On Sunday November 3rd, a beautiful celebration was held to commemorate Remembrance Day. The Knights of Columbus Assembly, together with the parish community, presented the Canadian flag and the memorial wreaths in respect of the many thousands of Canadians that gave their lives and continue to put their lives at risk for our freedom. The wreaths are symbolic as they do show that we remember and will not forget. The choir’s singing of Veechnaayaa Paamyaat, (Ukrainian for “remembrance forever), during the wreath presentation brings tears to your eyes. Poems were read, our resident bugler, Brett played enhancing the mood, and Father Bo gave a beautiful blessing. I thought that standing to sing “O Canada” was the finale, when the men of our choir stood together to sing “Last Night I had the Strangest Dream”. Father Ephrem shared that he was in the confessional and stopped to hear the men singing. He loved all the music and thanked the choir for their gift. I left the church feeling so uplifted and appreciative of all of God’s Blessings that we experience daily at St. Stephen’s.
Special thanks to The Knights of Columbus Assembly, Father Bo, Father Ephrem, John Siroiska, Tim Popel, Brett Bernakevitch, Connor Chelack and our choirs for a heartfelt and powerful message.
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Sunday November 6th marked a very special day for St. Stephen's Parish. Our new Pastoral Volunteers (lead by Marilyn Comchi - Pastoral Care Director), were blessed by Father Bo in a very moving ceremony. Also there were 6 new Eucharistic Ministers Commissioned by Father Bo.
Here is the write up that should have accompanied the photo below. Technology sometimes doesn't work ... or is the person using it? Regardless, the event was a success!
Laurie Kindrachuk "The St. Nicholas Knights of Columbus Council which represents both the St. Stephen’s Ukrainian Catholic and St. Basil’s Melkite Parishes hosted a Parish Family pumpkin carving event at St. Stephen’s Parish Hall the evening of Sunday, Oct. 30th. Families started arriving immediately following the 5PM divine liturgy at around 6PM, with pizza and pumpkins supplied by the KofC. Our council is grateful for the tremendous support by all Parishioners for their attendance. Seeing a hall full of families along with all the kids and their smiles is really something special, which needs to be experienced, as the joyful atmosphere would be difficult to explain in detail. All who attended had a great time, and the feedback from the Parishioners was great, as they were appreciative of what the KofC does in our Parish. This has been a fun KofC event in our Parish for many years now, and our council would like to extend the invitation to all Families in our Parish to come out and join the fun next year!" Glen Kulak St. Stephen's hosted the 8th annual fundraiser to support UCU held on Thursday October 13th. The special guest of honour was the Most Rev. Bishop Borys Gudziak, Bishop of Paris and president of the UCU who spoke eloquently about the role of UCU and its impact on Ukraine and beyond. Calgary's Korinnya Foke Ensemble directed by Iryna Kalinovich sang several selections.
Photos by Stan Kwasniowski St. Stephen’s UCWLC is now taking Registrations for potential Vendors/Crafters for our upcoming SnowFlake Bazaar on November 27th, 2016. Please see below a copy of the Registration Package. If you know of anyone who might be interested please feel free to forward it to them. The UCWLC reserves the right to limit the number of vendors. Deadline to get the application in will be Monday November 21st, 2016. Completed Registration Forms must include the payment and can be dropped off at the church office or left in the UCWLC Mail Box in the Boardroom. Stacey E. Bobyn, President St. Stephen’s UCWLC sbobyn1@telus.net A huge thank you to all volunteers who helped to make our 2016 Praznyk a success. Over 200 parishioners and guests enjoyed a tasty meal prepared by our UCWLC Ladies with the expert guidance of Ollie!
