Greetings on the feast of Blessed Nikolai of Pskov, the Holy Fool who dared challenge Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and was glorified by the Lord in his poverty and seeming foolishness.
Our weekend was marked by a double-celebration with the Divine Liturgy ‘going out’ of Cardiff and across the Severn, with the first of our mission Liturgies celebrated in Warminster on Saturday, in addition to our Canton-St John’s Liturgy on Sunday.
After having celebrated evening services in Wiltshire on the final Monday of the last two months, and having had singing lessons / practices for our local ladies and gents, celebrating the Liturgy was a source of grace and strength for our faithful living such a distance from our parish base in Cardiff. Thanks to the parishioners and to Ian at the chapel of St Lawrence.
A litia for the departed was celebrated in each location after our Liturgies, withthe blessing of kutia in Warminster – though it was also enjoyed in Cardiff. It would be good if more parishioners could contribute to cooking memorial-wheat for our services for the departed, and we will post some recipes in Facebook and WhatsApp.
We continue to remember the newly departed Archbishop Anatoly and Nikolai, and prayed for the servant of God Vladimir to mark the anniversary of his repose. Memory Eternal!
Thanks to all who contributed to our Cardiff Liturgy, especially with the expansion of English language chanting, and over the next few weeks I hope that we will also see a variation of readers, as other young men in the parish fulfil this obedience and become accustomed to chanting the readings and thanksgiving prayers.
With the able assistance of our students and young people, the last few Thursdays have seen the chanting of compline, with the akathist after confessions in Nazareth House, and we will pray the night-office of the Church again this week at 19:00, but with a supplicatory canon to the Mother of God and the Canon to St David, the Apostle of Wales, whose feast falls that day. I will hear confessions in the afternoon, and would appreciate requests – as usual – by 18:00 on Wednesday, please.
This Saturday will see the clergy to head to Cheltenham to celebrate the Divine Liturgy for the Saturday of maslenitsa, on which we commemorate all of the venerable fathers and mothers who have shone forth in the monastic life. As usual, we will worship in Prestbury United Reformed Church, Deep St, Cheltenham GL52 3AN.
Confessions will be heard from around 09:30, with the Hours and Liturgy commencing at 10:30. The usual bring-and-share lunch will follow the service, and we know that our matriarchs will be in maximalist mode for blini-week.
The following Saturday, 23rd March, our parish-pilgrimage will be to Margam Abbey, where we look forward to celebrating the Hours and Liturgy at 10:30. Please let me know if you can join us, especially as we may need to arrange lifts from Port Talbot Parkway Station for those without cars.
The mystery of Holy Unction / Soborovanie will be served in our London cathedral on Saturday 20th April at 14:00, and I hope that parishioners who are able to attend may share cars and work together so that as many as possible are able to be part of this diocesan celebration. Only Orthodox Christians above the age of seven years may be blessed to receive this Holy Mystery, and must prepare with confession.
Next Sunday will, of course, be Forgiveness Sunday, and the Liturgy will immediately be followed by the Vespers of Forgiveness, with the rite of mutual forgiveness at the end. This reminds us of the absolute necessity of seeking reconciliation with anyone who we have hurt or offended, even if unintended, asking their forgiveness and forgiving the offence that anyone has caused us. To begin Great Lent otherwise, will see the Great Fast lead us no-where: a spiritual cul-de-sac! We cannot journey towards the Lord’s Pascha with unresolved conflict, or with resentment in our hearts and minds. We must at least have made the first step towards peace and reconciliation, even if we have a considerable way to go on the journey.
After Liturgy and Vespers, we shall then share our last non-Lenten trapeza, though meat has already been given up, yesterday.
On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the the first week of the Great Fast, Compline and the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete will be anticipated by an early celebration at 16:00 at the shrine of the Holy Protomartyr Alban in the Oratory Church, in Swinton Street. As always, many thanks to Father Sebastian and the brethren. We are most grateful.
Today brought the blessing of finally being able to celebrate a local Divine Liturgy beyond the Severn with our parishioners living in the South and West of England.
Though we were few in number, the Liturgy, brought together parishioners from Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset.
Not everyone was able to be with us, due to work, illness and other pre-arranged duties, but the few of us who gathered in the Chapel of St Lawrence, in Warminster, were touched by the peace and spiritual warmth of our Liturgy.
We look forward to sharing our next Liturgy with those who were unable to be with us today, and by then, we will have taken some of our many icons from Cardiff to adorn the interior of the chapel, where we have been welcomed with incredible warmth and hospitality. We also look forward to welcoming brothers and sisters who live in Cardiff and its environs.
Being pastorally open to those who will hopefully discover us over the coming months, we will endeavour to reflect the identity of the worshipping community, but our Wessex mission will primarily have services in English, seeking to build upon the legacy of the ancient saints of Wessex, among whom we look to St Aldhelm and St Birinus with special devotion.
Celebrating our first Liturgy in Warminster on a memorial Saturday was an occasion for reflection upon the part that past generations have played in loving and preserving the places in which we pray as pilgrims, serve the Liturgy and encounter Christ in the Holy Mysteries.
This includes our new home, the Chapel of St Lawrence, which was bought by the people of Warminster in 1575 as an extra diocesan place of worship, outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of Salisbury. This lovely, peaceful sanctuary is made available to the wider Christian community by the feoffees, who hold the chapel in trust on behalf of the people of the town.
We are extremely grateful to the chair of the feoffees, who has gone above and beyond duty in the proactive welcome offered to our little community, and the practical support and assistance that we have received over the last few weeks. We were so glad that he and the retired rector of Shepton Mallet, the Revd Liz Smith were able to be with us, and share a cup of tea before the litia for the departed with the blessing of kolyva, and a leisurely lunch.
Many thanks to our local parishioners for hospitality, singing, reading, cooking, baking and kolyva making!
We will gather for our end of month evening service aboard Porphyrios’s narrow-boat on Monday 25 March, and look forward to our next Liturgy on Saturday 13 April, which will again be a memorial Saturday.
Having celebrated the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, the Great Fast grows ever closer, with this week being the last week in which Orthodox Christians consume meat until Pascha, to be followed by cheese-fair (bliny) week during which we consume eggs, fish and dairy foods. We should remember that the customary fast still adheres to this Wednesday and Friday, but with the allowance of fish, wine and oil.
Meat-Fair, next Sunday, will be the last day for the consumption of meat. Please use the next few weeks to use up the foods that need consuming. The first few days of the Great Fast are NOT the time to do this, and we often have serial offenders who do this every year, with no excuse.
We should use also the next two weeks to prepare for the fast, particularly in terms of spiritual resources, ensuring we have the prayer materials needed for our Lenten observance and selecting reading materials as our spiritual food during Lent.
