Though we were still a bit short of singers and servers for Sunday Liturgy, it was good to see things settling down to a normal sized congregation, and to have new visitors, whom we hope will return in the future. It was lovely to welcome some of the students from neighbouring Newman Hall, and to be able to chat to them afterwards – on subjects both theological and feline.
We were pleased to have a handful of visitors from our Llanelli mission, making the geographical span of worshippers reach from Carmarthen to Warminster! It’s good to see parishioners car-sharing and ensuring that the maximum number of parishioners are able to reach Liturgy from the further limits of our South Wales and Wessex pastoral area.
With no trapeza at the moment, a good number of parishioners enjoyed social time across the road in Brodie’s café, where we seized the opportunity to discuss plans for a forthcoming pastoral visit to our Wessex parishioners and the need to find a place for Wiltshire Liturgies.
After yesterday’s Liturgy, I was heartened to hear expressions of interest in our pilgrimage to Llancarfan to honour St Cadoc on Saturday 28th October. Our intention is to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 10:00. Anyone interested should contact Tracy: t_sbrain@yahoo.co.uk
Our 2022 pilgrimage was very enjoyable and informative, and the welcome we received was warm and generous. See: https://russianorthodoxchurchcardiff.com/celebrating-st-cadoc-at-llancarfan
Today saw me in one of the other churches in the same ministry area as Llancarfan, with a funeral in the medieval church in Peterston-super-Ely. I am indebted to Canon Martyn Davies, the rector, and to the Anglican diocesan authorities for allowing an Orthodox funeral in the village church, and for his generous welcome. It was a pleasure to celebrate in such a wonderful setting, and to chant the ancient words of our funeral hymns in a church that has been a local place of worship and prayer since the Celtic Age of the Saints. For most of the congregation, it was the first Orthodox service they have ever attended and people were very positive and appreciative. Please remember the newly-departed Irina in your prayers. Memory Eternal!
Yesterday’s confessions were certainly numerous, though I think we need to be very clear that Sunday confessions (with great time-pressure) are not the time to discuss general personal or family problems, but the time in which we approach Christ in repentance to confess our sins and seek his healing and forgiveness. There is plenty of time outside confessions to talk about other issues. This week’s confessions will be heard on Friday afternoon/evening, before the talk on the intercession of he saints at 19:00. Requests by noon on Thursday, please.
In addition to our prayers for all who are suffering in the conflicts of the Holy Land and Ukraine, we continue to pray for Maria, Nikolai, Catalin, and Oswald, who are travelling; Brigid, Ludmilla, Mike and Steve, in their sickness; Porphyrios’s father Paul as he undergoes medical treatment; and the newly departed Irina.
We have just returned from Cheltenham, where we had a sun-bathed Liturgy, and a glorious autumn day as we celebrated the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God – for whom our parishioners brought many flowers.
As we have previously reflected, so many feasts of the Mother of God and her wonder-working icons coincide with the pattern our Cheltenham Liturgies, and when the vestments are blue, it seems that we are always blessed with blue sky and the sun shining. However, when we arrived this morning, despite the sunshine outside, the chapel had a chill in the air and needed heating for a while before the faithful arrived.
It was very odd, gathering for Liturgy without Nataliya and mama Galina, but before set up there was the joy of a brief telephone greeting from them in Odessa, where Liturgy had already finished, with the news that their parish priest had donated an icon of the Protection to our little mission – a wonderful blessing and gesture on this feast of the Pokrov.
Many thanks to our sisters for reading and chanting on the kliros, and to Timofey for helping – unexpectedly for him – in the entrances, as he was beckoned into the oltar by Deacon Mark to carry a candle, and we were impressed that he was so helpful after Liturgy, looking for practical tasks to do.
It was lovely to sit down to a relaxed meal in the church hall after Liturgy, and to discuss some plans for the new year, with the hope to have occasional services across the whole parish area of Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds, especially to reach out to those who live at the southern ends of our pastoral area.
We look forward to our return in November, when Liturgy will follow the pattern of being on the SECOND Saturday of the month: 11th November, when we will celebrate the memory of St Anastasia the Roman.
The Holy Prince Wenceslaus (Vyacheslav) of the Czechs was a grandson of the holy Martyr and Princess Ludmilla (September 16), and he was raised by her in deep piety. He began to rule at age eighteen after the death of his father Prince Bratislav (+ 920).
In spite of his youthful age, he ruled wisely and justly and concerned himself much about the Christian enlightenment of the people. The holy prince was a widely educated man, and he studied in the Latin and Greek languages.
Saint Wenceslaus was peace-loving. He built and embellished churches, and in Prague, the Czech capital, he raised up a magnificent church in the name of Saint Vitus, and he had respect for the clergy. Envious nobles decided to murder the saint and, at first, to incite his mother against him, and later to urge his younger brother, Boleslav, to occupy the princely throne.
Boleslav invited his brother to the dedication of a church, and then asked him to stay another day. In spite of the warnings of his servants, the holy prince refused to believe in a conspiracy and exposed his life to the will of God. On the following day, September 28, 935, when Wenceslaus went to Matins, he was wickedly murdered at the doors of the church by his own brother and his brother’s servants. His body was stabbed and discarded without burial.
The mother, hearing of the murder of her son, found and placed his body in a recently consecrated church at the princely court. They were not able to wash off the blood splashed on the church doors, but after three days it disappeared by itself.
After repenting of his sin, the murderer transferred the relics of Saint Wenceslaus to Prague, where they were placed in the church of Saint Vitus, which the martyr himself had constructed (the transfer of the relics of Saint Wenceslaus is celebrated on March 4). The memory of Prince Wenceslaus has been honored from of old in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Orthodox Church in America 3/2/2017
Canon of the saint, Tone VI
Ode I, Irmos: Traversing the deep on foot, as though it were dry land, and seeing the tyrant Pharaoh drowned, Israel cried aloud: Let us chant unto God a hymn of victory!
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
O ye faithful, with joy let us join chorus, hymning the Savior with radiant souls, on the all-wondrous memorial of Vyacheslav, the servant of Christ!
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Slain unjustly like an innocent lamb, thou didst emulate the sufferings of the Master, O glorious one; wherefore, thou dost now rejoice with the choirs of the martyrs, O thou who art blessed of God.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Receiving a death which won thee life, thou standest now in glory before the Master of all. Pray thou that we who keep thine all-wondrous memory may also obtain it, O holy one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Who can tell of the countless wonders which thou workest in the world, O glorious one? For thou dost continually grant healing in abundance unto all the faithful.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Lady, raise me up who have fallen among thieves through my soul-destroying deeds and am drowning in death. I pray thee: Entreat thy Son and God for me.
