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)

Weekly Services
During this COVID era, services dates and times are subject to change. Please read the schedule provided withing the bulletin itself for the dates and times of services, and whether they will be held "in person" or streamed via Zoom.

Members of our Parish Council are:
Joseph Barbera - Council Member at Large
Dori Kuziak - Council Secretary
Natalie Kucharski - Council Treasurer
Glenn PenkoffLidbeck - Council President
Kyle Hollis - Member at Large
Roderick Seurattan - Council Vice President

Pastoral Care - General Information
Emergency Sick Calls can be made at any time. Please call Fr Steven at (860) 866-5802, 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.

Announcements

Joyous Feast!

At this time, I will NOT be petitioning His Beatitude to open the parish for more services.

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On Friday, August 14th (6:30p) we will hold the service of Lamentations to the Most Holy Theotokos at her Dormition. This is a most beautiful service and one that we've not held at this parish before. I encourage all of you to "tune in" that we may all commemorate our Most Holy Lady together in this time of uncertainty.

The text for this service can be found in the "shared" folder - see the link below.

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Please be sure to double check the times of services on the schedule!

Services will still be held via Zoom. The invitation for which I am including below: HERE

Topic: All Services

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 471 678 4843
Passcode: 1994
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Meeting ID: 471 678 4843
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Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdFMlKJ5Cc

I am also including the link where texts for services may be download: HERE

https://stalexischurch-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/schosk_stalexischurch_onmicrosoft_com/EuikzPZ8VNlDvPuoN314bdUBEeyOInJGWR3brg2ZkJIpNA?e=0VpHla

Prayers, Intercessions and Commemorations

Archpriest Dennis, Deacon Timothy, Evelyn, Katheryn, Robert, Anne, Veronica, Richard, Nancy, Susann, Carol, Luke, Aaron, Alexander, Gail, Vincent, Nina, Ellen, Maureen Elizabeth, Christopher, Joshua, Jennifer Petra, Olivia, Jessica ,Sean, Sarah, Justin, Arnold, Michael, Kirk, Carol-Anne, Anthony, Natasha, Janice, Gene, John

The newly departed and ever memorable, Becky
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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 and intolerance and all those departed this life in the hope of the Resurrection.

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Many Years! to Douglas Kuziak and Stasia PenkoffLedbeck on the occasion of their birthdays.

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Today we commemorate:

Afterfeast of the Transfiguration. Glorification of Ven. Herman of Alaska, Wonderworker of All America (1970). Hieromartyr Euthymios of Rhodes (16th c.). Apostle Matthias (ca. 63). Martyr Anthony of Alexandria. Ven. Psoï of Egypt (4th c.). Martyrs Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Photius (Phocas), Peter, Leontius, and Mary, of Constantinople (730).

Parish Calendar

Services and Events

August 9 to August 17, 2020

Sunday, August 9

9th Sunday of Matthew

Glorification of St. Herman

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, August 10

Laurence the Holy Martyr & Archdeacon of Rome

Tuesday, August 11

Deborah Bray

Euplus the Holy Martyr & Archdeacon of Cantania

Isabel Chobor

8:30AM Daily Matins

Wednesday, August 12

Douglas Kuziak

Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

6:30PM Service of the 12 Psalms

Thursday, August 13

Apodosis of the Transfiguration

8:30AM Daily Matins

Friday, August 14

Forefeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

6:30PM Lamentations to the Theotokos

Saturday, August 15

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

8:30AM Divine Liturgy for Dormition

5:30PM Great Vespers

Sunday, August 16

Stasia PenkoffLidbeck

33 Martyrs of Palistine

10th Sunday of Matthew

9:30AM Divine Liturgy

Monday, August 17

Myron the Martyr of Cyzicus

Saints and Feasts

August 09

The Holy Apostle Matthias

After Judas by transgression fell from his apostleship (Acts 1: 25), and hanging himself out of despair ended his life with a wretched and shameful death (Matt. 27: 5), then, that the number of the Twelve not be lacking, all the disciples gathered in one place after the Ascension of the Savior (the number of men and women being 120), and they chose two men from among them, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was also surnamed Justus, and Matthias, and they set them in the midst. Then they prayed to God and cast lots, "and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles" (Acts 1: 15-26). And thus, having taken the place of Judas, Matthias fulfilled the work of apostleship and the prophecy concerning Judas, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David: "And his bishopric let another take" (Ps. 108(109):8). After this, it is said, Matthias preached the Gospel in Ethiopia, and completed his life there in martyrdom.