As announced on WhatsApp, we hope to repeat last year’s daily reading of the Psalter, with parishioners and friends of the parish reading a designated kathisma ofthe Psalter, so that it is read in its entirety each day. We would ideally like twenty readers so that each could read one kathisma of the Psalter, in rotation. Anyone wishing to participate should email oltarnik Alexander at psaltergroup@fastmail.com
Members of our communities have been recommending, and indeed buying, various books for l
Lenten reading, with some suggestions below…
The Paradise of the Fathers, volumes I and II
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Apophthegmata Patrum: The Alphabetic Collection: 59 (Cistercian Studies Series, 59)
On Ascetical Life: St. Isaac of Ninevah
A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God, by St Ephraim the Syrian, sadly not readily available in the small hardback tome, though available in a paperback traditional English edition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiritual-Psalter-Reflections-God/dp/B0C2S22VK1
On the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by St. Philaret of Chernigov
Orthodox Lent, Holy Week and Easter: Liturgical Texts with Commentary, by Hugh Wybrew
Season of Repentance: Lenten Homilies of Saint John of Kronstadt
Today and tomorrow have been set aside for house blessings, and I hope to fulfil more requests before the beginning of the Fast. We all have busy lives, but a house blessing takes little time, and brings God’s grace inti the Christian home, setting it apart and hallowing it through prayer and the sprinkling of holy water blessed at Theophany.
I was very happy to have a group of our young people come to Nazareth House to chant compline/ and the akathist to Mother of God last Thursday evening, following confessions in the afternoon and early evening, and we will – God willing – do the same again, this week, with compline at 19:00. Everyone, not just the parish youth, is welcome and encouraged to support our weekday service.
May I ask for confession requests by 18:00 on Wednesday, reminding you that anyone working in the day is welcome to request a confession after work, and that we will accommodate school runs and family demands? Please ask!
Next weekend will see our first Wessex Liturgy in the Chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster, and our local parishioners have been busy making preparations for this inaugural public service. We have already celebrated services on Porphyrios’s narrow-boat, and look forward to the Liturgy in the historic chapel, generously made available to us by the feoffees who hold it in trust for the people of Warminster. We will set up the chapel at 9:00, with confessions commencing around 10:00 after the proskomedia. The Hours and Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:30, and we will celebrate a memorial for the departed after the Liturgy, followed by a bring-and-share lunch.
We greatly look forward to welcoming anyone who wishes to join us, being there for all Orthodox Christians, and will endeavour to make them feel at home.
The primary language of this new local mission will be English, though we shall endeavour to be inclusive, reflecting those who come to pray and worship with us.
The following Saturday will see our monthly Cheltenham Liturgy, which will now be on the thirds Saturday of the month. We continue to worship in Prestbury United Reformed Church. As in Warminster set up will be at 9:00, confessions around 10:00 after the and Hours and Liturgy at 10:30, followed by our customary bring-and-share lunch.
Our next parish-pilgrimage will be on Saturday 23rd March, when we look forward to celebrating the Divine Liturgy at Margam Abbey, whose Norman foundation succeeds an earlier Celtic Christian presence attested to by the Celtic crosses and memorial stones preserved a short distance from the abbey church in the museum that houses them. The Hours and Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:30 (despite previous discussions of 10:00) in order to allow time for anyone travelling by train to be collected from the station, if needed.
As announced last week, the mystery of Holy Unction / Soborovanie will be served in the cathedral on Saturday 20thApril at 14:00, and we hope that it will be possible for as many parishioners as possible to attend and partake of this Holy Mystery. We will not serve Unction in our parishes, as we preserve the old Tradition that during the Great Fast, there are conciliar services, in which the bishop and priests of the diocese serve together.
As we settle into St John’s and begin to feel at home, I think it necessary for us to remind ourselves that Sunday is set apart for the Lord, and we need to impress this and the ‘otherness’ of church and the Liturgy upon our children and young people.
The Liturgy is admittedly long for our youngest parishioners. We recognise that, and that they cannot be held to attention for its entire duration. However, we only become accustomed to the Liturgy, and grow into it by being part of it, as participants in the Holy Mysteries.
We have been very happy to hear the children singing on the kliros during the litanies, and whilst recognising that we cannot expect our youngest parishioners to be at the front during the whole Liturgy, we need to ensure that they come forward to hear the readings, and I have previously asked parents to ensure that their children are with them from the Cherubic Hymn onwards, to be part of worship as the Holy Gifts are offered and consecrated.
However, since our return to St John’s and the enticement of the children’s corner, this has been rather forgotten. So, mums and dad’s, please have your children with you during the most sacred parts of the Liturgy, to pray and worship with you as a family, and to be part of our parish community.
Over the last few days, we have been asked to pray for Masha’s friend, Susan, and for Porphyrios’s daughter’s teacher Miss Kirk, who is in intensive care after being attacked. We also pray for the health of Father Anthony of the Mettingham parish, our parishioners Norman-John and Ludmila, and for Brigid in West Wales; for Despina as she faces the issues of relocation in Cyprus; for the repose of the newly departed servants of God, Archbishop Anatoly and Nikolai, and for Barnabas whose forty day memorial has just passed. As requested on WhatsApp, we ask your prayers for Lazarus and Liz as they seek to relocate closer to us – encouraging the canon and prayers to St Minas.
The canon of the holy hierarch, the acrostic whereof is “Aldhelm’s discourse is as sweet as honey”, in Tone III
Ode I, Irmos: To God, Who alone saved His people in the sea and engulfed the adversaries, let us sing, for He hath been glorified.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Aldhelm taught the people of the New Israel to chant: Unto Christ God let us sing, for He hath been glorified!
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Let us hymn Aldhelm, the holy hierarch of Christ, the great High Priest, for in His saints He hath truly been glorified.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Delivering us from the noetic Pharaoh, Aldhelm rightly receiveth goodly praise from us, for he hath been glorified.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Hymn we now the most pure Mother of our God, the all-immaculate Virgin Theotokos, who hath been glorified.
Ode III, Irmos: O Thou Who didst found the earth upon its firmament and establish the heavens with might, make steadfast all of us who praise Thee with faith.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Earth did not confine the thoughts of the holy hierarch, who fixed his mind on the firmament and the heavens, worshiping the Author of creation.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Living a life well-pleasing to Christ, the venerable one ascended the virtues like a ladder, loving Him by keeping His saving commandments with faith.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Malmesbury was filled with gladness, for its walls were raised up by the holy Aldhelm, who therein taught all to praise the Lord God with faith.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Stars form a splendid diadem for thee, O Queen of all, and the heavens clothe thee in a robe of royal purple, for thou gavest birth to the King of kings.
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.
Sessional hymn of the holy hierarch, in Tone I Spec. Mel. “Thy tomb, O Saviour…”: O blessed Aldhelm, thou wast truly a star of exceeding brilliance, illumining thy flock with gifts of miracles and the wisdom of thy sacred writings; wherefore, celebrating thy splendid memorial today, we magnify Christ in gladness of heart.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Repeat.
Ode IV, Irmos: Nay, with the rivers wast Thou wroth, O Lord? Nay, against the rivers was Thine anger, or against the sea Thine attack?
