SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church

Saturday, April 18                SUNDAY OF THE OINTMENT BEARERS 

         4:00 PM                        God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners

Sunday, April 19                   SUNDAY OF THE OINTMENT BEARERS 

        8:30 AM                         Michael Hubiak- Louise Hubiak

Saturday, April 25                SUNDAY OF THE PARALYTIC MAN

         4:00 PM                        Alex Szumskyj – God’s Blessings and Health 

Sunday, April 26                   SUNDAY OF THE PARALYTIC MAN

8:30 AM                         Baptism of Julia Kate Johnson, daughter of Joshua Kieth and Oksana Palashchuk Johnson.

Entering into Solitude for Prayer

Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door. – Matthew (6:6)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ taught us that during prayer we should “go into our room and shut the door.”  The Fathers of the Spiritual Life frequently offered interpretations of these words.  They understood them as an injunction to direct our intention deep within ourselves.  This is the interior intention to which St. Basil the Great refers in his appeal to “Attend to yourself!”  The Liturgical Words “Let us be attentive!” continually reminds us of this.  The most important reaction to this call is to increase our attention to what is going on within ourselves.  CUCC 699/700

Evil Thoughts

 We are constantly under the influence of various thoughts, ideas, and views, and we choose from among them those that we consider important.  These thoughts can be either good or evil, and so they affect our spiritual life in different ways.  In the book of Genesis, we read how the serpent deceived mankind, saying that they will become like God if they reject God’s commandment. Temptation is a “nudge” or incitement to sin.  Confronted by such instigation, mankind can either succumb or resist it.  Adam and Eve succumb to the sinful temptation and become, therefore, personally responsible for the sin.  The same occurs in our life.  If we give our ascent to evil thoughts then we sin.  The beginning of every sin is the acceptance of an evil thought coupled with the desire to bring it to life.  If a person does not take possession of an evil thought, this thought is not a sin but only a temptation.  St. John of Damascus distinguishes various stages in the process by which evil thoughts penetrate the heart.  Among these are:  suggestion, internal conversion, struggle, ascent, and passion (captivity).      *n.b. Demonic forces can influence mankind through thoughts, as can angels guide you through thoughts.  Every thought that runs through your mind did not necessarily begin with you.  Pray often and pray well so that good thoughts may originate with you and you learn to follow angels and not devils.*   CUCC 788/789

PRAYER FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCH

O glorious St. Michael, guardian and defender of the Church of Jesus Christ come to the assistance of the Church, against which the powers of hell are unchained, guard with especial care her august Head, and obtain that for Him and for us the hour of triumph may speedily arrive.  O glorious Archangel St. Michael, watch over us during life, defend us against the assaults of the devil, assist us especially at the hour of death; obtain for us a favorable judgement, and the happiness of beholding God face to face for endless ages.  Amen.

The Altar Candles for April are requested by Michaelene Ostrum IMO father Michael Sirak.

The Sanctuary Light is requested by Carol Bosack-Kosek  IMO The Bosack Family.

SVIACHENNE: IT’S THIS WEEK! The Sviachenne will be this Sunday, April 19, 2026 12:15PM.  It is a Covered Dish Sviachenne between Transfiguration of Our Lord Church & Ss. Peter & Paul Church!  There is no charge for the Sviachenne Dinner and it will be held at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church basement.  Thank you to everyone who signed up!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE HEATING SYSTEM REPAIR:  I express my deepest appreciation to everyone who contributed the repair for the heating system.  The total bill was $8,106.50.  Parishioner donations were a total of $2,200 and the Women’s Society donated the remainder of the cost, $5906.50.  May God grant you many happy years, peace, health and salvation, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

WALKING PILGRIMAGE:  Save the date Saturday, June 13.  Seven mile trek from St. Mary’s Church, Mocanaqua to St. Nicholas Church, Glen Lyon.  More information is on the flyer in the vestibule. 

FLEA MARKET:  Transfiguration of Our Lord Church will be having a Flea Market, Bag Day is Sunday, April 19^thfrom noon to 1PM.

