How wonderful it has been to be blessed with such a buoyant and joyful festive weekend, showing us the glory, divine authority and power of the Saviour before His voluntary passion.
Friday saw us mark the last day of Great Lent with the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts in the Oratory Church, in the very place where we had celebrated the first day of the Fast, which seems to have passed at an unbelievable pace, and the verses on Lord I have cried reminded us that in our service we were beginning the feast of the raising of Lazarus – a day very special to some of us, especially with the wonderful paraliturgical hymn to which we look forward, and which I share in full!
“Rejoice, rejoice, O Bethany! On this day God came to thee, God came to thee; and in Him the dead are made alive, as is right for He is the Life! He is the Life! He is the Life! And in Him the dead are made alive, as is right for He is the Life!
When Martha went to receive Him, grieving loudly with bitter tears, bitter tears, she poured out the sorrow of her heart to Him, with great sadness, wailing her lament. Wailing her lament, wailing her lament. She poured out the sorrow of her heart to Him, with great sadness, wailing her lament.
She at once cried out unto Him, “My most compassionate Lord! My Lord! At the great loss of my brother Lazarus my heart is broken, help me! Help me! Help me! At the great loss of my brother Lazarus my heart is broken, help me!
Jesus said to her, “Cease thy weeping, cease thy grieving and sad lament, sad lament; for thy brother, My most beloved friend Lazarus, very soon will live again! He will live again! He will live again! For thy brother, My most beloved friend Lazarus, very soon will live again!”
Then He, the faithful Redeemer, made His way unto the tomb, unto the tomb, where He cried unto him who was buried four days, calling him forth, saying, “Lazarus, arise! Lazarus, arise! Lazarus, arise!” Where He cried unto him who was buried four days, calling him forth, saying, “Lazarus, arise!
Come with haste, ye two sisters, and behold a wondrous thing, wondrous thing, for thy brother from the tomb has returned to life. To the beloved Redeemer now give thanks! Now give thanks! Now give thanks! For thy brother from the tomb has returned to life. To the beloved Redeemer now give thanks!
To Thee, O Lord of creation, we kneel down in reverence profound, reverence profound; for all we who are dead in sin; in Thee, O Jesus, are made alive! We are made alive! We are made alive! For all we who are dead in sin; in Thee, O Jesus, are made alive!
Rejoice, rejoice, O Bethany! On this day God came to thee, God came to thee; and in Him the dead are made alive, as is right for He is the Life! He is the Life! He is the Life! And in Him the dead are made alive, as is right for He is the Life!”
In our joyful celebration of the raising of Lazarus in Warminster, and our first service for the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem in Tremorfa, we have celebrated the Divine Sovereignty of the Lord, the Creator and Life-Giver, before His self-emptying and self-effacing love is embodied in His suffering and death, and before the Life-Giving Resurrection to which Lazarus’s own arising points.
Our Warminster Liturgy saw Cardiff parishioners join their brothers and sisters in Wessex, and we were glad to congratulate Lazarus on what we have come to treat as has nameday, as well as George on his baptismal anniversary, singing many years for them, as well as for Isaiah and Seraphim, who also celebrated their baptismal anniversaries.
Arriving in Tremorfa on Palm Sunday was far from ideal, but it was, nevertheless, a blessing to celebrate our entrance to St Philip’s on the feast of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem.
It was good that so many people confessed and communed on Palm Sunday, and lovely to be able to gather the children before the icons at the end of Liturgy and talk about the joy of the raising of Lazarus, the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem, and how the events of the coming week will not only show His love for us, but will all be done to open heaven to God’s children, through the Saviour’s own glorious resurrection.
The layout of St Philip’s brought us all closer together and allowed for a more intimate celebration of the Liturgy, and though rather bare, it remains a setting in which to create an Orthodox place of prayer and worship, hence our encouraging everyone to share ideas of ways to do this.
This evening saw the mood of the Church change as we entered the solemnity of Holy Week, with the bringing out of the icon of Christ, the Bridegroom, arrayed in the purple robe of mockery and humiliation for our salvation and heavenly-calling, as we chanted in the praises,
As the Lord went to His voluntary Passion, He said to His apostles on the way: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed, as it is written of Him.” Come, then, and let us also journey with Him, purified in mind; let us be crucified with Him and die for His sake to the pleasures of this life, that we may also live with Him and hear Him say: “No longer do I ascend to the earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God; and I shall raise you up to the Jerusalem on High in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Bride-Groom Matins will also be chanted in Father Luke’s chapel at 19:00 tonight and tomorrow.
We will celebrate the Lord’s Passion and resurrection in St Philip’s, and for convenience will repeat our schedule.
Wednesday 16/04/25 at 18:30 – The Service of the Oil (Holy Unction) / ПоследованиеСвятаго Елея. Those who are to be anointed with Holy Unction should be of confessing age and have made a recent confession. Please be aware that we are only to be anointed once a year.
Thursday 17/04/25 – Holy Thursday at 18:30 – Matins : The Service of the Twelve Passion Gospels / Утреня 12 чтений из Св Евангелия
Friday 18/04/25 – Holy Friday at 15:00 – Vespers (the taking out of the Shroud) / Вечерня (вынос Плащаницы). 18:30 – Matins (the burial rite) / Утреня (чин погребения).
Saturday 19/04/25 Pascha Night (Saturday into Sunday) 23:30 – Midnight Office, Matins, Paschal Liturgy / Полунощница, Утреня, Божественная Литургия. Following Liturgy we will bless Paschal eggs and food.
Sunday 20/04/25 – Pascha – NO LITURGY at 09:00, but the Paschal Hours with Holy Communion for parishioners who cannot attend the night service. In a change of schedule. Paschal Agape Vespers will now be chanted in St Philip’s, at 11:00. As I will already be communing parishioners after the Paschal Hours, we will take the opportunity to sit down for a cup of tea and something to eat after the Hours, and then chant vespers before we pack our things away.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the additional collection for the Holy Land. Our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russian has had a special place in the Holy Land since the revolution, continuing the legacy of the Imperial period. Despite the forced-seizure of some of the key holy places by the then separate Moscow Patriarchate in the 1990’s, our clergy and monastics still maintain a prayerful presence at places central to the events of our celebrations this week. Every penny will make a difference, not only for the holy places, but also for the suffering and marginalised local Christians who are supported by our presence. If anyone else wishes to contribute, please pass offerings to Father Mark the Younger. May God bless you all!
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s celebration of the raising of the Holy and Righteous Lazarus reverberates with joy, as a foretaste of Pascha, but only as a partial one, in as much as the flesh and bones of Lazarus-of-the-Four-Days were still to once again feel the kiss of death, and to await the final resurrection to which the Lord’s Pascha calls each of us!
In this “little-Pascha” at Bethany, the excitement of a four-day-dead corpse wondrously restored to life by being powerfully and authoritatively ordered to come out from the tomb, sets the scene for the wild excitement of Palm Sunday, as the news of the miracle spread, and the worldly expectations of the populace of Jerusalem and its environs became a frenzy.
Buoyed by the raising of Lazarus the crowds were ready to cry and chant “hosanna”, and “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord!” yet in their excited frenzy they had little understanding of Who the wonderworker of Bethany really was.
They failed to truly recognise the nature of His entrance into Jerusalem, and that the Saviour Who went to His voluntary passion possessed the authority over life and death, as had already been shown in those commanding words, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Unlike those who waved branches and spread their cloaks before the Messiah, we know the tortuous and painful events that will unfold in the coming week, and we understand their meaning.
We understand that the Lord rides into the Holy City not to overthrow worldly powers and establish an earthly kingdom, but rather to open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
The bloody and humiliating spectacle of Passion Week that shocked, confused and scandalised the very same people who rushed to Bethany to see the risen Lazarus and to shout “hosanna”, convinced many of them that the Saviour was a failure and even a fraud, Whom they would call the authorities to crucify.
