ST. GREGORY PALAMAS
March 15, 2025
Saturday, March 15 2nd SUNDAY OF LENT
4:00 PM ✞Mary Kachmarsky- Teresa Popowycz
Sunday, March 16 2nd SUNDAY OF LENT
8:30 AM God’s Blessings for America- Tom & MaryAnn Potsko
Friday, March 21 LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS
5:00 PM
Saturday, March 22 3rd SUNDAY OF LENT
4:00 PM God’s Blessings for Lawrence & Janice Lee- Rita & Diane
Sunday, March 23 3rd SUNDAY OF LENT
8:30 AM God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners
Remember, there are no weekday Liturgies during the
Great Fast. Communion is distributed as part of the
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
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Transfiguration of Our Lord:
Saturday Liturgy is 6:00 PM
Sunday Liturgy is 10:30 AM
LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS Wednesday at 6:30PM
Sorokousty is 8:00AM, Saturday, March 22
Sorokousty Prayers are for the deceased of Transfiguration of Our Lord Church, St. Nicholas Church, St. Peter & Paul Church (Plymouth) & St. Vladimir’s Church.
Come Pray for the Your Family.
Adam and Eve ate from the tree that had the fruit of Eternal Life, which was next to the tree of the fruit of knowledge of Good and Evil – of which they were commanded NOT to eat. Having eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God commanded them NOT to eat, God chased Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ shows us that tree, it is the CROSS. The fruit of the Cross is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – Holy Communion. Mankind commanded NOT to eat- ate. Mankind now commanded to eat, refuses. At the “eating” when we were commanded NOT to, sin, pain and death enter the world. Now sin, pain and death are conquered through the fruit from the tree of Eternal Life. Through Holy Communion death has been conquered, Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Do you want to understand more of this? Watch this:
YouTube Video: Search The Holy Eucharist: God’s Lamb
This is the video to watch, without Holy Communion there is no Christian.
ASK FATHER A QUESTION……. Father, the betrayal of Jesus was foretold by the prophet Zechariah 11:12-13 ….. it leads one to believe that Judas is just a mechanism to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus. Is this is true? What happens to Judas? In short, the answer to the question is no. The reason for this is that Judas has free will, just like us. He can choose how to respond to God and what he will do. From his free will, desire to obtain more money, Judas betrays Christ. After the crucifixion, Judas recognizes his sin of betraying the Messiah. Perhaps his greater sin is that he falls into despair and kills himself. He does this being tempted by the Devil. This is perhaps the bigger sin. The devil leads him to believe that God would not forgive him of betraying an innocent man. Ultimately, the point is that just because something is foretold does not mean that that person has to act it out like a mechanical robot. God lives outside of time and knows everything everyone will ever do. When God reveals this message to a prophet to lead people to salvation- it does not mean that that person’s actions are “pre-destined”- meaning that that person does not have free will to act as they choose. Imagine if on that morning Judas came to his senses and repented and begged forgiveness to Jesus and the Apostles for his betrayal. We would be telling the great story of the Conversion of Saint Judas The Repenter; however, he chose to follow the deceiving words of the deceiver, fall into despair, thinking he could not be forgiven, so he hung himself, All these are of Judas’ free will choices. God’s saving plan is revealed in salvation history, i.e. time, so that we could know the truth and believe. Once you grasp this you realize that Judas is not mere mechanism to fulfill what is foretold.
“And I said unto them, If you think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of the Lord” (Zechariah 11:12-13).
BOOK(S) OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH:
GREAT LENT- Journey to Pascha
Alexander Schmemann ISBN: 0-913836-04-4
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: On The Road To Pascha
Marianne C. Sailus Eastern Christian Publications http://www.ecpubs.com
THE FIVE SATURDAYS OF THE DECEASED (SOROKUSTY): The Church Typikon designates the five Sorokousty/ Saturdays of the Deceased for 2025 as February 22nd; March 15th, March 22nd, March 29th and June 7th. It is a tradition of our Holy Church to commemorate the memories of our beloved deceased at Matins of the Deceased (Parastas) on these five Saturdays of the year. There is an envelope in your box for Sorokousty. Or write a note and put it in the basket.
