Dear brothers and sisters,

Thank you to everyone who has supported the shared life of our community over the past week, and to both parishioners, friends and benefactors of the parish, who have been generous in so many different ways.

In the absence of both Olga and Masha, we are grateful to our young men, who in Joe’s case defied a sore and croaky throat to sing parts of the Liturgy, including a lovely Athonite setting of the first antiphon. Thanks also to Father Hierodeacon Avraamy for chanting on the kliros and lending his support. We look forward to our gentlemen contributing more traditional Russian and Byzantine chants to our Liturgy, and broadening our musical tradition.

For a second week, both the “digital collection plate” (card reader) and remote-giving greatly increased our weekly offering, and Father Mark reports that this week’s total electronic payments were £1,735, which we most definitely don’t expect to happen too often, but which does show the benefits of multiple options for donating to the parish. 

From next week Joanna will be organising volunteers to take the candle and prosphora offerings and look after the candle tray, and we will hopefully expand this to reinstate our parish lavka/kiosk, once we have acquired suitable items.

Joanna has written to Vladyka Irenei, updating him about our bid offer on the building in Taff’s Well, and I will personally update him on the progress of the gofundme page, hoping that together with other proactive individuals, he will promote our fundraising, regardless of the outcome with the chapel.

Thanks to our parish youth, for their ongoing labours around fundraising and social media. It’s very good to see them involved and dedicated to parish life.

Branka has asked me to announce that on forthcoming ordinary Sundays, refreshments after Liturgy will be limited to cake and hot drinks, given the time it is taking to wash up and clean, which usually sees us leaving later than our planned exit.

Though we previously asked offerings to be limited to finger-food for ease of clearing up and cleaning, this went unheeded, making a fair amount of work for a relatively small handful of people, so as of next week, let’s please stick to this simplified trapeza, and look forward to feast days for shared meals together. We will be strict in keeping to this plan for ease of clearing and cleaning St Philip’s, and to make this easier, may we also ask that parishioners take any used cups, plates etc., to the kitchen hatch when they have finished, so that our sisters are spared the task of having to go round church picking things up. Thank you.

We are grateful to those who pack things away after Liturgy, but I would like to clarify an important point. Can we please not remove principal icons from the stands until the end of the thanksgiving prayers and the priest’s dismissal? Our worship has not finished until that point, and the dismissal is given on the “solea” (liturgical are between he screen and the nave), which must remain complete until then. By all means, pack away the peripheral icons, but please wait until the last “amen” before removing the icons from the stands.

As announced, this week should hopefully see our usual meeting to pray Small Compline and an akathist to the Mother of God in Nazareth House at 18:00, with confessions before and after the service.

We shall chant vespers for the eve of the feast of St Vyacheslav (Wenceslaus)  on Friday at 15:00, and given my journey to Warminster after the service, it would be a great help to hear confessions beforehand, if possible.

On Saturday, we will continue the feast, and also honour St Chariton the Confessor, with the celebration of our monthly Warminster Liturgy for parishioners living in Wessex, the service in the Chapel of St Lawrence at 10:30. Confessions will be heard before the service, and we will have our customary bring-and-share lunch afterwards.

On Sunday, we will have the joy of celebrating the feast of  the Uncovering of the Relics of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (1993), and the variables for Liturgy may be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yFjVTgYsuSbfKAgUoIfk7DlsPZ_9lpzd/view

As announced on WhatsApp, through the generosity of the Oratorian Fathers, we will have the blessing of celebrating the feast of the Protecting Veil (Pokrov) on the Oratory Church on Tuesday 14 October (1st Old Style) and will commence the Hours and Liturgy at 10:45. It will be a joy to celebrate this wonderful feast of the maternal protection, and loving care of the Theotokos, and we will share refreshments in the lower sacristy after the Liturgy.

We ask your prayers for Olga, Valentina and Svetlana on their holiday travels; for the sick servants of God Pavel and Brigid; for Liza as she has a hospital visit and procedure tomorrow (Monday); and for the newly departed servants of God, Protodeacon Peter and Natalia of our Geneva parish.

