes to plug into, which is the ultimate aim of their work.
2) Second, I'd like to point you to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AncientFaithMinistries
Here you can find many live shows and other podcasts covering numerous topics. These can edify and educate both you and your parishioners, and of course this material often acts toward evangelism for those who use YouTube.
Many Years! To Greg Jankura on the occasion of his birthday.
Blessed repose and Memory Eternal for the newly departed Evelyn Leake.
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;
Please let Fr. Steven know via email if you have more names for which to pray.
Today’s commemorated feasts and saints
17th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 8. Greatmartyr Artemius at Antioch (362). Righteous Child Artemius of Verkola. Ven. Gerasimos the New Ascetic, of Cephalonia (1579). Ven. Matrona of Chios (14th c.).
Ice Cream Social
6th Sunday of Luke
Victor Hoehnebart
9:30AM Divine Liturgy
Hilarion the Great
Averkios, Equal-to-the-Apostles and Wonderworker, Bishop of Hierapolis
8:30AM Matins
6:00PM Parish Council
James (Iakovos) the Apostle, brother of Our Lord
Arethas the Great Martyr and His Fellow Martyrs
Greg Jankura -B
8:30AM Matins
The Holy Martyrs Marcian and Martyrius the Notaries
Diocean Assembly
Victor & Gail Kuziak - A
The Holy Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-streamer
7th Sunday of Luke
Commemoration of the Flood
Baptism of Bryn Littlefield
9:30AM Divine Liturgy
The Holy Protection of the Theotokos
Nicholas Melesko - B
Saint Artemius lived during the years of Saint Constantine the Great, and was appointed by him to be Governor of Alexandria; later, he was honoured with the rank of patrician. During the reign of Julian the Apostate, in the year 361, Artemius appeared before the Emperor and censured him for his apostasy. For this, he endured many torments and was finally beheaded.
This Saint was born at Tabatha, near Gaza in Palestine, of pagan parents. Sent as a young man to Alexandria to be educated, he learned the Christian Faith and was baptized. While in Egypt he heard the fame of Saint Anthony the Great, and upon meeting that truly great man, the Father of monks, Saint Hilarion determined to devote himself also to the ascetical life. He returned to Gaza, when, he gave himself over to extreme fasting and unceasing prayer. Because of the miracles which he soon began to work, he found himself compelled by his growing renown to leave Gaza, to escape from the throngs of people coming to ask his prayers. In his journeys he visited Egypt, and came again with longing to the place where Saint Anthony had lived; but he was not able to remain in any one place for long, since despite all his attempts to conceal himself, the light of the grace that was in him could not be hid. After passing through Egypt and Libya, and sailing to Sicily, he came at last to Cyprus, where he ended the course of his life at the age of eighty, in the year 372.
The Seven Youths hid themselves in a certain cave near Ephesus in the year 250, to escape the persecution of Decius. By divine grace, a sleep came upon them and they slept for 184 years, until the reign of Saint Theodosius the Younger, when the doctrine of the resurrection was being assailed by heretics. They then awoke, that is, were resurrected, confirming in the sight of all the bodily resurrection; and again after a short time, by divine command, they reposed in the Lord in the year 434.
According to some, this Saint was a son of Joseph the Betrothed, born of the wife that the latter had before he was betrothed to the Ever-virgin. Hence he was the brother of the Lord, Who was also thought to be the son of Joseph (Matt. 13: 55). But some say that he was a nephew of Joseph, and the son of his brother Cleopas, who was also called Alphaeus and Mary his wife, who was the first cousin of the Theotokos. But even according to this genealogy, he was still called, according to the idiom of the Scriptures, the Lord's brother because of their kinship.
This Iakovos is called the Less (Mark 15:40) by the Evangelists to distinguish him from Iakovos, the son of Zebedee, who was called the Great. He became the first Bishop of Jerusalem, elevated to this episcopal rank by the Apostles, according to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist., Book II: 23), and was called Obliah, that is, the Just, because of his great holiness and righteousness. Having ascended the crest of the Temple on the day of the Passover at the prompting of all, he bore testimony from there concerning his belief in Jesus, and he proclaimed with a great voice that Jesus sits at the right hand of the great power of God and shall come again upon the clouds of heaven. On hearing this testimony, many of those present cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David." But the Scribes and Pharisees cried, "So, even the just one hath been led astray," and at the command of Ananias the high priest, the Apostle was cast down headlong from thence, then was stoned, and while he prayed for his slayers, his head was crushed by the wooden club wielded by a certain scribe. The first of the Catholic (General) Epistles written to the Jews in the Diaspora who believed in Christ was written by this Iakovos.
Saint Demetrius was a Thessalonian, a most pious son of pious and noble parents, and a teacher of the Faith of Christ. When Maximian first came to Thessalonica in 290, he raised the Saint to the rank of Duke of Thessaly. But when it was discovered that the Saint was a Christian, he was arrested and kept bound in a bath-house. While the games were under way in the city, Maximian was a spectator there. A certain friend of his, a barbarian who was a notable wrestler, Lyaeus by name, waxing haughty because of the height and strength of his body, boasted in the stadium and challenged the citizens to a contest with him. All that fought with him were defeated. Seeing this, a certain youth named Nestor, aquaintance of Demetrius', came to the Saint in the bath-house and asked his blessing to fight Lyaeus single-handed. Receiving this blessing and sealing himself with the sign of the precious Cross, he presented himself in the stadium, and said, "O God of Demetrius, help me!" and straightway he engaged Lyaeus in combat and smote him with a mortal blow to the heart, leaving the former boaster lifeless upon the earth. Maximian was sorely grieved over this, and when he learned who was the cause of this defeat, he commanded straightway and Demetrius was pierced with lances while he was yet in the bath-house, As for Nestor, Maximian commanded that he be slain with his own sword.