            Ask Father a question? Father, the following passage is confusing “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.  The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people,” could you help me with this?  Does this mean that individuals other than Christ have risen from the dead and are in heaven?  What does “appeared to many people” refer to, spirits?  No, just as Lazarus was raised from the dead, Lazarus died a second time and was buried a second time.  So too all those who rose from the dead, died a second time and were buried a second time.  This is a reminder to us that at the end of days with the second coming of Christ, all the dead will rise from their tombs, their soul being re-united with their perfect (finished) body.  That little passage “returned to life” means that they went back to living as they were before they died and were buried in a tomb.  Each of these people lived for a time and died a second natural worldly death.  They too will rise at the end of time for judgement with all the dead.  I believe your difficulty in understanding this, is the common concept today that salvation is being in heaven with God is your bodiless soul floating around in the sky eternally.  This is simply wrong.  Everyone will bodily rise from the dead, even the people who were vaporized by the atomic bombs of Japan at their epicenter will receive back their physical bodies with their soul reunited, and then judged for Heaven or Hell.  A little side note, did you know that the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima had the highest populations of Catholics in Japan?  This is an indication, and a reminder, to us of our end that God has in store for us.  Your body and your soul both matter.  So let’s go to Revelation Chapter 20:12-15:

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

We were given a fore taste of the general resurrection with the dead that rose from their tombs with Christ.  From Luke Chapter 24:37-41:

“They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

April 12, 2026 A. D.

Saturday, April 11                  THOMAS SUNDAY 

4:00 PM                      Helene Sirak- Stephen & Gloria Udiski

                                                 Distribution of Artos

Sunday, April 12                     THOMAS SUNDAY 

             8:30 AM                       Divine Liturgy, Distribution of Artos

God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners

Saturday, April 18                  SUNDAY OF THE OINTMENT BEARERS 

         4:00 PM                          God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners

Sunday, April 19                     SUNDAY OF THE OINTMENT BEARERS 

        8:30 AM                            Michael Hubiak- Louise Hubiak

CONFESSION: “We can talk about a confession crisis, but the larger issue is that people just don’t believe in sin anymore,” said journalist Russell Shaw, former communications director for the U.S. bishops and author of numerous books, including “Why We Need Confession.”   This points to a related fact — many Catholics no longer affirm many ancient teachings of the church, he said.  This is especially true when details in the Catholic catechism clash with the doctrines of the sexual revolution.  When thinking about “grave” or “mortal” sins, many Catholics have decided this language simply does not apply to their own mistakes and struggles.  “The idea is that you don’t need to go to confession unless you’ve done something really, really bad,” said Shaw.  “People say, ‘I’m a good person.  I haven’t done anything bad, or I haven’t done anything I think is really bad — so I don’t have anything to confess.’  And many Catholics question whether the church should play any role in mediating this sin, repentance and forgiveness process.”  Father Moses agreed that “our culture is working hard to get rid of the concept of sin. … But sin is sin because it’s bad for us and lots of people are hurting.  That’s reality.”  While stressing that “I’ve only been a priest for four years and I’m not an authority on anything,” he said he does believe priests now have a decision to make when preaching and teaching about confession.   “We have to ask, ‘Do we believe that the gospel is good news?  Do we believe that what we are teaching is true and that the sacraments are real?’ … If we do, then confession is an essential part of our faith.”  From:  canonlawmadeeasy.com/2023/04/06/is-confession-still-an-easter-duty-repost/

Can a truly Orthodox view and practice of confession be restored?  Yes, if we have the courage to deal with the problem at its roots and not with mere externals.

The starting point of this restoration is in preaching and teaching.  To some extent all Christian preaching and teaching is a call to repentance, to the metanoia, the change of mind, the reevaluation of all values in the light of Christ.  There is no need to preach constantly on “sin,” to judge and to condemn.  It is when a man is challenged with the real “contents” of the Gospel, with its Divine depth and wisdom, beauty and all embracing meaning, that he becomes “capable of repentance,” for the true repentance is precisely the discovery by the man of the abyss that separates him from God and from His real offer to man.  It is when the man sees the bridal chamber adorned that he realizes that he has no garment for entering it.  Too much of our preaching is in the form of abstract imperatives: the Church prescribes to do this and that; but commanding is not preaching.  Preaching implies the desire to convey to people the positive, the Divine meaning, for it is only this meaning that makes “prescriptions” significant, life-giving, saving. Christian teaching should also include a deep and constructive criticism of the secularistic philosophy of life, an evaluation of the culture in which we live.  Christians must always fight idols – and there are plenty of them today: “success,” “materialism,” “security,” “money-centerdness,” etc.  For here again, only within such broad and truly Christian judgment of this world the notion of sin recovers its true meaning, as deviation of love and interest, as worshipping values and norms that are not truly “valuable.”  This implies, of course, that the priest himself is free of this identification with the world, puts eternal Truth and not the “practical considerations,” in the very center of his ministry.  Confession, then, must be replaced in the perspective of the sacrament of penance [and Holy Communion].  And each sacrament implies at least three equally essential elements: preparation, liturgical order, and fulfillment.  If the whole life of the Church, but especially preaching and teaching are, as we have seen, preparation for repentance in a broad sense, there is room and need for special preparation.  The Church has set apart special periods of repentance: Lent, Advent, other fasts.  Here the liturgy itself becomes a “school of repentance” (cf. for example the inexhaustible riches of the Lenten Triodion), and it is the proper time to center preaching on the sacrament of penance itself.  The order of Gospel readings, the Psalter, the hymns and prayers supply us with abundant material, the purpose of preaching being to “apply” all this to men, to their life, to their actual situation.  The goal is to provoke in them the penitential mood, to make them examine their life not only in terms of isolated sins and transgressions, but in their deepest motivations.  Where is the real treasure of their hearts?  What guides them in their life…A man who questions the deep motivations of his life, who has understood, be it just once, that life in its totality can and must be referred to Christ, is on his way to repentance, which is always a conversion, a change of mind, a renewed vision, a decision to return to God (cf. my pamphlet on Great Lent).  The preparation must, of necessity, include an explanation of confession, – its order, prayers, meaning.

