Jesus Christ teaches us to love and serve all people, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. To understand this, 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)

To Our Guests
Throughout our services, we use the more formal "thy" and "thou" or what is commonly referred to as King Jamesean English.  The Lord's Prayer is recited as follows:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, as on earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the Evil One.

Please join us after Liturgy for refreshments and hospitality.

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.

Members of our Parish Council are:

Marlene Melesko - President
Sarah Senetcen - Member at Large
Boris Doph - Treasurer
Dierdre Cottergarfield - Vice President
Luba Martins - Secretary

Mission Statement
St. Alexis Orthodox Christian Church is a local English speaking community of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) on the shoreline of Connecticut.

St. Alexis exists to:

• Call all people to Christ
• Worship as a community 
• Experience the joy of Christ in our lives 
• Share this joy with those around us 
• Educate people about the Truth and Presence of Orthodoxy 
• We offer the love of Christ to those in need, both in word and action.

Annual Meeting Agenda

• Opening Prayer
• Determination of Quorum
• Minutes of Previous Annual Meeting
• Reports
  • President's
  • Outreach
  • Maintenance
  • ByLaws
  • Other
• Financial Statement and Audior's Report
  • Final 2025 Income Statement
  • Signed Auditor's Report
  • 2026 YE Projection
  • Cash Balance
• 2027 Pastor's Compensation Package
• 2027 Draft Budget
• Adoption of Parish Budget
• Elections
  • Two Council Members, Auditor, DA Representitive w/ alternate
• Unfinished Business
  • Red House
  • Roofing Project
• Resolutions
• Rector's Report
• Adjourment
• Closing Prayer

Online Bulletins

Bulletins will no longer be sent via email, beginning in November. If you would like to receive electronic bulletins, please log into our new website. You will then receive bulletins via email or on the site itself. The Google Groups email system will then only be used for parish announcements etc. Hopefully, this will cut down on our emails being flagged as spam.

Wall Calendars

I will not be ordering wall calendars for the parish this year, as there are number of online locations that provide the same information (including our parish website). If you prefer a paper wall calendar rather than online, the can be ordered from St Tikhon's Monastery Press, Ancient Faith Bookstore or Vestal Publishing Company, just to name a few locations.

https://orthodoxdaily.net

https://orthocal.info

Roofing Project Proposal

Total cost for the project - $25,500

Due to begin project - $12,750

Due upon completion - $12,750

• One family has offered to put up the initial deposit as a loan to the parish.
• One family has offered to put up the final payment as a loan to the parish as we..
• One family has offered a matching grant

• • • For every dollar raised by the parish, it will be matched
    • The money raised from the tag sale will be used as the initial seed money for fund raising

The loans are offered without interest to the parish, with the expectation that the loans be paid back. With the matching grant, the parish needs to raise $12,750. Over the course of 1 year, this means that we (as a parish) need to raise $1062.50 every month. If every one contributes just $30 in addition to your monthly tithe. We can reach this goal (not including the tag sale seed monty).

Contributions to the roofing project should be made separately from your monthly tithing. Checks should note “roofing” in the memo line; cash should be placed in an envelope with your name and “roofing” labeled on the outside…. (Or noted with equivalent labeling).

Nativity Fast

The Fast begins on 16th (the evening before, to be exact). Please take the opportunity to use this time to offer your confession, and to focus on acts of outreach, and attending to your prayer life.

Support for Ukrainian Refugees

Again we pray that we may be made worthy of founding in our Diocese a monastery in honor
of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, let us pray to 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 and dispossesed, 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, predjudice; pestilence and natural disaster; 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:  
• Clergy and their families: Fr Sergei B, Fr Vladimir, Fr Vladimir, Fr John, 
  Fr Alexander
• ​Catechumen: Joshua Figueroa
• Individuals and Families: Luba, Suzanne, Rosemary,  Daniel & Dayna, Kristen, Victor, Susan, Gregory, Nina
• Birthdays and Name’s Days this Month: Vinny Melesko (B-10/8), Marlene Melesko (B-10/12), Victor Hohenbart (B-10/20), Greg Jankura (B-10/24), Joe Boruch (B-10/24),
• Anniversaries this Month:  
• Expecting and Newborn:  
• ​Traveling:
• ​Sick and those in distress: Nancy, Boris, Glenn, John, Joan, Sharon, William, Sharon, Alexander, Olga, Christine, Tatianna, Stormy, Maria, Blanche, Jeremy, Jenna, Eugenia

Today’s commemorated feasts and saints

20th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 3. Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke (1st c.). Martyr Marinus the Elder at Anazarbus (4th c.). Ven. Julian the Hermit, of Mesopotamia (4th c.).

