April 20, 2025 A. D.
Saturday, April 19 GREAT & HOLY SATURDAY
4:00 PM God’s Blessings for America- Tom & MaryAnn Potsko
Service at the Grave, Vespers, Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great /Blessing of Artos, Myrovania
Sunday, April 20 PASCHA-EASTER SUNDAY (w/Myrovania)
11:00 AM God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners
Divine Liturgy, Blessing of Artos, Myrovania
Monday, April, 21 BRIGHT MONDAY (w/Myrovania)
8:30 AM MaryAnn Youells- Michele Hatch & Denise Klus & Family
Tuesday, April 22 BRIGHT TUESDAY
8:30 AM Anna Koprowski- Dr. & Mrs. Nicholas Giordano
Saturday, April 26 BRIGHT SATURDAY
4:00 PM Rosemarie Kachinko- Nelson &Donna Warren
Sunday, April 27 THOMAS SUNDAY (w/Myrovania)
11:00 AM God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners
M
FATHER A QUESTION?, Father, why are the Royal Doors open during Bright Week? The Royal Doors are kept open as a sign to us that Christ came to restore access to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Eternal Life for us, which we lost access to when we sinned as we read in the First Week of Lent.
ASK FATHER A QUESTION? Father, I was watching Fiddler on the Roof last night, when someone asked the Rabbi, is there a Blessing for a Sewing Machine, I got to thinking, is there a Blessing for animals? In short, Yes. In my Book of Needs in Greek “Euchologion” and in Slavonic “Trebnyk” in the index there are six pages of a list of prayers for Blessings. The categories are: Church, Altar, Chalice, Other Liturgical Objects, Vestments, Feast Days & Special Occasions, Sacred Objects not for Liturgical Use, Persons, Places of Ordinary Use, Animals, Fields, Orchards, and things for everyday use. So yes, there is an entire category for Blessings of Animals, Livestock, Beasts of Burden, Pets, or vermin, rats, pests. What is the Book of Needs? The Book has prayers for every need a Parish Priest will encounter.
Ask Father a question, Father, I noticed that when the “women” return to the grave, there is Mary, the mother of God, and the “other” Mary is with her. Who is the other Mary? It seems to me that there are many Mary’s…. wasn’t there Saint Mary of Egypt that we commemorated on the Fifth Week of Lent? I get confused. Yes, there are many Mary’s. Depending on which Gospel you read, it may be difficult to understand which Mary is being spoken about at times. A few of the Mary’s we know, are Mary the Mother of God, Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister to Lazarus and Martha, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary the mother of James, Joseph and Salome, among others. Mary is the Greek translation from Jewish, Mariam. At the grave, Luke and Mark, specify that Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph are at the grave looking for Jesus on the morning of the first day of the week.
Why did Mary, the Mother of Jesus not go to the sepulcher on first day of the week with the other Mary’s? Church tradition orally passed on from the apostles, and some common sense, tells us that Jesus having risen from the dead, went to visit His mother first.
Yes, there was a Saint Mary of Egypt that we remember the Fifth Week of Lent, who lived in the late fourth to early fifth century. We do not read about Saint Mary of Egypt in the Holy Scriptures.
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.
Appreciation is extended to the Women’s Society for their $3000 donation which will greatly assist with the church’s financial obligations.
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.
CONFESSION: Reminder, the Church decrees that you should make at least one good confession and receive communion for Easter. Remember this whole week is seven days of Sunday, hence, we call this Bright Week.
BOOK(S) OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL:
The Lives of the Desert Fathers
Norman Russell/Benedicta Ward ISBN: 978-0879079345
The Screwtape Letters
C.S. Lewis ISBN: 979-8343951851
SOROKOUSTY SERVICE: The fifth Sorokousty is Saturday, June 7th at 8:00 am.
HOMEBOUND PARISHIONERS: Please contact Father Walter at the Nanticoke Rectory at 570-735-2262 if anyone is homebound and would like to receive Holy Communion.
LITURGICALLY SPEAKING
(Received as an Ask Father a Question……) Reprint
TROPAR: A short verse which tells something of the feast or intention of the day. All Sundays are Resurrectional Tropars. The Tropar can be sung as a hymn having a set rhythm and melody (according to one of the eight tones).
KONDAK: From the Greek, meaning “parchment roll.” It contains in abbreviated form the story of the Feast or the life of the Saints. The Kondak can be sung as a hymn having a set rhythm and melody (according to one of the eight tones).
BOHORODICEN: A short hymn honoring the Theotokos, our Blessed Lady.
TRISAGION: A triple invocation honoring the Blessed Trinity. On certain feasts: as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost the Trisagion is replaced by a chant which recalls the baptism of the catechumens: “As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ, Alleluia.”
EPISTLES: Letters written by the Apostles to the early Christians in various geographical locations. The preaching of the Epistle portrays the preaching of the doctrine of Christ to the world by the Apostles.
BIBLE: From the Greek, “Biblia” meaning books. The Bible contains lesson from God to man. The Bible is written by the One Holy Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church. (Slavonic= biblija)
INCENSING: The incensing during the Divine Liturgy at the point of the Gospel symbolizes the graces and spiritual benefits produced by the preaching of the Word of God. “Let my prayer rise like incense before You.”- Psalm 140
When the priest is incensing, people should stand.
GOSPEL: From the Greek meaning “Good News.” This is the Good News of Jesus Christ Risen from the Dead, announcing the salvation of man by Jesus Christ. In Slavonic, jevanhelije. The Gospel read during the Divine Liturgy is a portion of one of the four accounts of Our Lord’s Life as written by the evangelists, SS. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.
PROKIMEN: The Prokimen is composed of several verses taken from the psalms or prophecies. It introduces the Old Testament and Epistle of the day.
SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church 