Don’t forget that we across the miles we pray together for the future mission-base for our parish at 20:00 each evening.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings as we continue to celebrate the afterfeast of the Exultation of the Life-Giving Cross, having been greatly blessed by the presence of one of the Oratories relics of the Life-Giving Cross at Liturgy, having already taken the relic to Lazarica for the festal Liturgy on Saturday. Profound thanks to the Father and Brothers of the Oratory.

Today is the name-day of our very dear departed sister, Lyudmila, who touched us all in so many different ways, with her treats, her dry humour, her gentle warmth and prayerfulness, but above all in her deep humility and faith as she suffered her illness with unshakeable hope and trust in God. Please remember her and pray for her today. May her memory be eternal! Вечная память!

Celebrating newness of life, before we began yesterday’s Liturgy, we had the joy of the naming of two-week old Ezra, with the Church’s prayer asking God’s blessing, as we look forward to his baptism and reception of the Holy Mysteries.

“O Lord our God, we pray unto Thee, and we beseech Thee, that the light of Thy countenance may be shown upon Thy servant, Ezra, and that the cross of Thine only-begotten Son may be graven in his heart and in his thoughts, that he may flee from the vanity of the world and from every evil snare of the enemy, and may follow after Thy commandments. And grant, O Lord, that Thy Holy Name may remain unrejected by him and that he may be united, in due time, to Thy holy Church, and that the terrible Mysteries of Thy Christ may be administered unto him, that having lived according to Thy commandments and preserved without flaw the Seal he may receive the bliss of the elect in Thy kingdom; through the grace and love toward mankind of Thine only-begotten Son, with whom Thou art blessed, together with Thine all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.”

It reminded me of the arrival of Yuriy, who was baptised in his third week and has been at the heart of our parish ever since, and we know that Joseph will ensure, that like Yuriy, Ezra not only grows up in Faith, but as a child comfortable in the familiarity and sacred pattern of Church and parish life, surrounded by icons, candles, the smell of incense and sacred chant. Of course, Ezra has been used to the chant of the Liturgy throughout his life until now, but experienced ‘from the outside’ for the first time, yesterday. May God bless Ezra and his mum and dad. Many years to them!

This week will see our usual services…

Thursday 2 October at 18:00: Small Compline and akathist in Nazareth House, Colum Rd, Cardiff CF10 3UN . Confessions before and after the service.

Friday 3 October at 15:00: Vespers for the Eve of the Feast of St Dimitri of Rostov in the Oratory Church, Swinton St, Cardiff CF24 2NT. Confessions before and after the service.

Sunday 5 October at 09:00: The Hours and Divine Liturgy, followed by a bring-and-share lunch in St Philips Church, Tweedsmuir Rd, Tremorfa, Cardiff CF24 2QZ. Confessions before the service.

It has been a joy to welcome so many visitors over the past months, and this is a period of constant enquiries, questions and long spiritual conversations with people (usually young ones!) exploring Faith and spiritual life. The warmth of our parishioners cushions what can be a daunting experience for those coming to an Orthodox service for the first time. Let’s please ensure everyone is greeted and welcomed, and encouraged to come into the Liturgy and NOT stand to side of the sanctuary.

The last point is one that I ask existing parishioners to take on board. Standing, seeing the Liturgy from the side of an unscreened sanctuary is not the place to be in our Liturgy, but rather before the icons and Holy Table. Please enter the church, even if late, and face the Holy Table from the body of the church. We cannot change where the entrance is, but we can ensure we enter and stand together for worship. At many Liturgies there are more people at the side of the altar than before the icons, which is actually very distracting for the clergy in the sanctuary. As the weeks goes on, we will be screening the side of the sanctuary, when we are able to do so.

As you are aware our building campaign is now under way, having been launched on Friday evening, and has thus far received £8100 in donations directly into our bank account via personal bank transfer and £1, 685 from the gofundme page. Thanks to our young people for their work on this, and on social media. We really appreciate their labours.

The gofundme page me be found here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-buy-a-church-for-our-orthodox-parish

The card machine which we are trialing till the end of the year was in place for yesterday’s Liturgy and received positive feedback from the faithful who used it, the total electronic donations of £190 being split as follows: £65 General Collection, £40 Building Fund, £70 Stipend Fund, £15 Candle Purchases, £50 of the donations were gift aided giving an additional £12.50. All in all this saw total donations of £350.50.

