Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Given the building works that will commence in St Philip’s, tomorrow, and the removal of most of our worship things from, our Liturgy was rather minimal, but this will only be for two or three weeks.
As we celebrate the memory of St Joseph the Betrothed and his oldest son, St James the brother of the Lord, we remember their rôle in protecting the infant Saviour and the Mother of God in their escape to Egypt. This great and ancient land was, even then, blessed by countless miracles through the presence of the Saviour and All-Holy Theotokos, and before the rise of Islam, shone as a radiant beacon of Christian faith and holiness, and the mother of saints.
Let us pray for the Christians of Egypt, now a persecuted minority, but examples of faith, courage and hope in the Lord, like St Joseph, who – despite challenges and uncertainty – submitted to God’s will, trusting Him and placing himself in His hands.
Thanks to you all for a wonderful celebration of the Lord’s Nativity, this week.
Our vigil in St Philip’s was particularly joyful, with the great amount of psalmody, prayers and readings being shared between our many volunteer readers, who took turns keeping vigil for the Lord.
I was glad that, the following morning, the Oratory Church was rather more temperate than last year, and thank not only parishioners, but also the Oratorian community for their welcome. It is always a wonderful blessing to celebrate in St Alban’s.
It was good to have our meal together after the Liturgy, and welcome friends from St Philip’s and the wider community.
Our resumed weekly visit to Nazareth House saw a quiet compline service, with the Akathist Hymn to the Lord’s Nativity chanted in English and Slavonic.
I always look forward to our weekly prayers and confessions in the convent church each week, and feel that we are very blessed to be able to continue our quiet presence in what was once the hub of our parish, where some of your children were baptised, where Father Mark was ordained deacon, and where we have celebrated so many feasts and special occasions.
It was wonderful to celebrate St Stephen’s day with the Terzic family slava, with the centuries old prayers, blessing of kolyvo in memory of the departed and the slavsky kolach (loaf) in honour of St Stephen, praying for the repose of Branka, Tara and Stefan’s forebears, and for God’s blessing and protection for the family. It is very important that these ancient traditions, passed from generation to generation, are faithfully preserved and kept.
This week, we will return to Nazareth House on Thursday at 18:00 and will chant the akathist to St Seraphim, whose feast it will be. Confessions will be heard as usual (and I trust that Father Luke will be happy for us to celebrate Great Vespers for St Seraphim’s feast the previous evening [Wednesday] at 19:00!).
We will return to celebrating our weekly Friday service (and confessions) in the Oratory at 15:00, and I hope we may start the year with a moleben before the relics of St Alban.
We will celebrate the monthly Cheltenham Liturgy in Prestbury United Reformed Church at 10:00, on Saturday, followed by our bring-and-share lunch. It would be lovely to welcome pilgrims from Cardiff.
As announced today, next Sunday will be the Eve of the Theophany, and the first Jordan blessing will follow Liturgy, so please bring a personal packed lunch, as there will be insufficient time for our usual shared lunch.
As it will be the Sunday after St Basil’s feast, we will also bless Vasilopita at the end of Liturgy.
Please remember that it will be a fast day, despite being a Sunday. Theophany itself – Monday 19 January (when we have no worship space) – will see some parishioners worship in London or Lazarica, depending on the outcome of discussions.
Please pray for Adam and Juliana as they escape for a belated honeymoon; for Joanna, as she travels back from Poland; and for Olga Alexandrovna as she recovers from the surgical procedure on her arm.
Finally, thanks to all for their generosity towards the clergy over the festal period. Your greetings and gifts were greatly appreciated… including the home-made cheese and slivovitsa, which Vlad has somehow managed to carry back from Romania!
Kontakion I: O Christ our God, Who didst choose the most pure Virgin from among all generations and wast born of her in the flesh, we Thy servants offer hymns of thanksgiving unto Thee. As Thou art possessed of ineffable lovingkindness, O Master, from all manner of misfortunes free us who cry: O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Ikos I: A multitude of angels assembled in Bethlehem to behold the unapproachable Nativity; and seeing their Creator lying in the manger as a babe, they were filled with awe. And offering homage with fear, they honored the godliness of Him Who was born and of her who bore Him, chanting such things as these:
Glory to Thee, O Son of God, Who wast begotten of the Father before time began!
Glory to Thee Who with the Father and the Spirit didst create all things!
Glory to Thee Who camest to save the perishing!
Glory to Thee Who didst condescend even to assume the form of a servant!
Glory to Thee Who wast ineffably born of the Virgin!
Glory to Thee Who searchest for the lost!
Glory to Thee, O Savior of the perishing!
Glory to Thee Who hast demolished the wall of separation!
Glory to Thee Who again hast opened paradise, which was shut by disobedience!
Glory to Thee Who ineffably lovest the human race!
Glory to Thee Who didst show the cave to be heaven on earth!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown the Virgin, who gave Thee birth, to be the throne of the cherubim!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion II: Seeing that their Master had received flesh from the pure Virgin, the incorporeal angels were filled with awe and said one to another: “This is an all-glorious mystery past understanding!” And marveling at His ineffable condescension, they chanted with fear: Alleluia!
Ikos II: All of noetic creation is filled with awe and with thanksgiving hymneth the mystery of Thy nativity, O Master. The hosts of heaven rejoice, chanting: “Glory to God in the highest!”, earth and men are filled with gladness, and we unceasingly cry out:
Glory to Thee, O God, Who art glorified in the highest!
Glory to Thee Who didst reveal Thyself to us on earth!
Glory to Thee Who hast reconciled Thyself with us!
Glory to Thee Who didst appear to us on earth!
Glory to Thee Who wast ineffably incarnate of the Virgin!
Glory to Thee Who didst cause the star to shine forth!
Glory to Thee Who by it summoned the Magi to worship Thee!
Glory to Thee Who didst mercifully accept their gifts!
Glory to Thee Who hast taught all creation to minister unto Thee!
Glory to Thee Who hast given us the understanding to hymn Thee!
Glory to Thee Who hast united Thyself with us!
Glory to Thee Who Thyself hast saved, us!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion III: The God of peace and Father of compassions, Who is mighty in strength, came to earth to save the world which is perishing; and in Bethlehem He is now born as a babe of the Virgin, whom He hath shown to be a Mother and Mediatress of salvation for all who glorify His incarnation and chant: Alleluia!
Ikos III: Having her who gave Thee birth in an all-pure manner praying unceasingly for us, rejoicing, we hymn the mystery of Thy becoming man, O Master; and glorifying Thy nativity from the God-pleasing Virgin, we cry:
Glory to Thee, O Son of God!
Glory to Thee, O Son of the Virgin!
Glory to Thee Who upon us hast shown forth the abyss of Thy love for mankind!
Glory to Thee Who hast ineffably loved us!
Glory to Thee Who hast sought out the lost sheep!
Glory to Thee Who hast told the angels to rejoice in its finding!
Glory to Thee Who hast taken it upon Thy shoulders!
Glory to Thee Who hast led it to the Father!
Glory to Thee Who hast united men and angels in a single flock!
Glory to Thee Who hast delivered the world from delusion!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown us great and ineffable mercy!
Glory to Thee Who lovest us more than all other creatures!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion IV: The chaste-minded Joseph, who before had within him a storm of doubting thoughts, now beholdeth all-glorious things within the divine cave; for even though he beheld as a man Him Who was born of the Virgin, yet did he understand from things revealed to him that He is the true God. Wherefore, doing homage to His divinity, He chanted with joy: Alleluia!
