St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Orthodox Church
Publish Date: 2021-08-01
Bulletin Contents
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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




Services Schedule

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


Past Bulletins


Welcome

Gospel1

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:
Joseph Barbera - Council Member at Large
Dori Kuziak - Council Secretary
Carolyn Neiss - Vice President
Marlene Melesko - Council Member at Large
Kyle Hollis - President
Roderick Seurattan - Treasurer

 

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.

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Announcements

Fasting Guidelines for the Dormition Fast

These fasting guidelines are general. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that should be practiced with the oversight and direction of your spiritual father or Priest. If you have any specific questions about how the fasting discipline applies to you, you should consult your spiritual father. In the case of parishioners, please talk with Fr Steven 

The general guidelines for the Dormition Fast are as follows:

WEEKDAYS are Strict Fast Days. On these days we abstain from meat, dairy, fish with backbones, fowl, wine, and oil.

SATURDAYS and SUNDAYS are Wine and Oil Days. On these days the fast is relaxed to permit wine and oil, but we still abstain from meat, dairy, fish with backbones, and fowl.

The one exception to these general rules is that the Great Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ (August 6), which always falls during the Dormition Fast, is celebrated as a Fish, Wine, and Oil Day. On this great feastday, the fast is further relaxed to permit fish with backbones, in addition to wine and oil, but we still abstain from meat, dairy, and fowl.

Notes:

  1. Meals for the fast should follow the dietary restrictions and be cooked simply. Portions should be smaller than usual.
  2. If you have a medical condition that requires you to relax the fasting guidelines, then do so.
  3. Generally speaking, children and elderly people are allowed to relax the fast under the guidance of their spiritual father.

In Observance of the Fast

In honor of the Dormation Fast, a collection of books have been donated to the parish. The books are available for sale for $5 (or a good will offering), the procedues will then be provided to the Orthodox Christian Prision Ministry. These books will be available throughout the course of the Fast.

 

Parish Shared Folder

Once again, here is the link to the parish shared folder: 

http://bit.ly/St-Alexis

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Prayers, Intercessions and Commemorations

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Archpriest Dennis, Archpriest Michael, Deacon Timothy, Evelyn, Katheryn, Anne, Aaron, Veronica, Richard, Nancy, Susanne, Carol, Alexander, Gail, Vincent, Nina, Ellen, Maureen, Elizabeth, Christopher, Joshua, Jennifer, Petra, Olivia, Jessica, Sean, Sarah, Justin, Valery, Jason, Dayna, Daniel and Gregory.

Many Years! to: Michael Kuziak and Susan Davis on the occasion of their birthdays

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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, intolerance and pestilence; all those departed this life in the hope of the Resurrection.

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Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Lifegiving Cross of the Lord (First of the three “Feasts of the Savior” in August). Holy Seven Maccabean Martyrs: Abimus, Antoninus, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusabonus, Alimus, and Marcellus, their mother Solomonia, and their teacher, Eleazar (166 B.C.). The Martyrs of Perge in Pamphylia: Leontius, Attius, Alexander, Cindeus, Minsitheus (Mnesitheus), Cyriacus, Mineon (Menæus), Catanus, and Eucleus (3rd c.).

 

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Parish Calendar

  • Parish Calendar

    August 1 to August 9, 2021

    Sunday, August 1

    Procession of the Lifegiving Cross

    6th Sunday of Matthew

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy followed by Blessing of Honey