The now affordable post-school vacation holiday season continues, and we ask prayers for our regent Olga and Valentina Nikolaevna as they travel to Rhodes, and also for Sasha and his family, presently in Lithuania, and for matushka Alla on her visit to Russia. We continue to pray for Masha and Neil with the complication of their new house, that God may give them strength and resielince in creating a wonderful home with a chapel in the garden.

As we approach October, I would like to know if there will be singers and readers for the feast of Pokrov (the Protecting Veil) on Tuesday 14 October, as we would like to celebrate the feast with a Liturgy. Please let me know if you are able to assist.

Our next Wessex Liturgy will be on Saturday 11 October, the feast of St Chariton the Confessor of Palestine, and we will celebrate our Liturgy in the chapel of St Lawrence, in Warminster, at 10.30.

Our next Cheltenham Liturgy will be the following Saturday, 18 October, and will be dedicated to the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, as we do for our Gloucestershire October Liturgy each year.

With thanks for every labour, every offering to the life of our community, and every prayer, and may God bless you all.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

Hieromonk Mark

Somerset: Monday 22 September

Dear brothers and sisters,

It has been a joy to celebrate the forefeast, feast and afterfeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God across our Cardiff mission area over the last three days, with Saturday’s pre-festal Liturgy in Cheltenham, the festal Liturgy in Cardiff yesterday, and Compline in Warminster today, after a visit to Shaftesbury Abbey, the resting place of the relics of King Edward the Martyr until their rediscovery in 1931.

It was a pleasure to see parishioners that we had not seen for a while at yesterday’s Liturgy for the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and to welcome our recent arrivals to our joyful celebration of God’s foundation of the Incarnation in the birth of the Mother of the long-awaited Messiah and Saviour of the World. Many thanks to all who made it such a joyful celebration.

Thanks to our Cheltenham ladies for the flowers which have travelled with us from Cheltenham to Wales to Wiltshire, having adorned our icons at the services over the last few days, and which are now lending welcome colour to our Wessex home, in the Chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster.

Our supper and compline service in the chapel allowed us to honour St Joachim and Anna, and to congratulate Jessica Anne on her name day, wishing her “Many Years!”

Following a building committee meeting on Sunday 1/14 September, last week was one of behind-the-scenes activity with work being done on a parish gofundme page to raise money for our building fund, and this should be up and running in the next few days.

This week will see our usual pattern of worship, with small compline in Nazareth House on Thursday at 18:00, and a moleben to St Andrew (before his relics) in the Oratory on Friday at 15:00. Confessions will be heard before and after the service.

Further to Father Mark the Younger’s brief finance report on Sunday, may we encourage parishioners who are UK tax payers to register for Gift Aid, allowing the parish to claim back tax and increase donations at no cost to the donor. Please consider this, as for every £1 donated, we could receives an additional 25p, making a vast difference to parish finances. Please talk to Father Mark if you are interested and able to help in this way.

On the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, on Saturday, my intention is still to celebrate the feast in Lazarica, with the hope that some parishioners may join me in Birmingham. As previously requested, if you can go and are able to offer a place in your vehicle please let us know, to give others the opportunity to celebrate the feast. 

As Saturday is a feast of the Cross, it is a Fast day, allowing wine and oil.

We look forward to the veneration of the Cross in St Philip’s on Sunday, the second day of the feast, when we also celebrate  the Holy Great-martyr Nikita the Goth and the 0Uncovering of the relics of the Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen.

Further to various conversations following confessions, may I stress that as Orthodox Christians, we live CALENDRICALLY. 

This means not only keeping fasts and feasts, but knowing and celebrating the saints’ commemorations, day by day. 

Reading at the calendar should be part of our daily spiritual routine, and we should remember that an even greater danger than New Calendrism (itself an undermining of sacred, patristic Tradition) is no calendarism, in which carelessness and neglect results in life oblivious to the Church’s commemorations, feasts, fasts, saints and seasons. As we look to the year ahead, please consider buying a physical, paper and print calendar to have in your icon corner.

In your prayers, please pray for the much suffering people of Gaza and for Metropolitan Theodosius of Sebastia; for the suffering servant of God, Metropolitan Tychikos, whose health is deteriorating in the light of his persecution and trials; for Porphyrios, matushka Alla and Joanna on their travels; for Pavel, Natalia, Martyn-John and Brigid among the sick; for the departed servants of God Yury and Inna; for baby Ezra and new parents McKenna and Joseph; and for our community to find and acquire its own temple!