Ikos IV: The shepherds heard the angel proclaiming to them that the Savior of the world was born in the city of David, and running swiftly, they beheld Him lying in the manger, like an unblemished lamb which had been tended in the womb of the Virgin, and her who had given birth to Him reverently ministering unto Him, and Joseph standing by with fear. And they spake of what they had been told, and, bowing down before Newborn, they said:
Glory to Thee, O Lamb of God, Savior of the world!
Glory to Thee, O Son of God, Who hast revealed to us an ineffable miracle!
Glory to Thee Who hast caused us to hear the song of angels!
Glory to Thee Who hast taught us to glorify Thee with them!
Glory to Thee Who hast moved angels and men to hymn Thee!
Glory to Thee Who hast brought joy to earth and heaven!
Glory to Thee in Whom those in heaven rejoice with those on earth!
Glory to Thee, for by Thee are those on earth united with those in heaven!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown the power of the devil to be impotent!
Glory to Thee Who hast delivered us from His tyranny!
Glory to Thee, O ineffable joy of those who believe in Thee!
Glory to Thee, O unspeakable delight of those who love Thee!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion V: Beholding the divinely guided star which pointed beforehand to the nativity of Christ, the Magi observed it; and by its guidance they reached the Unapproachable One and beheld Him Who is invisible. And they rejoice, crying out to Him: Alleluia!
Ikos V: The Persian kings, seeing the King of kings sitting on the arm of the Virgin as upon the throne of the cherubim, and understanding Him to be the Master, even though He had assumed the form of a servant, hastened to offer Him gifts—gold, as to the King of all; frankincense, as to God; and myrrh, as to One immortal — and making obeisance, they chanted:
Glory to Thee Who hast shone forth light upon all!
Glory to Thee Who by a star hath summoned us to do Thee homage!
Glory to Thee Who didst reprove the malice of cruel Herod!
Glory to Thee Who didst show his plotting to be in vain!
Glory to Thee Who hast delivered us from his deception!
Glory to Thee Who hast taught us to worship Thee, the Sun of righteousness!
Glory to Thee Who hast enlightened all with the light of understanding!
Glory to Thee Who by Thy nativity hast abolished the delusion of polytheism!
Glory to Thee Who hast utterly laid low the dominion of the enemy!
Glory to Thee Who hast taught us to worship Thee with the Father and the Spirit!
Glory to Thee Who hast crushed the head of the serpent who beguiled us!
Glory to Thee Who hast delivered us from everlasting death!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion VI: Fulfilling the prophecies concerning Thee, which were uttered by the God-bearing heralds, Thou hast revealed Thyself on earth, O Savior, being born now of the pure Virgin in a wretched cave; and though rich, Thou didst willingly impoverish Thyself for our sake, that Thou mightest enrich men, who chant to Thee with faith: Alleluia!
Ikos VI: Thou didst shine forth from the Virgin, Thy mother who knew not man, O Jesus, shining like the sun and driving away the darkness of falsehood; for all the demons trembled, unable to withstand Thy might, and Hades, beholding the miracle, was filled with terror. And we cry out to Thee in thanksgiving: Glory to Thee, O Savior of men!
Glory to Thee, O Savior of men!
Glory to Thee, O Destroyer of the demons!
Glory to Thee Who by Thy birth didst fill the prince of lies with dread!
Glory to Thee Who hast abolished the delusion of the idols!
Glory to Thee Who hast illumined all with the light of the knowledge of God!
Glory to Thee Who hast driven away the darkness of ignorance!
Glory to Thee, O Rock Who hast poured forth the water of salvation upon all!
Glory to Thee Who hast quenched the thirst of Adam and David!
Glory to Thee Who like the sun hast enlightened all by Thy nativity!
Glory to Thee Who hast made the whole world radiant with beams of grace!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown us the promised land!
Glory to Thee Who hast delivered us from the curse of our whole race!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion VII: Desiring to reveal to us the mystery hidden from before time began, Thou didst show the mystery to servants from all creation, O Savior: to Gabriel from among the angels, to the Virgin from among men, to the star from among the heavens, and from an earth to the cave where-in it was Thy good pleasure to be born. Wherefore, marveling at Thine ineffable wisdom, we cry out: Alleluia!
Ikos VII: The Creator of all showed forth a new creation, revealing Himself in flesh, springing forth from a seedless womb, which He preserved incorrupt; and He showed it to be the mediation of salvation for those who chant:
Glory to Thee, O Son of God, Who hast shown her who bore Thee to be a Mother of lovingkindness! Glory to Thee Who didst preserve her a virgin even after she gave birth!
Glory to Thee Who camest to save Adam!
Glory to Thee Who hast comforted the tears of Eve!
Glory to Thee Who camest to save all men!
Glory to Thee Who base shone forth an image of the resurrection!
Glory to Thee Who hast rent asunder the record of our sins!
Glory to Thee Who has given us a model of humility!
Glory to Thee Who didst impoverish Thyself for our sake!
Glory to Thee Who hast enriched us with Thy poverty!
Glory to Thee Who hath clothed us in the raiment of salvation!
Glory to Thee Who hast delighted us by Thy love!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion VIII: Seeing Thy strange and all-glorious nativity which took place in the cave, let us all the more spurn the vanities of the world, for the divine Mind appeared on earth as a humble man, that He might lead up to the heavens those who cry out to Him: Alleluia!
Ikos VIII: Thou art all desire, all delight for those who love Thee and glorify Thy divine condescension, O Christ God; for, having been born of the pure Virgin on earth, Thou leadest up into the heavens those who chant:
Glory to Thee, O Son of God, Who wast born on earth!
Glory to Thee Who wast ineffably incarnate of the Virgin!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown Thyself to us!
Glory to Thee Who summoned to Thee those afar off!
Glory to Thee, our ineffable Joy!
Glory to Thee, O delight of our hearts!
Glory to Thee Who in Thy nativity hast shone forth the light of salvation!
Glory to Thee Who didst shed tears for our salvation!
Glory to Thee Who hast thereby quenched the flame of our passions!
Glory to Thee Who hast cleansed us of the defilement of sin!
Glory to Thee Who hast set at naught our transgression!
Glory to Thee Who hast delivered us from corruption!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion IX: No mind or understanding of angels or men is able to comprehend the mystery of Thine unapproachable nativity, O Master; yet do Thou accept our love and faith, O good Master, and save us who chant unto Thee: Alleluia!
Ikos IX: We see the most eloquent of orators mute as fish when confronted by Thine incarnation, O Master; for they are at a loss how, being perfect God, thou didst appear as a perfect man, and how Thou wast born of the Virgin who knew not wedlock. But we, refusing to delve into these mysteries, glorify Thee with faith alone, crying:
Glory to Thee, O hypostatic Wisdom of God!
Glory to Thee, O ineffable Joy of all!
Glory to Thee Who didst show those lacking in wisdom to be lovers of wisdom!
Glory to Thee Who hast given understanding even to the simple!
Glory to Thee Who didst put to shame those who tested Thee!
Glory to Thee Who didst break the webs of all who devise myths!
Glory to Thee Who hast shone forth the light of divine knowledge upon all!
Glory to Thee Who didst pour forth wisdom in Thy works!
Glory to Thee Who hast enlightened the minds of many!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown us the path to salvation!
Glory to Thee, O unfathomable abyss of lovingkindness!
Glory to Thee, O depth of compassions and love for mankind!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion X: Desiring to save the world which is perishing, the Adorner of all is born of the Virgin as a babe; He Who looseth the intricate bonds of transgressions is wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; and being the Son of God, He becometh the Son of the Virgin, and wisely arrangeth all things, that He might save those who chant unto Him: Alleluia!
