St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2026-09-20
Bulletin Contents
Welcome
Announcements
Prayers, Intercessions and Commemorations
Parish Calendar
Saints and Feasts
Hymns of the Day
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Wisdom of the Fathers
Beyond the Sermon
A Little Extra

Organization Icon
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

Fr Steven Hosking
Rector

[email protected] | 860-322-2906 (Message)
Dn Timothy Skuby
Attached

[email protected] | (808) 341-1813

Services Schedule

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

Past Bulletins


Welcome

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.


Announcements

Thank you to everyone who participated in the setup, preparation and work for the tag and back sales. Your efforts are very much appreciated.

Prototype Website

I have been working on a new website design. Please give it a look and let me know what you think. You can use your personal email to login and to "join". You may leave messages as well. I am still trying to develop more functionality as well.

www.stalexischurch.net

AED Use

Video instructions for the use of the Automated Electronic Defibulators can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Qas3q7O3mletF8ceJOq9g4uQzReii8GG&usp=drive_fs

Filesharing

https://sites.google.com/stalexischurch.net/parish/home

If you are asked to enter a username and password, please contact Fr Steven via email.

If you would like to update yourself on the current status of the Strategic Planning, please use the following link.

https://sites.google.com/stalexischurch.net/parish/strategic-planning

 



Prayers, Intercessions and Commemorations

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, Sarah
  • Birthdays and Name’s Days this Month: Katy Jankura (9/12), Carolyn Neiss (9/16)
  • Anniversaries this Month:  Fr’s Ordination (9/18)
  • ​Expecting and Newborn:  
  • Traveling: Jordan & Christiana
  • ​Sick and those in distress: Nancy, Boris, Glenn, John, Joan, Sharon, William, Sharon, Alexander, Olga, Christine, Tatianna, Stormy, Maria, Blanche

Today’s commemorated feasts and saints

16th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 7. Afterfeast of the Elevation of the Cross. Sunday after Elevation. Greatmartyr Eustáthios (Eustace) Placidas, his wife, Martyr Theopistes, and their children, Martyrs Agapius and Theopistus, of Rome (ca. 118). Holy Martyr and Confessor Michael and his councilor, Theodore, Wonderworkers of Chernigov (1245). Rt. Blv. Oleg, Prince of Briansk (ca. 1280). Monastic Martyr Hilarion of St. Anne Skete (Mt. Athos—1804).

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!



Parish Calendar

  • St Alexis Parish

    September 20 to September 28, 2026

    Sunday, September 20

    16th Sunday after Pentecost

    9:15AM 3rd Hour

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    Monday, September 21

    Leavetaking Exaltation

    Tuesday, September 22

    Hieromartyr Phocas, Bishop of Sinope

    8:30AM Daily Matins

    Wednesday, September 23

    Conception of St John the Baptist

    Thursday, September 24

    Holy New Martyrs of Alaska

    New Martyrs of Alaska, Hieromonk Juvenaly & Peter the Aleut

    8:30AM Daily Matins

    Friday, September 25

    Repose of Ven. Sergius of Radonezh

    Saturday, September 26

    Repose of St John the Theologian

    5:30PM Great Vespers

    Sunday, September 27

    17th Sunday after Pentecost

    9:15AM 3rd Hour

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    Monday, September 28

    Ven. Chariton the Confessor



Saints and Feasts

September 20

Eustathius the Great Martyr, his wife and two children

The holy Martyr Eustathius before his baptism was an illustrious Roman general named Placidas in the days of the Emperor Trajan. While hunting in the country one day, he was converted to the Faith of Christ through the apparition of an uncommonly majestic stag, between whose antlers he saw the Cross of Christ, and through which the Lord spoke to him with a human voice. Upon returning home, he learned that his wife Tatiana had also had a vision in which she was instructed to become a Christian. They sought out the Bishop of the Christians and were baptized, Placidas receiving the name Eustathius, and Tatiana the name Theopiste; their two sons were baptized Agapius and Theopistus. The family was then subjected to such trials as Job endured. Their servants died, all their goods were stolen, and on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem they were scattered abroad, each not even knowing if the others were still alive. By the providence of God, they were united again after many years, and returned to Rome in glory. Nevertheless, when they refused to sacrifice to the idols-a public sacrifice from which no Roman general could be absent-the Emperor Hadrian, who had succeeded Trajan, had them put into a large bronze device in the shape of a bull, which was heated with fire until they died. When their holy bodies were removed, they were found to be without harm. They suffered martyrdom about the year 126.