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Divine knowledge didst thou pursue in thy life, O holy hierarch, ever pondering the ineffable mysteries of the Lord Most High.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
In thy sacred writings thou didst extol the virtues of holy virginity, O saint of God, for thy life itself was an example thereof.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Sanctified by the mystery of the monastic tonsure, O Aldhelm, thou didst follow the statutes of the venerable Benedict to perfection.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ gave thee to us sinners as a great mediatress, O Mother of God, ever pouring forth rivers of loving-kindness upon us all.
Ode V, Irmos: Grant us Thy peace, O Son of God; for we know none other God than Thee, Who art glorified in the highest with the Father and the Spirit.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
O Son of God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit grant that, through the prayers of Thy holy hierarch, we may find true peace for our souls.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Unto thee, O venerable Aldhelm, do we fall down, praying earnestly: Beseech the Holy Trinity without ceasing, that our souls may find peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Reverence and veneration do we piously offer to the blessed hierarch of Christ, who taught the people the true worship of the Holy Trinity.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Sanctified was thy pure womb by the indwelling of the Spirit, O mother of God, and it was made a fitting abode for the Word of the Father.
Ode VI, Irmos: I have been cast into the abyss of the heart of the sea of iniquities, and like Jonah I cry unto Thee: Lead me up from corruption, that I may render my supplications unto Thee, O Lord.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Even as we drown in the sea of our iniquities we cry out to the helper given us by God: O Aldhelm, Lead us up from corruption, that we may render supplication unto our merciful Lord!
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
In thy birth thou wast of royal kinship, O saint, but by thy pious manner of life thou didst become a true son of the heavenly King, to Whom thou dost eternally render filial worship.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Saved from the corruption of thy times by thy steadfast faith in Christ God, O Aldhelm, thou didst lead many to salvation through repentance, guiding them to the kingdom on high.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Accept from us these suppliant cries, O all-immaculate Maiden, and in thy love for us sinners bear them to the dread throne of thy Son and Lord, Who sitteth in awesome majesty.
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 of the holy hierarch, Tone III, Spec. Mel. “Today the Virgin…”: Desiring that which is sublime, thou didst despise all that draweth man down; and, forsaking thine own country and thy father’s house, thou didst set out to attain the knowledge of God, for which cause thou didst labour for the Lord for many years, acquiring divine wisdom. Wherefore, piously celebrating thy holy memory, we cry out to thee with love: Rejoice, O divinely wise Aldhelm our father!
Ikos: As thou didst strive to become a fit dwelling-place for the Spirit of God, He adorned thee with all manner of divine beauties, O Aldhelm, and thou wast shown to be a wondrous guide for monks, ever instructing them in the precepts of thy Master. Wherefore, celebrating thy memory, with reverence we cry out to thee: Rejoice, O heavenly adornment of the land of Wessex! Rejoice, divine ornament of holy Malmesbury! Rejoice, lover of true theology! Rejoice, boast of Kent! Rejoice, thou who wast all things to all men, that thou mightest lead some to salvation! Rejoice, bold champion of the unity of the Church of Christ! Rejoice, thou whom we exalt among the saints of God! Rejoice, thou who art glorified by Christ God among the ranks of angels! Rejoice, O divinely wise Aldhelm our father!
Ode VII, Irmos: The children quenched the flame in the furnace, and through faith received a heavenly dew. Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Sing we now in praise of the wondrous Aldhelm, who by fasting and prayer, vigils and ascetic feats, pleased the God of our fathers.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Subdue the flames of the passions that cruelly burn our souls, O holy one, pouring forth upon us the cooling heavenly dew of grace divine.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Wretched are we, and consumed by the fire of sin; yet do we cry out with the holy Aldhelm: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Eden with its Tree of Life could not rival thy most pure womb, O Virgin, for therein arose the true Source of all life, grace and holiness.
Ode VIII, Irmos: Him Who is worshiped and unceasingly glorified by the holy angels, ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Entering among the monks of Malmesbury, Aldhelm instructed them to chant aright: Ye people, exalt Christ supremely for all ages!
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Thou didst labour manfully to teach all to love the divine services, O saint, crying out: Ye people, exalt the Lord supremely for all ages!
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
All of Wessex and Kent were hallowed by thy labours, O holy hierarch, and therein priests and people exalt the Most High for all ages.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Supremely is the Holy Trinity worshiped and continually glorified by men and angels: the unoriginate Father, with His Son and Spirit.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Help us, we beseech thee, O Lady of tender compassion, lest we perish utterly; for there is nought that is impossible for thy prayers.
Ode IX, Irmos: We ever magnify thee, the wellspring of immortality and holiness, who givest healings to the human race, for thou savest our souls.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Our souls magnify the Lord, the Bestower of light and life, Who in His love for mankind hath given us the holy Aldhelm as an advocate.
Hierarch of Christ, Aldhelm, pray to God for us.
Never will the memory of the saint of God fade among us, for he is a wellspring of healing for the grave infirmities of our souls and bodies.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Exult ye greatly, O ye faithful Christians, for through the blessed hierarch is the saving grace of God poured forth upon the human race.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Ye faithful, let us piously magnify the spring that gave rise to Christ, the boundless Torrent of immortality, holiness and salvation.
Troparion, Tone V:Like Samuel of old thou wast afire from thy youth with spiritual desire for wisdom divine, O venerable and God-bearing hierarch Aldhelm; for this cause thou didst tread the narrow path of life unto Christ, making Malmesbury a worthy monastic abode, a haven of stillness where thou didst struggle in ascetic labor for many years. Wherefore, as thou now beholdest the face of Christ in the heavens, entreat Him in behalf of us who honor thy holy memory with love.
As we begin our mission life in Wessex, we are collecting hymns and prayers to the saints of the region, as the foundation upon which we build our spiritual life – turning to them as our our inspiration and intercessors, as we seek to tread in their footprints.
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The Canon to the Holy Hierarch, St Dunstan, the acrostic whereof is “Dunstan setteth us on the Rock of Faith”, in Tone V
Ode I, Irmos: Treading the impassable path at the command of the Master, Israel sang, rejoicing: Let us sing unto the Lord, for gloriously hath He been glorified!
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Deign Thou to send down on me Thy grace, O All-holy Trinity, that, purified of my sins, I may hymn the holy Dunstan, who hath been glorified by Thee.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Unto the wondrous Dunstan let us now lift our voices in praise, O ye faithful, for he was wholly consumed with love for chastity and all the monastic virtues.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Now doth the sacred Monastery of Glastonbury rejoice exceedingly, O Dunstan; for as its abbot thou didst adorn it again with reverent monastic Order.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Seeing thy Son suffering in agony on the Cross, O Theotokos, thou wast pierced with pain, as by a sword; but thou didst later rejoice in His resurrection.
Ode III, Irmos: Upon the rock of Thy commandments establish me, who am whirled about; lift high my horn in the understanding of Thy precepts; that, rendering praise, I may cry unto Thee: There is none holy save Thee, O Lord of hosts!