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.

Again we pray thee, O Lord our God: We are all called to be the branches of the spiritual vine that grew from the seeds of the Orthodox Faith that our missionary fathers, Herman and Innocent and their companions, planted and nurtured among the native peoples of Alaska, a vine that bears fruit to this day throughout our land, as we imitate the virtues of those husbandmen, of the many saints known only to God, of the Martyr Peter the Aleut, and of our Mother Olga of Kwethluk; through their intercessions, O Lord, hear us and have mercy!

Again we pray thee, O God our Savior: Look with favor upon us, the families and spiritual children of the peoples who came to our land from the old world and brought with them the Orthodox Faith, which they held fast and nurtured in their labors in the mines and mills and on the farms of this new land, and among the challenges of its great cities; we pray thee, O Lord, hear us and have mercy!

Again we pray thee, O Lord our God: We have thy Mother as the Protectress of Orthodox Christians in our North American lands; as we joyfully celebrate her patronage and her miracles, we pray thee, O Lord, through her intercessions, in all our challenges, hear us and have mercy!

Tone 3 Troparion (Resurrection)
Let the heavens rejoice!
Let the earth be glad!
For the Lord has shown strength with His arm.
He has trampled down death by death.
He has become the first born of the dead.
He has delivered us from the depths of hell,
and has granted to the world//
great mercy.

Tone 5 Troparion (St. Luke)
Let us praise with sacred songs the holy Apostle Luke,
the recorder of the joyous Gospel of Christ
and the scribe of the Acts of the Apostles;
for his writings are a testimony of the Church of Christ.
He is the physician of human weaknesses and infirmities.
He heals the wounds of our souls,//
and constantly intercedes for our salvation.

Tone 3  Kontakion (Resurrection)
On this day Thou didst rise from the tomb, O Merciful One,
leading us from the gates of death.
On this day Adam exults as Eve rejoices;
with the Prophets and Patriarchs//
they unceasingly praise the divine majesty of Thy power.

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

Tone 2 Kontakion (St.Luke)
Let us praise the godly Luke;
he is the true preacher of piety, 
the orator of ineffable mysteries
and the star of the Church,
for the Word, Who alone knows the hearts of men,//
chose him, with the wise Paul, to be a teacher of the Gentiles!

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!

COMMUNION HYMN
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! 
Their proclamation has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of 
the universe. Alleluia (3X)

The following is Book 4 of the Ancient Practices series.

Fasting: The Ancient Practices by Scot McKnight —

Summary
Scot McKnight’s Fasting explores the Christian practice of fasting as a way to reconnect the body and spirit in the pursuit of God. His central argument is that fasting is not primarily a technique for getting answers, gaining blessings, losing weight, or manipulating God. Instead, fasting is a bodily response to significant spiritual moments.

Main Themes
1. Fasting is “whole-body spirituality.” 
McKnight argues that Christianity often treats spirituality as something purely internal or mental. He challenges this view, emphasizing that human beings are an integrated unity of body, soul, and spirit. Fasting allows the body to participate in prayer, worship, repentance, grief, and longing for God.

2. Fasting is a response to sacred moments. 
According to McKnight, the Bible presents fasting most often as a response to life's significant events—mourning, repentance, seeking guidance, expressing dependence on God, preparing for ministry, or confronting injustice. Rather than fasting to obtain something, believers fast because a situation is spiritually weighty.

3. Biblical fasting has many purposes. 
McKnight examines examples from Scripture and church history, showing that fasting can express:
* Grief and mourning

* Repentance

* Pleading for God's intervention

* Spiritual discipline

* Solidarity with the poor

* Preparation for important tasks

* Hope and anticipation of God's future work

4. The church historically practiced rhythms of fasting and feasting. 
The author notes that Christians throughout history often followed seasons and calendars that included both fasting and celebration. He argues that modern Christians can benefit from recovering these rhythms.


Practical Guidance
McKnight discusses different forms of fasting found in the Bible:
* Normal fasting (water but no food)

* Partial fasting (restricted diet)

* Absolute fasting (neither food nor water, usually for a short period) He also addresses practical concerns such as motivation, health considerations, common mistakes, and the physical effects of fasting.


Key Takeaway
The book’s central message is captured in one of McKnight’s most quoted ideas:

“Fasting is the body talking what the spirit yearns, what the soul longs for, and what the mind knows to be true.” In short, Fasting teaches that biblical fasting is an embodied spiritual practice that helps believers express dependence on God during meaningful moments of life. Rather than being a tool to get results, fasting is a way of bringing one's whole self—body and soul—before God.