They clearly forgot the image of the Suffering-Servant and the prophetic words of Isaiah concerning the Messiah, “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
The excited crowds failed to understand, that the prophecies and figures of the Old Covenant had already told of His approaching blessed silence, humility, sacrificial love and obedience in the days following the raising of Lazarus and the entrance into Jerusalem.
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”
In His sacrificial suffering, every blow, every wound, every insult convinces us of the absolute power of Christ’s love to destroy death and shatter the gates of Hades, and having called Lazarus from the dead, the Saviour’s own willingness to enter into the darkness of death, allowed Him show the power of His self-effacing love to not only destroy death, but also to renew creation and raise it to the very heights of heaven.
The mocking and torture, the spitting, insults and punches, the whipping, the crown of thorns, the Cross, the nails, the spear and death – were all endured so that the wonderful but incomplete and partial resurrection of St Lazarus might be superseded and replaced by resurrection to the eternal life of the age to come.
Such was the Saviour’s love for Lazarus, His friend, that He wept and was seized with sorrow, temporarily overturning death for the sake of His love, but this raising was also for the sake of His disciples and those who crowded around Him, as a concrete demonstration and promise of the resurrection of the dead.
But, the events of Passion Week would even more forcefully demonstrate the power of this Divine Love, as the Saviour offered Himself, so that what Lazarus received as a prophetic foretaste of the resurrection, would be a common gift for all of humanity: not as an earthly reprieve, but as the blessing of eternal, heavenly life.
It is by the Lord’s tasting the very death from which He had called His beloved friend that we receive His calling to this new and eternal life.
Unlike the branch-waving, hosanna-shouting crowds, and also unlike the devil and murderer-of-souls, we know that the Saviour, Who today called Lazarus from the tomb, used His own flesh and humanity as the very bait that would be deadly poisonous and would choke Hades.
We know that in swallowing Him, as the earth quaked, the sun was eclipsed, the Veil of the Temple was torn asunder and the bodies of the saints arose, Hades choked on Christ our Life, and could not endure the body of the Word-Made-Flesh, but spewed forth the righteous dead as the Giver of Life stripped it bare.
As Christian’s, like Lazarus, we too have received a foretaste of new life in as much as the risen Saviour has called us by baptism into His death and resurrection.
Lazarus came forth from the tomb and the darkness of death, but we have come forth from the waters of baptism, having been baptised into the dying and rising of Christ.
Through that baptismal descent, the Lord has called us to die to the old man and be restored to newness of life in the power of His resurrection, as children of the resurrection, even though we still abide on earth.
But for what have we emerged from this death to the old me and new life in Christ?
To what life have we emerged from our baptismal foretaste and calling to the resurrection?
Lazarus emerged from the tomb for a life of devoted apostolic ministry, preaching the message of Christ, the Light, the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection and the Life, but has the renewing power and grace of our baptismal resurrection given us drive, direction and the desire to reflect the risen Lord in our earthly lives?
After that first Pascha, the righteous Lazarus, laboured not only in the light of the Lord’s third day arising, but also in the light of his own earthly taste of restored life-in-Christ, with the ultimate meaning of his new life in Christ being the resurrection of the age to come.
Though none of us have received the cold kiss of death, and the embrace of the grave, as did Lazarus, our baptism nevertheless calls us to live in the light of the resurrection of Christ, every hour and every day of our lives in Him.
We must ask ourselves how our earthly lives have been changed by the resurrectional vocation of our baptism, and its call to heavenly life, and whether we are striving and struggling towards the reality of the resurrection in our daily lives, knowing that there is also a resurrection to a life which will not be with the risen Lord, “those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” among the goats on the left side?
We must live and struggle in the light of the resurrection, hoping to abide with the Lord, with Lazarus and the company of the saints who died and rose in Christ.
Through the intercessions of Thy beloved friend, St. Lazarus, О Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Happy feast of the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, and happy nameday to matushka Alla! Many, blessed years! Многая и благая лета!
Thanks to those who made yesterday’s Annunciation Liturgy such a joyful celebration, and provided a lovely lunch, enjoyed together in the lower sacristy.
The feast followed an unusual weekend, with Father Mark the Younger serving alone in Cardiff, whilst I – through pastoral need – served not only in another parish, but another jurisdiction.
With Father Nenad leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain, I was the last possibility to cover for him in Lazarica and ensure the Divine Liturgy not only for the Serbs, but for the many Russians, Belorussians and Ukrainians who worship and commune in St Lazar’s each weekend.
It was a blessing and joy, and I am grateful to Father Mark for his positive insistence that I should help.
Father Mark was pleased that all went smoothly at St Faith’s, with parishioners ensuring a quick and efficient set up and take down.
It is good to hear that numbers were back to normal after a quiet few weeks.
As you are aware, the Sunday anticipated the centenary of the death of Partiarch St Tikhon, through his foresight our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia owes its canonical existence, and this was marked by the litia at the end of the Liturgy and observed in Father Mark’s homily.
Later this week, we will chant the akathist to the Divine Passion in Nazareth House at 18:00, and the Divine Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified will be offered in the Oratory at noon on Friday.
After the Friday Liturgy, I will travel to Wessex to celebrate the Lazarus Saturday Liturgy in the chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster Market Place at 10:30 on Saturday.
This coming Sunday – Palm Sunday – will see our first service in St Philip’s, which is not an ideal day to arrive, but we hope that this will begin a more settled period in parish life, despite some concerns about the narrowing time window in which the building is available.
We should stress that despite services being earlier than we have previously celebrated, 09:00 is an entirely normal and standard time for the Hours. Our prime concern is for those travelling long distances!
Of necessity Sunday confessions will begin at 08:30, with the Hours commencing at 09:00. We need to exit the building by 13:00.
Please see the repeated following times for Holy Week and Pascha:
13 April: Palm Sunday. 09:00 Hours and Divine Liturgy.
16 April: Holy Wednesday 18:30. The Service of the Oil – Holy Unction.
17 April: Holy Thursday 18:30. Holy Friday Matins – the Service of the Twelve Passion Gospels.
18 April: Holy Friday – Vespers at 15:00 and evening service – the Matins of Holy Saturday – at 18:30.
Easter night – (Saturday 19th into Sunday 20th), 23:30. Midnight office and procession, followed by matins and Liturgy.
Holy Communion wil be reserved for our parishioners unable to attend in the night, and we will agree a time to celebrate the Paschal Hours and commune them in the morning.
As St Philip’s is used in the afternoon, I will seek permission to celebrate Paschal Vespers in the Oratory at 13:00.
There will be additional services in Father Luke’s home chapel at which I shall assist.
Please think about when you will make you confession ready for Pascha.
The clergy will hear confessions before our evening services in Holy Week, and those receiving Holy Unction will need to have made a recent confession. If required, I will hear confessions after Palm Sunday Liturgy.
On the subject of trapéza, we are very aware that the cooking, preparation and offering of food is often falling upon a tiny group of sisters, and we ask that this responsibility is assumed fairly by the parish as a whole.
I know that the sisters who feed us are very happy to do so, but encourage all who able to bring an offering for the table to do so and consider asking Branka for ideas.
From Sunday, we will put a donation basket on the table, so that we each have the option of contributing this way, knowing that sometimes three or four of our sisters are shouldering the expense of feeding a parish.
May God bless you in these remaining days of the feast. Struggle on and increase that struggle if it has become wrak or lax!
And after those days Elisabeth the wide of Zacharia conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:24-38
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Greetings as we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation and the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel.
How wonderful it was to be blessed with a warm, sunny spring day to celebrate the great and salvific event that marks the spring-time of God’s plan of salvation, reflecting the words of the Church Fathers, for whom this feast was one of great importance and radiant joy.
In his first festal homily, St Gregory the Wonderworker says, “Today is the glad spring-time to us, and Christ the Sun of righteousness has beamed with clear light around us, and has illumined the minds of the faithful.”
With similar words, St John of Damascus writes that, “Today, from the cold winter, the warm and flowery spring has shown forth, and the golden sun of rejoicing and happiness has dawned for us.”
In his festal encomium, St John joyfully recognises that this feast, and the Saviour’s conception by the Mother of God is the great and cosmic turning-point in the history of creation and humanity, and that the fall and estrangement of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve is already undone in the Mother of God’s humble acceptance of the Archangel’s message.
“Today, God-planted Eden is re-opened, and due to His goodness and love for man, God-fashioned Adam, enters again to dwell within.
Today, the forefather’s condemnation of sorrow is dissolved, and the corrupting exile and arduous penance of Eve ceases.”
This again mirrors the words of St Gregory.
“Today is Adam made anew, and moves in the choir of angels, having winged his way to heaven.”
The Annunciation is hymned by St John Damascene as a cosmic moment of restoration to which the past looked forward and to which the future and present look back.
Though the fruit of the Mother of God’s fiat had to await fulfilment in the saving death and resurrection of the Saviour, by her acceptance of the divine message, she already forcefully placed her foot upon the head of the serpent.
Whilst St Gregory writes that,“ Most of the holy fathers, and patriarchs, and prophets desired to see Him, and to be eye-witnesses of Him, but did not attaint hereto…”, St John Damascene sees the Annunciation as the joyful and wonderful moment in which the patriarchs and prophets see the fulfilment of their far off vision of the Virgin, who will conceive and bear a Child, and participate by their anticipation of the mystery of the feast: “Today, the holy book of the Prophets from all time, is brought amidst us, and each of them proclaims before-hand the grace of this Feast.
In heaven and on earth, angels and saints, people high and low, old and young, across centuries, across continents and lands, are united in jubilation, and as creation is exulted, heaven and earth join in celebration, rejoicing in the hidden and silent reality of the physical beginning of our salvation in the flesh, known at first only to the Mother of God herself.
“Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, for the King of all was adorned with a body [through thee] as if adorned with a royal purple robe.”
What joyful voices are heard in hymns and homilies, and in the akathist hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos, whose words by St Romanos the Melodist were heard in our churches only a few days ago.
An Archangel was sent from Heaven to say to the Mother of God: Rejoice! And seeing Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, he was amazed and with his bodiless voice he stood crying to her such things as these:
Rejoice, thou through whom joy will shine forth: rejoice, thou through whom the curse will cease!
Rejoice, raising of fallen Adam: rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve!
Rejoice, height hard to climb for the thoughts of men: rejoice, depth hard to scan even for the eyes of Angels!
Rejoice, for thou art the throne of the King: rejoice, for thou upholdest Him Who upholdeth all!
Rejoice, star that bringeth the Sun: rejoice, womb of the divine incarnation!
Rejoice, thou through whom creation is made new: rejoice, thou through whom we worship the Creator!
Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded!
Reflecting on the joyful triumph of the Annunciation, we should each examine how we have celebrated in our homes and families, what it means to each of us, and whether we have fittingly greeted the Mother of God and her feast with worthy celebratory words and prayers.
Indeed, have we even made any time in our day or evening to celebrate the feast, or have we put our routines, comforts and interests above reverencing the Mother of God, and even finding half and hour in which to honour her?
Did we spend any time explaining this feast to our children, and have our parish families prayed together, if only to read the Gospel and say the troparion and kontakion – something quite simple at a shared meal, which should ideally be part of the celebration of every Great Feast?
Have we greeted the Mother of God with a joy that raises our souls, hearts and minds in celebration?
If the answers our negative or admit negligence, if we have failed to even make our children aware of the feast, if our families have not managed a single prayer together – then we must ask why, and how we can consider this acceptable?
How do we call ourselves Christians and neglect the Mother of God, who offered her life for each and every one of us, so that our Saviour and Redeemer could be clothed in our flesh, so that it might be translated into the glory of heaven as the sign of our invitation and calling to the heavenly life.
How is it that the Christians of past centuries celebrated this feast with such great rejoicing, and that it filled them with joy, hope and encouragement in the Christian life, yet we fail to fitly celebrate the great feast as an offering to the Theotokos, the Mother of our Salvation.
St John of Damascus presumed that his hearers, whatever their status – in their own personal way – would play their part in the laudations of the feast, confessing her as Theotokos, but approaching her not only as Mother of God, but also as the mother and protectress of each and every one of us.
Let us live up to his expectations and, rejoicing and celebrating the beginning of our salvation, let us hasten in the footsteps of the Holy Fathers to celebrate the glorious Annunciation, and echo the tidings of the Archangel Gabriel.
“Today, we and all men take up the Angel’s voice, and offer encomia like his, to her who is the forerunner of the taking away of the curse…
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, O gate of those troubled and hope of those without hope, and the awesome protection for those who with good heart confess you to be the Theotokos.
Rejoice, O Full-of-grace, who bore the Master Who loves man for the salvation of our common race of men, and who entreats Him on behalf of everyone, as a Mother.”
Let us take up the Angel’s voice to fittingly and worthily celebrate the Annunciation in which “our restoration hath now been revealed to us! God uniteth Himself to men in manner past recounting! Falsehood is dispelled by the voice of the archangel! For the Virgin receiveth joy, an earthly woman hath become heaven!”
The General Order for Chanting a Canon – With Supplicatory Prayers to St Arilda
Dear brothers and sisters, one of our young people recently asked about the order for chanting canons and akathists, so this post will hopefully help.
We have previously published a simple order, which consists of the opening prayers with Psalm 50 and the creed before the canon/akathist, and then “It is truly meet…”, the Trisagion prayers and the dismissal.
The following order is a little more complex, mirroring the order of the moleben, but without readings, and is set out for use when there is no priest.
As you will see, we begin with the opening prayers and the usual moleben Psalm (142).
This is followed by “God is the Lord…” with its verses, and this is always chanted in the tone of the first troparion of the feast or saint that is being honoured.
The troparion is then chanted twice, and after the Glory, we sing the Theotokion, which is a troparion to the Mother of God appointed to follow troparia.
If we are honouring a Great Feast, we chant the troparion twice, and then repeat it after “Glory… Now and ever…”
We then chant Psalm 50, although this is sometimes omitted, and the canon(s) follows.
As some of our parishioners will be visiting Oldbury-on-Severn on Saturday, and will honour the Virgin-Martyr, Arilda, I have taken the canon for a Virgin-Martyr from the General Menaion and used this to illustrate the order of prayer. The General Menaion is used for the variable parts of services when there are none specific to a saint in the monthly menaion. We insert names into the general hymns.
The canon is followed by “It is truly meet…” or a zadostoinik (a hymn to the Mother of God that takes the place of “It is truly meet…”), the Trisagion prayers, the troparion and kontakion (sometimes a prayer) and the dismissal sequence.
Once the faithful get used to this order, it will be straight forward and second nature!
Reader: Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us.
People: Amen.
O Heavenly King, O Comforter, * Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, * Treasury of good things and Giver of life, * come and dwell in us, * and cleanse us of all impurity, ** and save our souls, O Good One.
Reader: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, blot out our sins. O Master, pardon our iniquities. O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy Name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.
Reader: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us.
People: Amen.
Reader: Lord, have mercy. (Twelve times)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen
O come let us worship God our King.
O come let us worship and. fall down before Christ our King and God.
O come let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself, our King and God.
