Rev. John Seniw, Pastor
706 N. Warren Street
Berwick, PA 18603
| Rev. John Seniw, Pastor 706 N. Warren Street Berwick, PA 18603 | |
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Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 5:30 p.m. Health and Blessings for Nancy Pasak - Bill and Barbara Nagy Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 10:00 a.m. God's Blessings on all Parishioners Monday, February 6, 2012 - 8:00 a.m. Frank & Julia Selecky - Mae Sylvia Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 8:00 a.m. +Mitred Archpriest John Bilanych - Estate Friday, February 10, 2012 - 8:00 a.m. +Joseph Ezzyk - Dorothy Koscelnick & Veronica Milo Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. All Souls Divine Liturgy; 5:30 p.m. +Helen Pecil - Bill and Barbara Nagy Sunday, February 12, 2012 - 10:00 a.m. God's Blessings on all Parishioners Come into this Church. Bring all you are, no need to check your failures at the door. There are no perfect people here. You are invited: come. Come in seeking; come in wondering; come in hurting. Come into this house of worship, companionship, and compassion. Come in. You are welcome here. Ss. Cyril and Methodius Church opens its door to you and in the name of Christ, our Lord, bids you welcome. There are people who come to church early to pray and meditate before the Divine Services begin. There are also those who choose to stay afterwards to do the same. Please refrain from unnecessary talking, both before and after the Divine Services, so that an appropriate atmosphere of prayer in God's Holy House may be maintained. Sunday/Holy Days: $1,117.00 Candles: $98.00 Cemetery: $22.00 Dues: $140.00 Fuel: $93.00 Memorial: $40.00 The Sacred Heart will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday, February 9th at 6:30 p.m. Members are asked to attend. Please mark Friday, February 17th, as the date for our pyrohy project. Volunteers are also needed Thursday at 10:00 a.m. to prepare potatoes and do other odd jobs. Please remember to fill out the "Sorokousty" envelopes for remembrance of the deceased loved ones in your family or friends and place them in the collection basket. If you are doing this for the first time, list all those you would like remembered, if you participated last year you need only to list those who are departed since last year. The five All Souls Saturdays are, February 11, March 3, March 10, March 17, and May 26. Although the envelope suggests $10.00, please remember that there are no fees for any church services and nothing is required. Adult Religious Education will be held on each Monday evening of Lent at 7:00 p.m. in the Church Hall. This year's topic will be "History of Christianity" and will include a video presentation each evening followed by a discussion. Everyone is welcome and there is no charge. The first evening will be Monday, February 20th at 7:00 p.m. Myasopusna 2012: Holy Transfiguration Church in Nanticoke is pleased to announce that dinner tickets are now available for the Annual Myasopusna Festival, held at the church's banquet hall, 240 Center Street, Nanticoke, on Sunday, February 12th, from noon to 4:00 p.m. The Myasopusna (Meatfare) Festival is the parish's pre-Lenten celebration, preceeding the Great Fast. Dinner (holuptsi, kobasi, ham, pyrohy, borscht, black bread and butter, and a homemade dessert) will be served from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., followed by live Ukrainian music and dance performances by Kazka, Holy Year Choir, and Saint Mary's Ukrainian Dancers. A variety of Ukrainian crafts will be on display and for sale. Dinner tickets are $13.00 ($10 if purchased by February 5) and can be purchased by calling Helen at 735-4654 or Geri at 824-3880. North Anthracite Council LUC will meet from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, 20 Nottingham Street, Plymouth, PA. This is a specially called session of importance to all Council members and will end early enough for participants to be able to enjoy the Super Bowl that evening. Fr. John has noticed that sometimes people are not aware of exactly where their Church donations go and so here is a short explaination. Generally, our church envelopes explain clearly which donations stay in the Parish and which ones are sent out. Memorial donations always go to the Parish. Stipends for Divine Liturgies, Prayer intentions, Sorokousty donations, Myrovania donations and gifts given at the time of funerals, weddings, and baptisms normally go to the priest who does the service. There are no set fees for any of these services although in some cases there are "customary amounts" such as $10.00 for Divine Liturgies. Sometimes a funeral director may suggest a "customary amount" for a funeral, however, this is not a set fee and all local funeral directors have been so instructed. If someone is not able or simply does not want to give a "customary ammount" there is no problem. Anyone who may have a question about this policy should contact Fr. John for clarification. Cars For Help, a 501C3 not-for-profit charity, is working to