Weekly Bulletin

His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas

120 W. Seneca St. Ithaca, NY 14850 http://www.stcatherine.ny.goarch.org

TEL. 607-273-2767 e-mail: stcatherinegoc@gmail.com

Fr. Zenoviy Zharsky /607/ 245-9988

 

Sunday, February 1, 2026

 

Welcome all visitors, please come again.

 

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"By changing ourselves in Christ, we are able to change the world around us"

 

Please let Father know who is in need of visiting and prayers. 

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Daily reading of the holy scripture, Saints for the day, liturgical schedule, news from the parish life, announcements and more, please read the Sunday Bulletin on the parish websitewww.stcatherine.ny.goarch.org 

Please submit to the parish priest all announcements for the church bulletin website before Thursday evening. Thank you.

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Scripture Reading: Matins: Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:16-20. Divine Liturgy Epistle: Romans 8:28-39. Gospel: Luke 8:10-14.

We pray for those who celebrate their birthday. Хρόνια πολλά & ευλογημενα! January - 28 Christin Greven, 31 Mark Franck, February - 4 Oenka Zharsky, 8 Joseph Syegh.  

Philoptochos: Please mark your calendar: our next Philoptochos meeting will be held on Sunday, March 1st following Divine Liturgy.
Reminder: Time to renew your Philoptochos membership or join for the first time. Dues remain at a minimum amount of $25 to cover our chapter's membership to the Metropolis and Archdiocese Philoptochos. A new coffee hour calendar has been posted. Please take a look and sign up alone or with a friend(s) so we can continue this warm, wonderful tradition. Next Sunday, February 8 remember to wear something RED. This small effort is encouraged by our National Philoptochos in support of American Heart Month, a time when all people can focus on their cardiovascular health. This specific initiative called Go Red For Women is to help raise awareness for the #1 cause of death for women: cardiovascular disease.

Memory Eternal! Αιώνια η μνήμη του! 3 Miroslav Dimitrijevic, 7 Viktor. We pray for the newly departed servant of God, Peter Metritikas.  

Liturgical Schedule:  Daily 3:00 PM. Let's pray Jesus Prayer for 10 minutes straight saying,"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." 

Monday, February 2 - 10:00 AM. Divine Liturgy. Presentation of Our Lord and Savior in the Temple. 3:00 PM. Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." 

Tuesday, February 3 - 3:00 PM JesusPrayer "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." 

Wednesday, February 4 -3:00 PM. Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" No Fasting. 6:00 PM. Prayers near Miraculous Icon Mother of God "The Tender Heart" St. George's Orthodox Church in Taylor, PA.  Every Wednesday we remember when Judas betrayed Christ. 

Thursday, February 5 - 3:00 PM. Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." 6:00 PM. Akaphist to the Theotokos. Following the service you will be anointed with the holy oil from Kardiotissa miracle icon. 

Friday, February 6 - 3:00 PM. Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." No Fasting. Every Friday we commemorate Christ's Crucifixion. 

Saturday, February 7 - 3:00 PM. Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" 6:00 PM. Great Vespers/Confession. Reading the life of the Saints. Catechism classes following the Vespers. 

Sunday, February 8 - 8:45 AM Orthros/Confession. 10:00 AM. Divine Liturgy. Every Sunday we commemorate Christ's resurrection.

Tomorrow, February 2 Holy Day Meeting of the Lord 10:00 Liturgy  The Church commemorates an important event in the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ (Lk 2: 22-40). On the 40th day after birth the God-Infant was taken to the Jerusalem Temple the centre of religious life of the God chosen nation. By the Law of Moses (Lev 12) a woman, having given birth to a child of the male gender, was forbidden for 40 days to enter into the Temple of God. After this interval the mother came to the Temple with the child, so as to offer to the Lord thanksgiving and a purification sacrifice. The Most Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, did not have need for purification, since without defilement she had given birth to the Source of purity and sanctity, but in profound humility she submitted to the precepts of the Law. At this time there lived at Jerusalem the righteous elder Simeon from the Angel of God had been revealed to him that he would not die until he should behold Christ the Saviour. By inspiration from above, the pious elder went to the Temple at that very moment when the Most Holy Mother of God and Righteous Joseph had brought there the Infant Jesus, so as to fulfill the ritual ceremony of the Law. The God-Bearer Simeon took the God-Infant in his arms, and having given thanks to God, he uttered a prophecy about the Saviour of the world: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart, O Lord, with peace according to Thy word, wherefore hath mine eyes beheld Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to the enlightening of gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel" (Lk 2: 29-32). Righteous Simeon said to the Most Holy Virgin: "Behold, This One is set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel and for the sign spoken against, and for Thee Thyself a sword shalt pierce the soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed" (Lk 2: 35).At the Temple was also the 84 year old widow Anna the Prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, "who did not leave the temple, serving God both day and night in fasting and prayer. And she also at that time, having drawn near, glorified the Lord and spake about Him to all awaiting deliverance at Jerusalem" (Lk 2: 37-38). Before the Birth of Christ, all righteous men and women lived by faith in the Future Messiah the Saviour of the world, and they awaited His coming. The final righteous ones of the closing Old Testament, Righteous Simeon and the Prophetess Anna were deemed worthy to meet at the Temple the Bearer of the New Testament, in the Person of Whom both Divinity and humanity do meet.

The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord is among the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church. It is known, that on the day of this solemnity were proclaimed sermons by Saint Bishops Methodios of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360) Gregory the Theologian (+ 389), Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400), and John Chrysostom (+ 407) 

Why Do the Dates of Easter Differ between East and West?
/Dr. Lewis J. Patsavos, Emeritus Professor of Canon Law/  One of the most frequent questions asked by and to Orthodox Christians is, "Why does the Orthodox Church celebrate Easter on a different day than other Christians?" This difference has a long history related to Christianity itself, the complex nature of calendars, and the use of astronomical data. Almost from the very beginning of the existence of the Christian Church, the issue regarding the date of our Lord's death and resurrection presented variations. Although the New Testament relates these events to the Jewish Passover, the details of this relationship are not clear. On the one hand, the tradition of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke identifies the Lord's Last Supper with His disciples as a Passover meal. This would place the death of our Lord on the day after Passover. On the other hand, the tradition of the Gospel of John situates the death of our Lord at the very hour the paschal lambs were sacrificed on the day of Passover itself. This variation in the interpretation of the Scriptures led to two different practices. The one observed Pascha on the day of Passover, regardless of the day of the week, that is a fixed date. The other observed it on the Sunday following Passover. By the fourth century, the latter practice prevailed throughout the Church universally; nevertheless, differences continued to exist. In response to this ongoing problem, the First Ecumenical Council, convened at Nicaea in 325 A.D. took up the issue. It determined that Pascha should be celebrated on the Sunday that follows the first full moon after the vernal equinox the actual beginning of spring. If the full moon happens to fall on a Sunday, Pascha is observed the following Sunday. The day taken to be the invariable date of the vernal equinox is March 21. Hence, the determination of the date of Pascha is governed by a process dependent on the vernal equinox and the phase of the moon. Another factor that figures prominently in determining the date of Pascha is the date of the Jewish Passover. Originally, Passover was celebrated on the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Christians, therefore, celebrated Pascha according to the same calculation that is, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. The correlation between the date of Pascha and the date of Passover is clear. Our Lord's death and resurrection coincided with Passover, thereby assuring a secure point of reference in time. This assurance lasted, however, only for a short time. Events in Jewish history contributing to the dispersion of the Jews had, as a consequence, a departure from the way Passover was reckoned at the time of our Lord's death and resurrection. This caused the Passover to precede the vernal equinox in some years. It was, in fact, this anomaly that led to the condemnation reflected in Canon 1 of Antioch ( 330 A.D.) and Canon 7 of the Holy Apostles (late 4th century) of those who celebrate Pascha "with the Jews." The purpose of this condemnation was to prevent Christians from taking into account the calculation of Passover in determining the date of Pascha. Most Christians eventually ceased to regulate the observance of Pascha by the Jewish Passover. Their purpose, of course, was to preserve the original practice of celebrating Pascha following the vernal equinox. Thus, the Council of Nicaea sought to link the principles for determining the date of Pascha to the norms for calculating Passover during our Lord's lifetime. Despite the intervention of the Council of Nicaea certain differences in the technicalities of regulating the date of Pascha remained even thereafter. This resulted occasionally in local variations until, by the sixth century, a more secure mode of calculation based on astronomical data was universally accepted. This was an alternative to calculating Pascha by the Passover and consisted in the creation of so-called "paschal cycles." Each paschal cycle corresponded to a certain number of years. Depending upon the number of years in the cycle, the full moon occurred on the same day of the year as at the beginning of the cycle with some exceptions. The more accurate the cycle, the less frequent were the exceptions. In the East, a nineteen-year cycle was eventually adopted, whereas in the West an eighty-four-year cycle. The use of two different paschal cycles inevitably gave way to differences between the Eastern and Western Churches regarding the observance of Pascha. A further cause for these differences was the adoption by the Western Church of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 to replace the Julian Calendar. This took place in order to adjust the discrepancy, then observed between the paschal cycle approach to calculating Pascha and the available astronomical data. The Orthodox Church continues to base its calculations for the date of Pascha on the Julian Calendar, which was in use at the time of the First Ecumenical Council. As such, it does not take into account the thirteen-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. Practically speaking, this means that Pascha may not be celebrated before April 3, which was March 21, the date of the vernal equinox, at the time of the First Ecumenical Council. In other words, a difference of thirteen days exists between the accepted date for the vernal equinox then and now. Consequently, it is the combination of these variables that accounts for the different dates of Pascha observed by the Orthodox Church and other Christian Churches. If anything, this review of the complexities surrounding the issue of the date of Pascha underscores the compelling need to revisit it with patience and openness. This topic has long been a concern of ecumenical dialogue. This was the spirit that predominated at a consultation on the matter held in Aleppo, Syria in 1997. One of its conclusions was that the underlying reason for the differences in the date of Pascha was the differences in the calendars and lunar tables (paschal cycles) employed rather than any theological disagreement between Eastern and Western Christians. In view of the fact that today both the Julian and Gregorian modes of calculation diverge from the astronomical data, it behooves all Christians to return to the norms determined by the Council of Nicaea, taking advantage of the most up to date astronomical data for the vernal equinox and the phase of the moon.

 

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Methods of Giving:

Cash and checks can be brought to the church and put in the donation baskets.

 

Checks made out to Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church can also be mailed to:

St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church

120 W. Seneca St Ithaca, NY 14850

 

When you write your will, won't you please remember St. Catherine's Church? Such a gift will live forever as our church minister to our spiritual needs and others. It's an investment in the Gospel of our Lord and life eternal.

 

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