The Week Ahead

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Dear brothers and sisters,

Thank you all who contributed to today’s Liturgy, and a joyful celebration of the feast of St Seraphim, and thank you to our parishioners who sent greetings from their holidays in Russia and Ukraine!Continue reading →

The Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God of Chirsk-Pskov

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Commemorated on July 16/29

Troparion, Tone 4: O Most Holy Theotokos, / we thy servants, having thee as an Indestructible wall / and a fountain of miracles, the power of our enemies is overthrown. / Therefore, we entreat thee: / “Give peace to thy city and great mercy to our souls.”

Kontakion, Tone 4: As a sign from thy holy Icon, / thou didst grant a marvellous victory over the enemies of thy city; / therefore, we cry out to thee: “Rejoice, O Virgin, the boast of Christians.”

In the XV century, in the territory of the Pskov principality, there was a certain village called Chirsk, or Chersk, where, in the church of the Nativity of Christ, there was a Hodēgḗtria Icon of the Mother of God. In 1420, during the reign of Tsar Basil I of Moscow, and when Archbishop Simeon occupied the See of Novgorod and Pskov, a great disaster broke out over the Pskov region – the plague. People were despondent and sought solace and comfort by praying to God and the Queen of Heaven for help.Continue reading →

On the feast of St Vladimir and the Baptism of Rus

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Dear brothers and sisters, a happy feast to you all as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Equal to the Apostles, St Vladimir, and the Baptism of Rus.

We especially send our greetings to the faithful of our Cheltenham Mission on their patronal feast.

We wish them every blessing and strength as a community.

May God grant you all many, blessed years!

The coming weekend: the feast of St Seraphim of Sarov

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Dear brothers and sisters, 

A thankyou to all who made Sunday such a sociable gathering, as we congratulated our two Olga’s on their nameday. Thank you to each of our Olgas for the refreshments served in the churchyard. I hope that, weather permitting, we can organise some refreshments each week, as the late start to Liturgy means that it is quite late when we break our communion fast. Continue reading →

Humility: the door opening up the heart…

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At the moment, I’m reading “Women of the Catacombs”, an account of underground Orthodox life centred on a catacomb parish in Sergiev Posad from the 1920’s to the 1940’s. In this simply written and engaging memoir, the  second-cousin and mother of the late Father Alexander Men speak of their spiritual lives, initially under the spiritual direction of their dukhovnik, the Archimandrite Serafim.

In one letter to Vera Iakovlevna Vasilevskaia – Men’s second cousin – Archimandrite Serafim describes humility with great spiritual clarity…

 “Humility is the door opening up the heart and giving it the means to a spiritual existence. Humility gives the heart graceful rest, to the mind it gives peace, to one’s thoughts – concreteness. Humility is strength, encompassing the heart, separating it from all that is earthly, giving it understanding about the existence of eternal life, which cannot enter the heart of the carnal person. Humility gives the mind its original purity. It begins to see clearly the difference between good and evil in everything. And to each spiritual situation and movement it knows their name, as the primordial Adam named the animals according to the characteristics he perceived in them. With humility, silence proposes to be imprinted on everything that is in each person, and, in this silence, the spirit of human beings, submitting to the Lord in prayer, hears his prophesies. Until the sensation of humility resides in one’s heart, there cannot be pure prayer…”

“Women of the Catacombs” – edited and translated by Wallace L. Daniel, Northern Illinois University Press, 2021.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Prayer against Passions, Torments, Despair and Distress

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Prayer of St Nikolaj (Velimirovic) to the Most-Holy Theotokos

Petrovskaya Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God: Cell of Hieromonk Mark.

Waves of passion disturb my spirit, great sadness and anguish have overwhelmed my soul. Embalm my soul with Thy Son’s peace, O Most Holy One, and by His Grace drive away every doubt and despair. Calm the storm of my sins that, like a fiery worm, burn me, and quench its flame. Fill my heart with joy, O Most Pure One, and disperse the fog of my iniquities before me, for it confuses me. Illumine me with the light of Thy Son. Helpless is my soul, and everything is cumbersome, even prayer. Here I am, cold as a stone, my lips whispering prayers, while my heart remains immovable, for it is smothered in anguish. Melt the ice which envelops my soul and warm my heart with Thy love.

I rely not on human protection, but fall down before Thee, O Most Pure Sovereign Mother of God; reject me not, but hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant. Sadness has overcome me; I can endure the demonic attack no more. I have no protection; there is no shelter for this poor man, and in this battle I am ever being wounded. I have no consolation, but in Thee, O Holy Sovereign. O Hope and Protection of all who believe, reject not my prayer.

O Most Holy Mother of Christ, Most Pure, Most Blessed Theotokos, Satan is pounding at me like the waves of the sea against a ship, pursuing me by day and tormenting me at night. I have no peace; turbulent is my soul, my spirit trembles. Hearken, O Most Holy One and help me. Intercede before the dear Lord that He may have mercy on me and forgive the sins I have committed. O Most Holy Mother of Jesus, Thy grace is great, and the mightiest opponent to the powers of Hades. Thou art able to save even the greatest of sinners who, having been cast into the depths of hell by unclean powers, should call upon Thee. So too, save me, for lo, Satan will have me stumble and will destroy my faith, but I trust in the Lord. I magnify Thee, Who art more holy than the Cherubim and the Seraphim.

Amen.