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

We must congratulate Joseph and McKenna on the arrival of Ezra William Melhuish into the world on the celebration of the Church New Year. Many, blessed years to Ezra, mum and dad!

Our ecclesiastical new year saw a meeting of our parish councillors and building committee. In the course of that meeting, the members of the council unanimously voted to amend the parish constitution to allow it to appoint the starosta and, consequently, unanimously invited Joanna to accept this obedience, which she has informally fulfilled since our move to St Philip’s. We are extremely happy to be able to confirm this appointment and pray that God may bless Joanna in this position.

We chanted Many Years to Joanna and her parents Andrzej and Barbara at the end of Liturgy, thankful for their continuing kindness and benefaction, having used their gifts of altar and analoy cloths, and the large icon banners for the first time. What a wonderful addition to our Orthodox worship.

To return to the meeting of the building committee, several of it’s members are looking at options regarding the redundant chapel visited in Taff’s Well, and a group of our young people are working on a more general fundraising page to try and make our needed dedicated Orthodox parish centre into a reality.

Whether the Taff’s Well chapel is a possibility, or not, the last few weeks have galvanised our drive to move forward in finding our OWN home.

This week sees our usual compline service in Nazareth House on Thursday at 18:30, and our moleben at 15:00 in the Oratory on Friday. I will be happy to hear confessions before and after the services.

The clergy will celebrate the Hours and  Divine Liturgy in Cheltenham on Saturday, commencing in Prestbury United Reformed Church at 10:00. Confessions will be heard before the service.

We will celebrate the Nativity of the Mother of God next weekend, and look forward to having a Great Feast on a Sunday.

The variables may be found in the usual place:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FyJMlx9FLc1-oEXPX7GZ0n2S8Yv-Su8J/view

The following day, Monday 22nd September, we will celebrate the afterfeast with compline by candlelight in the Chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster, preceded by supper and fellowship at 18:30. 

This has become a wonderfully quiet and prayerful addition to parish life for those living on the English side of the Severn, and it is always wonderful to welcome fellow parishioners from the Welsh side.

This weekend saw our monthly Wessex Liturgy, celebrating the Deposition of the Cincture of the Mother of God, and St Aidan of Lindisfarne, with a quiet, prayerful and beautiful Liturgy and lovely shared lunch. Thanks to all!

Whilst thinking of the Wessex end of the parish, we thank God that Masha and Neil’s house move was successful, despite some threatening and serious obstacles, and in the same household, we congratulate Kolya on passing his driving test!

Thanks to everyone for today’s service, to which it was a pleasure to welcome visitors, as our Liturgy was beautified by our screens and textiles, and thanks to all who set up and put away.

We are happy that things seem to be getting back to normal, as parishioners return to holiday, though some of the faithful will be away in the weeks ahead. We pray for Joanna and husband Mark, and for matushka Alla on their travels.

We ask your prayers for the sick – Pavel, Brigid and Natalia; for the newly departed Irina, and the departed Yuriy and Inna; and for McKenna, Joseph, and new born Ezra.

Looking forward to Saturday 27th September, the Exultation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, this will be a day of parish pilgrimage to the church of St Lazar, in Bournville, to celebrate with our lovely sister parish and dear friends. If you are able to attend and offer car spaces, that would be wonderful!

May God bless you all.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings from Wessex, where I look forward to this evening’s end of month gathering of west of England Cardiff parishioners in the chapel of St Lawrence, in Warminster. We will meet at 18:30 for supper, and before we celebrate Small Compline, I will give a short talk on the liturgical canons, which have a central role in liturgical and wider prayer life.

We enjoyed a joyful weekend, with the great blessing of Saturday’s baptisms in the Oratory garden, with the beautiful setting among the fruit trees and flowers feeling more like the cloister of a little Italian monastery, rather than a church courtyard in Splott. Many thanks to our Oratorian friends for allowing the use of this wonderful setting, and also for the chance to celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration in the church a few days before. 

In the course of a fortnight, we have celebrated five of the seven holy mysteries in the Oratory: baptism, chrismation, confession, the eucharist and marriage!

Tuesday’s feast set the tone for the week, as whilst contemplating the uncreated light of Tabor we celebrated the enlightenment of Zlata and Nicodemus, whom we congratulate, and for whom we pray for “Many, blessed years!” 

God calls us to be sharers in the glory that was revealed to the disciples on the Mountain of Vision, and baptism is the beginning of this ascent to the life of the heavenly kingdom.

Many thanks to Branka and Joanna for their indefatigable energy in organising the occasion, and to Stefan, for his able assistance.

Yesterday, it was good to bless homegrown produce in the repeated traditional Transfiguration blessing of new produce, having enjoyed the blessing of honey only the week before. “O taste and see, the Lord is good!”

Looking forward to this week’s feast of the Dormition, we will chant Great Vespers in the Oratory Church at 15:00, on Wednesday, but despite having booked the use of St Philip’s in advance (as announced in church) and having confirmation, last minute uncertainty remains regarding Thursday Liturgy, due to pre-wedding preparations involving cleaning. Please keep an eye out for updates by email and on social media. I have been told that I will receive confirmation today, but obviously have to be patient and wait.

As announced, we will have our usual Thursday evening service and confessions in Nazareth House, with vespers for the feast of the Icon of the Saviour “Not Made by Human Hands” at 18:00. I will be available to hear confessions both before and after the service.

Thanks to those who arrived at St Philip’s extra early yesterday morning, to assist with setting up the church to allow me to hear confessions at an early, decent time.  As I had to perform proskomedia AND hear confessions, this was a great help. Next Sunday, I will again arrive early at St Philip’s to arrange the sanctuary at 7:45. 

Reflecting current tradition, we will celebrate the feast of the icon of the Mother of God «Прибавление ума» / “Enlightener of Minds” (or Giver of Reason) on Sunday, though the feast was originally kept on Dormition. As we approach the new school term, we will serve a litia for our school children and students at the  end of Liturgy.

As well as praying for Father Mark, Matushka Alla and Yuriy on their current travels, please also remember Panagiotis, who returns from Greece tomorrow, and our sister, Anastasia, soon to return from Russia.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

Many thanks to all who contributed to this weekend’s joyful services, with the belated blessing of honey for Thursday’s feast of the All-Merciful Saviour.

As well as blessing honey after our Cheltenham and Cardiff Liturgies, it was lovely that we were also treated to traditional poppy seed cakes for the feast!

Thank you to our sisters who baked these festive treats. 

It was good that everyone was able to take blessed honey from the Cardiff Liturgy, with individual pots for the faithful: an excellent idea!

We were very happy to have visitors from the Bristol parish and a few new faces on this festive Sunday, and it was a joy to welcome Branka and the twins, and Svetlana back from their Serbian and Russian journeys.

We look forward to Transfiguration Liturgy in the Oratory Church on Tuesday, at 10:45, and will bless fruit at the end of Liturgy. We will also perform a blessing on Sunday at the end of Liturgy.

As Fr Mark the Younger said at the end of Liturgy, tomorrow morning will see the funeral of our former parishioner, Sofya, with the service and burial in Mumbles. May the Lord God remember her in His Kingdom! Memory Eternal!

I will not be in Cardiff this Thursday, but will be in the Oratory as usual on Friday. We will have our usual afternoon service at 15:00, and I will be available to hear confessions before and after the service.

On Saturday, we will celebrate a triple baptism in the fathers’ garden at Oratory Church at noon, and look forward to the newly baptised communing at our Sunday Liturgy. I will be available to hear confessions after the baptism, around 15:00.

As you know Father Mark the Younger will be away on Sunday, so I will be at St Philip’s extra early, to set up for proskomedia at 7:45 so that confessions may begin at 08:30. Please try to confess on Friday or Saturday if possible, to ease Sunday confessions.

Monday will see our end of month evening gathering in Warminster, with a shared supper in the Chapel of St Lawrence at 18:30, followed by compline with the supplicatory canon to the Mother of God. Then, on Thursday 28 August, the Divine Liturgy for the Dormition will be celebrated in St Philip’s at 10:00.

Please ensure that the ongoing days of the Dormition Fast are dedicated to the Mother of God, and ensure that every day is blessed with a prayerful offering to her, as we prepare for her feast: our “Summer Pascha”.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

We must begin our week by congratulating Adam and Juliana on their marriage in the Oratory Church yesterday and wish them many blessed years of married life.