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Thy kinsman, the godly Æthelm, and the holy Oda, Archbishops of Canterbury, inspired thee, O Dunstan, to establish again in the monasteries of England the precepts of the venerable and God-bearing Benedict, father of monastics.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
All the vanities of life at the court of the kings of England didst thou reject, O sacred bishop; wherefore, thou didst flourish greatly in the courts of our God, and ever criest aloud to Him: There is none holy save Thee, O Lord of hosts!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
None is holy save Thee, O Lord of hosts! didst thou cry out in humility of mind, O blessed one, when thou didst receive the sacred tonsure and the angelic habit at the hands of the holy bishop Ælphege of Winchester.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Seraphim and cherubim, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, angels and archangels, and all the hosts of the bodiless spiritual beings stand in awe of thee, O most immaculate Mother of God, pure Ever-Virgin.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional hymn, Tone V, Spec. Mel. “The Word Who with the Father and the Spirit is equally unoriginate”: With hymns let us honour the holy bishop of the Lord as a true man of prayer who smote the passions with the cudgel of abstinence, who with skill truly put the adversary to shame and set his arrogance at nought, and now prayeth earnestly that his native land be made steadfast in Orthodoxy.
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, same tone & melody: Awesome is the miracle of thy conceiving; and the ineffable image of the birth-giving known in thee, O pure Ever-Virgin, filleth my mind with awe and amazeth my thoughts. Thy glory hath spread over all, O Theotokos, unto the salvation of our souls.
Stavrotheotokion (replaces the Theotokion of Wednesdays and Fridays): Beholding Thee hanging of Thine own will upon the Cross between the thieves, O Christ, Thy Mother said, her womb rent with pain: ‘O my sinless Son, how is it that Thou hast been unjustly nailed to the Cross like a malefactor, since thou desirest to bring life to the human race, in that thou art compassionate?’
Ode IV, Irmos: The workings of Thy dispensation filled the Prophet Habbakuk with awe, O Lord; for Thou didst issue forth for the salvation of Thy people, Thou didst come to save Thine anointed ones.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
England boasteth in thy glory, O God-bearer; for in the workings of His dispensation the Most High raised thee to the primacy of its Church, for the salvation of His people.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Truly didst thou give good counsel unto kings and princes, O noble-minded Dunstan; for in humility and obedience thou didst receive wisdom, for the salvation of His anointed ones.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The godly King Edgar embraced thine excellent prudence and Christian virtue of soul, O holy Dunstan, and had thee consecrated Bishop of London, for the salvation of his pious flock.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard the extent of thy mighty works, O Bride of God, nor can the tongue of man describe thy supernal beauties, which pass all human understanding.
Ode V, Irmos: Rising at dawn, we cry to Thee: Save us, O Lord! for Thou art our God, and we know none other than Thee.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
The severed realm of England was united under the peaceable king, and thou, O saint, didst become its spiritual head.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Hallowed was the sceptred isle of England by thy great holiness and grace, O wondrous bishop Dunstan.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Unto our merciful God didst thou continually cry aloud: Save us, O Lord, for we know none other than Thee!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Save us from the talons of the evil dragon, our primordial foe, O Virgin, for we have none other help than thee.
Ode VI, Irmos: In the latter times Adam cried aloud: O my God, deliver me who have fallen! And having become like unto him, Thou didst come to save us.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
O thy pastoral boldness, O holy one! For thou didst in no wise hesitate to rebuke even kings for the benefit and salvation of their immortal souls.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Never shall we cease to sing thy praises, O holy bishop; for thou didst raise up that which was fallen, unto the salvation of men¹s immortal souls.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thy love of inner stillness and monastic prayer filled the whole land of England with the sweetness of grace, O thou who art rich in grace divine.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Help us, O Sovereign Lady, for we are all perishing in sore distress. As thou hast boldness before thy Son, come unto us, and save us.
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: Like a master helmsman, O Dunstan, thou didst ably pilot the ship of Church and state in England, skilfully avoiding the treacherous rocks and reefs hidden beneath the tides of thy times, and bringing it safely to the calm harbour of heaven, fully laden with its freight of men’s souls, which thou didst deliver, rejoicing, to Christ thy Master.
Ikos: Like a deer panting in thirst, O venerable Dunstan, from childhood thou didst earnestly seek after the waters of wisdom and the knowledge of God; wherefore, moved by jealousy and hatred, the ignorant beset thee like a pack of savage dogs. But thou didst flee to the refuge of holy Glastonbury, where thou didst dedicate thyself wholly to devotion and piety; and ever after thou didst champion the true monastic rule, didst restore the ruined monasteries and convents of England, and didst defend them with all thy might, so that through thine efforts the Holy Church in thy land was adorned as with many splendid lamps, burning brightly with the oil of prayers offered up, rejoicing, to Christ the Master.
Ode VII, Irmos: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers, Who quenched the fiery furnace in Babylon and preserved the children therein as in a bridal-chamber!
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Edward the king found shelter under the wings of thy wise counsel, O Dunstan; wherefore, in his martyr’s death he shone forth radiantly.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Returning the monasteries of England to true monastic discipline, O saint, thou didst restore them in goodly order unto Christ the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Over the great Council of Winchester thou didst preside, O venerable one, codifying the rule and order of monastic life and governance.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Celts and Britons, Angles and Saxons, Picts and Scots, all lift up their voices in sweet hymnody, praising the all-pure Mother of the King of all.
Ode VIII, Irmos: Hymn the Author of creation, of Whom the angels are in awe, O ye people, and exalt Him supremely for all ages.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
King Edward’s relics didst thou reverently escort from Wareham to the Convent of Shaftesbury, O saint.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
Overcome with grief at the depredations of the heathen, Dunstan immersed himself in prayer, withdrawing farther from the world.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Full of years, the holy bishop received the divine Mysteries and surrendered his soul into the hands of his Lord.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Fain would we offer thee goodly praises, O Queen, yet our tongues of clay produce no sounds fit for thy praise
Ode IX, Irmos: We magnify Thy most immaculate and pure Mother, O Christ, for she gave birth to Thee in the flesh supernaturally, delivering us from all deception and corruption.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
All thy thoughts didst thou fix upon Christ, O sanctified Dunstan, at the end of thine earthly life, and thou didst yearn for the sight of His all-radiant countenance.
Hierarch of Christ, Dunstan, pray to God for us.
In thy primatial cathedral at Canterbury was thy precious body solemnly entombed, O saint, to await and serve as a token of the universal resurrection of all men.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Through the centuries did thy holy relics shine like a radiant lamp, O holy one; yet for our sins, and to awaken our conscience, God let the ungodly remove them, we know not whither.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Hither have we come with haste, O Bride unwedded, to venerate thy holy icons and to extol thee with hymns of praise. Wherefore, be thou ever merciful unto us sinners.
Troparion, Tone VIII: By thee, O Dunstan, hath the whole land of England been wondrously adorned, for thou didst labor unceasingly to restore all the monastic houses laid waste by the heathen, to people them again with zealous monks and nuns, and to provide them with strict rules of pious order wherewith to govern their lives. Wherefore, the Church of Christ doth ever praise thine all-honourable name, O holy bishop.