Psalm 142: O Lord, hear my prayer, give ear unto my supplication in Thy truth; hearken unto me in Thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with Thy servant for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath humbled my life down to the earth. He hath sat me in darkness as those that have been long dead, and my spirit within me is become despondent; within me my heart is troubled. I remembered days of old, I meditated on all Thy works, I pondered on the creations of Thy hands. I stretched forth my hands unto Thee; my soul thirsteth after Thee like a waterless land. Quickly hear me, O Lord; my spirit hath fainted away. Turn not Thy face away from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear Thy mercy in the morning; for in Thee have I put my hope. Cause me to know, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; for unto Thee have I lifted up my soul. Rescue me from mine enemies, O Lord; unto Thee have I fled for refuge. Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the land of uprightness; for Thy name’s sake, O Lord, shalt Thou quicken me. In Thy righteousness shalt Thou bring my soul out of affliction, and in Thy mercy shalt Thou utterly destroy mine enemies. And Thou shalt cut off all them that afflict my soul, for I am Thy servant.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Glory to Thee, O God. (Thrice)
And in Tone 4: God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Stichos 1: O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever.
People: God is the Lord…
Stichos 2: Surrounding me they compassed me, and by the Name of the Lord, I warded them off.
People: God is the Lord…
Stichos 3: I shall not die, but live, and I shall tell of the works of the Lord.
People: God is the Lord…
Stichos 4: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
People: God is the Lord…
Troparion, Tone IV: Thy ewe-lamb Arilda, O Jesus crieth out with a loud voice: * “Thee do I love, O my Bridegroom, * and, seeking Thee, I endure suffering. * In Thy baptism I am crucified and buried with Thee. * I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; * I die for Thee, that I may live with Thee. * Accept me, who with love sacrifice myself for Thee, * as an unblemished offering!” ** By her supplications, in that Thou art merciful, save Thou our souls. (Twice)
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, Tone IV: The mystery hidden from all ages * and unknown to the ranks of angels, * hath been revealed to those on earth through thee, O Theotokos: * God incarnate in an uncommingled union, * Who willingly accepted the Cross for our sake, * and through it hath raised up the first-formed man, ** and saved our souls from death.
Reader: Lord, have mercy. (Twelve times)
Psalm 50: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee, that Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me. For behold, Thou hast loved truth; the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom hast Thou made manifest unto me. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be made clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness; the bones that be humbled, they shall rejoice. Turn Thy face away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and with Thy governing Spirit establish me. I shall teach transgressors Thy ways, and the ungodly shall turn back unto Thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness. O Lord, Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise. For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice, I had given it; with whole-burnt offerings Thou shalt not be pleased. A sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit; a heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise. Do good, O Lord, in Thy good pleasure unto Sion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be builded. Then shalt Thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, with oblation and whole-burnt offerings. Then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.
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The Canon, in Tone VIII
Ode I, Irmos: Let us sing unto the Lord, * who led His people through the Red Sea: * for He alone hath gloriously been glorified.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
By her wondrous actions the all-praised maiden Arilda inspires the choirs of heavenly hosts above and those of us here on Earth below to hymn her holy deeds.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
The Master of all loved the beauty of thy most fair heart, O all-praised one, wherefore He hath made thee worthy to dwell in the heavenly dwellings.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou, O Martyr, without fear underwent suffering, manifold wounds, and execution, taking with thee the sustaining grace of the Savior which helped thee to endure.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
We ever hymn thee, O most pure Theotokos, who above nature hast given birth unto the pre-eternal Incarnate and supremely divine Word.:
Ode III, Irmos: O Lord, thou art the confirmation of those who flee to Thee, * Thou art the Light of those in darkness, * and my spirit doth hymn Thee.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Thou O all-praised Arilda, didst appear before thy judges with a courageous soul, vanquishing the cowardly enemy.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Sporting neither blemish in thy beauty, nor any failing in thy soul, Christ received thee as a fair bride in His incorruptible palaces.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O all-praised Martyr of Christ Arilda, heal the scars of my soul, and by thine intercessions still the stormy seas of my life.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
All Orthodox Christians have acquired in thee a refuge and an unshakable rampart, wherefore we unceasingly magnify thee, O thou who knewest not wedlock.
Katavasia: Pray to God for us, O Holy Virgin-Martyr, Arilda, for we eagerly betake ourselves unto thee, who art a spreedy helper and intercessor for our souls.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
The Sessional Hymn, in Tone VIII: With the streams of thy blood * thou hast drowned the wicked, O all-praised Martyr of Christ, * and from joyous clouds of grace thou dost ever water the spiritual meadows, * rearing up therein the fruits of faith; * wherefore after thy repose thou hast appeared lustrously as a luminous cloud, * shedding forth the testimony of thy life. * O all-praised spiritual athlete Arilda, * pray to Christ God that those whom with love honor thy holy memory * be granted the remission of their sins.
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 Tone VIII: All we, the generations of mankind, * call thee blessed, * in that thou art the Virgin who alone among women * hast given birth without seed unto God in the flesh; * for the fire of the Godhead made its abode within thee, * and thou didst feed the Creator and Lord * with milk as an infant. * Wherefore, we, the race of mankind and of angels, * worthily glorify thine all-holy birthgiving, * and together we cry out to thee: * Entreat Christ God to grant forgiveness of sins ** unto those who with faith worship thine all-holy Offspring.
Ode IV, Irmos: O Lord, I have heard the mystery of Thy dispensation; * I haveconsidered Thy works, * and I have glorified Thy Divinity.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Presenting thyself as an unstained mirror of divine understanding, thou, O Martyr, doth shine forth in the midst of women sufferers like a golden lamp of priceless beauty.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Thou didst not offer sacrifice unto the dumb demons, O invincible Martyr Arilda, but rather with love desired to receive a life-bestowing death for thy piety.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With the other passion-bearers, O unblemished Arilda, thou didst bear upon thy body countless wounds, and yet remained without pangs through the manifestation of divine love.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
As the only Sinless One, grant deliverance from ignorance unto us, and peace to Thy world, O God, through the intercession of her who gave birth to Thee.
Ode V, Irmos: Rising early we cry to Thee, O Lord; * save us, for Thou art our God, * and we know none other besides Thee.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Having learned the difference between the spiritual day and the darkness of the world, thou didst rebuke the contentious spirit.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Imagining he would be able to weaken thy divine strength, O Martyr Arilda, the most cunning enemy hath only made himself a subject of derision.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Grant unto me, O all-praised one, enlightenment and peace, and by thine intercessions disperse the great agitation and confusion that afflicts my soul.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
We hymn thee as a Virgin, O Theotokos, even after child-birth, for thou hast brought forth into the world God the Word in the flesh.
Ode VI, Irmos: O Thou that puttest on light as a garment * grant me also a robe of light, * O All-merciful Christ, our God.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Bearing valiant wisdom of mind while in thy feminine body, thou, O glorious one, didst not fear beasts of land and sea.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Vanquishing the pride of thy tormentors, thy soul remained unharmed, O invincible Martyr, wherefore thou didst receive a crown of victory.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As righteous and beautiful, as honorable and resplendent with the radiance of virginity, the Bridegroom, even the Lord, hath brought thee to Himself, O most glorious martyr.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
As the only one who hath given birth in the flesh unto the Word, we beseech thee to deliver our souls from the snares of the enemy.
Katavasia: Pray to God for us, O Holy Virgin-Martyr, Arilda, for we eagerly betake ourselves unto thee, who art a spreedy helper and intercessor for our souls.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
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: Finding thine all-revered temple (and holy spring)* to be a source of healing for our souls, * we the faithful with a loud voice cry unto thee, * O greatly renowned Maiden-Martyr Arilda, ** entreat Christ God unceasingly on behalf of us all.
