For the latest parish news, please see this week's bulletin in PDF format here.

Please join us for Christmas services at our church: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 – 7:00pm Christmas Eve services with Fr. Michael Macura Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021 – 10:00am Christmas Holy Liturgy with Very Rev. Luke Mihaly

On Friday October 25, 2019, life-long and beloved parishioner Serge G. Mihaly, Jr. reposed in the Lord.

Serge was born in New Haven on March 30, 1960 to the late Serge and Elizabeth (Chornock) Mihaly. He was a graduate of Trumbull High School class of 1978 and graduated Yale University in 1982 where he earned a B.A. in American History. He also earned a M.A. in Teaching from Sacred Heart University in 1987 teaching for approximately ten years in Waterbury, New Haven and Shelton. He also studied Accounting at Sacred Heart University, Labor Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, writing at Long Island University and Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University. He had self-published two books one of which was on 9-11 and was currently working on another book on history.

The Church New Year has begun and parish life is back into full swing as we enter into the season of Autumn.

I am pleased that the recent holy days of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross were well attended. Church School has begun and we have resumed our weekly Bible Study. All of this of course with preparations for our Annual Slavic Food Fest taking place, our annual picnic and our ongoing outreach work at the Lord’s Kitchen.

Bishop Gregory has often reminded us that it is important that we be active Orthodox Christians in both our spiritual lives and in the lives of our parish community. The world needs us to be light and salt, to help others navigate the stormy seas of life.

On the weekend of September 8-9, 2018, His Grace, Bishop Gregory traveled to St. John The Baptist Orthodox Church in Stratford, CT (Broadbridge Avenue) to lead the parish in the celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Ordination to the Holy Priesthood of their Pastor, the Very Rev. Protopresbyter Peter Paprosk..The parishioners were delighted to welcome His Grace, Bishop Gregory for his second visit to parish. His Grace presided over Great Vespers on Saturday evening and celebrated his first Hierarchical Liturgy in the parish on Sunday Morning. His Grace was welcomed prior to Divine Liturgy with the traditional gifts of bread and salt by Parish Council President William Bilcheck, and was greeted by Fr. Peter and presented with the parish hand cross.

I greet you with much joy as begin the New Church Year.

With Summer vacation over and our children and young adults back to school, parish life now shifts to high gear. Later this month our Church School program begins and we resume our Adult Scripture Study.

As we begin the new Church Year, It is good that we celebrate the Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Live-giving Cross. Its placement by the Church at this time of the year is intentional, as it reminds us about the reality of the life in Christ,.

We have just entered into the beautiful Season of Summer. School is out, the weather is finally warming up, and the hectic pace of life has begun to slow down a bit.

For many, Summer will bring the opportunity for vacationing with our family and friend. Pani Carol and I just returned from a vacation at the Delaware Shore where we spent a week relaxing at the Beach, soaking in the sun and breathing in the refreshing salt air. This year we were delighted to see for the first time ever, dolphins playing in the sea!

It is hard to believe that we are already celebrating the Great Feast of Pentecost! It seems like we just celebrated Pascha!

It is my prayer that the Grace of the Holy Spirit, which has once again been renewed within us on this feast, will help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

May the gifts of the Holy Spirit, “…love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” take firm root within our souls, so that we may be living icons of our Risen Lord of Glory.

It is hard to believe that the Lenten Season has come to a close and that we have now embarked on the final leg of our journey to Pascha, that of Passion (Holy) Week!

It has been quite a journey! With all of the joys and struggles, that one normallyencounters during the Fast, we also dealt with two nor’easters in a row which forced us to reschedule our Presanctified Liturgy and cancel our adult education.

None the less, I have been pleased by the peaceful spirit which has permeated our parish life during Great Lent. I have seen in the calm demeanor of so many of you the fruits of the three pillars of Lent at work in your lives, that of Prayer, Fasting and Good Works

We are now two weeks into the Great Fast! We have begun to stretch our spiritual muscles and hopefully we are starting to reap the benefits of this joyful season.

To someone outside the household of the faith, it seems incomprehensible that we could describe this time of increased spiritual effort and fasting as being joyful. Only one who walks the walk of the Lenten Disciplines of the Church can possibly understand this miraculous reality, that in our deprivation of food and earthly pleasures, we are filled with spiritual riches that warms our heart and nourishes our soul.

It is hard to believe that so soon after celebrating the beautiful feasts of The Nativity of Our Lord and Theophany, we have now begun our journey to another spiritually amazing season: that of Great Lent.

As the above hymn which is sung as the Season of the Great Fast begins teaches us, Great Lent is a wonderful gift from the Church. While it is true that Lent is spiritually challenging, its purpose is not to punish us, but rather help us. There is so much spiritual fruit for us to feast on, with the beautiful Divine services and the many opportunities for quiet time and reflection.

II greet you with great spiritual joy as we conclude the beautiful and saving days of the Nativity Fast. I look forward to celebrating the deeply moving and spiritually uplifting services of Christmas with all of you. I especially enjoy the Vigil Service for the Nativity, when in the wee hours of the morning we sing the beautiful Christmas Canon that was composed by St. Cosmas of Maiuma.

In the ninth Ode of the Canon, which we repeat as the Hymn to the Virgin at the Christmas Liturgy, we proclaim the great mystery of the birth of our Saviour.

This year our Annual Christmas Outreach Project will assist the needy of Stratford. It involves the following:

1. Providing personal care items for the needy of Stratford.
2. Preparing a Festive Christmas Dinner at the Lord's Kitchen on Wednesday Dec 20th.
3. Assisting a needy family in the Greater Stratford Community.

To participate, please select one or more items you would like to donate from the Online Giving Tree (Link is Found on Parish Website Home Page) With the exception of certain items of prepared food we are asking for cash donations of varying amounts to cover the personal care items which the Church has already bought in bulk at an incredible savings, the meal ingredients, and the family assistance.

Please make payment on Sundays at Church or mail checks payable to St. John The Baptist Orthodox Church, 1240 Broadbridge Avenue, Stratford, CT 06615. Attention: Christmas Outreach.

Please be generous. Contact Fr. Peter with any questions at priest@sjoc.org or 203-260-0423

It is hard to believe that Autumn has arrived and later this month, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with our families around our tables.

This month (November 21) we celebrate the feast of the Archangel Michael and the Bodiless Powers of Heaven. It is a beautiful feast that reminds us of the ministry of angels within the life of the Church.

We live in what some may pessimistically describe as dark days. Yes we are faced with unprecedented conflict in the world, with the threat of nuclear war and a looming health care crisis

We are organizing a parish outing to a UCONN Women's Basketball Game on Sunday Dec 3, 2017 at 4:00 pm at the XL Center in Hartford. The Lady Huskies are playing Notre Dame, so it should be an exciting game!

We need to get a minimum group of 12 people to get a special group rate of approx $27 with fees. Please add your name to the online sign-up sheet below indicating the number of tickets you would like to reserve by Nov 14, 2017.