The Canons for the Nativity of the Mother of God

Posted on September 21, 2024September 21, 2024 by Father Mark

Canon I of the Theotokos, the composition of John of Damascus, in Tone II

Ode I, Irmos: Come, ye people, let us chant a hymn to Christ God, Who divided the sea and guided the people whom He had led forth from the bondage of Egypt, for He hath been glorified.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Come, ye faithful, and, rejoicing with divine spirit, let us honour with hymns the Ever-virgin Maiden who today hath issued forth from a barren woman for the salvation of men.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Rejoice, O pure one, Mother and handmaid of Christ God, mediatress of our primal blessedness! All of us, the human race, glorify thee with hymns, as is meet.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Today is the bridge of life born, through which men have attained restoration after their fall into hades, glorifying Christ, the Bestower of life, with hymns.

Canon II of the Theotokos, the composition of Andrew of Crete, in Tone VIII

Irmos: To Him Who crushed battles with His arm and led Israel across the Red Sea, let us chant, as to God our Deliverer, for gloriously hath He been glorified.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Let all creation join chorus, and let David be glad, for from his tribe and seed hath come forth as a flower the rod which beareth the Lord, the Creator of all.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The Holy of Holies is placed in the holy sanctuary as a babe, to be fed by the hands of angels. Let us all, therefore, faithfully keep festival together on her nativity.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Anna was barren and unable to give birth, yet she was not childless in God’s eyes; for, lo! she hath become known by all generations as the mother of the pure Virgin, from whom the Creator of nature hath sprung forth in the guise of a servant.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

With hymns we all honour thee, the innocent ewe-lamb who hast been born of Anna and who through thy womb brought the Lamb Christ into our nature.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

I glorify the three Unoriginate Ones, I hymn the three Holy Ones, I proclaim the three equally Everlasting Ones to be of a single Essence; for the one God is glorified in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Who hath seen a Babe fed with milk Whom a father hath not sown? Or where hath there been seen a Mother who is a Virgin? Truly past understanding are both of these things, O pure Theotokos.

Ode III, Irmos: Establish us in thee, O Lord Who hast slain sin by the Tree, and plant the fear of Thee in the hearts of us who hymn Thee.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Having lived blamelessly for God, ye gave birth unto the salvation of all, O divinely wise parents of her who gave birth to our Creator and God.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Having lived blamelessly for God, ye gave birth unto the salvation of all, O divinely wise parents of her who gave birth to our Creator and God.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

From a barren woman did the Lord, Who poureth forth life upon all, cause the Virgin to come forth, in whom He was pleased to make His abode, preserving her incorrupt even after giving birth.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Let us hymn Mary today as the Theotokos, the fruit of Anna, the intercessor and helper of all, who gave birth to the life-bearing Cluster.

Canon II, Irmos: My heart is established in the Lord; my horn is exalted in my God; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies. I am glad in Thy salvation.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

O all-pure Virgin Theotokos, thou hast been shown to be higher than all creation, having given birth in the flesh to the Creator.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Blessed is thy womb, O chaste Anna, for thou didst pour forth the fruit of virginity who gave birth without seed to Jesus the Deliverer, the Nurturer of creation.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

O Ever-virgin, all creation calleth thee blessed who hast been born today of Anna as the rod sprung forth from the root of Jesse, who put forth Christ as an all-pure Bloom.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Showing thee to be more exalted than all creation, O pure Theotokos, thy Son magnifieth thy birth from Anna and gladdeneth all today.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

We worship Thee, O Father unoriginate in essence, we hymn Thy timeless Son, and we honour Thy Spirit Who is equally everlasting: as God three in Hypostases but one in Essence.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O pure Theotokos, who gavest birth unto the Bestower of light, the Author of man’s life, thou hast been shown to be the treasure of our life and the portal of Light unapproachable.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sessional Hymn, Tone IV, Spec. Mel. “Joseph marvelled…”: Like a cloud of light hath the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, truly shone forth upon us today, and she cometh forth from the righteous ones for our glory. No longer is Adam condemned, and Eve is freed from her bonds. Wherefore, we exclaim, crying aloud with boldness to her who alone is pure: Thy nativity announceth joy to the whole world!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The foregoing is repeated.

Ode IV, Irmos: I have heard report of Thy dispensation, O Lord, and have glorified Thee Who alone lovest mankind.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

We hymn Thee, O Lord, Who hast given unto all, as a haven of salvation, her who gaveth birth to Thee.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

We hymn Thee, O Lord, Who hast given unto all, as a haven of salvation, her who gaveth birth to Thee.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Christ hath revealed thee, O Bride of God, to all who with faith hymn thy mystery as their boast and might.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Delivered from transgressions by thy supplications, O Mistress who knewest not wedlock, we all bless thee with a good understanding.

Canon II, Irmos: With noetic eyes the Prophet Habbakuk foresaw Thy coming, O Lord; wherefore he cried aloud: “God shall come out of Thæman!” Glory to Thy power! Glory to Thy condescension!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The Patriarch Jacob, clearly foreseeing the mighty works of Thy dispensation, O Saviour, cried out in the Spirit, saying mystically to Judah: “From the tender plant thou art gone up, O my Son!”, referring to Thee, O God, Who wast born of the Virgin.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Now the pure Virgin, the rod of Aaron which sprung forth from the root of David, cometh forth from Anna, and heaven and earth and all the nations of the gentiles mystically join chorus together with Anna and Joachim.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Let heaven now be glad; let the earth rejoice! And let Joachim and David join chorus: the one as the father of thee who truly gavest birth to God, and the other as thine ancestor who proclaimed thy mighty deeds, O pure one.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The whole world rejoiceth with thee today, O divinely wise Anna; for thou hast budded forth the Mother of its Deliverer, she who from the root of David put forth for us the rod of strength which beareth Christ as a flower.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

I glorify God, the unoriginate Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the consubstantial, uncreated Trinity, before Whom the seraphim stand with reverence, crying aloud: Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou, O God!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The all-unoriginate Origin receiveth a beginning from thee in the flesh and in time, O Theotokos, and He remaineth equally the unoriginate and incarnate Word of the Father, equally everlasting with the Spirit, maintaining His divine dignity.

Ode V, Irmos: Having destroyed the shadowy darkness of indistinct images and illumined the hearts of the faithful by the coming of the Truth through the divine Maiden, O Christ, guide us by Thy light.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

O ye people, let us hymn the cause of the Cause of all, Who became like unto us. For the prophets, counted worthy to behold her image, rejoiced, bringing forth the fruit of manifest salvation through her.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The budding forth of the dry rod of the priest showed forth the destiny of Israel; and now the most glorious offspring of the barren woman most gloriously shineth forth the splendour of those who gave rise to her.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Canon II, Irmos: Grant us peace, O Lord our God. O Lord our God, take us for Thy possession. O Lord, we know none other than Thee; we call upon Thy name.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Thy nativity is all-pure, O immaculate Virgin, thy conception is ineffable, and thy birthgiving unutterable, O Bride unwedded; for God hath clad Himself in all of me.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Let the angelic ranks be glad; let the descendants of Adam join chorus; for the rod hath been born which put forth as flower Christ alone, our Deliverer.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Today the condemnation of Eve is lifted in thy nativity, the barrenness of Anna is loosed, and Adam is freed from the ancient curse; for by thee have we been delivered from corruption.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Glory to Thee Who hast glorified the barren woman today! For, according to the promise, she gave birth unto the flowering rod from whence Christ, the Flower of our life, hath budded forth.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Glory to Thee, O Holy Father, Unbegotten God! Glory to Thee, O timeless and Only-Begotten Son! Glory to Thee, O Spirit Divine and equally enthroned, Who proceedest from the Father and restest in the Son!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thy womb didst become the chariot of the Sun; thy purity remained intact as before, O Virgin; for Christ the Sun appeared from thee like a Bridegroom from a bridal chamber.

Ode VI, Irmos: From the belly of the sea monster, Jonah cried out: Lead me up from the abyss of hell, I pray, that with a spirit of truth and in a voice of praise I may sacrifice to Thee, as to my Deliverer!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The divinely wise parents of the Mother of God cried out to the Lord in grief over their barrenness; and they gave birth to her, our common boast and salvation for generations of generations.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The divinely wise parents of the Mother of God cried out to the Lord in grief over their barrenness; and they gave birth to her, our common boast and salvation for generations of generations.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The divinely wise parents of the Mother of God received a gift worthy of heaven from God, for she is a chariot more highly exalted than the cherubim, the Mother of the Word and Creator.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The divinely wise parents of the Mother of God received a gift worthy of heaven from God, for she is a chariot more highly exalted than the cherubim, the Mother of the Word and Creator.

Canon II, Irmos: Like the waters of the sea am I tossed about by the waves of life, O Thou Who lovest mankind. Wherefore, like Jonah I cry to Thee: Lead up my life from corruption, O compassionate Lord!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Thy chaste parents placed thee, who art the Holy of Holies, in the temple of the Lord, O pure one, to be raised with honour and prepared to become His Mother.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Join chorus, ye barren women and mothers! Be of good cheer and leap up, O ye childless! For a childless and barren woman buddeth forth the Theotokos who delivereth Eve from her birth pangs and Adam from the curse.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

I hearken to David who singeth to thee: “The virgins that follow after thee shall be brought into the temple of the King. And with him I also hymn thee, the daughter of the King.”

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

We hymn thy holy nativity and honour thine immaculate conception, O divinely chosen Bride and Virgin. And with us the ranks of angels and the souls of the saints glorify thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

In thee, O pure one, is the mystery of the Trinity hymned and glorified; for the Father was well-pleased, and the Word made His abode within thee, and the divine Spirit overshadowed thee.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thou wast a golden candlestick, O pure Theotokos, for in thy womb the Fire made His abode: the Word from the Holy Spirit; and He became visible in thee in human form.

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: In thy holy nativity, O all-pure one, Joachim and Anna are freed from the reproach of childlessness, and Adam and Eve from mortal corruption. And, delivered from the affliction of sin, thy people celebrate it, crying out to thee: A barren woman giveth birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our Life!

Ikos: The supplication of Joachim over his childlessness, together with the sighing of Anna over her barrenness, were right acceptable to God: they entered the ears of the Lord and brought forth life-bearing fruit for the world. For the one made supplication on the mountain, and the other bore her reproach in the garden; and with joy the barren woman giveth birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our Life.