Ikos: Having gathered together today let us worthily honor the Martyr of Christ Arilda, that by her intercessions, our souls and bodies be may delivered from all pestilence, earthquake and plague, and that we may pass our lives in humility, and thereby be granted to praise God together with all the saints that pleased Him in ages past, and to walk in the un-waning light. For Thou, O Savior, hast bedewed with Thy mercies all those who in faith praise her. Wherefore we cry unto her, unceasingly pray for us all.
Ode VII, Irmos: The Children of Judaea, * who of old came to dwell in Babylon, * trampled underfoot the flame of the furnace * through their faith in the Trinity, * as they sang: “O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.”
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
The manly-courage of the divine Martyrs is beyond understanding, for the Creator of maketh His creation subject to those who in the midst of their suffering cry out: “O God of our Fathers, blessed art Thou.”
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
The glorious maiden hath silenced the wicked mouths of her tormentors and subdued the pride of the lawless, while in the Holy Spirit she divinely sang: “O God of our Fathers, blessed art Thou.”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Of old, the trio of devout youths burned those who superheated the fiery furnace; and now, as then, the Divinely-wise maiden, hymning the Trinity, inspires us to sing: “O God of our Fathers, blessed art Thou.”
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Savior, when thou didst deign to accomplish our salvation; Thou didst enter the womb of the Virgin and reveal her to be a sure intercessor for all the world: “O God of our Fathers, blessed art Thou.”
Ode VIII, Irmos: The King of heaven, * Who is glorified by the hosts of angels, * let uspraise and supremely exalt throughout all ages.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
The exceedingly blessed among women Arilda, having been rewarded with grace from the Most High, now hymneth, praising Christ throughout all ages.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
Strengthened by the thought of the Bridegroom and caring for things spiritual, thou didst give up thy body, even unto death, and inherited eternal life.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The Bridegroom, mysteriously descending unto the most pure maiden in the furnace, hath, by the dew of the Holy Spirit, and in accordance with the good pleasure of the Father, saved her who hymneth Christ throughout all ages.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Despise not, O pure Virgin; those that seek thine aid, and who chant and extol thee throughout all ages.
Ode IX, Irmos: With never ceasing praises we magnify thee, * the Mother of God Most High, * who art higher than the most pure hosts, * and who beyond comprehension knew not wedlock, * yet hath truly given birth to God.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
From on high thou wast granted to understand that the flow of thy blood was a token of thy future incorruptible life, O all-praised martyr, wherefore thou hast appeared unto all who draw nigh to thee, to be an inexhaustible treasury of healings.
Holy Martyr Arilda pray to God for us!
In accordance with the law of nature, O divinely-wise one, thou didst suffer death, which thou didst willingly endure; and upon death, which was witnessed to by the flow of thine own blood, thine all-precious body was laid to rest remaining incorrupt.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As the fairest bride of Christ and an illumining sun, as a truly chosen turtle-dove and as a fertile olive tree more comely than the cedars of Lebanon we all praise thee, O godly-revered Arilda.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O bride who knewest not wedlock, receptacle of sweet fragrance, the true and immaculate Virgin and Mother who received in thy womb the heavenly rain descending from the cloud of light, thee do we magnify.
Zadostoinik, Tone VIII: Receive the prayers of thy servants, O Sovereign Lady, and deliver us from every need and sorrow. Thou art our weapon, O Mother of God, and a wall of refuge; thou art the Mediatrix, and unto thee do we run, and now we cry in prayer to thee, that thou mightest deliver us from our enemies. We all exalt thee, O blameless Mother of Christ our God, whom the Holy Spirit hath overshadowed.
Reader: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Thrice.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, blot out our sins. O Master, pardon our iniquities. O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.
Reader: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us.
People: Amen.
Troparion, in Tone IV: Thy ewe-lamb Arilda, O Jesus crieth out with a loud voice: * “Thee do I love, O my Bridegroom, * and, seeking Thee, I endure suffering. * In Thy baptism I am crucified and buried with Thee. * I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; * I die for Thee, that I may live with Thee. * Accept me, who with love sacrifice myself for Thee, * as an unblemished offering!” ** By her supplications, in that Thou art merciful, save Thou our souls.
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, in Tone II: Finding thine all-revered temple (and holy spring)* to be a source of healing for our souls, * we the faithful with a loud voice cry unto thee, * O greatly renowned Maiden-Martyr Arilda, ** entreat Christ God unceasingly on behalf of us all.
Reader: Lord, have mercy. (Forty times)
O holy Virgin-Martyr, Arilda, look upon us with a merciful eye, and hearken unto our small supplication; and as thou didst flee the pollution of the world, and refusing the defilement of sin didst become a ewe-lamb offered unto the Lord, we humbly pray and bessech thee to intercede for us before the Master and Shepherd of His sheep. Help us, that encumbered as we are with the pleasures and ease of life, we may emulate thy martyrdom, resisting the lures and temptations of the world, and may be granted the grace to struggle for purity of body, mind and soul. Pray to God for us, that we may join thee in the Heavenly Kingdom, and that as pure and unblemished offerings, holy to the Lord, He may grant to us healing of soul and body, and great mercy.
People: Amen,
Reader: Most Holy Mother of God, save us.
People: More honourable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without defilement gavest birth to God the Word, the true Theotokos, thee do we magnify.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Lord, have mercy. (Thrice) Lord, bless.
Reader: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Thy Most-Pure, Mother, of the Holy Virgin-Martyr Arilda, and all the saints, have mercy upon us and save us, for Thou art a merciful God and lovest mankind.
Here we are at the end of another week of peripatetic parish life, spread between Cathays, Splott and Llanishen, and hoping that tomorrow will bring some clarity regarding Holy Week, Pascha, and St Philip’s.
Additional to our Cardiff wanderings, yesterday saw seventeen of us participate in the rite of Holy Unction in the cathedral, with six priests concelebrating with our bishop in the blessing of oil and anointing the faithful – of which there were hundreds of people, many of them young.
As Father Mark the Younger enthused at the end of today’s Liturgy, it was a wonderful image of the Church: young and old, cradle Orthodox and convert, those on their feet and those helped by a friend or support worker in their additional needs, reminding us that disabilities are not a limitation on God’s grace and power.
The fact that people with various physical and cognitive challenges were part of our celebration was a visible sign of the loving and supportive character of our ROCOR community in our God-preserved diocese.
We will celebrate Holy Unction according to the parish rite in Cardiff during Holy Week, so that those unable to attend in London may partake of this Holy Mystery.
Perhaps Mothering Sunday dented our congregation a little today, plus the absence of some of those who had a long day in London yesterday, but it was lovely to return to St Faith’s on the Sunday of St John of the Ladder and the feast of St Patrick, Apostle of Ireland.
It was good that parishioners experienced the rite of the blessing of vestments after the Hours, and I was very pleased to be able to wear the vestments that Fr Mark blessed.
We will return to St Faith’s to celebrate the Sunday of St Mary of Egypt, next weekend, though we hope that we will then be able to be in St Philip’s for Palm Sunday.
As already posted on WhatsApp, due to our present circumstances, there will be no Cardiff evening service for the Great Canon next Wednesday. However, the Great Canon will be chanted in Llanelli at 19:00, and it would be lovely to welcome Cardiff parishioners.
In Cardiff, we will chant the entire Great Canon and read the life of St Mary of Egypt in the Oratory Church at 14:00 on Thursday afternoon (St Mary’s Standing / Мариино стояние).
There will also be the usual early evening service in Nazareth House at 18:00.
Confessions will be heard before the Thursday afternoon service and after the evening service.
The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts will be celebrated at 14:00 in the Oratory Church on Friday afternoon, and I will be available to hear confessions before and after the service.
It is important that all who are able to make their confessions during the week avail themselves of the opportunity to ease the situation on Sunday. We will start ending confessions during the hours on the alternate Sundays on which I should be the main celebrant, as I continually miss the first part of the Liturgy.
