Dear brothers and sisters,

After the rigours of the first week of the Great Fast, with the penitential themes of the Great Canon of Repentance, our Sunday celebration in St Faith’s offered a festal day, as we celebrated the Triumph of Orthodoxy and the restoration of the Holy Icons in 842, and the institution of this annual feast in 843. through the faith of the most-pious sovereigns, the Empress Theodora and her son, the Emperor and Autocrat Michael III. May their memory be eternal!

If we mention Orthodox Christianity to people, one of their primary associations is the central place of icons in our worship and culture.

The icons, rooted in the Lord’s Incarnation, with its material, physical, and representational possibility through the Saviour’s coming in the flesh, are not simply a physical manifestation of our Faith, but a sign of God’s entry into the physical realm of His creation.

In His prologue, St John the Theologian wrote that “…the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.» (John 1:14), and through the icons of the Lord, we continue to proclaim with St John, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.” (1st letter of St John 1:1)

St John of Damascus, a defender of the veneration of the Holy Icons wrote, “I boldly draw an image of the invisible God, not as invisible, but as having become visible for our sakes by partaking of flesh and blood. I do not draw an image of the immortal Godhead, but I paint the image of God who became visible in the flesh.”

When we encounter the icons we remember that “God is the Lord, and hath revealed Himself to us.” (Psalm 118:27), above all in the Incarnate Lord, Who is the perfect expression of the meeting of the Divine and the human, the heavenly and earthly, Spirit and matter/creation, the Uncircumscribable and the circumscribable.

In their reflection of Him, this meeting is also manifested in the lives of the saints, and, by extension, in the Holy Icons, through which we are able to physically express our spiritualw relationship with God, with the Mother of God and the Saints, recalling that St Basil clearly reminds us that, “ the honour given to the icon passes to the prototype.” Thus in our veneration of the Holy Icons, we worship God and honour the Theotokos and the Saints, through whom He has revealed and manifested His Grace, blessing the world through the God-pleasers who have shown us the path of the Christian life.

It was wonderful to e surrounded by so many icons in St Faith’s yesterday: some of the icons being people’s name-saints; others icons especially dear to our brothers and sisters; others important icons in the life of our Church, through which God has poured forth grace, miracles and healing.

After the Cross, the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, led us in our procession, and the fact that we followed the Saviour’s Life-Giving Cross and the Mother of God, along with the saints, sums up what should be the true Christian life.

May the Holy Icons always be our window and invitation into the heavenly life, and into eternity and the glory of the age to come!

I am starting this week with a quiet few days after last week’s daily services in Cardiff and “abroad” – and what a wonderful week it was!

From Monday to Thursday, Great Compline with the Great Canon was chanted in the Oratory Church, and the Akathist to the Lord’s Saving Passion was chanted on Friday. In the coming weeks, this will be chanted in Nazareth House on Thursday evenings.

I would encourage the faithful to continue to turn to the Great Canon in their personal prayers throughout the Fast, and we will, of course, chant the whole Great Canon in the matins of Thursday of the fifth week.

The first Saturday of the Feast, that of St Theodore was celebrated in Warminster, where we were blessed with a quiet and prayerful Liturgy in the sun bathed Chapel of St Lawrence, where we enjoyed a Lenten lunch after the service. Thanks to our Wessex faithful for their labours and dedication. Those unable to attend through illness and family commitments were very much in our prayers.

This week, there  will be a Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts in Father Luke’s lovely garden chapel in Llanellion Wednesday at 18:30, and this will be repeated every few weeks during the Fast.

In Cardiff, we will chant the akathist in honour of the Lord’s Saving Passion in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, and we will celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified in the Oratory at 14:00 on Friday – St David’s Day according to the Patristic Calendar!

We know that the time of our akathists in Nazareth House will change, but at the moment the Sisters have heard no news of forthcoming evening masses.

I will be able to hear confessions both before and after the Thursday and Friday services, but would appreciate an indication of any pre-service confessions, so that I know how early to arrive.

On the second Saturday of the Great Fast, we will celebrate the Divine Liturgy and a memorial service in Prestbury United Reformed Church, in Cheltenham at 10:00, and the variables for the Liturgy may be found at the orthodoxaustin website: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bRkhlpW0u0FFlAOy5yWLlQlGE6HYway1/view

On this coming Sunday of St Gregory Palamas, we will again celebrate Liturgy in St Faith’s, Llanishen, as we are still awaiting permission to move to St Philip’s.

Trapeza will hopefully be rather less rushed than on the last two Sunday’s, but can we please encourage every able person to roll up their sleeves to help tidy up, and please be proactive in looking for jobs that need doing, and ask if you can help in any way. This wil be greatly appreciated.

As clergy, Father Mark and I want the chance to join parishioners and talk with them at trapeza, and especially to welcome visitors, but for the last two Sundays have had no opportunity to do so, or to eat and drink anything before leaving Cardiff as we are still packing, together with young Stefan, until the last minute.

Let’s all please work together so that we can have fellowship and share time together after Liturgy, and young people… please take the lead! We are greatly blessed to have so many young people, and this is their chance to contribute to parish life.

This coming Sunday is dedicated to St Gergory (Palamas) of Thessaloniki, and the variables for the Liturgy may be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17D-3ciEAFOPCa4QGyZn7HDHrVClTQDJD/view

As previously announced, the Lenten service of Holy Unction will be celebrated in our diocesan cathedral on Saturday 29 March at 14:00, and both Father Mark the Younger and I will concelebrate with our bishop in the Holy Mystery.

Though I mooted the idea of travelling by hired bus, due limited numbers of attendees and the cost of transport, we hope that parishioners will car-share to attend this celebration. The bishop has given the exceptional blessing for the Mystery to be celebrated in parishes without the presence of a bishop.

Though this is normal in some local Churches, it is not in ROCOR, where the unction is celebrated in assembly/sobor, hence its Slavonic name of soborovanie.

Only baptised and recently confessed Orthodox Christians may receive Holy Unction, with the blessing of their spiritual father, and no child who is not yet confessing partakes of this Holy Mystery.

Once we have news about St Philip’s we can discuss Holy Week and Pascha and publish our service schedule. Until then, we are unable to speculate. Please continue and pray for a smooth and favourable relocation to Tremorfa, and soon!

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you all! Good strength in this second week of the Fast.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters, 

I think that all would agree that it was an immense joy to celebrate the Sunday of Forgiveness in St Faith’s Llanishen, in a church full of sunlight and warmth – both spiritually and literally, and it was a blessing to have so many young people, and to welcome new visitors.

Congratulations to all who confessed and partook of the Holy Mysteries!

After the last two weeks of Typika and communion – as lovely as our services were – it was reassuring to celebrate the Liturgy, and especially with such a well thronged choir who sang splendidly, with the gentlemen singing a Byzantine setting of the anaphora in English – seizing the chance before the longer melodies of the Liturgy of St Basil in the weeks to come.

Thanks to our singers and readers, and indeed to our servers – especially the youngest and newest additions.

Despite the limited time after our long liturgical run of the Hours, Liturgy and Vespers, we were glad that parishioners were able to enjoy a last pre-Lenten lunch before the discipline and asceticism of the Fast, in which we must eat according to need and NOT want. 

There is no place for want and desire in the weeks ahead, in which each of us should learn that, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Let the Words of the Holy Scriptures – especially the Gospels and the Psalms – be our nourishment in the coming weeks, together with the lives and teachings of the saints made perfect in Christ!

We had so much hoped that we would already be settled in St Philip’s, with Lenten services at traditional times this week, but this is sadly not to be this year! As a result, we must fit in with Oratory services.

I will pray vespers very simply in the Oratory at noon each day from Monday to Thursday, with the Great Canon being chanted at 15:00, and we are very grateful to have somewhere to pray, despite the early hour, encouraging parishioners to pray the Great Canon at home… ideally in the evening.

The Divine Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts will be celebrated at noon on Friday, and the normal Eucharistic fast should be kept by those communing, with the customary prayers of preparation.

The Divine Liturgy for the Saturday of St Theodore will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence, in Warminster, on Saturday, with the Hours and Liturgy commencing at 10:30.

We will return to St Faith’s in Llanishen to celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy and the restoration of the Holy Icons with the Hours, Divine Liturgy and traditional moleben. Weather permitting, we will make the most of the setting with a procession around the church – so please bring an icon to carry! During the Liturgy, our icons can adorn the window ledges and bring the faces of the saints to St Faith’s!

We will again have trapeza, enjoying vegan fare. No shellfish please. Though some local Orthodox Churches are very keen on shellfish in Lent, we will stick to the ascetism of vegan food.

As we celebrate “clean Monday”, we now enter the season of turning off the TV and i-player, putting aside the games console, loosing ourselves from the grip of social media, and turning to our icon-corner to pray: picking up our prayer rope and Psalter, persevering in spiritual reading and asserting the sovereignty of the soul over the body.

For some of our parishioners, this is their first “involved” Great Lent, and we encourage them to enjoy the simplicity of the season by putting needless things on hold, not worrying about rumbling stomachs or the aches from prostrations, and to proactively look for opportunities to pray more and enjoy spiritual reading.

An important detail is to cut down social life to spend more time in prayer and seclusion, and less time talking, so that when we do get together, it really is an occasion to enjoy one another’s company and conversation.

It is also the season to avoid unnecessary travel, which undermines the praxis of the Fast for Orthodox Christians.
It is sthe season forelf-renunciation, action and spiritual struggle… and it is NOT meant to be easy, like giving up chocolate or watching soaps. Orthodox Great Lent is not tokenistic: it is maximal and a time of spiritual warfare.

Fight well!

“My soul, my soul arise! Why art thou sleeping? The end is drawing near and thou wilt be confounded. Awake then and be watchful, that thou mayest be spared by Christ God, Who is everywhere and fillest all things.

Душе́ моя́, душе́ моя́, воста́ни, что спи́ши? Коне́ц приближа́ется,/ и и́маши смути́тися. Воспряни́ у́бо,/ да пощади́т тя Христо́с Бог, везде́ сый и вся́ исполня́яй. ”

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

Nizkiy poklon – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters, thanks again to the parishioners who supported our Sunday service in the Oratory.

Once again, the choir’s joyful singing was a great consolation and helped make Sunday feel as normal as possible despite the lack of Eucharistic Liturgy.

Thanks to all who helped in their various ways… but a little reminder that things need putting away as well as putting out, so if you helped at the set up, it would be much appreciated if you put the same objects away – wherever we are.

It was a joy to have Yuriy serving for the first time, on the same day that he made his first confession, and we are happy to report that he is keen to serve each week under the watchful eye of Stefan, his honorary ‘big brother’.

I was very happy that the faithful were able to venerate the relics of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross and the Holy Protomartyr of Britain, St Alban, at the end of our service, with a few others also able to venerate the relics of St Ambrose of Milan and St Gerasimos of Jordan that I finally found in the large collection of relics in the sacristy.

I now look forward to a moleben to these Holy Fathers, and will bring a larger reliquary to house the small theca (moshchebnik).

Dear brothers and sisters,

Heartfelt thanks to those who supported our rather different Sunday service, with the chanting of the Ninth Hour and the Typika in the Oratory Church, with the added blessing of having our familiar shrines and the candlestands from the old Sheffield parish at the centre of our worship.

Praise God that we were able to pray together and partake of the Holy Mysteries, trying to keep the service as familiar and normal as possible, with the choir singing most of the service, rather than a reader chanting everything.

It was strange not to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, but nevertheless a joy to mark the second day of the Meeting of the Lord, having kept the feast in Cheltenham, on Saturday.

Parishioners commented how reassuring and comforting it was to receive such a warm welcome from the Oratorian Fathers and the Latin Mass congregation, and were touched by such kindness and generosity, and it was reassuring to see parishioners relax and enjoy time in the hall after Liturgy.

Although we still await news of St Philip’s, I am pleased to anounce that through the good offices of the Reverends Elaine Jenkyns and Ruth Greenaway-Robbins, we will soon be able to celebrate Sunday Liturgies in St Faith’s Church, Morris Avenue, Llanishen, CF14 5JD, as a temporary solution.

I am awaiting confirmation as to whether we would be able to start this Sunday, so please keep an eye on our social media and on your email inboxfor updates.

This week, we will follow our current practice of chanting an akathist  on Thursday evening, in Nazareth House at 18:00. This week, we will chant the akathist to the Mother of God, in honour of her icon,”The Softener of Evil Hearts” – «Умягчение Злых Сердец».

We will celebrate devotions before the relic of the Cross in the Oratory Church on Friday afternoon at 15:00.

As Great Lent approaches, we are keen to arrange the cutomary Lenten parish Psalter reading group, wishing to ensure that the complete Psalter is recited every day. Those wishing to participate should email psaltergroup@fastmail.com 

Our Lenten services will greatly depend on what happens in the next few weeks, in terms of permissions for church use. We will endeavour to have as full a week of worship as possible in the first week of Lent, but we must bear in mind that our first week of the Great Fast conincides with the beginning of western Lent, so this may affect the evening chanting of the Great Canon.

Last year saw us anticipate compline by chanting the Great Canon at 15:00, which was not ideal, but there was no alternative in the Oratory. We will however explore opportunities for evening worship, though public worship on western Ash Wednesday may not be possible.

Please think about spiritual reading for the approaching Fast, and consider some of the titles already recommended, as well as acquiring a copy of the Great Canon: an essential resource for the season.

