Deacon Mark and I were very struck by the beauty and prayerfulness of today’s service in Cheltenham, where a dozen of us gathered to chant the Hours and Typika, during which most of those present confessed and communed of the Holy Mysteries.
After the Typika, we offered a short litia in honour of the Venerable Fathers buried in the Far Caves of St Feodosiy in the Kiev-Caves Dormition Lavra, and then celebrated the feast with a conversation-filled lunch in the little meeting room, where we were able to congratulate Natalia on her nameday (which was also her birthday, and her son’s 16th birthday). Many years to them both!
It was wonderful to stand with three generations of one of our Cheltenham families as they chanted together at the kliros, and a special joy to be with our Exeter parishioners who have been able to be with us for the last two Liturgies due to rail industrial action.
I was particularly touched by the loving and warm concern shown by the matriarchs of the parish when I felt off-colour before the service, realising that as they commandingly sat me down and set about ‘dealing’ with my headache and the blood-circulation of my hands, they were praying fervently, so that I could hear the words of the hymn to the Mother of God, ‘Pod tvoya milost’ / Under thy merciful care…’
Our Cheltenham services are always striking in their warmth and and the bond that unites our small parish-family, but today so overflowed with heart-warming love that it felt that the Lord was allowing us to experience it in a very real and palpable way – as a grace and gift to lift and restore us. Glory to God!
I must also admit that today brought me a new personal-experience of the little chapel in Prestbury, where we currently worship in nonconformist bareness and simplicity.
As we entered, its characteristic smell was a joy and comfort, reflecting how the familiarity of the Victorian red-brick tabernacle with its features and furnishings imperceptibly becomes part of our lives – with today as a realisation of how special it is.
It is, of course, very different from the High Victorian and High-Church splendour of All Saints, Pittville, but in its own quiet way it has become just as special, and I now happily anticipate turning the street corner in Prestbury and seeing the polychrome brickwork of the chapel and its characteristic tower. It really feels like a pilgrimage, with all of the joys and blessing that a pilgrimage brings!
Heartfelt thanks go to our parishioners, and especially mama Galina and mama Liuba, as well as to Oksana and her family for singing at the kliros. Spasi Gospodi!
As some parishioners are away on the expected weekend planned for next month’s service, we now hope that our next Cheltenham Liturgy will be a week earlier, on Saturday, 8 October, when we will celebrate the repose of Venerable Sergius of Radonezh.
With the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we pray for the soul of the departed Sovereign and for her family, that the Lord may comfort them at this time of sadness and loss.
Regardless of our views of the institution of monarchy and of our individual political persuasions, we must surely agree that her late Majesty’s example was selfless and inspirational.
Her life was one of service, dedicated to the nation and commonwealth, and her death will be mourned throughout the world.
In times when we have seen such poor political leadership, Queen Elizabeth showed how leadership should operate, with a profound sense of duty, of moral and spiritual strength, and responsibility before God, having made her coronation vows as a woman shaped by duty and faith.
For many of us, Queen Elizabeth has been a symbol of the nation for our whole lives, but we now pass into the reign of His Majesty, King Charles III, and pray for the Lord to give him strength for the duties that now fall upon his shoulders.
May our All-Merciful God remember Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in His Kingdom.
This evening, we chanted vespers for the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God in the little chapel of St David and St Nicholas, at Father Luke’s home, in Llanelli.
The feast commemorates the meeting of the icon on its journey from Vladimir to Moscow, and the salvation of Muscovy from the Islamic army of Khan Tamurlane in 1395.
The icon left the ancient capital after the celebration of the feast of the Dormition and the chronicles relate that as the icon was received at the gates of Moscow the Mother of God appeared to the Khan in a dream, after which the superstitious and frightened ruler ordered the retreat of the Tatar armies.
The feast also coincides with the celebration of the Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, and whilst we may have no Adrians, we have our Nataliya’s to congratulate – in Penarth, Llanishen, Wenvoe, Cheltenham, Newquay, Bristol and Melbourne!
We congratulate all of our sisters on their nameday, and pray that God may grant them ‘Many, Blessed Years!
Многая и благая лтѣа!
In the fourth century, the pagan Roman Emperor Maximian cruelly persecuted those who believed in Christ. He came together with his soldiers to the city of Nicomedia in Asia Minor. There it was reported that in a certain cave Christians were hiding, and that they sang and prayed the whole night to their God. Immediately Maximian sent his soldiers to seize these Christians. The soldiers did as they were commanded and the Christians were beaten and brought in iron chains to the place of judgment.
One of the chiefs of the judgment place, a young man by the name of Adrian, seeing how patiently and how willingly the Christians suffered for their faith, asked what reward they expected to receive from their God for such tortures. The holy martyrs replied: “It is written in Scripture that eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor hath it entered the heart of man those things which God hath prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor. 2:9). Hearing these words, Adrian declared that he too wished to be a Christian and was willing to die together with them for Christ. For this he was also thrown into prison.
When Adrian’ s young wife Natalia was told of her husband’s conversion to Christ and of his imprisonment, instead of being sad, she greatly rejoiced for she was secretly a Christian herself and she knew the joy which now filled her husband’s heart. She ran to the prison and, falling down at the feet of her husband, she kissed his chains and said, “Blessed are you, my Adrian; you have found such a treasure.” When Adrian was brought before the Emperor and threatened with torture if he did not worship the pagan gods, his godly-minded wife Natalia and the other martyrs encouraged him saying: “Having been found worthy to carry your own cross and to follow Christ, take care that you do not turn back and lose your eternal reward.”
Adrian had always faithfully served his earthly king, but now he was to serve the King of Heaven. He courageously endured the tortures and was returned to the prison. There Natalia, together with other pious women, would come and help the prisoners, cleaning and bandaging their wounded bodies. When the cruel Emperor found out about this, he forbade them to visit the prison. But the blessed Natalia had such love for the sufferers that she cut her hair and put on men’s clothing. In this disguise she was able to enter the prison.
Day after day the holy martyrs endured such cruel and severe tortures that they were barely alive. The Emperor became angry that even under such tortures they would not deny their God. Finally he ordered for them a violent death. Their arms and legs were cut off and their bodies were thrown into a fire to be burned so that none of the Christians might gather their precious remains. But just at that moment, there burst forth thunder and lightning and a powerful rain which put out the fire. Natalia, together with other Christians took the bodies of the holy martyrs from the fire and rejoiced to see that God had preserved them from harm. A faithful Christian man and his wife then took the holy relics to Constantinople where they could be safely kept until the death of the impious Emperor.
After a certain time, a pagan nobleman desired to marry Natalia who was still young and beautiful. She cried and begged God to save her from this union with an unbeliever. Having prayed fervently, St. Natalia fell from exhaustion and sorrow into a light sleep during which the holy martyrs appeared to her in a vision and said, “Peace be unto you. God has not forgotten your labours. We shall pray that you will come to us soon. Get on a ship and go to the place where our bodies are and the Lord will make Himself known to you.”
Following their directions, the blessed Natalia reached Constantinople and going to the church where the bodies of the holy martyrs lay, she fell down before them and prayed. She was so tired from the journey that she fell asleep and saw in a dream her husband St. Adrian, who said to her, “Come my beloved, and enjoy the reward of your labours.” Very soon after this St. Natalia died peacefully in her sleep. Although she did not shed her own blood, she is numbered among the martyrs for having co-suffered with them, serving and encouraging them in their heroic struggles for the sake of Christ.
Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, Troparion in Tone IV: In their sufferings, O Lord, Thy martyrs received imperishable crowns from Thee our God; for, possessed of Thy might, they set at nought the tormentors and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons. By their supplications save Thou our souls.
With the hot days of summer behind us, the darkening nights, the yellowing trees laden with berries and fruit, and the blessing of honey, fruit, herbs and flowers during the Great Feasts of August completed, we come to the end of the Church year.