Saturday is the Laudation of the Mother of God, and some of parishioners will get enjoying a pilgrimage and walk around Oldbury on Severn – honouring St Arilda. I will be heading to Lazarica in Bournville, and would be very happy to be joined by any parishioners. The service begins at 09:00.
Your prayers are requested for Lyudmila (sick); Piran, Svetlana, Stefan (travelling); and for our students. Prayers are also asked for Nicholas, Daniel, Nikolaos and his family.
We ask your prayers for the repose of the soul of matushka’s newly-departed cousin, Aleksey, and for his elderly mother Raisa, and for all of the family at this sorrowful time. Memory Eternal! Lord, have mercy!
The Canon of The Venerable One, the Acrostic Whereof Is: “I Offer a Hymn to the Wise Benedict”: The Composition of Joseph, in Tone II
Ode I, Irmos: Come, O ye people, * let us sing a song to Christ our God, * Who divided the sea, * and made a way for the nation * which He had brought up out of the bondage of Egypt; * for He hath been glorified.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
O venerable Benedict, pray thou that God grant deliverance from all trans- gressions and grace unto me who yearn to hymn thy right laudable memory.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Taking up thy cross from childhood, in monasticism thou didst follow after the Almighty; and having mortified the flesh, thou wast deemed worthy of life, O most blessed one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Subjecting thyself to the law of God, O right wondrous one, thou didst quell the uprisings of the passions with feats of abstinence, and wast enriched by the grace of dispassion.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Enriched with incorruption on account of thee, O all-pure Birthgiver of God, we cry out to thee who art full of joy: Rejoice, O adornment of the venerable and the righteous!
Ode III, Irmos: O Lord, who didst slay sin upon the tree, * firmly establish us in Thee, * and in the hearts of us who hymn Thee * plant the fear of Thee.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Full of the living waters of the divine Spirit, O God-bearer, thy soul poured forth rivers of miracles, drying up the flow of ailments.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Thou didst pass over to abide in the vastness of paradise, O all-blessed one, having trodden the narrow path, and didst choke off the wiles of the demons and the ways of the disorderly.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Watered with streams of thy tears, O Benedict, like a fruitful tree thou didst bring forth a divine harvest of virtues and miracles, by divine grace.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
He Who alone is good passed, incarnate, through thy womb, O most immaculate one, and was seen as a perfect man. Him do thou beseech, that He save those who hymn thee.
Sessional Hymn, Tone I: Being a monk in a manner pleasing to God, thou didst live virtuously and didst receive the grace of healing, O Benedict, working awesome miracles; and having assembled a sacred community, thou didst lead to the Lord multitudes of the saved, O most spiritually rich father. Glory to God Who enlightened thee! Glory to Him Who crowned thee! Glory to Him Who hath glorified thy holy memory!
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.
Theotokion, Tone I: Stretching forth thy divine arms, wherewith thou didst bear the Creator Who in His goodness hath become incarnate, O most pure virgin, beseech Him to deliver from temptations, sufferings and tribulations us who praise thee with love and cry aloud: Glory to Him Who made His abOde within thee! Glory to Him Who issued forth from thee! Glory to Him Who hath delivered us by thy birthgiving!
Stavrotheotokion (replaces the Theotokion on Wednesdays and Fridays): In awe of Thy great and dread endurance, O Savior, the most pure one lamented bitterly and cried out to Thee Who wast crucified on the Cross by the iniquitous ones and whose side was pierced with a spear by the soldiers: Glory to Thy love for mankind! Glory to Thy goodness! Glory to Thee Who by Thy death hast rendered mankind immortal!
Ode IV, Irmos: I hymn Thee, O Lord, for I have heard report of Thee, * and I was afraid; * for Thou comest to me, seeking me who am lost. * Wherefore, I glorify Thy great condescension towards me, * O greatly Merciful One.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Having crucified thyself to the passions and the world, O father Benedict, thou didst please Christ Who stretched out His hands on the Cross of His own will. Him do thou entreat, that He save our souls.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
With feats of abstinence didst thou mortify thy fleshly members, O venerable one; by thy prayer didst thou raise up the dead; thou gavest the paralyzed, who marveled in faith, the ability to walk, and didst heal every infirmity, O father.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
By thy vivifying discourse, O venerable one, didst thou render dry and desiccated souls fruitful, bringing forth spiritual and divine fruit, in that thou wast advanced by God, thou most sacred adornment of monastics.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The incarnate Word descended upon thine honored womb like rain upon the fleece, O pure one, and manifestly halted the rains of polytheism and brought an end to the bitter winter, O all-immaculate one.
Ode V, Irmos: O Lord, Bestower of light and Creator of the ages: * guide us in the light of Thy commandments, * for we know none other God than Thee.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Entreating the God of mercy, O venerable father, like Elijah thou didst fill a cruse, a great vessel, with oil, a thing marveled at by those who watched with faith.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
As one pure of soul, O all-blessed Benedict, in ecstasy, thou didst behold the whole earth resplendent as beneath a single light, for God so honoreth thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Working miracles in Christ, O Benedict, by thy supplication thou entreatest the Judge of the contest, that water gush forth, which remaineth to this day, proclaiming thy wonders.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
He Who dwelleth in the heavens, so desiring, made His abOde within thy pure womb, that He might make habitations for the Trinity of us who proclaim thee to be the Theotokos, O pure one.
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.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Illumined by the effulgence of the Spirit, thou didst dispel the darkness of evil demons, O wonder-worker Benedict, most radiant lamp of monastics.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
How glorious was thy life, O blessed one! How splendid thine honored life whereby thou didst draw the flock of monastics to knowledge of the Savior!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As a resident of the kingdom of heaven, O divinely wise Benedict, pray thou, that we who ever faithfully bless thee may also attain it.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The never-setting Sun of righteousness shone forth from thy holy womb and enlightened the faithful, O all-hymned virgin Theotokos.
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 venerable one, Tone VI: Thouwast enriched by the grace of God, * and by thy deeds proclaimed thy name. * In prayer and fasting thou wast revealed to be * full of the gifts of the Spirit of God, * O Benedict, favorite of Christ God, * shown to be a healer of the infirm, ** as one who repulses the enemy, the ready helper of our souls.
Ode VII, Irmos: Of old the youths revealed themselves to be rhetors * with a love for supreme wisdom, * for from the depths of their God-pleasing souls, * they theologized with their lips as they sang: * O supremely divine God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Thou didst acquire life-bearing mortality by laying aside pleasures; wherefore, thou wast deemed worthy to resurrect the dead, O blessed Benedict, crying out: O supremely divine God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Astonishing a multitude of the faithful, thou didst do as did the great Elijah, raising up a garden for monks by thy venerable labors, and it remaineth ever walled about by thy supplications, O blessed one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The mindless ones who sought to murder thee with evil sorcery were put to shame, O father Benedict, denounced by the foreknowledge in thee, for thou wast preserved by the hand of Almighty God.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Heal thou the passions of my soul, O Virgin who ineffably conceived the Well-spring of dispassion, and grant me a shower of compunction to bring me consolation there, O holy Theotokos.
Ode VIII, Irmos: God Who descended into the fiery furnace * with the Hebrew children, * and transformed the flame into dew, * do ye works hymn, * and supremely exalt as Lord throughout all ages.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Reigning in Christ over corrupting passions, O divinely wise father, thou wast deemed worthy to dwell in the heavenly kingdom with all who lived righteously and loved God Who seest all things.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Accepting thy holy supplications, through thee God bestowed the means to live upon those in want, glorifying thee exceedingly with miracles on earth, O thrice– blessed Benedict.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Adorned with the beauties of godly virtues, thou didst pass on to the beautiful mansions to abide with God, O father, and to enjoy His divine beauties for ages without end.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Behold, a Babe, the Son of the Most High, is born of thee, O pure one, as Isaiah crieth out, and He is seen to be thy Son also, O Virgin, making those who honor thee children of the heavenly Father.
