Nativity of the Mother of God
Ukrainian Catholic Church

Fr. Richard Janowicz, Pastor
rjano@aol.com
John Patterson, Deacon
Cantor: Joe Escobar

704 Aspen Street
Springfield, Oregon 97477
(541) 726-7309

Nativity Parish is an Eastern Catholic parish which celebrates the Byzantine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

"We believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ's Church . . . the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition..."

- Pope John Paul II, Orientale Lumen, "Light of the East" (1995)

"That the Eastern Catholic Churches and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church."

- Pope Benedict XVI, Prayer Intention for November 2011

PATRIARCH'S CHRISTMAS LETTER:
parish_life/bulletins/2020/CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTER (1).PDF
parish_life/bulletins/2020/РІЗДВЯНЕ ПОСЛАННЯ (1).PDF

This Week (January 10 - January 16)

Sunday:
  Sunday After Theophany
  • Divine Liturgy - 9:00 am [Live Streamed] and 11:00 am
     Divine Liturgy Text Tropars

--Parishioners with last names A through K, if you are coming, come to the 9:00 Liturgy. This Liturgy will also be LIVE STREAMED.
--Parishioners L through Z, please come to the 11:00 Liturgy.
(If you need to switch times, please ask me.)

Wednesday:
• First Hour - 7:00 a.m. First Hour Text Tropars
• Sixth Hour - 12:00 p.m. Sixth Hour Text Tropars

Thursday:
Leave-taking of Theophany
• Divine Liturgy - 9:00 am Divine Liturgy Text Tropars

Friday:
• First Hour - 7:00 a.m. First Hour Text Tropars
• Sixth Hour - 11:30 a.m. Sixth Hour Text Tropars

All the above will be live streamed.

Streaming Video

MASKS: As you have probably read, the Governor has ordered the use of masks, face coverings or shields for all people who are inside buildings open to the public. So I ask you all to please be wearing this type of protection when you come to church. Those under the age of 5 do not need to wear masks, and those who have good medical or other reasons for not wearing a mask are also exempt.

The cantors, Fr. Deacon and I are exempt during the Liturgy. Please bring your own mask, but we do have some here for those who need them.

I understand this is not pleasant for anyone, but I ask that you consider the welfare of your fellow parishioners as the virus continues to spread in Oregon. It is certainly a better thing to cover our mouths than to risk having the churches locked down again. However, as I have thought and prayed about this the past few days, I think we can do even better.

I suggest that we wear our masks in a spirit of penance for our sins and for the sins of our nation, and we offer this as a sacrifice to the Lord, especially when we put them on as we gather together to pray—to make this specific intention to the Lord. The priest and deacon say certain prayers when putting on vestments. Let us also have a prayerful intention when putting on the mask for worship.

This is not a great sacrifice, but it is still a sacrifice. As we offer this small penance to the Lord, let us specifically be aware of the words that come out of our mouths in sin, and ask His help to convert them to words of sincere worship, expressions of gratitude and Christian encouragement to others, especially those most in need. Let our masks even become a reminder that our first thought should not be about a virus, but about the Divine Physician, the Healer of Bodies and Souls.

And perhaps we can also hold to this thought: "If we can do it for Costco, we can do it for Christ." Thank you for your continued cooperation and your faithfulness!

Links:

Our Eparchy of St. Nicholas sent a video Christmas greeting to all of us:
    https://youtu.be/sArkxVQTGEA

PATRIARCH'S CHRISTMAS LETTER:
    parish_life/bulletins/2020/CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTER (1).PDF
    parish_life/bulletins/2020/РІЗДВЯНЕ ПОСЛАННЯ (1).PDF

Here is a link to a 3 minute video by the Kyiv Post on Holodomor:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5dwzNvNI34

Here is an article written about one of our parishioners, now asleep in Christ, Nadia Barrett's mother, and her experience during the famine, which appeared in the Register-Guard, Oct. 28, 1983.

Click to access "Transforming Calamity into Unity, Dignity & Healing".
You can use this link beginning Saturday October 10th: https://leagueofukrainiancatholics.org/october-10-2020-presentation-1/

If you did not yet see the article about the Andrey Sheptytsky Ukrainian Catholic Apostolate of Portland, that was in the Catholic Sentinel, here is the link again:
www.catholicsentinel.org/Content/Default/Homepage-Rotator/Article/Timeless-liturgy-bridges-New-World-and-Old/-3/382/40798?s=1

Plus, somebody over there is looking at our website, so this surprise was in the Sentinel this week also:
www.catholicsentinel.org/Content/News/Local/Article/-Masks-With-a-spirit-of-penance/2/35/40858

Link to our eparchy's website (English and Ukrainian pages, look to the upper right corner for which language you would like):
https://chicagougcc.org/en/

Link to an article about the Byzantine-rite Catholic churches of Greek and Albanian people which have been in southern Italy since ancient times, mentioned in the bulletin:
https://cnewa.org/magazine/italys-byzantine-catholics-30683/

Short interview with Dr. Philip Jenkins, author of "The New Anti-Catholicism; the Last Acceptable Prejudice":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=782&v=nvLqR0FChEk&feature=emb_logo

Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church

Nativity of the Mother of God
Ukrainian Catholic Church