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All mail and correspondence should be sent to:  6 Lansing Ave Watervliet NY 12189-1845

Phone: (518) 273-6262   E-Mail:  kaolsen2410@gmail.com  Please do not send text messages.  Thank you.

 

OUR MISSION/VISION STATEMENT

  • ST. BASIL'S CHURCH WILL STRIVE TO GLORIFY GOD THROUGH 

ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WORSHIP,

SINCERE LOVE AND CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER,

AND SERVICE TO THOSE IN NEED AROUND US                  

Welcome! It is always an honor and a privilege when we have visitors worship with us at St. Basil’s.  Please consider filling out a “Visitor’s Card” at the Candle Desk and joining us for Coffee Hour after the liturgy. Please keep in mind that we have certain traditions and practices that perhaps you may not be accustomed to.  For example, modest and proper attire should be worn.  We do not practice so-called "Eucharistic hospitality" or "inter-Communion."  Only Baptized Orthodox Christians who have been to Holy Confession recently may receive Holy Communion.  If you are an Orthodox visitor and plan to receive Holy Communion, please call Fr. Peter ahead of time (518-273-6262).  

All Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals must be scheduled ahead of time with Fr. Peter.  Not all days and times are permitted.  All canonical, traditional and liturgical practices of the Church must be followed and adhered to.  Normally, sacraments are scheduled only by Baptized Orthodox Christians who go to church, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on a regular basis.  All Baptisms must be discussed with the parents of the child ahead of time.  Please call Fr. Peter if you are interested in scheduling a sacrament (518-273-6262).  Thank you!

 

Catechumens Aidan Chavasse and James Roberts were chrismated on Sunday, September 10, 2023.  Sponsors are Christopher Hartford and Aaron Thomas.  We welcome Aidan and Jim into our church family and wish them Many Years!

Please do not forget this year’s Diocesan Charitable Initiative: aiding the Diocese of Alaska.The need in our mother Diocese is ongoing and at a crisis level.  Please read in our "Documents" section of our website "A Call for Help for the Church in Alaska" for a historical overview of the tragic events which have led up to today's situation.   If you have already donated, “thank you,” and perhaps you will consider making another donation?  If you have not yet donated, please consider making a donation. Some parishes and individuals are donating on a monthly basis. Checks may be made out to “Diocese of NY and NJ” with “2023 Alaska initiative” in the memo section and mailed to: 

Alaska Initiative c/o Diocese of NY and NJ 33 Hewitt Ave, Bronxville, NY 10708. 

Thank you! 

St. Basil's, a parish of the Orthodox Church in America, is a Christian community of people from various ethnic and social backgrounds sharing a common commitment to the Lord, each other, and the Apostolic Faith. We warmly welcome all families, couples, and individuals who are looking for a deeper experience of the salvation offered in Jesus Christ. Come and see!

ST. BASIL'S RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH STANDS WITH THE PERSECUTED CANONICAL UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Press Release
Regarding state terror against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is, as is commonly known, the only canonical and legal Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and at the same time the largest religious organization in that country. She is recognized by all Orthodox Churches around the world, as well as by all Christian Churches and confessions, while only four Orthodox Churches, which make up a very small percentage of the Orthodox universe in terms of their number of believers, recognize the non-canonical schismatic structure that calls itself the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, but lacks even the most basic attributes of being a church. Of course, even if the numerical disproportion were in favor of the non-canonical structure, that is, at the expense of the canonical Church, this would not change anything on the ontological level: the Church is the Church, and an illegal parasynagogue can become a Church only through repentance and canonical procedure, not by someone’s stroke of a pen.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not a “warring party” but a living and active Church of God in unity of faith and liturgical communion with the Russian Orthodox Church and Orthodox Churches in general. Wars, just and unjust, are fought by states, not by Churches. The treatment of a Church as an enemy because its members belong to tragically conflicting sides is monstrous, as they are faithful members of the same Church. The Church always stands for peace, constantly praying for peace and doing everything she can for enmity and hatred between people and nations to make way for friendship and love. The Church does not divide people into “her own” and “alien”, “native” and “foreigners”; she strives, in the name of God Who is Love, to love everyone and pastorally care for the salvation of the souls and lives of all who need fraternal love and assistance.

The best example of such an attitude and behavior is given to us by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – her First Hierarch, His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Onuphry, her episcopate, clergy, monastics and faithful people. Therefore, the Serbian Orthodox Church, with deep concern, sadness and compassionate fraternal love, observes the “patient endurance of the saints” (Rev. 14:12; cf. 1:9) in Ukraine, and observes the pressures, violence and persecutions that the current Ukrainian government is carrying out against the canonical Church, and thus against the majority of its own citizens, given the fact that it is the largest religious community in the country. The persecutions culminated in recent days with the violent seizure of churches in favor of the pseudo-ecclesial schismatic structure, which has the status of a kind of “state Church” and an informal inquisition. The impending peak of terror has also been announced, a faithful reprisal of the Soviet persecution of the Church – the expulsion of two hundred and fifty monks and hundreds of professors and theology students from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the centuries-old spiritual source and center of Holy Rus (Святая Русь), the baptismal font of East Slavic Christianity and Orthodoxy in modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, with its holy sites, is not only a symbol and center of Orthodox Ukraine and, more broadly, the “Russian world” (however one may interpret that term), but also an inexhaustible life-giving source of spirituality for the entire Orthodoxy. Moreover, the spiritual and cultural treasure of the Lavra is an extremely important and visible element not only of the Ukrainian and All-Russian, but also of the world cultural heritage. In light of these facts, the decision of the current state leadership of Ukraine to expel Metropolitan Onuphry, the monastic brotherhood and the Spiritual Academy from the Lavra is nothing but a synonym for horrifying state terror against the Church, as well as the grossest violation of her fundamental rights, religious freedom and freedom of conscience in general. The behavior of the Ukrainian state leadership testifies that its real – and probably ultimate – goal is to erase the historical memory and all traces of original Orthodoxy in Ukraine in order to change the code and historical identity that the Church has painstakingly built and preserved over the centuries, from Saint Prince Vladimir to the present day.