Each year the development of the parish seems to gather pace and, as we reflect on parish life since last September, this year has certainly been different to past years in many respects, particularly in terms of the new faithful in Cardiff – whether converts to Holy Orthodoxy, present catechumens, those fleeing conflict in Ukraine, or those who commute from England and have made their spiritual home in Cardiff.
The parish has proved itself to be a place where everyone can feel safe and secure, and where people of all nations and cultures can share and celebrate their Faith.
In addition to our local parishioners, our weekly congregation usually includes parishioners from Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, showing the seriousness of people’s spiritual life, when the need for a traditionalist and maximalist parish is worth a journey of a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles for Liturgy. Praise God for such resolute firmness of Faith!
On a few occasions, I’ve been able to be the one making the journey to serve in the west of England in addition to our Gloucestershire activities.
I have been overjoyed by the selfless offering of our singers and altar-servers during the year. Even when there have only been several singers, or even a lone chanter, the Liturgy has been chanted with prayerfulness and devotion. Having Aleksandra with us whilst she completed her studies was a great blessing, and she is sorely missed!
Apart from the period of my last covidious imprisonment, and the Sunday when we supported Father Luke’s first Liturgy in Mumbles, we have celebrated the Liturgy every remaining weekend of the year, and even on the weekend of my self-isolation the parish came together for a sung typika and trapeza, even sending home-cooked Russian food to Llanelli with Deacon Mark and matushka Alla.
The same love and care is reflected in the generosity of our parishioners and spiritual children from other communities, week by week, as we are nourished with food cooked with great love and generosity, as well as by the spiritual food God gives us.
Our Deacon continues to do so much in addition to his liturgical role, acting as parish administrator for both Cardiff and Cheltenham, and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. We are also blessed to have such a dedicated starosta and trustees, who are an incredible support to the clergy and everyone in the parish, ensuring that a warm welcome is offered to all who come through the doors of St John’s or St Mary’s.
Our oltarniky have served with great competence and care, impressing visitors with the dignity and devotion with which they fulfil their obedience.
Though we took it for granted that we would have returned to Nazareth House by now, we remain in St John’s, and though financially challenging (costing £100 every Sunday) it has been popular with many of our families, especially given the ample space for children and for us to enjoy trapeza without moving buildings.
We have come to find how to use it best for Orthodox worship, and the Anglican parish has been happy for us to leave the Lady Chapel looking very much an Orthodox chapel after each Sunday’s worship. With Ukrainians using the vestry for language lessons each week, this allows somewhere for them to visit and pray, whilst in St John’s.
The greatest challenge with St John’s is that of time, with such a short time to set up, say the entrance prayers, hear confessions and perform the proskomedia. Every Sunday is a challenge, and sometimes only Father Luke’s presence has made it possible to celebrate Liturgy without turning people away from confession.
I know I keep repeating this, but I still suspect that many people do not appreciate the difficulties and the seriousness of the situation. We need a place of worship that offers sufficient time to prepare for worship without either rushing or having to continue priestly ministrations whilst the community shares trapeza without the priest, who is not interested in the food, but does want to spend time with the faithful and welcome new faces.
We have also been greatly blessed in having the constant use of St Mary Butetown for feast-day and Lenten services, confessions and catechism (where we struggle to get Father Dean to accept any money). Equally, the Oratorians regularly welcome us to use St Alban’s for day-time confessions.
Our profound thanks go to Fathers Dean and Sebastian and the Congregation of the Oratory in Cardiff. Like number 62 Park Place (when an Oratorian household) and Newman Hall under Father Sebastian’s custody, the Oratory remains a peaceful and hospitable refuge for an ever-walking, tea-seeking and foot-weary hieromonk.
A great challenge this year has been the loss of Newman Hall, where the Little Oratory was dearly loved, and saw its last Orthodox service just before the beginning of the new Church Year. It always seemed that Orthodox services were the time when his humble little sanctuary took on a new significance and really became the foot of Jacob’s Ladder. It evidently seems that our presence also kept it clean, cared for and loved.
The loss of the facilities of Newman has been a particular challenge since my full-time employment by the parish, as I no longer have a personal base in Cardiff.
It is wonderful to be able to be employed by the parish, and to not have to juggle secular employment with ever-expanding parish needs, but commuting to and from Cardiff, from home in Llanelli has been a major challenge, with in excess of twenty-four hours a week sometimes spent on public transport. The equivalent of one day in seven on buses and trains is not sustainable in the long term – physically above all – and continued full-time ministry will come to depend on the establishment of a priestly-base in the city, and this needs to be under our own roof, not reliant on the generosity and charity of other good souls.
To return the passing year… One of our greatest joys has been the baptism of our adult converts, most of them having been prepared for baptism through our Butetown catechism sessions.
Early Advent saw Aldhelm’s baptism in the waters of the River Ewenny at Ogmore Castle, with the brave young man being plunged into the icy waters on a beautiful December afternoon.
April and Lazarus Saturday saw George’s baptism in the sea at Watch House Bay, in Barry, in rather warmer circumstances, so that he was able to commune on Palm Sunday and was sacramentally prepared for his Pascha holiday in Greece.
Saturday of the Ascension, in June, took us to St Nicholas-in-the-Vale, where Melangell was baptised in the garden of the Old Church Hall.
We returned on the eve of the Dormition to baptise Mary before vespers for the feast, which was also her first nameday. We are very grateful to Melangell for making the garden available for adult baptisms and for expressing willingness to do so in the future.
James would have been baptised last month, had family illness not prevented it, and we look forward to doing so in the next few weeks, on his return from Seattle.
We also look forward to the baptism of our student catechumen, Thomas, who will be baptised and named in honour of St Vasily the Blessed around the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God. This is no coincidence, as St Vasily – the Blessed Basil – was buried in the cathedral of the Protecting Veil, on Red Square, where his shrine is still a place of pilgrimage.
During the Church Year, pilgrimages have seen small groups of us head to Llancarfan, Llandaff, Bradford on Avon, Glastonbury, with parishioners also visiting Penrhys, and Pennant Melangell.
We have also made several local pilgrimages to the shrine of St Alban in the Cardiff Oratory, praying before his relics and icon.
I had rather hoped that we would have regular pilgrimages, but – for various reasons – this has not happened, this year.
I have also been blessed to serve in Walsingham in February, April and July, and look forward to hopefully returning in November, possibly with a parish group. ROCOR has been part of the life of the shrine since the 1930’s, and it is a great joy to continue the diocesan presence. It is a place where the Mother of God feels extremely near, and pilgrimage to this little corner of North Norfolk is special time spent with Our Lady.
House blessings have taken the clergy to Wiltshire and Somerset, as well as visiting parish homes in Cardiff and its environs, and the greatest blessing of all was the visit of the Kursk-Root Icon, which visited some parish homes in Chippenham, Cardiff and the Vale, in addition to services in Cardiff and Cheltenham, and the clergy’s journey taking the icon to Telford.
After previous visits of the Kursk-Root Icon, most parish homes have been visited, though there are several exceptions which are our priority next time the Mother of God blesses us with a visit of her wonderworking-icon.
Deacon Mark and I have also served in the cathedral during the year, concelebrating at some of the great feasts, including the altar-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God and being part of a parish group who celebrated Theophany in the cathedral, where – for once – I had the pleasure of blessing the faithful with copious amounts of holy water. Following the ROCOR tradition, I also concelebrated the Mystery of Holy Unction (Soborovanie) and the Liturgy of Holy and Great Thursday with Bishop Irenei and the clergy of the diocese during Holy Week, with the beautiful rite of the washing of the feet.
The Cheltenham parish continues to be served from Cardiff, and after internal problems last summer (and despite the loss of the use of All Saints, Pittville), parish life has settled down.
