March 8th, 2022

Glory to Jesus Christ!     

Glory to Him forever!

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

This first Sunday of the Great Fast, In our prayers we remembered the people of Ukraine who are into the second week of war after the invasion by Russia. The world watches as the brutal attack continues to claim innocent lives with no end in sight. Only an escalation is predicted. For us here the challenges of the past two years of Covid are giving way to a slow return to normalcy (whatever that may be). We step into the second week of the Great Fast with a little bit of trepidation, but there is hope.

The Great Fast will be a season of healing and reckoning. 

The Great Fast offers us respite as an oasis of prayer and reflection. 

The Great Fast offers us purification from all the woes, stresses and anxieties of these last couple of years, as we are urged to trust in God’s plan for us.

The Great Fast offers us renewal in new life, that draws on the great hope we have in Jesus Christ.

That is what I urge you to make this Lent holy. Be committed to fasting, prayer and acts of generosity (alms giving). Make time to participate in the activities and services at St. Basil’s.  Read the Bible, study and share with your children. May your Lenten efforts be richly rewarded by our Lord  who is merciful and loves us all.

The items below are all important and so please read carefully.

-the Melkite Outreach will be serving their Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Carmelite Monastery for all Sundays of the Great Fast (except Mar. 20, when they will be at St. Basil’s) as well as Palm Sunday and Wednesday-Friday of Holy Week. They will be back on Holy Saturday night for their Pascha Liturgy.

-On Saturday, March 12, the Vigil Divine Liturgy will be served at 4pm. There will be no great vespers.

-During the Great Fast on Wednesday and Friday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served at 7pm. This Lenten Vespers with Communion is one of the most beautiful services of our liturgical cycle. The schedule is set for all of Lent and Holy Week and Pascha and has been emailed to you. Please try to participate as much as you can. On Fridays there will be a potluck after the service. Bring something simple and lenten! All are welcome.

-During the Great Fast we also remember our deceased loved ones, the founders and benefactors of our parish and all those who have been called to eternal life. A part of the All Souls remembrance is the reading of all the family names and the first name of each of the deceased inscribed into the book of diptychs. If you have not submitted your names for remembrance please do so by emailing me at  [email protected]

Please write your names in this manner and email me at the above address:

RAFAJ, PRIKAZSKY and MILCZAREK families

Ludvík

Eva

Juan

Otilie

Ludvík 

Esteban

Teresa

Ludmila

Marie

Antonin

Note: if you have names to add to your family’s list, please also send that to me at the same above email address.

-during the Great Fast we are asked to abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays and Good Friday is a day of strict fast (no animal products). This is the minimum requirement. Please challenge yourselves in fasting, amp it up!

-Children’s Faith Education has been one of our perennial problems at St. Basil’s with limited space and opportunity. We will be trying out a Sunday program that will begin on Sunday, March 13 at 12:30pm (concluding at 2:30pm). The program is geared toward preschool to 8th grade (older kids can help!). Parents are also welcome to help out. On March 13 we will be focused on the Great Fast, specifically Prayer, Fasting, Forgiveness and Confession. Lunch is included for kids and adults. 

This program will not be every Sunday, but rather spaced out through the Liturgical Year, so that we can work together with our parents in teaching faith. Please plan to be here with your children. Your support is essential!

-Adult Faith Education begins this Tuesday, March 8 with “Inexhaustible Delights” an introduction to the sacraments in the Byzantine Tradition. This class will be led by Andrew Gill and will also be live streamed through zoom. Please check our parish website for more information.

https://stbasilsinirving.org/adult-faith-education

-the St. Basil’s Homeschool Co-op will be meeting on Friday, March 18 at the Lamb home. 

-recent and older webinars on a variety of topics are available on our parish YouTube page. Please check it out and subscribe! We hope to soon be running the live stream of the Divine Liturgy on this page. More will be added in the near future. 

https://youtube.com/channel/UClAI2ehr0uhFVXWREck3XcA

-The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh has asked for a special collection to be taken for the mother Eparchy of our Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church, that is the Eparchy of Mukachevo in Ukraine.  You will find envelopes available for this collection the next two Sundays, March  13 and 20. Please make checks payable to St. Basil the Great with the Memo "Ukraine".  We will combine the cash and checks and send a single check from St. Basil’s  to the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.

Please be generous with your assistance to our fellow Byzantines under attack from the Russians in Ukraine.

-on February 14, the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the Roman Church (in the Byzantine Church the feast of the death of St. Cyril), Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, TX, established the Shrine of Sts. Cyril and Methodius at Dubina, TX, the oldest parish dedicated to their memory. On Bright Saturday, April 23, we will have an All-Texas Byzantine Pilgrimage to this little village in central Texas and we will serve the Vigil Divine Liturgy at 1pm (the Liturgy for Thomas Sunday) and have an opportunity to meet other Texan Byzantines. This will be a wonderful opportunity to receive the special graces that are offered at a shrine for pilgrims. More information will be forth coming in the next weeks as details are worked out.

-Volunteers needed to help with Holy Week and Pascha decorations. If you are willing to help out, please contact Fr. Elias. After the last two years of the pandemic, this celebration of Holy and Great Week and Pascha will be a joyous return to a richly decorated temple!

-An award winning and highly acclaimed movie on the life of St. Nektarios of Aegina was released in Europe. This Greek-Serbian collaboration tells the story of the trials and tribulations of St. Nektarios who humbly bore the accusations as he preached the Gospel. St. Nektarios is one of the most popular and miraculous saints of recent times. I personally have seen quite a few of his miracles in the lives of people close to me. Sadly the movie is here only for two days, March 21 and 28. It will be shown in some 400 theaters for one show on each day, because  the topic is too “religious”. Online you can find out who is showing is showing it. I got my tickets!

-The Great Fast is a time of spiritual exercises and prayer. If you would like to come for Confession or to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, please email me or call me so that we can set up an appointment. If you are unable to come to Church, let me know and I will bring you reconciliation and Communion. My number is 713-256-8953 (voice or text)

Fr. Elias