Ode III, Irmos: There is none as holy as Thee, O Lord my God, Who hast uplifted the horn of Thy faithful and established us on the rock of the confession of Thee, O Good One.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Thou didst ever burn with Christian love for the Holy Church, O all-blessed one, where, like an innocent lamb, thou didst look forward to thine unjust slaughter.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Adorned with thine all-splendid blood, thy Church emitteth the radiant beams of miracles, hymning thy memory, O right glorious one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Enlightened from childhood by the rays of the Trinity, O venerable one, thou becamest an heir of Christ. Him do thou entreat, that He send peace unto our souls.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Thy divine birthgiving surpasseth every other miracle, O pure one; for, having conceived in thy womb and given birth unto the transcendent God, thou remainest Ever-virgin.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional hymn, Tone VIII, Spec. Mel. “Of the Wisdom…”: Seeking to prevent thee from ascending thy throne, the enemies of the Orthodox Faith murdered thy pious grandmother, the saintly Ludmilla, that she might no longer guide thee with Christian counsel; yet so well grounded wast thou by her in reverence for things divine and in love for Christ, that her martyrdom in nowise moved thee from thy sacred purpose, and the wiles of thine enemies served only to strengthen thee in thy resolve, and to gain for the Holy Church another martyr in heaven.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Theotokion: All of us, the generations of men, bless thee as the Virgin who, alone among women, gavest birth without seed to God in the flesh; for the fire of the Godhead made His abode within thee, and thou didst nurture the Creator and Lord with milk as a babe. Wherefore, we, the race of angels and men, cry out to thee together: Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of offenses unto those who with faith worship thine all-holy birthgiving.
Ode IV, Irmos: Christ is my power, my God and my Lord, the honored Church doth sing, crying out in godly manner with a pure mind, keeping festival in the Lord.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Lovingly raised in the pure Faith from childhood, by thy pure works thou didst lovingly follow the Master and didst put His false enemy to shame by thy hope.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Shining with radiance, O holy Vyacheslav, by thy supplications enlighten those who are benighted by sins, for with the choirs of the martyrs thou hast boldness to pray for us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Cut down by the sword, O invincible saint, thou didst cut down the wicked foe with the sword of patience; wherefore, thou hast received a crown from the hand of the Almighty.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Truly the mysteries of thy divine birthgiving are ineffable and unattainable for those on earth and those in heaven, O Ever-virgin Theotokos.
Ode V, Irmos: With Thy divine light illumine the souls of those who with love rise at dawn unto Thee, O Good One, that they may know Thee, O Word of God, to be the true God Who calleth all forth from the darkness of sin.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Having received through thy sufferings the life which is devoid of pain, O all-praised and holy Vyacheslav, thou hast been shown to be a help for all who suffer and with faith call upon thee for aid.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
With the all-radiant beams of thy miracles thou hast enlightened the north, the south and the west more than the sun, O blessed one; wherefore, illumine us who celebrate thy memory, O saint.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou wast a helper of those amid misfortunes, the sustainer of the poor, and the comfort of the grieving; wherefore, even after thy death, O holy one, thou deliverest all who with faith call upon thee for help.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O good Mistress of the world, save those who with all their soul confess thee to be the Theotokos; for we have thee, who art truly the Theotokos, as our help, O immaculate one.
Ode VI, Irmos: Beholding the sea of life surging with the tempest of temptations, fleeing to Thy calm haven I cry unto Thee: Lead up my life from corruption, O greatly Merciful One!
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Having acquired a pure life through fasting, O all-wondrous Vyacheslav, thou hast been shown to be a fellow citizen with the angels. With them pray thou for the salvation of our souls.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Forsaking a transitory earthly princedom, and receiving a royal adornment from the right hand of the Master, through corruptible things thou didst acquire what is eternal, in that thou art wise.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O holy one, accept praise from the accursed lips of one who is unable to fashion worthy praises for thee, and entreat the merciful God, that He grant us great mercy.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O all-pure Mistress who for mortals gavest birth to the Helmsman and Lord, confound my wicked lusts, and grant serenity unto my heart.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone I, Spec. Mel. “The choir of the angels…”: Standing with the choirs of the angels, O blessed Prince Vyacheslav, thou delightest in divine and ineffable goodness; and drawing thence the goodly gifts of miracles, thou pourest forth the boon of cures upon all who with faith flee to thy holiness.
Ikos: Great is the consternation of the enemy of men’s salvation! For, seeking to destroy the Christian Faith which was planted in Bohemia by the pious Borivoy and the holy Ludmilla, he instilled within the accursed Prince Boleslaus the perfidious intention to murder his godly brother, the holy Prince Vyacheslav, and thus unjustly to usurp his throne. Yet the Savior bestowed upon His martyr so great an abundance of the grace of miracles that the people of Bohemia were amazed and hastened to be enlightened. Thus were the machinations of the devil utterly foiled, and the Holy Orthodox Church grew and throve. And even to this day the precious relics of the martyr pour forth the boon of cures upon all who with faith flee to his holiness.
Ode VII, Irmos: The Angel caused the furnace to pour forth dew upon the pious youths, and the command of God, which consumed the Chaldæans, prevailed upon the tyrant to cry out: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
The ancient malefactor envied thy sacred life and incited the mindless band to slay thee; but with a pure conscience thou didst unceasingly cry out to thy Creator: Blessed is the God of our fathers!
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Prague, thine all-glorious city, danceth with gladness today, honoring thy memory, and, radiantly emitting thy miracles, it calleth the whole land to cry aloud: Blessed is the God of our fathers!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Through the deception of the all-wicked one, of old the ground was stained by the hand of Cain, who slew his own brother; but sprinkled now with blood, it offereth sacrifices of sweet savor unto Christ, crying: Blessed is the God of our fathers!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Through thee, O Virgin, hath Light shone forth upon those in darkness, for thou hast given birth to the Creator and God of all. Him do thou beseech, O all-pure one, that He ever send down great mercy upon us, the faithful.
Ode VIII, Irmos: From the flame didst Thou pour forth dew upon the venerable ones, and didst consume the sacrifice of the righteous one with water; for Thou, O Christ, dost do all things soever Thou desirest. Thee do we exalt supremely for all ages!
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Sanctified from on high by rays of grace, O all-glorious one, thou didst shine forth more brightly than the sun in the land of Bohemia with the beauties of gladness, exalting Christ supremely forever.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Receiving thy holy body today, O blessed one, Prague, thine all-praised city, proclaimeth thine all-wondrous miracles unto the world, exalting Christ supremely forever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Adorned with meekness and illumined with the understanding of Orthodoxy, O all-wondrous one, thou wast truly shown to be a herald of the all-holy Trinity, exalting Christ supremely forever.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Thou didst ineffably conceive and give birth unto the Transcendent One, the Word, the Bestower of light, Who is begotten of Light, O Virgin, for the Spirit of God made His abode within thee. Wherefore, we hymn thee, O pure one, for all ages.
Ode IX, Irmos: It is not possible for men to behold God, upon Whom the ranks of angels dare not gaze; but through thee, O most pure one, hath the Word appeared incarnate unto men; and magnifying Him with the armies of heaven, we call thee blessed.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Thou wast accounted worthy of great grace, O glorious one, and hast illumined the whole world, granting healings in abundance unto all.
Holy Passion-Bearer, Vyacheslav, pray to God for us.
Accept the joy of the angels, O holy one, and, standing before thy Creator, pray for us who magnify thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou hast now received blessed repose, O all-glorious one. Cease thou never to pray that those who magnify thee may continually share in holy blessedness.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Virgin Theotokos, who after the word of the archangel gavest birth to thy Creator in manner past recounting, entreat Him, that our souls be saved.
Troparion, Tone IV: Today angels and men share a common joy. Heaven and earth join together in splendid chorus for thy memorial, O holy one. And we sinners earnestly cry aloud unto thee: Pray thou to the Master in our behalf, that from dangers and from visible and invisible foes, He may deliver us who honor thine all-honored memory.
It was a joy to celebrate the feast of St Sergius of Radonezh in Cardiff on Sunday, and we are grateful to all who contributed to our celebration, with holiday effects on our kliros seeing the second coopting of our hierodeacon by the choir. Many thanks to Edmund for filling Olga’s place and coordinating our chanting and to Hierodeacon Avraamy for moving from the sanctuary to the kliros. Spasi Gospodi!
Despite those abroad, we still mustered over forty worshippers, though we are always swallowed by the vastness of the convent church!
Again, we are extremely grateful for parishioners making the hour of confessions before Liturgy run so smoothly.
This was the first week without trapeza in church, but it was lovely to follow parishioners over the road to our friendly local café, and to enjoy a cup of coffee there, largely with our Wessex contingent, who had a considerable drive home ahead of them.
Our celebration of St Sergius came at the end of a busy week, which saw Tuesday in Peterston-Super-Ely to arrange the funeral of the newly departed handmaiden of God, Irina, for whom your prayers are greatly appreciated. With permission from the Anglican Archbishop of Wales and the approval of the Bishop of Llandaff, I am extremely grateful that the funeral service will be able to be celebrated in the little medieval church – a building I had passed on the train for much of my life, but had never entered until the past week. It was a pleasure to talk with Fr Martin and have a few hours in the village.
Wednesday saw the baptism – in Nazareth House – of the newly enlightened Sabine, who travelled on the train from Stroud with her mother, Anna. Please remember them in your prayers.
Both Wednesday and Friday saw the hearing of confessions in Nazareth House, with a talk on intercession following Friday confessions, and confessions also followed Saturday’s celebration of Great Vespers for the Feast of St Sergius of Radonezh, for which I am grateful to our young brother, George, for reading.
This week, I will hear confessions on Thursday, and would like to stress that – if required – this will include the evening as well as the afternoon. As Saturday sees Deacon Mark and I in Cheltenham, there will be no Saturday tea-time service in Nazareth House.
I’m very happy that the October Liturgy in Cheltenham will fall on the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God – a wonderful celebration of our Lady’s protection and intercession. We know that some core parishioners will be away, but we will soldier on.
As usual, our Cheltenham Liturgy will be celebrated in Prestbury URC Church, Deep St, Cheltenham GL52 3AW, with confessions heard from 09:15, and the Hours and Liturgy commencing at 10:00. There will be the usual bring-and-share lunch after Liturgy.
As announced, we will be making a local pilgrimage to Llancarfan on Saturday 28th October, and plan to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 10:00 – though this will depend on having someone to chant on the kliros. Anyone interested should speak to Tracy, or email her: t_sbrain@yahoo.co.uk
We continue to keep Olga, Valentina, Maria, Nikolai, Nataliya, Galina, Catalin, and Oswald in our prayers, on their travels; Mike and Steve, who are unwell and Porphyrios’s father Paul as he undergoes medical treatment; and Isaac and mum Xenia in the search for a new school.
Finally, I would like to remind you of a few things:
Commemoration books and lists should be updated REGULARLY.
In commemoration books and on lists, clergy and monastics should be referred to by rank – bishop, archimandrite, hieromonk, archpriest, priest, deacon, monk, nun etc. Nobody should be listed as vladyka, father or mother.
All others in your commemorations should be referred to by full baptismal names – no Mashas, Sashas and Natashas, but Marias, Alexanders and Natalias!
Branka is kindly baking small commemorative prosphory all week, and it is our tradition to present them for our commemoration. There are very few each week, which is bizarre in a parish of no fewer than thirty to forty adults each week.
As with communion, the antidoron distributed at the end of Liturgy is to be consumed FASTING – i.e. on an empty stomach.
With the commencement of the Hours, Liturgy (in the broadest sense) has begun, and parishioners should refrain from conversation.
Though I have only just walked through the door, and tea is still brewing, I thought I should type this week’s news whilst I am still buoyed by today’s lovely Liturgy in Nazareth House, reasonably well attended despite the road closures.
Though the road closures dissuaded some parishioners from Penarth and Barry, and made logistics totally impossible for a few others, visitors more than took the place of those unable to be with us, and we had a goodly Wessex contingent from across the Severn.
We are grateful for our trio on the rather reduced kliros for increasing the chanting in English, with Hierodeacon Avraamy being coopted from the sanctuary to help today. Having experienced church-singers, who can adapt to the various challenges of the seasons is a great advantage. Our visitors expressed their appreciation for the kliros, complimenting us on the quality of chanting.
Our flowers were beautiful again, though I wish someone had photographed them in situ, adorning the icons, especially the festal icon of the Exaltation of the Cross. I was quite serious in suggesting that the flowers are not just a task for the parish sisterhood, but that with some assistance, the gentlemen of the parish could help. Those of us who are monks are used to sewing and embroidery, baking, cooking and flower-arranging, and doing every other task that might wrongly be seen as work for the ladies. Some of the parish brothers might surprise themselves!
Being the Sunday after the Exultation of the Cross, the Cross and the bed of flowers from the feast-day celebration were brought from Llanelli, so that the faithful could venerate the Life-Giving Cross at the end of Liturgy. Before that, we were able to greet our sisters, Ludmilla and Jessica Anne on their recent name-days and sing ‘Many Years’ to them. Congratulations, dear sisters!
Given the amount of tidying necessitated by refreshments, today’s informal trapeza was the last for the foreseeable future. Those travelling fair distances may wish to bring a packed lunch for the car, and we have the excellent café across the road – a very welcoming refuge where I and parishioners spend many hours talking, discussing spiritual matters, and doing ‘office’ work.
Having been the Vale and city for a couple of days for funeral arrangements and a baptism in the middle of the week, I will hear confessions on Friday afternoon/early-evening and we will have a further talk on prayer at 19:00 – focussing on petitionary/ intercessory prayer. Confession requests would be appreciated by noon on Thursday, thank you.
Our Saturday evening service will be at 16:00 (rather than 17:00), just to allow more travel time for my return to Llanelli. As you know, this can be rather unpredictable, to say the least. I would prefer that any Saturday confessions are before the service, to allow for a timely departure.
I am happy to be able to announce that having heard from Father Michael at Llancarfan, we will be celebrating a pilgrimage Divine Liturgy in the wonderful medieval church at on Saturday 28th October, with the Hours and Divine Liturgy at 10:00. The church, with its medieval wall-paintings, is on the side of St Cadoc’s community. Please contact Tracy if you are interested in attending: t_sbrain@yahoo.co.uk
October service times may be found below.
Your prayers are asked for: SICK – Paul (non-O), Ludmilla, Brigid, the priest Anthony; TRAVELLERS – Olga & Valentina, Galina & Natalya, Maria and Nikolai (travelling on Sunday); DEPARTED – Irina (newly-departed), Nina (ninth anniversary of repose).
In Christ – Hieromonk Mark
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Sunday 1 October: Hours and Divine Liturgy, Nazareth House, Cardiff, 11:00 (confessions from 10:15).
Friday 6 October: Nazareth House, afternoon/evening confessions time tbc depending on requests. 19:00 Discussion Group on prayer.
Saturday 7 October: Great Vespers 16:00, confessions by arrangement.
Sunday 8 October: Hours and Divine Liturgy, Nazareth House, Cardiff, 11:00 (confessions from 10:15).
Monday 9 October (September 26 Old-Style): Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian – Hours and Divine Liturgy, Nazareth House, Cardiff, 11:00
Thursday 12 October: Nazareth House, afternoon/ evening confessions time tbc depending on requests.
Saturday 14 October: The Protecting Veil of the Mother of God (Pokrov), Hours and Divine Liturgy, Cheltenham, 10:00.
Sunday 15 October: Hours and Divine Liturgy, Nazareth House, Cardiff, 11:00 (confessions from 10:15).
Friday 20 October: Nazareth House, afternoon/evening confessions time tbc depending on requests. 19:00 Discussion Group on prayer.
Saturday 21 October: Great Vespers 16:00, confessions by arrangement.
Sunday 22 October: Hours and Divine Liturgy, Nazareth House, Cardiff, 11:00 (confessions from 10:15).
Thursday 26 October: Nazareth House, afternoon/evening confessions time tbc depending on requests.
Saturday 28 October: Pilgrimage to Llancarfan – Hours and Divine Liturgy, 10:00.
Sunday 29 October: Hours and Divine Liturgy, Nazareth House, Cardiff, 11:00 (confessions from 10:15).
Canon of the Martyrs, the acrostic whereof is: “I hymn the children of Sophia, who are manifest as exceeding splendid,” the composition of Theophanes, in Tone I
Ode I, Irmos: Thy victorious right arm hath in godly manner been glorified in strength; for as almighty, O Immortal One, it smote the adversary, fashioning anew the path of the deep for the Israelites.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
O Master Christ, grant me the effulgence of Thy transcendent and ineffable wisdom, that I may hymn Thy magnificent and right glorious martyrs, the offspring of Sophia.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Thy name was manifestly adorned by thy manner of life, O divinely wise and glorious Sophia; for, illumined with the grace of wisdom, thou didst spend thy whole life in desiring wisdom.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Thy most blessed fruit, adorned with the number of the all-divine Trinity, struggled like athletes for Him, O most wise Sophia, thou namesake of the divine Wisdom.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The three virgin maidens, Faith, Hope and glorious Charity, having cleansed body and soul with the virtues, were brought in martyrdom to Thee, O Christ, the noetic Bridegroom.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
He Who made His abode as God in thy womb, O all-pure one, Who took upon Him my whole form and was seen before in the form of God, hath renewed all. Wherefore, all we, the faithful, glorify thee as the Theotokos.
Ode III, Irmos: O Thou Who alone hast known the weakness of human nature, having in Thy mercy formed Thyself therein: Thou dost gird me about with power from on high, that I may chant to Thee: Holy is the living temple of Thine ineffable glory, O Thou Who lovest mankind!
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Hearkening to the voice of Christ calling them to a life devoid of death and suffering, the crowned virgin martyrs followed Thee, crying out to Thee, O Holy One: O Thou Who lovest mankind, holy is the animate temple of Thy pure glory!
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
As He promised, Christ gave you strength as ye stood before the tribunal as martyrs; and He filled you with divinely inspired wisdom and showed you forth as radiant, O victorious martyrs, resplendent in the grace of virginity.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Ye dulled the greatly arrogant mind of the enemy and cast down his pride, contending with great wisdom; and with the streams of your blood ye drowned him who of old boasted that he would destroy the sea.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Filled to abundance with the exalted wisdom of Christ, with elect and sage wisdom the three daughters of Sophia put to shame the savagery of the torturers and their unbearable cruelty, giving utterance to divine teachings.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
In holy manner thou gavest birth to Christ, the Holy of Holies, the holy tabernacle of sanctity, Who resteth in the saints; and to Him do we cry out: Holy is the animate temple of Thine ineffable glory, O Thou Who lovest mankind!
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Sessional hymn, Tone I, Spec. Mel:.“The choir of the angels…”: O reason-endowed ewe-lambs of the Lamb and Shepherd, ye were given over to cruel torments and have been shown to be equal in honour with the angels. Wherefore, in gladness of heart we all celebrate your sacred memory, O divinely wise maidens.