We are indebted to the Oratorian Fathers for their generous hospitality, and especially to Father Alexander for registering the marriage.

Special thanks also to Masha and Kolya for their beautiful singing and to matushka and Joanna for the flowers and linens.

The combination of Liturgy and wedding made for a busy and slightly challenging day, and we look forward to a rather more relaxed Sunday, next week – with trapeza as usual.

Thanks to all who contributed to our Liturgy for the feast of the Smolensk and Suprasl icons of the Mother of God, and to our Wessex faithful for Saturday’s celebration of the feast of St Panteleimon in Warminster. It was a beautiful celebration, with the joy of welcoming friends from the South Coast and Reading.

Given our usual Wednesday fast, tomorrow is our deadline for using up non-fasting foods before the Dormition Fast commences on Thursday: the feast of the Procession of the Life-Giving Cross and the All Merciful Saviour, 

We will have our customary Thursday service in Nazareth House, and will serve a moleben for the feast at 18:00, and confessions will be heard before and after the service. 

We will also have our Friday afternoon prayers, at 15:00 in the Oratory, and due to pastoral needs, confessions will be heard after our prayers.

Next Saturday sees our monthly Cheltenham visit, when we shall belatedly mark the feast of the All-Merciful Saviour, with the blessing of honey at the end of Liturgy.

As usual the Hours and Liturgy will commence at 10:00 in Prestbury United Reformed Church, Deep St, Cheltenham GA52 3AN.

We look forward to spending time together over our bring-and-share lunch after Liturgy.

After Liturgy on Sunday, we will chant a litia in honour of the Life-Giving Cross and the feast of the All-Merciful Saviour, with the blessing of honey, and poppy seed and honey cakes. 

We will celebrate Transfiguration Liturgy in the Oratory Church on Tuesday 19 August, commencing the Hours at 10:45. Experience has shown that a little extra time is needed after Mass.

Due to a requiem mass on the Dormition, it will now not be possible to celebrate the feast in the Oratory as intended, so I have asked if we might do so in St Philip’s.

I echo the advice of previous years, to honour the Mother of God in some way on each day of the Dormition Fast, and ask the guidance of the Mother of God each and EVERY day regarding our parish’s need for an Orthodox Temple. Our means are limited, but if God so wills, He will make it happen, but we must prayerfully demonstrate our trust and faith in Him, and in the prayers of the Theotokos, the Patroness and Protectress of our parish.

Please endeavour to pray the troparion and kontakion of the Kazan Icon…

Troparion, Tone IV: O earnest helper, Mother of the Lord Most High,/ thou dost entreat Christ, thy Son and our God, in behalf of all,/ and causest all to be saved who have recourse to thy mighty protection,/ O Lady, Queen and Mistress,/ help us all who, amid temptations, sorrows and sickness,/ are heavy laden with many sins,/ who stand before thee and with tears pray to thee with compunctionate soul/ and contrite heart before thine all-pure image,/ and who have unfailing hope in thee:/ grant deliverance from all evils,/ and things profitable unto all, O Virgin Theotokos,/ and save us all, for thou art the divine protec­tion// of thy servants.

Kontakion, Tone VIII: O ye people, let us flee to that calm and good haven, the speedy helper/ and ready and fervent salvation, the protection of the Virgin,/ and let us make haste to prayer and speed to repentance./ For the all-pure Theotokos poureth forth upon us inexhaustible mercies;/ she goeth before to help us and delivereth ,her good-hearted and God-fearing servants// from great misfortunes and evils

Тропарь, глас 4: Засту́пнице усе́рдная,/ Ма́ти Го́спода Вы́шняго,/ за всех мо́лиши Сы́на Твоего́ Христа́ Бо́га на́шего,/ и всем твори́ши спасти́ся,/ в держа́вный Твой покро́в прибега́ющим./ Всех нас заступи́, о Госпоже́ Цари́це и Влады́чице,/ и́же в напа́стех и в ско́рбех, и в боле́знех, обремене́нных грехи́ мно́гими,/ предстоя́щих и моля́щихся Тебе́ умиле́нною душе́ю/ и сокруше́нным се́рдцем,/ пред пречи́стым Твои́м о́бразом со слеза́ми/ и невозвра́тно наде́жду иму́щих на Тя,/ избавле́ния всех зол,/ всем поле́зная да́руй/ и вся спаси́, Богоро́дице Де́во:/ Ты бо еси́ Боже́ственный покро́в рабо́м Твои́м.

