Dear St. Ann Family,
Christ is among us!
As you know from the media many things are changing for us regarding the spread of the Coronavirus here in Connecticut. The Governor will be telling us about the possibilities for work and movement in our towns on Sunday, March 22nd.
The event of the unwelcome guest –the Virus– does not merely affect us at St. Ann’s, but the for the entire Eparchy: parishes temporarily closed and ministries curtailed due to quarantine. Responding to the human and spiritual need, Bishop Nicholas has instructed us to assist the faithful who are unable to worship as a family at church.
In particular, Bishop Nicholas has encouraged the faithful to pray the Typika Service at home. In addition to being available online here, I have attached it as a PDF below.
The Typika Service is a beautiful service that has long been used by the faithful when they were prevented from participating in the Divine Liturgy of the Church, due to distance, illness or persecution, or not having a priest.
Also, you are encouraged to pray on Sunday with one of the parishes that will be broadcasting their Sunday Divine Liturgy:
- Holy Cross in Placentia, CA will record their parish Sunday Divine Liturgy and post it to their YouTube channel. To be notified when the video is posted, subscribe to YouTube.com/HolyCrossMelkite. If you have any questions or requests please email Father François at: fbeyrouti@gmail.com
- St. George in Birmingham, AL will livestream their Sunday Divine Liturgy at 11:30 a.m. EST at saintgeorgeonline.org/live. The recording will also be available after the livestream.
Soon we will send out weekly catechetical resources, and encourage you to please continue to send them to the parents of your students. Now more than ever we should be assisting the parents of our Sunday school children.
In times of distress, the people have always turned to the Mother of God, and therefore, we encourage you to sing as a family, as individuals, as a community, this beautiful hymn, Triumphant Leader, to the Mother of God. May this be our anthem in this trying time, and may she be with us and help us to use this trial to grow in our faith.
Let us pray for one another, entrusting all to the intercession of the Holy Theotokos and St. Ann, the patron of our parish.