Ode IV, Irmos: Habbakuk, gazing with the eyes of foresight upon thee, the mountain overshadowed by the grace of God, prophesied that the Holy One of Israel would come forth from thee, for our salvation and restoration.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Strengthened by divine grace, the right victorious Faith, Charity and Hope manfully put to shame the threats of the tyrant; and burnt by the fire, the most wise ones were led to Christ the Bridegroom.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Protected by the armour of the Cross, the holy Faith, Charity and Hope were able to endure the wounds of their torturers with fortitude, opposing sin most mightily even to the shedding of their blood.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Faith, Charity and Hope, the three radiant lamps of the wisdom of the Trinity, illumined and manifestly shining, enlighten the Church most splendidly, for our salvation and defence.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O most lauded Theotokos, thou holy of holies, from thee shone forth the Deliverer, the expectation of the nations and the salvation of the faithful, the Lord and Bestower of life, unto the salvation of us who hymn thee.
Ode V, Irmos: O Christ Who hast enlightened the ends of the world with the radiance of Thy coming and hast illumined them with Thy Cross: with the light of Thy divine knowledge enlighten the hearts of those who hymn Thee in Orthodox manner.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
The three God-bearing virgins, bound by faith and nature, endured tortures with patience of will, and they put to shame the audacious one, uttering mysteries of wisdom which are in God.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Our first mother rejoiceth, seeing the deceiver, who of old drove her from Eden, vanquished by Hope, Faith and Charity, the divinely wise women born of Sophia.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Wounded by Thy love and Thy divine ardor, O Christ, the honoured maidens spurned the venomous flattery of the tyrant and willingly endured the wounds of tortures.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Beholding thee, the hosts of heaven rejoice, and with them the assemblies of men make merry; for they have been united by thy nativity, O Virgin Theotokos, which we glorify as is meet.
Ode VI, Irmos: The uttermost abyss hath surrounded us, and there is none to deliver us. We are accounted as lambs for the slaughter. Save Thy people, O our God, for Thou art the strength and correction of the weak!
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Rejoicing, O Master, the three honoured and laudable maidens, equal in number to the Trinity, placed their hope in Thine all-pure hands.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Resplendent with the beauties of virginity, they adorned themselves with the wounds of martyrdom, and have received from on high a twofold crown from Christ, the most compassionate Bestower of life.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Into the temple of Thee, Who reignest over all, were the precious treasures of virginity brought, O Master, to share in Thy kingdom; for Thou art their light and gladness.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The forefathers of our race rejoice in thee, O all-pure Virgin, receiving Eden through thee which they had lost through their transgression; for thou wast pure before giving birth and art pure even after thy birth-giving.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Kontakion of the Martyrs, Tone I, Spec. Mel. “Thy tomb, O Saviour…”: Faith, Hope and Charity, revealed as most sacred branches of the honoured Sophia, through grace made foolish the wisdom of the Hellenes; and having suffered and been shown to be victorious, they were crowned with an incorruptible crown by Christ the Master of all.
Ode VII, Irmos: O Theotokos, we, the faithful, perceive thee to be a noetic furnace; for, as the supremely Exalted One saved the three youths, in thy womb the praised and most glorious God of our fathers wholly renewed the world.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Manifestly illumined with the thrice-radiant grace of unity, the virgins destroyed the utter darkness of the demons, theologising concerning the Light in three Hypostases, and chanting: Praised and all-glorious is the God of our fathers!
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Possessing mansions in the heavens, O light-bearing souls, with gladness ye now join chorus with the angels, gazing upon eternal glory and saying: Praised and all-glorious is the God of our fathers!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Showing steadfast opposition like the three youths, the maidens manfully trampled upon the fire; for, being equal in number with them, the God-bearing virgins acquired the same understanding of the praised and all-glorious God of our fathers.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O pure one, thou givest remission of transgressions unto those who hymn thee with faith, delivering them from temptations and every evil circumstance; for we have now acquired thee as a refuge, O Bride of God, in that thou didst bear the praised God of our fathers in thine arms.
Ode VIII, Irmos: The children of Israel in the furnace, shining more brightly than gold in a crucible in the beauty of their piety, said: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord; hymn and exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
The divinely radiant virgins Faith, Hope and Charity, were more lustrous than gold in the beauty of their piety, saying: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord; hymn and exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
The virgins who are radiant and were manifestly splendid amid their torment let us hymn, O ye faithful, saying: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord; hymn and exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The shrines of the athletes ever pour forth a stream of healing abundantly, copiously and richly upon those who with faith cry out: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord; hymn and exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Holy ground wast thou, O pure one, giving birth to the life-bearing Ear of grain: Christ, the Mediator of everlasting life, to Whom we all cry out: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord; hymn and exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Ode IX, Irmos: The bush which burnt with fire yet was not consumed showed forth an image of thy pure birth-giving. And now we pray that the furnace of temptations which rageth against us may be extinguished, that we may magnify thee unceasingly, O Theotokos.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Filled with thrice-radiant light, and delighting now in the divine radiance, O ye who are equal in number to the virtues and bear their names: love, hope and faith, make us steadfast by hope, love and faith.
Holy Martyrs Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Liubov, pray to God for us.
Let the might of heaven now subdue the tempest of heresy which besetteth us, O invincible athletes. We entreat you, O good virgins: pray ye unceasingly, that God grant oneness of mind to the faithful.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Having passed through the night of this life, O most wise ones, ye have reached the unwaning day, making merry as martyrs and boasting in grace as virgins, being counted worthy of the divine and incorruptible kingdom.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O, how hath the Virgin given birth unto the eternal and hypostatic Word, the effulgence of the hypostasis of the Father, our Benefactor and Lord, Who became incarnate of her, whom we magnify as is meet.
Troparion, Tone IV: In their sufferings, O Lord, Thy martyrs received imperishable crowns from Thee our God; for, possessed of Thy might, they set at nought the tormentors and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons. By their supplications save Thou our souls.
“The Cross is the guardian of the whole world! The Cross is the beauty of the Church! The Cross is the strength of kings! The Cross is the support of the faithful! The Cross is the glory of the angels and the wounder of the demons!”
(Exapostilarion)
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings for the feast of the Exultation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.
Contrary to the logic of the world and the mockery of the modern day equivalent of the Jews (for whom the Cross was a stumbling block) and the Greeks (for whom the Cross was foolishness), today, we joyfully celebrate the feast.
In our temples, we surround the Cross with herbs and flowers, venerating it as a precious treasure and source of sanctification, blessing and healing.
Prostrating ourselves and venerating it, we chant, “Before Thy Cross we bow down, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.”
In our cathedrals and monasteries, hierarchs and abbots bless the four corners of the earth, with the Cross as the sign of victory by which the demons are conquered, the powers of evil put to flight, and the world consecrated through God’s grace. We know that the powers of hell fear this very sign and painful reminder of their own defeat and impotence.