The Hall looked festive for fall with the beautiful floral centerpieces created by our one & only Donna Chelack; AND the Bishops chosen charity, Bridge of Hope, is now the recipient of a $975 donation through our table collection. Special thanks to Mary Charaduk who stepped up at the last minute to prepare the beautiful Kolach that Bishop blessed at the beginning of our Dinner. Many positive comments were received from our guests over the community spirit and hospitality that was felt at the dinner! Submitted by Stacey Bobyn, President UCWLC St. Stephen's Photos by Stan Kwasniowski, our resident photographer It’s a busy week with Pass it On and Praznyk this weekend. However, many hands make light work so just a reminder of the upcoming Work Bees where we will need volunteers to make both events run smoothly: TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY 21st, PEROGY PINCHING (FOR FALL SUPPER) 9:00 AM FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23 CABBAGE ROLL MAKING FOR PRAZNYK 9:00 AM SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24 PRAZNYK HALL SETUP 9:00 AM We are still short of volunteers to help on Praznyk Sunday. Watch for an updated list and PLEASE sign up where you can. Thanks! Stacey E. Bobyn, President St. Stephen’s UCWLC sbobyn1@telus.net 403.860.2185
St. Stephen's Pastoral Care Volunteers work in several areas:
Communicators: are members of one of St Stephen’s many groups who keep the team informed if a member of their group requires: · Addition to the prayer group list for the week · A card from our St Stephen’s Community · A visit from our St Stephen’s Pastoral Care Team · Holy Communion taken to the residence · Confession to a priest · Divine Liturgy – usually reserved for family members and for extraordinary circumstances. If the Pastoral Care Team isn’t informed, there is a chance that they will not be aware of the need and therefore will not be responding. Please let us know: Parish Office: 403-249-4818 or Marilyn Comchi at marilyncomchi@shaw.ca or 403-220-9624. Visitors: Are the members of St Stephen’s who visit people who are unable to attend church regularly. They keep in touch via phone and email and visit parishioners at home or in care facilities. Some support Father Bo as he says Liturgy every Friday at Westview. Holy Communion Volunteers: Have received instruction to prepare themselves to take Holy Communion to those who cannot attend church. They work closely with Father Bo, Deacon Andrij, and the Lectors. Volunteer Training: The accredited course “May I Sit With You Awhile” will be offered in St Stephen’s Parish Centre on November 4 and 5. This program offered by the Calgary Pastoral Care Association will run Friday evening and all day Saturday. All members of the Pastoral Care team are encouraged to sign up for it, and indeed all parishioners are encouraged to take it as all of us at one time or another will be called on to walk with people who are lonely and afraid. Expect to hear more about this course and its partner “Accompanying the Grieving” in our bulletin. St. Stephen Support Network Volunteers: Ideally all St Stephen’s parishioners would be members of this network. As members of The Network when we become aware of a need within our community we look for a solution. We’ve been in existence for almost 10 years and our strength is our life experiences. When some parishioners decided to downsize and move into smaller quarters they’ve found that one of their big issues was getting rid of “stuff”. Des Peplinski stepped forward and helped match up people who needed items with people who had items to give away. We have been asked to find a barber who would go into a hospital to tend to a parishioner, and we had someone there within a few hours later. A young nursing mother with her first baby ran into some rather severe problems, and we were able to get her coaching almost immediately so that she could remain at home and avoid a possible excruciating wait in emergency with a crying baby. We’ve supplied guidance to people worried about their next steps in life. We received a call that a person in care had immediate need of a wheelchair with options different than the one available; we were able to respond very quickly and bring her relief. We have been able to match people up with others who have dealt with similar issues and have provided gentle guidance. We are in the process of creating an inventory of items that might be useful to parishioners. Since we have no storage space at church for them, we are asking people to store them and we are keeping track of who has what. If you have an item that you think may be of use and that you are willing to store until someone needs it, please let the team know about it. How The Network Works When a member hears of an issue, they consult the people they know who may be able to help with the concern, and if a solution is not immediately obvious, they then go to the membership at large by email, state the need and provide the contact information. Then they keep tabs on the outcome. To consult The Network or to become a member please contact St Stephen’s Office at 403-249-4818 or Marilyn Comchi at 403-220-9624 or marilyncomchi@shaw.ca . Administrative Volunteers: Have indicated that they are willing to help keep all this straight and help us to remain organized and on top of things. Some will work as a support team helping at times with special Christmas and Easter efforts. It should be noted that the wonder of volunteering with any of our St Stephen’s groups is that the volunteers themselves gain so many graces and blessings - one them being that we become more united with our church family through the strong attachments we develop with each other. “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you!” John 15:12 |
Parish news:Here are things that are posted for our parish from our parish. Find out about the most current events, the newest news, the latest church rumours (not gossip, just positive rumours) and more. Archives
May 2018
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2023 DIVINE LITURGIES
SATURDAYS: 4:00 pm - Confessions, 5:00 pm - Great Vespers SUNDAYS: 8:30am Ukr / Eng 10:30am English WEEKDAYS: 9:00 am Divine Liturgies - Wednesdays and Thursdays |
Contact : Office:: 403-249-4818, ext 0 Email: Office@Protomartyr.ca| Pastoral Emergencies Telephone: 403-249-4818, ext 9 Address : 4903 45 St SW, Calgary, AB T3E 3W5 © COPYRIGHT 2016 St. Stephen Protomartyr, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |