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Home , Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus

the Orthodox 146 Third Avenue, Rankin, PA 15104 Pastor: Very Reverend Nicholas Ferencz, PhD Cantor: Professor Jerry Jumba Parish President : Carole Bushak

Glory to Christ! Glory Forever! Slava Isusu Christu! Slava vo v’iki!

Rectory Phone: 412 271-2725. E-mail: [email protected] Hall Phone: 412-294-7952 WEB: www.stmichaelsrankin.org

JANUARY 24, 2021 SUNDAY AFTER THEOPHANY

Sun., Jan. 24 Sunday after Theophany. Thedosius 9:00 AM Panachida: George Dorogy 40 Day Memorial Sun, Jan. 31 34th Sunday after Pentecost. 13th Luke. Archbishops Athanasius and Cyril of 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy. Panachida: January Perpetuals: (1/4) Sveton Simonoff. (1/10) Michael Lesko, Jr. (1/11) Zeok. (1/14) Mary Palovcsik. (1/17) Michael Beresh. (1/25) Steve Stegena. (1/31) Michael Hritz, Peter Belinsky. Sun., Feb. 7 35th Sunday after Pentecost. 14th Luke. of , called the Theologion 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy. Annual Parish Meeting Fri., Feb 12 Three Holy Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologion and 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy Sun., Feb. 14 Sunday of Zacchaeus. Martyr Tryphon. 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy. Oath of Office of the Newly Elected Parish Council

Holy Mystery of Confession: I will be available for Confessions after the Divine Liturgy, when the church is more private. Or, you can make an appointment and we will arrange an appropriate time. Please just contact me. PEOPLE STUFF Prayer List: Deceased: George Dorogy. Joseph Merlo. Kathy Bonnano Living: Father Joe Cervo. Father George Livanos. Father Patrick. Mother Christophora and the of Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Kristina Anatakis. Dana Andrade. Gloria Andrade. Gregory Michael Aurilio. Georgia B. Chastity and Jeff Bache. Banosky. Brandon. Walter Bolbat. Donald Bodnar. John Bonnano, Rob & Carol Bonnano. Jaime Budesa. Barbara Bournios. Nicholas Burkhart. Barbara Chappie. Rebecca, David & Bradley Cozad. Mary Ann Crouse. Delores Cubakovic. Martha Danchak. Glenn Davies. Christina Duranko. Nicholas Duranko. Margaret Dorogy. Breanne Glass. Dorothy Glass. Eddie Gombos. Jennifer Hartrick. Joseph Hlavac. George Hrabchak. Raymond Hrabchak. Shirley Hrubic. Zhensan Huang. Kevin and Karen Ianni. Gary Ingelido. Andrea Kerkentzes. Jeanne Lesko and family. Bobby Malackany. Marina. Joan Martell. Sharon Mascilak. Ed McCreanor. Jake McLaughlin. Zoe Mehalik. Helen Mihalik. Teresa Onuska. Frank Palmieri. Bob Perevuznik, Jr. Millie Phillips. Robert Petro. Anna Senich. Bernice Siudak. Terry Slezak. Milton and Thelma

Page 1 of 4 Supak. Diana Terezis. Bobby and Dee Triffanoff. Carol and Ernie Vallozzi. Josh Walendziewicz. Paul & Valerie Our Gifts to and our Church Yednak. Edward Yoon. Jeanne and Jim Zajac. Sunday, January 10, 2021 Bakers: Trudy Trifanoff. Delores Cubakovic and their Attendance 19 intentions. Also: Chase Vlad, Gianna Vlad, Laura, Sharita, Communions 8 all who have contracted the virus, all who care for them, and all First-Responders, and all who are working in the Health Collections and Medical Fields during this time of crisis. Monthly 55.00 Sunday 495.00 Christmas 325.00 F(E)ASTING All Votive Candles 114.00 Three Holy Bishops Basil the Great, Gregory the Blding Maintenance 150.00 Theologion and John Chrysostom, Friday, February 12. Dioc Membership Divine Liturgy at 9 AM. Special Donation 600.00 Spec Dona: Memory of ENCOUNTER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH George Dorogy 400.00 AND ANNA IN THE TEMPLE, Monday, February 15. Divine Total Offerings: 2139.00 Liturgy and Blessing of Candles at 9 AM. Update: Building and Repairs Donations which are available for upcoming repairs to date are $4163! God bless your generosity! PARISH STUFF Reminder! New Jordan Water! The New Water has been blessed and is available for you in the church. Please bring your own bottle. We have disinfectant wipes available for you to wipe off the spout of the Holy Water Tank after you use it. If you need more, the New Water will be available in the Holy Water Tank, either in the front of the church or in the vestibule. I am repeating the instructions for you to use to bless your home this year: To Bless your Home: Start in a common room: Kitchen, Dining Room, Living Room, etc. It is best to have all of the family assembled together. Make the Sign of the , then say the “Our Father.” Then sprinkle new Jordan Water in that room in the form of a Cross. Go through your home, sprinkling each room with the new Jordan Water in the form of a Cross. When you are done, it is best to return to the room you started in. Together, say the “Our Father” again, then make the Sign of the Cross. All should drink some of the New Water at the end of the ceremony. Home Blessings will resume when we can do them. Perhaps we will be able to do them late summer or early fall this year. Next year, we will bless homes as usual (we hope and pray). Building and Repairs Donations which are available for upcoming repairs to date are $4163! New! 3rd Official Parish Announcement The Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Sunday, February 7, after the Divine Liturgy. Newly elected Council Members will receive the Oath of Office on Sunday, Feb 14.