As most of you are aware, we have a growing number of Cardiff parishioners who live at a considerable distance from our parish-base in Canton, but who, nevertheless, travel across the River Severn week-by-week to be part of the life of our community.
Just after the mass closedown of most of the Orthodox parishes of Britain after the covid lockdown, when virtually every jurisdiction apart from ROCOR and the Serbian Patriarchate totally ‘shut up shop’ and left the faithful without the Holy Mysteries, our ‘commuting’ brothers and sisters from Wessex began to arrive, with the numbers continuing over the months and indeed the following years.
We now regularly have the support of brothers and sisters from Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset – with Poole being the furthest point on our map of parish homes – and their place in parish life is active: singing in the choir, serving in the altar, accommodating and picking up non-drivers (and the rector), taking turns on the flower rota, and in so many other ways.
We also have friends who are unable to get to us so regularly, but whom we see when they are able to make the journey to Cardiff, knowing that Church means giving up virtually a whole day of the week. The Church will now be going to them!
Just after lockdown, His Grace, Bishop Irenei, was receptive to the idea of providing a traditionalist Orthodox presence in Wessex, and more recently gave his blessing to a peripatetic mission, which we wish to dedicate to Saints Birinus and Aldhelm.
On the last Monday evenings of January and February we have gathered aboard Porphyrios’s narrow-boat for a service and supper, blessing it shortly after Theophany, and celebrating Small Compline earlier this week.
This Monday, after a lovely day enjoying the Wiltshire countryside and visiting rural churches with parishioners, a beautiful moonlit evening under a clear starry sky saw us make our way dodging puddles along the tow-path of the Kennet and Avon canal to where Porphyrios’s boat was moored, windows aglow with lamplight and woodsmoke rising form the chimney.
Its long, lamplit interior, with its wood-burning stove already heating a great pan of soup was our destination, and even after only two gatherings has become a cherished part of mission life.
For the moment, whilst numbers for the Monday gatherings are not too great this will be the venue of our service and supper, but perhaps we shall outgrow it soon. Already, if everyone local turned up it might be an impossible squeeze. Time will tell!
Our first local Liturgy will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence, in the centre of Warminster, on Saturday 9thMarch, and will be on the second Saturday of each month.
We are extremely grateful to the feoffees of the chapel, who hold it in trust for the people of Warminster, and who are supportive in offering this historic non-parochial chapel for our use.
With its disabled friendly, level interior, little kitchen (stocked with china especially for our use) this High Street setting is a great blessing. Thanks to Hierodeacon Avraamy’s skills, we have posters in English, Ukrainian and Russian for local advertising, and one of the trustees is being very active in making our presence known.
Parishioners and I visited on Sunday evening after our drive from Cardiff, receiving a warm welcome, hearing a little of the chapel’s history, climbing the tower, ringing the 17th century curfew bell and inspecting the 18th century clock.
We eagerly look forward to celebrating the Divine Liturgy and it would be lovely to welcome parishioners from Cardiff to support the Wessex parishioners whenever they can, and for them to contribute to Wessex mission life in small ways.
In the summer months, we look forward to local pilgrimages, as there are so many sacred places in which to honour the saints of the Orthodox West, with Glastonbury as the jewel in the crown.
Sincere thanks to all in Wessex (including hospitable, patient and generous spouses), where great dedication and enthusiasm are building a wonderful, warm and loving local community.
May the Holy Hierarchs, Birinus and Aldhelm, and the Holy and Right-Believing King Alfred, pray to God for us, and our Wessex mission!
What a busy few days across our parish, with today starting with a visit to several of the historic parish churches of the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire with Wessex parishioners, starting at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Boyton, with its wonderful collection of remnants of medieval, renaissance and Georgian stained glass, carved stone monuments and liturgical features, and embroideries – including a monumental icon of the Hospitality of Abraham.
It was also lovely to revisit the little church of St Cosmas and Damian, in Sherrington, where some of our Wiltshire ladies prayed in the ample porch each Sunday during the misery of lockdown – prior to their migrating to Cardiff from their erstwhile parish, where the Holy Mysteries were completely abandoned. This quintessentially English village church is a remnant of the rural Anglicanism of past centuries, with its texts painted in cartouches on the walls, and its candlelit pulpit and lectern: the only real adornment being an embroidered Madonna and Child by the same embroiderer whose work we had seen in Boyton Church – Margaret Cuddiford.
The evening saw our ‘last-Monday-gathering’ on Porphyrios’s narrow-boat on the Kennet and Avon canal, where we chanted compline with the canons to the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel before supper and discussions about our forthcoming first Wessex Liturgy at 10:30 on Saturday 9th March. This followed a very positive meeting with one of the feoffees (trustees) of the chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster, with a tour of the church, including climbing the tower to see the 17th century curfew-bell and the 18th century clock.
Many thanks to our parishioners from Wiltshire for their characteristically warm hospitality and generosity. We are extremely grateful to Porphyrios for welcoming us aboard his home, where we look forward to praying before the icon-corner in the lamp and candlelight light, warmed by the wood-burning stove, and tonight, with wonderful homemade soup (not soap, as per the typo in the emailed newsletter!)
We also enter this week after a weekend blessed not only by the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, but also by Saturday’s pilgrimage, whose locality in no way undermined the significance of the occasion as we gathered in the Oratory Church to honour the holy protomartyr of Britain, St Alban, with a moleben offered before his shrine.
Our young brothers took turns chanting the canon and parts of the service of supplication, and we look forward to those soon to be baptised taking their turns in the prayers of our pilgrimages in the coming months. We are most grateful to the Oratorians for their usual warm hospitality, including the use of the hall, where we shared lunch and chatted, with Aldhelm tinkling the ivories in the background. I was the very happy to be able to perform a house-blessing after the pilgrimage.
We now look forward to our next pilgrimage on the first Saturday of the Great Fast, 23 March, the Saturday of St Theodore. The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in Margam Abbey, with devotions to the Mother of God and the commemoration of St Theodore, with the blessing of kolyva. Details will follow.
I will not be arranging an April Pilgrimage, as I hope it’s place may be taken by our April Liturgy in Warminster on Saturday 13th and the Holy Unction (soborovanie) service in our London cathedral the following Saturday, 20thApril, at 14:00, for which I hope as many people as possible will make the journey and join in this important celebration.
This Sunday’s Liturgy, in St John’s, was blessed by a well supported kliros, and some of our boys were very enthusiastic in chanting the Litany responses with a generous fortissimo! Again, we had a congregation of around fifty, an encouraging number of students and young people, and a large number of confessions and communicants. I spent the hour before proskomedia hearing confessions, as well as hearing our children’s confessions during the preparation of the Holy Gifts. I had intended to not hear confessions at this point, but given the number of children to be confessed, it was necessary.
I would appreciate confession requests for this Thursday’s Nazareth House confessions by 18:00 on Wednesday, please, and also notice from those requiring Sunday confessions would be appreciated. It may be necessary to hear the Sunday confessions of regular communicants every other week, given the sheer volume of confessions, which are a challenge to fit in.
