St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church
 4700 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights, MI 48310



  Very Rev. Mykhailo Solianyk
      Rev. Deacon Paul Latcha    
        
Parish phone number:
586-268-1082

                                             
Liturgical Schedule
November 16 - 24, 2024

​"Come, let us adore and bow down to the only Lord Jesus Christ, the King and our God!"
    ​

                                                                                                    
Sat * Nov 16 * 4pm
Sun * Nov 17 * 9am
Wed * Nov 20 * 7pm
Fri * Nov 22 * 9am
​​​​Sat * Nov 16 * 4pm​
​Sun * Nov 17 * 9am
________________________________________________

Confession: 
Saturday 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm  
or by appointment
​
How to confess in the Byzantine Rite

With head uncovered, approach the priest.
Facing the icon of Christ or, if one is not available, the Gospel book or the Holy Cross.
Cross yourself twice. Kiss the Gospel book and the cross. Cross yourself a third time.

Priest prays over you and blesses you saying: 
May Our Lord God Jesus Christ be in your heart and on your lips
that you may worthily confess all your sins.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Penitent: I, a sinner, confess to Almighty God, the Lord, One in the Holy Trinity; to the Immaculate Virgin,
the Mother of God, to Saint N. my patron saint, to all the Saints, and to you, my spiritual father, all my sins. 
My last worthy confession was ______. These are the sins I remember since then.Now mention the sins you remember. In the case of serious or mortal sins, mention the number of times.

Then proceed with this prayer:
Penitent: For these sins, and for all my sins which I cannot remember,
I am truly sorry because I have offended God who is good.
I sincerely repent and I promise, with the help of God, to better my way of life.
And so, I ask you, my spiritual father, for saving penance and absolution.

The priest may place his epitrachelion (stole) over your head and will make the sign of the cross on your head saying:
Priest: May our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, by the grace and mercies of His love for us,
pardon you, my child, N., all your faults, and I, an unworthy priest,
by His authority given me, pardon and absolve you of all your sins,
in the name of the ✚ Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

After the priest has spoken to you and given absolution, get up and cross yourself twice,
kiss the Gospel book or the Holy Cross; cross yourself a third time and bow.
Then turn toward the priest, bow to him, saying, “Thank you, Father,”
kiss the end of the epitrachelion (stole) which he is wearing and go to your place.
There, kneel down, say your penance, and thank God in your own words for His great mercy.
Then, go in peace.
​

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Liturgy, Pro-life and Womanhood

Whenever we attend any liturgical service of the Church we are not just ‘attending’ church, or just ‘satisfying an obligation.’ 
From the art and architecture itself, to the liturgical texts, chants, gestures and movements, liturgy is an encounter with God’s
blueprint for His entire created order, for the very meaning of life itself.  
It is liturgy, therefore, that provides the context, the model for a true understanding of pro-life issues.  Liturgy teaches us to see things “Sacramentally” or “Mystically”, in other words, to see the ultimate “why” and value behind everything in creation. In one way or the other, pro-life issues have a common beginning and foundation in what does or does not go on in the womb of womanhood.
It is therefore the womb of womanhood that must be seen in its liturgical, mystical context. 
Historically, classic church design, in both the Western and Eastern Churches, had a separation of the sanctuary from the nave.
This is preserved in Byzantine Churches with the use of the icon screen. Like the Old Testament temple symbolism,
the Christian sanctuary became the mystical nuptial chamber in which a mystical marriage between Christ the Bridegroom and his Bride the Church, would be consummated upon the nuptial bed of the Altar in the Eucharist.  In Byzantine Church design the tabernacle is always on the Altar and in it is the presence of Christ in the form of consecrated bread. On the back wall of the sanctuary in Byzantine churches hovering above the tabernacle is to be painted the icon of the Theotokos. 
This icon is called the “Platytera” which means “more spacious than the Heavens.” The Blessed Mother presents Christ to us as though we were looking into her very womb.  She therefore becomes the “Mystical Tabernacle.”  The Byzantine liturgy has many beautiful references to the womb of the Virgin Mary including, “Mystical Paradise.” The priest is, so to speak, the ‘steward’ of the tabernacle, the protector of it.  Like the Old Testament High priest, the Byzantine priest (or bishop) is the only one authorized to approach the tabernacle but only for the loftiest of reasons.
Every woman is configured to the Blessed Virgin Mary which means by extension every woman has a ‘sacred space’ within her own body, a ‘tabernacle’ of sorts where Heaven and earth meet in the miracle of a new life.  If the sanctity of the tabernacle on the altar were to be corrupted by something foreign to its character and purpose, the whole Church would become corrupted. So, too if the womb of womanhood is corrupted, seen and approached for other than what it is, the whole moral order of humanity,
especially of human sexuality, would become disordered and corrupted.
The marital bedroom is the sanctuary of the human race and woman’s womb is its ‘tabernacle.’   Like the priest to the tabernacle, it is the role of manhood to protect the intrinsic holiness of the body and womb of womanhood.  What goes on in the “bedroom” does not “stay there.”  Rather, it determines the rise and fall of civilization.  All of the sexual disorders and offenses against the sanctity of life in our times ultimately have their origin in the non-sacramental, non-liturgical view of the womb of womanhood. 
The restoration of the sanctity of human life in all of its forms will not fully happen without a restoration of a liturgical worldview of the human person which begins with the liturgical view of the womb. 
From art to architecture to liturgical text and gesture that restorative view is found and experienced
​in the liturgical life of the Byzantine Catholic Church.                       
 
                                                                                                                                                                                 Office of Marriage, Family, and Pro-Life Ministry
                                                                                                                                                                                             Eparchy of Parma