Final Mass Saints Peter And Paul

Archbishop Stefan Soroka presents parishioner Lillian Pecko with a Final Mass Saints Peter And Paulcertificate of service at the final Mass, tonight, April 11, at Saints Peter and Paul Byzantine Rite Catholic Church in Clifton Heights.

The 103-year-old parish is closing and merging with Holy Ghost Parish of Chester to form Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church which will worship at the site of the former Leiper Presbyterian Church, 900 Fairview Rd, Swarthmore, PA 19081 (Ridley Township)

Holy Ghost’s final service is 9 a.m., tomorrow, April 12.

Archbishop Stefan celebrated the Mass with Father John Ciurpita, the pastor.

A dedication ceremony will be held 1 p.m., Saturday, April 18 at Holy Myrrh-Bearers. The first Mass will be held 11 a.m., Sunday, April 19.

Final Mass Saints Peter And Paul

Final Basket Blessing

Final Basket BlessingFatherJohn Ciurpita performs the final basket blessing, yesterday morning, Easter 2015, at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Clifton Heights.

The church will be joining Holy Ghost Church in Chester to form a new parish at Holy Myrrh-Bearers in Ridley Township with the first service at the new church, 900 Fairview Road, Swarthmore, Pa. 19081, at 11 a.m., April 19.

Holy Myrrh-Bearers will be consecrated 1 p.m., April 18.

The church had been the site of historic Leiper Presbyterian Church.

The last service at Saints Peter and Paul will be 5 p.m., April 11.

Final Basket Blessing at Saints Peter and Paul Church

Christos Voskrese 2015

Christos voskrese, which means Christ has Risen, is the Easter greeting in Church Slavonic which brings the response Voistinu voskrese or Indeed, He has risen.  Christos Voskrese 2015

Easter, of course, celebrates the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the salvation of Man.  The date for Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, which is always reckoned, regardless of astronomical observations, to be March 21 as per the Western churches that use the Gregorian calendar, so Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25.

The dating for Easter correlates with the means the Jews once used to set the date for Passover, which correlates with Scripture since Scripture indicates that the Crucifixion of the Lord occurred as the lambs were being slaughtered for the celebration of that holiday. In fact, in most Western languages the name for the day is a cognate of the Pesach which is the Hebrew name for Passover. In Latin it would be Pascha so Paschal lamb would be Passover lamb.

In English and German, the word comes from Eostre month, which was basically April, and which the pagans who spoke Germanic languages had named for the goddess Eostre much as our own March and April are named for the Greek god and goddess Mars and Aphrodite, respectively. In Slavic, the holiday is called “Great Night” (Velikonoce in Slovak) or “Great Day” (Velikden in Ukrainian). There are some caveats regarding the date. The Eastern churches that use the Julian calendar set the equinox  at April 3, and, of course, the spring equinox is based on that of the Northern Hemisphere.

So, Christos Voskrese 2015.

Christos Voskrese 2015

Holy Cross Church Beautiful Music

We have a tradition in which we visit three churches on Holy Thursday. The last one is Holy Cross Church in Springfield, Pa. with the visit happening well after 10 p.m.  Holy Cross Church Beautiful Music

The last few years the upper church has been closed at the time so we went to the lower one where a Korean celebration has been taking place and when we arrive it is near the end.

And that is about the time  for a choir performance that is among the most beautiful music that we have ever heard.

It is one of Delaware County’s hidden treasures.

Holy Cross Church Beautiful Music

Free Stuff At Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church

Renovations continue as  historic Leiper Presbyterian Church becomes Catholic, Byzantine-rite Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church, 900 Fairview Road, Swarthmore, PA 19081 (Ridley Township).  Free Stuff Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church

There are some useable items being discarded. They are free and available by the dumpster

Free Stuff At Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church

Food Drive For Needy

Due to the continued hard economic conditions, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 100 S. Penn St., Clifton Heights, Pa. 19018 is having a Spring Food Collection for the needy through Sunday, March 29. Food Drive For Needy

Those wishing to donate any canned or boxed, non-perishable food items should bring them to the Church on any Sunday before or after the 11 a.m., English Divine Liturgy.

Please help  if you can!

 Food Drive For Needy

Easter Kielbasa Sale 2015

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Clifton Heights, Pa. is having its last Easter kielbasa sale. Easter Kielbasa Sale 2015 Sale Ukrainian Cross

Saints Peter and Paul is merging with Holy Ghost in Chester to become Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church in Ridley.

The rings, which will come from a area butcher, will be  $11 and four links will be sold for $8.

Orders can be placed by emailing SSPeterandPaul@verizon.net or calling Kathy at 610-328-4731.  Pickup will be at noon, Sunday, March 29 at the Church,  100 S. Penn St., Clifton Heights, Pa., 19018.