Ikos X: Herod, the enemy of God, showed himself to be a pillar and wall of God-opposing malice and a spawn of great iniquity, who tried to slay Him Who giveth life unto all, and at his command innocent babes were reaped by the sword, like unripe grain; wherefore, having driven all malice from our hearts, let us glorify Him Who came to save us, crying:
Glory to Thee Who didst show Herod’s intention to be in vain!
Glory to Thee Who hast numbered with the angels the babes he slew!
Glory to Thee, O Destroyer of malice!
Glory to Thee, O Instructor in humility and Lover of mortals!
Glory to Thee Who hast broken the horn of pride!
Glory to Thee Who hast shone the light of righteousness upon all!
Glory to Thee Who Thyself hast taught meekness and humility to all!
Glory to Thee Who hast brought all to acknowledge Thee!
Glory to Thee Who by Thy nativity didst sanctify the womb of her who bore Thee!
Glory to Thee Who didst accept the shepherds’ wonder and the gifts of the Magi!
Glory to Thee Who didst teach even irrational creatures to serve Thee!
Glory to Thee Who hast sanctified all creation!
O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Kontakion XI: All laudation of Thine incarnation for our sake falleth short, and for those who wish to offer fitting praise, silence is better. For even were we to offer Thee hymns as numerous as the sands of the sea, O all-holy King, we would accomplish naught that is meet; wherefore, we chant with fear: Alleluia!
Ikos XI: They who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, beholding Thee, the never-waning Light Who shone forth from the Virgin, were illumined by the fire of Thy divinity, and hymned Thee, the Bestower of wisdom and understanding, crying out such things as these:
Glory to Thee, O Son of God, ineffable Light!
Glory to Thee, O Sun of righteousness, Who hast enlightened all by Thy nativity!
Glory to Thee Who hast shone forth most radiant enlightenment!
Glory to Thee Who hast poured forth upon us a most torrential river of grace!
Glory to Thee Who hast richly provided the water of salvation as drink!
Glory to Thee Who hast shown to those who love Thee that Thy yoke is easy and Thy burden is light! Glory to Thee Who hast lifted from us the weight of sin!Continue reading →
From St Jacob of Sarug’s poetic contemplation of the Nativity: The Archangel Gabriel speaks to the Mother of God of the restoration of Adam’s glory, as Christ comes to redeem and perfect the robe of humanity.
“I am not stripping you of your glory, as happened in the garden;
I have brought a cloak so that you can cover your forefathers who was stripped bare.
I am not weaving for you a garment of shame from leaves.
I have brought a garment of glory for Adam to be clothed in it.
My Lord is true and I am announcing the truth to you
and since you asked me, “how will it happen?” hear and understand.
The Holy Spirit will come to you in a holy manner
And the power of the Exalted One will abide upon you lovingly.
The Fashioner of babes will fashion for him a body in you and clothe himself (in it);
The Unbegotten Son shall be conceived in your virginity.
The maker of the world’s interweaves a garment in your pure womb
and prepares himself a cloak of flesh on the web of your womb.
The power of the Exalted One will abide upon you while not being belittled
and from your purity he will take a body to become a man.”
Here we are, on the very brink of celebrating the Lord’s Nativity, having heard the genealogy of the Lord herald the feast, with the generations of righteous forebears from whom the Lord received His humanity, when God was scandalously clothed in human flesh, born in a cave and laid in a manger.
The scandal of the Incarnation exalts Christianity as a Faith based upon perfect, limitless, divine love, through which God would do the unspeakable and the seemingly impossible in becoming Man to save mankind.
This is why the Nativity must be a supreme beacon of hope, proclaiming that nothing is too much for God in His relationship with humanity, no matter how broken, sinful and rebellious we are.
I was very happy to celebrate Sunday Liturgy in the parish for the first time since October, and it was a joy to welcome five new faces and to be able to share our Liturgy and hospitality with our visitors. We send our greetings to those who are away, celebrating Nativity with family.
As announced, our Nativity celebrations be in both St Philip’s and the Oratory, due to building availability.
Our Nativity Vigil will be celebrated in ST PHILIP’S tomorrow, Tuesday 6th January, at 19:00. Confessions will be heard from 18:00 and after the service, as needed.
On Wednesday 7th January, the Nativity Liturgy will be celebrated at 11:00, in ST ALBAN’S CHURCH (CARDIFF ORATORY) in Swinton Street. I will hear confessions from the end of mass around 10:00, but will not continue hearing confessions during the festal Liturgy. So… please come in good time if you need to confess.
Those who have confessed within the last week are blessed to commune.
Help setting up and putting away will be crucial, particularly to ensure a prompt Liturgy start (at what is already a late hour!) so please assist as much as possible.
The service will be followed by our usual Christmas meal in the church hall.
As you know, building work is pretty imminent in St Philip’s, and we will be removing what is left in the vestry after tomorrow’s vigil. Our worship-setting is admittedly rather minimal at the moment, but we look forward not only to a return to normality, but also to the blessing of a real kitchen, with cooking facilities and space to move!
This prompts us to the necessity of FINGER FOOD, as there will be no kitchen and possibility of washing up. So far, the message is not being heeded, but within the next week or so there will be no choice. If food can’t be picked up, it will not be suitable.
Looking forward to Theophany, we will bless water after the Liturgy on the eve of the feast (Sunday 18 January), as is the Church’s tradition, and hope that a group of us may be able to be in the cathedral the next day, due to the building work in St Philip’s.
The canon to the saint, the composition of Theophanes, in Tone II
Ode I, Irmos: In the deep of old the infinite Power overwhelmed Pharaoh’s whole army. * But the Incarnate Word annihilated pernicious sin. * Exceedingly glorious is the Lord, * for gloriously hath He been glorified.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having attained unto the land of the meek, being thyself meek, merciful and pure, O father, calm thou the present tempest of my heart, that, in divine tranquility, I may hymn thee.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having cleared thy soul of the overgrowth of the passions through godly cultivation, O father Spyridon, thou didst become god-like and wast enriched by the most radiant splendor of the divine Spirit. Wherefore, thou dost illumine those who sincerely bless thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Taking thee from a flock as He had David, the Creator appointed thee as a most eminent shepherd of the rational sheep, shining forth in simplicity and meekness, and adorned with guilelessness, O venerable pastor.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O most holy and pure Virgin, enlighten and hallow my thoughts and soul, I pray thee, dispelling the clouds of mine ignorance, and removing the darkness of sin, that I may bless thee as is meet.
Ode III, Irmos: Thou hast established me on the rock of faith, * and my mouth hath been emboldened against mine enemies. * For my spirit rejoiceth when I sing: * There is none as holy as our God * and none more righteous than Thee, O Lord.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having illumined thy mind with dispassion and adorned thyself with divine humility, thou didst receive the gifts of the Spirit to cast out evil spirits and to loose the infirmities of those who faithfully honor thee, O most sacred one.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having slain the serpent, the author of evil, and trampled down the inclination towards avarice, O holy hierarch, taking pity on him who was in need, thou didst transform a serpent into a golden ornament by thy sacred prayers, O venerable father.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst ascend the mountain of dispassion; thou didst enter the darkness of the vision of God, and didst receive the law of salvation on the tablets of thy heart, in that thou art a most sacred and faithful favorite of thy Master.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Heal thou the wounds of my soul, O Bride of God, and illumine my mind which hath been darkened by neglect, that I may chant: There is none blameless save thee, O immaculate one, and none pure but thee, O Lady!
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional Hymn, Tone VIII, Spec. Mel. “Of the Wisdom…”: Thou didst shine forth as a divinely appointed pastor, O Spyridon, raised from the tending of sheep by God, Who entrusted thee to preside over the Church of Christ. Thou didst drive away the wolves of false teaching by thy words, grazing thy flock on the pasture of piety. Wherefore, thou didst affirm the Faith by the wisdom of the Spirit in the midst of the God-bearing fathers, O blessed hierarch. Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of sins unto those who celebrate thy holy memory with love.