But, how can it be that a the Church came to recognise a Roman gibbet, a shameful tool of torture and death to be the sign of victory and the Tree of Life?
The early Christians and Fathers of the Church saw many types of the Cross in the Jewish scriptures: in the wood with which Noah built the salvific ark; in the the wood carried for Isaac’s intended sacrifice; in the rod of Moses, which divided the Red Sea, opening a path from slavery to freedom; in the cruciform raising of Moses arms, by which Israel defeated Amalek; in the bronze serpent set cross-wise on a pole for the healing of the Israelites bitten by the fiery snakes.
In all of these, the meaning and vision was of healing, deliverance, freedom, salvation, victory and restoration.
As inheritors of the early Christian understanding of the prophetic and prefigurative voice of the scriptures in image and symbol, and as heirs of their spiritual approach to the Cross, we celebrate and honour it in its glorious, life-giving fulness.
Like the early Christians, seeing beyond the Saviour’s pain and suffering in His accepting, embracing, carrying and enduring the Cross, we see life, liberation, the restoration of humanity and the redemption of Adam and Eve, and of all humanity with them.
Thus, over twenty centuries after an instrument of torturous death was transformed and consecrated by the Saviour’s sacrificial love, obedience, humility, and His total outpouring of self, we Orthodox Christians hymn and venerate the Life-Giving Cross as the Tree of Life, the destruction of hell and the death of death.
Whilst some heretics are loathe to even acknowledge the reality of the crucifixion and the form of the Cross, we embrace it with enthusiastic devotion and deep love – having been sealed with its precious image in Holy Baptism and Chrismation; wearing it around our necks; being signed with it upon our heads in confession as we are assured of Christ’s forgiveness for the penitent; anointed with its form in Holy Unction; tracing its image upon ourselves in prayer and divine worship, and being blessed with that same figure.
In the hymns of Paschal matins, we boldly declare that “through the Cross, joy hath come to all the world…”, and exulting in this joy, we are mindful that at the heart of the meaning of the Cross is the reckless and limitless love of God, of which the sacrificial-love of the Cross was sign of the absolute nature of that love in which God held His Creation from its very beginning.
Desirous for the redemption and restoration of His children from the very moment of their fall, in that love, in the economy of salvation, He sought to heal like by means of like, entering into creation itself to effect the healing and salvation of the fallen.
Just as sin, disobedience and death entered the world through wood – by the Tree of Knowledge – so righteousness, obedience, and restored life would be effected through the Wood: the Tree of the Cross, which has become for us the Tree of Life.
He Who was raised up on this Tree, of His own will, was the very Immortal Word of God and Creator of Whom St John tells us, “All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created…”
As the first Adam fell through approaching a tree in disobedience, and the fruit of that tree was death, so the second Adam approached His Tree in obedience, and the fruit of that Tree is life!
This is proclaimed by the Church’s hymns for the feast, in which we reflect that the tree was healed by a Tree, chanting in matins,
“Of old, in paradise, a tree stripped me naked, the enemy bringing about mortality through eating; but the Tree of the Cross, bearing for men the vesture of life, hath been planted in the ground, and the whole world hath been filled with all manner of joy.”
From the height of that Tree, Christ, the Wisdom, Word and Power of God created anew: making of humanity and the world a new creation, whose conception is signalled by the words of the sacrificed Lamb of God, “It is done.”
As the earth quaked, the sun was eclipsed, the Veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom, and the bodies of the saints rose from their graves, the awesome, life-giving and world-changing power of the Cross was first manifested in the labour pains of a new world born and created from the height of the Cross.
Year by year, we celebrate this wonderful mystery in this feast of the Exultation, knowing that those who love the Cross of Christ, embracing its message of sacrificial love, selflessness and obedience in their lives are themselves exalted by the Cross just as much as we exalt the Cross on this joyful feast.
St Ephrem the Syrian poetically speaks of the Cross as a bridge spanning the jaws of death, and leading to ‘the land of the living’:
“He who was also the carpenter’s glorious son set up his Cross above death’s all-consuming jaws, and led the human race into the dwelling place of life. Since a tree had brought about the downfall of mankind, it was upon a tree that mankind crossed over to the realm of life. Bitter was the branch that had once been grafted upon that ancient tree, but sweet the young shoot that has now been grafted in, the shoot in which we are meant to recognise the Lord whom no creature can resist.
We give glory to Thee, O Lord, who raised up Thy Cross to span the jaws of death like a bridge by which souls might pass from the region of the dead to the land of the living. We give glory to Thee who put on the body of a single mortal man and made it the source of life for every other mortal man.”
On this feast, we glorify the Lord and His Life-Giving Cross, by which hell was defeated and stripped bare as the Risen Lord led our first-father and first mother with the saints of the Old Israel across this wondrous bridge from death to life.
In labouring to follow Him, Who wishes to exalt and raise us up by His Cross, let us rejoice and celebrate in the radiant joy of the feast.
“Come then, my brothers and sisters, let us offer our Lord the great and all-embracing sacrifice of our love, pouring out our treasury of hymns and prayers before him who offered his Cross in sacrifice to God for the enrichment of all.”
(St. Ephrem the Syrian, 306-373 AD)
As the Tree of Life, and the sign of selfless cruciform-love, let us live with the Mystery and meaning of the Cross, as the centre of our lives: our axis mundi stretching from earth to heaven.
How wonderful it has been to start the season with some beautiful autumnal days under blue skies and in the September sun (despite the rather wet interludes), and such a day blessed our celebration of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the cathedral, on Thursday.
The altar-feast is always a very welcome occasion on which clergy are united in the celebration of the Liturgy with our bishop, and for those of us who are far from Chiswick and other parishes within the diocese, it is good to come together and share such an important feast.
The Nativity of the Mother of God – and previous to that, the Dormition – is part of the cement that holds the parishes and clergy of a scattered diocese together, and an embodiment of common life in Christ, united around our hierarch.
Our return from London was followed by a busy few days, with confessions in Nazareth House on Friday, and our lovely local pilgrimage to St Illtud Fawr on Saturday – another day blessed by lovely autumn weather, which was made all the more pleasurable by being in the surroundings of the Vale of Glamorgan.
Though we conceived of the day as a rather low-key and ad hoc substitution for Llancarfan, it turned out to be a wonderful occasion, with Father Luke enthusiastically sharing insights on Roman-British Christianity, St Illtud and his great college, the ‘university’ of Wales in the Age of the Saints. Our time in the remarkable church was followed by a moleben to St Illtud in the church yard and a meal in the Old Swan Inn.