Ode IX, Irmos: God the Word, God of God, * Who by ineffable wisdom came to create Adam anew * after his grievous fall to corruption through eating * and Who took flesh beyond all telling from the Holy Virgin for our sake, * Him we faithful with one accord magnify in song.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
Thou wast shown to be like the great sun, illumining creation with awesome signs and rays of the virtues; wherefore, celebrating thy truly luminous memory, we are enlightened with compunctionate thoughts, O father.
Venerable Father, Benedict, pray to God for us.
The flock of monastics assembled by thee giveth praise day and night, having in their midst thy body which poureth forth rivers of miracles abundantly and unceas- ingly enlighteneth their steps, O wise father.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst emit a radiance greater than that of the Sun, O father, fulfilling the commandments of God; and thou hast passed into never-waning light, praying that forgiveness of sins be granted to those who faithfully honor thee; O ever-memorable Benedict.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Virgin, bearer of the Light, drive thou the passions from my soul, and grant that I may behold, in pure manner, the beauty of the Savior Who shone forth ineffably from thy most pure womb, as a light to the nations, O all-hymned one.
Sunday’s celebration of the Adoration of the Life-Giving Cross came at the end of a blessed four days of services with three different Liturgies: the Liturgy of St Gregory the Dialogist on Friday; of St John Chrysostom on Saturday; and of St Basil on Sunday.
It has been a joy to celebrate the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the Sunday of the Cross in conjunction, with the life and martyrdom of the Holy Great Martyrs showing us the Cross bearing fruit in the life of the Church, calling us to selflessness and attachment to the things of heaven, rather than the transitory things of the earth. “Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward IN HEAVEN!”
The Liturgies of the past few days have been a blessing and a joy, with our relatively quiet celebration in the Oratory Church, ending with the blessing of larks, and our Llanishen Cross-celebration ending with the blessing of more larks, and of Serbian Mladenci.
It has been good to see the faithful enjoy time together in fellowship and conversation over shared refreshments and meals, with the shared-table a continuation of the Liturgy!
Thanks to all who contributed to our celebrations, particularly our singers and bakers, our young brothers who were such a great help moving furniture, and our “myrrh-bearing” women who quietly and devotedly look after our clergy do well and generously!
Thanks to matushka for decorating the frame for the Godenovo Cross.
Thanks also to the Oratorian Fathers for their ongoing support, especially in the hiatus in our move to Tremorfa.
In the week ahead we will have our usual Thursday akathist in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, and devotions before the Cross in the Oratory at 14:00 on Friday.
I will be available for confessions before and after services on those days.
There will be no Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified in Cardiff this week, though there will be one in Llanelli at 18:30 on Wednesday.
Soborovanie / Hierarchical Holy Unction will be celebrated in the cathedral at 14:00 on Saturday, and we hope to have a handful of parishioners in attendance. Those being anointed should prepare with confession, and those unable to make the journey will have the opportunity to be anointed at a local celebration of the Service of the Oil during Holy Week.
Sunday will see us return to St Faith’s for 11 o’clock Liturgy and trapéza.
In your prayers we ask you to remember Liudmila amongst the sick; Margarita, Piran and Stefan on their the travels; our students with their demanding academic work; and our catechumens – Chris, Adam, Serwaa and Lloyd.
Wishing you a renewed and blessed struggle for the second half of the Great Fast, through the power of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross and through the prayers of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
Parishioners seeking English language spiritual reading are encouraged to look at the soul-profiting, traditional books sold by the St Edward Brotherhood (also a source of good quality incense and candles):
Having posted service times on WhatsApp and Facebook, the news email is late this week.
Thanks to everyone for such a lovely Sunday Liturgy, following our Saturday celebration in Cheltenham, and the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy in the Cardiff Oratory.
Our Cheltenham Liturgy was blessed with a profound sense of peace and joy, and – as we will not be returning until the Saturday of Pascha – we blessed zhavoronki (sky-larks), the traditional celebratory offerings for the feast of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, which we will celebrate in the Cardiff Oratory this coming weekend (see below). We will be happy to bless any baked offerings in honour of the holy-martyrs on Sunday, as well as Saturday, and will have the icon of the martyrs at our Sunday Liturgy.
It was good to have a well supported kliros on Sunday, especially for the anaphora for the Liturgy of St Basil. Thanks to all of our singers.
We would be very happy to see more singers on the kliros, and also for more servers in the oltar. It has been lovely to have our younger servers over the last few weeks, and it would be very good to get back to having four or five servers on a Sunday. Perhaps our forthcoming baptisms may help on this front!
St Faith’s is proving to be a bright and cheery place to celebrate, and everyone seems very happy there. However, we know that it is a challenge for some parishioners without their own means of transport, and that public transport is somewhat unpredictable, which perhaps accounts for Sunday’s slightly reduced numbers.
At the time of writing, the rector of Gabalfa-Tremorfa is conferring with other stakeholders in St Philip’s, getting everyone on board and aware of our forthcoming presence, and we look forward to hopefully moving to Tremorfa in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we are very happy to be able to worship in St Faith’s and have the warm support of Elaine and Ruth, the clergy, and Marilyn the church warden.
Next Sunday is the mid-point of Great Lent, being the Sunday of the Adoration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, and though I know we will have a number of active parishioners away, I do hope that we will see those parishioners who have not been to Liturgy during the Fast. Pascha is fast approaching, and we need to show our readiness for the Lord’s Life-Bestowing Passion and Resurrection.
This week’s services will start with the Akathist to the Passion in Nazareth House at 18:00 in Thursday. On Friday we will celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts in the Oratory at 14:00, returning on Saturday to celebrate the feast of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste with the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom at 10:30.
Sunday’s Divine Liturgy of St Basil for the Sunday of the Holy Cross will be celebrated in St Faith’s, Llanishen at 11:00.
With regard to Holy Unction / Елеосвящения during Lent we would like to clarify that:
The rite of Soborovanie / Concelebrated Holy Unction will be celebrated in the cathedral at 14:00 on Saturday 29 March, with the parish clergy concelebrating with the bishop.
There will not be a bus, as very few parishioners indicated their interest in this option, making it prohibitively expensive. So, we hope that parishioners will organise car-shares to maximise the number of those able to attend.
Additionally, we will be celebrating the Rite of the Mystery of Holy Unction (Чин последование таинства Елеосвящения) in the parish, hopefully on the Wednesday of Holy Week. However, until we move to St Philip’s and know the availability of the building for Holy Week, we are unable to arrange or announce anything.
This local celebration will be with the bishop’s special blessing, as the Lenten ‘Soborovanie’ is only usually celebrated by a bishop and six concelebrating priests in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
The baptised and confessed faithful may receive anointing at ONE of these services, and NOT multiple times.
Confession is a requisite and not an option, as this is a Holy Mystery. Therefore, children whose age means they are not yet going to confession do not yet partake of this anointing.
It has been a great blessing to have the Psalter group reading the whole Psalter each day during the Fast, and I hope that this brings a greater understanding of the Psalms and their spiritual meaning for the Church, far removed from ancient Israelite society.
As several of our young people have commented, the Old Testament can be extremely challenging for us as Christians and the Church of the New Israel, but beyond the literal imagery of war and violence, the Psalms now teach us the importance of spiritual warfare, bear great moral truths, call us to prayer, admonish us to repent and call us to worship the Lord, falling down before His greatness, glory and majesty, as well as bearing prophetic images of the Saviour, His saving Passion, Resurrection and Ascension.
