Tuesday, May 31
8:30 AM – Hours
Wednesday, June 1
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, June 2
8:30 AM –Akathist Service
Friday, June 3
9:30 AM – Old Testament Class
Saturday, June 4
3 PM – Vespers
Sunday, June 5
10 AM – Divine Liturgy
11:30 AM – Graduate Sunday
12 noon – Parish Picnic
Readers Schedule
6/5 – Bob Faubel
6/12 – Paul Toaso
6/19 – Susan Paltauf
6/26 – Susan Sulich
Coffee Hour
6/5 – Parish Picnic
6/12 – OPEN
6/19 – Father’s Day
6/26 – OPEN
Monday, May 23
6 PM – Prayer Group
7 PM – OCMC presentation by Kenny Kidde, Development Director
Tuesday, May 24
8:30 AM – Hours
Wednesday, May 25
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, May 26
8:30 AM –Akathist Service
Friday, May 27
9:30 AM – Old Testament Class
Saturday, May 28
4 PM – Wedding of Nicholas Fong and Jenny Bostic
Sunday, May 29
10 AM – Divine Liturgy
Readers Schedule
5/22 – Harry Fong
5/29 – Paul Sulich
Coffee Hour
5/29 – Chow Family
6/5 – Parish Picnic
6/12 – OPEN
6/19 – Father’s Day
6/26 – OPEN
Monday, May 16
7 PM – Spirituality Class
Wednesday, May 18
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, May 19
7 PM – Monthly St. Nectarios Service
Friday, May 20
9:30 AM – Old Testament Class
7 PM to 10 PM – Teen SOYO dance at St. George’s for ages 13-18
Saturday, May 21
8 AM – ASP Work Day in Danbury
5 PM – Vespers
Sunday, May 22
9 AM – Church school
10 AM – Divine Liturgy
Monday, May 23
7 PM – OCMC presentation by Kenny Kidde, Development Director
Readers Schedule
5/22 – Harry Fong
5/29 – Paul Sulich
Coffee Hour
5/22 – Chow Family
5/29 – OPEN
6/5 – Parish Picnic
6/12 – OPEN
6/19 – Father’s Day
6/26 – OPEN
Saturday, May 14
5 PM – Vespers
Sunday, May 15
10 AM – Divine Liturgy
12:30 PM – Rectory/office committee Meeting
2 PM – Parish Council Meeting
Fr. Luke will be out of town this week for an OCMC Board meeting and a Diocesan Clergy Convocation. Please call the rectory if there are any emergencies.
Readers Schedule
5/8 – Suzanne Molineaux
5/15 – Susan Paltauf
5/22 – Harry Fong
5/29 – Paul Sulich
Coffee Hour
5/8 – Mother’s Day – see Harry Fong and Paul Sulich
5/15 – Young
5/22 – Chow Family
5/29 – OPEN
6/5 – Parish Picnic
6/12 – OPEN
6/19 – Father’s Day/Bishop Gregory’s Visit
6/26 – OPEN
Introduction ![bridegroom-1[1]](https://holytrinitydanbury.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/bridegroom-11-217x300.jpg)
Beginning on the evening of Palm Sunday and continuing through the evening of Holy Tuesday, the Orthodox Church observes a special service known as the Service of the Bridegroom. Each evening service is the Matins or Orthros service of the following day (e.g. the service held on Sunday evening is the Orthros service for Holy Monday). The name of the service is from the figure of the Bridegroom in the parable of the Ten Virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13.
Background
The first part of Holy Week presents us with an array of themes based chiefly on the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. The story of the Passion, as told and recorded by the Evangelists, is preceded by a series of incidents located in Jerusalem and a collection of parables, sayings and discourses centered on Jesus’ divine sonship, the kingdom of God, the Parousia, and Jesus’ castigation of the hypocrisy and dark motives of the religious leaders. The observances of the first three days of Great Week are rooted in these incidents and sayings. The three days constitute a single liturgical unit. They have the same cycle and system of daily prayer. The Scripture lessons, hymns, commemorations, and ceremonials that make up the festal elements in the respective services of the cycle highlight significant aspects of salvation history, by calling to mind the events that anticipated the Passion and by proclaiming the inevitability and significance of the Parousia.
