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

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.

Lenten Deanery Service at 4pm

Sts Cyril & Methodius, Terryville

Metropolitan's Visit

How to greet His Beatitude

GREETING WITH A KISS
In modern American culture, people usually greet each other by shaking hands, hugging, or a peck on the cheek. When greeting a member of the clergy, though, we do things a bit differently. We don’t shake his hand or kiss his cheek. Instead, we kiss his right hand and ask for a blessing. We do this because we seek to honor Christ, whom the bishop represents.

Here we explain how to greet a priest or bishop in the Orthodox Church.

Cup your hands in front of you.
Place your right hand over your left, and turn your palms to face upward.

Bow slightly at the waist and say, “Master bless.”
Asking for a blessing lets the bishop know that you wish to greet him, and he will bless you with the sign of the cross, extend his hand to you, and place it in your cupped palms.

Kiss the back of the bishop’s hand.
This kiss serves as both a greeting and an acceptance of the blessing the bishop has given you.

WHY KISS THEM, THOUGH?
The kiss is an ancient custom signifying love, respect and reverence. The Orthodox keep this practice alive during divine services and fellowship. It is as natural to us as breathing. We kiss icons, holy relics, the Cross, the Gospel, the bishop's hand, and sometimes, the Holy Chalice. And we also often greet each other with a kiss (or two or three) upon the cheek, as people did in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for centuries. We do this because we encounter and experience Christ Himself through these holy things and through one another. If you ever visit an Orthodox Church, expect to see us kissing things (and each other) quite a bit.

WHY ASK FOR A BLESSING?
We greet clergy by asking for and receiving a blessing for a couple reasons. First, it honors the sacred office of the bishop. After all, the hands of these men touch the Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord. Their hands prepare the Holy Gifts for all of us, so we may partake of Holy Communion and experience God in His fullness. The Orthodox fully recognize that the priest is a man, and that he sins, just like we do. But though he is unworthy, he has received the Grace of God to impart spiritual gifts and blessings.

Secondly, asking for blessings is a sign of a humble heart. It reveals a deep faith in the power of God. For example, the woman with a flow of blood touched Christ’s garment to obtain healing, and the Lord praised her great faith. The sinful woman kissed the Lord’s feet in repentance (Lk 7:38). And in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the father runs out to meet the repentant young man and kisses him (Lk 15:20). The Orthodox follow the examples of these individuals, approaching our clergy with humility and faith.

CONCLUSION
It is important to show respect and reverence to Orthodox bishops when greeting them. After all, they are not just “one of the boys.” They serve as your spiritual fathers, your guides. They are icons of Christ we should all seek to emulate. When you kiss their hands, you show respect for their office — they are the ones who “bless and sanctify” you and who offer the holy gifts on your behalf. So, next time you greet your bishop, do not shake his hand. Instead, ask for his blessing.

Many Years! to Jack Jankura on the occasion of his birthday.

Please continue to pray for our catecumens, David, James, Brent, Mark, Dierdre and Anthony (and his family).

Please pray for Evelyn Leake who is in need of God's mercy and healing; and for Kelley Hosking-Billings.

• 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.

Leavetaking of the Annunciation. Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel. St. John Climacus (of The Ladder). Hieromartyr Irenæus, Bishop of Sirmium (304). Martyrs Bathusius and Bercus—Presbyters, Arpilus—Monk, Abibus, Agnus, Reasus, Igathrax, Iscoeus (Iskous), Silas, Signicus, Sonirilus, Suimbalus, Thermus, Phillus (Philgas)—laymen, and the women: Anna, Alla, Larissa, Monco (Manca), Uirko (Virko), Animais (Animaida), Gaatha and Duklida, in the Crimea (375). St. Malchus of Chalcis, Syria (4th c.). Ven. Basil the New, Anchorite, near Constantinople (10th c.). Martyr Montanus, Presbyter, of Singidunum, and his wife, Maxima (235).

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 4 Troparion (Feast)

Today is the beginning of our salvation,
the revelation of the eternal mystery!
The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin
as Gabriel announces the coming of Grace.
Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos:
“Rejoice, O Full of Grace,//
the Lord is with you!”