SING-CON 2025: Save the date if interested. The date for SING-CON 2025 is October 23-26, 2025, at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, NJ. SING-CON is seminar on learning and practicing our Church’s Chants, i.e. hymns and liturgies in song.
SUNDAY LITURGIES DURING LENT: WHY DO THEY SEEM LONGER?
Our Church prescribes that the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is to be celebrated on all of the Sundays of Great Fast, instead of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which is usually celebrated throughout the rest of the church year. St. Basil’s Liturgy is older and has longer priestly prayers at the Anaphora than the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (which was derived from the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great), and is celebrated ten times during the church year: the five Sundays of Lent (not Palm Sunday), Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, Christmas Eve, Epiphany Eve, and on the actual Feast of St. Basil which we celebrate January 1 .
“Let My Prayer Rise up”
Let my prayer rise up, Like incense before You; The lifting of my hands, As an evening sacrifice. Lord, I call to You, hear me; attend to the voice of my prayer when I cry to You. Let my prayer rise up, Like incense before You; The lifting of my hands, As an evening sacrifice. Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth and a door of enclosure around my lips. Let my prayer rise up, Like incense before You; The lifting of my hands, As an evening sacrifice. Incline not my heart unto words of evil, to make excuses for my sins. Let my prayer rise up, Like incense before You; The lifting of my hands, As an evening sacrifice.
Prayer For Peace in Ukraine
Heavenly Father, Your Son taught us “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.” We fervently pray in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that you inspire men to become peacemakers. May mankind seek reconciliation and peace as is Your Will in this world. May tranquility be restored to all nations and especially Ukraine. God, Our Father, we beseech You to comfort the suffering, heal the wounded, and accept the souls of the dearly departed into Your heavenly kingdom. May the Most Holy Mother of God extend Her Mantle of Protection over Ukraine and the whole world. May each of us always live our lives as instruments of Your peace, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
SAINT GREGORY PALAMAS (1296-4357)
On this, the Second Sunday of Lent, Our Ukrainian Catholic Church commemorates the saintly monk, Gregory Palamas. He is venerated not only by the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but also by the Anglicans. Gregory was a monk who resided on Mount Athos, located today in Greece. Gregory was born in Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul, located in Turkey. He died in Thessaloniki, Macedonia. St. Gregory Palamas is noted for his defense of “hesychast spirituality.” Hesychasm is a contemplative monastic tradition, which is practiced by both Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches, even to the present day. Stillness is sought through the uninterrupted recitation of the “Jesus Prayer.” The prayer reads: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The prayer is recited holding a “chotky” (prayer beads on a rope) in your hand. The usual number of prayer beads would be 100. The chotky prayer rope is available to order and purchase at Byzantine Church Supplies, located in the basement of our Chancery building. (Address: 810 N. Franklin Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19123). They also have a website: Byzantinechurchsupplies.com.
Transfiguration of Our Lord Activities:
PYROHY FOR SALE: Transfiguration of Our Lord Church has potato pyrohy for sale (frozen) in the church basement for $12.00 a dozen. If you are interested, please call Lisa at 570-574-1016.
Looking for some additional Lenten Activities?
COFFEE AND THEOLOGY: On Sunday, March 30, immediately following Divine Liturgy (@Holy Transfiguration Church following 10:30AM Liturgy) we will have an Adult Discussion. The topic will be LENTEN THEOLOGY. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE CROSS? A 15 Minute Presentation & Questions. EVERYONE IS WELCOME.
The Altar Candles for March are requested by the by The Udiski Family IMO Michael Kane.
The Sanctuary Light for this week is requested by by Michaelene Ostrum IMO Juliann O’Brien.
SANCTUARY LIGHT: The sanctuary light sign-up sheets are located on the table in the vestibule. A $15 donation enables the light to burn for your intention throughout the week. Many weeks are still available.
RUMMAGE SALE: Today is the final day of the women’s society’s rummage sale (bag day). For $5 you can fill a bag with many treasures that were donated.
SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church 