We are grateful to Father Luke for sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for this important chapter in the Orthodox legacy of our God-preserved Welsh land, so blessed by places of sanctity and hallowed by the countless men and women who shaped the Church in its early, formative centuries.
Many thanks to Tracy and Menna for their input, and to Rhydian for taking Father Luke and I in his car. Diolch!
Sunday saw the celebration of the after-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Nazareth House, and the colours of autumn entered the church in the lovely icon adornments, with fragrant herbs and autumn berries, as well as flowers bringing a seasonal offering to the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints.
Again, thanks to our choir for their prayerful chanting, and the return of English as well as Slavonic hymns. I hope that we will see a steady progress in this.
I would also like to express my gratitude to parishioners for making confessions work so well on Sunday mornings, despite the time pressure. Having people ready and waiting to confess at 10:15 has made a vast difference, and rendered it possible to have an hour of confessions before the end of the Hours. Thank you, everyone!
One issue that I must raise is the supervision of children during the Liturgy.
All childen MUST be supervised at all times, and that means that parents/responsible adults MUST be able to see their charges at all times. After several occasions on which children have tried to leave the church via the staircase, I cannot stress this enough.
Looking forward in this week, our plan had been to celebrate the Exultation of the Cross in Cardiff, but I received a message a few days ago to say that the church is not available on Wednesday, due to a funeral.
This has made it necessary to cancel services in Cardiff, and the Divine Liturgy for the feast will now be celebrated in Llanelli, in the Chapel of St David and St Nicholas, at 11 New Rd, Dafen, Llanelli SA14 8LS. The Hours and Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:00.
Thanks to Father Luke for making this possible and to the Partridges who had an unscheduled visit from me today, and supplied prosphora for the celebration.
At the end of the week, I will hear confessions on Friday afternoon/evening, and would appreciate requests by noon on Thursday.
I had planned a prayer discussion session for Friday, but as the following day’s rail strike may already see cancellations of services already on the previous evening, I feel caution must see this postponed until the following week.
The following day – Saturday – as there is a rail strike, I will be unable to travel to Cardiff and hear confessions or celebrate vespers.
I would like to remind that the Cardiff half-marathon will see some road closures on Sunday morning. Please check your journey and allow extra time, if necessary.
We will endeavour to start the Sunday service at 11:00, although the new later Sunday Mass and narrow time-space between services has pushed this to 11:05 thus far. Confessions will be heard from 10:15, at the back of the church. Please enter quietly, as Mass is still being celebrated at that time.
In your prayers, please pray for Thérèse (non-O) Brigid and Liudmilla among the sick and infirm, for Catalin, Nataliya and Galina as they travel abroad, for the newly departed servant of God, Alexey, and for Vladimir, whose anniversary of repose falls at this time.
It had originally been our intention and hope that today would have seen a pilgrimage Liturgy in Llancarfan, but crossed-wires mean that was put on hold, and instead we made a rather less formal pilgrimage to Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major), nearby, in the beautiful Vale of Glamorgan.
Father Luke – our very own historian-archeologist – spoke to our little band of pilgrims about St Illtud, the legacy of Romano-British Christianity, and the shear importance of Llanilltud Fawr as a great and celebrated seat of learning and education in Insular Britain, in its day.
Though Father Luke and some of our South Wales parishioners visited around six years ago, I hadn’t been for something like a dozen years, and I had forgotten the scale of the church that developed over the centuries on the original Celtic site.
Seeing the church from different angles and also beginning to understand the landscape and very close proximity to the coast and the sea-roads of the saints between different parts of insular Britain, Ireland and Brittany, helped to make sense of this site, and how it was so ideal as a place central to the propagation of the Faith and Christian learning in early Christian Britain.
We were interested in the material legacy of the many the layers of history, piety, Christian culture and life that succeeded the Orthodox centuries of Llanilltud Fawr, knowing that those commemorated by tombs and memorials have been part of the life of this remarkable place, whether during the Catholic or Protestant centuries.
Also, we were very happy to see such a loved, cherished and well tended place of Christian identity and heritage, with the Celtic memorial stones preserved in the restored Raglan Chapel at the west end, remnants of medieval wall painting, wonderful devotional-liturgical stonework features from the Middle-Ages – including a arched stone surround representing the Tree of Jesse, sprouting from the recumbent forefather of Christ – later wall paintings and furnishings from Tudor and Stuart times, and mercifully no obvious Victorian ‘improvement’ disfiguring the remarkable and large building.
After having time to explore the church and its surroundings, we chanted a moleben at the foot of the medieval cross in the churchyard, and then had a wonderful social time over lunch in one of the hostelries in the medieval heart of the village.
Many thanks to those who were able to be part of a rather ad hoc pilgrimage, and praise to god for the fellowship, friendship and warmth that always characterises these occasions.
Diolch yn fawr iawn pawb!
Troparion of St Illtyd tone 6: O wise Illtud, thou wast noble by birth and noble in mind * and didst train many saints in the way of holiness. * Pray to Christ our God to raise up saints in our days * to His glory and for our salvation.
Greetings on this glorious feast, so joyfully lauded by the Church Fathers as the beginning of the renewal of creation through the birth of the Virgin, from whom the Creator would be born and come in the flesh to restore fallen Adam and make creation new.
The hymns of the feast boldly declare that today is the great day of the beginning of our deliverance, liberation and salvation, triumphantly declaring in the first stikhiron of the vespers litia that –
“Today is the beginning of our salvation, O ye people! For, lo! the Virgin Mother, who was foretold from generations of old as the receptacle of God, cometh forth to be born of a barren woman…”
St John Damascene, calls all of humanity to celebrate this wonderful event, saying, “Come, all nations, every race of men, every language, every age and every rank! Let us joyfully celebrate the nativity of joy for the whole world!”
But, as we celebrate this long-past Nativity through which the economy of salvation was put into motion upon the face of the earth, he also calls renewed creation itself to join in the joy and wonder of the momentous birth of the Mother of God: “Let the whole of creation make festival and sing of the most holy birth-giving of the holy Anna. For she bore for the world an inviolable treasury of blessings. Through her the Creator transformed all nature into a better state by means of humanity.”
And, today is the joyful prelude to the Creator’s transformation of our humanity by means of the very humanity that He received from His Virgin-Mother. In her Nativity, the Mother of God rises like the day-star which announces the bright dawn of the Sun of Righteousness, after the long and deepening spiritual darkness of the centuries before the coming of Christ.
