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.
Joyous Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple
Many Years!
To Lynne and David Miller on the birth of their daughter Mary Ann Miller, and to their grandparents as well.
Nativity Services Schedule
Forefeast of the Nativity (21/22/23)
Eve of the Nativity (24)
Nativity
*Services so marked will be held at the church, all services will be streamed.
Holy Supper is a service lenten meal in celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. The parish used to celebrate this mean before COVID. The meal is a lenten potluck, in which the parish also shares in the gifts of the Lord to us as his people.
Many Years! to all those who take Catherine as their patron saint.
Memory Eternal! on the anniversary of the repose of Prifteresha Elisbeth Bouteneff
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
22nd SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 5. Afterfeast of the Entry Into the Temple. Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria (305-313). Great Martyr Mercurius of Cæsarea in Cappadocia (3rd c.). Martyr Merkúry of Smolensk (1238). Ven. Mercurius, Faster, of the Kiev Caves (Far Caves—14th c.). Empress Augusta, Porphyrius the General, the 50 philosophers and the 200 Soldiers martyred with the Great Martyr Catherine (305-313). Virgin Mastridia of Alexandria. Ven. Simon, Abbot of Soiga Monastery (Vologdá—1562).
A Prayer for Seminarians
Again we pray that the Lord our God will show favor to these students and will inspire their hearts, their minds, and their lips with the spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of holiness and fear; that He will enlighten those students with the light of His knowledge and will give them strength and perseverance, so that they may eagerly learn His divine law; that He will enable them to grow in wisdom, understanding, and virtue, for the glory of His holy name, and will give them health and long life for the upbuilding of His holy Church, we beg Thee, O Lord, hear us and have mercy.
13th Sunday of Luke
9:30AM Typika
Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria
Alypius the Stylite of Adrianopolis
Christine Boyd - B
8:30AM Matins
James the Great Martyr of Persia
Page - A
Stephen the New
Daria Krawchuk - B
8:30AM Matins
Paramonus, Philumenus, and their 370 Companion Martyrs in Bithynia
Andrew the First- Called Apostle
St Sebastian Dabovich of San Francisco
A Boyd - N
Ezekiel Joseph Watson
8:30AM Akathist to St Andrew
5:30PM Great Vespers
14th Sunday of Luke
9:30AM Typika
Habakkuk the Prophet
Anniversary of His Grace’s Concecration
Saint Clement was instructed in the Faith of Christ by the Apostle Peter. He became Bishop of Rome in the year 91, the third after the death of the Apostles. He died as a martyr about the year 100 during the reign of Trajan.
Saint Catherine, who was from Alexandria, was the daughter of Constas (or Cestus). She was an exceedingly beautiful maiden, most chaste, and illustrious in wealth, lineage, and learning. By her steadfast understanding, she utterly vanquished the passionate and unbridled soul of Maximinus, the tyrant of Alexandria; and by her eloquence, she stopped the mouths of the so-called philosophers who had been gathered to dispute with her. She was crowned with the crown of martyrdom in the year 305. Her holy relics were taken by Angels to the holy mountain of Sinai, where they were discovered many years later; the famous monastery of Saint Catherine was originally dedicated to the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord and the Burning Bush, but later was dedicated to Saint Catherine. According to the ancient usage, Saints Catherine and Mercurius were celebrated on the 24th of this month, whereas the holy Hieromartyrs Clement of Rome and Peter of Alexandria were celebrated on the 25th. The dates of the feasts of these Saints were interchanged at the request of the Church and Monastery of Mount Sinai, so that the festival of Saint Catherine, their patron, might be celebrated more festively together with the Apodosis of the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos. The Slavic Churches, however, commemorate these Saints on their original dates.
Saint Nicon, the son of a certain noble, was from Armenia. Forsaking his parents and homeland, he passed throughout the parts of the East, crying to all men, "Repent ye," because of which he received this name. Finally, he came to Lacedaemonia of the Peloponnesus, where he built a church in honour of Christ our Saviour. After having dwelt there many years in solitude, and having converted many from paganism, he departed to the Lord about the end of the ninth century.
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.
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.
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.
