Rev. Father Ihor Papka 860-617-6357 Deacon Jon Messer NHBagpiper@gmail.com Про нас: ми Українська Католицька Церква східного обряду
A MORNING RULE OF PRAYER
Upon awakening, stand before the holy icons, make the sign of the cross, and pray:
O God, be merciful to me a sinner. O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me. O Lord, forgive me; for I have sinned without number.
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, You are everywhere present and fill all things. Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us, cleanse us of all stain, and save our souls, O GraciousOne.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3 times)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; O Lord, cleanse us of our sins; O Master, forgive our transgressions; O Holy One, come to us and heal our infirmities for Your Name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Lord, have mercy (12 times)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Psalm 94:6 Call to Worship:
Come, let us worship the King, our God. Come, let us worship Christ, the King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before the only Lord Jesus Christ, the King and our God.
Psalm 50 Prayer of Repentance:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy. And in the abundance of your tender mercies, blot out my offense.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
Against you alone have I sinned, and I have done evil before you, so that you may be justified in your words, and may prevail when you are judged.
For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me. For behold, you have loved truth; the unseen and hidden things of your wisdom you have made manifest to me.
You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed. You will wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
To my hearing you will give joy and gladness, and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew an upright spirit within me. Cast me not away from your face, and take not your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with your guiding spirit. I will teach the unjust your ways, and the wicked shall return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall extol your righteousness.
O Lord, you shall open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For if you had wanted sacrifice, I would have given it, but with whole-burnt offerings you would not be delighted.
A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise. Act kindly, O Lord, in your good will toward Zion, so that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. Then you will delight in a sacrifice of righteousness, oblations, and whole-burnt offerings; then they shall lay calves upon your altar.
The Jesus Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. (150 times)
It is truly proper to glorify you, who have borne God, the Ever-blessed, Immaculate, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who, a virgin, gave birth to God the Word, you, truly the Theotokos, we magnify.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
News & Upcoming Events
Lenten Regulations 2026 Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford
By the threefold discipline of fasting, prayer and almsgiving the Church keeps THE GREAT FAST/LENT from Monday, February 16th (February 23rd – Julian Calendar), after the Cheesefare Sunday to the day before Easter, Holy Saturday, April 4th (April 11th). The following regulations apply, in general, to all Ukrainian Catholics of the Stamford Eparchy between ages 21 to 60: Abstinence from meat and dairy products on THE FIRST DAY OF THE GREAT FAST, February 16th (February 23rd), and on GOOD FRIDAY, April 3rd (April 10th). The following regulations apply, in general, to all Ukrainian Catholics of the Stamford Eparchy between ages 14 to 60: Abstinence from meat is to be observed on all Fridays of the Great Fast. Abstinence from meat is suggested and encouraged on all Wednesdays of the Great Fast.
EXEMPT from abstinence: 1. The poor who live on alms; 2. The sick and the frail; 3. Convalescents who are returning to their strength; 4. Pregnant women, and women who are nursing their children; and 5. Persons who perform hard labor. Meat is to be understood as including not only the flesh, but also those parts of warm-blooded animals that cannot be rendered, i. e., melted down, e. g., the liver, lungs, blood, etc. meat gravy or soup made from meat is included in this prohibition. Dairy products are to be understood as comprising products derived from mammals and birds, but not regarded as meat, e. g., cheese, lard, butter, milk, eggs, etc.
Eucharistic Fast: A fast of one hour from food (prior to service starting time) should be kept by those receiving the Eucharist at the evening celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as well as the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great.