Tone 4 Troparion (Archangel)

Gabriel, Commander of the heavenly hosts,
we who are unworthy beseech you:
by your prayers encompass us beneath the wings of your immaterial glory,
and faithfully preserve us who fall down and cry out to you://
“Deliver us from all harm, for you are the Commander of the Powers on high!”

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 8 Kontakion (Archangel)

Supreme Commander Gabriel, you are the glorious intercessor and servant
before the all-radiant, worthy, all-powerful, infinite and awesome Trinity.
Ever pray now that we may be delivered from all tribulations and torments,//
so that we may cry out to you: “Rejoice, protection of your servants!”

Tone 8 Kontakion (Feast)

O victorious leader of triumphant hosts!
We, your servants delivered from evil
sing our grateful thanks to you, O Theotokos.
As you possess invincible might set us free from every calamity//
so that we may sing: “Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!”

Tone 8 Prokeimenon (Resurrection)

Pray and make your vows / before the Lord, our God! (Ps. 75:10a)

V. In Judah God is known; His Name is great in Israel. (Ps. 75:1)

Tone 4 Prokeimenon (Feast)

From day to day / proclaim the salvation of our God! (Ps. 95:2a)

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

The Hymn to the Theotokos

O earth, announce good tidings of great joy: O heavens, praise the glory of God!

Since she is a living Ark of God
let no profane hand touch the Theotokos.
But let the lips of believers unceasingly sing to her,
praising her in joy with the angel’s song:
“Rejoice, O Lady, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

Communion Hymn

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! (Ps. 148:1)
The Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. (Ps. 131:14)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Saint John of the Ladder
9 April 1989

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Lent is a time of repentance, a time when our heart of stone must be made by the power of God into a heart of flesh, from insensitive to become perceptive, from cold and hard to become warm and open to others, and indeed, to God Himself.
Lent is a time of renewal when, like in spring, everything become new again; when our life that had gone into a twilight becomes alive with all the intensity which God can communicate to us, humans, by making us partakers of His Holy Spirit, by making us partakers, through the Holy Sacraments and the direct gift of God, of the Divine nature.
It is a time of reconciliation, and reconciliation is a joy: it is God's joy, and it is our joy; it's a new beginning.
Today is the day of Saint John of the Ladder, and I want to read to you a few phrases of his which are relevant to the particular time of the year in which we live:
“Repentance, that is our return to God is renewal of our baptism; it is our effort to renew our covenant with God, our promise to change our life. It is a time when we can acquire humility, that is peace; peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace with all the created world. Repentance is born of hope and rejection of despair. And one who repents is one who deserves condemnation — and yet, goes away from the tribunal without shame, because repentance is our peace with God. And this is achieved through a worthy life, alien to the sins we committed in the past. Repentance is cleansing of our conscience. Repentance implies carrying off all sadness and pain.”
And if we ask ourselves how we can achieve it, how we can come to this, how we can respond to God Who receives us as the father received the prodigal son, a God Who has waited for us, longingly, Who, rejected, never turned away from us — how can we respond to Him? — here is a short word about prayer :
“Don't use in prayer falsely wise words; because it is often the simple and uncomplicated whispering of children that rejoices our heavenly Father. Don't try to say much when you speak to God, because otherwise your mind in search of words will be lost in them. One word spoken by the publican brought Divine mercy upon him; one word filled with faith saved the thief on the cross. The use of the multiplicity of words when we pray disperses our mind and fill it with imaginations. One word spoken to God collects the mind in His presence. And if a word, in thy prayer, reaches you deeply, if you perceive it profoundly — dwell in it, dwell in it, because at such moments our Angel guardian prays with us because we are true to ourselves and to God”.
Let us remember what Saint John of the Ladder says, even if you forget the short comments which I introduced to make his text more readily understandable. Let us remember his words because he was a man who knew what it means to turn to God, to stay with God, to be God’s joy and to rejoice in Him. He is offered us in this time, when we are ascending towards the days of the Passion, he is offered us as an example of what grace Divine can do to transform an ordinary, simple human being into a light to the world.
Let us learn from him, let us follow his example, let us rejoice in what God can do by His power in a human being, and let us confidently, with faith, with an exulting and yet serene joy follow the advice, listen to God begging us to find a way of life and telling us that with Him, in Him we will be alive, because He is the Truth but also the Way and also Life eternal. Amen.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
ON CONFESSION
5th Sermon