September 21

Jonah the Prophet

The Prophet Jonah, the son of Amathi, of the town of Geth-hopher (IV Kings 14:25), was of the tribe of Zabulon; he prophesied during the years 838-810 before Christ. God commanded him to go to Nineveh, the great city of the Assyrians, and to proclaim that its destruction was nigh at hand because of the sins of its people. But he, as a Prophet who knew the great compassion of God, feared that at his preaching the Ninevites would repent; that God, accepting their repentance in His love for man, would not fulfill Jonah' threats; and that he would be branded a false prophet. So he disobeyed the divine command, and boarded a ship and departed elsewhere. Yet, the sudden and fearful sea-storm and the revelation of Jonah' disbedience caused the sailors to cast him into the sea. A great sea-monster appeared straightway by divine providence, and swallowed him up. For three days and nights he was found in its belly and he prayed, saying the words, "I cried aloud in my affliction unto the Lord my God..." (Jonah 2:3, the Sixth ode of the Holy Psalter). The sea-monster then vomited him up on dry land and he again heard God's command. Wherefore, he went and preached, saying, "In three days, Nineveh shall be destroyed." The people became terrified and all repented. The great, the small, babes at the breast, and even the irrational beasts themselves fasted, and thus, having found mercy from God, they were spared His wrath. Jonah' book of prophecy is divided into four chapters, and is placed fifth in order among the twelve minor Prophets. His three-day sojourn in the sea-monster's belly is an image of our Saviour's three-day burial and His life-bringing Resurrection (Matt. 12:39-40). His name means "dove."

September 23

The Conception of St. John the Baptist

This came to pass fifteen months before the birth of Christ, after the vision of the Angel that Zacharias, the father of the Forerunner, saw in the Temple while he executed the priest's office in the order of his course during the feast of the Tabernacles, as tradition bears witness. In this vision, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and said to him, "Thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John" (Luke 1:13). Knowing that Elizabeth was barren, and that both he and she were elderly, Zacharias did not believe what the Angel told him, although he had before him the example of Abraham and Sarah, of Hannah, mother of the Prophet Samuel, and of other barren women in Israel who gave birth by the power of God. Hence, he was condemned by the Archangel to remain speechless until the fulfilment of these words in their season, which also came to pass (Luke 1:7-24).

September 24

Thekla the Protomartyr & Equal-to-the-Apostles

This saint was from the city of Iconium. When she was eighteen years of age, she was instructed in the Faith of Christ and the hope of the resurrection by the Apostle Paul, whom also she followed, forsaking her betrothed and espousing a life of virginity for the sake of the Heavenly Bridegroom. Having preached Christ in various cities and suffered many things, she reposed in Seleucia of Cilicia at the age of 90.

September 24

Juvenaly & Peter the Aleut, New Martyrs of Alaska

On the anniversary of the arrival of the Russian missionaries in Alaska (1794), we remember Saint Herman of Alaska, Saint Innocent, Saint Jacob Netsvetev, the New Martyrs Saint Peter the Aleut, Protomartyr of America and Saint Juvenal, and Saint Olga of Kwethluk.

September 24

Silouan of Athos

Troparion — Tone 4
On the path of humility, / by your prayers you received Christ as your Master. / In your heart the Holy Spirit witnessed to your salvation. / Therefore all people called to live in hope rejoice and celebrate your memory! / Holy Father Silouan, pray to Christ God to save our souls.

Kontakion — Tone 8
During your life on earth you served Christ and followed His path; / now in Heaven you contemplate Him Whom you have loved! / Since you dwell with Him as He promised to His elect, holy Father Silouan, / instruct us now in the path that you have traveled.