6. The liturgical order of confession consists of A) prayers before confession, B) exhortation to penitents, C) confession proper, and D) Absolution,[and E) reception of Holy Communion which completes the confession.]

The Altar candles for April are requested by Michaelene Ostrum IMO father Michael Sirak.

The Sanctuary Light for this week is requested by Rebecca Molecavage IMO her mother Frances Bencho.

WOMEN’S SOCIETY:  The monthly meeting of the Women’s Society will be held on Tuesday, April 14th at 6 PM in the church hall. All current members are urged to attend and new members are needed and always welcome. 

SVIACHENNE: IT’S NEXT WEEK! The Family Sviachenne will be on Sunday, April 19, 2026 12:15PM.  It is a Covered Dish Sviachenne between Transfiguration of Our Lord Church & Ss. Peter & Paul Church!  We have hams donated.  We will put out a list for other items and attendees.  There is no charge for the Sviachenne Dinner and it will be held at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church basement.  Please see sign-up sheet at back of church.  HELP IS NEEDED ESPECIALLY FOR CLEAN UP.  Thank you to everyone who signed up!

WALKING PILGRIMAGE:  Save the date Saturday, June 13.  Seven mile trek from St. Mary’s Church, Mocanaqua to St. Nicholas Church, Glen Lyon.

FLEA MARKET:  Transfiguration of Our Lord Church will be having a Flea Market on Saturday, April 11 from 9am to 2pm and Saturday, April 18 from 9am to 2pm (1/2 Price Sale).  Bag Day is Sunday, April 19 from noon to 2PM.

Prayer for Family

Heavenly Father, please shine Your light upon our families. Give us strength to overcome the attacks of the evil one in all of the difficulties that we are dealing with now and protect us against any and all problems we may encounter in the future.  O Lord, please bring us together as we are meant to be.  May the love that binds us grow stronger as we fulfill the destiny you have laid out for us.   Grant my family repentance from sins we have committed.  May we also forgive one another Lord, as it is sometimes difficult to do.  Bless us O Lord, In your name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit I pray, Amen.

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!

PASCHA-RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD

April 5, 2026 A. D.

Saturday, April 4                    HOLY SATURDAY  *Abstinence from Meat *

            1:00 PM                      Blessing of Food

Sunday, April 5                       PASCHA-EASTER SUNDAY (w/Myrovania)

             7:30 AM                       Resurrection Matins, Divine Liturgy, Blessing of Artos

God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners

                                                Myrovania, Blessing of Paschal Food 

Monday, April 7                     BRIGHT MONDAY (w/Myrovania)

          8:30 AM                         God’s Blessings on Gary & Jacinta Poullard- Poullard Family

Tuesday, April 7                     BRIGHT TUESDAY (w/Myrovania)

          8:30 AM                         God’s Blessings on Brent, Allison W., Allison P., Matthew, 

                                                Cameron, Blaise & Jayce Alexander – Poullard Family

Saturday, April 11                  THOMAS SUNDAY 

4:00 PM                      Helene Sirak- Stephen & Gloria Udiski

                                                 Distribution of Artos

Sunday, April 12                     THOMAS SUNDAY 

             8:30 AM                       Divine Liturgy, Distribution of Artos

God’s Blessings & Good Health for All Parishioners

Ancient Holy Saturday Homily

(REPRINTED WWW.ROYAL DOORS.NET)

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.  He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all”. Christ answered him: “And with your spirit”. He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”.  I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.  See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.  I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.   Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.  Written by an unknown author in Greek in the fourth century (PG 43, 439, 462f).