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Many are those among you who have come to confession either yesterday or the days before, on occasions before, before you received communion, and I want you to reflect later on a very important point. The early Church knew nothing of the private confession which we use nowadays. People came to confess their sins to the whole community, to all their brothers and sisters in Christ because it was felt - as it should be felt by us but is very little perceived - that when one member of the body sins the whole body is wounded, that whatever sin I commit it soils and pollutes the whole body, and moreover that whenever I commit a sin against a brother, against a sister, indeed against myself I am partaking in the Crucifixion of Christ. Because He came into the world to save sinners and whoever is a sinner is to a greater or lesser extent responsible for the Incarnation He accepted in order to die for us. And in the early Church people had an intense sense of community and therefore when sin was committed it was confessed to all the community.
And I know of two communities in the early days of the Revolution when two spiritual guides whenever anyone wanted to make a confession called together all their spiritual children and the confession was made aloud before all in his presence, standing there as the friend of the bridegroom and endowed with the power to forgive or to bind which was given by Christ to His disciples. And when the sinner had confessed his misdeeds these spiritual guides turned to the community and said: you have heard now, are you prepared to carry the weight of his sin, are you prepared to take him on as a beloved brother or sister, are you aware that you are sharing with him his misery? If you are prepared to take him on wholeheartedly, completely, unreservedly in the name of Christ I can give him forgiveness, if you refuse to do this, I cannot do it, but also you will be answerable before God for having rejected one for whom Christ had given His life.
This was the early attitude of the Church: come to the whole community and open one’s heart. And this was possible as long as the community was small, as long as it was persecuted, as long as it was an act of heroism to be a member of the body of Christ. But when the Church was recognized by the State, when there was no danger in belonging to it, moreover when it was easy and advantageous to belong to it, then a confession of that kind was impossible because it was nor received by people who considered that the sin of their brother was their own sin and that they had to carry one another’s wounds and weaknesses; and therefore individual confession was introduced.
You have a certain experience of what this common confession can be at retreats when the priest having prayed with you, talked to you, standing before God with you, makes aloud his own confession before God. You participate in his own confession and you can identify with him as he accepts to share with you his frailty, his sinfulness and his need of forgiveness. This is a small approximation but we must learn to share together the burden of one another sins.
I remember by hearsay the story of a Russian officer who came at a youth conference in the 1920ths and said to the priest in confession that he was in a position to mention all the sins he has committed but his heart was of ice and of stone and he had no feeling about it. He could give a list but not shade a tear. And this priest, father Alexander Elchaninov, commanded him not to make his confession to him but the next morning when the Liturgy would be celebrated to come /off/ before the Liturgy and to all the youth conference assembled there to make the confession he intended to make to the priest. And this man, feeling the desperate need of his resurrection from the dead, because he was dead at heart, came out, explained what he was about to do. He expected that everyone would move away from him in horror instead of which he felt that all the conference moved towards him in compassion, in sympathy, in oneness; he began to speak his confession and his heart broke and he burst into tears and he was redeemed.
And therefore when we come to confession let us not be content to come to the priest and to speak in his presence to the Lord Jesus Christ who stands there with the wounds of the Crucifixion to which we have added our own. But let us turn to everyone whom we may have offended individually between our last confession or perhaps a long, long time before, open our heart, tell the truth, obtain forgiveness for our victim, heal that limb of the body of Christ which we have wounded at time almost mortally and then only come to the priest and confess our sins to the Lord Jesus Christ who stands crucified and obtain from the priest in His name forgiveness of the sins for which we have truly repented. Amen.

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Troparion to 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!

Troparion to St Herman
O blessed Father Herman of Alaska, / north star of Christ’s holy Church, / the light of your holy life and great deeds / guides those who follow the Orthodox way. / Together we lift high the Holy Cross / you planted firmly in America. / Let all behold and glorify Jesus Christ, / singing his holy Resurrection.

Troparion to St Elizabeth
Emulating the Lord’s self-abasement on the earth, / you gave up royal mansions to serve the poor and disdained, / overflowing with compassion for the suffering. / And taking up a martyr’s cross, / in your meekness / you perfected the Saviour’s image within yourself, / therefore, with Barbara, entreat Him to save us all, O wise Elizabeth.