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2022/11/30/100486-venerable-sebastian-dabovich
Choir: Tone 5 Troparion (Resurrection)
Let us, the faithful, praise and worship the Word,
co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit,
born for our salvation from the Virgin;
for He willed to be lifted up on the Cross in the flesh,
to endure death,and to raise the dead//
by His glorious Resurrection.
Tone 4 Troparion (Feast)
Today is the prelude of the good will of God,
of the preaching of the salvation of mankind.
The Virgin appears in the Temple of God,
in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all.
Let us rejoice and sing to her:
“Rejoice, O Fulfillment//
of the Creator’s dispensation!“
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. Catherine)
By your virtues as by rays of the sun you enlightened the unbelieving philosophers, and like the most bright moon you drove away the darkness of disbelief from those walking in the night; you convinced the queen, and also chastised the tyrant, God-summoned bride, blessed Catherine. You hastened with desire to the heavenly bridal chamber of the fairest Bridegroom of Christ, and you were crowned by Him with a royal crown;// Standing before Him with the Angels, pray for us who keep your most sacred memory!
Tone 5 Kontakion (Resurrection)
You descended into hell, O my Savior,
shattering its gates as Almighty,
resurrecting the dead as Creator,
and destroying the sting of death.
You have delivered Adam from the curse, O Lover of man,//
and we cry to You: “O Lord, save us!”
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. Catherine)
Let all of us who love to honor the martyrs
form a great choir in praise of the most wise Catherine,
for she preached Christ and trampled the serpent,//
despising the knowledge of the orators.
now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Tone 4 Kontakion (Feast)
The most pure Temple of the Savior;
the precious Chamber and Virgin;
the sacred Treasure of the glory of God,
is presented today to the house of the Lord.
She brings with her the grace of the Spirit,
therefore, the angels of God praise her://
“Truly this woman is the abode of Heaven!”
Prokeimenon. 5th Tone. Psalm 11.7,1.
You, O Lord, shall keep us and preserve us.
Verse: Save me, O Lord, for the godly man has failed.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6:11-18.
Brethren, see with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that would compel you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who receive circumcision do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God. Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.
The Reading is from Luke 13:10-17
At that time, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Twelve years tells the story of two daughters: a child, and an adult. Both daughters encounter Jesus and come back to life as they are touched by Christ, who is the Giver of life. The child is the daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, which means he was not a priest but the administrator of the local Jewish congregation. He was not yet a follower of Jesus, but undoubtedly, he had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all because God was with Him.
The Jewish authorities who rejected Jesus were Jairus’ superiors and employers, so Jairus risked losing his position by coming to meet Jesus. However, Jairus’ daughter was sick and dying, and so in desperation, Jairus overcomes his fear and seeks the com- passion and power of Christ. Because of his love for his daughter, he was not afraid of the repercussions this might have had. Jairus comes to Jesus, falls at His feet, and begs Him for help.
The hope of having his daughter healed, his only daughter (in Greek: μονογενής, the same word used for the Only Begotten Son of God), was worth all things. Jairus’ pain provided an opportunity for great faith in a time of desperation. He believed Jesus could save his daughter, and the Son of God rewarded his faith. Jesus recognizes his faith and has compassion on him. He responds to this plea for help and starts making his way to Jairus’ home.
On the other side of this story, there is another daughter of God. Like Jairus’ young daughter, this older daughter remains nameless. Yet, twelve years prior, about the same time when Jairus’ daughter was born, this woman became ill in a way that made her cere-
monially unclean. According to Jewish law, she was unable to worship in the temple. She began to die slowly, while at the same time, Jairus’ child was growing. Twelve years later, the physicians could save neither the child nor the woman. We are told that for twelve years, the woman had spent all her living upon physicians and could not be healed by anyone.
Meanwhile, Jairus did not consider the repercussions and took a leap of faith to reach out to Jesus, hoping to save his daughter’s life. At the same time, this woman does the same. She boldly takes a leap of faith and reaches out to Jesus, touching the hem of His garment because of her great faith in a time of desperation. The Lord notices great faith and responds in a personal and compassionate way. He stops to attend to the one who placed all her faith and hope in Him. And says, “Who was it that touched me?” He asked not because he did not know but to honor her faith.
