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
Susan Davis- Council Member at Large
Carolyn Neiss - President
Marlene Melesko - Vice President
Susan Egan - Treasurer
Dn Timothy Skuby - Secretary

Parish Shared Folder - http://bit.ly/St-Alexis
Parish Members' Directory - https://stalexischurch.sharepoint.com (See Fr Steven for login information)

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.

Confession and Communion

Over the past two years, because of COVID, under the direction of our Metropolitan, canons for confession and communion were relaxed. Now that we have returned to relative normalicy, I would like us to return to the expectations that regular participation in confession and communion are the norm. 

In his first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul writes, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in and unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the breat and drink of the cup" 1 Cor 11:27,28. St Paul exhorts us to be sure that we partake of the body and blood in a worthy manner, through examining one's self i.e. through confession. Now, do to covid restrictions, and the concern for everyone's health, there are members of this community who have not taken confession for over a year. You are encouraged to make arrangements to partake of this sacrament as soon as possible, particularly if you plan to recieve communion. We have the feast of Ascension and Pentecost coming up, please prepare for these feasts! We also have the Apostle's Fast, in which it would be appropriate to think about offering your confession.

According to the parish ByLaws, to be considered a voting member, you must partake of the sacraments at least once a year. if you have not discussed your current situation as to why you are not participating in the sacraments with Fr Steven by the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, you will be at risk of losing your voting status. St Paul states that those who partake of the Body and Blood unworthily eat and drink judgement unto themselves 1 Cor 11:29, if you have not entered into confession (or discussed this with Fr Steven) by this same Feast, in order to protect you from this self-judgement, I will be obliged to withold the Chalice from you. Please understand that this is my responsibility as Priest and Pastor. Simply communicating with me will avoid any confusion at the Chalice.

Priest Ceraphim, Deacon Timothy, Evelyn, Katheryn, Anne, Aaron, Veronica, Richard, Nancy, Susanne, Gail, Kelley, Nina, Ellen, Maureen, Elizabeth, Christopher, Joshua, Jennifer, Petra, Olivia, Jessica, Sean, Sarah, Justin, Edward, Dayna and Maria.

Please pray for our catecumen David.

Memory Eternal for June Bronen on the occasion of her repose.

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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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Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. Afterfeast of Ascension. Hieromartyr Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre (ca. 362). Translation of the Relics of Bl. Igor (George), tonsured Gabriel, Grand Prince of Chernígov and Kiev (1150). Bl. Constantine, Metropolitan of Kiev (1159). Repose of St. Theodore Yaroslavich, older brother of St. Alexander Nevsky (Novgorod—1233). Finding of the Relics of Ven. Bassian and Jonah, Monks of Pertominsk (Solovétsky Monastery—1599). Martyrs Marcian, Nicander, Hyperechius, Appolonius, Leonidas, Arius, Gorgias, Pambo, Selenia, and Irene of Egypt (4th c.). Ven. Theodore the Wonderworker, Hermit of the Jordan (ca. 6th c.). Ven. Anubius, Confessor and Anchorite, of Egypt (5th c.). Ven. Abba Dorotheus of Palestine (6th c.). St. Peter of Korcha (Albanian).

Prayer for family and friends in the Ukraine and Russia

Hope, Myron, Daniel, Stepan, Galina, Maria, Vladislav, Juliana, Oksana, Novel

If you have specific names of anyone you would like to have included here, please send them to Fr Steven.

Tone 6 Troparion (Resurrection)

The Angelic Powers were at Your tomb;
the guards became as dead men.
Mary stood by Your grave,
seeking Your most pure body.
You captured hell, not being tempted by it.
You came to the Virgin, granting life.
O Lord, Who rose from the dead,//
glory to You.

Tone 4 Troparion (Ascension)

You ascended in glory, O Christ our God,
granting joy to Your Disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Through the blessing, they were assured
that You are the Son of God,//
the Redeemer of the world!

Tone 8 Troparion (Fathers)

You are most glorious, O Christ our God!
You have established the Holy Fathers as lights on the earth.
Through them You have guided us to the true Faith.//
O greatly compassionate One, glory to You!