August 10

Laurence the Holy Martyr & Archdeacon of Rome

This Saint, who was born in Spain, was the Archdeacon of the Church of Rome, caring for the sacred vessels of the Church and distributing money to the needy. About the year 257, a harsh persecution was raised up against the Christians by Valerian. Pope Sixtus, who was from Athens, was commanded to worship the idols, and refused; before his martyrdom by beheading, he committed to Laurence all the sacred vessels of the Church. When Laurence was arrested and brought before the Prefect, he was questioned concerning the treasures of the Church; he asked for three days' time to prepare them. He then proceeded to gather all the poor and needy, and presented them to the Prefect and said, "Behold the treasures of the Church." The Prefect became enraged at this and gave command that Laurence be racked, then scourged with scorpions (a whip furnished with sharp iron points - compare II Chron. 10:11), then stretched out on a red-hot iron grill. But the courageous athlete of Christ endured without groaning. After he had been burned on one side, he said, "My body is done on one side; turn me over on the other." And when this had taken place, the Martyr said to the tyrants, "My flesh is now well done, you may taste of it." And when he had said this, and had prayed for his slayers in imitation of Christ, he gave up his spirit on August 10, 258.

August 13

Maximus the Confessor

The divine Maximus, who was from Constantinople, sprang from an illustrious family. He was a lover of wisdom and an eminent theologian. At first, he was the chief private secretary of the Emperor Heraclius and his grandson Constans. But when the Monothelite heresy became predominant in the royal court, out of hatred for this error the Saint departed for the Monastery at Chrysopolis (Scutari), of which he later became the abbot. When Constans tried to constrain him either to accept the Monothelite teaching, or to stop speaking and writing against it - neither of which the Saint accepted to do - his tongue was uprooted and his right hand was cut off, and he was sent into exile, where he reposed in 662. At the time only he and his few disciples were Orthodox in the East. See also January 21.

August 13

Tikhon of Zadonsk

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk was born in 1724 into a very poor family of the Novgorod province, and was named Timothy in holy Baptism. In his youth he was sent to seminary in Novgorod where he received a good education and later taught Greek and other subjects. Having received the monastic tonsure with the name Tikhon, in the same year he was ordained deacon and priest, and appointed two years later as rector of the Seminary in Tver. In 1761 he was consecrated Bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga, and in 1763 nominated Bishop of Voronezh, a difficult diocese to administer because of its large size and transient population, which included many schismatics. Feeling the burden of the episcopacy to be beyond his strength, the Saint resigned in 1767, retiring first to the Monastery of Tolshevo, and later to the monastery at Zadonsk, where he remained until his blessed repose. In retirement, he devoted all his time to fervent prayer and the writing of books. His treasury of books earned him the title of "the Russian Chrysostom", whose writings he employed extensively; simple in style, replete with quotes from the Holy Scriptures, they treat mostly of the duties of Christians, with many parables taken from daily life. In them the Christian is taught how to oppose the passions and cultivate the virtues. A large collection of the Saint's letters are included in his works, and these give a wealth of spiritual guidance directed both to the laity and monastics. Saint Tikhon reposed in peace in 1783, at the age of fifty-nine. Over sixty years later, in 1845, when a new church was built in Zadonsk in place of the church where he was buried, it was necessary to remove his body. Although interred in a damp place, his relics were found to be whole and incorrupt; even his vestments were untouched by decay. Many miracles were worked by Saint Tikhon after his death, and some three hundred thousand pilgrims attended his glorification on August 13, 1863. He is one of the most beloved Russian Saints, and is invoked particularly for the protection and upbringing of children.

August 15

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

Concerning the Dormition of the Theotokos, this is what the Church has received from ancient times from the tradition of the Fathers. When the time drew nigh that our Savior was well-pleased to take His Mother to Himself, He declared unto her through an Angel that three days hence, He would translate her from this temporal life to eternity and bliss. On hearing this, she went up with haste to the Mount of Olives, where she prayed continuously. Giving thanks to God, she returned to her house and prepared whatever was necessary for her burial. While these things were taking place, clouds caught up the Apostles from the ends of the earth, where each one happened to be preaching, and brought them at once to the house of the Mother of God, who informed them of the cause of their sudden gathering. As a mother, she consoled them in their affliction as was meet, and then raised her hands to Heaven and prayed for the peace of the world. She blessed the Apostles, and, reclining upon her bed with seemliness, gave up her all-holy spirit into the hands of her Son and God.

With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim. But one Jew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately received from divine judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they buried there with honor the all-immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the source of Life. But on the third day after the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Theotokos into the Heavens.

These things has the Church received from the traditions of the Fathers, who have composed many hymns out of reverence, to the glory of the Mother of our God (see Oct. 3 and 4).

Hymns of the Day

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 7 Troparion (Feast)

You were transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God,
revealing Your glory to Your Disciples as far as they could bear it.
Let Your everlasting Light also shine upon us sinners,
through the prayers of the Theotokos!//
O Giver of Light, glory to You!