The Orthros of each of these days is called the Service of the Bridegroom (Akolouthia tou Nimfiou). The name comes from the central figure in the well-known parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). The title Bridegroom suggests the intimacy of love. It is not without significance that the kingdom of God is compared to a bridal feast and a bridal chamber. The Christ of the Passion is the divine Bridegroom of the Church. The imagery connotes the final union of the Lover and the beloved. The title Bridegroom also suggests the Parousia. In the patristic tradition, the aforementioned parable is related to the Second Coming; and is associated with the need for spiritual vigilance and preparedness, by which we are enabled to keep the divine commandments and receive the blessings of the age to come. The troparion “Behold the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night…”, which is sung at the beginning of the Orthros of Great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, relates the worshiping community to that essential expectation: watching and waiting for the Lord, who will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Holy Monday
On Holy Monday we commemorate Joseph the Patriarch, the beloved son of Jacob. A major figure of the Old Testament, Joseph’s story is told in the final section of the Book of Genesis (chs. 37-50). Because of his exceptional qualities and remarkable life, our patristic and liturgical tradition portrays Joseph as tipos Christou, i.e., as a prototype, prefigurement or image of Christ. The story of Joseph illustrates the mystery of God’s providence, promise and redemption. Innocent, chaste and righteous, his life bears witness to the power of God’s love and promise. The lesson to be learned from Joseph’s life, as it bears upon the ultimate redemption wrought by the death and resurrection of Christ, is summed up in the words he addressed to his brothers who had previously betrayed him, “’Fear not … As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ Thus he reassured them and comforted them” (Genesis 50:19-21). The commemoration of the noble, blessed and saintly Joseph reminds us that in the great events of the Old Testament, the Church recognizes the realities of the New Testament.
Also, on Great and Holy Monday the Church commemorates the event of the cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-20). In the Gospel narrative this event is said to have occurred on the morrow of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:18 and Mark 11:12). For this reason it found its way into the liturgy of Great Monday. The episode is also quite relevant to Great Week. Together with the event of the cleansing of the Temple this episode is another manifestation of Jesus’ divine power and authority and a revelation as well of God’s judgment upon the faithlessness of the Jewish religious classes. The fig tree is symbolic of Israel become barren by her failure to recognize and receive Christ and His teachings. The cursing of the fig tree is a parable in action, a symbolic gesture. Its meaning should not be lost on any one in any generation. Christ’s judgment on the faithless, unbelieving, unrepentant and unloving will be certain and decisive on the Last Day. This episode makes it clear that nominal Christianity is not only inadequate, it is also despicable and unworthy of God’s kingdom. Genuine Christian faith is dynamic and fruitful. It permeates one’s whole being and causes a change. Living, true and unadulterated faith makes the Christian conscious of the fact that he is already a citizen of heaven. Therefore, his way of thinking, feeling, acting and being must reflect this reality. Those who belong to Christ ought to live and walk in the Spirit; and the Spirit will bear fruit in them: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-25).
– See more at: http://lent.goarch.org/bridegroom_services/learn/#sthash.yzeA0Oio.dpuf
Monday, April 25
9 AM – Bridegroom Matins
6 PM – Presanctified Liturgy
Tuesday, April 26
9 AM – Bridegroom Matins
6 PM – Presanctified Liturgy
Wednesday, April 27
9 AM – Bridegroom Matins
12 noon – Presanctified Liturgy
6 PM – Holy Unction Service
Thursday, April 28
9 AM – Vesperal Liturgy – Institution of the Eucharist
7 PM – Matins and the Reading of the 12 Passion Gospels
