June 14, 2026
Saturday, June 13 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
4:00 PM Olga Morgenfruh- Parishioners of St. Vladimir’s Church
Sunday, June 14 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
8:30 AM God’s Blessings & Good Health For All Parishioners
Saturday, June 20 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
4:00 PM For All Fathers Living & Deceased
Sunday, June 21 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
8:30 AM For All Fathers Living & Deceased
A Spiritual Psalter
or Reflections on God
from the writings of
Saint Ephraim the Syrian
138
God will Himself give all that is necessary; yet one must also pray.
The kindhearted God gives us what we ask for not because of our prayers; rather He nourishes us according to His compassion, for it is He Who created us.
Without our asking, the Supreme Majesty granted us His own Son Who for our sake appeared on earth and, although we did not ask Him to do so, He offered
Himself as a sacrifice for our salvation.
For who asked the Father to give His own Son up to death on the Cross?
Or who entreated the Son to die for sinners?
To which righteous man did the thought occur to ask the Father to give up
His Son for transgressors?
It is truly an unprecedented event, and the thought occurred to no one.
The Father gave up His Son to death on the Cross, and through His death sinners obtained life. And if He gave away His greatest treasure, can there be any obstacle to prevent a man who asks such a Lover of mankind from receiving all that he needs?
So let us ask Him, for He does give. Let us announce to Him our wishes, for He will not refuse us. Let us entreat Him, for
He wants to satisfy our needs in every way possible.
But in accordance with His justice, He expects our prayer to come to His door, and this prayer has reconciled justice and sinners.
If kindness were to forgive transgressions without prayer, it would be a violation of justice, and no one would contemplate justice any more.
Mankind would gradually be given up to lawlessness, for the Judge would fail to apply the staff of correction. Each man would joyfully continue to sin, for
there would be no one to correct him.
Such kindness, however beneficial it might be for us, would soon turn to harm, for it would give sinners cause to ever multiply their sins.
And it is a good thing that in the world also, justice prompts the use of punishment. For punishment causes the sinner to shudder and put an end to his sinful ways. It brings the sinner to contrition of heart, for it is he who has brought punishment upon himself. And thus the sinner puts aside his iniquities, if only for a short while, and seeks forgiveness for his sins.
Who will not thank Thee, O our Lord? For Thy justice is good and Thy punishment is a gift of grace. Thou art truly good in all Thy doings.
With the staff of justice dost Thou humble the heads of sinners who sin with shameless arrogance and cannot be converted without extraordinary inducement.
May Thy punishment, O Lord, united with Thy loving-kindness, be our mentor. May Thy right hand help us to take advantage of Thy punishment.
A Spiritual Psalter
or Reflections on God
from the writings of
Saint Ephraim the Syrian
129
The enemy is cunning, but we are careless — let us be attentive so as not to lose the kingdom.
Come, let us make an effort; come, let us fall down before God; let us steadfastly lament and shed tears before Him, that He might grant us spiritual enlightenment.
Discern the wiles of our enemy, the adversary who hates all good, who places in our path pitfalls and seductions, ruinous acquisitiveness, commendation of this age, carnal pleasure, as well as the expectation that this life will last for long, fear of ascetic struggles, a slothful attitude toward prayer, drowsiness when psalms are sung, and bodily rest.
We are as apathetic and careless as he is assiduous. We are as inattentive as he is crafty, even though we know that our days have been shortened, that the time has come and the Lord of glory will come in the majesty of His beauty with the terrible powers of His kingdom to reward everyone according to his deeds.
I fear that the Lord’s promise might be fulfilled with respect to us: that many shall come from the east and the west, from the north and from the sea, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but we shall be driven out.
