byzcath.orgWelcome to byzcath.org

Sidebar × Byzantine Catholic Church in America Search Go! Home News Resources Faith & Worship Feasts & Fasts Frequently Asked Questions Lectionary Liturgical Texts A Rule of Prayer Creed & Articles Directories List of Eparchies Parish Home Pages List of Monasteries Find-A-Parish Start-A-Parish Documents Ecumenical Documents Document Library Educational Resources Multimedia Links Calendar (2020) Calendar (2021) Forum About Us About Byzantines About This Site Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God August 15, 2020 Luke 10:38-42 - Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her." (RSV) Listen to the Lord - Mary came and sat at his feet. This was as through she were sitting on firm ground at the feet of him who had forgiven the sinful woman her sins (Luke 7:38). She had put on a crown in order to enter into the kingdom of the Firstborn. She had chosen the better portion, the Benefactor, the Messiah himself. This will never be taken away from her. Martha’s love was more fervent than Mary’s, for before He had arrived there, she was ready to serve him. “Do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” When He came to raise Lazarus to life, she ran and came out first. (St. Ephreim the Syrian) Why does the Church place this Gospel reading about Martha and Mary (a different Mary than Mary, the Mother of God) before us on the Feast of the Falling-Asleep of the Mother of God? Because it’s all about discipleship. Mary, the Mother of God, is the first and foremost disciple of Christ. Scripture Readings: Vespers: Genesis 28:10-17, Ezekiel 43:27-44:4, Proverbs 9:1-11 Matins: Luke 1:39-49, 56 Divine Liturgy: Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 10:38-42; 11:27,28 Summer Feasts August 6th - Transfiguaration of the Lord - " Bask in the Brightness " August 15th - Dormition of the Mother of God - " Mary: Christ's First and Greatest Disciple " August 29th - Beheading of St. John the Baptist - " Pointing to the Lamb " The Icon is of the Dormition (Falling-Asleep) of the Mother of God. Ecumenical Day of Mourning for Hagia Sophia declared for Friday, July 24th Details Last Updated: 23 July 2020 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops News Release - July 21 at 7:39 AM The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is inviting all Christians and people of goodwill to join in a Day of Mourning on Friday, July 24 for the conversion of the #HagiaSophia in Istanbul back into a mosque after serving for over eighty years as a museum. The museum was a place of encounter and dialogue between people of all faiths and cultures. The Greek Orthodox have asked that every Church toll its bells, every flag be raised to half-mast and that the Akathist Hymn is chanted in the evening. For Catholics unfamiliar with the Akathist Hymn, the recitation of the Rosary is recommended, as both prayers entreat the Mother of God for her intercession. https://www.goarch.org/-/july-24-day-of-mourning Bishop Milan (Šašik) Falls Asleep in the Lord Details Last Updated: 15 July 2020 Today, July 14th., +Bp. Milan Šašik CM (1952-2020), the diocesan bishop of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, Transcarpathia (Ukraine), died suddenly. Blessed repose! Eternal Memory...Вѣчнаѧ памѧть! Boldog nyugalmat és örök emléket. (From Father Michael Hayduk) Sisters of Mary Immaculate announce Virtual Pilgrimage in August Details Last Updated: 29 June 2020 Sloatsbug, NY - Due to the Coronavirus, the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate Announce that the 66th Holy Dormition Pilgrimage August 8 -9, 2020 will be a Virtual Pilgrimage (via internet) this year. We had hoped that this year’s pilgrimage would have been a place of sanctuary where all of us could gather to replenish our souls after the devastating effects of this pandemic. However, there is still uncertainty as to when travel and gathering in large groups will be safe.We plan to live-stream Divine Liturgy for that weekend as well as offer other opportunities for the faithful to receivespiritual graces.We will try to have the Divine Liturgy also broadcast on television.We hope to provide opportunities for those who do not have internet access. Please watch for details in the near future at ssmi-us.org . These Brides of Christ are the Joy of Christ the Bridegroom Details Last Updated: 23 June 2020 Monasteries uphold the domestic church, and the domestic church is illuminated by the monasteries. Robert Klesko | ncregister.com It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a particularly trying year, especially for people of faith. We’ve been separated from our churches, from the sacraments, and from the spiritual nourishment of kinship and community. This year, especially through Lent and the Easter season, life felt especially dry and arid for many. It was within this desert of isolation that a stream of living water was opened up by my favorite Eastern Catholic nuns — the nuns of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery in Burton, Ohio. The Monastery of Christ the Bridegroom is about a 45-minute ride southeast of Cleveland. It was founded in 2009 and was recently raised to a sui iuris monastery of eparchial right in 2019 by Bishop Milan Lach of the Eparchy of Parma (Ruthenian). The monastery is headed by Mother Theodora, who serves as hegumena (abbess) and currently has three “life-professed” members (also called stavrophore or “cross-bearer”) and two rasophore (“robe-bearer”) members. I was privileged to meet and spend time with Mother Theodora when she appeared on EWTN Live in July 2019. It was clear from my time with Mother that she is a woman who is in love with her vocation and deeply in love with Christ the Bridegroom. It’s fairly uncommon, among Eastern Catholic monasteries, to identify the community ethos through the image and theology of Christ the Bridegroom. But when you spend time with the nuns, it becomes clear that it is a perfect fit! The striving for union with God, which is the singular occupation of monastic life — and indeed, all Christian life — is well encapsulated by marital imagery. Sister Petra, one of the rasophore nuns, explains: The Bridegroom is the One Who pursues our souls and beckons us as His Bride, the Church into union with Him, “Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!” (SOS 2:13) He calls us to union, yearning to penetrate every recess of our hearts with His life-giving Spirit, to bring forth in us spiritual fruit that will last for all eternity. To encounter Christ as Bridegroom is to know yourself sought and desired by God, purchased by a Love “stern as death” (SOS 8:6) It is to respond with the total gift of yourself to the God-Man, Jesus Christ; to know yourself claimed in love. Of course, this union becomes reality in prayer (we call our cell rule the hour of private prayer we each offer each day in our own cells our “spousal prayers”), through which we learn to hear His Voice and reveal ourselves to Him. The Bridegroom is the Fulfillment of all desire, but we in this world we are as yet only espoused to Him: the consummation will only be realized in Heaven. Thus, to turn to Christ as Bridegroom is to live in hope, with faith that “hope does not disappoint us” (Rom. 5:5). This love of Christ the Bridegroom has produced spiritual fruit for several thousand recently through the monastery’s outreach during Lent and Holy Week. When the churches closed, the nuns (by way of a providential penance) took to building a guide for the domestic Church for Lent and Holy Week (now expanded beyond the Paschal season). Mother Cecilia, who s...