Tone 8 Kontakion (Fathers)

The Apostles’ preaching and the Fathers’ doctrines have established one Faith for the Church.
Adorned with the robe of truth, woven from heavenly theology,//
It defines and glorifies the great mystery of piety.

Tone 6 Kontakion

When You had fulfilled the dispensation for our sake,
and united earth to heaven:
You ascended in glory, O Christ our God,
not being parted from those who love You,
but remaining with them and crying://
“I am with you, and there is no one against you!”

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

Magnify, O my soul, Christ the Giver of Life, Who hath ascended from earth to heaven!

We the faithful, with one accord, magnify thee, the Mother of God, who, beyond reason and understanding, ineffably gave birth in time to the Timeless One.

Communion Hymn

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! (Ps. 148:1)
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous; praise befits the just! (Ps. 32:1)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Metropolitan Anthony Sourozh
Sermon on Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost
22 May 1988

In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
During the Last Supper our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples that separation was near, that He was to ascend to His God and to His Father as He would repeat again to the women who came to the grave. And when their hearts were filled with sorrow at the thought that they will not see Him again, He said, “Your hearts are full with sorrow and yet, you should rejoice for Me that I am returning to My Father. But I will not,” he added, “leave you orphan, I will send you the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, whom I will send to you and who will teach you all things.” And so do we here now while we are still in the light of the Ascension.
St. Paul grieved about the necessity of living in the world and in the flesh. He said, “To me life is Christ and death would be a gain, a blessing, because as long as we are in the flesh, we are separated from Christ.” And yet, this separation is not total, we are not separated irremediably, we are not separated desperately from Christ if we only long for Him, if we only love Him, if as St. Paul longed to die to be inseparably forever with Him because according to the promise the Holy Spirit has come on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit whom we call the Comforter by word, which in ancient languages has a much wider meaning. It means the one who consoles, the one who gives strength, the one who brings joy. His presence indeed can console us from our separation from Christ because the Holy Spirit if we only live according to the Gospel, if we become not only in word or in imagination but in all truth, in action and in thought, in our heart and in our being disciples of Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We become His temples and He speaks to us either in unutterable groaning or with that wonderful clarity that allows us to call ‘Father’ the God of Heaven because in Christ and by the power of the Spirit we have become the children of the Living God.
So the separation from Christ is a separation in space, it is the loss of that moving, wonderful contact of humanity as we know it on earth but it is the beginning of a new discovery of Christ, the Christ not only risen but ascended, the Christ who according to today’s Gospel is resplendent with the glory, the shining that belonged to Him before all ages, the shining, the resplendence, the splendour of Divinity. And it is this Christ whom we meet in prayer, whom we discover through and in the Holy Sacraments, to whom we can get united only by a faithfulness in life, it is this Christ of whom Paul speaks when he says, “We no longer know Christ according to the flesh”, we do not touch Him as Thomas did, we do not hear and see Him as Apostles and the women, and all crowds of people did, but we know the Christ of the Spirit, the risen and ascended Christ, who is everywhere where two or three are gathered together, who is everywhere when a lonely soul cries for Him, when a life is being dedicated to Him.
And so we are confronted with this mystery of a separation, which is a victory, a separation, which leads us to a new knowledge, to a new discovery of Christ. His Divinity is no longer veiled for us by His human presence, He is revealed to us as God resplendent not only in His Godhead but also in His humanity. And so it happens also all the time when people meet on a human level and then discover one another in the Holy Spirit, a discovery that makes humanity resplendent with eternity.
Let us rejoice in the Ascension but also let us remember that in a week’s time we will stand here remembering the day of Pentecost, not only remember it as an event of the past but bringing it back by presenting ourselves to the descent of the Holy Spirit as the Apostles offered themselves to Him in the Upper Room nearly 2,000 years ago. But to do this we must be disciples of Christ, we must be His own, we must be faithful to the word of His preaching, we must follow the example which He gave us, we must truly be in the world in which we live an incarnate presence of Christ and the temple of Spirit, a vanguard of the Kingdom.
Let us devote the coming week to preparing ourselves by searching our lives, by rejecting at least in intention and determination all that is unworthy of our calling. Let us prepare ourselves to come open, empty to be filled with the Spirit, so that we truly may be also in an ever-increasing way become the temples of His presence. Amen.