Ode VII, Irmos: The fiery bush on the mount and the dew-bearing furnace of Chaldæa manifestly prefigured thee, O Bride of God; for in thy material womb thou didst receive the divine and immaterial Fire without being consumed. Wherefore, to Him Who was born of thee do we chant: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Once, the transmitter of the law was prevented from understanding thy great mystery in material manifestations, O all-pure one, though instructed through images not to think earthly thoughts. Wherefore, marvelling at the wonder, he said: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

In godly manner the divine choir called thee beforehand the mountain and portal of heaven and the noetic ladder; for from thee was the Stone cut without the aid of man’s hands, and thou art the door through which passed the Lord of wonders, the God of our fathers.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Canon II, Irmos: The Chaldæan furnace, burning with fire, was bedewed by the Spirit through the presence of God; and the children chanted: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

We celebrate and bow down with faith before thy holy nativity, O pure one, honouring thy Son, by Whom we have now been delivered from the ancient condemnation of Adam.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Now Anna maketh merry and, rendering praise, crieth out: Though barren, I have given birth unto the Mother of God, for whose sake the condemnation of Eve, to give birth in pain and grief, hath been loosed!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Adam hath been freed and Eve danceth; and they cry out to thee in spirit, O Theotokos: Through thee have we been delivered from the primeval curse with the appearance of Christ!

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

O the womb which contained the dwelling-place of God! O the womb which bore her who is more spacious than the heavens, the holy throne, the noetic ark of sanctification!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

We glorify the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the unity of the Godhead, the All-Holy Trinity, indivisible, uncreated, equally everlasting and consubstantial.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Most gloriously didst thou alone give birth unto God, O Virgin. By thy nativity thou hast renewed nature, O Mary. Thou hast released Eve from the primeval curse, O pure Theotokos.

Ode VIII, Irmos: Thou didst once prefigure Thy Mother in the furnace of the children, O Lord; for her image drew from the fire those who entered it, without being consumed. We hymn and exalt her supremely for all ages, who through Thee hath been made manifest today to the ends of the earth.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Now the foreordained tabernacle of our reconciliation to God, who is to give birth to the Word Who hath manifested Himself to us in the coarseness of our flesh, beginneth her existence. Him do we, who have been brought into existence by Him out of nonexistence, hymn and exalt supremely for all ages.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The reversal of Anna’s barrenness hath loosed the world’s lack of good things, and hath plainly shown forth a miracle: Christ, Who hath come to mortal men. Him do we, who have been brought into existence by Him out of nonexistence, hymn and exalt supremely for all ages.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Second Canon, Irmos: O Thou Who coverest Thy chambers with waters and settest the sands as a bound for the sea: Thee doth the sun hymn; Thee doth the moon glorify; and unto Thee doth all creation offer a hymn forever, as to the Creator of all.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Thou, O Holy God, Who wrought most glorious things through the barren womb, Who opened the childless womb of Anna and gave her fruit, Thou, O Son of the Virgin, hast received flesh from her, the ever-flourishing Virgin and Theotokos.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Thou, O Lord, Who closest the abyss and openest it, Who raisest water to the clouds and givest the rain, hast given the holy Anna to bud forth and give birth unto the all-pure fruit, the Theotokos, out of a barren root.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

O Cultivator of our thoughts, Planter of our souls, Who hast shown forth barren earth as right fruitful, Thou hast made the holy Anna, a field which before was dry, to become burgeoning, right fertile and fruitful, giving rise to the Theotokos, the all-pure fruit.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Come ye all, let us gaze upon the city of God born as from a little chamber, which issueth forth from the gate of Anna’s womb, yet hath no knowledge of the entry, for the one God and Creator issued forth by this strange path.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O transcendent Trinity, unoriginate Unity, the multitude of angels hymneth and trembleth before Thee; heaven and earth are in awe of Thee; men bless Thee, and fire serveth Thee as a slave. Everything in creation submitteth to Thee with fear, O Holy Trinity.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O report most new! God becometh the Son of a woman! O seedless birthgiving! A Mother without a husband, a Begotten God! O awesome sight! O, the strange conception of the Virgin! O ineffable nativity, truly past all understanding and contemplation!

Ode IX – Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the all-glorious nativity of the Mother of God!

Ode I, Irmos: Thee do we magnify, O blessed and most pure Theotokos, who through thy virginal womb ineffably didst make God incarnate, the Luminary Who shone forth before the sun and hath come to us in the flesh.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the all-glorious nativity of the Mother of God!

He Who poured forth water from the stone for the rebellious people, through the womb of a barren woman giveth to us, the right submissive nations, the fruit of gladness: thee, O all-pure Mother of God, whom we magnify as is meet.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the all-glorious nativity of the Mother of God!

Thee, O Theotokos, do we magnify, who hast removed the ancient and precipitous condemnation: the restoration of our first mother, the cause of the reconciliation of our race to God, the bridge to the Creator.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the all-glorious nativity of the Mother of God!

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin Mary who hath been born of the barren woman!

Canon II, Irmos: Foreign to mothers is virginity, and strange is childbirth to virgins; yet both were accomplished in thee, O Theotokos. Wherefore, all of us, the peoples of the world, magnify thee unceasingly.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin Mary who hath been born of the barren woman!

Thou hast received a nativity worthy of thy purity, O Mother of God; for, according to the promise, thou wast given to the barren one as a fruit springing forth divinely. Wherefore, all of us, the peoples of the earth, unceasingly magnify thee.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin Mary who hath been born of the barren woman!

Fulfilled is the prophecy of him whom crieth, for he saith: I shall raise up the tabernacle of sacred David which is fallen, which was a foretype of thee, O pure one, through whom the dust of all men hath been fashioned into a body for God.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin Mary who hath been born of the barren woman!

We venerate thy swaddling clothes, O Theotokos. We glorify Him Who gave fruit to her who before was barren, and Who most gloriously opened the womb of her who was unable to give birth. For as God with complete authority, He doeth all things soever He desireth.

Refrain: Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin Mary who hath been born of the barren woman!

To thee, O Theotokos who wast born of Anna, do we faithfully offer up hymnody as a gift, mothers and virgins glorifying thee as the only Mother and Virgin; and we bow down before thee and hymn and glorify thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Strange is it for the iniquitous to glorify the unoriginate Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the uncreated omnipotent Principle, by Whom the whole world is sustained by the hand of His might.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Within thy womb, O Mother, thou didst contain One of the Trinity: Christ the King, Whom all creation doth hymn and before Whom the ranks of heaven tremble. Him do thou entreat, O most pure one, that our souls be saved.

Troparion, Tone IV: Thy nativity, O Virgin Theotokos, hath proclaimed joy to all the world; for from thee hath shone forth Christ our God, the Sun of righteousness, Who, having annulled the curse, hath given His blessing, and having abolished death, hath granted us life everlasting.

Parish News – 16 September

Posted on September 16, 2024September 16, 2024 by Father Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

As we begin this New Church Year, let us not only pray for God’s blessing to crown the year, but actively labour to make everything we do – whether as individuals, together as families, as communities, and as the Church – God-pleasing, worthy of blessing, and to His glory.

At the end of a week which saw services for the feasts of the Beheading of the Forerunner, St Alexander Nevsky and St Alexander of Svir, we began the New Indiction with vespers in the Oratory Church, followed by our New Year Liturgy in Cheltenham.

Once again we are grateful to Father Mark the Younger for celebrating for us, allowing me to hear confessions, help the boys learn to serve, and assist on the kliros.

I was pleased that the children showed that they were listening and concentrating on the end-of-Liturgy-lesson on St Symeon the Stylite, as they started play-building a pillar from foam blocks – ascended by the youngest as the stylite.

Thanks to everyone for their warmth and support for Father Mark in these first confident months of his priestly ministry.

The next day, our Cardiff Sunday celebration saw the return of a few more parishioners who had been away, but the absence of a goodly number on their travels to different parts of Europe.

It was good to know that some travellers had already found churches and pilgrimage-places to visit. We wish them restful and peaceful holidays.

Despite the limited space in St John’s, Sunday’s Liturgy saw our communicants gather at the front-centre of the church after communion and zapivka, rather than gathering in their usual alternative place near the zapivka table, chosen by default, due to lack of space.

Before the mid 17th century, those who were communing gathered at the centre of the temple at the Great Entrance and remained there until the Holy Gifts were transferred to the proskomedia after communion.

Whilst this is no longer normal in most places, the tradition of communicants awaiting the transfer of the Holy Gifts after communion remains part of Orthodox tradition, preserved in many parishes of the Russian Church Outside of Russia.

We are simply returning our communicant-worshippers to their traditional place as the choir sings on behalf of all who have communed,

“Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise O Lord, that we may sing of Thy glory; for Thou hast made us worthy to partake of Thy Holy, Divine, Immortal and Life-creating Mysteries. Keep us in Thy holiness, that all the day we may meditate upon Thy righteousness. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!”

At this time, the faithful traditionally stand silently and prayerfully with their arms folded across their chests as when approaching the chalice at communion.

Whilst talking about preserving traditions… just a reminder to those who have joined us from other parishes and traditions that whilst bowing for forgiveness before communion is inconsistent from place to place, it is a consistent tradition that before approaching confession when others are present with us, we turn and bow to ask forgiveness of those in church.

One of our young learners has asked that we have regular reminders of our worship-practices as part of parish teaching and learning, and has already suggested some topics. This is a great help, not just for catechumens, but also for those who have joined us from other places with different customs.

The general busyness of the month will continue in the weeks ahead.

We will have a moleben to King Edward the Martyr in the Oratory Church tomorrow at 15:00, and vespers and confessions at the same time on Thursday.

I will be in the cathedral for the altar-feast celebrations of the Nativity of the Mother of God on Friday and Saturday, before returning to Cardiff for Sunday’s service.

When you come to church that day, we have been instructed that it will not be possible to park on the grass any longer. Though this new rule seems to have been in place for weeks nobody communicated it to is, and the parking situation when we arrived on Sunday makes it clear that St John’s parishioners may not know either.

On arrival last Sunday, we learned of the death of Howell, son of the Monica the organist, in a work accident, and ask you to remember them in your prayers. May the Lord have mercy.

In a change to the schedule for the week commencing Monday 22nd September, a funeral at St Alban’s that day necessitates my presence in Cardiff, so we will celebrate vespers for the feast of St Silouan the Athonite at 15:00 that day rather than on Tuesday 23rd September. Thursday 26th will see Great Vespers for the Exultation of the Cross in the Oratory Church, followed by confessions, with the Divine Liturgy the following morning – Friday 27th September – at 10:30.

The following day, Saturday 28th September, the afterfeast will be celebrated for our Cardiff parishioners living in Wessex, with the Hours and Divine Liturgy in the chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster at 10:30.

Our October pilgrimage to the Church of St Lazar will be on Saturday 26th October, though I am also hoping to visit Lazarica on 4th and 5th October, welcoming any parishioners who might like to join me.

A reminder that book-club has started again, and that Menna will be publishing details. Please speak to her and check WhatsApp. She will also be pleased to receive unwanted Orthodox books for parish lending.

I am now awaiting the arrangement of the funeral of the newly departed handmaiden of God, Halyna, whom we hold in our prayers. As mentioned on WhatsApp, we also ask prayers for her children Vyacheslav, Roman, Maksym, Anna and Tatiana.

We also pray for the newly-departed servants of God, the Archimandrite Germogen, the Archpriest Osios, Jovana, Natalia and Lydia.

Memory Eternal!

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

St Mamas as a Model of Christian Obedience to Christ’s Calling

Posted on September 15, 2024September 15, 2024 by Father Mark

Greetings for the feast of the Holy Martyr Mamas: a shining beacon of holiness and complete abandonment to God, despite his young years.

As the offspring of a family anchored in pure faith in the age of the martyrs, the youth, St Mamas, put nothing before his loyalty to Christ.

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear of the rich young man, who struggled with the thought of letting go of his wealth to follow the Lord: material wealth and security that came between him and life in Christ.

But… as we have reflected – year by year – for each of us who are far from rich, there may be an equivalent obstacle to abandoning ourselves to life in Christ and following Him freely with focus on Him alone.

Attachment to earthly comforts – our homes and possessions, our holidays and trips, our clothes and accessories, our social engagements and calendars, our careers and professional or social reputation – may all come between us and Christ, and be chains to the world that prevent us from true discipleship and honest service to the Lord.

Even the most basic things – too much food, too much sleep, too much television, social media or computer consumption can come between us and Christ – who might say of each of us, that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for us – with our individual attachments, comforts and perhaps even passions – to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

We have to be clinically honest with ourselves and ask – have we put our hobbies and interests, social engagements or diary commitments before being present at the Divine Liturgy – whose celebration is the greatest thing that humans can do on earth?

Have we neglected the Great Feasts of the Church, perhaps because social commitments have taken precedence over the celebrations of the great events in the life of the Lord or the Mother of God, or great saints?

Have we justified missing the Liturgy or other services because we are tired, even though we know full well that the Saviour was so exhausted when He fell beneath the Cross and the weight of the whole of humanity, when He carried each and every one of us to Golgotha, dragging Himself in the broken, tortured weakness of His flesh to the Place of the Skull? Even when He was tired to the point of dereliction, the Saviour did not give up on us, so when we are tired, should we give up on Him?

Have we been weak and indulgent, failing to even fast for one day out of obedience to Christ through the tradition of His Church – convincing ourselves that we can’t go a single day without milk in our tea or butter on our toast – using health, tiredness, inconvenience or worldly excuses to justify needless leniency?

Have we neglected our prayers because social media, television, the theatre or a trip to the pub with our friends has been higher on our priority list? Have we found more time for our friends than we have for God?

Are we more motivated to meet our peers, than to meet God in the Holy Mysteries, in prayer, in pilgrimage, or in the silence of our hearts?

When we fail in such things, our fall is very often not a one-off-event, but a manifestation of a serial behaviour, of a fault-line in our spiritual lives, and an attachment, that comes between us and Christ – our equivalents to the young man’s wealth, and reminders of camels and needles, and the threatening and frighteningly low probability of us entering God’s Kingdom.

Do our attachments form an obstacle, or even a barricade between us and God, and block any progress even towards His Kingdom, let alone getting anywhere near its entrance?

But… to return to St Mamas…

His parents, Theodotus and Rufina, were dead, having perished in imprisonment for the Faith in the Roman persecution of the Christians. Any wealth or possessions of the once illustrious family had been confiscated and lost when they were arrested.

His mother Rufina had begged the Lord to find someone to care for her prematurely -born child, who entered the world in a prison cell, and the Lord called a rich Christian widow to adopt the child.

As an open and faithful Christian, the faith of young Mamas became an increasing danger as he entered early adulthood, and it made him a target as his parents had been, in ongoing persecution.

Like his parents, Mamas was arrested, but his noble, patrician family background and his confident and capable character led the governor Democritus, in Cappadocian Caesarea to refer his case to the Emperor Aurelian, hoping that this promising young man could be saved from Christianity and lured away from Christ.

The emperor sought to buy Mamas and steal him from Christ by offers of a comfortable life, with wealth and influence – the prospect of him becoming a rich young man.

In the lives of the martyrs – time after time – we hear the judge seeking to entice the one being accused and tortured for Christ: the enticement of a warm bath house to the forty martyr’s of Sebaste; the offer of a military career and imperial commission to the great warrior saints; the offers of rich marriages and socially-eminent husbands to the aristocratic women great-martyrs, renounced and betrayed by their noble pagan families.

Life’s comforts and security were the lure used to draw Christians away from their confession of Christ again and again.

In the passions of the martyrs, we hear their rejection of the offers what amounted to a living death in miserable earthly existence after having denied and blasphemed God.

Occasionally we glimpse those who gave in.

We know of the single apostate of Sebaste who preferred the warmth of a bath house to suffering with his fellow soldiers perishing in a freezing Armenian lake.

We know of the weakness and apostasy of St James the Persian, under the persecution of the Sassanian King, Yazdegerd I, and of his repentant confession and death by gradual mutilation.

We know of the apostate monks of the Holy Mountain, who betrayed Orthodoxy and accepted the unia, only for their dead bodies to be cursed with hair and fingernails growing century after century, making them a terrifying spectacle for those who saw the physical sign of betrayal.

Mamas, too, was offered enticements and incentives, but refused and remained anchored in Christ.

In contrast to both emperor’s offer of wealth and influence, and the portrait of the rich youth of the Gospel, we encounter the fifteen year old Mamas divinely delivered from imprisonment, and living in the wilderness, in fasting, prayer and constant communion with God – surrounded by wild animals with which he had the relationship of Adam and Eve in paradise:

With his life with his foster-mother Ammia a thing of the past before his arrest, we see a young man with no earthly possessions, wealth or material chains to the world – despite the traps and offers that had been set before him, and despite the former wealth and social position of his family.

Unlike the rich young man of the Gospel, this spiritually-rich youth had nothing material to chain him to earthly existence or to come between him and the Lord, yet even in his poverty and abandonment in Christ, there was still one last danger that could imperil his soul and make him a slave to the world. Undue attachment to worldly life itself – life according to the ways and influences not only of the world, but its fallen ways of thinking and existing.

Even though he was so young, St Mamas gave no thought to self-preservation when he had been discovered by the pagan authorities.

When the governor sent a detachment of soldiers to search the mountain and arrest Mamas, they mistook him for a simple shepherd, though he invited them to his dwelling, and gave them milk to drink, revealing his name.

Whether they failed to understand, or were avoiding detaining him we shall never know, but His life tells is that he told the soldiers to go ahead of him into Caesaria, as he followed them to the gates of the city, and Saint Mamas, accompanied by a mountain-lion, whom he rides to his martyrdom in many of his icons.

He was unbreakable in this second trial by the deputy-governor Alexander, not even weakening as he was tortured.

He was thrown to wild animals in the arena, but they would not touch this teenage boy who had lived in peace and harmony with the animals of the wilderness, and so, one of the pagan priests mortally wounded him with a trident.

The passion and witness of this young, but fearless martyr need to make us take a long hard look at ourselves, asking uncomfortable questions about who resolute we are in confessing Christ, whether we are willing to sacrifice the attachments, comforts and security of our lives to follow him, and to even ask whether we are so attached to life itself, that this holds us back from being free and liberated followers of Christ.

It is not only riches that can come between us and the Kingdom, and to see today’s Gospel as only being about wealth is dangerous and a deception.

How far we would go to both pursue and preserve our Faith, and what are we willing to sacrifice and leave behind to follow Christ.

There was no chance of a camel passing through the eye of a needle, as St Mamas rode into the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven mounted on the lion of courage, journeying to martyrdom and willing to surrender and give up everything – including his temporary and fleeting earthly life to follow Christ – the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The Holy-Great Martyr St Mamas: Holiness in Youth

Posted on September 15, 2024September 15, 2024 by Father Mark

The Holy Great Martyr Mamas was born in Paphlagonia, Asia Minor in the third century of pious and illustrious parents, the Christians Theodotus and Rufina. The parents of the saint were arrested by the pagans for their open confession of their faith and locked up in prison in Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Knowing his own bodily weakness, Theodotus prayed that the Lord would take him before being subjected to tortures. The Lord heard his prayer and he died in prison. Saint Rufina died also after him, after giving birth to a premature son. She entrusted him to God, beseeching Him to be the Protector and Defender of the orphaned infant.

God heard the dying prayer of Saint Rufina: a rich Christian widow named Ammia reverently buried the bodies of Saints Theodotus and Rufina, and she took the boy into her own home and raised him as her own son. Saint Mamas grew up in the Christian Faith. His foster mother concerned herself with the developing of his natural abilities, and early on she sent him off to study his grammar.

The boy learned easily and willingly. He was not of an age of mature judgment but distinguished himself by maturity of mind and of heart. By means of prudent conversations and personal example young Mamas converted many of his own peers to Christianity.

The governor, Democritus, was informed of this, and the fifteen-year-old Mamas was arrested and brought to trial. In deference to his illustrious parentage, Democritus decided not to subject him to torture, but instead sent him off to the emperor Aurelian (270-275). The emperor tried at first kindly, but then with threats to turn Saint Mamas back to the pagan faith, but all in vain. The saint bravely confessed himself a Christian and pointed out the madness of the pagans in their worship of lifeless idols.

Infuriated, the emperor subjected the youth to cruel tortures. They tried to drown the saint, but an angel of the Lord saved Saint Mamas and bade him live on a high mountain in the wilderness, not far from Caesarea. Bowing to the will of God, the saint built a small church there and began to lead a life of strict temperance, in exploits of fasting and prayer.

Soon he received a remarkable power over the forces of nature: wild beasts inhabiting the surrounding wilderness gathered at his abode and listened to the reading of the Holy Gospel. Saint Mamas nourished himself on the milk of wild goats and deer.

The saint did not ignore the needs of his neighbours. Preparing cheese from this milk, he gave it away freely to the poor. Soon the fame of Saint Mamas’s life spread throughout all of Caesarea.

The governor sent a detachment of soldiers to arrest him. When they encountered Saint Mamas on the mountain, the soldiers did not recognize him, and mistook him for a simple shepherd. The saint then invited them to his dwelling, gave them a drink of milk and then told them his name, knowing that death for Christ awaited him. The servant of God told the servant of the Emperor to go on ahead of him into Caesaria, promising that he would soon follow. The soldiers waited for him at the gates of the city, and Saint Mamas, accompanied by a lion, met them there.

Surrendering himself into the hands of the torturers, Saint Mamas was brought to trial under a deputy governor named Alexander, who subjected him to intense and prolonged tortures. They did not break the saint’s will, however. He was strengthened by the words addressed to him from above: “Be strong and take courage, Mamas.”

When they threw Saint Mamas to the wild beasts, these creatures would not touch him. Finally, one of the pagan priests struck him with a trident. Mortally wounded, Saint Mamas went out beyond the city limits. There, in a small stone cave, he gave up his spirit to God, Who in the hearing of all summoned the holy Martyr Mamas into His heavenly habitation. He was buried by believers at the place of his death.

Christians soon began to receive help from him in their afflictions and sorrows. Saint Basil the Great speaks thus about the holy Martyr Mamas in a sermon to the people: “Remember the holy martyr, you who live here and have him as a helper. You who call on his name have been helped by him. Those in error he has guided into life. Those whom he has healed of infirmity, those whose children were dead he has restored to life, those whose life he has prolonged: let us all come together as one, and praise the martyr!”

Canon of the Great-Martyr Mamas, the composition of Theophanes, in Tone 8.

Ode 1, Irmos: The staff of Moses, once working a miracle, striking the sea in the form of the Cross and dividing it, drowned the mounted tyrant Pharaoh and saved Israel, who fled on foot, chanting a hymn unto God.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Traversing the heavens as an excellent martyr, filled with thrice-radiant effulgence, O glorious one, vouchsafe divine illumination unto those who on earth honour the precious and radiant day of thy repose.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

The Word, foreknowing the nobility and perfection of thy mind in all things, filled thee with understanding from thine earliest infancy and adorned thee in manifold ways with the sweetness of good works, O most lauded martyr and athlete Mamas.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thy parents, braving danger for the inviolate Faith in time of persecution by falsehood, were cast into prison; and there, at the command of God, they brought thee forth, who hast broken the bonds of polytheism.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

In generations of generations all-glorious things are said of thee who, having contained God the Word within thy womb, remainest pure, O Mary Theotokos. Wherefore, we all honour thee, our intercessor before God.

Ode 3, Irmos: O Lord, Fashioner of the vault of heaven and Creator of the Church, establish me in the love of Thee, O summit of desire, confirmation of the faithful, Who alone lovest mankind.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Upon the pinnacle of His Church hath Christ placed the athlete Mamas like a radiant star, illumining the whole world with the splendours of his sufferings and all-glorious miracles.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Ascending the mountain of true knowledge, and illumined with purity of mind through visions, O blessed one, by the commands of God thou didst elevate the nature of dumb beasts to rational hymnody.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thou wast a youth comely in beauty. Wherefore, thou wast shown to be unapproachable to those who sought iniquitously to seize thee, and thou didst bring thyself to the Lord of all, Who Himself had gone to suffering.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

He Who stretched out the sky and sustaineth its whole vault by His divine nature was held in the flesh in thine embrace, O all-pure one, and hath shown thee to be the confirmation of all the faithful.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sedalion of the martyr, Tone 8: As the precious offspring of piety, by the power of the Spirit thou wast shown to be the destroyer of impiety, O Mamas; for thou didst denounce the falsehood of idolatry in the arena and didst right boldly proclaim that the Trinity is to be hymned. Wherefore, cast to the wild beasts, O athlete, thou didst slay the beast, the serpent who is the author of evil. For this cause we cry out to thee: Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of offences unto those who honour thy holy memory with love. (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: Thou wast the divine tabernacle of the Word, O only all-pure Virgin Mother, who dost surpass the angels in purity. With the waters of thy supplications cleanse me who, more than all other men, am dust and have been defiled by carnal transgressions, granting me great mercy, O pure one.

Stavrotheotokion. The unblemished ewe-lamb of the Word, the incorrupt Virgin Mother, beholding Him Who sprang forth from her without pain suspended upon the Cross, cried out maternally, lamenting: “Alas, O my Child! How is it that Thou sufferest, desiring to deliver man from the indignity of the passions?”

Ode 4, Irmos: Thou art my strength, O Lord, Thou art my power; Thou art my God, Thou art my joy, Who, without leaving the bosom of the Father, hast visited our poverty. Wherefore, with the Prophet Habbakuk I cry unto Thee: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

With wisdom and unafraid thou didst of thine own will commit thyself to struggles; for thou didst have Christ helping thee with divine power, making thy weakness strong and showing thee forth as a witness to His sufferings, a partaker of splendour on high.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

The most rational wild beast became tame, given thee by God as a companion, for with divine love thou didst subdue the irrational passions and wast shown to be adorned with a most wise intelligence, vanquishing the irrationality of the enemy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Before the tyrants’ tribunal thou didst stand O blessed one, most manifestly proclaiming the incarnation of the Word, casting down the savagery of ungodliness and teaching all to chant with confidence: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

By the supernatural offspring of thy birthgiving, O most immaculate Theotokos, the pangs of sin were loosed, the nature of mortals was released from the curse, the heavens were opened for thy sake to those below, and men join chorus with the angels.

Ode 5, Irmos: Wherefore hast Thou turned Thy face from me, O Light never-waning? And why hath a strange light covered me, wretch that I am? But turn me and guide my steps to the light of Thy commandments, I pray.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Lacerated, the glorious Mamas in nowise paid heed to his body, setting aside the grossness of corruption to be torn asunder and the garments of his skin to be rent apart; receiving instead the vesture of incorruption.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Grateful praises didst thou chant to thy Creator when thy side was pierced with a spear, O most blessed one, and thou didst hear a voice from heaven, strengthening thy mind for that which is more exalted and easing the pain of thy sufferings.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As thou lay in prison a most beautiful dove appeared to thee in an all-glorious vision, O most blessed and much-suffering athlete, bearing thee the food of incorruption; for thou didst pass beyond the bounds of corruption.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Thou wast the mediatress of the divine incarnation and of ineffable deliverance, having given birth to Him Who was begotten of the Father before the sun shone forth; for through thee hath the nature of those on earth been joined to God and set upon the throne of glory.

Ode 6, Irmos: Cleanse me, O Saviour, for many are mine iniquities, and lead me up from the abyss of evils, I pray; for to Thee have I cried, and Thou hast hearkened unto me, O God of my salvation.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Burning with zeal for God, O most sacred and valiant athlete, bedewed by divine rain from heaven thou didst in nowise take heed of the burning flame.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

He Who in manifest light transformed the furnace into dew for the three youths rescued thee, O most blessed and divinely wise one, from the flame, and all-gloriously showed thee to be mightier than the fire.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Undergoing tremendous struggles, thou didst show thyself to be most supreme, wondrous among athletes, a martyr tried and tested. Wherefore, the Judge of the contest vouchsafed thee greater rewards.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Through thy divine birthgiving, O all-pure one, we have come to share in the divine nature; and, praising thee with ranks of the angels, we have inherited heavenly rest in Christ.

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 Martyr, Tone 3: With the staff given thee by God, O holy one, thou didst shepherd thy people in life-bearing pastures; and thou didst crush the invisible and untamed wild beasts beneath the feet of those who hymn thee. For all who find themselves amid misfortunes have thee as their fervent intercessor, O Mamas.

Ikos: Throughout all the world we hymn thee as an all-glorious martyr who joinest chorus with the angels in the heavens, O Mamas, who before wast manifestly suckled by a deer in the wilderness, and now, as a good shepherd, dost shepherd the rich people of the Lord with a staff of power, guiding them to a place of verdure, where the sweetness of paradise is truly to be found. For this cause thou didst forsake the world, that all may have thee as a fervent intercessor, O Mamas.

Ode 7, Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the fire stood in awe of the condescension of God; wherefore, the youths, dancing with joyous step in the furnace as in a meadow, chanted: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

The aspect of the furnace was full of the coolness which thou didst need; for, shut up within it for many days, O Mamas, thou wast not consumed, but didst cry out to the Creator: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

In the midst of the flame, O martyr, thou didst have angels as companions, dancing with thee and sharing in ineffable hymnody; and with them thou didst cry out to the Master of all: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Issuing forth from the furnace, thou wast truly like a never-fading rose, like a most comely bridegroom departing from a bridal chamber, consuming the mindless, but illumining those who beheld thee, chanting: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Lo! the prophecy of the divinely eloquent one hath now been fulfilled! For thou didst contain God the Word in thy womb, O Virgin, and gavest birth to the Bestower of life: To Him do we all cry out: Blessed is the God of our fathers!

Ode 8, Irmos: Madly did the Chaldean tyrant heat the furnace sevenfold for the pious ones; but seeing them saved by a higher Power, he cried out to the Creator and Deliverer: ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Like Daniel thou didst shut the mouths of the wild beasts with a divine invocation of the Master, O glorious one; thou didst slay a serpent, didst put the ungodly to shame, and livest in gladness as a victor, chanting in the heavens: Ye priests, bless; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Stony of heart, the all-iniquitous ones who worshiped stones cast stones at thee, O blessed martyr, as thou didst lift the sacred eyes of thy soul to the unhewn and unshakable Stone; and thou didst fervently chant: Ye priests, bless; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

The Judge of the contest, extending the crown of victory from on high to thee as victor when thou hadst passed through thy good contest, O thou who art most rich, called thee to hasten to Him, running the honourable and sweet course, and chanting fervently: Ye priests, bless; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Supernaturally thou didst conceive Him Who was begotten of the Father without mother, yet thou didst remain virgin even after giving birth, O pure one; for in thee doth the divine Union renew nature and restore the boundaries of existence. Wherefore, in Orthodox manner, we hymn thee for ever as the Theotokos who truly gave birth unto God.

Ode 9, Irmos: Heaven was filled with awe, and the ends of the earth were amazed, that God appeared to men in the flesh, and that thy womb became more spacious than the heavens. Wherefore, the ranks of angels and men magnify thee, the Theotokos.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Thou didst lay down thy life for thy Deliverer and didst ardently hasten to Him, splendidly adorned with the beauties of thy sacred struggles and wondrous contests, O most lauded warrior, thou beacon of the whole world and ornament of the Church.

Holy Great-Martyr, Mamas, pray to God for us.

Thou hast joined the angels, having acquired an angelic life on earth, and with them thou dost in praise joyously chant sacred hymnody to the Trinity with great laudation, O Mamas, deified by divine communion and enriched with glory unsurpassed.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As thou hast boldness before God, O most blessed martyr, be thou mindful of those who joyously celebrate this thy divine festival and praise thine honourable and sacred suffering with pure faith; and save us from tempest, misfortune and trials.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Who hath ever heard that among those on earth there was a mother who knew not man yet gave birth to a child, and that the Child to which she gave birth supernaturally was the unoriginate God Who is consubstantial with the all-unoriginate Father? O awesome mystery! O the divine fellowship whereby we have been united to God!

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Troparion, Tone 4: In his suffering, O Lord, Thy martyr Mamas received an imperishable crown from Thee, our God; for, possessed of Thy might, he set at nought the tyrants and crushed the feeble audacity of the demons. By his supplications save Thou our souls.

Canons for the Beheading of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John

Posted on September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by Father Mark

Canon I, the composition of John the Monk, in Tone VIII

Ode I, Irmos: Having traversed the water as though it were dry land, and escaped the evil of Egypt, the Israelite cried aloud: Let us chant unto our Deliverer and God!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Let us hymn the sacred forerunner, the prophet who appeared from the womb of a barren woman unto Him Who ineffably is borne in the Virgin’s womb.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Having transcended the boundaries of nature, thou didst preserve the laws of righteousness, denouncing an iniquitous union, undaunted by the king’s cruelty.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Nurtured by the law as with milk, thou didst oppose the vile adultery, sealing the legitimacy of lawful union like a seal of the law.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

The ranks of angels and men praise thee unceasingly, O Mother unwedded; for thou didst bear the Creator in thine arms as a babe.

Canon II, the composition of Andrew of Crete, in the same tone

Irmos: Let us chant unto Christ, Who overthrew the tyranny of Pharaoh in the sea, and led Israel over to dry land, for He hath been glorified forever.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

The beauteous lamb of the wilderness, the fruit of Zachariah, and the scion which Elizabeth bore beyond hope, commandeth the faithful to celebrate his honoured memory beforehand.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

O birthday full of blood! O abominable feast! For Herod mingled drunkenness with slaying, and his table was full of vile murder.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O ye faithful, let us hymn the Baptist who denounced iniquitous Herod and endured decapitation, slain for his zeal for God.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thou gavest birth to the infinite Word of God, Who made His abode within thee, O pure Theotokos, and ineffably became incarnate of thee in twofold nature, as thine only Son.

Ode III, Irmos: O Lord, Fashioner of the vault of heaven and Creator of the Church: establish me in Thy love, O Summit of desire, confirmation of the faithful, Who alone lovest mankind.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

As mediator standing between the old and the new covenant of the Gospel preachings, thou didst denounce the iniquitous union of the tyrant, and, rejoicing, didst accept a glorious death.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Instructed beforehand by her iniquitous mother, the girl said unto Herod, who was befuddled with drunkenness: “Give me the head of John on a platter, that I may present to my mother the gift she desireth!”

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

The shameless tyrant, unable to endure the reproof of thy God-bearing tongue, O glorious prophet, gave thy precious martyr’s head to the girl as a reward for her dancing.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Having made thy bodily abode within the Virgin, O Lord, Thou didst appear unto men, in that it was fitting that they behold Thee. Her didst Thou show to be the true Theotokos and the help of the faithful, O thou Who alone lovest mankind.

Irmos: None is as holy as the Lord, and none is as righteous as our God, Whom all creation doth hymn, singing: None is righteous save Thee, O Lord!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

“None greater than John hath arisen among those born of women!” cried Christ the Truth; for in the womb the created being recognised the One Who had created him, and proclaimed Him with his mother’s voice.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Having first pointed to the Lamb with his finger, he next denounced Herod with his tongue, and, lastly, poureth forth miracles upon us through his head, as from a created vessel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thy nativity was glorious, thy life blameless, and thy departure honourable, O Baptiser of Christ. Thy pointing to Christ was awesome, thy death was precious, and thy burial full of glory.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

As God, O Only-begotten One, thou didst abase Thyself, that Thou mayest save those whom Thou hadst created, for whose sake Thou didst become man, incarnate of the Virgin; and transforming my whole nature, Thou hast brought it to Thy Father.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Sessional Hymn, Tone VIII, Spec. Mel. “Of the Wisdom…”: Having shone forth by the judgment of God from a barren woman, and loosed the bonds on the tongue of thy father, thou didst show forth the Sun Who illumineth thee as the morning-star, and to the people in the wilderness didst proclaim the Creator, the Lamb Who taketh away the sins of the world. Wherefore, thou didst denounce the king with zeal, O ever-memorable and most lauded John, and thine all-glorious head was cut off. Pray thou to Christ God, that He grant remission of offences unto those who with love celebrate thy holy memory. (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: All of us, the generations of men, call thee blessed, who, as a Virgin, alone among women, gavest birth without seed to God in the flesh; for the fire of the Godhead made its abode within thee, and thou didst nourish the Creator and Lord with milk as a babe. Wherefore, we, the generation of angels and men, glorify thine all-holy nativity as is meet and together cry out to thee: Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of offences unto those who with faith worship thine all-holy birthgiving.

Ode IV, Irmos: Thou art my strength, O Lord, Thou art my power; Thou art my God, Thou art my joy, Who, without leaving the bosom of the Father, hast visited our lowliness. Wherefore, with the Prophet Habbakuk I cry unto Thee: Glory to Thy power, O Thou Who lovest mankind!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

He who was unable to endure the censure of boldness and the forthrightness of piety, who incurred the retribution of the law, who was depraved by vile pleasures, having bound him who is enrolled immaterially in the heavenly choirs before the end, placed him under guard.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

The wretched voluptuary, sick with spiritually harmful drunkenness and the burning of fornication, having been bound by the dancing of a girl’s feet, became the murderer of the prophet; for he conceived drunkenness, the mother of fornication, and begat grievous iniquity.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Of a truth, in thee the divine voice did not prove false; for thou art the greatest among the prophets, in that thou wast vouchsafed to prophesy from thy mother’s womb, as a fœtus not fully formed, and seeing God the Word Whom thou hadst prophesied, thou didst baptize Him in the body.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Thou art the boast of the faithful, O thou who knewest not wedlock; thou art the intercessor and refuge of Christians, their bulwark and haven. For thou bearest entreaties to thy Son, O most immaculate one, and savest from misfortunes those who with faith and love know thee to be the pure Theotokos.

Irmos: O Word, with divine vision the prophet perceived Thee Who wast to become incarnate of the Theotokos alone, the mountain overshadowed; and with fear he glorified Thy power.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Thou didst make clear to us the kingdom of Christ, didst show the people the paths of repentance, and didst denounce the iniquitous Herod, O wise John, thou great preacher.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Unable to bear reproof, Herod was overcome with wrath, jealousy and bitterness, O Baptist; and he marked the day of his birth by cutting off thy head, O preacher of Christ.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Be glad, O Baptist, that thy soul may make merry; for here thou didst denounce the ungodly Herod, while in hades thou didst preach to the souls, saying: “Our salvation draweth nigh!”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

The earth marvelleth at thy life, O John; heaven proclaimeth thine unjust murder; and the Church, chanting, declareth the multitude of thy virtues.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Born of the immaculate Virgin Mother, O Thou Who hast put on my whole nature save for sin, Thou didst preserve her pure even after she gave birth.

Ode V, Irmos: Wherefore hast Thou turned Thy face from me, O Light never-waning? And why hath a strange darkness covered me, wretch that I am? But turn me, and guide my steps to the light of Thy commandments, I pray.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Inspired by the enmity of her mother, the yet more savage offspring of a savage lioness demanded as the price of her foul demonic dancing the head of the forerunner and herald, which the wild beasts themselves reverenced in the wilderness.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

O Thine ineffable and unapproachable judgments, O Thou Who lovest mankind! For the vile girl won with her dancing him who, while yet in his mother’s womb, was a receptacle of the Holy Spirit, and grew in chastity and purity.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

When he who with love and ardor preferred his intercourse with iniquity, he permitted the murder of the prophet to be added to his birthday drinking and with love of pleasure mingled a cup full of the holy blood of the prophet.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Possessing maternal boldness before thy Son, O all-pure one, disdain not thought of kinship with us, we pray, for thee alone do Christians set before the Master as a merciful cleansing.

Irmos: O Lord Who by divine knowledge brought the ends of the earth into the light out of the night of ignorance, enlighten me with the dawning of Thy love for mankind.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

The forerunner, the lamb of the wilderness and treasure of the whole world, prepareth a spiritual banquet for us today.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

O John, thou didst denounce Herod, the cruel lover of Herodias, the slave of lust and violator of the laws.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Herodias danceth, and John is bound and slain. O the drunkenness of Herod! O the mindlessness of his soul!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Rejoice, O pure one, thou divine mountain from whence the Stone was quarried without aid of men’s hands, thou mountain of curds which provided God the Word with a body!

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.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Bringing tribulation upon thyself for the commandments of the law, O blessed one, with reproofs thou didst chastise the one who was committing iniquity; for thou wast not a reed shaken by the winds of the enemy.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Thy head, dripping with the blood of thy slaughter, was offered as a prize for a lustful display, but continued to denounce Herod as one who committed incest, even after thine end.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Clad in camels’ hair while in the wilderness, thou didst live as splendidly as a king therein; and bearing royal adornment therein, thou didst gain dominion over the passions.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

May we be delivered from grievous transgressions through thy supplications, O pure Theotokos, and may we receive divine radiance from the Son of God Who was ineffably incarnate of thee, O all-pure one.

Irmos: As Thou didst deliver the prophet from the uttermost abyss, O Christ God, in that Thou lovest mankind deliver me from my sins, and direct my life, I beseech Thee.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Honouring the decapitation of thine honoured and most praised head, O forerunner of Christ, we glorify thine ever-laudable and universal memory, O all-blessed one.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O the vile feast! O the bitter birthday! O the drunkenness of the abominable and iniquitous Herod! For he was held fast by iniquity and, reviled, he was persuaded to slay the prophet.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The new Egyptian woman, dancing wantonly in the midst of the feast, asked for the head which had denounced her mother, the paramour of Herod.The Son of the Virgin is now shown to have first been the Son of the Father, Who is not understood to be different in any fashion from the visible Son; and He hath remained One, perfect in both His natures.

Kontakion, Tone V: The glorious beheading of the forerunner was part of God’s dispensation, that he might proclaim to those in hades the coming of the Saviour. Let Herodias, who demanded the iniquitous murder, therefore lament; for she loved not the law of God nor the age of life, but rather this false and transitory one.

Ikos: The birthday of Herod was shown to all to be unholy when, into the midst of those who feasted, the head of the faster was borne as though it were food. Joy was joined to grief and laughter transformed into bitter lamentation. For, bearing the head of the Baptist on a platter, the girl entered in among them all, as she said. And because of Herod’s oath lamentation fell upon all who reclined there with the king. She did not gladden them, nor even Herod himself. For he said: They sorrowed not with true grief, but with that which is feigned and transitory.

Ode VII, Irmos: Once, in Babylon, the fire stood in awe of the condescension of God; wherefore, the youths, dancing with joyous step in the furnace, as in a meadow, chanted: Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Armed with lustful desire and grievous drunkenness, striking against the Baptiser of Christ, the immovable tower of abstinence and indestructible city of chastity, the iniquitous Herod was shattered.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Her mind beguiled by the suasions of her mother, she who was the pupil of the devil was neither afraid nor ashamed, nor in anywise reluctant to bear thy precious head shamelessly on a platter.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Sent forth like an angel, thou didst shine forth like a beacon; as a prophet thou didst preach Christ Who appeared as the Lamb of God; and as a martyr thou wast beheaded, proclaiming Him to the dead in hades.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Delivered from the ancient fall and condemnation by thy birthgiving, O Virgin Mother, we ever glorify thee as the manifest cause of our liberation, with thy Son Who gave Himself as deliverance for us.

Irmos: O Lord God of our fathers, Who in the beginning founded the earth and established the heavens by Thy word: blessed art Thou forever!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Preaching the law of God, John was not afraid to teach the impious and iniquitous Herod to be chaste; for the fire of sin burned within him.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

O the head which manifestly set forth the law and cried to Herod from out of the ground: “It is not fit for thee, who committest iniquity, to wear the purple robe of kingship as a garment of tyranny!”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

The iniquitous Herod, armed with vile weaponry, committed an iniquitous deed with an oath, drunk at the banquet he was holding for himself.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Though incorporeal, the Creator of all became immutably incarnate; and being not subject to time, He was known to enter time through the Virgin, remaining as He had been, and becoming what He had not been, without confusion.

Ode VIII, Irmos: Madly did the Chaldæan tyrant heat the furnace sevenfold for the pious ones; but, beholding them saved by a higher Power, he cried out to the Creator and Deliverer: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Going before Thy nativity and divine suffering, in the nethermost parts of the earth John, as the voice of the Word, becometh, through the sword, the prophet and herald of Thy coming there, crying: Exalt Christ supremely for all ages: ye dead as Life-bestower; ye blind, as Giver of light; ye captives, as your Deliverer!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

He who from a barren woman preceded the Offspring of the Virgin hath now, through the cutting off of his head, become the precursor of the voluntary crucifixion of the Creator of all, crying to those in hades: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

When thy body was deprived of thy head, O forerunner, thy masterly soul was parted from thy flesh; but the divinity of Emmanuel was never separated from his flesh, and not a bone of God the Master was broken. Wherefore, we exalt Him supremely for all ages.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

O all-pure Virgin, bearer of the Lord, by thy merciful entreaty cleanse thou the wounds and sores of my soul, and raise me up who am fallen. Save, O save me, the prodigal, O most immaculate one! For thou art mine intercessor and help, who alone art pure and blessed for all ages.

Irmos: The Lord Who was glorified on the holy mountain, and by the fire in the bush revealed to Moses the mystery of the Ever-virgin, hymn ye and exalt Him supremely for all ages!

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Him who proclaimed the coming of Christ to those in hades, exclaiming with faith: “The Lord of glory cometh, loosing men’s pangs!”, let us exalt supremely for all ages.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Herod imprisoned thee in a dungeon, O John, thou second Elijah, and, having bound thee with iron chains, slew thee, the faithful and sacred proclaimer of repentance and the kingdom.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O feast full of blood! O food mingled with murder! O banquet replete with vainglory! O the inhumanity and vile murder of the iniquitous Herod!

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Wholly above and wholly below, in the bosom of the Father and with Thy Mother, wholly God and wholly man by nature, One in hypostasis yet dual in nature art Thou, O Merciful One.

Ode IX, Irmos: Every ear trembleth to hear of the ineffable condescension of God, for the Most High willingly came down even to the flesh, becoming man through the Virgin’s womb. Wherefore we, the faithful, magnify the all-pure Theotokos.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

The evil horde and the devil, its commander, were afraid of thy divinely eloquent tongue which proclaimed Christ, O prophet, and through the agency of a wanton girl prevailed upon Herod to cut off thy head; but we magnify thee as the baptiser of Christ.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

The valley of humble nature hath been exalted, and the hill of deadly pride hath been laid low; for the voice of the Light crying in the wilderness hath cried out in the dwellings of hades: “Lift up, ye gates, for the King of all shall enter!”

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Human passions tremble, and the demons flee in fear from the overshadowing of the grace given thee by God. But deliver thy flock, which ever magnifieth thee with faith, O forerunner of the Lord, from temptation by both.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Draw Thy bow, and prosper and reign, O Son of the Mother of God, subduing the Moslems who wage war against us and granting victory to our Orthodox hierarchs over all heresies, through the entreaties of her who gave birth to Thee, O Word of God.

Irmos: Thy birthgiving, O Ever-virgin, which was revealed to the law-giver on the mountain in the fire and the bush, for the salvation of us, the faithful, do we magnify with unceasing hymnody.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Again doth Jezebel exult over Elijah; again doth the Egyptian woman seek after Joseph; for the vile Herodias hath now been seen to devise the death of the prophet and baptiser of the Saviour.

Holy and Great John, Forerunner of the Lord, pray to God for us.

Beheaded by Herod, O John, thou wast sent to the souls in hades, to proclaim Him Who had come to save all of the faithful who had died, from the time of Adam on.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O John, honoured martyr of the Lord, lampstand of the Light, voice of the Word, herald of the Lamb of God, lamb of the wilderness: pray that those who hymn thee be saved.

Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thou alone among women wast shown to be a virgin even after giving birth; thou alone among women wast shown forth as the Theotokos; thou alone hast loosed the pangs of Eve and caused the primal curse to wither away.

Troparion, Tone II: The memory of the righteous is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord’s witness is sufficient for thee, O forerunner. Thou wast truly shown to be more honourable than the prophets, in that thou wast counted worthy to baptise in the streams Him Whom thou didst proclaim. Wherefore, having suffered, rejoicing, for the truth, even unto those in hades thou didst proclaim God, Who had manifested Himself in the flesh, Who taketh away the sin of the world and granteth us great mercy.

Celebrating the Forerunner as Heralds of Truth

Posted on September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by Father Mark

The Holy Gospel according to Mark (6: 14-30): At that time, king Herod heard of Jesus (for his name was spread abroad) and he said, that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. Others said, that it is Elijah. And others said, that it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said: “It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.” For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod: “It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.” Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said unto the damsel: “Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.” And he swore unto her: “Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.” And she went forth, and said unto her mother: “What shall I ask?” And she said: “The head of John the Baptist.” And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying: “I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.” And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for the sake of those who sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told Him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dear brothers and sisters, greetings as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John. S prazdnikom!

This feast of the beheading of the Forerunner is a reminder that truth and righteousness have a cost, and that we – as those who know and worship Truth as a Person, in our Lord and Saviour – must have the courage of the Forerunner, without worrying and stopping to calculate the cost of being true to our Faith and opposing the falsehood of rulers and powers.

We must live truth, speak truth, act in truth, and – as the people of God – preach truth, and oppose falsehood as a poison which is soul-destroying, deadly and the way to perdition.

Just as St John opposed the tyrannical Herod – a false king, unworthy of the throne of Israel – so, across the world, people of Faith face tyranny from above, with laws that trample on rights of religious expression; with liberal weaponised accusations of extremism used to quash and attack freedom to protest and for basic association; with constant surveillance following us and tracking the movements our everyday lives; in a world in which saying there are only two genders in heresy, in which using the wrong pronoun can threaten jobs and careers, and where language-police constantly survey our vocabulary for offences against the decency of the new dystopia; a world in which parental rights over children are denied by governments, who destroy the lives of the young as woke agendas not only allow, but even encourage confused minors to surgically, physically and mentally destroy themselves when identity is a source of confusion and doubt; a world in which political candidates feel fine in advocating abortion up to birth, and in which living and viable aborted children are left to die on surgical trollies.

The most chilling things is that we are surrounded by people who willingly and energetically dance to the crazed and frantic tune of this Herodian dystopia, in which governments compete not only for the crown, but to show their “worthiness” and conviction in advancing the brave new world.

A great curse was that Covid saw the leaven of Herod infect not only government and society, but sadly even the Church, as individuals danced so frantically to the frenzied rhythm of Herod’s tune, that they trampled the Holy Things of God in doing so.

In Greece, people happily reported priests who continued to commune the faithful, and bishops disciplined and suspended them for their Faith and Orthodoxy.

Closer to home, science-worshipping, but Christ-denying theoretically Orthodox totally abandoned the Holy Mysteries, and across Britain clergy who feared germs and Herod more than God and who showed more “faith” in science than in the Body and Blood of the Conqueror of Death, and who later appeared with the chalice like angels-of-death in black masks, ironically to impart the Bread of Life to the faithful.

The faithful were not permitted to venerate icons, which could so easily have been wiped, and a new iconoclasm was wedded to the eucharistic heresy of those who preached the Body and Blood of the Saviour as a source of infection and death, and not the Bread of Life.

After this, as though it was not bad enough, clergy beating the tambour and piping the melody for Salome’s dance, refused the unvaccinated entrance to Liturgy and access to the Holy Mysteries.

How the tyrannical spirit of Herod fills the world and even infects the Church, yet as children of the Resurrection, we face all of this darkness with courage, fulfilling the witness of the Holy Forerunner.

Like the Baptist, each of us must be willing to individually raise the prophetic voice, to oppose the madness and iniquity of the world; each of us needs to live the apostolic life, in witnessing for the Truth and spreading the good news of the freedom the Gospel brings, in contrast to the slavery to Herod; each of us needs to struggle to be earthly angels and heavenly people, seeking to build the Kingdom of God, not of Herod.

And, when we do this TOGETHER, no longer as limited, weak and feeble individuals, but AS THE CHURCH, we will do so not with the voice of the Forerunner, but with the voice of the Saviour Himself, Who has made us partakers of His Resurrection.

As the Church, like the Forerunner, we must speak for the Saviour, uniting in denouncing the iniquities and falsehood of the world, and decrying the tyranny of the latter-day Herods.

But for this we require unity: unity in seeking righteousness and holiness, unity in prayer, unity in the Holy Mysteries, unity in upholding and defending Sacred Tradition, unity in resisting assaults against the Faith and the Church, unity in preserving the purity of Orthodox teaching: united to proclaim the Way, the Truth and the life.

So, let us fast together, pray together, keep the feasts together, celebrate and share the Holy Mysteries together, rejoice in pilgrimage together, cooking, eating and having fellowship together, so that TOGETHER, we may traverse the spiritual wastes of the world and be like John, as angels-of-the-desert making straight the way of the Lord, proclaiming the Lamb of God, and knowing that He will come again in glory to lead the faithful into the Kingdom of Heaven, when the kingdoms of the countless modern Herods shall perish and cease.

In unity of Faith, united in Christ, united in His theandric Body – the Church – let us pray for and seek John’s boldness, neither compromising nor even counting the cost of TRUTH.

Amen!

Weekly News – 9 September

Posted on September 9, 2024September 9, 2024 by Father Mark

Dear brothers and sisters.

Greetings for the feast of St Phanourios the Newly-Revealed, of Rhodes!

As the children settle into new classes and a new term, and our students prepare to for the new academic year, we enter the last week of the Church year, with the beheading of the Forerunner on Wednesday being its last greater feast.

This year a Cheltenham Liturgy will mark the Church New Year, though we will celebrate vespers for the eve in the Oratory Church on Friday afternoon, as listed below.

Our last Cardiff Liturgy of the Church year, was a busy and well attended one, with parishioners having returned from their travels, a good complement of singers on the kliros, and many people confessing and communing.

This has been an interesting summer of sustained numbers, and quite different to past years, when congregations were much reduced during the summer months.

We are grateful to Father Mark “the Younger” for a homily, from which I’m sure the children (and not so young) benefited and gained a fundamental understanding of forgiveness and letting go of grudges and ill-feeling. Thank you, Father!

At the end of Liturgy, it was good to be able to celebrate a litia for the soul of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of Platina – of thrice-blessed memory – especially, given his place in the bringing of so many of us to REAL Orthodoxy, and exposing the modernist, revisionist, liberal imitations of Faith. Many of our British parishioners, as well as Hierodeacon Avraamy and I, and countless people in the Balkans and Eastern Europe have been taught, shaped and greatly influenced by the life, labours and writings of Father Seraphim, and await – with hope – the day when he will be officially numbered among the choir of the saints. Memory Eternal!

After José’s baptism, and his and Germaine’s wedding a week and a half ago, in the cathedral, we were very happy to have them with us before life on the Spain-Portugal border, with their departure mirrored by Lazarus, Liz and Piran moving to Wales at the end of the week. We hold them all in our prayers, as well as the parishioners who will be travelling in the next few weeks: Peter, Petr, Joanna, Masha, Natalia, as well as Allan and Olga currently on their Italian travels.

This remainder of the month is a very busy one, hence my taking a short break last week. As well as the mission Liturgies, and cathedral altar-feast, the return of our students and young people who have been away will bring added busyness to parish life, and I hope that as well as services listed below, there will be more parish activities, including the book-club, face-to-face catechesis, and time spent developing church reading and chanting – as I would very much like to develop men’s chant, whether Slavic or Byzantine within the parish.

We have a number of people who are very happy to read in church, and who wish to learn more about liturgics and the practices of reading in our tradition. This also opens the possibility of confident and competent reader services across the wide geographical breadth of the parish, and would be a good thing to do in Advent.

I would be very happy for us to mirror the Wessex end-of-month gathering for occasional home services in Cardiff, knowing that in the past parishioners have raised the idea of compline with a canon or akathist and spiritual talks in parish homes. This was how the Llanelli parish started, with a weekly home service. Such occasions could be used for the monthly lesser blessing of Holy Water, with a house blessing at the same time. Please share any ideas with the clergy.

As it is so busy, there will be no Saturday pilgrimage this month, and our next one will be to Lazarica in Birmingham to honour the Mother of God and venerate her Trojeručica-Hilandarska icon on Saturday 26 October.

Please see the September dates below.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

Hieromonk Mark

Tuesday 10 September: Great Vespers for the Eve of the Beheading of the Forerunner – The Oratory Church (Swinton Street, Cardiff CF24 2NT) at 15:00.

Thursday 12 September: Moleben to Venerable Alexander of Svir (1533) – The Oratory Church at 15:00. Confessions after the service.

Friday 13 September: Vespers for the New Church-Year – The Oratory Church at 15:00. Confessions after the service.

Saturday 14 September: Hours and Liturgy for the New Church Year – Prestbury United Reformed Church, Cheltenham, at 10:30. Confessions before the service.

Sunday 15 September: Hours and Liturgy – St Johns, Canton, at 11:00. Confessions before the service from 10:15.

Tuesday 17 September: Moleben to the Holy Passion-Bearer King Edward the Martyr – The Oratory Church at 15:00.

Thursday 19 September: Vespers for the commemoration of the Holy Great-Martyr Eustathius and his companions -The Oratory Church at 15:00.

Saturday 21 September: Nativity of the Mother of God: Hierarchical Liturgy in the London Cathedral at 09:00.

Sunday 22 September: Hours and Liturgy – St Johns, Canton, at 11:00. Confessions before the service from 10:15.

Monday 23 September: Wessex evening service and end of month meet up. Details from Porphyrios.

Tuesday 24 September: Vespers for the feast of St Sergius of Radonezh. The Oratory Church at 15:00.

Thursday 26 September: Great Vespers for the Exultation of the Cross – The Oratory Church at 15:00. Confessions after the service.

Friday 29 September: Hours and Liturgy for the Exultation of the Cross – The Oratory Church at 10:30. Confessions before the service.

Saturday 28 September: Hours and Liturgy for the After-feast of the Exultation of the Cross – Chapel of St Lawrence, Warminster, at 10:30. Confessions before the service.

Sunday 29 September: Hours and Liturgy for the Sunday after the Exultation of the Cross – St Johns, Canton, at 11:00. Confessions before the service from 10:15.

Weekly News – 1st September

Posted on September 1, 2024September 1, 2024 by Father Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings, as we continue to celebrate the octave of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, with today’s feast of her icon “The Giver of Reason.”

Thanks to all who laboured for the feast and this Sunday’s service.

We were very happy to celebrate Dormition in the Oratory Church, earlier in the week, with Great Vespers on Tuesday and the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday.

Thanks to Father Mark the Younger, for taking the lead on the feast, which was well attended for a weekday, and thanks to those who provided a lovely lunch in the church hall.

As you know, the second day of the feast took us to London, for José’s baptism in the lower cathedral, with Father Mark acting as José’s godfather.

It was a wonderful occasion, and one for which we have been praying, crowned with the joy of José and Mary’s wedding on Friday, and Father Mark communing them with the Most Pure Mysteries at the Saturday Liturgy.

Having time with José and Mary before their departure for mountain-life in Spain was a blessing, as was the opportunity to sit down with Chiswick friends for unrushed meals and much conversation about our parishes and spiritual life.

Though I had expected to concelebrate today, the morning developed in such a way that I read and sang, greatly enjoying being on the kliros.

We were pleased to serve a litia to the Saviour and the Mother of God, before her “Giver of Reason” icon, praying for our children and students for the new term, as they begin their studies. We very much hope that the new university term will bring more young people to the parish, and look forward to welcoming back those still on vocation.

After the thanksgiving prayers, Father Mark and I offered molebens for different parishioners, something that we are always happy to do, not to mention memorial services.

Father then performed his first baptism, for five-month-old Afanasia whose family live in Carmarthenshire. We congratulate them on this joyful occasion.

I am presently in Wells – a stone’s throw from Glastonbury – where I will spend some days in pilgrimage and prayer, resting and reading.

Please forward any prayer requests, as I will be serving molebens and memorial services, beginning this evening with a moleben to the Mother of God, in honour of the “Giver of Reason” icon.

On my return to Wales, I will celebrate Great Vespers in the Oratory Church, on Friday, and will be available to hear confessions.

We are greatly looking forward to welcoming José and Mary in Cardiff next Sunday: the feast of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

The New Church Year, on Saturday 14th September, will be celebrated in Cheltenham, with our monthly Liturgy in Prestbury United Reformed Church at 10:30.

The next Great Feast of the Church’s year will be the Nativity of the Mother of God, the cathedral altar-feast, on Saturday 21st September, new-style. It would be good to have parishioners to participate in the celebration of the feast in the cathedral.

This is one of the special occasions that brings people together from many parishes in the British part of our diocese, and a wonderful chance to meet brothers and sisters and to get to know our clergy.

The greeting of the bishop will be at 09:00, followed by the Hours, Hierarchical Liturgy and trapeza.

At the end of the month, we will celebrate the Exultation of the Cross, with a Liturgy provisionally arranged for Friday 27th September, in the Oratory Church – subject to having singers.

The following day, Saturday 28th September, our Wessex Liturgy will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster at 10:30.

After a busy September, our next pilgrimage will be our much-anticipated return to Lazarica – the magnificent church of St Lazar in Birmingham’s Bournville – to honour the Mother of God and venerate her Trojeručica-Hilandarska icon.

Last year’s visit made a great impression on parishioners, but our students were unable to come, due to on-line problems buying train tickets.

We hope that October will see everyone wishing to attend to be part of this return pilgrimage to the beautiful shrine and the wonderful parish, and for us to organise car shares well in advance.

Saturday Liturgy at Lazarica is at 09:00.

Please pray for José and Mary, and for Afanasia. We pray to God to grant them many, blessed years! Многая и благая лѣта!

We also ask for prayers for Lazarus and Liz, as they prepare to move from Poole to Cardiff in a few weeks, and for travellers, Jessica-Anne and her daughter Mary-Louisa, and Allan and Olga.

We continue to pray for the newly departed Archimandrite Germogen and for Jovana.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Let The Heavens Rejoice! The Dormition of the Mother of God

Posted on August 29, 2024August 30, 2024 by Father Mark

“Heaven receives thy soul with joy. The heavenly powers greet thee with sacred canticles and with joyous praise, saying: “Who is this most pure creature ascending, shining as the dawn, beautiful as the moon, conspicuous as the sun? How sweet and lovely thou art, the lily of the field, the rose among thorns; therefore the young maidens loved thee. We are drawn after the odour of thy ointments. The King introduced thee into His chamber. There Powers protect thee, Principalities praise thee, Thrones proclaim thee, Cherubim are hushed in joy, and Seraphim magnify the true Mother by nature and by grace of their very Lord. Thou wert not taken into heaven as Elias was, nor didst thou penetrate to the third heaven with Paul, but thou didst reach the royal throne itself of thy Son, seeing it with thy own eyes, standing by it in joy and unspeakable familiarity.”

First Homily on the Dormition: St John of Damascus

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings for the glorious feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, wherein the Saviour’s victory over death and the opening of the gates of paradise is realised in the translation of the Theotokos from death to life, and from earth to heaven.

It is our summer Pascha, in which we celebrate the rising and ascension of the Mother of God, who follows in the wake of her beloved Son, the first-fruit of the dead, called forth from her sleep by the Giver of Life, who trampled down death by death, bestowing life upon those who dwell in the graves, beginning with His own beloved mother.

When we contemplate the holy icons of her Dormition, the voice and tradition of the Church prompts us to appreciate that this wondrous event was one in which heaven and earth were united as the Mother of God, the Second Eve, was laid in the tomb and subsequently translated from earth to heaven.

We can easily forget how the heavens rejoiced, as the All-Pure Virgin was translated to glory, untouched by corruption, and exalted above the angelic ranks, as she who is “more honourable than the cherubim, and truly more glorious than the seraphim.”

Rather than seeing the feast only from an earthly perspective, focussing upon Gethsemane and the apostles, we must raise our minds to contemplate the glory of the Dormition and Assumption of the Mother of God from the perspective of the dwellers of heaven, appreciating that the angelic hosts and the saints of the Old Covenant eagerly awaited the arrival of the Theotokos.

We see Gethsemane, the Mother of God upon her deathbed, the apostles assembled by the angels and brought to Jerusalem from the “ends of the earth”.

We see them bidding farewell to the Mother of the Lord, forewarned of her Dormition three days earlier by the Archangel Gabriel; we reflect upon their hymns and prayers as they carry the Mother of God on the funeral bier to her sepulchre, and though knowing that the Lord received her all-pure soul, we easily fail to appreciate the joyful anticipation of those abiding in the heavens, and of the celestial attendants and celebration around her falling asleep.

St Jacob of Serug reminds us that the apostles were not the only assembly to gather around her deathbed and to perform the entombment of the Mother of God – as we see in the holy icons – as angelic hosts descend to participate in the rites in which the Theotokos was laid in her sepulchre, before being received, body and soul, into heaven, glorified by her Son and Lord.

St Jacob describes the joyful and expectant citizens of heaven, as the Dormition united the earthly and heavenly realms; a door from mortality to immortality; a concelebrated union of apostles and angels in the burial of the All-Pure Virgin, translated from temporality to eternal blessedness and glory:

“The ranks and companies and host of the sons of light; the tumult of the watchers and the fiery assemblies of flame; the fiery Seraphim, with their dense wings of flame, with legions and their heavenly battalions; the mighty Cherubim, who were yoked to his chariot; they trembled with wonder while singing praises with their hosannas.

The followers of Gabriel, assemblies more fiery than flame, were variously changed in their natures.

The followers of Michael, full of motion in their descent, were keeping the feast, exulting and rejoicing this day with their alleluias.

Heaven and the air were filled with the praise of the heavenly ones, who went forth and descended to the place of earth.”

In the first canon for the feast, St Cosmas of Maiuma goes so far as to write not simply of the angelic presence at the burial of the Mother of God, but seeing her entombment primarily celebrated by the angels, rather than the apostles:

“The choir of angels buried thy body, which had received God, gazing upon it with fear, and exclaiming with a loud voice: O Theotokos who ascendest to thy Son in the heavenly mansions, thou ever savest thine inheritance!”

Writing in the late second century, Melito of Sardis, narrated the descent of the Lord to the Tomb of the Virgin in Gethsemane, and the rolling away of the stone by the Great Taxiarch, the Archangel Michael, before the Saviour called His mother forth from her sepulchre:

“He ordered the archangel Michael to bring the soul of St. Mary. And, behold, the archangel Michael rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb; and the Lord said: Arise, my beloved and my nearest; thou who hast not put an corruption by intercourse with man, suffer not destruction of the body in the sepulchre. And immediately Mary rose from the tomb, and blessed the Lord, and falling forward at the feet of the Lord, adored Him, saying: I cannot render sufficient thanks to Thee, O Lord, for Thy boundless benefits which Thou hast deigned to bestow upon me Thine handmaiden. May Thy name, O Redeemer of the world, God of Israel, be blessed for ever.”

Furthermore, looking beyond the earthly and temporal, we may contemplate not only the angelic hosts rejoicing, but also the righteous-dead of the Old Testament, delivered from Hades by the Victorious Saviour in the harrowing of hell.

Unlike the holy forefathers, patriarchs and prophets (whom we see looking down upon the Dormition from the heavens in some icons), the Mother of God is not simply with her Son by spiritual presence, but also physically, through her translation in both body and soul: a sign and promise to all of humanity of the resurrection, to be fulfilled at the end of the ages.

St Jacob contemplates the joy of the righteous departed, some of them forebears of the Mother of God, as they see her assumed, glorified and welcomed into the heavens where they dwell, awaiting the resurrection of their own bodies.

He calls them to rejoice in the translation (metastasis) of the Mother of God: for Adam and Eve to rejoice as their daughter is welcomed into the eternal rest where they dwell; to Noah and Abraham, as their daughter visits them in their dwelling-place; to Jacob, seeing that the daughter sprouted from his root has called him into life; to the twelve patriarchs because she had visited them; to Judah, for this daughter who has given life is his descendent; to Joseph and Moses, as the Virgin calls all mankind to life, and to Aaron, Eleazar the priest and all the tribes of the sons of Levi with their priesthood.

He calls upon David the renowned forefather of both the Mother of God and the Saviour to rejoice, because his daughter has placed a glorious crown upon his head; to Samuel with Jeremiah, because the Mother of God, the daughter of Judah, drops dew on their bones; to Ezekiel, for the fulfilment of prophecy; and to the prophet Isaiah, because the Mother of God whom he prophesied has visited him in the place of the departed righteous ones.

Through St Jacob‘s poetic reflections, we see the celestial welcome, as angels and the righteous-departed rejoice as the Mother of God, is borne to heaven.

St John of Damascus reflects upon the reaction of Adam and Eve, as first-father and first-mother, who, remembering their own disobedience, joyfully see their restoration in their daughter’s entrance into heaven in both body and soul.

Through the Saviour’s Life-Giving death and Resurrection, the anticipated resurrection of the dead becomes a reality before them, as her Dormition and entrance into heaven becomes the sign of the opening of the gates of paradise, which they themsleves had closed, and the Mother of God becomes the ladder from earth to heaven.

“Then Adam and Eve, our first parents, opened their lips to exclaim, “Thou blessed daughter of ours, who hast removed the penalty of our disobedience! Thou, inheriting from us a mortal body, hast won us immortality. Thou, taking thy being from us, hast given us back the being in grace. Thou hast conquered pain and loosened the bondage of death. Thou hast restored us to our former state. We had shut the door of paradise; thou didst find entrance to the tree of life. Through us sorrow came out of good; through thee good from sorrow. How canst thou who art all fair taste of death ? Thou art the gate of life and the ladder to heaven. Death is become the passage to immortality. O thou truly blessed one!”

Raised to her heavenly place with her Son at the throne of glory, the words of the Psalmist were fulfilled: “The Queen didst stand at my right-hand, arrayed in a vesture of inwoven gold, adorned with various colours.” (Ps 45:9)

What is this vestment of inwoven gold, with the images of coloured embroidery and jewels?

Her vesture, prophetically described by King David, is her life of holiness and purity, adorned by the virtues of the spiritual life: “…a vessel containing every grace, the fulness of all things good and beautiful, the tablet and living icon of every good and all uprightness…” (St Gregory Palamas)

As such, she shows how we must seek to live our lives in honest contemplation of eternity, beyond the grave and beyond the dread judgement, “when the books will be opened, and all hidden things revealed.”

As the Hodegetria, “Who Shows the Way”, the life of the Mother of God was such a life of dedicated holiness, humility and obedience, showing Christians the way to live, and through doing so in preparation for the age to come, her Dormition shows Christians the way to die.

Let us seek to follow the great and saving example of the Mother of God in our lives, weak and feeble though we are, honouring her and her Holy Dormition by seeking to clothe ourselves in sanctity and adorning ourselves with spiritual virtues in the manner in which we live and prepare for the age to come, and in the way we face the certainty of death.

May our lives bring joy and exultation to the heavenly powers, and to the Mother of God, herself, as the Mother of the Church and protectress of Christians.

Having been translated from her earthly tomb, she has no need of our flowers, sweet smelling herbs, candles and incense, but rather calls us to offer lives striving for grace, and for good and beautiful things and uprightness: lives which make the heavens rejoice; lives following the steep, ascending path from earth to heaven, obediently following in the footsteps of the Saviour, as “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

“If we purify our mind with the body, we shall possess her grace. She shuns all impurity and impure passions. She has a horror of intemperance, and a special hatred for fornication. She turns from its allurements as from the progeny of serpents . . . She looks upon all sin as death-inflicting rejoicing in all good. Contraries are cured by contraries.

She delights in fasting and continence and spiritual canticles, in purity, virginity, and wisdom. With these she is ever at peace, and takes them to her heart. She embraces peace and a meek spirit, and love, mercy, and humility as her children. In a word, she grieves over every sin, and is glad at all goodness as if it were her own.

If we turn away from our former sins in all earnestness and love goodness with all our hearts, and make it our constant companion, she will frequently visit her servants, bringing all blessings with her, Christ her Son, the King and Lord who reigns in our hearts.”

Second Homily on the Dormition: St John of Damascus

Wishing you a radiant joyful feast! Amen.

Parish News: 25 August

Posted on August 25, 2024August 25, 2024 by Father Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

What a wonderful weekend this has been, and how blessed we are to have continued celebrating the after-feast of the Transfiguration not only in Cardiff, but also in the ancient church of St Laurence in Bradford-on-Avon.

Our pilgrimage to honour St Laurence brought pilgrims together from across the geographical breadth of the parish – from Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, from Bath and North East Somerset, from Chippenham and Warminster, from Poole, and the western reaches of the Kennet and Avon Canal – with Aleksandra visiting from London, and Orthodox visitors from Kent and East Anglia.

It was wonderful that such geographically scattered people gathered under the high roof of the ancient church, united in the Liturgy and the communion of the Lord’s Body and Blood. The Liturgy itself was a sign of unity, as was the lovely shared meal and time chatting between services.

Our day started wet and grey, and the smallness of the windows and narrow high doorways made for a dark interior, to which our eyes needed to adjust as we entered the ancient church. However, as we prepared the sanctuary and nave for worship, the interior came to life with candlelight, with our flower-decked icons flanking the high narrow entrance to the sanctuary – lit so beautifully by the seven-branched candelabrum generously bought by the chair of trustees of St Lawrence’s in Warminster, for our use in Wessex liturgies. It looked wonderful in the high, dark sanctuary, giving us much-needed light to celebrate upon the stone altar.

Our Liturgy followed the confessions of most of our pilgrims who partook of the Holy Mysteries. We congratulate them, and hope that the Grace of the Liturgy continues to give them strength.

It was wonderful for the church to resound with Orthodox chant, with incense smoke rising to the heights of the tall, narrow temple, and a blessing to honour the Holy Martyr Laurence the day after his feast. The reading of his canon during our afternoon moleben was a joy, with the refrains enthusiastically resounding in the now bright and sunny nave, with the Serbian and Athonite melodies of the ectenias greeting the steady stream of afternoon visitors.

For most of the visitors who came in and out during our services, it was probably their first living encounter with Orthodox Christianity, and stresses the importance of our pilgrimages in taking the Church into the world, where it can be encountered in all of its beauty.

We had hoped for a picnic outside, but the weather resulted in a picnic in the body of the church as the clouds gave way to blue sky and sun, so that by the time we chanted a joyful moleben to St Laurence after lunch, it felt like summer, once more.

Some of us enjoyed a short walk along the river to the ancient tithe-barn and a visit to the community orchard before sitting outside chatting over refreshments for an hour, enjoying the tea-time sun.

Thanks to all who contributed to such a wonderful, memorable day.

It is heartening to see the determined teamwork following our parish elections, and the hard work being invested in our community, whether in South Wales or across the Severn, among our Wessex faithful. The month since Father Mark’s ordination has seen great positivity, with parishioners being so proactive and generous in parish life.

Today’s Liturgy continued the after-feast, with the traditional blessing of fruit at the end of the service, and we were pleased to once again welcome our new visitors who have been with us over the last two or three weeks. Trapeza after Liturgy is proving so important in getting to meet new people, welcome them and introduce them to our community. Many thanks to our sisters, and all who have been helping with our post-Liturgy meal.

The last few days of the Dormition Fast are before us, and we will celebrate the Summer-Pascha, the Dormition of the Mother of God, on Wednesday. I will celebrate Great Vespers in the Oratory Church in Swinton Street on Tuesday at 15:00, and will hear confessions if needed after our service. The Hours and Divine Liturgy will then be celebrated there at 10:30 on Wednesday morning, and I am glad that Father Mark the Younger will be with us, allowing me to hear confessions whilst he performs proskomedia. We will share a bring-and-share lunch after Liturgy, as we have on previous Liturgy days.

Father Mark and I will spend the second and third days of the Dormition in London, where Germaine’s husband Jose will be baptised on Thursday, before their Orthodox Church wedding on Friday. Please keep them in your prayers.

When we assemble again, in St John’s, we will celebrate the after-feast of the Dormition Mother of God, and the Sunday of Dormition marks the feast of the Icon of the Mother of God “Enlightener of Minds” – “Pribavlenie Uma.”

Most of you will be aware of the repose of Branka’s grandmother, Jovana, who was remembered together with the newly reposed Archimandrite Germogen and handmaiden of God, Liubov in a litia after Liturgy. Please keep them, as well as Branka, Stefan and Tara in your prayers. Memory Eternal!

I very much look forward to celebrating Dormition and its after-feast with you!

Asking you forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

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