Кондак, глас 8: Притеце́м, лю́дие, к ти́хому сему́ и до́брому приста́нищу,/ ско́рой Помо́щнице, гото́вому и те́плому спасе́нию, покро́ву Де́вы,/ ускори́м на моли́тву и потщи́мся на покая́ние:/ источа́ет бо нам неоску́дныя ми́лости Пречи́стая Богоро́дица,/ предваря́ет на по́мощь и избавля́ет от вели́ких бед и зол/ благонра́вныя и богобоя́щияся рабы́ Своя́.

Finally, given the number of confessions before Liturgy, may we remind parishioners that they should be brief and succinct. If longer confessions are needed and parishioners are unable to come during the week, please ask and I will gladly hear confessions after Liturgy, reserving communion, as needed.

Vladyka has blessed confessions during Liturgy as an economia, given our circumstances, but clergy should not ordinarily miss any part of the Liturgy.

With Father Mark the Younger away on Sunday 24 and Sunday 31 August, please try to confess before if you wish to commune. On those Sundays there will be little chance for me to hear confessions, given that I will have to celebrate proskomedia.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters, 

Greetings as we celebrate the Nativity of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John, the bridge between the old and new covenants, who (after the Mother of God) we hold up as first in honour among the saints.

May we all seek to emulate the Forerunner in being prophets, challenging falsehood and speaking the truth as authoritarianism seeks to silence those courageous enough to speak out against tyranny, in a world in which even standing in silence can now warrant arrest in Britain, whether praying near an abortion clinic, or standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the wake of the genocide they face each and every day. 

As more and more Herods sit upon their thrones (or green House of Commons benches) in shameless godlessness and tyranny, the world needs prophetic voices like the Forerunner to call it to realisation and repentance, and as a first step to simply say NO!

We should all honour the Forerunner, as we celebrate his nativity and, if possible, read the canons or an akathist.

Canons in English: https://russianorthodoxchurchcardiff.com/greetings-for-the-nativity-of-st-john-the-forerunner

The Slavonic text me be found here: https://azbyka.ru/days/caa/106

After a quiet few weeks, yesterday was a lively and busy celebration of not only the feast of the Vladimir Icon of Mother of God, but also our annual celebration of the memory of St Calogèro the Hermit, following his feast last week.

Again it was a joy to welcome the Citro family from our London cathedral parish, and Nicolò from Bologna, who just happened to be visiting Cardiff and came to his first Orthodox Liturgy, yesterday of all days. We send our greetings to Father Efraim Augello, painter of our icon of St Calogèro, and matushka Olympiada.

Dio benedica tutti voi e le vostre famiglie!

Thanks to our choir who sang well and laboured much, chanting the moleben as well as the Liturgy. Thanks also to those who fed the faithful!

It was wonderful to have so many confessing and communing, and it made clear why we need two priests, despite the relatively small size of our parish.

This week will see our usual Thursday and Friday services.

Compline and an akathist hymn to the Mother of God will be chanted in Nazareth House on Thursday, and the Akathist Hymn to the Cross in the Oratory on Friday.

I will be happy to hear confessions before and after the services on both days.

We look forward to celebrating the feast of St Peter and St Paul on Saturday, when the Divine Liturgy, and the blessing of bells will be celebrated in Warminster.

Confessions will be heard from 10:00 and the Hours and Liturgy will commence at 10:30, followed by the blessing of the bells in the medieval tower.

We will have our customary bring-and-share lunch after the services, and look forward to breaking the Fast.

Address: Chapel of St Lawrence, High St, Warminster BA12 9AG.

At yesterday’s anointing with oil from the Hawaiian Myrrh-Weeping icon, one of our visitors asked about its significance, which is a good question, given that we take so much for granted in our Orthodox life.

We are greatly blessed that God touches us with His Divine Grace, and not only through the Holy Mysteries, but also through wonderworking icons and the relics of the saints.