The rising of this day-star was foreordained by God from the very moment of the fall of the first-father and the first-mother, and the children of the old Israel advanced towards it through the long night of the Old Covenant, with the continuum of the successive generations of the forebears of the Mother of God as the ascent and rising of her as the morning star, growing closer – century by century – to her rising and shining in the darkness before the dawn of the Light of the World in His Nativity in the cave of Bethlehem.
In the Old Testament scriptures the Church Fathers and early Christians saw many prefigurings of the Mother of God: in Jacob’s Ladder, in the Burning Bush, in the Tabernacle, in the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies, in the stem from the root of Jesse, in the sealed gate of Ezekiel.
In such a manner, St Andrew of Crete wrote that the Theotokos is “the vision which was mystically foreshadowed of old in Moses’ burning bush – the fleece of Gideon – David’s divinely embroidered purple robe – the cherubic throne, supremely great, fiery and lofty, holding in its womb the Lord King Sabaoth… The gate of heaven, through which the Master of the Heavens alone passed, having granted the entrance to no one before Him.”
In this rich typology, the Church Fathers saw prophetic images leading Israel towards the momentous day on which types and figures would be fulfilled in the birth of the Virgin, when symbols and shadows would pass away in the arrival of the foreordained Mother of the God-Man, Messiah and Saviour of the world.
Thus, according to the Faith of the Church, there was nothing random or accidental, no element of chance or coincidence in the birth of the Mother of God, but the foreordained council of God and His redemptive love working through the generations of the ancestors of the Theotokos, right down to the Forebears of God, Joachim and Anna, and – through prophecies and foreshadowings – God spiritually prepared Israel for the coming of the Mother of God.
To show God’s sovereign will and the workings of grace, nature was stalled in the conception of the Mother of God, as observed by St John Damascene in his festal oration:
“Nature has been defeated by grace and stands trembling, no longer ready to take the lead… But why has the Virgin Mother been born from a sterile woman?… Nature has been defeated by grace and stands trembling, no longer ready to take the lead. Therefore when the God-bearing Virgin was about to be born from Anna, nature did not dare to anticipate the offshoot of grace; instead it remained without fruit until grace sprouted its fruit.”
Her Nativity, though a natural one of human seed, was nevertheless only made possible through grace, after the parents of the Theotokos had been prepared for this unique birth by years of waiting, though it seemed mad and fruitless to the eyes of the world.
In those years of waiting in patient hope, they were transformed by God’s grace, and their long-awaited child was the fruit not only of their humanity, but also of their humility and patience, born after years spent in contrition, fasting and prayer, in which Joachim and Anna never abandoned hope in the All-Merciful God – as observed by St Gregory Palamas:
“See, all of you, how chastity, fasting and prayer, linked with contrition, made Joachim and Anna the parents of a divine vessel, a vessel chosen not just to bear the name of God, like Paul who was to be born later, but to bear Him “Whose name is Wonderful..”
The Church is clear in seeing the birth of the Mother of God, this divine vessel, as a moment of return, yet to be brought to fruition in the Saviour’s works of salvation through the cross, passion and resurrection, but still a cosmic turning point in which humanity turns back to its ancient dignity, inasmuch as the Mother of God represents all of humanity.
The great hymnographer, St Andrew of Crete, observed that,
“Today the pure nobility of humankind takes back the gift of the dignity of the first divine creation and restores it to itself… And in a word, today the reshaping of our nature begins, and the world, which had grown old, takes up a most God-like composition, receiving the beginnings of a second divine modelling.”
Each of us is called to participate in this very reshaping and remodelling, not simply by joyfully celebrating this event as passive onlookers, happy but untouched by its message, but by constantly labouring for the realisation of its inner-meaning in our lives, conforming our will to God’s will for each of us, exemplified by the parents of the Theotokos, and that of the Virgin, herself.
Living blameless lives like Joachim and Anna, we are called to constant vigil in watchfulness, prayer and spiritual labour, so that our spiritual barrenness and sterility may be overcome by God’s grace, which we must actively struggle to attain, day by day.
As their God-pleasing humility, contrition and patience was rewarded with the blessed answer to their prayers, so our perseverance and persistence will be rewarded by God. The cultivation of these virtues in our lives will transform us, and make us receptive to the grace of God. Through the struggle to acquire them, our hearts will be softened, our souls cleansed, and through this purification we will become vessels ready to receive spiritual treasures through the work and operation of the Holy Spirit.
However, we are not simply called to emulate Joachim and Anna, but above all to emulate the Mother of God, who is the apex and crown of creation, seeing in her the perfect example of of holiness, selflessness, obedience, total dedication to Christ and creation transfigured, exalted and glorified: the greatest living temple of the Holy Spirit, whose life shows what is possible when our will is perfectly conformed to the will of God, leading us from earth to the heights of heaven.
In using Old Testament typology and symbolism, St John Damascene wrote,
“Today the “Son of the carpenter” has prepared for himself a living ladder whose base has been set on earth and whose top reaches to heaven itself. God has come to rest in her; the type that Jacob saw was of her; God descended without change through her, or in other words, having accommodated himself, he was seen on earth and lived along with humankind… The spiritual ladder, the Virgin, has been established on earth, for she had her origin from earth.”
As the Hodegetria – the one who shows the way – the Mother of God is indeed a spiritual ladder, and by emulating her wonderful example, we may climb towards the Kingdom of Heaven, but no-one will make us climb: the choice is ours, and this calling may be heeded or rejected, accepted or refused.
May this feast inspire us, to embrace its meaning with our hearts and souls, translating its joys and promises into action – spiritually, physically and mentally – loving God with our whole heart and with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength, as did the Mother of God, whose Nativity calls us to embrace the Gospel and respond actively and positively to the wonder of God’s love, manifested in the birth of the child who would become the Virgin-Mother through whom the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Let us who love God love the Mother of God, who is a sign of His love for mankind, and the chosen instrument of the Incarnation and salvation, and in loving let us struggle for holiness, even as she shows us the way to holiness.
Let us mirror our festal joy with action, offering our lives as a spiritual offering to the Virgin who offered herself for us, bearing the Saviour for each and every one of us, who in our humanity “makes it bloom again, grants it to flourish for ever, brings it up to heaven, and leads it into paradise.” (St Gregory Palamas: Oration on the Natvity of the Mother of God)
J
Dear brothers and sisters,
Though Father Luke and some of our South Wales parishioners visited around six years ago, I hadn’t been for something like a dozen years, and I had forgotten the scale of the church that developed over the centuries on the original Celtic site.