We sometimes struggle musically, and lack the beauty of All Saints, but the little community overflows with love and is so incredibly prayerful and spiritual that every visit to the little nonconformist chapel we use in Prestbury is a wonderful blessing.
The arrival of our greatly loved ‘extended parishioners’ from Ukraine has brought great joy, and we have parishioners travelling from as far as Exeter each month. This Saturday, in fact, will see our last Cheltenham Liturgy of the Church Year, when we shall celebrate the Saints of the Far Caves, in Kiev.
With a reduction of the number of Liturgies in Llanelli, we are benefitting from having Father Luke with us, and are very happy to have some of the faithful from further west joining us every few weeks, with Nicholas and Silouana assisting with reading the Hours and thanksgiving prayers, and Isaiah taking photographs for our local Facebook pages.
On the theme of readers, it is good that we now have a small band of very capable readers from the Cardiff and Llanelli parishes, and look forward to advancing several of our men towards being tonsured by Vladika Irenei in the not-too-distant future.
I am planning some practical workshops for the autumn, and hope that we can spend time looking at the structure of the services and how they ‘fit together’ in terms of variables and the sources of texts. Several parishioners have asked for something of this sort since buying the recently published Anthologion. As a start, I will talk about the Hours and the Psalter after compline this Friday. We will also undertake formal training of readers.
Having already mentioned our Friday catechism / discussion group in St Mary Butetown, I should say that this has not only been for the benefit of catechumens, but also for other parishioners who have attended and deepened their knowledge of the Faith. Our Friday evenings in St Mary’s have also been a social time of great joy and fellowship.
We recently observed that such joyful community celebration seems to be the character of every gathering at St Mary’s, where parishioners clearly feel at home. This is why it was such a joy to celebrate Holy Week and Pascha in the great Victorian sanctuary, gathering in the choir-stalls and celebrating at the high-altar. Following this great success, our weekday Liturgies for feasts have been celebrated at St Mary’s, with a festive trapeza following each Liturgy in the parish room.
There are no doubt things that I’ve forgotten – and I AM so forgetful, these days – but I’m sure that there will be be gentle reminders pointing out things to add to our round up!
Many thanks to everyone who had been so positive, so supportive and so generous during the last year. The parish only operates so well because its brothers and sisters work together, and give so much, as do our benefactors.
Parish life and priestly life is still a challenge, given the lack of our own temple, but the Lord knows far more than us, and such is His will that this is our lot until He sees fit to grant us our heart’s desire.
In the meantime we struggle forward in Faith and prayer: for one another; for our parish and other diocesan communities; for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia; for our bishop, Vladyka Irenei, and for all of our bishops as they approach the procedure to elect our next First-Hierarch.
We remember those who have gone before us in Faith, particularly our recently departed and beloved First-Hierarch Metropolitan Hilarion, of Blessed Memory.
And – soon we will invoke God’s blessing for the new Church year, knowing that it will bring blessings and challenges, and that with God’s help, we will have more to celebrate at this time next year, when – as now – we will say, “Glory to God for all things! Слава Богу за всё!”
As with every weekend, we must thank all who contributed to Sunday’s Liturgy and all who have been such a help and source of support whilst Deacon Mark has been away for a few weeks.
Despite a much-reduced kliros, we celebrated a prayerful and well-attended Liturgy, welcoming new Ukrainian faithful, parishioners from Swansea and other new faces – having over forty worshippers. It was also a great joy to have several of our students back after time away.
Our thanks are also due to our parish sisters for feeding everyone so well, with food still remaining for the enjoyment of our ever-hungry young people!
I was very pleased that parishioners were able attend Saturday’s ‘March For Life’, in London, making the Orthodox voice audible among other Christians. Our parishioners reported that Cardiff sent the largest parish group, and it was good that ROCOR Cardiff parishioners were able to be part of this defence of the unborn.