Tone 7 Troparion (St. Herman)

O joyful North Star of the Church of Christ,
guiding all men to the Heavenly Kingdom,
teacher and apostle of the True Faith,
intercessor and defender of the oppressed,
adornment of the Orthodox Church in America:
Blessed Father Herman of Alaska,
pray to our Lord Jesus Christ//
for the salvation of 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 3 Kontakion (St. Herman)

The eternal light of Christ our Savior
guided you, O blessed father Herman,
on your evangelical journey to America
to proclaim the Gospel of peace.
Now you stand before the throne of glory:
intercede for your land and its people,//
asking peace for the world and salvation for our souls.

Tone 7 Kontakion (Feast)

On the mountain You were transfigured, O Christ God,
and Your Disciples beheld Your glory as far as they could see it;
so that when they would behold You crucified,
they would understand that Your suffering was voluntary,
and would proclaim to the world//
that You are truly the Radiance of the Father.

Tone 8 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)

Pray and make your vows / before the Lord, our God! (Ps 75/76:11)

v: In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel. (Ps 75/76:1)

Tone 4 Prokeimenon (St. Herman)

He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light / and thy judgment as the noon-day. (Ps. 36/37:6)

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

Tone 4
Magnify, O my soul, the Lord Who was transfigured on Mount Tabor!

Your childbearing was without corruption;
God came forth from your body clothed in flesh,
and appeared on earth and dwelt among men.//
Therefore we all magnify you, O Theotokos.

Communion Hymn

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! (Ps 148:1)
He turned the desert into pools of water, and a waterless land into streams of water. (Ps. 106/107:35)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

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 First Letter to the Corinthians 3:9-17.

Brethren, we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.

Gospel Reading

9th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 14:22-34

At that time, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they entered the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

Wisdom of the Fathers

The principle and source of the virtues is a good disposition of the will, that is to say, an aspiration for goodness and beauty. God is the source and ground of all supernal goodness. Thus the principle of goodness and beauty is faith or, rather, it is Christ, the rock of faith, who is principle and foundation of all virtues. On this rock we stand and on this foundation we build every good thing (cf. I Cor. 3:11).

St. Gregory of Sinai

On Commandments and Doctrines no. 83, Philokalia Vol. 3 edited by Palmer, Sherrard and Ware; Faber and Faber pg. 228, 14th century

The very fire which purifies gold, also consumes wood. Precious metals shine in it like the sun, rubbish burns with black smoke. All are in the same fire of Love. Some shine and others become black and dark. In the same furnace steel shines like the sun, whereas clay turns dark and is hardened like stone. God is a loving fire, and He is a loving fire for all: good and bad. There is, however, a great difference in the way people receive this loving fire of God. The difference is in man, not God.

Dr. Alexandre Kalomiros

The River of Fire, pp. 17 & 19, 20th century

Beyond the Sermon

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Dormition of the Mother of God
Sunday, 28th August, 1986.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God - which combines two events: Her death and Her resurrection in the body on the third day - has been for centuries, indeed, from the very beginning of the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church its Feast, its joy, its glory.
The Mother of God has not been a passive instrument of the Incarnation; without Her 'Amen' the Incarnation would have been as impossible as without the will of God. She is the response of the whole creation to God's love and to God's gift of self not only to mankind but to the whole Cosmos He has created. And in that we rejoice, because Her word is our word. Her word was perfect, as Her trust was, Her faith was, Her gift of self was. Ours is imperfect, and yet our voices resound within Hers, weakly, hesitantly at times, but with faith and also with love.
She is the glory of all Creation; the Mother of God: one might have expected that death could not touch Her; but if death and a death so cruel could touch Her Divine Son, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, the Son of God and the Son of man - of course She had to pay the tribute of all the earth to the sin of man and also die. But according to Orthodox Tradition, death could not keep Her prisoner. She had given Herself unreservedly and perfectly to God, and it was to God, no longer to the earth that She belonged. And on the third day, when the Apostles came and reopened Her grave for one of them to be able to venerate Her, who had not been present at Her burial, it was found empty: She had risen because the bonds of death could not hold Her, and corruption could not touch a body which had been the body of the Incarnation. What a wonderful joy to think that now, side by side with the risen and ascended Christ, one of us, of mankind, a woman of flesh and blood is enthroned and in Her we can see the glory which will, we believe, be ours if we are faithful to God as She was.
So, let us rejoice, and not only here where our church has been dedicated since the early eighteenth century to the Assumption of the Mother of God, to Her Dormition, but with the whole Russian Church, and with all those who belong to it and are scattered over the face of the world, one with the Mother Church, one with the Mother of God, worshipping the Lord with all there is in us and seeing in Her the image of the whole Creation in adoration before the Living God. Amen.

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