At the end of Thursday’s confessions, Compline will be chanted at 19:00, with the hope that this will be repeated each week.
Please start thinking about the Great Fast, particularly in terms of reading materials, and ensure that you have spiritual food for the Lenten season.
Dear brothers and sisters, greetings as we celebrate the feast of St Teilo. Поздравления съ праздникомъ!
We will chant a litia in his honour at the end of our Liturgy on Sunday, and I hope to make an informal pilgrimage to Llandaff cathedral with some of our young people after out Wessex prayer meeting. Next week.
St Teilo, our local early Welsh saint, was a 6th century monk and bishop, and for the Celtic Christians a patron saint of fruit trees and horses, his feast day falling today: 9th/22nd February.
Although a largely forgotten saint outside Wales and Brittany, more than twenty five churches in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany are dedicated to him, showing his importance as an early Welsh saint. Only our national patron saint, St David, has more churches dedicated to him.
So who was St Teilo? According to tradition, Teilo (also known as Elios, Eliau, Teliarus, Teliau or Télo), was born at Penally near Tenby in South Pembrokeshire around 480-500AD. He went on to study under St Paulinus at the monastic school at Whitland, Carmarthenshire. Here he met and became firm friends with Dewi (St David), who may have been his cousin. Teilo subsequently travelled with him to Mynyw, now known as St David’s, where Dewi set up his religious community.
In about 518 AD the friends, along with St Padarn, are said to have set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where all three were consecrated bishops by John III, Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Bishop Teilo went on to found the episcopal church of Llandeilo Fawr (the Great Church or Abbey of St Teilo) in Carmarthenshire. However, the outbreak of Yellow Fever in Wales around 549 AD forced Teilo and his religious community to flee to Cornwall and from there, over to Dol in Brittany where they stayed for seven years.
Teilo and his followers would not have felt too out of place in northern France. Driven out of southern Britain by invading Germanic tribes, Celtic people had begun to settle there since the 5th and 6th centuries.
There are several legends about Teilo during his time in Brittany. According to one, he saved the local people from a winged dragon that he tamed and then kept tied to a rock in the sea. In another, when a local lord offered him all the land he could encircle between sunset and sunrise, Teilo chose to ride on a stag to cover as much ground as possible in the time available.
Several churches in Brittany are dedicated to St Teilo, including the church at Plogonnec, Finistére, and the Chapel of Our Lady in Kerdévot. In both cases he is shown wearing bishop’s robes and mitre, and is seated on a stag, no doubt in reference to the legend.
Whilst in France, Teilo, St Samson and his followers are also said to have planted three miles of fruit trees. Even today the fruit groves they planted are known as the groves of Teilo and Samson.
In around 554 Teilo and his followers returned from Brittany to Llandeilo Fawr. After the death of St. David, Teilo became revered as one of the most holy men in Wales. He was joined at Llandeilo by many disciples including Cynfwr, Teulyddog and Llywel. He died at the abbey of Llandeilo Fawr on February 9th, probably around the year 560.
Saint Moses lived in Egypt during the fourth century. He was an Ethiopian, and since he was black of skin he was called “Murin” (meaning “like an Ethiopian”). In his youth he was the slave of an important man, but after he committed a murder, his master banished him, and he joined a band of robbers.
Because of his bad character and great physical strength, they chose him as their leader. Moses and his band of brigands were feared because of their many evil exploits, including murders and robberies. People trembled at the mere mention of his name.
Moses the brigand spent several years leading a sinful life, but through the great mercy of God he repented, left his band of robbers and went to one of the desert monasteries. Here he wept for a long time, begging to be admitted as one of the brethren. The monks were not convinced of the sincerity of his repentance, but the former robber would neither be driven away nor silenced. He continued to implore that they accept him.
Saint Moses was completely obedient to the hegoumen and the brethren, and he poured forth many tears of sorrow for his sinful life. After a certain while Saint Moses withdrew to a solitary cell, where he spent his time in prayer and the strictest fasting.
Once, four of the robbers of his former band descended upon the cell of Saint Moses. He had lost none of his great physical strength, so he tied them all up. Throwing them over his shoulder, he brought them to the monastery, where he asked the Elders what to do with them. The Elders ordered that they be set free. The robbers, learning that they had chanced upon their former ringleader, and that he had dealt kindly with them, followed his example: they repented and became monks. Later, when the rest of the band of robbers heard about Saint Moses’ repentance, then they also gave up their thievery and became fervent monks.
Saint Moses was not quickly freed from the passions. He went often to the hegoumen, Abba Isidore, seeking advice on how to be delivered from the passions of profligacy. Being experienced in the spiritual struggle, the Elder taught him never to eat too much food, to remain partly hungry while observing the strictest restraint. But the passions did not cease to trouble Saint Moses in his dreams.
Then Abba Isidore taught him the all-night vigil. The monk stood the whole night at prayer, so he would not fall asleep. As a result of his prolonged struggles, Saint Moses fell into despondency, and when he began to have thoughts about leaving his solitary cell, Abba Isidore instead strengthened the resolve of his disciple.
In a vision he showed him many demons in the west, prepared for battle, and in the east a still greater quantity of holy angels, also ready for fighting. Abba Isidore explained to Saint Moses that the power of the angels would prevail over the power of the demons, and in the long struggle with the passions it was necessary for him to become completely cleansed of his former sins.
Saint Moses drove himself to additional labors. Making the rounds of the wilderness cells at night, he carried water from the well to each brother. He did this especially for the Elders, who lived far from the well and who were not easily able to carry their own water. Once, kneeling over the well, Saint Moses felt a powerful blow upon his back and he fell down at the well like one dead, laying there in that position until dawn. Thus did the devils take revenge upon the monk for his victory over them. In the morning the brethren carried him to his cell, and he lay there crippled for a whole year. After he recovered, the monk with firm resolve confessed to the hegoumen, that he would continue with his ascetic struggles. But the Lord Himself put limits to this toil which lasted for many years: Abba Isidore blessed his disciple and told him that the passions had already left him. The Elder commanded him to receive the Holy Mysteries, and to go to his own cell in peace. From that time, Saint Moses received from the Lord power over demons.
Accounts about his exploits spread among the monks and even beyond the bounds of the wilderness. The governor of the land wanted to see the saint. When he heard of this, Saint Moses decided to hide from any visitors, and he departed his own cell. Along the way he met servants of the governor, who asked him how to get to the cell of the desert-dweller Moses. The monk answered them: “Go no farther to see this false and unworthy monk.” The servants returned to the monastery where the governor was waiting, and they told him the words of the Elder they had chanced to meet. The brethren, hearing a description of the Elder’s appearance, told them that they had encountered Saint Moses himself.
After many years of monastic exploits, Saint Moses was ordained deacon. The bishop clothed him in white vestments and said, “Now Abba Moses is entirely white!” The saint replied, “Only outwardly, for God knows that I am still dark within.”
Through humility, the saint believed himself unworthy of the office of deacon. Once, the bishop decided to test him and he bade the clergy to drive him out of the altar, reviling him as an unworthy Ethiopian. In all humility, the monk accepted the abuse. Having put him to the test, the bishop then ordained Saint Moses to the priesthood. Saint Moses labored for fifteen years in this rank, and gathered 75 disciples around himself.