Feeling and knowing that the only existing Orthodox Church in Ukraine, led by Metropolitan of Kyiv Onuphry, bravely and humbly carries her cross and ascends to Christ’s and her own Golgotha with hope, we are confident that the Crucified and Risen Lord – because of deep faith, forgiveness and love for all, even enemies by their own choice – will give strength to His Church to endure all the sufferings that it needs and must endure. At the same time, we raise our crying voice against the terrible injustice, against the state terror over the Church in Ukraine that “cries out to heaven”. We hope that Churches and religious communities, as well as institutions and organizations that care about peace, justice and some kind of order in the world, will condemn the flagrant violation of religious rights and freedoms in Ukraine.

Praying fervently to the Lord for the end of the fratricidal war in Ukraine and for the establishment of blessed peace there as soon as possible, with faith, hope and love we await the triumph of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ over the forces of darkness, evil and death. Before Your Cross we bow down in worship o Master, and Your Holy Resurrection we glorify!

 

Serbian Patriarch Porfirije,
President of the Holy Synod of Bishops


We encourage you to visit the official website of the Diocese of NY and NJ, www.nynjoca.org

 It includes information about various Diocesan activities:  Teen Retreats, Altar Servers Retreats, Mens and Womens Retreats, Family Fun Days, the Bishop’s schedule, etc.. 

Diocesan Guidelines and other vital documents are also available.  News about parish events and activities throughout the Diocese are also posted.

518-273-6262

kaolsen2410@gmail.com


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SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

Sunday - September 24 - 9:10 am - Hours and Divine Liturgy.  First day of Church School. Coffee Hour

Friday - September 29 - No Bible Study

Saturday - September 30 - 5:00 pm - Panikhida. 5:30 pm - Great Vespers with Blessing of Loaves. Confession

Sunday - October 1 - Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos - 9:10 am - Hours and Divine Liturgy. Church School. Coffee Hour.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

                                                         

 

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NEWS
Group of Armed Men Break into Banjska Monastery in Kosovo
Group of armed men break into Banjska Monastery in Kosovo
25 September 2023 year 09:47

On September 24, 2023, a group of armed men wearing masks breached the territory of the Banjska Monastery by breaking through the closed gate of the monastery on armored vehicles, the Diocese of Raška and Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church reports.

Currently, the monastery hosts a group of pilgrims fr om the city of Novi Sad, together with the group’s priest and Father Superior Danilo with the brethren. According to public reports, “for security purposes, the brethren and the pilgrims locked themselves in the residential building and locked up the monastery’s church”. Presence of armed men in the monastery’s yard and sporadic gunfire were also reported.

“The diocese strongly condemns the open violence which is happening in the religious site of the Serbian Orthodox Church and calls on all sides to cease the conflict”, report on the Diocese site points out.

The breach of the monastery’s territory took place concurrently with the worsening situation in the north of Kosovo, wh ere one Kosovo policeman was killed and two others were wounded in an armed incident near the village of Banjska. “This is a serious incident which may have serious consequences, which is why it is of utmost importance to preserve peace and order”, the statement by the Raška and Prizren Diocese says.

According to latest reports, the situation in the Banjska Monastery currently remains calm, although fears after the September 24 events are still being felt throughout the area and in the monastery itself. The armed men who broke through the gate have left the monastery’s premises. Kosovo police and the EU Law Mission in Kosovo were seen at the monastery’s entrance and in its yard.

The Diocese of Raška and Prizren has made it public that the living quarters of the monastery still host “its Father Superior with the brethren as well as a group of pilgrims, two children among them. The monastery administration reports that so far the situation stays calm, the Divine Liturgy is being served regularly in the chapel of the monastery in hopes that the dramatic events will soon be over”.

 

Saturday, September 30
5:30 Great Vespers. Confession
Sunday, October 1
Protection of the Theotokos
9:10 Hours and Divine Liturgy. Church School. Coffee Hour
Bulgaria's Civil Authorities Expel the Clergy of the Russian Orthodox Representation Church

Hierarch of the Bulgarian Church regrets decision by Bulgaria’s authorities to expel the dean of the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia

Hierarch of the Bulgarian Church regrets decision by Bulgaria’s authorities to expel the dean of the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia
24 September 2023 year 11:26

“We hereby express regret over the expulsion of the dean and two staff members of The Russian Church of Saint Nicholas in Sofia – archimandrite Vassian (Zmeyev), the metochion secretary archpriest Yevgeny Pavelchuk and Vladimir Bonko”, the social media post by the Vidin Metropoly says, signed by hierarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin.

As reported earlier, Bulgaria’s authorities compelled the dean, the secretary and a staff member of the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia to leave the territory of Bulgaria within 24 hours under the pretext of a “national security threat” that their presence in Bulgaria allegedly represents.

“In this turbulent time in politics, we would like to remind that political bias, parties, ideologies, political coalitions will be gone the way they were gone for good many times over in the history of our country. What remains is the truth of Christ and love, epitomized by the Church”, Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin pointed out, “The truth and love of Christ are hope of salvation for all of us. They are also at basis of our individual and national security”.

“Love and truth call on us to respect everyone “without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality” (1 Tim. 5:21), Metrolpolitan Daniel reminded, “Let The Lord be our guidance and protector in the tribulations of our sinful world and bring us to His rest!”

 

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