Last Easter Kielbasa Sale

Pope Francis Mexican Border

A comment by Pope Francis reported by the Latin Post regarding Hispanic immigration to the United States has riled conservatives.

“To enter the U.S. from the Mexico border would be a beautiful sign of brotherhood and help for immigrants” Francis reportedly said Pope Francis Mexican Borderwith regard to whether he will include a trip to Mexico when he visits the U.S. in September.

We like Francis although he seems to speak more from the heart than the head.  Perhaps that’s what popes should  do.

We, however, will speak from the head. In the spirit of compassion, the first thing to consider is why  those who choose to  emigrate –legally or otherwise — so choose.

Mexico, after all, has resources and climate and sun — better than where many Mexicans immigrants wind up in the U.S.

So whatever can be the reason for the emigration? Could it be the corruption, the greed and the oppression of the Mexican government? Wouldn’t a better sign of brotherhood and help be addressing those issues, Your Holiness, rather than implying the United States is somehow to blame for trying to maintain a semblance of public order.

Just sayin’.

Pope Francis Mexican Border

 

Pope Francis AGW Conservatives

Pope Francis, yesterday, Jan. 18, in Manila made a strong environmental statement and again lent support to the theory that global warming is happening and is man made i.e. “anthropogenic” .

Conservatives are again angry at Francis.

Our suggestion is that rather than curse the darkness, light a candle.

Many decent people believe in anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Ask yourself why you don’t.

To help, here are our reasons for skepticism:

1. The leading supporters hid data that contradicted their public conclusions and treated dissenters politically with attempts to punish and silence them rather than in accordance with the canons of science which would be giving them full and fair hearing then refuting them openly.

2. Falsities have been found in the arguments of those claiming AGW.

3. Hypocrisy has been found in the lifestyles of those claiming AGW. Really, if you believe that a particular behavior is going to destroy the lives of your children you don’t charter jets to catch New Year’s shows on different continents.  Nor do you live in energy-wasting villas. Either the activists don’t believe in what they say or they don’t care. We find this strange if one is talking about the end of the world.

4. The commonsense and practical actions that would drastically alleviate the claimed causes of AGW have been ignored, and even opposed by the supporters of AGW. When was the last time  you heard an AGW claimer exhorting for more telecommuting? How about nuclear power? If the effort was made circa Y2K to replace every coal plant in this nation with a nuke, alleged AGW gases would be half diminished by now. Even more bizarrely why do AGW claimers support the removal of hydro-electric dams to be replaced by AGW producing plants?

We can go on noting opposition to streamlining the removal of traffic bottlenecks by ending Davis-Bacon requirements, and toll roads.

Frankly, any of these by themselves is damning to the argument. As there are four of them color us extremely skeptical.

Also, while arguments from authority are anything but definitive, we will note that highly accredited and accomplished persons in the field of climate study doubt it is occurring. These include Joe Bastardi, longtime of Accuweather, and John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel; and Dr. Roy Spencer, who pioneered temperature-based satellite monitoring.

Pope Francis AGW Conservatives

Pope Francis AGW Conservatives
And Pope Francis AGW Conservatives

Pope Francis AGW views have conservatives angry.

Kielbasa, Wings Sale For Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is Feb. 1 and your friends at Saints Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church are cooking up three favorite game foods so you don’t have to.

It’s your choice of chicken wings, a kielbasa ring on a bed of sauerkraut or kielbasa/sauerkraut sandwiches.

Or all of the above.

The church chef is busily preparing large, juicy, hickory-smoked chicken wings (with Blue Cheese Dressing, Celery Strips and Choice of Honey Mustard or BBQ sauce) for the low prices of:

Wings   Price
10         $8
20         $15
30         $23
40         $28
50         $35

He’s also preparing 4 large, cooked Kielbasi links on rolls, with sauerkraut, for only $15 or a ring of kielbasa on a bed of sauerkraut for only $16.

To order your Super Bowl snacks, please email us at SSPeterandPaul@verizon.net or call Kathy at 610-328-4731 before Sunday, Jan. 25.  Pickup will be at noon on Sunday, Feb 1  at the church, at 100 S. Penn St., Clifton Heights, Pa. 19018.

Ss. Peter & Paul Church and Holy Ghost Church in Chester will be combining in April to form Holy Myrrh-Bearers Church in the former Leiper Presbyterian Church,  900 Fairview Ave., Ridley Township.

Kielbasa, Wings Sale For Super Bowl

Saints Peter and Paul Church in Clifton Heights, Pa. is having a Kielbasa, Wings Sale For Super Bowl fundraiser.

Kielbasa, Wings Sale For Super Bowl