For those for whom this reading has been a beginning, I very much hope that the Psalter will continue to be a valuable resource in their spiritual lives after the Fast.
May we ask your prayers for the sick / unwell in our community and among the friends and families of our faithful, as well as those with more long term health issues: Liudmila, Brigid, Maria, Valery, Galina, Irina, and Marina.
As we have been informed of developments regarding the former Serbian Church property in Ely, we ask your prayers as we consider its possibilities and viability as a permanent ROCOR base in the city. We especially ask your prayers to St Nikolaj (Velimirović). It was on his feast, yesterday, that we received news via London.
Hierarch of Christ, Nikolaj, pray to God for us!
Troparion, Tone 8: O golden-tongued preacher proclaiming the risen Christ, / everlasting guide of the cross-bearing Serbian people, / resounding harp of the Holy Spirit, and dear to monastics who rejoice in thee, / pride and boast of the priesthood, teacher of repentance, master for all nations, / guide of those in the army of Christ as they pray to God, / Holy Nikolaj teacher in America and pride of the Serbian people, / with all the saints, implore the only Lover of mankind / to grant us peace and joy in his heavenly kingdom!
Dear brothers and sisters, greetings for the feast of St Gerasimos, famously remembered to taking a thorn from the paw of a lion who came to him, and being befriended by the creature.
His monastery, of which he was abbot, remains a place beloved of pilgrims to the Holy Land.
Saint Gerasimos was a native of Lycia (Asia Minor). From his early years he was distinguished for his piety. Having received monastic tonsure, he withdrew into the desert of the Thebaid (in Egypt). Thereafter, in about the year 450, the monk arrived in Palestine and settled at the Jordan, where he founded a monastery.
For a certain while Saint Gerasimos was tempted by the heresy of Eutyches and Dioscorus, which acknowledged only the divine nature in Jesus Christ, but not His human nature (i.e. the Monophysite heresy). Saint Euthymius the Great (January 20) helped him to return to the true Faith.
Saint Gerasimos established a strict monastic Rule. He spent five days of the week in solitude, occupying himself with handicrafts and prayer. On these days the wilderness dwellers did not eat cooked food, nor did they kindle a fire, but ate only dry bread, roots and water.
On Saturday and Sunday all gathered at the monastery for Divine Liturgy and to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In the afternoon, taking a supply of bread, tubers, water and an armload of date-palm branches for weaving baskets, the desert-dwellers returned to their own cells. Each had only old clothes and a mat, upon which he slept. When they left their cells, the door was never locked, so that anyone could enter and rest, or take whatever he needed.
Saint Gerasimos himself attained a high level of asceticism. During Great Lent he ate nothing until the very day of the All-Radiant Resurrection of Christ, when he received the Holy Mysteries. Going out into the desert for all of Great Lent, Saint Gerasimos took with him his beloved disciple Saint Cyriacus (September 29), whom Saint Euthymius had sent to him.
When Saint Euthymius the Great died, Saint Gerasimos saw how angels carried the soul of the departed up to Heaven. Taking Cyriacus with him, the monk immediately set off to the monastery of Saint Euthymius and consigned his body to the earth.
Saint Gerasimos died peacefully, mourned by his brethren and disciples. Before his death, a lion had aided Saint Gerasimos in his tasks, and upon the death of the Elder it died at his grave and was buried nearby. Therefore the lion is depicted on icons of the saint, at his feet.
Canon to the venerable one, the acrostic whereof is: “I praise Gerasimos, as I weave for him a crown,” 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, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
The glory of immortality and a divine crown of incorruption hath Christ given thee who struggled well, O Gerasimos.
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Having the Bestower of light attending to thy supplications, O father Gerasimos, thou didst diminish the darkness of the demons.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Through the streams of thy tears, O father, thou didst bring forth the fruits of immortality like an irrigated tree, O divinely wise Gerasimos.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Ease thou the pain of my heart, O all-pure Theotokos who, in manner past understanding and recounting, gave birth unto Christ without pain.
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, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Following Him Who endured crucifixion willingly, O venerable one, thou wast wholly crucified to life and to the passions.
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Strengthened by the support of Him Who accomplisheth all things, O wise Gerasimos, thou wast able to trample down all the snares of the mighty one.
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Made strong by an humble mind and a humble spirit, O wise one, thou didst utterly lay low the passions which corrupt the soul.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With the splendours of thy wonders thou dost, like the great sun, enlighten the hearts of all who praise thee with faith.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O all-immaculate one, thou gavest birth unto the Son Who is enthroned with the Father and of the same essence, and Who showeth the portals of life unto all.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional hymn, Tone IV, Spec. Mel .“Thou hast appeared today….”: Passing over the wiles of the demons through the activity of the Cross, O venerable one, thou didst become a god by adoption. Wherefore, we faithfully honor thee, O Gerasimos . (Twice)
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: Stretching forth thine all-pure hands, O Virgin Mary, protect those who trust in thee and cry out to thy Son: O Christ, grant Thy mercies unto all!
Stavrotheotokion (replaces the Theotokion on Wednesdays and Fridays): Beholding thy Son suspended upon the Tree, O all-pure one, thou didst cry out in grief, thy maternal womb rent with pain: Woe is me! How hast Thou set, O mine everlasting Light?
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, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Thine enlightened heart became a temple of the Spirit, O father. Wherefore, it poureth forth gifts, healing afflictions by grace divine.
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Submitting to the law of God, thou didst follow the Lord from thy youth, O father, embracing the life of the bodiless ones while yet in the body.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thy steps were directed to the way of salvation, O venerable one, by the guidance of the divine Spirit Who dwelt within thee, O venerable one.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Jesus, Who loveth mankind, Whom thou didst bear in thy womb, O all-immaculate one, do thou beseech, that He save all who hymn thee.
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, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Having received rays of the Holy Spirit with a purified mind, thou didst become a light to monastics.
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Thy life, shining forth through the constraint of nature, showed thee to be an earthly angel in the flesh.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Filled with the life-imparting waters of the Spirit, thou didst pour forth rivers of wonders, O father Gerasimos.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Theotokos, the incarnate Word descended upon thee like a shower, unto the enlightenment of our souls.
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, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
The weakness of thy flesh, strengthened by the power of Him Who hath shone forth upon us from the pure Virgin, O venerable father, hath brought low the power of the incorporeal foe.
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Having crushed the jaws of the noetic lions by grace, thou didst put down the assaults of the senses, O venerable one. Wherefore, a lion submitted to thee, like a sheep to a shepherd, ministering to thee right dutifully.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Acquiring an angelic life and a mind humble in Christ, O father, thou wast meek. And now, thou hast made thine abode in the land of the meek, filled with divine joy.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The Effulgence of the Father dwelt within thee, O pure one, and, born in the flesh, He hath enlightened the world and delivered all from the darkness of polytheism. Wherefore, we hymn thee.
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, Spec. Mel. “Having been lifted up….”: Burning with heavenly love, thou didst prefer the harshness of the desert of Jordan more than all the delights of the world; hence, a wild beast submitted to thee even until the time of thy death, O father, dying in obedience and grief on thy grave. Thus did God glorify thee. And when thou dost pray to Him, O father Gerasimos, be thou mindful of us.
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, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Light and gladness, its spouse, shone forth upon thee, O father, who dost ever abide in the mansions of heaven and dost chant: Blessed art Thou, O Lord God, forever!
Venerable Father, Gerasimos, pray to God for us.
Having watered thy heart with showers of tears, O God-bearer, thou bringest forth fruits of virtue, through which, with all the venerable, thou hast received the delight of heaven forever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Continue reading →
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Dear brothers and sisters,
In the week ahead we will have our usual Thursday akathist in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, and devotions before the Cross in the Oratory at 14:00 on Friday. 
Dear brothers and sisters,
