SUN JUNE 5 7th SUNDAY OF PASCHA. 1st Ecumenical Council. Tone 6
- 7ма НЕДІЛЯ ПАСХИ. 1го Вселенського Собору.
- Liturgy. Святa Літургія @ 9:00 AM
- Apostle Acts 20:16-18, 28-36
- Gospel Jn. 17:1-13
- Panakhyda for John, Paraskewia, Michael, and John Jr. Petruniw, requested by Anne Bailly and the family.
SAT JUNE 11 Great Vespers. Велика Вечірня @5:00 PM
SUN JUNE 12 HOLY PENTECOST: Feast of the Holy Trinity
- СВЯТА П’ятидесятниця. День Святої Троїці.
- Liturgy. Святa Літургія @9:00 AM
- Apostle Acts 2:1-11
- Gospel Jn. 7:37-52, 8:12
- Vespers with kneeling prayers @12:00 noon
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СЛАВА ІСУСУ ХРИСТУ! СЛАВА НА ВІКИ!
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY NOW AND EVER!
AID for Ukraine: Please continue to donate! Check out our Facebook page. There are links there for special donations.
“COFFEE and…”: Thank you to everyone who continues to support coffee and… Please remember that money goes to the scholarships fund for your children! Thank you to Olga Buben for hosting coffee and… last Sunday!! Hosting today is Nataliia Makaruk. Hosting next Sunday Hryhorii Protsanyn (06/12/2022).
OUR LOVING THANKS go to the following people who gave up their Saturday morning last week to place flags on the graves of servicemen in our cemetery: Fr. Andrii, Kim Irvin (chairperson) and Lilah and Olivia, Heather, Chris, Clara, and Genevieve Duffy, Melissa, Lou, and Cora Josefiak, Nataliya, Veronika, and Arina Sashchenko. We were unable to place flags on all of the graves as so many of them were old and unusable. However, we sincerely thank Andrea Tolomea for her donation of $100 to the Youth Ministry in memory of her father, Emrick Prestash, who highly valued the participation of our youngsters in this project. Her gift will be used to replace the old flags. May God grant Andrea, and the participants in the flag placement project MANY BLESSED YEARS! MAY GOD GRANT EMRICK MEMORY ETERNAL!
THE CHILD TAX Rebate is now available to certain Connecticut residents who meet certain requirements. If you are eligible, you may receive a rebate of up to $750/family. More info at ct.gov
Ви можете отримати $250 фінансову підтримку на кожну дитину до 18 років від штату СТ ($750/сім’ю). Єдине що потрібно зробити так це заповнити форму на сt.gov
CEMETERY: We have a new landscaper, Grounds Guys of Newington, who is requesting that there are no decorations (flags, figurines, potted plants) near foot stones, in order to make mowing easier. Decorations are allowed and should be placed in front of the headstones. Mowing will be done every other week. Trimming around the headstones will be done as needed. Footstone trimming is the responsibility of the family. Thank you.
THE FIRST Ecumenical Council was held in Nicea in A.D. 325 and set a pattern for all later Ecumenical Councils. It primarily addressed the issue of Arianism (producing the original version of the Nicene Creed) and set a universal pattern for calculating the date of Pascha – the Paschalion. It is also referred to as the First Council of Nicea. The council was summoned in the year 325 by the Emperor St. Constantine the Great, who desired unity in the Roman Empire and thus called the Church’s bishops together to settle the raging heresy of Arianism, the doctrine that Jesus Christ was a created being and therefore not truly the one God. The First Council of Nicea assembled on May 20 of 325. Earlier in the year, there had already been a council at Antioch, presided over by St. Hosius of Cordoba, which condemned Arianism and its followers, even explicitly naming Eusebius of Caesarea (who is believed to have waffled somewhat on the question). When Constantine convened the council at Nicea, he did so primarily out of a desire to have a unified Empire rather than in an attempt to affect Church doctrine. After the initial speeches by the emperor, Hosius was appointed to preside at the council, summoned on the scene by the emperor himself, and retained by the emperor as a theological advisor. In his opening address, St. Constantine describes disputes within the Church as “more dangerous than war and other conflicts; they bring me more grief than anything else”. Eusebius of Nicomedia first submits an Arian creed for the delegates to consider, and it was rejected immediately. Eusebius of Caesarea then submits a baptismal creed native to Palestine for consideration. It was this latter creed that many historians regard as being the essential framework for the Nicene Creed, though many also regard the creed issued at the earlier Antiochian council to be the basis for Nicea’s creed. The Palestinian creed had included the Biblical phrase “Firstborn of all creation” in its description of Christ, but that phrase does not appear in the Nicene Creed, probably because taken out of its context in the Apostle Paul‘s letter to the Colossians, it could be interpreted in an Arian manner. This phrase gets replaced with the famous homoousios, a philosophical term meaning that the Son of God is of one essence with the Father. It is particularly interesting that this term was used, despite it previously having been employed by the heretical Sabellians (notably Paul of Samosata) in the 3rd century during their conflict with St. Dionysius the Great. As with much terminology from philosophy, however, the Church Fathers co-opted homoousios and gave it a new, Orthodox meaning. It was originally introduced at Nicea by Hosius (or possibly even Constantine), then supported by a small group of bold and far-sighted theologians who understood the inadequacy of merely condemning Arius and the need to crystallize Church tradition in a clear concept. Besides the basic format of the Creed, four explicitly anti-Arian anathemas were attached, as well. All the bishops at the council signed the Creed except for two, Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais, who were subsequently deposed by the Church and then exiled by the emperor, along with Arius, who also refused to accept the decrees of the council. Besides the question of Arianism, the First Ecumenical Council also addressed a number of other concerns. Of particular note is the matter of the Paschalion, the method for the calculation of the celebration of Pascha. Up to this point, there had been a number of different methods for determining Pascha’s date, but at Nicea the bishops assembled there chose to accept the Alexandrian practice of making a calculation independent of the Jewish Passover, stipulating also that the Paschal celebration had to follow the vernal equinox. Alexandria was the obvious choice for deference in this matter, as the city had long been renowned for the accuracy of its astronomers. To this day, the Pope of Alexandria retains a title that reflects this choice at Alexandria, sometimes translated as “Master of the Universe,” but essentially referring to the ability to judge the astronomical state of the cosmos. Holy Fathers also confirmed the Canon of Scriptures (The Bible), as well as adopting many other laws/canons that govern the Orthodox Church to this day.