Petitions & Prayers for Our Parishioners:  John Ostrum, Donna Winsock, Sonia Dempsey, Catherine Halloway, Charles Hallaway, Louise Hubiack, Frank Udiski, Paul Hoover & James Bencho.  Keep them in your prayers.  If anyone would like to be included in the prayer list drop a note in the basket, email the church or text Michalene Ostrum at 570-704-7079.

ASK 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 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.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen!   ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ !

May everyone have a most Blessed Easter and Bright Week!   Christos Voskes!

The Altar candles for April are requested by Michaelene Ostrum IMO father Michael Sirak. 

The Sanctuary Light for this week is requested by Michaelene Ostrum IMO father Michael Sirak.

SVIACHENNE:  The Family Sviachenne will be on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 12:15PM.  Plans are being constructed to have a Covered Dish Sviachenne between Transfiguration of Our Lord Church & Ss. Peter & Paul Church!  We have hams donated.  We will put out a list for other items and attendees.  There is no charge for the Sviachenne Dinner and it will be held at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church basement.  Covered dishes and help is needed.

CONFESSION:   Reminder, the Church decrees that you make at least one good confession a year before Easter.  

FLEA MARKET:  Transfiguration of Our Lord Church will be having a Flea Market on Saturday, April 11 from 9am to 2pm and Saturday, April 18 from 9am to 2pm (1/2 Price Sale) due to the contribution of additional new and used merchandise.

Tackle your Fears Head-On

Fear is a childish feeling of the adult but empty soul. Fear is really a lack of faith that becomes obvious when we think of what unforeseen things might happen. It is lack of trust in God. The proud soul is a slave to fear precisely because it trusts in itself and so shudders at any noise or any shadow. Those who are contrite for their sins have no fear. So if there are places where you are normally afraid to go, do not hesitate to frequent them even at dead of night, armed with prayer. Your fear is a childish and ridiculous thing, but if you give way to it only a little, it will take root in your heart and stay with you. So arm yourself with prayer and when you reach the spot lambaste the enemy in the name of Jesus. There is no stronger weapon in earth or heaven than that. And when you are cured of your fear, sing the praises of the One who has freed you. If you thank him, he will always protect you. Sometimes only the body is afraid and the fear has not spread to the soul, then you are nearly cured. The one who serves God, fears his Lord and no other. The one who does not fear his Lord is scared even of his own shadow. – By St. John Climacus Stairway to Paradise 21 (PG88, 945)

GUARDIAN ANGELS:  Angels do exist!  Besides our visible universe God has created another, invisible, corporeal spiritual world.  Though angels are superior to us in dignity, we are created more perfectly in God’s image.  The Holy Spirit attests to their creation before the universe to their great numbers, and to their primary ministry, which is to ‘present the prayers of the Saints’ to God, and to behold His glory.  The Lord said, “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you  in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven” and glorify Him incessantly.  The angels are assigned to many ‘orders’ usually grouped in nine, although we know nothing definite about this.  God has assigned angels to protect us, from different scriptural passages we are taught the angels are assigned by God to protect entire nations and individuals.  Certain angels are assigned to minister to us, by being God’s messengers, and attend to the spiritual progress and perfection of human beings.  They are placed in the service of God’s plan of salvation for man.  “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to salvation?  “We pray for the guardian angel, (not that one may be given us), since each of us has one from the moment of his birth, but that he may be active and may fulfill his task, that he may protect us and lead us in the right way, and may not, angered by our sins, desert us.”  Several of the Fathers of the Church teach that only baptized Christians have a guardian angel.  According to certain Fathers, we are assigned two angels a good one, our guardian angel, and an evil one.  Guardian angels guide human beings and steer them in the path of goodness without interfering with their free will or forcing them to follow it.  When we fall into serious sin, however, the guardian angel departs.  At the hour of death the guardian angel will carry the soul to heaven.  In the prayer “You who in all times.” Recited during Hours, we pray, “Surround us with your holy angels, so that guarded and guided by their host, we may attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of Your unapproachable glory.”  

Prayer to Our Guardian Angel:  O Holy Angel of God, guardian and protector of my soul and body, forgive me everything in which I have grieved you all the days of my life, and in which I sinned in the day just past.  Protect me during the coming night and keep me from every influence of the enemy, that I may not anger God by any sin.  Intercede for me to the Lord that He may strengthen me in His fear and make me worthy to be a servant of His goodness. Amen.