When the saint reached the age of 75, he warned his monks that soon brigands would descend upon the skete and murder all those who remained there. The saint blessed his monks to leave, in order to avoid violent death. His disciples begged the saint to leave with them, but he replied: “For many years now, I have awaited the time when the words spoken by my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, should be fulfilled: ‘All who take up the sword, shall perish by the sword’” (Matt. 26: 52). After this, seven of the brethren remained with Saint Moses, and one of them hid nearby during the attack of the robbers. The robbers killed Saint Moses and the six monks who remained with him. Their death occurred about the year 400.
The canon of the Venerable One in Tone VIII
Ode I, Irmos: Let us chant unto the Lord, Who led His people through the Red Sea, for He alone hath gloriously been glorified.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
By thy supplications and showers of repentance, O father, wash clean my heart which hath been darkened by the sting of sin.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Having nailed thy flesh to the fear of the Master, O all-blessed God-bearer, thou didst dry up every passionate thought from thy heart.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Having hidden the seeds of the Word in the furrows of thy thoughts, O father, thou didst produce grain which is laid up in inexhaustible granaries.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Desiring to become incarnate through thy womb, O pure Virgin Mother, the all-divine Word saveth all of me in His goodness.
Ode III, Irmos: Thou art the confirmation of those who have recourse to Thee, O Lord; Thou art the light of the benighted; and my spirit doth hymn Thee.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Moved by the Spirit, O wise one, by endurance thou didst nullify the evil acts of the demons with spiritual acts.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Strengthened with godly power, O venerable Moses, like one of the incorporeal ones thou didst bring low the mighty serpent.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With the showers of thy tears thou didst extinguish the fiery conflagration of the passions, and wast shown to be a river of spiritual gifts, full to overflowing with the Spirit.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Possessed of thine aid, O pure one, I fear not the assaults of the enemy; for, having thee as mine intercessor, I vanquish their hosts.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional hymn, Tone III: Spec. Mel. “Of the divine Faith…”: Made rich with divine radiance, thou didst destroy the darkness of the passions, O most blessed one; and by thy vigilant prayers thou didst cause the vaunted reasonings of the flesh to wither away, and hast passed over to the ultimate city on high. O venerable father, entreat Christ God, that He grant us great 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.
Theotokion: While becoming man in thy womb, the one Lord remained God, unseparated from the divine nature, preserving thee, the Virgin Mother, most immaculate after giving birth, as thou wast before thy birth-giving. Him do thou earnestly beseech, that He grant us great mercy.
Stavrotheotokion (replaces the Theotokion on Wednesdays and Fridays): The undefiled ewe-lamb of the Word, the incorrupt Virgin Mother, beholding suspended upon the Cross Him Who sprang forth from her without pain, lamenting maternally cried out: “Woe is me, O my Child! How is it that Thou dost suffer willingly, desiring to deliver man from the disgrace of the passions?”
Ode IV, Irmos: I have heard, O Lord, the mystery of Thy dispensation; I have understood Thy works, and have glorified Thy divinity.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
By unceasing entreaties and the endurance of pain, O father, thou didst drive from thy soul the demon which loveth carnality.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Directing thy thoughts to things which transcend the mind and speech, O venerable one, thou didst endure the burning heat of asceticism as though it were a divine dew.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Unfurling the sail of non-acquisition, thou didst sail easily across the sea of life, O father, guided to the calm haven.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Bride of God, thou dwelling-place of virginity and habitation of the infinite Nature, illumine my darkened soul.
Ode V, Irmos: Waking at dawn, we cry to Thee: Save us, O Lord! For Thou art our God, and we know none other than Thee.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Set afire by the burning coal of dispassion, O blessed one, thou didst utterly consume the dry tinder of the passions.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Thou hast been shown to be a star of abstinence, shining in the heights and illumining our souls, O all-glorious one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst ascend to the summit of the virtues and didst attain unto the heavenly isle, O right wondrous father Moses.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
We hymn thee who art still Virgin after giving birth, O Theotokos; for thou gavest birth in the flesh unto God the Word, for the world.
Ode VI, Irmos: Cleanse me, O Saviour, for many are my transgressions; and lead me up from the abyss of evils, I pray, for to Thee have I cried, and Thou hast hearkened to me, O God of my salvation.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
With the spiritual radiance which is within thee, enlighten me who am surrounded by the night of sin and the darkness of pleasures, O father, and guide me wholly to the haven of salvation.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Storing up the sweetness of the flowers of the virtues in the honeycomb of thy mind, like an industrious bee, O father, thou didst pour forth the sweetness of immortality which dispelleth the bitterness of the demons.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Exercising thyself in endurance in the desert, thou didst inherit the city on high; and enslaving thy flesh through fasting, O wondrous one, thou didst depart to the food which is never exhausted and the mansions of paradise.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Virgin, we, the faithful, call thee the noetic sanctuary and untouchable mercy-seat, the golden lamp-stand, and the animate table which beareth the Bread of life.
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 IV: Having beaten the Moors and spat in the faces of the demons, thou didst shine forth noetically like the radiant sun, directing our lives by the light of thy life and thy teaching.
Ode VII, Irmos: In the furnace the Hebrew children boldly trod the flame underfoot and transformed the fire into dew, crying out: Blessed art Thou, O Lord God, forever!
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Cleansed of the mire of the passions, and shining with spiritual radiance, thou hast truly passed over to the immaterial Light, O blessed one, where the choirs of fasters dwell forever.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Thou didst flee all evil, and, embracing goodly change, thou didst immaterially espouse good desires, O blessed one, crying out: Blessed art Thou, O God!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
By immeasurable pangs of abstinence thou didst cause the pain of sin to cease, O God-bearer. Wherefore, thou hast found delight in good things devoid of pain, blessing thy Master.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Behold the Virgin of whom the great Isaiah said that she would conceive God in her womb and give birth unto Him! To Him do we chant: Blessed is the God of our fathers!
Ode VIII, Irmos: Madly did the Chaldæan tyrant heat the furnace sevenfold for the pious ones; but, beholding them saved by a higher Power, he cried out to the Creator and Deliverer: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Enlivened by prayers, elevated by humility, illumining thy soul with righteousness, adorned with love, O father, thou didst make haste to the perfection of the virtues, to the manifest heights, crying to the Master: Ye priests, bless; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Though black of body, thou didst acquire a soul brighter than the rays of the sun, and didst blacken the dark countenances of the demons; and with thy divine likeness thou dost illumine the hearts of the faithful who fervently chant: Ye people, exalt God supremely forever!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Wholly protected by humility, O father, thou didst escape the darts of the noetic Moors, and in word and deed wast a model for monks in doing battle with the enemy, crying out with them: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Christ supremely for all ages!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
In manner transcending nature thou didst conceive; in manner past recounting thou didst give birth to the Fashioner of human nature Who is inseparable from the Father, yet Who became a man, O pure Mistress. To Him doth all creation sing: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Christ supremely for all ages!
