This Saturday – the feast of the All-Merciful Saviour and the Procession of the Life-Giving Cross – marks the beginning of the Dormition Fast, but we start it with the first of August’s feasts of the Saviour, and the blessing of honey.
In his prologue, St Nikolai Velimirovic reminds us that –Continue reading →
The great Romanian theologian Dumitru Stăniloae describes the characteristics of the saint, but these are spiritual characteristics to which we all must aspire, as baptism calls all to holiness: all to become saints.
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 →
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 →
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 →
This coming weekend, we will celebrate the Troeruchitsa (Three-Handed) Icon of the Mother of God, which is associated with the healing of the great Church Father and hymnographer, St John of Damascus.Continue reading →