We have so many wonderworking icons, particularly of the Mother of God, but very few of them are myrrh-bearing. 

We look forward to the visit of the Kursk-Root icon of the Mother of God in the autumn, and many people will, no doubt ask, what “signs” are manifested by the icon. The simple but wonderful answer is the countless miracles wrought by the Mother of God, century by century.

Some people seem surprised when they are told that there is no sensory surprise when we are visited by the Kursk-Root Icon: no perfume and no exuding myrrh, “just” a continuous outpouring of grace, which is the quiet, steadfast reality of nearly all wonderworking icons.

So… given the usual quieter reality, what IS the meaning of myrrh-weeping icons or, indeed, myrrh-weeping relics, such as those of St Demetrios or St Symeon the Myrrh-Gusher, as well as the myrrh-weeping relics in the holy Kiev-Caves Lavra?

Even before the Church’s equation of oil and mercy, which both come from the same root in Greek, this connection was already established in the Old Testament, as can be seen in the Psalms with their oil-mercy references.

God’s instruction for consecrated oil to be used in anointing as the sign of His Grace, sanctifying power, mercy, and goodness, shows this as part of the sacred-patterns of Faith and His relationship with the Old Israel. 

This understanding was later reflected in the sacramental life of the Church, which experiences the manifest reality of God’s Grace and power by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the elements of creation: in the waters of baptism, the myron of chrismation, the transformation of bread and wine into the Saviour’s Body and Blood.

Additionally God touches us through the sanctity of holy places, through the relics of the saints and through miraculous icons, and just as He manifests His mercy and grace through the various anointings in the life of the Church, so He likewise manifests this same mercy and grace through the miraculous gift of myrrh.

The myrrh which weeps from icons and relics of the saints is sometimes a sign of God’s Grace in specific  times of need, trial and sorrow: a sign of God’s mercy and love to encourage and strengthen us, showing us that He is glorified not only in the lives of His saints, but even in their sacred relics in which the Grace of the Holy Spirit still abides, or from their sacred icons, through which a connection and communion is established between the faithful and God’s saints.

Those of us who have witnessed such miraculous blessings, with our eyes and our noses, simply know that God continues to console and heal us, banishing sickness and making the seemingly-impossible possible through the anointing of myrrh from holy icons and sacred relics, and the Grace received in this Divine gift.

Glory to God!

Finally, I would like us all to reflect upon the fact that despite our present lack of vigil services, the evening before receiving Holy Communion should be spent prayerfully. The Church’s expectation is that those communing will have been to the service the evening before communion and will have been in Church from the beginning of the Hours before Liturgy has even started.

Not only does this banish the question, “How late can I arrive in Liturgy and still commune?” but also challenges our pre-communion routines. As we have no possibility of celebrating the vigil, it is incumbent on us all to find a spiritual way to spend evenings before Communion.

In our own icon corners we can ALL pray the canons and prayers before communion, but just as importantly, we can all pray compline or the Rule of the 12 Psalms, read the Psalms, pray akathist hymns, or simply say the Jesus Prayer.

Some of the faithful, of course, have no choice but to be at work. That’s both understandable and different.

Whatever we may be able to do, we need to be clear that for those receiving Holy Communion, the previous evening is NOT an evening for the pub, gaming, the cinema, social entertainments or gatherings, sitting in front of the computer, mobile phone or television: it is a time for withdrawal, preparation and prayer!

If this is a challenge, then people need to commune less often, and with far greater prayer, care and spiritual focus.

Holy Communion must never become part of a regular routine, but must always be a pilgrimage to the Gate of Heaven, which is the place where we stand before the chalice and meet the Saviour in the Mysteries if His True Body and Blood. Our attitude must be like Moses, standing with bared feet before God’s Presence in the Burning Bush:

“For our God is a consuming Fire, and they, therefore, who with faith and fear draw near to the God and King and Judge of us all, shall burn and scorch their sins; and It shall enlighten and sanctify their souls. But It shall burn and scorch with shame, the souls and bodies of them that draw near with unbelief.”

(St John Chrysostom)

Pray for Alexander presently in Georgia, for Natalia as she visits family in Ukraine, and for Svetlana, Richard, Anna and Sophia on their forthcoming Belarussian and Russian travels.

May God bless you all.

In Christ – Hieromonk MarK