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, in the same tone and melody: As the all-immaculate Bride of the Creator, * Mother of the Redeemer, who knewest not a man, * and as the receptacle of the Comforter O all-hymned one, * hasten thou to deliver me, * the vile abode of iniquity and noetic plaything of the demons, * from their evil machinations; * and make me the bright dwelling-place of the virtues, * O thou incorrupt light-bearing one. * Drive away the clouds of the passions and grant that, * by thy supplications, * I may receive a portion on high ** and share in the never-waning light.
Stavrotheotokion (replaces the Theotokion on Wednesdays and Fridays): The ewe-lamb, beholding her Lamb, Shepherd and Redeemer upon the Cross, weeping, exclaimed, and bitterly lamenting, cried out: The world doth. rejoice, receiving deliverance through Thee, but my womb doth burn, beholding Thy crucifixion, which Thou dost endure in the tender compassion of Thy mercy. O longsuffering Lord, Thou abyss and inexhaustible wellspring of mercy, have pity and grant remission of sins unto those who hymn Thy divine Passion with faith!
Ode IV, Irmos: From a Virgin didst Thou come forth, not as an ambassador, * nor as an Angel, * but the very Lord himself incarnate, * and didst save me, the whole man; * wherefore I cry unto Thee: * Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Set afire by the burning coal of the honored Spirit, thou didst burn up all the readily kindled fuel of the passions, O all-blessed one, enlightening the world with the fiery rays of thy virtues.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having slain the movements of thy flesh, O divinely inspired one, thou didst raise up the dead by thy life-imparting call. Wherefore, I beseech thee: Enliven my slain soul, O father!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O father, the dead woman, obeying thee, spake, and by thy commands the raging of the river was restrained. For thou wast revealed as a worker of wonders endowed with divine grace, O blessed one.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The prophets foretold the incomprehensible abyss of thy mystery, for thou alone, O pure one, didst give birth unto the Unknowable One, Who, in His unutterable tender compassion, became incarnate.
Ode V, Irmos: O Christ my Savior, the enlightenment of those lying in the darkness of sin. * I rise early to hymn Thee O King of Peace, * enlighten me with Thy radiance, * for I know no other God than Thee.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
The river of the gifts which are within thee doth water every heart, O venerable one, and richly granteth health unto all, moving all to glorify God, Who hath glorified thee and honored thee with all manner of wonders.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
The earthly emperor clearly recognized thee as a true servant of the heavenly King, full of divine gifts, O blessed one, when thou didst come to him, proclaiming the great Physician, Who is God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Emulating the hospitable character of Abraham, thou didst open the doors of thy house unto all, and wast all things to all people, mindful of those who were in evil straits, O blessed Spyridon.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
For us hast thou given birth unto a newborn Babe, Who before the ages was begotten of the beginningless Father, O Maiden. Him do thou entreat as thy Son and God, that He spare those who, with a pure soul, proclaim thee to be the Theotokos.
Ode VI, Irmos: Whirled about in the abyss of sin, * I appeal to the unfathomable abyss of Thy compassion: * Raise me up from corruption, O God.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Gold was as mire to thee who shone forth in dispassion more brightly than gold, and wast enriched by thy most golden gifts of the Spirit, O venerable one.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Serving thy Master in purity, O venerable one, thou didst have a multitude of the angelic hosts serving thee with unseen voices, O most sacred one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O most glorious and all-wise father, thy life hath made thee most glorious to the world. Wherefore, rejoicing, we that hymn thee celebrate thy divine memory.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
More spacious than the heavens was thy womb, which contained God Whom no place can contain, O all-holy virgin Bride of God, who knewest not a man.
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 II, Spec. Mel. “Seeking the Highest…”: O most sacred one, wounded with love for Christ, * and giving wings to thy mind through the radiance of the Spirit, * thou didst find thy work fulfilled in the activity of divine vision. * O thou who art pleasing to God, thou divine oblation, ** beseech Him that divine illumination be granted unto all.
Ikos: Let us now praise Spyridon, the hierarch of the Lord, sanctified from his mother’s womb, who received the tablets of the grace of divine glory, as one most glorious in miracles from all of creation, as a fervent witness of the divine radiance, intercessor for the poor, and spiritual guide for the sinful; for he hath become a divine oblation for the throne of Christ, asking divine illumination for all.
Ode VII, Irmos: The godless order of the lawless tyrant * fanned the roaring flame; * but Christ bedewed the God-fearing children with the Spirit, * therefore He is blessed and supremely exalted.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having acquired the guilelessness of Moses, the meekness of David and the blamelessness of Job of Uz, thou didst become a dwelling-place of the Spirit, chanting most sacredly: Blessed and supremely glorious art Thou!
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
The showers of heaven rained down upon thy head during the harvest and prefigured the future; for, as thou didst say, God glorified thy divine memory, sanctifying the faithful by thy mediation.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
In the council of the fathers God glorified thee, who guarded thy words in judgment, O blessed one. Thou didst bring them forth with faith, openly disclosing the follies of the most irrational Arius and destroying his opposition.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Through the ineffable Word, O Virgin, thou didst put forth the Cluster of grapes as the Branch which alone was uncultivated and which poureth forth the wine gladdening all mankind, sanctifying mortals and dispelling all the drunkenness of the wicked.
Ode VIII, Irmos: In Babylon, the activity of the fire was once divided, * for, by the command of God it consumed the Chaldeans, * but bedewed the faithful, who chant: * Bless ye the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Thou didst extinguish the furnace of the passions with divine outpourings of the divine Spirit, O father, pouring forth a dew which taketh away the fever of the ailing who ever have recourse unto thee in faith, O blessed Spyridon, thou who art most noetically rich.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Guileless, upright, meek, merciful, not mindful of the wrongs done thee, loving and hospitable wast thou, O most sacred hierarch, adorned with the wisdom of Orthodoxy, O venerable one. Wherefore, we honor thee with faith.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Of old, the dead woman when questioned by thee O father, replied as though alive. Oh what a most marvelous wonder! Oh what a most glorious mystery! Oh, the grace which thou hast received, having adorned thyself with an angelic life, O right wondrous one!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Heal thou the passions of my heart with thy mercy, O all-hymned one; calm thou my mind, enlighten my soul, and guide me to walk the paths of salvation, that I may ever hymn thee, O all-hymned one.
Ode IX, Irmos: The Son of the Beginningless Father, God and Lord, * hath appeared to us incarnate of a Virgin, * to enlighten those in darkness, * and to gather the dispersed; * therefore the all-hymned Theotokos do we magnify
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Exalted among the God-bearing fathers, thou didst openly proclaim the Son of the beginningless Father to be of one essence and equally everlasting with the Father, and didst stop the mouths of the iniquitous, O all-blessed and holy hierarch.
Holy Father, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
O all-radiant sun, adornment of the fathers, glory of priests, converser with angels: By thy prayers grant the unwaning Light unto those who now joyously celebrate thy light-bearing memory.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With a voice of rejoicing have the divine mansions, the heavenly city and the beauteous choir of those who hold festival received thy soul, which hath been hallowed and adorned with the virtues, O all-blessed one.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The great mystery of thy birthgiving, which passeth understanding doth astound the angels, O divinely joyous one, delighting the assembly of the venerable and making glad the sacred fathers who hymn thee, the hope of our souls, in a godly manner.
Troparion, Tone IV: The truth of things revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, * icon of meekness, and teacher of temperance; * wherefore, thou hast attained the heights through humility and riches through poverty; * O hierarch Spyridon our father, ** entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.j
Another Troparion, Tone I: Thou wast shown forth as a champion of the First Council * and a wonderworker, O Spyridon, our God-bearing father. * Wherefore, thou didst speak to one dead in the grave, * and didst change a serpent into gold. * And, whilst chanting thy holy prayers, * thou didst have angels serving with thee, O most sacred one. * Glory to Him that hath given thee strength! * Glory to Him that hath crowned thee! ** Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee!
How lovely it was to celebrate our Liturgy today with the anticipated return of Valentina Nikolaevna, our oldest parishioner, and to have a Wessex contingent swelling our ranks.
After Friday’s festal Liturgy in Llanelli, and yesterday’s Cheltenham Liturgy to belatedly honour St Nicholas, it was a joy to again honour the great Wonderworker with a litia at the end of our Liturgy.
After the Mother of God and the Forerunner, no other saint has captivated the Christian world so much as St Nicholas, and he is held up as the image and supreme example of Christian living.
Through his life of mercy, pastoral love and selfless service to his flock, he truly entered their hearts and consciousness, with the deep veneration having been passed down through the generations as the inherited love and devotion of the Orthodox people to St Nicholas.
On the Sunday after each of his feasts, it has become our custom to serve a litia, and I hope this will continue!
Many years to Kolya, and thanks for his contribution to parish life. Thanks also to our choir for their labours and to all who helped with furniture, cleaning and refreshments today.
May we remind parishioners that all food should be finger food and should not require cutlery. Someone has to do the washing up when instructions are not followed, and volunteers seem rather less than those eating at the table! In a few weeks time, during the building work, there will be no kitchen and no opportunity to wash up, so let’s please follow instructions. If it can’t be picked up with fingers alone, it shouldn’t be on the table!
As Father Mark announced, with Vladyka’s blessing, I will be serving in Birmingham next weekend, so he will be serving alone in Cardiff. Those who confessed to commune this weekend are blessed to also commune next weekend, and our Cheltenham faithful who confessed on Saturday will also be blessed to commune in Birmingham. However, as instructed by Father Mark, those who will brake the fast to celebrate western Christmas with non-Orthodox loved ones should refrain from communing next Sunday.
Let’s not forget that 25 December (New Style) is a special day on the Church calendar, being the feast of St Spyridon the Wonderworker, who together with St Nicholas is one of our most beloved bishop saints.
We are very pleased that our gofundme page has now raised £10,000 and we are extremely grateful not only to the 179 donors, who have generously supported our vision of a dedicated temple for the parish, but also to our social media team, who have been promoting and sharing the appeal day by day. Diolch yn fawr!
Just to remind you that our Nativity Liturgy will be in the Oratory Church at 11:00 on Wednesday 7 January, followed by trapéza in the hall. As the church will not be available the previous evening, we are awaiting confirmation of whether we are able to celebrate the vigil in St Philip’s on the evening of Tuesday 6th January.
Over the western festive period, the Oratory Church will be closed after noon, so our normal weekly services will resume after Orthodox Christmas.
Unfortunately, as I have to celebrate a service on the evening of Friday 9 January, and currently have no practical means of getting to Warminster for the morning service, it will not be possible to celebrate the Liturgy in the chapel of St Lawrence on Saturday 10 January. If this situation changes, I will be very happy to celebrate a festal Liturgy in Wessex!
Asking your continued prayers for recovery and better health.
I should begin with congratulations to Joseph and Maxim on the anniversary of their baptism. The year has passed seemingly quickly since the Sunday in St John’s when they entered the Church: the only adult baptism we celebrated in Canton. May God bless them and rant them “Many, blessed years!”
It was a great joy to be back with parishioners for Sunday Liturgy, after three weeks of rest following fifteen days in hospital, and a previous two and a half weeks suffering from a post heart-attack infection.
It’s hard to believe that my last previous visit to Cardiff was on Sunday 2 November, to baptise baby Ezra, ignorant of what was happening health-wise.
How blessed the parish has been in the intervening weeks, visited and strengthened by the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, and so efficiently cared for and ministered to by Father Mark the Younger. Many thanks to all who have ensured that Sunday arrangements and worship have gone smoothly.
Through God’s mercy, my recovery is going well, though each day throws up limitations as well as possibilities and is a lesson in common sense, and humility. For a while, tiredness will be a companion on this journey, but I look forward to increased energy and stamina. I will hopefully get a “fit note” from the G.P. and ease back into parish work, but this will be gradual and Father Mark the Younger will effectively remain acting rector until the new year.
I’m glad to report that in the coming month, despite the internal building work in St Philip’s, the hope is that Sunday use of the building will not be affected if all goes to plan. However, as we were warned, there will be no vestry storage and no kitchen, so food on the affected Sundays MUST be finger food, as we will have no washing up capability. Should the need arise, the community hall, next door remains as a safety net.
In the coming week, I need to see various people in Cardiff before western Christmas, and I have arranged to make the most of my visit and hear confessions in Nazareth House on Wednesday. I will be pleased to hear confessions in the late afternoon / early evening, but please drop me a line to let me know you’re coming.
This coming Thursday will see St Nicholas celebrations in Llanelli, with Great Vespers for the altar-feast being chanted in Father Luke’s garden chapel at 19:00 and the Divine Liturgy on Friday morning at 10:00. It will be a joy to support Father, who has given me immense care and support since leaving Morriston Hospital. Cardiff visitors are always very welcome in Llanelli.
Saturday will see our St Nicholas celebrations continue for the sake of our Gloucestershire parishioners, with the Cheltenham Divine Liturgy celebrated in the United Reformed Church in Deep Street, Prestbury. The Hours and Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:00, and Liturgy will be followed by a bring-and-share lunch.
As announced, due to St Philip’s being unavailable on Wednesdays, I have arranged for us to use the Oratory for our Nativity celebration on the morning of the 7th January at 11:00, followed by trapeza in the hall. Unfortunately, the evening Mass for the Latin celebration of Epiphany, on Tuesday 6 January makes a vigil service impossible. We were fortunate that there was no evening Mass last year. I am trying to make a alternative arrangements for the evening service.
As Theophany (Богоявление) falls on a Monday and during the St Philip’s building work, with no kitchen water supply, we will bless water the previous day after our Sunday Liturgy of the eve, as is the tradition for the first blessing of the feast. Given logistics and length of services, as in previous years, I hope a group of us will keep the feast with the second blessing of Jordan in our cathedral the next day.
As requested at Liturgy, we ask your prayers for the new-born Edmund, grandson of Father Mark and matushka Katy-Elizabeth Tattum-Smith, and for his parents Aiden and Mary; for the sick and suffering Metropolitans Areseny of Svyatogorsk and Tychikos of Paphos; for Marina, as she travels to Ukraine; for the sick servants of God, Pavel and Irina; and for the newly-departed Michael, whose funeral is tomorrow.
May I remind ALL who commune, that they should remain still, and gather at the kliros for the thanksgiving prayers at the end of Liturgy, unless there is absolute necessity for them to fulfil an obedience, and we should remember that Liturgy has not finished until the final dismissal?
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
This tenth day of the Nativity Fast is blessed by the double celebration of two Great-Martyrs – St Catherine of Alexandria and St Mercurius – who both lived during the first age of martyrs, resisting the paganism of the Roman Empire with the light and truth of Christ.
As an aristocrat and the daughter of the Roman consul of Egypt St Catherine was a product of the learning and culture of Hellenic antiquity. Educated to the highest standards of the classical world, she mentally outstripped even the greatest philosophers engaged to debate with her, when she disgraced her father’s house by not only rejecting the most learned, desirable and richest suitors – including the Emperor Maximian himself – but by publicly declaring her Faith in Christ, her only suitor and bridegroom.