Ode IX, Irmos: Every ear trembleth to hear of the ineffable condescension of God, for the Most High willingly came down even to the flesh, becoming man through the Virgin’s womb. Wherefore we, the faithful, magnify the all-pure Theotokos.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
Having truly ended thy life in good deeds, thou didst reach the wellspring of good things and didst receive thine ultimate desire. Where the voice of those who keep festival is heard with laudation thou hast made thine abode, rejoicing, O right wondrous and venerable father Moses.
Venerable Father Moses, pray to God for us.
The drops of the sweat of thy pangs let fall drops of the sweetness of spiritual benefit and dispel the bitterness of our passions. Thy relics pour forth healings upon us and cleanse our souls of the mire and defilement of evils.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Christ hath crowned thy head with unfading wreaths, O wondrous one, who steadfastly vanquished the hordes of the prince of this world; and as befitteth one of thy holy thou hast been enrolled in the choirs of the venerable. With them pray thou, that those who honour thee be delivered from temptations.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Having given birth in the flesh to the Infinite One, Who thus became circumscribed, O Bride of God, thou, alone among women, didst abolish the curse of the first-created. Thou hast renewed the laws of nature, O undefiled one, which of old were violated, and hast unified them with thine all-glorious mediation.
Troparion, Tone I: A desert-dweller, an angel in the flesh and a wonderworker wast thou shown to be, O our God-bearing father Moses. For, having acquired heavenly gifts through fasting, vigilance and prayer, thou dost heal the infirm and the souls of those who have recourse to thee with faith. Glory to Him Who gave thee strength! Glory to Him Who crowned thee! Glory to Him Who worketh healings for all through thee!
Greetings to you all as we continue to celebrate the after-feast of the Meeting of the Lord. S prazdnikom!
As the feast fell on a Thursday, when St John’s is unavailable, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in Llanelli, and I was pleased to be able to assist Father Luke by singing on the kliros. Unfortunately, the afternoon journey to Cardiff was severely disrupted by problems with the railway line beyond Llanelli, so a number of confessions had to be cancelled, though I still managed to see a few people in the early evening before joining our young people to congratulate Kalina on her birthday. Many years!
Despite half-term, road closures, car-troubles and parishioners’ commitments, we were heartened by attendance at today’s Liturgy, and despite the dent in numbers we were still comfortably in excess of forty souls once the children were factored in.
It was good to welcome brothers from Swansea, and it was lovely to be joined by our former parishioner, Monika, visiting from Leicester with her children. In my homily on the saving curiosity of Zacchaeus, I referenced her film “Finding Faith”, and anyone who would like the link and sign-in details should contact me or Father Deacon Mark.
Many thanks to the kliros, operating on holiday numbers, and to Sasha for lone-serving, and thanks to those who brought flowers and refreshments for our celebration.
We greeted Yuriy at the end of our service, congratulating him on his sixth birthday and chanting many years before singing happy birthday after grace at trapeza, during which it was lovely to see so much conversation, warmth and fellowship.
I must admit to being rather slow today after a lovely but busy week and lots of travelling, last Sunday having seen me head over the Severn, taking the opportunity to not only have a prayerful quiet-day in Glastonbury, but also to perform several house-blessings and be in Chippenham for a singing practice with our Wessex gentleman before returning to Llanelli for the feast. Masha has also spent time working on vocal technique and chants with our local ladies, and we are very grateful for this preparation for the liturgical life of our Wessex mission.
We are extremely encouraged by the support being given by the feoffees of the Chapel of St Laurence in Warminster, who, as trustees, govern the extra-parochial chapel, which is classed as a non-royal peculiar, having being acquired by the townspeople of Warminster at the reformation.
We greatly look forward to our Liturgies on the second Saturday of each month, commencing on 9th March with the Hours and Liturgy at 10:30, confessions being heard from 10:00. The generosity of spirit that we have already received is heartening, with help offered in notifying the local Orthodox that we will be serving in the town.
We already hold a Wessex prayer meeting on the last Monday of the month, currently meeting ‘afloat’ on Porphyrios’s narrowboat – now christened the “porphyrion”. Last month’s initial gathering saw the blessing of the boat and a mission-supper, following several house-blessings, a pilgrimage to Whitchurch Canonicorum and the blessing of the River Wylye. We shall be certainly trying to maximise what we fit into clergy visits.
Our Cheltenham Liturgies will be moving to the third Saturday of the month, and our pilgrimages will be on the fourth Saturday.
Returning to the principality – this week’s confessions in Nazareth House will follow the Thursday pattern, for which emails would be appreciated by 18:00 on Wednesday. I shall also be able to hear some shorter confessions before and after our moleben in St Alban’s., and have already mentioned this to a few people.
We look forward to our protomartyrs pilgrimage on Saturday, and pilgrims should assemble at the Oratory Church of St Alban-on-the-Moors for our 10:30 moleben to St Alban and the reading of his life, before the veneration of a portion of his sacred relics and icon. We are very grateful to Father Sebastian and his confrères for their characteristically warm hospitality, which includes use of the church-hall for a bring and share lunch, for which all food-offerings will be very gratefully accepted.
Weather permitting, we shall head to Caerleon after lunch, visiting the Roman remains of the ‘city of legions’, where the protomartyrs of Wales, Julius and Aaron were garrisoned as soldiers of the Imperial army, before their arrest and martyrdom.
Thanks to those who have already offered lifts to our non-drivers. This is much appreciated.
Echoing Deacon Mark’s announcement, would parishioner please refrain from parking vehicles on the grass on the right hand far end of the drive, next to the church vestries, this has been planted with bulbs and seeded with wild flowers and is not a parking area.
Our prayers are with our very dear sister, Despina, as she makes her way across Europe to Greece, before the last leg to life in Cyprus, and we wish her a safe journey, happy that Catalin is accompanying her on a long and challenging drive for the land bound portion across the continent. She occupies a very special place in our hearts and is greatly loved in our ROCOR and Romanian Orthodox communities in which she has been a faithful presence and a help to many. Kalo taxidhi! May God bless your journey and protect your every mile!
Whilst we were celebrating in Cardiff, our diocese was blessed by the ordination of Deacon Alban Illingworth to the sacred priesthood in our London Cathedral, and he will serve in our Durham mission. We are greatly blessed that despite mischievous schismatic ‘defrocked’ whispering about the state of our God-preserved diocese, we go from strength to strength, with the establishment of new missions, the ordination of new clergy, and growth within our parishes. We congratulate Father Alban, as well as newly-ordained Deacon Antonio in Geneva, and the priest Georgi who has transferred from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to serve in Zurich. Many, blessed years to you all, dear fathers. Axios! Axios! Axios!
Today brought the blessing of finally being able to celebrate a local Divine Liturgy beyond the Severn with our parishioners living in the South and West of England.
Ode III, Irmos: O Thou Who didst found the earth upon its firmament and establish the heavens with might, make steadfast all of us who praise Thee with faith.