Having heard some confessions on Thursday, I was glad to be able to hear confessions yesterday, thanking Father Dean for his hospitality, and I was grateful for the kindness represented by the food brought to church, enjoying this with parishioners in the evening.
This week sees the resumption of our study sessions in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, North Church Street, Butetown, starting at 19:00.
Having started as catechesis sessions for those we have baptised over the last Church Year, we have very much enjoyed the sessions and the conversations and fellowship that has grown out of these meetings.
Over the coming months, we would like to combine the sessions with common-prayer, chanting compline some weeks, when a shorter talk will follow the liturgical night-prayer of the Church.
As usual, I will hear confessions before our 19:00 start-time, and would welcome emails requesting confessions by Wednesday 22:00. Once I know how many people there are for confessions, I will communicate times. Email: otetzmark@hotmail.com
Looking forward to September and the New Church Year, we have three child baptisms and an adult baptism, and another adult baptism in October.
Next Sunday we will celebrate the Beheading of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John. This day is a fast, and food for trapeza should be vegan, with wine and oil permitted.
Thursday will see the feast of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon, and I hope that Wednesday evening’s service in Llanelli will be Great Vespers for the feast, at 19:00 in the Chapel of St David and St Nicholas, in the garden of Father Luke’s home.
“A humble man is never rash, hasty or perturbed, never has any hot and volatile thoughts, but at all times remains calm.
Even if heaven were to fall and cleave to the earth, the humble man would not be dismayed.
Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet.
There is no humble man who is not self-constrained; but you will find many who are self-constrained without being humble. This is also what the meek humble Lord meant when He said, ‘Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’ [Matt 11:29]
For the humble man is always at rest, because there is nothing which can agitate or shake his mind.
Just as no one can frighten a mountain, so the mind of a humble man cannot be frightened.
If it be permissible and not incongruous, I should say that the humble man is not of this world. For he is not troubled and altered by sorrows, nor amazed and enthused by joys, but all his gladness and his real rejoicing are in the things of his Master.
Humility is accompanied by modesty and self-collectedness: that is, chastity of the senses; a moderate voice; mean speech; self-belittlement; poor raiment; a gait that is not pompous; a gaze directed towards the earth; superabundant mercy; easily flowing tears; a solitary soul; a contrite heart; imperturbability to anger; undistributed senses; few possessions; moderation in every need; endurance; patience; fearlessness; manliness of heart born of a hatred of this temporal life; patient endurance of trials; deliberations that are ponderous, not light, extinction of thoughts; guarding of the mysteries of chastity; modesty, reverence; and above all, continually to be still and always to claim ignorance.”
May I ask those requiring confessions this weekend to email me by Thursday evening. I shall hear local confessions on Saturday afternoon in St Mary’s, and the timing will depend on the number of those confessing.
As some of the faithful are in London on the March for Life, on Saturday, I will arrange an alternative time for their confessions. Anyone else not free on Saturday should also email me (realistically needed by Wednesday lunchtime to allow weekday arrangements to be made).
Several Sundays each month will see Father Luke celebrating in Llanelli, so please do not presume that it will simply be possible to turn up to church on Sundays and join the confession queue. On these Sundays, once the proskomedia begins, there will be no confession queue, as the only priest will be celebrating Liturgy.
Also, I will be limiting confessions after Liturgy, as the parish priest MUST be able to spend time with the faithful. Once again, this is becoming difficult, as shown by the Sunday before last, when I did not finish till 15:30, by which time everything was packed away and parishioners gone.
This coming Sunday, with no deacon, as per last Sunday, I must lay the prokomedia table and arrange the altar, limiting my time to hear confessions. I already have four confessions to hear, with the possibility of a few more. However, these should be confessions for non-locals, who travel a significant distance to Liturgy or our older parishioners.
As this Sunday will be the Sunday after Dormition, we will celebrate the icon of the Mother of God ‘Прибавление ума / Pribavlenie Uma’, known in English as the ‘Giver of Reason’ or ‘Addition of Mind’. A short moleben to the Mother of God in honour of her icon will be offered at the end of the Liturgy.
May God bless you, and may your week continue in the joy of the Dormition.
Greetings for the Dormition of the Mother of God and the feast of the icon of the Saviour ‘Not made by human hands’: the Holy Mandylion.
Many thanks to all who made the weekend’s services so joyful – the latest of our summer festal celebrations, which unlike the previous ones also included a baptism.
We congratulate the newly-enlightened handmaiden of God, Mary, named to honour the Mother of God and her Dormition.
Saturday afternoon’s baptism and celebratory tea preceded the celebration of vespers of the feast, and the beginning of the nameday for our newly-baptised sister.
We pray that the Lord will grant Mary and her sponsors, Melangell and Peter, many, blessed years!
Our Sunday Liturgy was blessed with the presence of Father Luke, who heard many confessions, and when we counted we reckoned that we had heard at least thirty confessions between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Our Dormition Liturgy was very joyful, with around forty adults, plus the children, with most staying for the lovely festal lunch at which we broke the Dormition Fast.
Many thanks to our singers and servers, to the sisters who cooked and catered and to all who brought flowers and herbs for blessing – including the Marsh children who – with Grandma Georgina – made lavender bags to be blessed and distributed as evlogia from the feast.
The feast will continue until its octave, next Sunday, when we will celebrate the icon of the Mother of God, the ‘Giver of Reason’: Pribavlenie Uma.
Wishing you a joyful ongoing celebration of the feast!
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, greetings on this feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God.
On this Summer Pascha, we celebrate the falling-asleep and resurrection of the Theotokos as the firstborn of the children of Adam and Eve, truly risen in body and soul, and assumed into the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.
As the Hodegetria, ‘she who shows the way’, the Virgin is glorified in the totality of the resurrection, going physically as well as spiritually before the faithful-departed of every generation into the radiant eternity of the Eighth Day, which shall have no end.
Despite the heavenly nature of this feast, we are sometimes so earth-bound as we look at the plashchanitsa and icon.
Though mindful of the Lord taking His Mother – body and soul – into heaven, and though rejoicing at the empty tomb in Gethsemane, we often fail to reflect on the celestial joy of the glorious reception of the Mother of God into heaven.
In his poetic homily for the feast, Mar Jacob of Serugh reminds us that it is not only the company of the apostles that gathers at the Dormition of the Mother of God, but also the whole throng of the angelic hosts, who rejoice at her translation from death to life.
“Ranks and companies, also choirs of the sons of light; a clamour of watchers and a multitude of burning flames.
Fiery seraphim with wings closely covered by flames, with legions and their heavenly divisions.
Mighty cherubim who were yoked beneath his throne are moved by wonder to give praise with their Hosannas.
Followers of Gabriel, a glowing fiery multitude, and variously transformed in their natures.
Followers of Michael full of movement in their dissent, feasting, rejoicing, making merry this day with their Alleluias.
Heaven and the air of glory were filled with celestial beings, who journeyed and came down to the place of earth.”
Mar Jacob then turns to the saints of the Old Testament – the patriarchs, prophets, judges, kings and righteous ones who are not only the forefathers of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, through whom the Saviour was clothed in the flesh of Adam in His Incarnation.
By the victory of the Cross, Christ harrowed hell and stripped it of the righteous held by the chains and shackles of death, but it was only in spirit that their exodus led them from death life, and from the depths of Hades to the heights of heaven.
As they behold the full realisation of the resurrection, which they still await, Mar Jacob paints a poetic picture of their rejoicing as they see their daughter according to the flesh enter Heaven in that very flesh that has been received from them as her forebears.
“On this day Adam rejoices and Eve his wife, because their daughter rests in the place where they are gathered.
On this day the righteous Noah and Abraham rejoiced that their daughter has visited them in their dwelling-place.
On this day Jacob, the honourable old man, rejoices that the daughter who sprouted from his root has called him into life.
On this day the twelve just sons of the lame one rejoiced greatly and are glad in that she visited them.
On this day let also Judah rejoiced greatly, for behold the daughter who has given life, went forth from his loins.
On this day let Joseph rejoice in the great Moses, for one young maiden has called all mankind to life.
On this day let Aaron rejoice in Eliezar and all the tribes of the sons of Levi with their priesthood.
On this day let David the renowned forefather rejoice, because the daughter who was from him, has placed a glorious crown on his head.
On this day let Samuel rejoice with Jeremiah, because the daughter of Judah dropped dew on their bones.
Come Ezekiel, trained in prophetic revelation, if the thing that has occurred is described in your prophecy.
On this day let also Isaiah the prophet rejoice, because she whom he prophesied, behold she visits him in the place of the dead.
On this day all the prophets lifted their heads from their graves, because they saw the light which shone forth on them.
They saw that death is disquieted and flees from within them; and that the gates of heaven and the depths of the earth are opened again.”
Despite their greatness, these Old Testament saints only encountered God in veiled-appearances, types and shadows, with the Lord telling Moses, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
In the harrowing of hell they spiritually beheld the Lord, whose body rested in the sepulchre even as He descended in soul to liberate their souls from death. In his Ascension, they – abiding in heaven awaiting the physical resurrection – beheld Him in His glorified flesh.
In their earthly sojourn, they had prophetically looked forward through the centuries to the virgin-mother, the rod of the root of Jesse, who would bear Immanuel – God with us.
In the glory of the Dormition and Assumption they welcomed their daughter, whose childhood entrance into the Holy of Holies of the Temple foreshadowed this day, when she entered the eternal sanctuary on high, following her Son’s translation of glorified human-nature to the right hand of the Father in his Ascension.
Though the forefathers, like all of the departed other than the Theotokos, must await the fulness of the resurrection, they rejoiced with the bodiless powers of heaven as they witnessed her Assumption as the fulfilment of the promise that they await.
With the passing of the centuries, new generations of the faithful are added to the synaxis of angels and humans who celebrate the heavenly translation of the Mother of Life, who leads us from death to life, and our own aspiration to the glorious reality of the Dormition and Assumption demands that we look to the example of the Mother of God in our hope to follow her heavenward-journey.
Striving to embrace the simplicity, humility, purity and God-centred obedience of her life, and imitating her by bowing before the Lord’s will each day, we must constantly echo her words, “Be it unto me according to Thy word”, whilst obeying her command at the marriage of Cana, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
Just as her selfless life always pointed to the Saviour, so that she reflected Him as the moon reflects the light of the sun, His teachings and life-in-Him must be the existential reality and narrative of our lives, reflected and realised in each thought, word and deed.
If we are prepared to follow her example, the Theotokos already shows us the way from death to life, and from all that is earthly, temporal and transitory to the eternal glory of heaven, where the saints rejoice – radiant in the resurrection of Christ for all eternity.
Striving to emulate the Mother of God, and to follow her, let us struggle to mount the heights of heaven, rejoicing in the words of Mar Jacob “that death is disquieted and flees… and that the gates of heaven and the depths of the earth are opened again.”
It was wonderful to stand with three generations of one of our Cheltenham families as they chanted together at the kliros, and a special joy to be with our Exeter parishioners who have been able to be with us for the last two Liturgies due to rail industrial action.
Deacon Mark and I have also served in the cathedral during the year, concelebrating at some of the great feasts, including the altar-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God and being part of a parish group who celebrated Theophany in the cathedral, where – for once – I had the pleasure of blessing the faithful with copious amounts of holy water. Following the ROCOR tradition, I also concelebrated the Mystery of Holy Unction (Soborovanie) and the Liturgy of Holy and Great Thursday with Bishop Irenei and the clergy of the diocese during Holy Week, with the beautiful rite of the washing of the feet.
He looked on her humility and her gentleness and her purity, and dwelt in her because it is easy for Him to dwell within the humble.