Friday, April 29
9 AM – Royal Hours
7 PM – Great & Holy Friday Vespers with Procession and Guarding the Tomb
Saturday, April 30
9 AM – Vesperal Liturgy
11 PM – Nocturne, Paschal Matins, Paschal Divine Liturgy followed by blessing of the Baskets and Agape Meal
Sunday, May 1
12 Noon – Paschal Vespers
Monday May 2
9 AM – Liturgy
7 PM – Vespers/ Spirituality Class
Readers Schedule
4/24 – Susan Paltauf
5/1- Paul Sulich
5/8 – Suzanne Molineaux
Coffee Hour
4/24 – Pot Luck/Lenten Cook Off
5/1 – PASCHA
5/8 – Mother’s Day – see Harry Fong and Paul Sulich
Monday, April 11
6 PM – Prayer Group
7 PM – Spirituality Class
Tuesday, April 12
8:30 AM – Lenten Hours
9 AM – Perogie Session
Wednesday, April 13
9 AM – Lenten Hours
6 PM – Presanctified Liturgy followed by Lenten Meal
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, April 14
8:30 AM – Akathist of Repentance
6 PM – Canon of St. Andrew and Life of St. Mary of Egypt
Friday, April 15
9 AM – Lenten Hours
9:30 AM – Old Testament Class
7 PM – Akathist at St. Georges
Saturday, April 16
10 AM – 3 PM – Second Bake and Craft Sale
5 PM – Vespers
Sunday, April 17
9 AM – Church School – Youth/Teens
10 AM –Liturgy – St. Mary of Egypt Sunday
11:30 AM – Church School – Children
Readers Schedule
4/10 –Bob Faubel
4/17 – Sandi Fong
4/24 – Susan Paltauf
5/1- Paul Sulich
Coffee Hour
4/10 Fundraiser OCMC
4/17 – OPEN
4/24 – Pot Luck/Lenten Cook Off
5/1 – PASCHA
5/8 – OPEN
Monday, April 4
6 PM – Prayer Group
7 PM – Spirituality Class
Tuesday, April 5
8:30 AM – Lenten Hours
9 AM – Perogie Session
Wednesday, April 6,
9 AM – Lenten Hours
6 PM – Presanctified Liturgy followed by Lenten Meal
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, April 7
8:30 AM – Akathist of Repentance
Friday, April 8
9 AM – Lenten Hours
9:30 AM – Old Testament Class
5:30 PM – Moleben to the Cross
7 PM – Akathist at St. Georges
Saturday, April 9
8 AM – Taylor trip to weeping icon. Meet at church parking lot
6 PM – Vespers
Sunday, April 10
9 AM – Church School – Youth/Teens
10 AM –Liturgy – St. John Climacus Sunday
11:30 AM – Church School – Children
12:30 PM – Parish Council Meeting
12:30 PM – Knitting group
Readers Schedule
4/3 – Harry Fong
4/10 –Bob Faubel
4/17 – Sandi Fong
4/24 – Susan Paltauf
5/1- Paul Sulich
Coffee Hour
4/3 – Penny Social
4/10 Fundraiser OCMC
4/17 – OPEN
4/24 – Pot Luck/Lenten Cook Off
5/1 – PASCHA
5/8 – Mother’s Day – Fong/Sulich
Monday, March 28
6 PM – Prayer Group
7 PM – Spirituality Class
Tuesday, March 29
8:30 AM – Lenten Hours
9 AM – Perogie Session
Wednesday, March 30
9 AM – Lenten Hours
6 PM – Presanctified Liturgy followed by Lenten Meal
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, March 31
8:30 AM – Akathist of Repentance
Friday, April 1
9 AM – Lenten Hours
9:30 AM – Old Testament Class
7 PM – Deanery Presanctified Liturgy at St. John’s Mill Hill Avenue
Saturday, April 2
9 AM – Soul Saturday Liturgy
12 noon – OYMT tool training at St. John’s Church Mill Hill Ave
5 PM – Vespers
Sunday, April 3
9 AM – Church School – Youth/Teens
10 AM –Liturgy – Cross Veneration Sunday
11:30 AM – Church School – Children
12 noon – Penny Social
Readers Schedule
3/27 – Susan Sulich
4/3 – Harry Fong
4/10 – Bob Faubel
4/17 – Sandi Fong
4/24 – Susan Paltauf
5/1- Paul Sulich
Coffee Hour
3/27 – Gross
4/3 – Penny Social
4/10 Fundraiser OCMC
4/17 – OPEN
4/24 – Pot Luck/Lenten Cook Off
5/1 – PASCHA
5/8 – OPEN
Monday, March 21
6 PM – Prayer Group
7 PM – Spirituality Class
Tuesday, March 22
8:30 AM – Lenten Hours
7 PM – Parish Council Meeting
Wednesday, March 23
6 PM – Presanctified Liturgy followed by Lenten Meal
7 PM – Catechism Class
Thursday, March 24
8:30 AM – Akathist of Repentance
6 PM – Vespers of Annunciation
Friday, March 25
9 AM – Vesperal Liturgy for Annunciation
3 PM – Deanery Women’s Retreat Camp Hi-Rock
Friday, March 25, 6 PM –Service at St. George’s Danbury
Saturday, March 26
8 AM – 2 PM – Deanery Women’s retreat
5 PM – Vespers
Sunday, March 27
9 AM – Church School – Youth/Teens
10 AM –Liturgy – St. Gregory Palamas Sunday
11:30 AM – Church School – Children
Readers Schedule
3/20 – Luke Mihaylo
3/27 – Susan Sulich
4/3 – Harry Fong
Coffee Hour
3/20 – Molineaux
3/27 – Gross
4/3 – Penny Social/Natalia/Roz
4/10 Fundraiser OCMC
4/17 – OPEN
4/24 – Pot Luck/Lenten Cook Off
5/1 – PASCHA
5/8 – OPEN