 

September 25

Our Righteous Father Sergius of Radonezh

Our righteous Father Sergius was born in Rostov, north of Moscow, about the year 1314. Named Bartholomew in Baptism, he was brought up in Radonezh, and at the death of his parents he withdrew to the wilderness to become a monk. It is notable that without having been trained in a monastery, he was of such a spiritual stature as to be able to take up the perilous eremitical life from the beginning, without falling into delusion or despondency. When he had endured with courage the deprivations of the solitary life, other monks began to come to him, for whom he was made abbot against his will. On the counsel of Philotheus, Patriarch of Constantinople, he organized his monks according to the cenobitic life, appointing duties to each. While Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev, and the other righteous Fathers before Sergius, had established their monasteries near to cities, Sergius was the leader and light of those who went far into the wilderness, and after his example the untrodden forests of northern Russia were settled with monks. When Grand Duke Demetrius Donskoy was about to go to battle against the invading Tartars, he first sought the blessing of Saint Sergius, through whose prayers he was triumphant. Saint Sergius was adorned with the highest virtues of Christ-like humility and burning love for God and neighbour, and received the gift of working wonders, of casting out demons, and of discretion for leading souls to salvation. When he served the Divine Liturgy, an Angel served with him visibly; he was also vouchsafed the visitation of the most holy Theotokos with the Apostles Peter and John. He was gathered to his Fathers on September 25, 1392. At the recovery of his holy relics on July 5, 1422, his body and garments were found fragrant and incorrupt. His life was written by the monks of Epiphanius, who knew him.

September 26

The Falling Asleep of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian

This Apostle was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the elder. First a fisherman by trade, he became an Apostle and the beloved Disciple of Christ. Only he of all the Disciples followed Him even to the Cross, and was entrusted with the care of our Saviour's Mother, as it were another son to her, and a brother of Christ the Teacher. After this, he preached throughout Asia Minor, especially in Ephesus. When the second persecution against the Christians began in the year 96 during the reign of Domitian, he was taken in bonds to Rome, and there was cast into a vat filled to the brim with boiling oil. Coming forth therefrom unharmed, he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Returning again to Ephesus after the death of the tyrant, he wrote his Gospel (after the other Evangelists had already written theirs) and his three Catholic Epistles. In all, he lived ninety-five years and fell asleep in the Lord during the reign of Trajan in the year 100. He was called Theologian because he loftily expounded in his Gospel the theology of the inexpressible and eternal birth of the Son and Word of God the Father. It is for this cause that an eagle-a symbol of the Holy Spirit, as Saint Irenaeus says-is depicted in his icon, for this was one of the four symbolic living creatures that the Prophet Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 1:10).



Hymns of the Day

Tone 7    Troparion    (Resurrection)
By Thy Cross Thou didst destroy death.
To the thief Thou didst open Paradise.
For the Myrrhbearers Thou didst change weeping into joy,
and Thou didst command Thy disciples, O Christ God,
to proclaim that Thou art risen,//
granting the world great mercy.

Tone 1    Troparion    (Feast)
O Lord, save Thy people,
and bless Thine inheritance!
Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians
over their adversaries;
and by virtue of Thy Cross,//
preserve Thy habitation!

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. Eustathius)
Thy holy martyr Eustathius and his wife and sons, O Lord,
through their sufferings have received incorruptible crown from Thee, our God.
For having Thy strength, they laid low their adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.//
Through their intercession, save our souls!

Tone 7     Kontakion    (Resurrection)
The dominion of death can no longer hold men captive,
for Christ descended, shattering and destroying its powers.
Hell is bound, while the Prophets rejoice and cry:
“The Savior has come to those in faith;//
enter, you faithful, into the Resurrection!”