The Apostle Peter said, Master, everyone is touching You. There is a crowd pressing on You as You walk. But Jesus said, someone special, with great faith, touched Me. This was not a mere rubbing of shoulders with the multitude, but someone who believed in Him for eternal life and placed all her hopes in Him. Jesus instantaneously heals her the minute she touches Him because of her faith. “I perceive that power has gone forth from me,” the Lord says. And when the embarrassed woman realized God the Son was speaking about her, she came trembling and fell before Him.
The Lord calls her His daughter and says, “Your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Because of His great love and her great faith, the Lord Jesus heals her completely. Saint Ephraim the Syrian says, “Faith is the means by which anyone now may enter the family of Jesus, and peace is the crown of victory she receives because of her faith.” An ancient hymn of the Church says, “Then a woman, weak and timid, touched his sacred garment’s hem: instant was his blessed healing, and the pallor left her cheek, as the hem orrhage she had suffered through so many years was stopped.”
At the same time that Jesus heals the woman, messengers come to Jairus with the word that his daughter has died. The roles of the two daughters are now reversed. When that child was born, the woman began to die. Now, the child died when the woman be-
gan to live again. Jairus was there with Jesus and witnessed the healing of the woman, but the messengers tell him that his daughter is dead and not to trouble Jesus anymore. However, Jairus also had the same faith that the woman had in the face of hopelessness, and he wanted Jesus to still go with him. “Do not fear,” Jesus said, “only believe, and she shall be well.” In Greek, the text literally says, “only believe and she will be saved.” This means that not only will her body be well, but she will be saved as a whole: body, mind, and soul. It shows us how faith can save us, help us to follow Christ and the Gospel, and enter into union with God in His Kingdom, even in this life. The entire passage presents two daughters, two sicknesses, and two resurrections. All is made well by the unwavering faith resulting in new life. Faith is the opposite of fear. “Do not fear,” Jesus said. The Lord said that many times in the Gospels to His beloved ones.
Such as, when the disciples were in a storm, afraid they were going to sink, they saw Jesus walking on water toward them in the middle of the night and thought it was a ghost. Immediately, Jesus spoke to them and told them not to be afraid because He was with them.
Also, when Jesus was transfigured before His disciples, they fell to the ground, covering their faces. Jesus came and touched them, telling them not to be afraid. When Jesus appeared to his disciples, risen from the dead, they took hold of His feet and wor- shiped him, and He told them not to be afraid. The presence of the Lord takes away fear, because He is the Son of God who loves us, and who can do all things. Out of faith, the woman with the flow of blood overcame her fear and touched His garment. Jesus healed her. Now Jesus tells Jairus not to fear. Therefore, with faith, Jairus accompanied Jesus to the house, and the Lord came to the child. In Christ, deathis defeated, because He destroyed death by death. In Christ, death is like momentary sleeping. As the woman had touched Jesus, now Jesus touches the child, takes her by the hand, and says, “Child, arise!” When the Son of God, speaks, life overcomes death. Immediately, the child’s spirit returned, and she rose from the dead. The child became a type of Christ, risen from the dead, as the woman with the flowof blood also became a type of humanity, wounded after the Fall and restored by Jesus.
Both daughters were saved by faith — one, by her own faith, the other, by the prayers and faith of another, that is, her father. We are also the sons and daughters of Christ, who, by our faith, and by the faith and prayers of the Saints in heaven and the prayers of the Church on earth, are touched by the Lord and restored to life. Let us trust Christ without fear, even in the darkest moments of life. He calls us sons and daughters. Let us pray for one another as well as brothers and sisters. All it takes is for us not to be afraid but only believe in Him, Who rose from the dead. The Lord loves us and always responds to our cries for help, especially when we face the darkest of situations. As Christ shows us through Jairus’ daughter and the woman healed of a flow of blood, when we are in our darkest moment, an unimaginable resurrection is waiting around the corner. Trusting in God’s love, we can simply abandon ourselves in His arms.
Information about the fund raiser for St Tikhon's seminary.