    Monday, August 2

    Akathist to St Stephen

    Translation of the Relics of Stephen the Protomartyr

    8:30AM Akathist to St Stephen

    Tuesday, August 3

    Isaacius, Dalmatus, & Faustus, Ascetics of the Dalmation Monastery

    Wednesday, August 4

    Michael Kuziak

    Seven Holy Youths of Ephesus

    Susan Davis

    4:30PM Open Doors

    Thursday, August 5

    Forefeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

    6:00PM Vesperal Divine Liturgy

    Friday, August 6

    Holy Transfiguration

    Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

    8:30AM Akathist of the Transfiguration

    Saturday, August 7

    Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

    5:30PM Great Vespers

    Sunday, August 8

    7th Sunday of Matthew

    9:30AM Divine Liturgy

    Monday, August 9

    The Holy Apostle Matthias

    Glorification of St. Herman

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Saints and Feasts

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August 01

Procession of the Precious Cross

Because of the many diseases that occur in the month of August, the custom prevailed of old in Constantinople to carry the precious Wood of the Cross in procession throughout the city for its sanctification and its deliverance from illnesses. It was brought forth from the imperial treasury on the last day of July and placed upon the Holy Table of the Great Church of the Holy Wisdom; and beginning today, until the Dormition of the Theotokos, it was carried in procession throughout the city and was set forth for veneration before the people.


Allsaint
August 01

The Holy Seven Maccabee Children, Solomone Their Mother, and Eleazar Their Teacher

The names of the Holy Maccabees are Abim, Anthony, Guria, Eleazar, Eusebona, Achim, and Marcellus. They were Jews by race and exact keepers of the Laws of the Fathers. They lived during the reign of Antiochus, who was surnamed Epiphanes ("Illustrious"), the King of Syria and an implacable enemy of the Jews. Having subjugated their whole nation and done many evil things to them, not sparing to assail the most sacred matters of their Faith, he constrained them, among other things, to partake of swine's flesh, which was forbidden by the Law. Then these pious youths, on being apprehended together with their mother and their teacher, were constrained to set at nought the Law, and were subjected to unspeakable tortures: wrackings, the breaking of their bones, the flaying of their flesh, fire, dismemberment, and such things as only a tyrant's mind and a bestial soul is able to contrive. But when they had endured all things courageously and showed in deed that the mind is sovereign over the passions and is able to conquer them if it so desires, they gloriously ended their lives in torments, surrendering their life for the sake of the observance of the divine Law. The first to die was their teacher Eleazar, then all the brethren in the order of their age. As for their wondrous mother Solomone, "filled with a courageous spirit, and stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly wrath" (II Macc. 7:21), she was present at her children's triumph over the tyrant, strengthening them in their struggle for the sake of their Faith, and enduring stout-heartedly their sufferings for the sake of their hope in the Lord. After her last and youngest son had been perfected in martyrdom, when she was about to be seized to be put to death, she cast herself into the fire that they might not touch her, and was thus deemed worthy of a blessed end together with her sons, in the year 168 before Christ.


Stephen
August 02

Translation of the Relics of Stephen the Protomartyr

After the First Martyr had been stoned to death (see Dec. 27), Gamaliel, his teacher, encouraged certain of the Christians to go by night and take up the Saint's body and bury it in his field, which was at a distance of some twenty miles from Jerusalem and was called by his name, "Kaphar-gamala," that is, "the field of Gamala," where Gamaliel himself was later buried. About the year 427, a certain pious man called Lucian, who was the parish priest of a church near to that field, received from God a revelation in a dream concerning the place where the First Martyr was buried. He immediately made this known to John, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Thus, coming to the place indicated, and digging there, they found a box with the word "Stephen" in Aramaic letters. On opening it, they took these most sacred relics and transferred them to Jerusalem with great honor and in the company of a very great multitude of the faithful.


Allsaint
August 04

Seven Holy Youths of Ephesus

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.


Transfiguration
August 06

Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Our Lord had spoken to His disciples many times not only concerning His Passion, Cross, and Death, but also concerning the coming persecutions and afflictions that they themselves would endure. Since all these evils were near at hand, but the enjoyment of good things which they hoped to receive in their stead was yet to come, our Savior desired to give them full assurance, evidently and openly, concerning that glory which is prepared for those who endure to the end. Therefore, fulfilling that which He had promised shortly before, that "there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom" (Matt. 16:28), He took His three foremost disciples and ascended Mount Tabor, where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light. Suddenly, together with this dread and marvelous effulgence of light, there appeared those pinnacles of the Prophets, Moses and Elias, who spoke with the Lord Jesus concerning His saving Passion which was about to take place. Standing before Him as reverent servants, they showed that He is the Lord of both the living and the dead, for Moses came forth from Hades, having died many centuries before, and Elias, as it were from heaven, whither he had been taken up while yet alive. After a little while a radiant cloud overshadowed them and out of the cloud they heard that same voice which had been heard at the Jordan at the Baptism of Christ, testifying to the Divinity of Jesus and saying: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased; hear ye Him" (Matt. 17: 5).