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. Eustathius)
Having openly imitated the Passion of Christ,
and having eagerly drunk of His cup, O Eustathius,
thou becamest a partaker and fellow-heir of His glory,//
receiving divine forgiveness from on high from the God of all.

now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 4    Kontakion (Feast)
As Thou wast voluntarily raised upon the Cross for our sake,
grant mercy to those who are called by Thy Name, O Christ God;
make all Orthodox Christians glad by Thy power,
granting them victories over their adversaries//
by bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Thy weapon of peace!

(Instead of “It is truly meet…,” we sing:)

 Tone 8

Magnify, O my soul, the most precious Cross of the Lord!
Thou art a mystical Paradise, O Theotokos,
who, though untilled, hast brought forth Christ;
through Him the life-bearing wood of the Cross was planted on earth.
Now at its Exaltation,
as we bow in worship before it, we magnify thee.

COMMUNION HYMN
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! 
The light of Thy countenance has been signed upon us, O Lord. Alleluia (3X)

 



Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. 3rd Tone. Psalm 46.6,1.
Sing praises to our God, sing praises.
Verse: Clap your hands, all you nations.

The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 6:1-10.

Brethren, working together with him, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Gospel Reading

The Reading is from Matthew 25:14-30

The Lord said this parable: "A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." As he said these things he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"



Wisdom of the Fathers

To deny oneself means to give up one's bad habits; to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world; not to cherish bad thoughts and desires; to suppress every evil thought; to avoid occasions of sin; not to desire or to do anything out of self-love, but to do everything out of love for God. To deny oneself, according to St. Paul means "to be dead to sin. . . but alive to God."
St. Innocent of Alaska
The Lenten Spring, SVS Press, p. 147, 19th Century



Beyond the Sermon

Metropolitan Anthony Sourozh
Sermon 1988-03-06

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
In a secret prayer read by the priest at the beginning of the Liturgy it says, using the words of St John Chrysostom, that if two or three agree together in all things, the grace, the power and the presence of God will be in their midst.
What is it then, what are the words that are so decisive in this prayer? I think it is not that two or three may agree from time to time, when they have a common interest or the same feelings, but that they are prepared to be in agreement, that is in harmony in all things, making the concerns of one the concerns of all; considering the sins of each one as being our own responsibility and not only the responsibility of those who sin; because if we were a true Christian community, how much support, how much help would every member of it receive in the struggle for integrity and life! So it is agreement, harmony in all things that is the precondition of the presence of God with power and grace, with exulting joy and love.
Already in his own time St Paul said, "Alas, there are divisions among you". And these divisions destroy the unity which could be the place where God can act.
We must reflect on this very attentively because we cannot naturally, spontaneously love everyone; we find it very difficult to understand one another; we find it very difficult to bear one another's burdens, to endure each other; we find it almost impossible to consider the sins of one or another person as our own. And yet, if we respond to the shortcomings, the sins, indeed the evil there may be in someone by rejecting that person, we find ourselves separated from God, because God does not reject any one of us. God became one of us at the cost of His incarnation, at the price He paid for love of us; not of the righteous ones - did not He say, "It is only the sick who need a physician, not those who are whole"? He came to share with that very sinner, with that unbearable person whom we reject, with the very people with whom we are at variance; He came to share not only our common humanity, but their destiny, their agony, their struggles. It is not in vain that Isaiah speaking prophetically of Christ, says that the weight of the sin of the whole world was upon Him.
Let us reflect on this, because if we want to become what we are not - a Christian community, a community of people who love one another earnestly, if necessary sacrificially, whose love is prepared to go as far as crucifixion, then we must learn a great deal about our attitude to each other. How can we contemplate the vision of the Cross if we are not prepared to carry one another's burdens, to identify in sympathy and compassion with each other?
How can we face the fact that God in His love gave His life for the lost while we reject those for whom He died, ignore them, would like to rule them out of our life because it would be so easy to live only with those people who are no problem for us? By this rejection we become alien to God, not by any action of His, or of anyone around us, but by our own free choice because we cannot accept those for whom Christ lived and died.
Let us reflect on this, let us conquer everything in us that prevents us from being at one with God, and then through this unity with God let us accept one another even if it be at the cost of our lives. Amen.