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 4 Troparion (St. Alexis)
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.
Tone 4 Troparion (St. Artemius)
Your holy martyr Artemius, O Lord,
through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God.
For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.//
Through his intercession, save our souls!
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 5 Kontakion (St. Alexis)
Let us, the faithful praise the Priest Alexis,
a bright beacon of Orthodoxy in America, a model of patience and humility,
a worthy shepherd of the Flock of Christ.
He called back the sheep who had been led astray
and brought them by his preaching to the Heavenly Kingdom.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
Tone 2 Kontakion (St. Artemius)
Let us gather to sing worthy hymns in honor of Artemius,
the pious and victorious martyr who defeated his enemies.
He is great among martyrs
and generous in performing miracles,//
and he intercedes with the Lord on behalf of us all.
now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Tone 6 Kontakion (Steadfast Protectress)
Steadfast Protectress of Christians,
Constant Advocate before the Creator;
despise not the entreating cries of us sinners,
but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith.
Hasten to hear our petition and to intercede for us,
O Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you!
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 Second Letter to the Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1.
Brethren, you are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.
The Reading is from Luke 16:19-31
The Lord said, "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazaros, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazaros in his bosom. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazaros to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazaros in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses, and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to them, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'"
Metropolitan Anthony Sourozh
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
5th of November 1989
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
As every of Christ's parables of the judgement today's parable has got a very simple aspect and at the same time should be reflected on a deeper level.
The simple aspect is this: you have had on earth all that was good, Lazarus has had nothing; he therefore receives in eternity all the goods which he has lacked on earth and you are deprived of it. But this is not the real and deeper meaning of it.
Who is this rich man? It is a man who not only possessed all that the earth could give him: wealth, a good name, a status among his follow-citizens; it is a man who craved for nothing else. All he wanted, all he needed was material wealth, a good standing among men, reverence, admiration, a slavish obedience of those who were under him.
Lazarus possessed nothing; but from the parable we see that he did not complain, he received what the rich man needed not; he ate the crumbs from his table. But — he had a living soul; perhaps did he crave for more: who doesn't want to have a roof, who doesn't want to have the security of food? But he received what was given with gratitude.
And when they died, what did they take with them? The rich man had nothing to take because he had never had any concern for anything that the earth couldn't give. Lazarus had always longed for more than the earth could give: for justice, for peace, for love, for compassion, for human brotherhood — for all those things which make the human being human. The rich man was in condition which is described in one of the prophecies: Israel has grown fat with wealth and has forgotten God... The poor man could do no such thing; he was too poor to be rooted into the earth — he was free.
Now, this applies to all of us; because all of us we possess within ourselves both the rich man and Lazarus. On the one hand, how much we have, how rich we are, how secure, how opulent. On the other hand, if we are here, it means that there is another dimension within our soul that longs for something else. But the question is to be asked: if we had to choose — what we would choose? What is what we really treasure? Is it security which the earth so far has given us — or is it the vastness, the depth of understanding, communion with God, love of our neighbour, compassion — so many other things which the Gospel has taught us?
And this is where the parable refers not only to two men of the past, or to others than we are, it refers to us personally: who am I, — or if you prefer, which is more fair — who predominates in me? Am I more like the rich man, so rooted into the earth that the things of God, the things of the spirit, the things of eternity, or simply, what is truly human comes secondly — or am I one of those for whom what to be human matters more than anything?
And then, there is another thing in the parable. The rich man, seeing himself devoid of all, of every thing turns to Abraham and says, Send Lazarus to my brothers who are still on earth to give them a warning, that they may not come to this place of torment... And Christ says, Even if one came back from the dead, if they have not listened to what has been revealed in the past, they will not believe, they will perish in their sin...
How, that echoes in a tragic way with the situation in which people were when they stood as a milling crowd around the Cross on which Christ was dying. Some were believers, His own people — but where were they? They had fled. Some were His disciples faithful at the core of their being, faithful with their hearts, the women who had followed Him — they stood at a distance; only the Mother of God and John stood by the Cross.
But in the crowd there were such who, together with the High Priest, the Pharisees who had condemned Christ, were saying: Descend now from the Cross — and we shall believe... How many thought: If He only did that, we could believe without taking any risk, believe with security, safely; believe and follow One Who had already won His victory; but can we, can we possibly believe and follow One Who now, defeated, reviled, rejected hangs on the Cross between two criminals? We can't...
That is what the parable says; and which is shown in the life of so many.
Where do we stand? Are we prepared to believe Christ's word? Are we prepared, captured by the beauty, the ineffable, the unutterable beauty of Christ's personality to follow Him at all risk? And risk, we know, is great: we will be reviled, we will be laughed at, we will be strangers, people will think that we are tramps on earth, not that we are pilgrims of Heaven; but are we prepared to do this?
We must give thought to these two aspects of the parable; because otherwise it is irrelevant, it has nothing to do with us — and yet, so much it has!
Let us think of it, deeply, standing judgement before it. God does not judge us in order to condemn. God presents us with reality and asks of us only one thing: Respond to reality! Do not accept a world which is a mirage! Do not accept yourself while you remain a mirage: be real, and then you will be children of the Kingdom.
And what can be greater: brothers and sisters of Christ, sons and daughters of the Living God; and messengers — messengers of God on earth. Can we hope for anything greater? And yet — this is what is offered to each and all of us! What a wonder, what a joy! How can we turn away from this? Amen.