strengthen individual churches and various Catholic charities through vehicle donations. The process is fast, easy and requires just a phone call or visit to our website. If you would like to donate a vehicle in any condition, even severely broken or crashed, or just have questions, please call us directly at (630) 595-9272. You can also donate your vehicle at www.CarsForHelp.com. With mention of this bulletin, 25% of your vehicle donation proceeds will go directly to Ss. Cyril and Methodious Church. The traditional posture for prayer and worship in the Ukrainian Catholic Church has been to stand. In Ukraine and other "Old Countries," there are usually no pews in the churches. Chairs and benches on the side walls are usually for the elderly and infirm. In North America, we have tended to build our churches with pews; (under the influence of the marjority of Protestants) and since we have them, we need to figure out when we may sit and when we should stand. First of all, it is fully acceptable (even preferable) to stand for the entire service. If you prefer this, it would be better to find a place closer to the back or side of the church so as not to stand out or block someone's view. When should you definitely stand? Always during the Gospel reading, the Little and Great Entrances, the Anaphora, the distribution of Holy Communion, whenever the priest gives a blessing, (when the priest censes), and the Dismissal. In many parishes, the Divine Liturgy books in the pews have suggested times when sitting is acceptable. Follow these instructions. When in doubt, stand. It is never wrong to stand in church. Many parishes also follow the practice of kneeling on Sundays during certain portions of the Divine Liturgy. Strictly speaking, this is not correct, because every Sunday is a "little Pascha" in which the Resurrection is remembered, hence, no kneeling. The "kneeling prayers" and five weeks after Pascha are said after the Sunday Liturgy, "reinstating" kneeling for Vespers, Matins, and weekday Liturgies only. If the tradition of the parish you are visiting is to kneel, and everyone is kneeling, it is better to do so than to stick out like a sore thumb. If there is a mixture of standing and kneeling, then stand. Remember that Holy Canons, and the Tradition of the Church forbids kneeling at any time from Pascha to the Kneeling Prayers of Pentecost. "IN ADDITION to the study and true knowledge of the Scriptures are needed a good life and pure soul and virtue in Christ, so that the mind journeying in this path, may be able to obtain and apprehend what it desires, in so far as human nature is able to learn about God the Word. For without a pure mind and a life modeled on the saints, no one can apprehend the word of the saints." St. Athanasius the Great, +373 A.D. "THE FRIENDS of Christ love all truly, but are not themselves loved by all; the friends of the world neither love all nor are loved by all. The friends of Christ persevere in love to the end; the friends of the world persevere only until they fall out with each other over some wordly thing." St. Maximus the Confessor, 580-662 A.D. We all strive to be peaceful in the sense of having peace in our soul. Those who have acquired peace of soul can be in constant motion or busyness or in pain, but their souls being united closely to God remain in unshakable peace. "We must endeavor by every means to keep peace of soul. Do not be troubled by the insults or slights of other people. It is necessary at all costs to restrain oneself from anger and by watchfulness over oneself to keep the mind and heart from vain movement. For the guarding of peace of our souls, it is also necessary to restrain ourselves and flee from judging others. By being non-judgmental and being silent, our peace of soul will be preserved. When a person attains this state of mind, he receives divine revelation. We must keep our hearts from vain thoughts and impressions (Proverbs 4:23). By constant watchfulness over the heart, a purity of heart is born in which God is seen, according to the words of etarnal truth given in Matthew 5:8: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." North America society in the early 21st century is rather casual in its approach to life. Don't allow this prevailing attitude to enter into your Eastern Christian piety. There are surely a lot of other areas that could be covered here. Much of church etiquette is based on common sense and showing respect for God and others. Always remember that you are in church to worship God, the Holy Trinity. The priest says, "Approach with fear of God and with faith." Let this be the way you approach all of worship. If you do, you will probably have good church etiquette. Please remember in your prayers those who are sick or infirm in our parish: John Kukorlo, Martha Walton, Gary and Anna Mae Karchner, Ceola Coleman, Mae Milo, Helen Mackes, Helen Pecil, Carol Farrell, Margaret Crusan, George Stalega, Beverly Soback, Anna Matash, Dorothy Koscelnick, Frank Lehnowsky, Michael Rice, Helen Bobersky, Shirley Fowler, Helen Dyer, and Stella Klinger. |