0THIS SUNDAY, December 9, 2018 Orthros 9:00am Divine Liturgy 10:00am. 10th Sunday of Luke.
REFLECTION: December 25, the date of Christmas, falls during the winter solstice, after which the days begin to lengthen because of the movement of the earth around the sun. Christmas replaces a pagan festival which rendered homage to the sun at the solstice. It is also in this sense that the Church has called Jesus the Sun of Righteousness, for to Him belongs the only and true adoration.
(Christmas Troparion)."Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shown to the world the light of wisdom! For by it, those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to adore you, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know you, the Orient from on high. O Lord glory to you."
From what sky does the light of Christ and this light of wisdom come to us? It is a sky that is different from the sky above us. It is beyond all the galaxies where lies the Kingdom of God. Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, comes from the Kingdom of God, from this divine heaven, to visit us, to become worldly with those who are of the world, to unite His divine nature with our human nature.
GREETER COVERAGE SCHEDULE: Parish Council member Greg Karachristos is scheduled to open the church and to be the Greeter this Sunday 12/9 Future Greeter Schedule: 12/16 Mike; 12/23 Mike; 12/24 Christmas Eve -volunteer needed; 12/30 Spyros; 12/31 New Year's Eve - volunteer needed.
Email to Fr. Don: FrDonatAugusta@mail.goarch.org.
Email to St. Basil Church can be sent to: office@stbasil.ct.goarch.org. Your questions or comments can be sent to this email and will be forwarded to the parish priesst or the parish council members for a response.
Visit our St. Basil parish website: www.stbasil.ct.goarch.org. You will find many interesting links. Especially visit the "Orthodox Marketplace" where you will find an excellent selection of icons, books, and gift ideas for birthdays and holidays. Also, you can link to our Parish Facebook page. Thanks to Arven Saunders for managing the parish website.
On Facebook do a search for: "Saint Basil Greek Orthodox Church." You will find lots of information about parish activities, photos, and updates. Thanks to Athena Nomikos for her work posting photos and information on our parish Facebook site.