Given over to the authorities by her own father, St Catherine learned the brutal truth of the Lord’s words in today’s Gospel for the martyrs, “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.”
Rejecting all of the temptations of marriage proposals and worldly comforts, defeating the “wisdom” of the pagan philosophers, her unshakeable, steadfast and immovable faith in Christ sealed her fate and the victory of Christ in the martyrdom following her placing her own head upon the executioners block.
St Mercurius, who lived a half century earlier, gained the reputation of being an outstanding, celebrated soldier, but this was not enough to protect him from the Roman laws against Christianity, after the emperors Decius and Valerian issued a law ordering all Roman citizens to worship the pagan gods and condemning Christians to death.
As yet unknown as a Christian, St Mercurius proved himself a great leader in the Roman war against the Barbarians, for which he was made a military commander by the Emperor, placing him in an ever more noticeable public position in Roman society.
Mercurius refused to participate in the mandated offering of sacrifices to the pagan gods, and was summoned before the emperor. But he was neither threatened nor daunted by this, and openly declared himself a Christian, throwing down his soldier’s belt and mantle at the emperor’s feet, repudiating his military honours and his place in Roman society.
For this rebellion, the Great-Martyr was stretched over fire and lacerated with knives. So great were the cuts and lashes to his body that the blood from his wounds extinguished the flames. Yet after each bout of tortures, when his tormentors threw him back into the prison close to death, the Lord granted Saint Mercurius complete healing.
These continued miracles showed the impious pagans not only God’s power, but also the power of the Great-Martyr’s faith in Christ.
Having been condemned to death, St Mercurius was granted a vision of the Lord, promising him a quick release from his sufferings, granted by his beheading at Cappadocian Caesarea, after which his body exuded myrrh which healed the sick.
How foolish and weak these great saints must have seemed to the Romans who mocked, tortured and martyred them… just the latest Christians consumed and seemingly destroyed by the death-machine of the pagan Roman Empire. Had the Romans kept statistics, they would have seen the sheer numbers of Christians martyrs as the evidence of the futility and uselessness of Christianity. Yet, the death of every martyr was another nail in the coffin of classical pagan civilisation, for every martyrdom was the victory of Christ over the earthly manifestation of the Kingdom of Satan.
In the same way the death of every new-martyr of the Soviet yoke brought the end of Communism and the collapse of the Iron Curtain closer. The blood of the martyrs was lethally poisonous to the Marxist system, just as that of the first martyrs was to paganism.
Every martyrdom and the passions and miracles that preceded the death of the saints not only manifested the power of Christ, but drew countless pagans into the net of His Gospel, confirming the words of the Gospel: “You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.”
When St Catherine broke the torture-wheel, rather than being broken by it, the empress Augusta, the imperial courtier Porphyry and a vast number of soldiers confessed their faith in Christ, sealing their own martyric fate, and further hastening the crumbling demise of pagan Rome. The historian Lactantius declared that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, but the self-same blood was also deathly poison to paganism.
The Faith and courage of the martyrs awoke those imprisoned in the darkness of paganism, declaring what we have heard from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
“Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
The courage, unshakeable faith and example of the martyrs must also call us to arise from our spiritual sleep and our worldly complacency.
Since the first age of martyrs, the Church has seen wave after wave of recrimination: from heretics, from Muslims, from Communists, from politicians.
In the 20th century and beyond, in the new age of martyrdom and renewed persecution for the faithful of the former Soviet block, the Balkans, the Christians of the Holy Land and Islamic regimes, believers quickly shared in the experience of the faithful of the Old Israel, described by St Paul in his letter to the Hebrews:
“There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the earth.”
The twentieth century saw believers shot, drowned, burned alive, frozen to death, starved, buried alive, tortured to death, thrown from cliffs. In Gulags, prisons, concentration camps, gaols, political headquarters, and even hospitals and childrens’ homes, the KGB, Securitate, Ustashe, Stasi, Islamists, Zionists, and various terrorists have continued the assault of hell against Christianity, but all in vain, as the gates of hell cannot possibly overcome the Church.
On the back of the systematic persecution of Orthodoxy in Ukraine by the agents of western powers, we see the demonisation of Orthodoxy in the western world itself, with propaganda attacking coming from political elites in the USA, from the Czech government, and in the Baltic states.
We see the storm clouds gathering and know that persecution could be on the horizon for believers who thought this could never happen in western democracies, and never happen to them, calling us to now heed the Lord’s words, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness…”
But, all those living the Christian life are continually called to wrestle against worldy powers in living according to the Law of God.
In doing so, we must be close to the matyrs, by reading their lives, praying to them, seeking their help, and keeping heir memory alive by sharing it, so that those their steadfast examples of courage, faithfulness and strength may encourage us and others in the Faith, helping us to remain strong and resilient in defending Christian truth and being willing to face the consequences of confessing Christ and he Gospel. Perhaps, in the future, our own experiences will be held up as a testimony.
This can only be possible with dedicated Christian living, founded on prayer, spiritual life and struggle. We must head the words of St Paul to the Ephesians and “Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Not all of the martyrs were military saints, as indeed St Mercurius was, but they were all spiritual warriors, and we are all called to be so, not only those who suffer for Christ, but ALL believers in simply LIVING for Christ. We are ALL called to “take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”
We are ALL ordered “gird your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
We are ALL commanded “take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And…the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
This is our call to spiritual arms in a dedicated, active Christian life, whether our future vocation will be to sufferer for Christ, or not, as we are called to be witnesses and to resist acquiescence to the world.
Because we believe; because we have hope; because we have faith and know that Christ has already gained the victory, even though it is daunting, we need not fear, but rather “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
His might was shown in the victory of the martyrs, and by submitting our lives to Him, we can allow His might to be shown in us, who not only love the martyrs, but seek to imitate them in their righteousness and holiness.
Holy Great-Martyrs Catherine and Mercurius, pray to God for us!
Ephesians 4:1-6: Brethren: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, as we enter this period of the Fast, in today’s first Apostol reading, Saint Paul, charges us to struggle for peace and unity, united in our Christian calling and in a singular hope in ONE Lord, ONE faith and ONE baptism.
Calling us to be humble and patient with one another, the Apostle calls us to endeavour to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, and in that very word ENDEAVOUR, he acknowledges that this pursuit and maintenance of unity may sometimes be a challenge, but it remains a challenge that we must always pursue, for if we reject the need for that unity, let alone attack that unity, we REJECT one Lord, one faith and one baptism. We essentially cut ourselves off from the fellowship of the Church.
In his experience of human nature, St Paul was a realist, and in the infant Church he battled against disagreement and division, with his travels and letters not simply being to preach the Gospel and strengthen the local churches, but as part of the struggle to preserve, maintain and – when needed – restore unity in the local congregations, making it clear to the first Christians that in Christ, division was NOT a choice or option, given that we indeed, have one Lord, one faith and one baptism.
St Paul began his letter to the Church in Ephesus by calling himself “the prisoner of the Lord”, a motif he echos in other places, making clear that as a willing captive for Christ, he is not the master and he does not make the rules. Rather, as a prisoner for Christ, he willingly obeys the Lord’s commandments, and subjects himself to the orders he receives from the Saviour, and for Christians to live in harmony, peace and unity is one such order.
In this Apostol, he is writing to the Church in Ephesus, but he also addessed fractious Christians and local Churches in other parts of the ancient world.
He encouraged the Church in Corinth, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” 1 Corinthians 1:10
It is striking that later in the same letter to the Corinthians, Paul is very blunt (something we know him for), calling them immature in strong terms: “I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ” before a very direct correction: “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?”