Such are the marvels, truly worthy of God, celebrated in this present feast, which is an image and prefiguring of the future state of the righteous, whose splendor the Lord spoke of, saying: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun" (Matt. 13:43). It is because of this that the Kontakion of this Feast is said daily (when there is not a great feast) in the Service of the Typica in perpetual commemoration of the glory that will be the lot of the Saints. According to tradition, the Lord's Transfiguration came to pass forty days before His Crucifixion; this is why the Transfiguration is celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Cross.


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Hymns of the Day

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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 1​ Troparion ​(Cross)

O Lord, save Your people,
and bless Your inheritance!
Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians
over their adversaries;
and by virtue of Your Cross,//
preserve Your habitation!

Tone 1 ​Troparion​ (Maccabees)

We beseech You, O Lover of mankind,
to accept in supplication
the suffering which the Saints endured for You, O Lord,//
and heal all our infirmities!

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 2 ​Kontakion ​(Maccabees)

Seven pillars of the Wisdom of God
and seven lampstands of the divine Light,
all-wise Maccabees, greatest of the martyrs before the time of the martyrs,//
with them ask the God of all to save those who honor you!

Tone 4​ Kontakion​ (Cross)

As You were voluntarily raised upon the Cross for our sake,
grant mercy to those who are called by Your Name, O Christ God;
make all Orthodox Christians glad by Your power,
granting them victories over their adversaries//
by bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Your weapon of peace!

Tone 6 ​Prokeimenon​ (Cross)

O Lord, save Your people, / and bless Your inheritance! (Ps. 27:9a)

V. To You, O Lord, will I call. O my God, be not silent to me! (Ps. 27:1a)

Tone 4 ​Prokeimenon​ (Maccabees)

The Lord has shown the wonders of His will / to the saints who are in His land. (Ps. 15:3a)

Tone 4​
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

V. Remember Your congregation, which You have gotten of old! (Ps. 73:2)

V. God is our King before the ages; He has worked salvation in the midst of the earth. (Ps. 73:13)
​Tone 4
V. The righteous cried and the Lord heard them, and He delivered them from all their afflictions. (Ps. 33:17)

Communion Hymn

The light of Your countenance has shone on us, O Lord. (Ps. 4:7a)
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous; praise befits the just! (Ps. 32:1)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

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Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

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 Romans 12:6-14.

Brethren, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.


Gospel Reading

6th Sunday of Matthew
The Reading is from Matthew 9:1-8

At that time, getting into a boat Jesus crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Rise and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" he then said to the paralytic -- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.


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Wisdom of the Fathers

He puts an end to the woman's fear ... He sets her right, in respect of her thinking to be hid ... He exhibits her faith to all, so as to provoke the rest also to emulation ...
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 31 on Matthew 9, 4th Century

In this case indeed He discloses also another sign, and that no small one, of His own Godhead, and of His equality in honor with the Father. For whereas they said, "To unbind sins pertains to God only," He not only unbinds sins, but also before this He makes another kind of display in a thing which pertained to God only; the publishing the secrets in the heart. For neither had they uttered what they were thinking.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 29 on Matthew 9, 4th Century

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Beyond the Sermon

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Scripture Readings for the Procession of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18-24 (Epistle, Cross)

18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19
For it is written:
20
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
23
but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
24
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35 (Gospel, Cross)

6
Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
7
The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”
8
Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,
9
and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10
Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
11
Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
13
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14
Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15
But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16
Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.
17
And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
18
where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
19
Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20
Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
25
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26
When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”
27
Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
28
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”
30
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
31
Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
32
Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.
33
But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
35
And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

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Bulletin Inserts

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