ST. BASIL THE GREAT, ARCHBISHOP OF CÆSAREA (Continued from last week) St Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the activity of Basil the Great during this period, points to “the caring for the destitute and the taking in of strangers, the supervision of virgins, written and unwritten monastic rules for , the arrangement of prayers [Liturgy], the felicitous arrangement of altars and other things.” Upon the death of , the Bishop of Caesarea, St Basil was chosen to succeed him in the year 370. As Bishop of Caesarea, St Basil the Great was the newest of fifty bishops in eleven provinces. St Athanasius the Great (May 2), with joy and with thanks to God welcomed the appointment to of such a bishop as

Page 2 of 4 Basil, famed for his reverence, deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, great learning, and his efforts for the welfare of Church peace and unity. Under , the external government belonged to the Arians, who held various opinions regarding the divinity of the Son of God, and were divided into several factions. These dogmatic disputes were concerned with questions about the . In his books Against Eunomios, St Basil the Great taught the divinity of the Holy Spirit and His equality with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, in order to provide a full explanation of Orthodox teaching on this question, St Basil wrote his book On the Holy Spirit at the request of St Amphilochius, the Bishop of Iconium. St Basil’s difficulties were made worse by various circumstances: Cappadocia was divided in two under the rearrangement of provincial districts. Then at Antioch a schism occurred, occasioned by the consecration of a second bishop. There was the negative and haughty attitude of Western bishops to the attempts to draw them into the struggle with the Arians. And there was also the departure of Eustathius of Sebaste over to the Arian side. Basil had been connected to him by ties of close friendship. Amidst the constant perils St Basil gave encouragement to the Orthodox, confirmed them in the Faith, summoning them to bravery and endurance. The holy bishop wrote numerous letters to the churches, to bishops, to and to individuals. Overcoming the heretics “by the weapon of his mouth, and by the arrows of his letters,” as an untiring champion of , St Basil challenged the hostility and intrigues of the Arian heretics all his life. He has been compared to a bee, stinging the Church’s enemies, yet nourishing his flock with the sweet honey of his teaching. The emperor Valens, mercilessly sending into exile any bishop who displeased him, and having implanted into other Asia Minor provinces, suddenly appeared in Cappadocia for this same purpose. He sent the prefect Modestus to St Basil. He began to threaten the saint with the confiscation of his property, banishment, beatings, and even death.

Page 3 of 4 St Basil said, “If you take away my possessions, you will not enrich yourself, nor will you make me a pauper. You have no need of my old worn-out clothing, nor of my few books, of which the entirety of my wealth is comprised. Exile means nothing to me, since I am bound to no particular place. This place in which I now dwell is not mine, and any place you send me shall be mine. Better to say: every place is God’s. Where would I be neither a stranger and sojourner (Ps. 38/39:13)? Who can torture me? I am so weak, that the very first blow would render me insensible. Death would be a kindness to me, for it will bring me all the sooner to God, for Whom I live and labor, and to Whom I hasten.” The official was stunned by his answer. “No one has ever spoken so audaciously to me,” he said. “Perhaps,” the saint remarked, “ that is because you’ve never spoken to a bishop before. In all else we are meek, the most humble of all. But when it concerns God, and people rise up against Him, then we, counting everything else as naught, look to Him alone. Then fire, sword, wild beasts and iron rods that rend the body, serve to fill us with joy, rather than fear.” Reporting to Valens that St Basil was not to be intimidated, Modestus said, “Emperor, we stand defeated by a leader of the Church.” Basil the Great again showed firmness before the emperor and his retinue and made such a strong impression on Valens that the emperor dared not give in to the Arians demanding Basil’s exile. “On the day of Theophany, amidst an innumerable multitude of the people, Valens entered the church and mixed in with the throng, in order to give the appearance of being in unity with the Church. When the singing of Psalms began in the church, it was like thunder to his hearing. The emperor beheld a sea of people, and in the altar and all around was splendor; in front of all was Basil, who acknowledged neither by gesture nor by glance, that anything else was going on in church.” Everything was focused only on God and the altar-table, and the clergy serving there in awe and reverence. St Basil celebrated the church services almost every day. He was particularly concerned about the strict fulfilling of the Canons of the Church, and took care that only worthy individuals should enter into the clergy. He incessantly made the rounds of his own church, lest anywhere there be an infraction of Church discipline, and setting aright any unseemliness. At Caesarea, St Basil built two monasteries, a men’s and a women’s, with a church in honor of the Forty Martyrs (March 9) whose were buried there. Following the example of monks, the saint’s clergy, even and priests, lived in remarkable poverty, to toil and lead chaste and virtuous lives. For his clergy St Basil obtained an exemption from taxation. He used all his personal wealth and the income from his church for the benefit of the destitute; in every center of his diocese he built a poor-house; and at Caesarea, a home for wanderers and the homeless. Sickly since youth, the toil of teaching, his life of abstinence, and the concerns and sorrows of pastoral service took their toll on him. St Basil died on January 1, 379 at age 49. Shortly before his death, the saint blessed St Gregory the Theologian to accept the See of . Upon the repose of St Basil, the Church immediately began to celebrate his memory. St Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (November 23), in his eulogy to St Basil the Great, said: “It is neither without a reason nor by chance that holy Basil has taken leave from the body and had repose from the world unto God on the day of the Circumcision of Jesus, celebrated between the day of the Nativity and the day of the Baptism of Christ. Therefore, this most blessed one, preaching and praising the Nativity and Baptism of Christ, extolling spiritual circumcision, himself forsaking the flesh, now ascends to Christ on the sacred day of remembrance of the Circumcision of Christ. Therefore, let it also be established on this present day annually to honor the memory of Basil the Great festively and with solemnity.” St Basil is also called “the revealer of heavenly mysteries” (Ouranophantor), a “renowned and bright star,” and “the glory and beauty of the Church.” His honorable head is in the Great Lavra on Mount Athos.

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