St Paul tells them to stop being babies and grow up, and start living according to their Christian calling, to stop being willful and worldly, and that fractiousness, jealousy and quarrelling is not worthy of a Christian.
He speaks in such strong terms, because unity and peace are essential qualities and characteristics of the Church, which is not simply an earthly institution, but also a divine one, called upon to be the theandric (i.e. Divine-Human) Body of Christ in the world, and this unity finds its origin in its founder in Whom was united both Divinity and humanity.
Starting from the Holy Mystery of Baptism, each of us called to unity – be one with Christ. Through that same baptism, each and every Christian believer is called to not only be united to Christ, but united to one another in Him: Christ not simply as our hope, but as our identity, because having been baptised in Christ, we have put on Christ. If we share this identity in Christ, we should be one.
In baptism and Faith, reflecting the Cherubic Hymn, each of us is called upon to have put aside worldliness, and to have put on Christ, so that the division, jealousy and quarrelling of which Paul speaks can have no place in the Church.
How can we be one in Him if we argue, judge, gossip, condemn, vie for power, influence?
When we argue, cause division and militate against the unity of the Church we reject the vocation to which the Apostle refers at the beginning of today’s Apostol: “I… beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…” and we show that we are not prisoners for Christ, but prisoners of the world and its passions, ambitions, and agendas. We show that our baptism has no meaning. How can this be squared with hope in ONE Lord, ONE faith and ONE baptism?
The foundation of our essential unity must be peace: peace with God, peace with our own conscience and peace with one another, and the theme of peace and unity present themselves at the very beginning of the Divine Liturgy, the most important expression of the Christian life, and our relationship with God.
In every Liturgy, the deacon calls us to pray in peace, something which is totally impossible of we do not strive for the peace and unity of the Church, and without peace of mind and heart, and without peace with our brothers and sisters, we are not worthy to stand before the Altar of God, as the Saviour Himself made clear in Matthew’s Gospel, commanding us, “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
It is in unity with one another, with peace of both heart and mind that we must not only attend the Divine Liturgy, but even stand before the Lord in prayer, for only then can our prayers have meaning.
The creed is the liturgical sign of the unity of which Saint Paul speaks, and for which he laboured among those who were divided, but liturgical statements sung by a congregation led by its deacons will have absolutely no spiritual currency and meaning unless we have first heeded the deacons words before that first, “I believe…”
“Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess…”
In the bond of love and unity, we are called to no longer be individuals, but to confess the Symbol of Faith as the Church, doing so not simply with one mind, but with one mouth, as we say not “We believe…,” but “I believe…”
Having prayed together, chanted the creed together and offered and shared the Holy Gifts together in our first parish Liturgy of the Advent Forty Days, we begin this journey to the Nativity as a community, and must do mindful that not simply peace and unity, but reconciliation is the very meaning of the Nativity of Christ. The appearance of God-Made-Man was to bring the greatest unity other than His own Incarnation in the union of His two-natures: the reconciliation of heaven and earth, and God and man, but also in our shared identity in Christ to bring this unity to redeemed humanity in the Communion of Saints.
If we cannot heed the Apostle Paul and struggle for spiritual unityduring our earthly lives, then what relevance can either the Nativity Fast, the celebration of the Nativity, or even the Christian Faith have for us? What can Christ mean to us if we fail to work for the peace and unity of the Church
St John records the prayer of the Saviour before His betrayal, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…”
By trying to live in love and peace with one another, being compassionate and merciful to one another, forgiving one another, seeking to understand oneother, struggling with our differences, and endeavouring – as St Paul says – for unity, we will be saying “Amen” to this prayer of the Saviour, even if our labour for unity is sometimes difficult.
Let us abandon ourselves to be prisoners in Christ, that He may work in us and through us, and that in our weakness, He may be our strength, and our unity.
Unlike Great Lent, the Nativity Fast has no book of special texts, like the Lenten Triodion, and has no dedicated Sundays until we come to those at the end of the season and celebrate the Saviour’s ancestors according to the flesh.
Our Advent preparation is personal, rather than public, as during the Great Fast, with its Great Canon of Repentance, Passia and solemn Lenten services.
For several years in Cardiff, it has been our custom to follow the Carpatho-Russian tradition of celebrating an Advent Moleben each week, praying the various canons of the forefeast of Christmas – particularly using the canon from matins of the Eve of the Nativity – together with other Advent hymns.
Canon of the forefeast, the acrostic whereof is the [Greek] alphabet, the composition of Joseph, in Tone II
Ode I, Irmos: Overwhelming power once laid low the whole army of Pharaoh in the deep, and the incarnate Word hath destroyed pernicious sin. All-glorious is the Lord, for gloriously hath He been glorified.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Thou wast registered according to the edict of Cæsar, desiring to enroll man in the Book of Life, O King of all; and in strange manner Thou didst come unto Thine own, summoning to heaven him who had grievously been exiled from paradise.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Thou wast registered according to the edict of Cæsar, desiring to enroll man in the Book of Life, O King of all; and in strange manner Thou didst come unto Thine own, summoning to heaven him who had grievously been exiled from paradise.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Receive Christ, O Bethlehem, for He cometh, incarnate, to thee, opening Eden to me! Prepare thyself, O cave, for thou shalt behold the Infinite One all-gloriously contained within thee, having now abased Himself in the richness of His compassion.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ cometh to be born, bestowing a strange regeneration upon the descendents of Adam, in that He is God. Be glad, O human nature, thou barren desert, for the Master hath come to make thee bear many children.
Ode III, Irmos: The desert, the barren Church of the nations, blossomed like a lily at Thine advent, O Lord; and therein hath my heart been established.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Delivering me from the bonds of evil, O Lord Who lovest mankind, Thou comest to be wrapped as a babe in swaddling-bands. I worship Thy divine condescension!
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Delivering me from the bonds of evil, O Lord Who lovest mankind, Thou comest to be wrapped as a babe in swaddling-bands. I worship Thy divine condescension!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The Virgin cometh forth to give birth to Thee Who, though Thou hast shone forth timelessly from the Father, hast come under time, releasing our souls from immemorial passions.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Seeking me who have become lost through disobedience, Thou hast made the cave a dwelling-place, like unto heaven; and Thou preparest mansions for me there, O Compassionate and greatly Merciful One!
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.
Sedalion, Tone VIII: Today the earth hath been shown forth as heaven for me, for therein the Creator is born and laid in a manger, in Bethlehem of Judah. Shepherds chant unceasingly with the angels: “Glory in the highest, and peace on earth!” For they beheld the star which journeyed with the magi, who hastened quickly to bring gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense to the God of all, the eternal King and Creator of all things, Who in His loving-kindness is born in a cave.
Ode IV, Irmos: Thou didst come forth from the Virgin, neither a mediator nor an angel, but Thyself incarnate, O Lord, and hast saved me, the whole man; wherefore, I cry to thee: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Now creation hath cast off all aging, beholding Thee, the Creator taking on form and newness in becoming a babe, leading it back to its pristine beauty.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Marvelling at His all-glorious nativity, the magi who had been led by the divine star stood and beheld the Sun shining forth from the cloud of the Virgin, and they offered gifts unto Him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Behold, the Virgin cometh as a heifer, bearing in her womb the fatted Calf Who taketh away the sins of the world, that creation may rejoice, holding festival.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The predictions of the prophets which proclaimed the manifestation of Christ have now received their salvific fulfillment; for He hath come in the flesh to enlighten those who languish in darkness.