An Excerpt from “Our Paschal Pilgrimage” by His Grace, Bishop Basil Losten
Saturdays, Sundays, and major liturgical feasts, are not fasting days according to our tradition; the Typikon prescribes the celebration of the full Eucharist on these days, and the services do not have many of the Lenten characteristics, which appear on weekdays of Great Lent. This does not mean that we should have no abstinence or self-denial at all on weekends, but this abstinence need not be as strict. Even during Lent, Sunday dinner should be a joyful occasion for our families. Food is a good gift from God. We do not reject that gift; fasting is not an expression of contempt for food. On Holy Pascha, we bless the foods, which we shall share, and all of us should know from experience that nothing else ever tastes quite so good as our blessed Paschal meal after the fast! There is a time to fast, and a time to feast. If we fast well, our feast will be all the more delicious. Both fasting and feasting in due season teach us to come to know God better through His creation.
LIVE STREAM Sunday February 15, 2026
The Slavonic Cross
The cross is the most prominent of all Christian symbols.
It is symbolic of the crucifixion of Christ and His suffering and death for the sins of the world. Constantine, Emperor of the Roman Empire, placed the cross over the symbolic eagles of Caesar, and this emblem has been the standard symbol of Christian faiths the world over. The Slavonic cross is distinctive, especially in that it includes the lower bar or foot rest set at a diagonal. There are several historical explanations for this. Beginning in the ninth century, crucifixes began to have the additional footboard in the shape of a horizontal bar in addition to the earlier form which had an upright bar and a single cross bar. This lower bar provided a place for Christ to rest His feet. Byzantine artists used this form of the cross regularly.
The first Byzantine crosses had the added footboard placed horizontally, but successive Slavonic crosses put the lower bar at a sharp diagonal. This change took place between the tenth and eleventh centuries. One explanation is that it serves as a graphic rebuke to those who held the opinion that Christ did not actually suffer on the cross but only seemed to suffer. The inclined position of the lower bar indicates the intense reality of the suffering in the flesh by Jesus as He hung on the cross. His agony was so intense that His nailed feet wrenched loose the nailed parts of the cross when He thrust one foot down while drawing the other up.
Another religious interpretation is that the right side of the footboard points to indicate the lightened burden for believers and the left side down to indicate the weighing down of disbelievers. The uplifted right side also indicated that on the second advent of Christ, believers will soar up to Him. Christ's head on the cross is also usually inclined to the right, to beckon disbelievers to follow Him, worship Him, and be saved.
Still another interpretation of the slanting footboard is that it symbolizes the part played by those two thieves who were crucified with Christ. The thief on the right repented and is represented by the raised side of the lower crossbar, while the lowered left side represents the other thief who blasphemed Christ during His crucifixion and was condemned. The extra cross bar at the top of the Slavonic cross represents the inscription board nailed above Christ on the cross. The inscription, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews", was written in three languages, Greek, Latin and Hebrew. One explanation sometimes given in Eastern Church literature is that the Slavonic cross is the replica of the cross planted by the Apostle Andrew when he looked northward over the mountains of the Caucasus and predicted that a great Church would arise. St. Andrew thus became the prophet of the Slav-Byzantine Church. The modern St. Andrew's cross, however, is in the form of an "X", the shape of the cross upon which this disciple was crucified. The Slavonic cross, with its added inscription bar at the top, and one slanting footboard bar below, more fully symbolizes the crucifixion that the commoner simple cross, which has only one upright bar and only one crossbar. NOTE: This cross is used extensively both by Catholics of the Byzantine Rite and the Eastern Orthodox of Slavic descent who share the same heritage of Eastern Christianity.
It was the custom to erect such crosses before the entrance to towns and villages in Central Eurpose to ward off evil and unfriendly spirits, also to serve as a sign of welcome to fellow Christians passing by, and as a pledge to God of their solidarity as a deeply rooted Christian community.
Help for Ukraine
Ukrainian Now By Tom Paxton and Noel Paul Stookey
Ukrainian Now By Tom Paxton and Noel Paul Stookey
Ukrainian Now By Tom Paxton and Noel Paul Stookey
Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England
Ukrainian Now By Tom Paxton and Noel Paul Stookey
Ukrainian Now By Tom Paxton and Noel Paul Stookey
Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England email (info@uccn.org) and below action button for link to UCCN for all events website:
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