I beseech Thee, O Christ, light of truth, born of the blessed Father, being His image and the radiance of His hypostasis, Who sittest at the right hand of His majesty, Who art my life and the praise and joy of those who love Thee: save me, a sinner, in Thy kingdom and reward me not according to my deeds, but save me according to Thy grace and have compassion on me according to Thy kindness, for Thou art blessed and glorified unto the ages.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
“If therefore thine eye be single thy holy body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” MATT (6:22-23) Here the mind is called the eye, and the entire composition of the soul is called the body. Thus, when the mind is simple the soul is bright; but when the mind is evil, the soul is dark. What are a simple mind and an evil mind? A simple mind is one that accepts the Word of God as it is written, and is convinced beyond a doubt that all is indeed as is written. It has no deceit, no wavering or hesitation. An evil mind is one which approaches the Word of God with slyness, artful disputing, and questioning. It cannot believe directly, but subjects the Word of God to its’ sophistry. It approaches the Word not as a disciple, but as a judge and critic, to test something stated there, and then either scoffs at it or says in a haughty manner, “Yes, not bad.” Such a mind has no firm tenets because it clearly does not believe the Word of God, and it’s own philosophizing is always unstable—today one way, tomorrow another. Hence it has only wavering, confusion, and questions without answers. Everything is out of place with it, and it walks in the dark, fumbling along it’s way. A simple mind sees everything clearly: Everything in it has a definite character, determined by the Word of God. That is why everything in it has it’s place, and it knows exactly how to behave with relation to things—it walks along open, visible roads, with complete assurance that they lead to the true God. -St. Theophan the Recluse
The Altar Candles for the month of June are given by John M. Ostrum IMO
John J. Ostrum, Jr.
The Sanctuary Light for this week is requested by RoseMarie Kachinko IMO
Michael & Katherine Kachinko.
Cemetery 1 Envelope $10.00
FATHER’S DAY REMEMBRANCES: Father’s Day is June 21st, don’t forget to remember your Father at our Father’s Day Divine Liturgy.
PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH
We pray You, O almighty and eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ has revealed Your glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Your mercy, that Your Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of your name, we pray in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thoughts from St. Theophan the Recluse
The Nazarenes did not believe the word of the Lord, because when He lived among them He had no attractive luster or outward dignity that might have commanded involuntary [human] respect. “We know who He is.” They said; “There can’t be anything extraordinary about Him.” Their reaction, however, did not induce the Lord to assume an imposing appearance. He remained extremely simple in appearance. Later, the Apostles bore themselves the same way, as did all those who truly followed and emulated them. Why is this so? Because there is no man-made luster that could fully correspond to the light of life in Jesus Christ. Moreover, we recognize to relegate external appearance to the lowest value, so that it does not obstruct what is within. Let him who has eyes to see look directly at the latter without arresting his attention upon the former. The Holy Apostle Paul expressed it like this: We have this treasure in earthen vessels. (IICor. 4:7). If we could see the outward appearance of those persons whom we now revere and call upon in prayer we would not believe our eyes—they were so simple. But to this day, those who have come to know the life in Jesus Christ abandon what is outward and turn fully within. That is why the former falls away on its own, but the latter is raised up and grows. It often happens that no one even notices this inner brightness, not even the one who possesses it. The human eye is evil; it is not shown what is truly good, as long as it is capable of harming it.
The power of prayer
Once a person has become humble, straightaway mercy encircles and embrace him; and once mercy has approached, immediately his heart becomes aware of God helping him, since he discovers a certain powerful assurance stirring within him. When someone has become aware of the coming of divine help, and that it is this which aids and assists him, then at once his heart is filled with faith, and from this he understands that prayer is: the haven of help, the fountainhead of salvation, a treasury of assurance, a saving anchor in time of storm, an illumination to those in darkness, a staff for the weak, a shelter in time of trials, a source of recovery at the time of sickness, a shield of deliverance in war, an arrow sharpened in face of enemies. Having found an entry to all these excellent things through prayer, henceforth that person will rejoice in the prayer of faith his heart exulting in confidence—no longer blindly, or through lip-service only, as had previously been the case. Once aware of this, he has acquired prayer in his soul, like a treasure. Out of the joy he experiences, he will change the direction of his prayer, turning it into utterance of thanksgiving. –St. Isaac the Syrian
PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL: Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church 