• The Great Canon: The Work of St. Andrew of Crete
• The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus
• The Lausiac History of Palladius (Lives of the Monks of Egypt):
• The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Apophthegmata Patrum: The Alphabetic Collection: 59 (Cistercian Studies Series, 59)
• The Paradise of the Holy Fathers Vol II (Sayings of the Fathers and Questions and Answers about the monastic life)
• The Arena, by St. Ignatii (Brianchaninov)
• The Field: Cultivating Salvation: 1 (Complete Works of Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov)
• The Refuge: Anchoring the Soul in God: 3 (Complete Works of Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov)
• My Life in Christ, by St. John of Kronstadt
• A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God (St Ephrem the Syrian)
• Father George Calciu: Interviews, Talks, and Homilies
• Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
• Monk of Mount Athos: Staretz (St) Silouan 1866-1938
• Saint Silouan, the Athonite
• The Divine Liturgy: A Commentary in the Light of the Fathers:
• Homilies on the Divine Liturgy, by Hieromartyr Seraphim Zvezdinsky

As the Great Fast draws closer, we must continue to pray fervently as we await permissions to settle into our hoped-for new place of worship, and be ready to be flexible, creative and resourceful in the meantime.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

How strange it is to write weekly news in which the headline is that our parish is now homeless in terms of Sunday Liturgy, as we await permission from the diocese of Llandaff for our eastward relocation. In these days we must continue to pray, hoping in the Lord’s plan for our parish.

Thanks to those who helped in the packing and moving, and those who have kindly agreed to store things in their homes, and especially to the fathers of the Oratory, who are so kindly keeping large items in St Alban’s Church, where we are so blessed to meet and worship week by week.

Thanks to all who gathered in Canton for our well-attended final Liturgy, and for those who sang and read, set up and helped pack the remaining things for our exit. After a tiring week, and yesterday’s celebration in Warminster, I was very glad that Father Mark the Younger celebrated, allowing me to sing and read.

St John’s has been a valued spiritual base for parishioners not only living in South Wales, but also those coming from the west of England and the Marches, and I know that parishioners have enjoyed the parish’s sojourn in Canton.

We have some excellent memories of St John’s, of episcopal visitations, the visit of the Kursk-Root icon, the Great Water Blessings of Theophany, radiant Paschal services, of the arrival of so many people, some as short term parishioners fleeing the war in Ukraine, some as seekers and catechumens who are now part of our community.

In the last few months, it has been a joy to not only baptise Joseph and Maxim, but even on our last day to receive three young catechumens, who have brought youth and energy to our community.

In the week ahead, we will have our usual services in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, and in the Oratory at 15:00, on Friday. These gatherings continue to allow ample opportunity for weekday confessions, and I am very happy to hear confessions before and after the services. I will be in Nazareth house from 17:00, and in the Oratory from 14:00.

Saturday sees our Cheltenham Liturgy in Prestbury United Reformed Church at 10:00, and this time of waiting and uncertainty could be a prompt for Cardiff-based parishioners to visit our outposts in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, seizing the opportunity to attend Liturgy whenever possible.

Although we had planned to make a morning pilgrimage to Llandaff Cathedral on Saturday 22 February (St Teilo’s Day), I will cancel that visit if we receive no answer from the diocese of Llandaff in the next few days. Given that our liturgical requisites are scattered across the catchment area of our parish pilgrimages will be difficult until we have a Cardiff base and are able to transport everything needed for Orthodox services.

If we receive no permission for our move to the east of the city in the next few days – as announced in church – we will gather in the Oratory Church in Swinton Street at 12:30, to chant the Typika and administer Holy Communion from the reserved Holy Gifts. In that case, I will hear confessions during the service, with Father Mark the Younger leading our worship. After some simple refreshments, we will take the welcome opportunity to offer a moleben to the Mother of God in honour of her Kazan Icon.

Having commenced the use of the Lenten Triodion / Triod Postnaya, and approaching the beginning of the Great Fast, we must not let our challenging situation distract us form the life of the Church and the season of repentance that lies before us. The persecutions of the Soviet Yoke failed to destroy Church-life behind the Iron Curtain, and we know that on a personal level our individual  laziness and indifference can be even more destructive than the godless persecutions of governments and states. Let us remain, resolute, steadfast and watchful!

Our times may be challenging, but the history of our Church has taught us that adversity is a God-given opportunity to struggle and grow stronger in Faith and spiritual resilience.

As the Church in Exile, our Russian Church Outside of Russia was born out of homelessness and we are the spiritual heirs of the strength, resourcefulness and determination of those who did not allow this to undermine or rob them of Church life.

In these islands, these determined and dedicated people – among them Archbishop Nikodem, Bishops Nikolai and Konstantin, the Abbesses Elizabeth and Seraphima, the Archpriests Evgeniy Smirnoff, Georgy Sheremetev, and Mikhail Polsky – are the spiritual pillars upon which our diocese is founded, and as we face trials and uncertainty, we must be inspired by their determined Faith and labours for the Church.

Let us be joyful, strong and unified.

God is with us! Съ нами Богъ!

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark