Thanks to all who have laboured so positively and willingly, working hard to ensure a glorious celebration of the Lord’s Nativity in which our has ensured beautiful, joyful services.
It was a great blessing to celebrate the Nativity Vigil and Liturgy in St Alban’s, with a goodly congregation of around sixty souls on Christmas morning, which was very good for a weekday.
I was very pleased that so many stayed for our wonderful trapéza, with lovely food, fellowship and conversation. Thanks to all who were so generous in providing such plentiful food and drink.
The day ended with a quiet and prayerful celebration of Great Vespers for the Synaxis of the Mother of God in the baptistery chapel, which we now intend to use for Orthodox services, having found it such a lovely place to pray. One of our parishioners has kindly ordered some icon tapestry banners for the walls to enhance worship even more.
Wednesday saw a moleben to the Mother of God, and Thursday a noontide moleben to the Holy Protomartyr and Apostle Stephen.
It was a great joy to lead the prayers for Branka’s family slava in the evening, honouring St Stephen and praying for God’s blessing and protection for the Terzić family. Srećna slava!
We celebrated the feast of the Holy Innocents in Warminster on Saturday, followed by our festive lunch, and enjoying time together.
With some of our parishioners away, yesterday’s congregation was a little reduced, but we were blessed to have Ed leading the kliros and Fr Mark the Younger and Hierodeacon Avraamy celebrate the service for us.
As announced after Liturgy, Menna has stepped down from the rôle of starosta, and for the meantime this position will remain abeyance whilst we concentrate on addressing the immediate challenges of finding a new place of worship. We are grateful for her labours over the last six months.
As updates, on the building front, I would like to report that I will visit St Faith’s Llanishen to view the building on tomorrow., and I am awaiting confirmation of when I can meet the ministry lead for Tremorfa to discuss possible use of St Philip’s in Tweedsmuir Avenue.
Also, Fr Dean of St Mary’s is discussing requested use of St Dyfrig and St Samson in Grangetown with the church officers.
Our final day in St John’s will be Sunday 9th February, though it would be unrealistic to expect to celebrate Liturgy that day and then remove our remaining liturgical requisites.
This week will see a return to Thursday and Friday services in the Oratory at 15:00 and an evening akathist at 18:00 in Nazareth House, between Thursday confessions.
As I will be in Cardiff to visit St Faith’s tomorrow morning, I will go to the Oratory Church to chant the canons for the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and St Basil at 15:00.
On Saturday, Fr Mark and I will head to Prestbury for the monthly Cheltenham Liturgy, and being the Eve of Theophany, we will perform the first Great Blessing of the Waters. We will commence the Hours at our old time of 10:00, and given the long service we need to start on time!
The second Great Blessing of the Waters will be celebrated after Sunday Liturgy in St John’s. Please remember to bring a clean bottle for Jordan water. Variables for the Liturgy may be found here:
If you would like the traditional Theophany house blessing, please arrange this with the parish clergy. With two priests, this should be easier, and we should endeavour to do so in the Octave of the Feast!
Would those who have ordered St Herman calendars please ensure that they collect them as soon as possible. The cost is £10.
Just a reminder that as the fast-free sviatky period, ends on Friday, Saturday is a fast day (without fish, wine and oil) in preparation for Theophany on Sunday.
Finally, some of our young men are beginning to learn some chants for Divine Liturgy, and any other gentlemen of the parish would be welcome to join us in trying to expand the choir and form a small group of men’s voices to help bring more English in worship.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters: Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
How blessed we have been to have such wonderful Nativity services in the Oratory Church, blessed by the warmth and generosity of the Oratorian Fathers, knowing that St Alban’s is a place where we are welcome: a place of love, generosity and boundless good will – reflecting the love which is the very meaning of the Incarnation of the Saviour, and of His glorious Nativity.
We celebrate the Nativity as the feast of Love-Incarnate, born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger, where we see the realisation of God’s immeasurable and selfless Incarnate-Love in action: love, which is neither abstract, nor an emotion, feeling or sentiment, but Love Who is a Person – and not any person, but the Creator-Saviour of all things, coming and dwelling among us, through Whom the whole Holy Trinity loves us and embraces us from within humanity itself – as Emmanuel: “God with us”!
Though we shall never be able to fully comprehend the depth of that Incarnate-Love, born in the lowly Bethlehem stable and laid in the manger, we know that it was so strong that the Only-Begotten Son and Word of God came down to earth from heaven, and was ready to not only become man, but the Man of Sorrows, Who would be mocked and beaten, and go to the Life-Giving Cross like a lamb to the slaughter, with love so unshakeable and immovable that He would remain silent, enduring torture and the agony of the Cross for us: agony because He did not simply look human, but was truly human.
Love and mercy would render Almighty God mute and silent, as the works of His own hands beat Him, mocked Him, spat in His face, wounded and pierced Him: such was the power and enormity of His love!
In Him, born in the cave and laid in the manger, we see Love-Incarnate, Who accepted a human heart to overflow with love for His whole creation, and to be pierced on the Cross not only by salvific-love, but by the cold iron of the centurion’s lance;
Love-Incarnate Whose human hands reached out to heal and comfort;
Love-Incarnate Who accepted human feet, to journey the highways and bye-ways with His in His saving ministry of love and salvation, with human lips and tongue speaking the life-giving words of the Gospel;
Love-Incarnate Whose arms opened wide on the Cross to embrace the whole world;
Love-Incarnate Whose shoulders bore not only the Cross – the Tree of Life – but also the sin and weight of all humanity;
Love-Incarnate Whose body – victoriously lifted up on the Cross – flowed with the life-blood offered and shed in redemptive, sacrificial-love for us all.
In the Incarnation, we see the earthly manifestation of the love that is the very nature of God: eternally existing in the loving relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the physical realisation of a love that is the bond of divine-unity, in the reciprocal, self-giving of each of the Divine persons of the Holy Trinity to one another.
From within this perfect but expansive Triune fellowship of love, it was in actively seeking to love something outside of His Triune self, that God created heaven and the earth, with creation as the physical manifestation and material realisation of His love: something external and other than Himself that He could love, care for and sustain.
Within this creation, humanity manifested God’s desire to not only have creation to love, but to have a reciprocal and personal loving relationship with His creation. God created man to love Him, to be loved by Him and to be in a relationship of loving communion!
When humanity rebelled and fell away from God, His wonderful, all-embracing love then became the very meaning of the economy of salvation and the wonder of the Incarnation.
In a divine reaching-down to redeem and restore, this love was the very reason that God entered into creation in humanity itself, clothing Himself in human nature to heal and restore mankind, not to an earthly paradise, but to something far greater: the eternal glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.
As we joyfully announce “Christ is Born!” we contemplate the beginning of this heavenly calling and heavenward journey, lying quietly in the manger, as a new-born babe but a few hours old, worshipped by shepherds and given precious gifts by the eastern magi.
But beyond this apparent newness of this life, we recognise the Pre-Eternal Son, the Word of God, Who created heaven and the earth, and know that the Christ-Child is the same Lord, Who is the maker of heaven and earth,
Yahweh-the-Lord walking and talking with Adam and Eve in the coolness of the day;
the same Lord Who visited Abraham and Sarah to promise them a son and Who stopped the sacrificial hand of Abraham to save Isaac;
the same Lord Who wrestled with Jacob at Bethel;
the same Lord Who spoke to Moses from the Burning Bush and gave Him the Law on Sinai;
the same Lord Whom Ezekiel saw upon the awesome chariot-throne in the heavens;
and the same Lord Who Daniel encountered in the Ancient of Days.
As St John Chrysostom preached in his His Homily on the Nativity:
“The Ancient of Days has become an infant. The One seated on a high and exulted throne is now lying in a manger. The One Who cannot be touched and is bodiless is now held in human hands. The One Who breaks the chains of sin is now wrapped in swaddling clothes, for this is what He willed. He desired to transform dishonour into glory, to clothe shame with splendour, and to show the power of virtue through the humble form of a servant.”
And the whole meaning of this divine condescension can be encapsulated and summarised in that one word, LOVE: love which seeks not justice for humanity, but to overflow with God’s mercy and compassion, and His desire to restore the loving communion which He established when He created man from the dust of the earth and breathed into His nostrils the breath of life.
As we celebrate the Nativity, we must remind ourselves that God created humanity to not simply be a passive and inert recipient of His love, but to grow in perfection and holiness within the relationship and the communion it had, and still continues to have with Him – for despite the fall, and consequential sin and death, our All-Loving God has not abandoned this intention.
In the Incarnation He has restated this calling, through
“The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.”
(St Irenaeus of Lyons: Against Heresies, Book 5, Preface)
The Incarnation, the Nativity and the whole economy of salvation were acts of God’s new creation, to put right what had gone wrong – our calling to restoration through the Lord’s conjoining of our humanity with His divinity.
Through His love, we continue to be called to be children of God in eternal communion and blessedness with Him, and adopted children and heirs of the promise, called to grow in perfection, holiness, and perfect love.
But, unless we live to love not only God, but also one another, the Nativity and Incarnation become meaningless, as we fail to be icons of the Incarnate Word Who has ordered us,
“A new commandment “I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
(John 13:34-35, Matthew 22:34-40)
If we fail to love and thereby obey this divine command, we reject the Nativity, and as much as we celebrate the wonder of the birth of Christ, our hymns of praise will be hollow, our prayers meaningless, and our offerings an insult to our Saviour and Lord.
Whether the birth of the Saviour and the Incarnation have any real meaning in our lives will be reflected in whether we accept or reject God’s commandment to love not only Him, but also our neighbour.
By loving, or not loving, we choose whether we accept or reject the Prince of Peace, and whether His birth has any meaning and real significance in our lives.
We repeatedly greet one another and proclaim the feast with the joyful proclamation, “Christ is born!” and the joyful answer’ “Glorify Him!”, but we can only glorify Him if the love of His Incarnation is reflected and manifested in our lives, as the bond of communion, kinship, solidarity and unity with one another as well as with God.
If Christ truly dwells within us, each of our hearts must be a fitful and worthy manger, in which love abides as the condition for His Presence. His expansive and limitless love can only coexist with our reciprocal love, reflecting Him in our lives.
We must each proactively reflect the love-in-action of His Incarnation, and the world must encounter God’s love in us, not as something theoretical but real and tangible, through which the world knows that we are disciples of the Lord, Who was born in Bethlehem to call us to the glory of the Kingdom.
Not only our mouths, but also our deeds must gratefully and lovingly announce “Christ is Born!” and each day of our lives must proclaim “Glorify Him!” And, let them be lives of gratitude to the Lord, Who came from heaven to raise us to its glorious heights.
“Let us not be ungrateful to the Benefactor, but rather bring forth, as much as we are able, faith, hope, love, chastity, mercy, and kindness.”
(St John Chrysostom: Homily on the Day of the Nativity of Christ)
May our love proclaim the wonder of the Incarnation, and that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us; full of grace and truth.”
Love was His meaning. Let it be our meaning, also – living and abiding in us, for His sake and to His glory.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, on this forefeast of Christmas, as the white vestments of the clergy proclaim the nearness of the Lord’s Nativity, the ancient pre-festal hymns of the Church urge us to make ready and hasten to the city of David, and for Bethlehem itself and the land of Judah to be ready for the coming of the promised Saviour,
“Make ready, O Bethlehem, Eden hath been opened unto all. Prepare, O Ephratha, for the Tree of life hath blossomed in the cave from the Virgin…”
“Гото́вися, Вифлее́ме, отве́рзися всем, Еде́ме, красу́йся, Евфра́фо, я́ко дре́во живота́ в верте́пе процвете́ от Де́вы…”
In the aposticha of vespers we hear,
“Behold, the hour of our salvation draweth nigh! Make ready, O cave, for the Virgin approacheth to give birth!
… and today’s pre-festal matins canon urges the created world and its people to celebrate because the Saviour is nearly here, even calling past generations to rejoice.
“Ye mountains and hills, fields and vales, people and generations, nations and every creature: exult, filled with divine gladness, for the deliverance of all, the Word of God, the Timeless One, Who in His loving-kindness hath come under time, doth come with haste.”
“Горы ́и хо́лми, поля́ и де́бри, лю ́дие и коле́на, язы ́цы и вся́кое дыха́ние, воскли́кните, весе́лия Боже́ственнаго исполня́еми: прии́де и приспе́ всех избавле́ние, Сло́во Бо́жие Безле́тное, под ле́том за милосе́рдие бы ́вшее.”
In today’s Gospel of Christ’s forebears, called to “exult, filled with divine gladness…”, we have heard great names from among these generations, from Abraham, called to be the the Father of the Promise, through the centuries Christ’s ancestors who were God’s human-preparation for the moment in which Godhood – divinity – would be joined with humanity, and born as a little Child, both divine and human and laid in a manger.
Once again, we have heard the familiar poetry of the genealogy of the generations of the ancestors of Christ: how “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren…”, and in the succeeding generations, we have heard familiar names – Jesse, David, Solomon – as well as unfamiliar names, encountering the Old Testament and the Old Covenant established through Abraham, as the unfolding history of our salvation, as humanity drew closer and closer to the birth of the Saviour.
The oikos of the canon, addressing the Mother of God goes even further than this, saying that “the God-loving Abraham, the ever-memorable Isaac, Jacob and all the divinely assembled choir of saints rejoice, and, with joyous utterances, they lead creation forth to meet thee.”
…a powerful image, teaching us that in God’s plan of salvation, not only humanity, but the whole of creation is led forward, towards the Mother of God and to Christ her newborn Son by the very generations of holy fathers that we commemorate in these Sundays before the Nativity.
These generations of the Messiah’s ancestors are God’s saving plan in action, and a reminder that though humanity was banished from paradise, that same humanity was NOT banished from taking a central place and an essential part in His plan of salvation.
Even though the fiery angel stood at the gates of Eden to stop exiled mankind returning to the Tree of Life, and even though humanity was banished from Paradise, at the same time, human nature was being used by God to bring His plan of salvation to fruition and realisation.
The All-Loving God, would not save humanity from the outside, through an external act of salvation. No! He would save humanity and the world from from the inside, having chosen that Abraham and his descendants would not only be included in His plan of salvation, but that they would be vital and absolutely necessary for this to be accomplished.
In an act of sacrificial-love, God Himself would not simply come and dwell within the human world, as a divine visitor, but would go so far as to to clothe Himself in humanity; the Creator putting on creation… and the Creator-Messiah-Saviour, would lift up His creation with Himself on the Cross; would restore that creation through His life-giving death; would raise that creation with Himself in His third-day Resurrection; and would translate that creation, in His humanity to the heights of heaven.
Abraham led his family and tribe from Ur, in Chaldea, to new life in Israel; Moses led the children of Israel from captivity to the freedom of new life in the Promised Land; but Christ, the God-Man, born in the cave and laid in the manger, came to ultimately lead His people not to an earthly promised land, but to everlasting glory and eternal life of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In history, time and space, the Creator-Saviour a set this heavenward journey of humanity into motion in the calling of Abraham to leave his homeland, to journey to a new land, with the divine promise, that in him, all the people of the world would be blessed.
Thus, we could say that the human-journey to Bethlehem began when Abraham was obedient to God.
The humanity that the Pre-Eternal Son put on in the womb of the Mother of God, through her obedience to God’s calling, is the fruit of Abraham’s obedience and faith, and the obedience and faith of all of those generations that link Abraham to Christ.
Starting with Abraham, today’s reading from St Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews says that,
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country…
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac…
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph…
By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel…
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Faith is the constant thread that runs through these successive generations, and the relationship of the righteous ancestors of Christ with God was built on the rock of this faith, but despite this, we hear, “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise…”
Although they were essential to the promise, and though it came through them, they could not see that promise in their earthly lives, as Christ deigned that He would come after them in their flesh, but we rejoice that the day of their rejoicing did come when the Lord’s Body was placed not in the manger, but in the Life-Giving Tomb, in soul He descended into the depths of Hades, and stripped it bare of all of His righteous ancestors, who had played their part in the Divine plan to redeem mankind, and though they await the resurrection of the body, they dwell in heaven with Him Who their Lord and God, and yet also their own child, their own flesh and kin through the wonder of the Incarnation and the Nativity
When the Word became flesh in the wonder of the Incarnation, He was flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone, put on, in humility for their sake, and for their salvation.
When the Saviour spoke the saving words of the Gospel, it was with the tongue and lips that He – in divine humility – received from His forefathers.
When the Saviour walked through the towns and villages of Palestine, and even when He walked upon the waves of the see, it was on the feet that He – in divine humility – had received from His forefathers.
When the Saviour, touched the sick and healed them, when He took morsels of food and fed thousands, when He broke the bread and blessed the wine of the Last Supper, it was with the hands that He – in divine humility – received from His forefathers.
When the crown of thorns was thrust down upon His head, it was the head that He – in divine humility – received from His forefathers.
When He opened His arms wide on the Cross for the sake of the whole word, they were arms that He – in divine humility – received from His forefathers.
When saving and life-giving blood and water flowed from His pierced side, it was blood and water, which – in divine humility – He received from His forefathers.
When the Lord rose from the dead, and Thomas felt the wounds in His limbs, and placed his hand on the wound in the Saviour’s side, it was the risen, triumphant and risen body, that the Giver of Life – in divine humility – had received from His forefathers.
And when the Lord ascends in glory, surrounded by the holy angels, and takes human nature into heaven, to be glorified by all of the angelic ranks, it is the humanity that He, not only in divine-humility, but also in His sacrificial love received from His forefathers.
This is His sign of the final fulfilment of His promise to Abraham, which is ultimately not earthbound, terrestrial and material, but heavenly and spiritual.
In embracing humanity, and making that humanity part of His divine plan and economy of salvation, God calls the forefathers, the righteous of both the Old Covenant and circumcision, and the New Covenant through Holy Baptism, to be with Him in the everlasting glory of the age to come.
It is through the faith, obedience, and sacrifices of the forefathers, that we now approach the Nativity to worship and adore the new born Saviour together with the shepherds and the magi, celebrating all who were not simply human details in God’s divine plan, but the very rungs on which God came down from earth to heaven, to be Emmanuel: God With Us.
And it is through the willing and devoted part of the holy fathers in the divine plan, that we are called with them, not to an earthly paradise, but to the eternal glory of heaven to be with God, Who calls us to be children and heirs of the promise.
Already the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers signals that we are approaching the end of the Nativity Fast, and it was heartening to hear their names during vespers in the Oratory yesterday afternoon.
“O ye faithful, let us praise today all the fathers of the old Law: Abraham, the beloved of God, and Isaac, who was born according to the promise, and Jacob and the twelve patriarchs, the most meek David, and Daniel, the prophet of desires, glorifying with them the three youths that transformed the furnace into dew, and who ask remission of Christ God, Who is glorified in His saints.”
The troparion describes these righteous forefathers of the Old Law as the sign of the Saviour’s betrothal to the Church, since it was from their line and descent that the Mother of God would blossom in the world, and through her that the Word became flesh and establish His Church, the New Israel, the Chosen people of God.
“By faith Thou didst justify the Forefathers, when through them Thou didst betroth Thyself aforetime to the Church that was from among the nations. The Saints boast in glory that from their seed there is a glorious fruit, even she that bore Thee seedlessly. By their prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.”
These are the very righteous that the Lord would deliver from Hades when the Kingdom of death was conquered and harrowed in His resurrection, when His body lay not in a manger, but in the life-giving tomb.
Next weekend, on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers we will hear the Gospel of the genealogy of the Saviour, with its poetry of the ancestral generations leading to the Nativity of Christ. Though it ends in a predictably patriarchal Middle Eastern way with St Joseph the betrothed, rather than the Theotokos at its end, this family tree also largely represents her tribal descent from Abraham through Judah and subsequently from King David, though the Jewish laws of adoption alone made the forefathers of Joseph, the forefathers of the Saviour, his adopted and legal “son”.
In these pre-festal Sundays, we celebrate the ancestors of the Saviour as the steps on which He descended to earth from heaven, with the Mother of God not simply as one of those steps, but the “heavenly ladder, by which God came down,” and the “bridge leading from earth to heaven” (The Akathist Hymn). As their progeny, she was the gift of the Holy Forefathers to the Lord, and indeed to the world, and her gift was our humanity in which the Saviour, as the God-Man, was clothed and effected our salvation.
Let us be encouraged by the example of the forefathers: by the sacrificial obedience, loyalty and trust of Abraham; by the humility of Isaac, his trust in God to provide, and his unquestioning obedience to His father; by the great endurance and labour of Jacob; by the humility, steadfastness, honesty, trustworthiness and purity of Joseph – then, today, on the commemoration of the Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths, let us learn from their refusal to compromise the Faith, and their willingness to endure hardship, suffering and even martyrdom for God, in whom they trusted and placed their hope.
This week’s services will be:
Thursday 2 January: Vespers in the Oratory Church at 15:00, with confessions heard before and after the service – Akathist and Confessions in Nazareth House at 18:00
Friday 3 January: Advent Moleben in the Oratory Church on Friday at 15:00
Sunday 5 January: Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers – St John’s Church, Canton, at 11:00.
… and Christmas services, as announced:
Monday 6 January: Christmas Eve, Vigil at 18:30.
Tuesday 7 January: Nativity Liturgy at 10:30. Great Vespers (for the Synaxis) at 15:00
Wednesday 8 January: Synaxis of the Mother of God, Liturgy at 10:30. Great Vespers (for St Stephen) at 15:00.
Thursday 9 January: St Stephen: Liturgy at 10:30. Vespers at 15:00. (Additional services may be celebrated if support is forthcoming)
The Liturgy for the feast of the Holy Innocents, will be celebrated in Warminster on Saturday 11 January, and the next Cheltenham Liturgy on the eve of Theophany, Saturday 18 January, at 10:30.
Many thanks to all who contributed to today’s Liturgy, and at a time when our community is under strain due to our forthcoming exit from St John’s, lack of definite new home, and some differing perspectives on our situation, I ask you to join your prayers to those added in the Liturgy for the increase of love, perhaps adding the troparia to you daily prayers.
Troparion, Tone 4: Thou didst bind Thine Apostles in the bonds of love, O Christ, and hast firmly bound us, Thy faithful servants, to Thyself, that we may fulfil Thy commandments and have unfeigned love for one another, through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Only Lover of Mankind.
Kontakion, Tone 5: Kindle our hearts with the flames of love for Thee, O Christ God, That being inflamed by this, in heart, mind and soul, we may love Thee with all our strength, and our neighbour as ourselves, and that keeping Thy commandments, we may glorify Thee the Giver of all good.
1 John 3:1, 10–11, 16, 18; 4: 9–11, 20–21: Beloved: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
From the Gospel of John (13: 34–35; 15: 12–14): The Lord said to His disciples: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Тропарь, глас 4: Сою́зом любве́ апо́столы Твоя́ связа́вый, Христе́, и нас Твои́х ве́рных рабо́в к Себе́ тем кре́пко связа́в, твори́ти за́поведи Твоя́ и друг дру́га люби́ти нелицеме́рно сотвори́, моли́твами Богоро́дицы, Еди́не Человеколю́бче.
Кондак, глас 5: Пла́менем любве́ распали́ к Тебе́ сердца́ на́ша, Христе́ Бо́же, да то́ю разжига́еми, се́рдцем, мы́слию же и душе́ю, и все́ю кре́постию на́шею возлю́бим Тя, и и́скренняго своего́ я́ко себе́, и повеле́ния Твоя́ храня́ще сла́вим Тя, всех благ Да́теля.
Соборного послания Иоаннова чтение (1 Ин. 3:1, 10–11, 16, 18; 4: 9–11, 20–21): Возлюбленнии, видите, какову любовь дал есть Отец нам, да чада Божия наречемся и есмы. Сего ради явлена суть чада Божия и чада диаволя. Всяк не творяй правды, несть от Бога, и не любяй брата своего. Яко се есть завещание, еже слышасте исперва, да любим друг друга. О сем познахом любовь, яко Он по нас душу Свою положи: и мы должны есмы по братии души полагати. Чадца моя, не любим словом, ниже языком, но делом и истиною. О сем явися любы Божия в нас, яко Сына Своего Единороднаго посла Бог в мир, да живи будем Им. О сем есть любы, не яко мы возлюбихом Бога, но яко Той возлюби нас, и посла Сына Своего во очищение о гресех наших. Возлюбленнии, аще сице возлюбил есть нас Бог, и мы должни есмы друг друга любити. Аще кто речет, яко люблю Бога, а брата своего ненавидит, лож есть: ибо не любяй брата своего, егоже виде, Бога, Егоже не виде, како может любити? И сию заповедь имамы от Него, да любяй Бога, любит и брата своего.
От Иоанна Святаго Евангелия чтение, зач. 46 от полу (13, 34–35; 15, 12–14): Рече Господь Своим учеником, заповедь новую даю вам, да любите друг друга: якоже возлюбих вы, да и вы любите себе. О сем разумеют вси, яко Мои ученицы есте, аще любовь имате между собою. Сия есть заповедь Моя, да любите друг друга, якоже возлюбих вы. Больши сея любве никтоже имать, да кто душу свою положит за други своя. Вы друзи Мои есте, аще творити, елика Аз заповедаю вам.
Kontakion 1: O holy hierarch and wonderworker Spyridon, who hast been glorified by the Lord! Celebrating now thy most honoured memory, with tenderness we cry out to thee, as one who art able greatly to assist us with Christ Who hath glorified thee: From all misfortunes and evil deliver us, that we may cry out to thee in thanksgiving: Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Ikos 1: Adorned from thy youth with all the virtues, and emulating the angels of Christ in thy life, O holy hierarch Spyridon, thou didst truly show thyself to be His friend. And beholding thee, the heavenly man and earthly angel, we cry out to thee with tenderness:
Rejoice, mind contemplating the mysteries of the All-holy Trinity;
Rejoice, thou who hast been enriched by the all-radiant splendour of the Spirit!
Rejoice, beacon of great brilliance;
Rejoice, thou who didst enlighten thy mind with dispassion!
Rejoice, thou who didst love true simplicity and serenity from childhood;
Rejoice, adornment of chastity!
Rejoice, inexhaustible torrent of love;
Rejoice, for thou didst emulate the hospitality of Abraham!
Rejoice, for in an abundance of love thou didst open the doors of thy house to all;
Rejoice, intercessor for the poor!
Rejoice, thou before whom men offer reverence;
Rejoice, for thou art the abode of the All-Holy Spirit!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontakion 2: Beholding thine incorrupt relics, from which abundant healings flow, the island of Cyprus and all Christian lands rejoice, O holy hierarch; and, honouring thee as a fountain overflowing with grace sent down upon us from on high, we cry out to the ultimate Bestower of the good things of heaven and earth: Alleluia!
Ikos 2: Possessing divine understanding, while yet a shepherd of dumb sheep thou wast chosen to be the shepherd of the reason-endowed sheep by the providence of Christ the Chief Shepherd. And, understanding thee to be a good shepherd who showest untiring care for thy flock, the faithful cried out:
Rejoice, O high priest of God Most High, who received divine grace in abundance at thy consecration;
Rejoice, most luminous lamp, burning and shedding light!
Rejoice, faithful husbandman in the garden of Christ;
Rejoice, shepherd who nurtured thy flock on the meadow of faith and piety!
Rejoice, thou who hast illumined the world with the rays of thy virtues;
Rejoice, thou who offered the divine sacrifice at the throne of Christ!
Rejoice, hierarch adorned with the understanding of Orthodoxy;
Rejoice, thou who art full of the teaching of the apostles, giving drink to the faithful with the streams of the doctrine of salvation!
Rejoice, for thou didst shed light upon the wise;
Rejoice, for thou didst make new the hearts of the simple!
Rejoice, glory of the Orthodox and unshakeable foundation of the Church;
Rejoice, adornment of the Faith, glory and boast of reverent priests!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 3: Thou wast shown to be divinely wise by the power of the Most High which overshadowed thee, O holy hierarch Spyridon; and, grasping a tile in thy hand, thou didst manifestly demonstrate to all the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead. Wherefore, the philosophers of false knowledge assembled at the Council were stricken with awe, but the faithful glorified our unfathomable God Who made thee wise unto salvation, crying out to Him: Alleluia!
Ikos 3: All the Fathers of the Council, considering thee to be a simple man, unskilled in book learning, begged thee, O father Spyridon, not to enter in debate with the rhetor whom they thought to be wise. Yet, aflame with zeal for God, O holy hierarch, and believing that the preaching of Christ lieth not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the manifestation of the Spirit and of power, thou didst most wisely reprove and admonish him, and didst guide him to the way of truth. And seeing this wonder, all cried out:
Rejoice, light of Orthodox wisdom;
Rejoice, for thou didst put to shame the disputers who were said to be wise!
Rejoice, abundant wellspring of grace;
Rejoice, unshakable tower holding fast those who are in the Faith!
Rejoice, thou who dost cast most pernicious heresy into darkness;
Rejoice, thou by whom foolishness was trampled underfoot!
Rejoice, for in thy hands the dust of the earth proclaimed the Holy Trinity;
Rejoice, for from the tile thou didst bring forth fire and water to confirm the dogma of the Holy Trinity!
Rejoice, for thou didst enlighten the people to glorify the Word Who is truly of one Essence with the all-unoriginate Father;
Rejoice, for thou didst crush the serpent’s head of the pernicious heresy of Arius!
Rejoice, for by thee was enmity slain;
Rejoice, thou who didst convert to the true Faith the unbelieving wise man who disputed with thee!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 4: Leading thy life in poverty and want, thou wast a nurturer and helper of the poor and unfortunate; thou didst transform a serpent into gold in thy love, and didst give it to one who asked thine aid. And marvelling at this miracle, we cry out to God in thanksgiving: Alleluia!
Ikos 4: It hath been heard by all and in every place, that the holy hierarch Spyridon is a habitation of the Holy Trinity; for God the Father, God the Word, and God the Holy Spirit dwelt within him. Wherefore, by word and deed thou hast preached the true incarnate God to all Christians, who cry out:
Rejoice, initiate of the mysteries of the words of God;
Rejoice, thou who hast made clear God’s blueprint for the salvation of the world!
Rejoice, for thou didst teach us not to test that which transcendeth the knowledge and wisdom of man;
Rejoice, thou who didst show forth the unfathomable power of God which worketh within thee!
Rejoice, for through thy mouth God Himself spake;
Rejoice, for all heeded thee, to their delight!
Rejoice, thou who didst drive away the gloom of idolatry;
Rejoice, for thou didst lead many to the true Faith!
Rejoice, for thou didst crush the heads of invisible serpents;
Rejoice, for through thee is the Christian Faith glorified!
Rejoice, for thou dost splendidly illumine all who call thee blessed;
Rejoice, champion of the Christian Faith and Orthodoxy!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 5: Thou wast full of the divine Spirit, O holy hierarch Spyridon, because of thy virtuous life; for thou wast meek, merciful, pure of heart, patient, not mindful of the evils done thee, and hospitable. Wherefore, the Creator hath shown thee to be most glorious in miracles; and, glorifying God Who hath glorified thee, we cry out to Him: Alleluia!
Ikos 5: We see Spyridon, the great wonderworker, as an equal of the angels. For once the land was stricken with drought and suffered greatly from the lack of water; and there was famine and contagion, and a multitude of men perished. But by the supplications of the holy hierarch rain fell from heaven upon the earth, and the people, delivered from this misfortune, cried out in gratitude:
Rejoice, thou who didst emulate the great Prophet Elijah;
Rejoice, for in due season thou didst bring down rain, dispelling famine and affliction!
Rejoice, for again by thy supplications thou didst close the sky up again;
Rejoice, for thou didst punish the pitiless merchant with the deprivation of his possessions!
Rejoice, for thou didst give food in abundance unto those who asked;
Rejoice, for thou didst move God to loving compassion for the people!
Rejoice, thou who takest away the weakness of the infirm;
Rejoice, helper of men, full of the grace of God!
Rejoice, thou who grantest health to the sick;
Rejoice, thou before whom the demons tremble!
Rejoice, wellspring of countless miracles;
Rejoice, fountain gushing forth the grace of God!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 6: The veil of the Old Testament tabernacle covered the ark, the manna and the tablets of the law in the Holy of Holies. And thy temple, O holy hierarch Spyridon, hath thy shrine as its ark, thy holy relics as manna, and thy heart as tablets of divine grace, whereon we see graven the hymn: Alleluia!
Ikos 6: Once, because iniquity had increased, the Lord punished the people of Cyprus. causing their land to become barren. When a farmer known to the holy Spyridon came, begging help, the saint gave him gold. But when the misfortune had passed, and that farmer returned the gold to the saint, – O, the wonder! – the gold turned into a serpent! Glorifying God, Who is wondrous in His saints, let us cry out:
Rejoice, for thou didst emulate Moses, who miraculously transformed his staff into a snake;
Rejoice, loving pastor, who deliverest the reason-endowed sheep of thy flock from misfortunes!
Rejoice, thou who dost abundantly enrich all with every good thing;
Rejoice, thou who, like Elijah, didst feed the poor!
Rejoice, thou who movest the pitiless to mercy;
Rejoice, example of love for men living in the world to emulate!
Rejoice, consolation of both believers and the unbelieving amid tribulations;
Rejoice, tree of goodly foliage, overshadowing our city and land!
Rejoice, glory and boast of Kerkyra;
Rejoice, thou who, by the grace of God, hast dominion over wet and dry weather, heat and cold!
Rejoice, thou who didst alter the laws of earth by thy prayer;
Rejoice, thou who didst foresee things to come as though they were in the present!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 7: Thou wast shown to be a mediator for all before the Lord, O holy hierarch Spyridon. Wherefore, we flee beneath thy shelter, seeking salvation; for we all have thee as our helper amid all necessity, during famine, deadly plague and all manner of misfortunes and trials. For this cause we cry out to God with thanksgiving: Alleluia!
Ikos 7: A new and magnificent wonder did we see, O father, when, going forth to deliver the man condemned to death though innocent, thou didst find a rushing torrent barring thy path; but thou didst command it to halt in the name of God Almighty, and didst cross the river with thy companions as though it were dry land. The fame of this miracle spread far and wide, and all glorified God, crying out to thee:
Rejoice, thou who didst cross the river, as once Joshua, son of Nun, crossed Jordan;
Rejoice, thou who didst tame the rushing of the river by thy voice alone!
Rejoice, for, moved by compassion, thou didst undertake a difficult journey;
Rejoice, for thou didst expose the slander and deliver the innocent man from the bonds of imprisonment and a violent death!
Rejoice, good fellow labourer in the Godly life;
Rejoice, defender of those unjustly oppressed!
Rejoice, thou who didst alter the laws of the nature of water;
Rejoice, for thou didst admonish the judge and save the innocent from execution!
Rejoice, true correction of souls;
Rejoice, wondrous power which restrained the torrent!
Rejoice, thou who dost make sweet the hearts of those who have recourse unto thee;
Rejoice, emulator of Abraham’s love for man!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 8: A stranger and sojourner wast thou on earth, as are all men. Yet from thy mother’s womb the Omniscient One showed thee forth to be a great favourite and wonderworker, O holy hierarch Spyridon; for thou expellest demons, healest every illness and wound, and perceivest the thoughts of men. Wherefore, thou art shown to be wondrous among the saints. And sending up supplication to God, the Benefactor of all, we cry out to Him: Alleluia!
Ikos 8: The whole world was seized with great awe when it heard that death giveth up the dead from the tombs at the sound of thy voice; and it cried out:
Rejoice, thou who recalled to life thine own dead daughter, to allow her to reveal the location of the treasure that the widow has entrusted to her;
Rejoice, thou who didst console the grieving widow who had given gold into thy daughter’s care!
Rejoice, thou who didst restore the dead boy to life;
Rejoice, thou who didst revive his mother, who had died suddenly in her joy!
Rejoice, for thou didst emulate Elijah, who by his supplications returned to life the son of the woman of Zarephath;
Rejoice, for thou didst also emulate Elisha, who roused a boy from death!
Rejoice, pastor who truly loved men;
Rejoice, thou who, in the name of God, didst absolve the sins of the harlot who washed thy feet with her tears!
Rejoice, thou who didst acquire the holy zeal of the pre-eminent apostle;
Rejoice, for, at thy word, the unrepentant sinful woman died in her grievous sins!
Rejoice, thou who in thine entreaties didst ask that the land yield abundant fruit;
Rejoice, firm assurance of the resurrection of men!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 9: Thou wast illumined with the radiance of the divine Spirit, O Spyridon, for thou didst possess the spirit of wisdom, since, by thy wise words, thou didst show the mindless ones to be foolish in the midst of the Fathers didst confirm the Faith. Thou didst also possess the spirit of understanding, in that thou didst enlighten the minds of the benighted, and didst likewise have the spirit of the fear of God, for thou didst continually purify thy soul with God-pleasing works. Wherefore, standing before the throne of the Most High, with the assembly of the angels thou dost chant unto Him: Alleluia!
Ikos 9: Receiving from the Lord Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, the staff of a shepherd of reason-endowed sheep, O holy Spyridon thou did not alter thy manner of life. Unacquisitive, meek, bearing all things for the sake of love, thou were not ashamed to care also for thine flock of dumb sheep. All of these things move us to glorify God and cry out to thee:
Rejoice, thou who disdained the glory of this world as vain;
Rejoice, thou who hast acquired great reward in the heavens!
Rejoice, thou who didst consider the beautiful things of this word to be as dung;
Rejoice, vessel of the good things of heaven!
Rejoice, most holy pasture of the inhabitants of Cyprus;
Rejoice, for, for thy sake, God bound with invisible bonds those who attempted to steal thy sheep!
Rejoice, thou who didst give fatherly admonition to the thieves;
Rejoice, thou who, in thy loving kindness, didst make a present of a ewe-lamb to them after they had spent a night without sleep!
Rejoice, thou who didst, by the disobedience of the goat, reprove the merchant who consciously concealed the full payment for thereof;
Rejoice, thou who didst bring to repentance the man who hid thy silver coins!
Rejoice, for thou didst cure him of the passion of love of gain by thine exhortation;
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 10: O holy hierarch Spyridon, who savest the souls of the flock entrusted to thee by God, by the providence of God thou wast called to show forth thine own glory, and all the moreso the glory of the true God, even in other lands, that the name of God may be glorified everywhere by those who cry: Alleluia!
Ikos 10: The holy Spyridon, the speedy helper and aid amid every necessity and sorrow, travelled to the city of Antioch with the other pastors, where the Emperor Constantius was held fast by sickness. The holy hierarch touched his head and restored his health; and we, marvelling at this miracle, cry out to thee:
Rejoice, thou whom an angel revealed in a dream to the emperor as a healer;
Rejoice, thou who, in thine old age, didst undertake a difficult journey for the sake of the love of God!
Rejoice, thou who, following the Saviour’s commandment, didst turn thine other cheek to the servant of the emperor who struck thee;
Rejoice, pillar of humility!
Rejoice, thou who by thy supplications healed the emperor who besought thee with tears;
Rejoice, for by thine own meekness thou didst admonish the servant and change his unmerciful character!
Rejoice, for thou didst teach the emperor piety and loving kindness;
Rejoice, for, despising the treasures of earth, thou didst not accept the emperor’s gold!
Rejoice, for thou didst turn thine own disciple, Tryphillius, away from passion for earthly goods and didst make of him a vessel of the grace of God;
Rejoice, for at thine arrival in Alexandria the idols toppled!
Rejoice, thou to whom even the demons submit;
Rejoice, for thou didst convert many from idolatry!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker !
Kontaktion 11: Angelic chanting was audible when thou didst offer up thine evening prayers in church, O holy hierarch Spyridon, yet there was none serving with thee. And the inhabitants of the city, hearing this marvellous chanting, entered the church and, seeing no one, chanted with the heavenly hosts: Alleluia!
Ikos 11: Thou wast a radiant sun for the world and a conversor with angels on earth, depart for the mansions of heaven, where thou prayest for the world before the throne of the Master. And we who live on earth cry out to thee:
Rejoice, for, while yet alive, thou didst serve with the angels;
Rejoice, thou who didst listen to the hymnody of the archangels!
Rejoice, visible image of our transfiguration;
Rejoice, for, when there was not enough oil in church, God filled the lamps with an abundance thereof for thy sake!
Rejoice, lamp of divine radiance;
Rejoice, vessel of the grace of God, which, like oil, filleth thy soul to overflowing!
Rejoice, wellspring which can never dry up, who ever pourest forth torrents of grace upon all;
Rejoice, thou at whom even the angels are amazed!
Rejoice, thou who chastised the disobedience of the deacon in church;
Rejoice, thou who deprived of voice and speech one who was enamored of his own voice!
Rejoice, for, during the burning heat, a dew which suddenly descended from on high cooled thy sacred head;
Rejoice, thou who didst foresee the approach of thy repose in this sign!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 12: The protection and refuge of all the faithful during thy lifetime, O holy hierarch, thou hast not left us orphans since thy repose; for God, abrogating the laws of nature, hath preserved thy holy relics incorrupt for the strengthening of the Orthodox Faith and piety, and as a token of immortality. And glorifying Him, we cry out: Alleluia!
Ikos 12: We hymn thee, O holy hierarch of God, for thou has astonished the world with the miracles which flow from thy holy relics. For all who approach them and kiss them with faith receive the goodly things for which they ask. And glorifying God Who hath given thee strength, hath crowned thee with the wreath of incorruption, and worketh through thee, we cry out to thee:
Rejoice, thou who in time of famine didst appear to the ship-captains and didst command them to supply the people with food;
Rejoice, thou who gavest sight to the blind who approached thy holy relics with faith!
Rejoice, thou who healed the youth of his incurable ailment;
Rejoice, thou who didst drive the demon from a woman, making her well!
Rejoice, chosen general of Kerkyra;
Rejoice, for thou expelled the horde of muslim infidels and didst sink their ships in the deep!
Rejoice, thou whom they beheld surrounded by a crowd of angels, holding a sword in thy right hand, and who caused the enemy to tremble;
Rejoice, thou who didst prevent the governor from building a church for himself in which to have mass celebrated with unleavened bread!
Rejoice, thou who didst bring upon the Venetian governor a cruel death;
Rejoice, thou who by lightning didst cause his portrait to burn in his palace in Venice!
Rejoice, thou who hast put to shame the apostasy and false teaching of the West;
Rejoice, thou who hast confirmed for men that only the Orthodox Faith is true and leads to salvation!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontaktion 13: Accepting this our entreaty, O all-wondrous holy hierarch of Christ, father Spyridon, deliver us from all tribulations and assaults, strengthen the hierarchy of our Church against all heresies and schisms, grant us remission of our transgressions, and rescue from everlasting death all who for thy sake cry out to God: Alleluia!
The above Kontaktion is said three times, then continue with the below:
Ikos 1: Adorned from thy youth with all the virtues, and emulating the angels of Christ in thy life, O holy hierarch Spyridon, thou didst truly show thyself to be His friend. And beholding thee, the heavenly man and earthly angel, we cry out to thee with tenderness:
Rejoice, mind contemplating the mysteries of the All-holy Trinity;
Rejoice, thou who hast been enriched by the all-radiant splendour of the Spirit!
Rejoice, beacon of great brilliance;
Rejoice, thou who didst enlighten thy mind with dispassion!
Rejoice, thou who didst love true simplicity and serenity from childhood;
Rejoice, adornment of chastity!
Rejoice, inexhaustible torrent of love;
Rejoice, for thou didst emulate the hospitality of Abraham!
Rejoice, for in an abundance of love thou didst open the doors of thy house to all;
Rejoice, intercessor for the poor!
Rejoice, thou before whom men offer reverence;
Rejoice, for thou art the abode of the All-Holy Spirit!
Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Kontakion 1: O holy hierarch and wonderworker Spyridon, who hast been glorified by the Lord! Celebrating now thy most honoured memory, with tenderness we cry out to thee, as one who art able greatly to assist us with Christ Who hath glorified thee: From all misfortunes and evil deliver us, that we may cry out to thee in thanksgiving: Rejoice, O Spyridon, most miraculous wonderworker!
Prayer: O all-blessed and holy hierarch Spyridon, thou great favourite of Christ and most glorious wonderworker! Standing in heaven with the choirs of angels before the throne of God, look down with merciful gaze upon the people who stand here before thee and beseech thy mighty aid. Entreat the compassion of God Who loveth mankind, that He judge us not according to our iniquities, but that He deal with us according to His mercy. Ask for us of Christ our God a peaceful and undisturbed life, health of soul and body, bounty from the earth and abundance and prosperity in all things; and that we turn not the good things given us by our compassionate God to evil, but rather to His glory and the glorification of thine aid. Deliver all who approach God with unwavering faith from all retribution and from the assaults of the demons. Be thou a comforter for the grieving, a physician for the afflicted, a helper amid temptations, a shelter for the naked, an aid to the widowed, a defender of the orphaned, a nourisher of infants, a strengthener of the aged, a guide to travellers; and beg thou for all who are in need of thy mighty help all things which conduce to salvation, that, guided and protected by thy prayers, we may attain unto everlasting rest and with thee may glorify God Who is worshiped in the Holy Trinity: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen
Dear fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, Съ праздникомъ!
Greetings for this radiant feast of St Spyridon, especially to Father Spyridon. Many, blessed years, dear Father!
It is always a joy to arrive at the feast of St Spyridon, and to see how God can take the lowly and seemingly ordinary, and make it into something not only glorious, but in the case of our beloved saint and heavenly-intercessor, into a radiant beacon of the Faith celebrated throughout the whole Christian world.When we regard many hierarch-saints of the Church, we are talking of men of learning, trained in universities and the great theological schools; men of letters and spiritual literati who left writings and books of spiritual counsel, scriptural exegesis, or dogmatic theology; bishops, archbishops and patriarchs who counselled emperors, kings and princes…
Then we encounter our beloved St Spyridon: a simple Cypriot shepherd; a widowed husband and father; a family man with a sense of communitas, who used what God had given him and what he earned from his own labours for the relief of the poor, to feed the hungry, to help his neighbours, to assist the homeless, to reach out to those in need.
He had not studied in the ancient universities; Plato and Aristotle, Homer and the wealth of classical Greek learning were not the foundation of his “education”; rhetoric, logic and mathematics were far from his formation and world; he had not spent his years learning oratory and philosophy among the bright young minds of the Hellenic world.
No! As a family man and as a shepherd protecting and caring for his beloved sheep, learning from the Gospel, and taught by the Saviour in the power of the Holy Spirit, the great wonderworker and shepherd of souls was a “home grown” spiritual force and bearer of the Light of Christ.
In English, we have a proverb that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear… but time and again we see that in spiritual terms, this proverb is earthbound, wrong and mistaken, in as much as God constantly affects this transformation.
Our All-Powerful and All-Merciful God took the dust of the ground, and fashioned man, the very apex of creation, and his created humanity became the chosen robe of the Saviour in which He ascended the Cross, conquered hell and death, rose again and ascended into heaven, where that glorified humanity (once nothing but dust) is worshipped by the angelic hosts.
Having received the joyful proclamation of the archangel, and having conceived Christ within her womb, the All-Holy Mother of God proclaimed the upside-down-ness of the Gospel, as God exults the humble and meek, as He most certainly did with St Spyridon, whose lack of learning and cultural sophistication was no obstacle to God.
After the death of his wife, during the reign of the Saint Constantine, the Equal-to the-Apostles (306-337), St Spyridon was elected and consecrated as bishop of Tremithus, where combined his hierarchical duties and pastoral service to the local Church with still going to care for his beloved sheep – wearing his famous plaited- straw shepherd’s hat.
What valuable spiritual lessons he must have learned from his shepherding labours: the need for nourishment, the vital necessity of assuaging the hunger and thirst of his sheep, the threat of wolves and predators, how to defend and protect his flock – all vital lessons for him as a bishop and shepherd of souls with his human flock.
His hierarchical service was one of great simplicity, in which God’s power and confirmation of his great holiness was constantly seen, as was evident at the First Ecumenical Council, where St Spyridon confuted the heresy of Arius not with eloquent words, but with a simple miracle. Taking a brick from which water trickled and fire shot out, leaving nothing but the dust in his hand, St Spyridon said simply and boldly, “There was only one brick, but it was composed of three elements. In the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, but only one God.”
Imploring and receiving God’s help in times of both drought and crop-destroying rains, healing the sick, casting out demons and even raising the dead, St Spyridon lived for his flock, among his flock, and with his flock – not as a great prelate and prince of the Church, but as a humble spiritual-shepherd.
His earthly falling asleep did not bring his miraculous care to an end, but rather, freed St Spyridon to work greater wonders for those who have and still turn to him in faith and in need, and with his relics having been taken to Corfu (though his right hand in is Rome), he wondrously and lovingly embraced the island and its people, saving them for the Ottomans and caring for them for centuries, as a father caring for his children.
It is the joy of so many Christians, to be able to make their pilgrimage to Corfu to venerate his darkened but incorrupt relics, knowing that St Spyridon is not only constantly praying for us, but constantly helping us, wherever we are.
God truly shows the wonder of Faith and the power of Christian holiness in St Spyridon, and he is a reminder that true theology comes from our intimate, loving relationship with the Living-God; not learned from books and lectures; not as the fruit of study; that it does not depend on intelligence or intellectual prowess; that it is not a system of sacred, dogmatic theory – but is rather the realisation of a life dedicated wholly and solely to God, in which the Divine will and human will have been joined in a sacred union, and in which God indwells in His beloved children, revealing profound truth and manifesting His Grace.
In St Spyridon we see that love, charity, compassion and mercy are not theories, but actions, and that the Sermon on the Mount is not a series of lofty ideals, but a command to go out and do all of the things with the Saviour will bring blessedness.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Like St Nicholas, celebrated less than a week ago, St Spyridon is not only the concrete demonstration of Faith-in-action, but a sign of how ordinary people like us can be raised up to the glory of God, becoming living manifestation of His love, vessels of His Grace and beacons of Truth.
It was not the simple, unsophisticated “Spyridons” of the ancient world who proposed heretical teachings, and attacked the Church, but the learned intellectuals of the academies, with their knowledge of the classics, their skills in logic, rhetoric, oration, philosophy and academic theology. The arch-schismatics and arch-heresiarchs were men of learning and intellect – as are those attacking the Church in Ukraine, today, and betraying Orthodoxy in the ecumenical melting-pot of compromise.
Thus, though the Church will always need it’s “Chrysostoms”, “Gregories” and “Basils”, it increasingly needs its “Spyridons”: home-grown people who aspire to serve the Church in holiness, selfless giving, defence of Truth and the fullness of Orthodoxy.
The Church needs “Spyridons” to say NO to compromise, to renovationism, to betrayal of Orthodoxy in the name of modernism, reform, or false-science.
Whether our lowly “Spyridons” are lay people or clergy, men, women or children – the Church needs us to selflessly dedicate ourselves to the Lord with fervent Faith, built on the Gospel, on the fulness of Orthodox Tradition, and always in pursuit of love, truth and peace – and always defending our Faith!
Let us be inspired – to prayer, to selfless love, to charity and works of mercy, to serving the Church and defending it by that wonderful name and glorious example of our Orthodox Christian Faith: ST SPYRIDON!
In Christ – Hieromonk Mark
Troparion, Tone IV: The truth of things revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, * icon of meekness, and teacher of temperance; * wherefore, thou hast attained the heights through humility and riches through poverty; * O hierarch Spyridon our father, ** entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Troparion, Tone I: Thou wast shown forth as a champion of the first Council * and a wonderworker, O Spiridon, our God-bearing father. *Wherefore, thou didst speak to one dead in the grave, * and didst change a serpent into gold. * And, whilst chanting thy holy prayers, thou didst have angels serving with thee, O most sacred one. * Glory to Him that hath given thee strength! * Glory to Him that hath crowned thee! **Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee!
Saint Spyridon of Tremithus was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He was a shepherd, and had a wife and children. He used all his substance for the needs of his neighbours and the homeless, for which the Lord rewarded him with a gift of wonderworking. He healed those who were incurably sick, and cast out demons.
After the death of his wife, during the reign of Constantine the Great (306-337), he was made Bishop of Tremithus, Cyprus. As a bishop, the saint did not alter his manner of life, but combined pastoral service with deeds of charity.
According to the witness of Church historians, Saint Spyridon participated in the sessions of the First Ecumenical Council in the year 325. At the Council, the saint entered into a dispute with a Greek philosopher who was defending the Arian heresy. The power of Saint Spyridon’s plain, direct speech showed everyone the importance of God’s wisdom before human wisdom: “Listen, philosopher, to what I tell you. There is one God Who created man from dust. He has ordered all things, both visible and invisible, by His Word and His Spirit. The Word is the Son of God, Who came down upon the earth on account of our sins. He was born of a Virgin, He lived among men, and suffered and died for our salvation, and then He arose from the dead, and He has resurrected the human race with Him. We believe that He is one in essence (consubstantial) with the Father, and equal to Him in authority and honor. We believe this without any sly rationalisations, for it is impossible to grasp this mystery by human reason.”
As a result of their discussion, the opponent of Christianity became the saint’s zealous defender and later received holy Baptism. After his conversation with Saint Spyridon, the philosopher turned to his companions and said, “Listen! Until now my rivals have presented their arguments, and I was able to refute their proofs with other proofs. But instead of proofs from reason, the words of this Elder are filled with some sort of special power, and no one can refute them, since it is impossible for man to oppose God. If any of you thinks as I do now, let him believe in Christ and join me in following this man, for God Himself speaks through his lips.”
At this Council, Saint Spyridon displayed the unity of the Holy Trinity in a remarkable way. He took a brick in his hand and squeezed it. At that instant fire shot up from it, water dripped on the ground, and only dust remained in the hands of the wonderworker. “There was only one brick,” Saint Spyridon said, “but it was composed of three elements. In the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, but only one God.”
The saint cared for his flock with great love. Through his prayers, drought was replaced by abundant rains, and incessant rains were replaced by fair weather. Through his prayers the sick were healed and demons cast out.
A woman once came up to him with a dead child in her arms, imploring the intercession of the saint. He prayed, and the infant was restored to life. The mother, overcome with joy, collapsed lifeless. Through the prayers of the saint of God, the mother was restored to life.
Another time, hastening to save his friend, who had been falsely accused and sentenced to death, the saint was hindered on his way by the unanticipated flooding of a stream. The saint commanded the water: “Halt! For the Lord of all the world commands that you permit me to cross so that a man may be saved.” The will of the saint was fulfilled, and he crossed over happily to the other shore. The judge, apprised of the miracle that had occurred, received Saint Spyridon with esteem and set his friend free.
Similar instances are known from the life of the saint. Once, he went into an empty church, and ordered that the lampadas and candles be lit, and then he began the service. When he said, “Peace be unto all,” both he and the deacon heard from above the resounding of a great multitude of voices saying, “And with thy spirit.” This choir was majestic and more sweetly melodious than any human choir. To each petition of the litanies, the invisible choir sang, “Lord, have mercy.” Attracted by the church singing, the people who lived nearby hastened towards it. As they got closer and closer to the church, the wondrous singing filled their ears and gladdened their hearts. But when they entered into the church, they saw no one but the bishop and several church servers, and they no longer heard the singing which had greatly astonished them.
Saint Simeon Metaphrastes (November 9), the author of his Life, likened Saint Spyridon to the Patriarch Abraham in his hospitality. Sozomen, in his Church History, offers an amazing example from the life of the saint of how he received strangers. One time, at the start of the Forty-day Fast, a stranger knocked at his door. Seeing that the traveller was very exhausted, Saint Spyridon said to his daughter, “Wash the feet of this man, so he may recline to dine.” But since it was Lent there were none of the necessary provisions, for the saint “partook of food only on certain days, and on other days he went without food.” His daughter replied that there was no bread or flour in the house. Then Saint Spyridon, apologising to his guest, ordered his daughter to cook a salted ham from their larder. After seating the stranger at table, he began to eat, urging that man to do the same. When the latter refused, calling himself a Christian, the saint rejoined, “It is not proper to refuse this, for the Word of God proclaims, ‘Unto the pure all things are pure’” (Titus 1:15).
Another historical detail reported by Sozomen, was characteristic of the saint. It was his custom to distribute one part of the gathered harvest to the destitute, and another portion to those having need while in debt. He did not take a portion for himself, but simply showed them the entrance to his storeroom, where each could take as much as was needed, and could later pay it back in the same way, without records or accountings.
There is also the tale by Socrates Scholasticus about how robbers planned to steal the sheep of Saint Spyridon. They broke into the sheepfold at night, but here they found themselves all tied up by some invisible power. When morning came the saint went to his flock, and seeing the tied-up robbers, he prayed and released them. For a long while he advised them to leave their path of iniquity and earn their livelihood by respectable work. Then he made them a gift of a sheep and sending them off, the saint said kindly, “Take this for your trouble, so that you did not spend a sleepless night in vain.”
All the Lives of the saint speak of the amazing simplicity and the gift of wonderworking granted him by God. Through a word of the saint the dead were awakened, the elements of nature tamed, the idols smashed. At one point, a Council had been convened at Alexandria by the Patriarch to discuss what to do about the idols and pagan temples there. Through the prayers of the Fathers of the Council all the idols fell down except one, which was very much revered. It was revealed to the Patriarch in a vision that this idol had to be shattered by Saint Spyridon of Tremithus. Invited by the Council, the saint set sail on a ship, and at the moment the ship touched shore and the saint stepped out on land, the idol in Alexandria with all its offerings turned to dust, which then was reported to the Patriarch and all the bishops.
Saint Spyridon lived his earthly life in righteousness and sanctity, and prayerfully surrendered his soul to the Lord. His relics repose on the island of Corfu (Kerkyra), in a church named after him (His right hand, however, is located in Rome).
Canon to the saint, the composition of Theophanes, in Tone II.
Ode I, Irmos: In the deep of old the infinite Power overwhelmed Pharaoh’s whole army. * But the Incarnate Word annihilated pernicious sin. * Exceedingly glorious is the Lord, * for gloriously hath He been glorified.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having attained unto the land of the meek, being thyself meek, merciful and pure, O father, calm thou the present tempest of my heart, that, in divine tranquillity, I may hymn thee.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having cleared thy soul of the overgrowth of the passions through godly cultivation, O father Spyridon, thou didst become god-like and wast enriched by the most radiant splendour of the divine Spirit. Wherefore, thou dost illumine those who sincerely bless thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Taking thee from a flock as He had David, the Creator appointed thee as a most eminent shepherd of the rational sheep, shining forth in simplicity and meekness, and adorned with guilelessness, O venerable pastor.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O most holy and pure Virgin, enlighten and hallow my thoughts and soul, I pray thee, dispelling the clouds of mine ignorance, and removing the darkness of sin, that I may bless thee as is meet.
Ode III, Irmos:Thou hast established me on the rock of faith, * and my mouth hath been emboldened against mine enemies. * For my spirit rejoiceth when I sing: * There is none as holy as our God * and none more righteous than Thee, O Lord.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having illumined thy mind with dispassion and adorned thyself with divine humility, thou didst receive the gifts of the Spirit to cast out evil spirits and to loose the infirmities of those who faithfully honour thee, O most sacred one.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having slain the serpent, the author of evil, and trampled down the inclination towards avarice, O holy hierarch, taking pity on him who was in need, thou didst transform a serpent into a golden ornament by thy sacred prayers, O venerable father.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Thou didst ascend the mountain of dispassion; thou didst enter the darkness of the vision of God, and didst receive the law of salvation on the tablets of thy heart, in that thou art the most sacred and faithful favoured one of thy Master.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Heal thou the wounds of my soul, O Bride of God, and illumine my mind which hath been darkened by neglect, that I may chant: There is none blameless save thee, O immaculate one, and none pure, but thee, O Lady!
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.
Sessional Hymn, in Tone VIII: Spec. Mel.: “Of the Wisdom …”: Thou didst shine forth as a divinely appointed pastor, O Spyridon, raised from the tending of sheep by God, Who entrusted thee to preside over the Church of Christ. Thou didst drive away the wolves of false teaching by thy words, grazing thy flock on the pasture of piety. Wherefore, thou didst affirm the Faith by the wisdom of the Spirit in the midst of the God-bearing fathers, O blessed hierarch. Entreat Christ God, that He grant remission of sins unto those who celebrate thy holy memory with love.
Ode IV, Irmos: From a Virgin didst Thou come forth, not as an ambassador, * nor as an Angel, * but the very Lord himself incarnate, * and didst save me, the whole man; * wherefore I cry unto Thee: * Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Set afire by the burning coal of the honoured Spirit, thou didst burn up all the readily kindled fuel of the passions, O all-blessed one, enlightening the world with the fiery rays of thy virtues.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having slain the movements of thy flesh, O divinely inspired one, thou didst raise up the dead by thy life-imparting call. Wherefore, I beseech thee: Enliven my slain soul, O father!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O father, the dead woman, obeying thee, spake, and by thy commands the raging of the river was restrained. For thou wast revealed as a worker of wonders endowed with divine grace, O blessed one.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The prophets foretold the incomprehensible abyss of thy mystery, for thou alone, O pure one, didst give birth unto the Unknowable One, Who, in His unutterable tender compassion, became incarnate.
ODE V, Irmos: O Christ my Saviour, the enlightenment of those lying in the darkness of sin. * I rise early to hymn Thee O King of Peace, * enlighten me with Thy radiance, * for I know no other God than Thee.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
The river of the gifts which are within thee doth water every heart, O venerable one, and richly granteth health unto all, moving all to glorify God, Who hath glorified thee and honoured thee with all manner of wonders.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
The earthly emperor clearly recognised thee as a true servant of the heavenly King, full of divine gifts, O blessed one, when thou didst come to him, proclaiming the great Physician, Who is God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Emulating the hospitable character of Abraham, thou didst open the doors of thy house unto all, and wast all things to all people, mindful of those who were in evil straits, O blessed Spyridon.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
For us hast thou given birth unto a new-born Babe, Who before the ages was begotten of the unoriginate Father, O Maiden. Him do thou entreat as thy Son and God, that He spare those who, with a pure soul, proclaim thee to be the Theotokos.
Ode VI, Irmos: Whirled about in the abyss of sin, * I appeal to the unfathomable abyss of Thy compassion: * Raise me up from corruption, O God.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Gold was as mire to thee who shone forth in dispassion more brightly than gold, and wast enriched by thy most golden gifts of the Spirit, O venerable one.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Serving thy Master in purity, O venerable one, thou didst have a multitude of the angelic hosts serving thee with unseen voices, O most sacred one.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O most glorious and all-wise father, thy life hath made thee most glorious to the world. Wherefore, rejoicing, we that hymn thee celebrate thy divine memory.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
More spacious than the heavens was thy womb, which contained God Whom no place can contain, O all-holy virgin Bride of God, who knewest not a man.
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, in Tone II: Spec. Mel.: “Seeking the Highest …”:O most sacred one, wounded with love for Christ, * and giving wings to thy mind through the radiance of the Spirit, * thou didst find thy work fulfilled in the activity of divine vision. * O thou who art pleasing to God, thou divine oblation, ** beseech Him that divine illumination be granted unto all.
Ikos: Let us now praise Spyridon, the hierarch of the Lord, sanctified from his mother’s womb, who received the tablets of the grace of divine glory, as one most glorious in miracles from all of creation, as a fervent witness of the divine radiance, intercessor for the poor, and spiritual guide for the sinful; for he hath become a divine oblation for the throne of Christ, asking divine illumination for all.
Ode VII, Irmos: The godless order of the lawless tyrant * fanned the roaring flame; * but Christ bedewed the God-fearing children with the Spirit, * therefore He is blessed and supremely exalted.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Having acquired the guilelessness of Moses, the meekness of David and the blamelessness of Job of Uz, thou didst become a dwelling-place of the Spirit, chanting most sacredly: Blessed and supremely glorious art Thou!
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
The showers of heaven rained down upon thy head during the harvest and prefigured the future; for, as thou didst say, God glorified thy divine memory, sanctifying the faithful by thy mediation.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
In the council of the fathers God glorified thee, who guarded thy words in judgment, O blessed one. Thou didst bring them forth with faith, openly disclosing the follies of the most irrational Arius and destroying his opposition.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Through the ineffable Word, O Virgin, thou didst put forth the Cluster of grapes as the Branch which alone was uncultivated and which poureth forth the wine gladdening all mankind, sanctifying mortals and dispelling all the drunkenness of the wicked.
Ode VIII, Irmos: In Babylon, the activity of the fire was once divided, * for, by the command of God it consumed the Chaldeans, * but bedewed the faithful, who chant: * Bless ye the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Thou didst extinguish the furnace of the passions with divine outpourings of the divine Spirit, O father, pouring forth a dew which taketh away the fever of the ailing who ever have recourse unto thee in faith, O blessed Spyridon, thou who art most noetically rich.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Guileless, upright, meek, merciful, not mindful of the wrongs done thee, loving and hospitable wast thou, O most sacred hierarch, adorned with the wisdom of Orthodoxy, O venerable one. Wherefore, we honour thee with faith.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Of old the dead woman when questioned by thee O father, replied as though alive. Oh what a most marvellous wonder! Oh, what a most glorious mystery! Oh, the grace which thou hast received, having adorned thyself with an angelic life, O right wondrous one!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Heal thou the passions of my heart with thy mercy, O all-hymned one; calm thou my mind, enlighten my soul, and guide me to walk the paths of salvation, that I may ever hymn thee, O all-hymned one.
Ode IX, Irmos:The Son of the Unoriginate Father, God and Lord, * hath appeared to us incarnate of a Virgin, * to enlighten those in darkness, * and to gather the dispersed; * therefore the all-hymned Theotokos do we magnify.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
Exalted among the God-bearing fathers, thou didst openly proclaim the Son of the unoriginate Father to be of one essence and equally everlasting with the Father, and didst stop the mouths of the iniquitous, O all-blessed and holy hierarch.
Hierarch of Christ, Spyridon, pray to God for us.
O all-radiant sun, adornment of the fathers, glory of priests, converser with angels: By thy prayers grant the unwaning Light unto those who now joyously celebrate thy light-bearing memory.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With a voice of rejoicing have the divine mansions, the heavenly city and the beauteous choir of those who hold festival received thy soul, which hath been hallowed and adorned with the virtues, O all-blessed one.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The great mystery of thy birthgiving, which passeth understanding doth astound the angels, O divinely joyous one, delighting the assembly of the venerable and making glad the sacred fathers who hymn thee, the hope of our souls, in a godly manner.
Troparion of the Hierarch, Tone IV:The truth of things revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, * icon of meekness, and teacher of temperance; * wherefore, thou hast attained the heights through humility and riches through poverty; * O hierarch Spyridon our father, ** entreat Christ God, that our souls be saved.
Another troparion, Tone I: Thou wast shown forth as a champion of the first Council * and a wonderworker, O Spyridon, our God-bearing father. *Wherefore, thou didst speak to one dead in the grave, * and didst change a serpent into gold. * And, whilst chanting thy holy prayers, thou didst have angels serving with thee, O most sacred one. * Glory to Him that hath given thee strength! * Glory to Him that hath crowned thee! **Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee!
Greetings on this glorious feast of the Conception of the Mother of God. Our joyful Liturgy was not only a thanksgiving to the Lord, but a worthy offering to the Mother of God as we celebrated the very beginning of her life, through God’s gift of a long-awaited child to her parents, Joachim and Anna.
We must always remember that in her conception, the Mother of God was no different to us, so that the fulness of humanity could be redeemed through her Child. She was the mediatrix of the Incarnation as one who was no different to each of us in our humanity, even though different to us in the fact that she did not sin.
The glory of the Mother of God lies not in the belief that she was somehow miraculously protected from sin, and the ability to do so, but rather in her wonderful and victorious conscious rejection of sin, and her battle against temptation, in a life in which her will was aligned with that of God; a life in which she had free will and choice: choosing to fight temptation and reject sin; choosing to struggle and labour for holiness and righteousness; choosing selfless dedication to God; choosing to cultivate sacrificial love for Him – serving Him, by choice in becoming the Handmaiden of the Lord, and the Gate of our Salvation.
Her obedience was not imposed upon her as an involuntary pre-programmed inevitability, but a voluntary human choice; her holiness was the fruit of that choice; her place in our salvation was through a sacrificial and selfless choice: a choice that was free, willing and conscious.
As the Hodegitria, “She who shows us the way”, let us choose to not only turn to her intercession and merciful care, but follow her example – in thought, in word, and in deed.
This will lead us forward on our spiritual journey, not only through the remaining days of Advent to the feast of the Nativity, but also to the eternal glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem: the Kingdom of God.
Many thanks to those who contributed to such a glorious Liturgy, particularly to our musical visitors from Bristol’s Ukrainian Orthodox parish. May the blessings and graces of the Mother of God reward your labours.
We must extend our congratulations to Maxim on making his first communion. Many, blessed years!
Having shared the feast of St Nicholas with Father Luke, in Llanelli on Thursday, it was a blessing to honour him with the akathist gathered around his icon in Nazareth House in the evening, and then to venerate his icon that had been placed in his original tomb in Myra, in modern-day Turkey, at today’s Liturgy.
Today’s celebration followed a visit to Cheltenham, yesterday, where we pleased to follow Liturgy with a litia to St Nicholas, where the children showed their knowledge of the Wonderworker.
Hierarch of Christ, Nicholas, pray to God for us!
As you are aware, with holiday timetables limiting public transport, there will be no weekday services in the Oratory this week, though I will be there at 15:00, on Saturday to chant vespers.
I am happy to hear confessions beforehand, as well as after the service. Given Father Mark’s absence next weekend, there will only be very limited time for confessions. Those who confessed in preparation for this week’s Liturgy are blessed to commune next weekend, unless a specific need for confession arises.
Please pray for Father Mark, matushka Alla and Yuriy as they travel to Minsk, and for Vlad and Daniel, as he travels to Romania, and for Joseph on his trip to Arizona. May guardian angels of peace protect them and speed them on their way!
We look forward to our Nativity services in the Oratory Church, and will have a bring-and-share lunch after Liturgy on Tuesday 7 January, and an extended festive trapeza in St John’s after Liturgy on Sunday 12 January, presuming I can get confirmation of the booking from a silent booking-secretary.
Monday 6 January: Christmas Eve (Rozhdestvenskyi Sochelnik) Vigil at 18:30.
Tuesday 7 January: Nativity Liturgy at 10:30. Great Vespers (for the Synaxis) at 15:00
Wednesday 8 January: Synaxis of the Mother of God, Liturgy at 10:30. Great Vespers (for St Stephen) at 15:00.
Thursday 9 January: St Stephen: Liturgy at 10:30. Vespers at 15:00.
(Additional services may be celebrated if support is forthcoming)
The Liturgy for the feast of the Holy Innocents, will be celebrated in Warminster on Saturday 11 January.
We must begin by congratulating the newly-enlightened servants of God, Maxim and Joseph on their baptism after yesterday’s Liturgy: the community’s first, and presumably last adult baptism in St John’s. We pray that God may grant them many, blessed years!
The weekend’s services were blessed by the presence of a small relic of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, and we were very happy to have this blessing: in Splott, in Warminster and in Canton.
God’s Grace continues to touch the world through the relics of those who became living temples of the Holy Spirit, and tabernacles of His glory, and to be able to worship in the presence of the relics of the saints is a great blessing and inspiration.
Holy Glorious Apostle, Andrew the First-Called, pray to God for us!
This week will be a quiet week, in which I will catch up with some medical appointments before western Christmas.
As I forewarned last week, I will assist Father Luke as he celebrates St Nicholas’s feast this Thursday: one of the Llanelli altar-feasts.
Having travelled to Cardiff after Liturgy, I will head to Nazareth House, where will chant the akathist to St Nicholas. Confessions will be heard after the service and on Friday in the Oratory, where will chant the Advent moleben at 15:00.
This lovely service of supplication, centred on the canons of the forefeast of the Nativity has been a great blessing and encouragement during the Fast.
Next Saturday sees the Cardiff clergy serve in Cheltenham, where the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:30 in Prestbury United Reformed Church, Deep St, Cheltenham GL52 3AN.
We will enjoy lunch together after the service, and welcome all who are able to join our little Gloucestershire community.
Again, as announced, with the oddities and limitations of transport in western Christmas week, I will not venture onto the very limited public transport, and will spend the week close to Lazarica, in Bournville, so as to be able to pray in church during the week. I will return to Cardiff on Saturday 28 December.
As Father Mark the younger is away that weekend, the opportunity for morning confessions on Sunday 29 December will be extremely limited as I have to perform the proskomedia.
Just a reminder that ALL of our Nativity week services are in the Oratory Church, in Splott – not in St John’s.
Monday 6 January: Christmas Eve (Rozhdestvenskyi Sochelnik) Vigil at 18:30.
Tuesday 7 January: Nativity Liturgy at 10:30. Great Vespers (for the Synaxis) at 15:00
Wednesday 8 January: Synaxis of the Mother of God, Liturgy at 10:30. Great Vespers (for St Stephen) at 15:00.
Thursday 9 January: St Stephen: Liturgy at 10:30. Vespers at 15:00.
(Additional services may be celebrated if support is forthcoming)
The Liturgy for the feast of the Holy Innocents, will be celebrated in Warminster on Saturday 11 January.
We will have a bring-and-share lunch after Nativity Liturgy on Tuesday 7 January, and we will have an extended trapéza on Sunday 12 January, welcoming hot food. Please let Branka know what you are able to bring.
Next Sunday will be the feast of the Conception by St Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the variables may be found at:
The Canon to the Theotokos, in Tone IV; the acrostic whereof is: “I dare to offer thee praise, O Theotokos”
Ode I, Irmos: I shall open my mouth, * and be filled with the Spirit, * and utter discourse to the Queen and Mother; * and be seen radiantly keeping festival, * joyfully praising her wonders.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Disdain not my lowliness, O Theotokos, and compensate for my weakness; sanctify my heart and mind, and open thou my lips, that I may make bold to offer thee a hymn.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
With heartfelt faith we honour thy most pure image, and bowing down before it with compunction, as though beholding thee, the Theotokos, in very truth, and shedding drops of tears, we cry aloud: Rejoice, O Mary, full of grace, blessed Mother of God!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Emulating the angelic hosts, let us surround thine image with fear and love, magnifying thee, the prototype, together, and calling upon thy most sweet name: Rejoice, O all-immaculate Bride of God!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Come, O ye faithful, and let us kiss the holy icon of the Mother of God with love, for she doth pour forth healings therefrom abundantly, and doth work innumerable miracles for those who have recourse to it with faith and love. Wherefore we cry out to the ever-Virgin: Rejoice!
Ode III, Irmos: O Theotokos, thou living and plentiful fount, * establish in spiritual fellowship those who sing hymns to thee, * and in thy divine glory * grant them crowns of glory.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
The eyes of our mind rushing headlong into the abyss of the ages, we see there thine icon, O most pure one, shining more brightly than the sun with rays of mercy, illumining thy home, the Russian land, O Theotokos. Wherefore, we cry unto thee: Rejoice, O our protection and defence!
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
In its bosom the dark oak of Kursk kept the radiant wonder, the most pure icon of the Mother of God, which had been cut in twain by the impious and grew back together through the power of God. Wherefore, recovering it like a great treasure, the Russian people cried out: Rejoice, O our protection and defence!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Whence is this, that the most blessed Mother of God cometh unto us? A spring of living water sprang forth at the place where the image of the Theotokos abode, refreshing the faithful with streams of healing and curing every wound and infirmity. Wherefore, we cry aloud to her who is full of grace: Rejoice, thou true life-bearing fount!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
At the root of a tree was discovered the icon of her who ineffably gave rise to the Tree of life and budded forth for the world the blessed Fruit. Wherefore, now celebrating the feast of its appearance, we cry out to the most pure one: O most blessed Lady, sever our evil passions at the root, implanting in us good habits, setting out a garden of virtues in us, granting us to be partakers of the life of paradise!
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Sessional Hymn, Tone VII: What feast is more radiant or more beautiful than those of the most pure Mother of God? And what name, apart from the name of sweetest Jesus, is more sweet than the name of Mary? For lo! surpassing all the choirs of angels in purity and glory, resplendent as the Mother of the Almighty, she embraceth the whole world, saving sinners and leading the righteous to the heavenly mansions, she casteth down enemies and most gloriously crusheth the head of the serpent. Wherefore, we cry out to her: Every creature doth rejoice in thee, O thou who art full of grace! Glory be to thee!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Repeat the Sessional Hymn
Ode IV, Irmos: He who sitteth in glory upon the throne of the Godhead, * Jesus the true God, * is come in a swift cloud * and with His sinless hands he hath saved those who cry: * Glory to Thy power, O Christ.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Today the Church of Russia doth celebrate, adorned in a godly manner with the glory of the newly-revealed icon of the Theotokos; and chanting divinely beauteous hymns, it calleth to all the faithful, saying: Come, let us rejoice in the Mother of our God, and let us bow down before her precious image, through which the most pure Virgin doth richly bestow gifts of grace upon the Christian people who cry aloud: Glory to Thy power, O Lord!
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
O chosen one of the Mother of God, venerable Father Seraphim, ever-vigilant intercessor for the Russian land, thou seest our fervent eagerness, thou hearest the entreaties we offer up before the most pure icon, through which, as a grievously suffering child, thou wast granted healing. Wherefore, stand thou with us, lifting up thy venerable hands, and cry out on our behalf to the Theotokos, that for thy sake she may be well pleased to accept our prayers.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
By thy divine power thou didst confound the mad scheme of the impious atheists to destroy thine icon, O Lady, and didst preserve it unharmed by any destructive action; and while the earth quaked and pillars were cast down, thine icon but turned, averting its face from the vile deeds of men. Wherefore, marvelling at this most glorious wonder, we earnestly entreat thee: Turn not thy most pure face away from us, for lo! with contrite hearts we flee to thee and weep, and cry out in compunction: Let not our wickedness prevail over thy tender compassion, but have mercy and save us!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Thou didst preserve thy precious icon unharmed by the hands of the evildoers and cruel atheists who trampled down the holy things of God, and upon thy people didst thou bestow it, which we keep as the apple of our eye. Wherefore, O Lady, do thou ever reveal the sign of thy mercy unto us therein.
Ode V, Irmos: All creation stands in awe of thy divine glory; * for thou, O Virgin who hast not known wedlock, * didst contain within thy womb the God of all, * and gave birth to the timeless Son, * bestowing peace, upon all who hymn thee.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Let us radiantly celebrate this light-bearing day, whereon a spiritual ray hath shone forth unto the salvation of the world in the nativity of the most pure Bride of God, whereon also the icon of the Theotokos, like the morning star, announcing the day of deliverance, hath appeared to the land of Russia which languished in the darkness of misfortunes and sorrows. Wherefore, we cry to the most blessed one: Rejoice, for thou hast lighted a beacon of hope for us which cannot be extinguished!
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Where sin increaseth, there doth the grace of God exceedingly abound. Wherefore, O Lady, look down upon our weakness, see our boundless abasement, but behold also our faith, and hearken to our cry; and hasten thou to assist us who are helpless, illumining us with thy mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Let us not fear the dark powers of Hades, but having put on the armour of light, let us manfully stand against them, having the all-hymned Theotokos as commander. For lo! she doth mightily war against the enemy, helping the faithful who call upon her most pure name.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
We confess thee in truth to be the Theotokos, and we honour the form of thy most pure countenance in an Orthodox manner. We turn away from every sin and vile act; we pray to be granted to do good, and, humbling our souls, we cry: Most holy Theotokos, save us!
Ode VI, Irmos: Celebrating the divine and solemn feast * of the Mother of God * O ye divinely wise, * let us come, clapping our hands, * and glorify God who was born of her.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Let despondency depart from us, O brethren, and let the showers of adverse thoughts be dispelled by the Spirit of God; for lo! the Mother of God herself doth openly dwell amongst us, worshipped in her wonderworking icon, and shining brighter than the sun in the miracles that proceed therefrom. Wherefore, we cry out from the depths of our hearts: O most holy Lady, ever abide with us in thy grace!
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
When temptation doth assail us, when we fall into sorrow and pain, when patience doth fail within us and our spirit is troubled, let us make haste to the image of the most holy Virgin and, pouring forth tears, cry out to her from our hearts: Stretch forth thy hands which held God unto us, and lead us up from the abyss of evil!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O thou who didst bear the everlasting Joy of the world, thou art the joy of joys who hast driven away the grief of sin and dost grant our troubled souls divine relief. Cease not thy supplications for the Christian world, for, after God, it is through thee that each is saved and led forth from the depths of offences.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lo! the hordes of evil demons that besiege Christians stand far off, watching, not daring to approach, fearing the glory of the icon of the Theotokos, which burneth the vile demons, but doth mightily aid the faithful, protecting them from all enemies.
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 VI: Come, ye faithful, let us radiantly celebrate * the wondrous appearance of the most precious image of the Mother of God, * and drawing grace therefrom, * let us cry out with compunction: * Rejoice, O Theotokos, ** blessed Mary, Mother of God!
Ikos: Through thee, O Theotokos, the pre-eternal Word was made flesh; through thee men have beheld the Sun of righteousness, upon Whom the angels dare not gaze: for in thine arms was borne Him Whom the cherubim bear aloft, and by thy most pure hands was held the Almighty Creator of all. O daughter of mortal Adam, thou wast called the one who gaveth birth to God. Wherefore, as one who alone hath maternal boldness before Him, pause not in thy prayers for the whole world, lifting up thy God-pleasing hands to thy Son, and inclining His love for mankind towards thy servants who cry out to thee with thankful mouths: Rejoice, O Theotokos, blessed Mary, Mother of God!
Ode VII, Irmos: Refusing to worship created things * in place of the Creator, * the divinely wise youths bravely trampled down the threatening fire * and rejoicing they sang aloud: * O supremely hymned Lord and God of our Fathers, Blessed art Thou.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
The angels in thy service revere thee, the seraphim glorify thee in fear, O Theotokos; and how can we who dwell on earth dare to hymn thee with our impure lips? Yet we hope in thy mercy, and through thee unceasingly cry out to the Master and Creator of all: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
O Christ, accept Thy most pure Mother whom Thou hast given us as a help and who now doth fervently pray for us, that having attained unto life everlasting through her intercessions, we may cry aloud with all who have obtained salvation: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O Lord, Who callest Thy Mother blessed, be Thou entreated by her intercessions, and may the light of Thy countenance be signed upon us, that, rising from the sleep of sin, we may piously begin to walk towards the day, unceasingly crying out in our hearts: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Emulating the children in Babylon, let us not bow down before the golden image of man-pleasing and Mammon, but let us venerate the image of the immaculate Mother of our God and, filled with heavenly joy, let us cry out to Christ, the Benefactor of all: O God of our fathers, Blessed art Thou!
Ode VIII, Irmos: The Offspring of the Theotokos * saved the holy children in the furnace. * He who was then prefigured hath now been born on earth, * and He gathereth all creation to hymn thee: * all ye works praise ye the Lord * and supremely exalt Him throughout all ages.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
With unceasing voices the seraphim hymn thee, O ever-Virgin; the choirs of the saints know not their fill of thy praises; all creation doth glorify thee without ceasing. And shall we alone remain silent? Yet, daring to hope on thy mercy, though unworthy, we glorify thee throughout all ages.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
All creatures shall in no wise cease to rejoice in thee, O Theotokos; for lo! as the Apostle hath said, tongues may cease and knowledge vanish away, but love never faileth. Wherefore, throughout all ages they shall chant praises offered to thee in love.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Tell us, O most pure one, what fitting praise can our infirmity offer thee? With what eyes dare we gaze upon thy precious image? Yet, as thou art good, disdain not now our hymns, and in the land of our earthly sojourn reveal to us the form of thy most radiant countenance, that we may glorify thee throughout all ages.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Surrounding thine ever-adored image in fear and love, O Sovereign Lady, laying aside all earthly cares and raising our spiritual eyes to the heavens, we taste the sweetness of paradise aforetime, which do thou grant us to enjoy that, obtaining everlasting life and salvation, we may joyfully hymn thee throughout all ages.
Ode IX, Irmos: Let every mortal born on earth, * radiant with light, in spirit leap for joy; * and let the host of the angelic powers * celebrate and honour the holy feast of the Mother of God, * and let them cry aloud: * Rejoice! O all-blessed Theotokos, * thou pure Ever-Virgin.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
O all-hymned Virgin, accept our hymns as thy Son did the widow’s mite, and grant us ever to offer them to thee, guiding our life in the world and granting remission of sins, that entering the heavenly mansions through thee, we may magnify thy loving- kindness.
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Let those who do not confess thee to be the Theotokos and who do not honour thine icons be everlastingly put to shame; but let the faithful rejoice in thee. Let the Russian land be thine abode as of old; let holy monasteries abound and churches be beautifully adorned; and let the people be sanctified, that they may celebrate with gladness, magnifying thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O Theotokos, our Queen, standing at the right hand of Christ God in the Kingdom of heaven, establish thou a Christian kingdom on earth, setting at naught the counsels of the impious and strengthening faith and piety, that all who dwell on earth may magnify thee with one mind.
Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Have we offered thee a worthy hymn, O Lady? Have we glorified thy precious icon as is due? For we know that even hymns a thousand-fold do not suffice for thy glorification, O Virgin. For if we hearken to the fervour of our hearts, our hymns should only be beginning. What, therefore, shall we do? We are at a loss and are in doubt. We glorify the sign of thy mercy, yet with never silent lips and heartfelt love we ever hymn and magnify thee.
Troparion, Tone IV: Having acquired thee as an unassailable rampart * and a fount of miracles, * we, thy servants, set at naught armies of adversaries, * O most pure Theotokos. * Wherefore, do we entreat thee: * Grant peace to our native land ** and great mercy to our souls!
Dear brothers and sisters,
I was very pleased that so many stayed for our wonderful trapéza, with lovely food, fellowship and conversation. Thanks to all who were so generous in providing such plentiful food and drink.
We celebrated the feast of the Holy Innocents in Warminster on Saturday, followed by our festive lunch, and enjoying time together.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Many thanks to all who contributed to today
Then we encounter our beloved St Spyridon: a simple Cypriot shepherd; a widowed husband and father; a family man with a sense of communitas, who used what God had given him and what he earned from his own labours for the relief of the poor, to feed the hungry, to help his neighbours, to assist the homeless, to reach out to those in need.
Dear brothers and sisters,
