SEPT 30: MOLEBEN TO HOLY CROSS – 5:30 PM; VESPERS – 6:00 PM; OCT 1: CONFESSION – 5:30 – 5:55 PM, DIVINE LITURGY – 6:00 PM.
VESPERS PROPERS: 10-01_Protection_Theotokos_Vespers_sam
DIVINE LITURGY PROPERS: 10-01_Protection_Theotokos_DL
Streaming via Facebook Live. https://www.facebook.com/saintscyrilandmethodius/
Parishes live-streaming in the Diocese can be found here: https://eparchyofpassaic.com/parishes
From the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh – Devotion of Byzantine Catholics to the Mother Of God: https://archpitt.org/devotion-of-byzantine-catholics-to-the-mother-of-god/
The Gospel reading is Luke 10: 38-42 and 11:27-28. In Luke 10: 38-42, we hear about Jesus’ visit to Martha and Mary. Martha provides hospitality while Mary listens to Jesus’ teachings. Martha complains that Mary neglecting her duties & asks Jesus to instruct her to help. Jesus thus responds that Mary has chosen the better activity. In essence, hearing the word of God & spreading the Good News as a disciple is more important. In Luke 11:27-28, “a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” and Jesus replies, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
The Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos (October 1st) commemorates the appearance of the most holy Theotokos in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople in the early sixth century, as recorded in the life of Saint Andrew. As cited from the Metropolitan Cantor Institute: “On October 1, we celebrate the feast of the Protection (or Patronage) of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. This feast is particularly kept among the Slavs, and commemorates several occasions on which the Mother of God saved the city of Constantinople from plague or military assault. In our own times, we too have recourse to the intercession of the Theotokos. As we hear in the Kontakion of the feast:
Today, the Virgin is present in the Church
and, with the choirs of saints, invisibly prays to God for us.
The angels worship with the hierarchs;
the apostles rejoice with the prophets;
because the Theotokos prays for us to the eternal God.”A MESSAGE FROM FATHER VASYL FOR THE SOLEMN HOLY DAY, THE PROTECTION OF THE THEOTOKOS (from SEPTEMBER 30, 2020):
“One of the situations which multi-ethnic parishes face is which Holy Days to commemorate. For example, the Protection of the Mother of God on October 1/14 is only found “on the Church calendar in those parishes which use the Russian Synaxarion. Although the incident it commemorates took place in Constantinople, it is not included in the Greek Synaxarion. In the Russian Churches this is one of the favorite Holy Days. Many churches and cathedrals are dedicated to the Protection (Pokrov, Aghia Skepi) of the Mother of God. The Mother of God appeared several times after she left this earth. One of these times occurred in the 10th century in the Blachernae Church in Constantinople, in which were preserved her robe, veil and part of her belt. During the Vigil at 4 AM, the Saints Andrew and Epiphanios saw a majestic woman walking toward the ambo (the area before the altar). She was not alone. St. John the Baptist, St. John the Theologian, and other saints and choirs of angels were escorting her. On reaching the center of the church, the Mother of God knelt down and prayed for a long time. She prayed so fervently that her face was bathed in tears. Then, she stood up and went before the altar table, where she again prayed. Then she removed the veil over her head. It shone like lightning. She held it high, stretched over her arms, in a gesture of prayer of intercession for those present in the church and on us. As a result, this commemoration on October 1/14 was instituted to remind us both of this event, and of the Mother of God’s constant protection, whenever we prayerfully seek that protection, that shelter, in distress.”