Ode V, Irmos: Thou art a Mediator between God and man, O Christ God; for by Thee, O Master, are we led up out of the night of ignorance to Thy Father, the Source of light.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Let the people who once sat in darkness behold the never-waning Light which hath shone forth, Whom the star announced of old to the Persian kings who worshipped fire.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Let the people who once sat in darkness behold the never-waning Light which hath shone forth, Whom the star announced of old to the Persian kings who worshipped fire.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The great King maketh haste to enter the little cave, that the All-blessed One might magnify me who have been diminished, and with boundless wealth might enrich me who have become poor.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Now is Christ born of Jacob, as Balaam said, and He hath dominion over the nations, and His kingdom, which abideth immutably, is exalted by grace.
Ode VI, Irmos:
Whirled about in the abyss of sin, I call upon the unfathomable abyss of Thy loving-kindness: Lead me up from corruption, O God!
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Christ cometh to His own in strange manner. Let us estrange ourselves from sin and receive Him Who maketh His abode in the souls of the meek.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Christ cometh to His own in strange manner. Let us estrange ourselves from sin and receive Him Who maketh His abode in the souls of the meek.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
In nowise shalt thou be the least among cities, O Bethlehem; for in thee is born the King and Lord, that He might shepherd His rich people.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
How doth a lowly cave receive Thee Whom the whole world cannot contain, O Ineffable One? How art Thou seen as an infant, O Unoriginate One Who sharest the mind of the Father?
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 III: Spec. Mel.: “Today the Virgin…”: Today the Virgin cometh to give birth ineffably to the preëternal Word in the cave. Dance, O world! And having heard this, with the angels and shepherds glorify the preëternal God, Who is to appear as a little babe.
Ikos: The sacred sayings of the prophets have received their fulfillment, for, lo! the Virgin giveth birth to the All-perfect One in the city of Bethlehem, within a cave! All creation hath been refashioned! Rejoice and dance! The Master of all hath come to dwell with His servants, delivering from the dominion of the alien us who were cast down by corruption, and He is seen as an infant, wrapped in swaddling-clothes, in the manger, the preëternal God, the little babe.
Ode VII, Irmos: The command of the iniquitous tyrant, opposed to God, raised up a lofty flame; but Christ, Who is blessed and all-glorious, spread a spiritual dew upon the pious youths.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Let the clouds drop down water from on high! He Who doth honorably appoint the clouds for His ascent is borne by a cloud that is the Virgin, and cometh to shine never-waning light upon those who before were benighted and afflicted.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Let the clouds drop down water from on high! He Who doth honorably appoint the clouds for His ascent is borne by a cloud that is the Virgin, and cometh to shine never-waning light upon those who before were benighted and afflicted.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O army of divine angels, prepare thyself well to hymn the ineffable condescension of the Lord! Come, ye magi! Make haste, ye shepherds! Christ hath come as He should, the Expectation and Deliverance of the nations.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
“What is this strange wonder most great? How can I bear Thee Who upbearest all things by Thy word? Ineffable is Thy nativity, O mine unoriginate Son!”, the most pure one said, holding Christ in her arms with awe.
Ode VIII, Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the fiery furnace divided its activity at the command of God, consuming the Chaldæans, but bedewing the faithful, who chant: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Beholding the height of the truly ineffable mystery which covered the heavens with wisdom, the immaculate one marvelled and said: “O my Son, how can I bear Thee Who sitteth upon the flaming throne of heaven?”
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Beholding the height of the truly ineffable mystery which covered the heavens with wisdom, the immaculate one marvelled and said: “O my Son, how can I bear Thee Who sitteth upon the flaming throne of heaven?”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
“Thou bearest the likeness of the Father, O my Son. How hast Thou assumed the likeness of a servant, abasing Thyself? How can I lay Thee in a manger of dumb beasts, Who deliverest all from irrationality? I hymn Thy loving-kindness!”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Rejoice, all the earth! Lo! Christ draweth nigh to Bethlehem to be born! Be glad, O sea! Leap up, ye assembly of prophets, beholding today the fulfillment of your words, and rejoice, all ye righteous!
Ode IX, Irmos: God the Lord, the Son of the unoriginate Father, hath revealed Himself to us incarnate of the Virgin, to enlighten those in darkness and to gather the dispersed. Wherefore, we magnify the all-hymned Theotokos.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Let all the kingdoms of the earth chant, rejoicing, and let the nations of the gentiles be glad. The mountains, valleys and hills, the rivers and the sea, and all creation, magnify the Lord Who now is born.
Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to Thee.
Let all the kingdoms of the earth chant, rejoicing, and let the nations of the gentiles be glad. The mountains, valleys and hills, the rivers and the sea, and all creation, magnify the Lord Who now is born.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou wast seen insofar as the prophets were able to behold Thee; and, becoming a man in latter times, Thou hast revealed Thyself to all men in Bethlehem, the city of Judah, the star showing Thee forth to the astrologers, O Ineffable One.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
“O my Child most sweet, how can I feed Thee who nourishest all things? How can I hold Thee Who holdest all things in Thy hand? How can I wrap in swaddling-bands Thou Who dost enshroud the whole word in gloom?” cried the most pure Mistress, whom we magnify unceasingly.
Magnification: We extol Thee, O Christ, the Giver of Life for by fulfilling the sign foretold of Emmanuel, Thou didst reveal Thyself as Saviour, by prophets foretold.
Let the rivers clap their hands and the hills ring out their joy at the presence of the Lord, for He cometh, He cometh to rule the earth. Magnification
He hath remembered His truth and His love for the house of Israel. Magnification
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Magnification
The Lord remembers His covenant forever, His promise for a thousand generations. Magnification
He lowered the heavens and came down, He came enthroned upon the Cherubim. Magnification
The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: Magnification
Now and ever and and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Magnification
Chanters: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Glory be to thee, O God. (Thrice)An Advent Prayer: O God and Father, the Almighty One, Thou didst create the human race in Thine image and likeness, and when we fell through disobedience, Thou didst promise to send a Saviour. When the fullness of time had come, Thy favour rested upon Thine Only-Begotten Son, and He was born of the Virgin Mary. Thus, that which Isaiah the prophet foretold was fulfilled: “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, which meaneth ‘God with us.’ “ His birth filled all creation with light; He gave us the baptism of repentance, and didst restore our ancient dignity. Now, most compassionate Lord, Thou bringest us to these honoured days of the Nativity Fast, that we may do battle with the desires of the flesh and draw strength from the hope of the resurrection. Receive us, then, as penitents and forgive our iniquities, whether comitted knowingly and unknowingly, through malice and through weakness. And may our prayers, our fasting, and our works of mercy rise up before Thee as incense, as a sweet spiritual fragrance, that in company with the magi and the shepherds, we too, with pure hearts, may be found worthy to bow down before the Nativity of Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son. To Whom, together with Thee and Thine All-Holy Spirit, belongeth glory, honour, and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Kontakion I: O Christ our God, Who didst choose the most pure Virgin from among all generations and wast born of her in the flesh, we Thy servants offer hymns of thanksgiving unto Thee. As Thou art possessed of ineffable lovingkindness, O Master, from all manner of misfortunes free us who cry: O Jesus, Son of God, Who becamest incarnate for our sake, glory be to Thee!
Dear brothers and sisters,
The canon to the saint, the composition of Theophanes, in Tone II
Dear brothers and sisters,
Many years to Kolya, and thanks for his contribution to parish life. Thanks also to our choir for their labours and to all who helped with furniture, cleaning and refreshments today.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:1-6: Brethren: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Unlike Great Lent, the Nativity Fast has no book of special texts, like the Lenten Triodion, and has no dedicated Sundays until we come to those at the end of the season and celebrate the Saviour’s ancestors according to the flesh. 
Ode IV, Irmos: Thou didst come forth from the Virgin, neither a mediator nor an angel, but Thyself incarnate, O Lord, and hast saved me, the whole man; wherefore, I cry to thee: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
