Dear brothers and sisters,

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:

Liturgy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P7dlZ80L9RMotnaXGuX9DJStPYjdOAC-/view

Water Blessing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PvBkLRC0nh_k1YN7eiE_-rdYqAZs9lDC/view

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 Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

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.

Next Sunday’s variables may be found at… https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u6-U76t9WMvM6Yf8LOS-dFxtlEN4YzaH/view

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.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters: s prazdnikom! 

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.

Next Sunday will be the celebration of the Holy Forefathers of Christ, and the Liturgy variables may be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aoaY0o_W5Yz99it3y9RTKFIvDM__-siw/view

Wishing you a good struggle as the Nativity Fast continues.

Asking your forgiveness, for Christ’s sake.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

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:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bq-LyGBGgL3Oiwd6KtvqJxiaYp5LEUUe/view

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

Having been buffeted and soaked for several days, it was lovely to travel to Cardiff on such a beautiful, sunny morning, and after doubts about numbers to still muster around thirty locals for Liturgy, despite the lack of parishioners from Gwent and the English side of the Severn. Father Mark and I drove into the most beautiful blue and fiery orange sunset on our westward home journey, and it was hard to believe that a storm had passed through a day earlier.

Thanks to all who contributed to our celebration.

When we gather next week, we look forward to baptising Joseph and Max after Liturgy, and welcoming them to the Holy Mysteries, as we did today with Sasha’s twins Alexander and Danil for their first Holy Communion in the parish. Glory to God!

This week’s services will be on Thursday and Friday in the Oratory Church at 15:00. In a reversal of the usual pattern, we will celebrate Great Vespers for the feast of St Andrew on Thursday, venerating the house’s relic of the Holy First called Apostle, and the Advent Moleben on Friday.

Confessions will be heard after Thursday’s service and BEFORE Friday’s, given that I have to travel to Warminster. Please let me know if you require confession on Friday.

To give a little advance notice, the following week, the feast of St Nicholas falls on Thursday 19^th (6^th Old Style) and as I will assist Father Luke with the altar feast Liturgy in Llanelli in the morning, I will not be in Cardiff until later in the afternoon than usual. The akathist to St Nicholas will be chanted in Nazareth House at 18:00, and I will then hear confessions.

Given the significant change to public transport in western Christmas week, there will be no weekday services, as already long travelling days (typically six hours) will grow significantly longer.

On Saturday 28^th December, there will be an early celebration of the Ninth Hour and Vespers, in the Oratory Church at 14:00, followed by confessions. Given that Father Mark the younger will be away in Minsk, there will only be VERY limited time for confessions in the morning, as I will have to celebrate proskomedia. Those who confess in preparation to commune the previous Sunday, will be blessed to commune the following week, unless something arises and they need confession before they next commune.

Our Orthodox Nativity services will be in the Oratory Church in Swinton Street, so that all services of the week can be in the same location.

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.

The arrival of January is uncomfortably close, and we are currently disappointed by the lack of any move forward on the question of where we will worship in February, so we may have to look at options less central to the city.

We have been very fortunate to have been so central for the history of the parish thus far, and so convenient for students, but this may change as our options become limited. Please pray fervently for God’s guidance. Perhaps we are simply not praying hard enough! With tomorrow being a feast of the Kursk-Root Icon, we should all turn to the Mother of God with renewed dedication and prayer!

I am very grateful that Father Sebastian has already suggested that the portable shrines that form or iconostasis should be kept at the Oratory Church until we have a place of worship where they may remain in place, and these would be then used during our weekday services, which we are pleased to be able to celebrate in St Alban’s.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

I hope that the first days of the Nativity Fast have been ones of concerted and concentrated prayer and reflection as we begin our spiritual journey towards the celebration of the Saviour’s birth, and trust that our brothers and sisters have been able to put aside earthly cares through fasting, to focus on what is needful in the spiritual life.

After services for the first two days of the Fast in the Oratory Church, and Liturgy in Lazarica in Bournville with the chance to collect much-awaited prayer and service-books, it was a joy to celebrate the first Sunday of the fast in Cardiff, with so many confessing and communing. Congratulations to all who partook of the Holy Mysteries!

I was particularly glad to have the support of Father Mark the Younger, freeing me for extensive confessions, and – indeed – for completing the Liturgy, after my blood pressure seemed to have very unusually and rather unexpectedly dropped. Thank you Father!

Having discussed plans with Joseph and Maximilian, it is our intention to baptise them after Liturgy on Sunday 15 December. Max will be named for the Holy New-Martyr, St Maxim Sandovich, and Joseph for the Holy and Righteous Patriarch. Please keep them in your prayers.

Tomorrow, the eve of the feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God in the Temple, we will chant Great Vespers in the Oratory Church at 15:00, with the Liturgy being celebrated the following morning at 10:00 in Llanelli. As Masha, our usual weekday chanter for Liturgies is away, and a funeral has meant that Father Luke’s chanter for the feast also has to be away, I will fulfil this role for Father, so that the Liturgy can be celebrated. As usual, the Liturgy is in the Chapel of St David and St Nicholas, in the garden of Father Luke’s home, at 11 New Rd, Dafen, Llanelli SA14 8LS.

There will be afternoon services at 15:00 in the Oratory Church on Thursday and Friday: the Advent Moleben on Thursday, and Great Vespers for the feast of the Holy Great-Martyr Catherine on Friday. I will, of course be glad to hear confessions after the service, and ask that any requests for evening confessions in Nazareth House are made today or tomorrow, so that I can give Sister Marie notice.

As many of you will be aware, there are some fasting differences between calendars, and we simply ask that the faithful stick to the calendar that they ordinarily use, mindful of some differences. As previously stressed, when we have the consolations of wine and oil, or fish, we should be honouring the saints whose feasts have these blessings – doing something additional in prayers and devotions to celebrate the memory of the saints.

Using the St Herman Calendar, as a pretty typical norm for fasting, this week’s order is below…

• Monday 4 Dec – Prophet Obadiah: strict fast.
• Tuesday 5 Dec – St Proclus – Forefeast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple: wine and oil.
• Wednesday 4 Dec – Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple: fish, wine and oil.
• Thursday 5 Dec – Holy Apostle Archippus: wine and oil.
• Friday 6 Dec – St Amphilochios of Iconium: strict fast.
• Saturday 7 Dec – Great Martyr Catherine: fish, wine and oil.
• Sunday 8 Dec – Hieromartyr Clement of Rome – fish, wine and oil.

I hope that parishioners are finding spiritual reading to nourish the soul and focus the mind during the Fast, and I was glad to hear parishioners talking about the works of St Ignaty Brianchaninov, readily available to buy in English translation. (Amazon link only for ease of information, not to necessarily encourage purchasing form the said retailer!)

The Field: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Field-Cultivating-Salvation-Complete-Ignatius/dp/0884653765/ref=sr_1_1

The Refuge: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Refuge-Anchoring-Complete-Ignatius-Brianchaninov/dp/088465429X/ref=sr_1_2

The Arena: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arena-Guidelines-Spiritual-Monastic-Complete/dp/0884652874/ref=sr_1_6

Harbor for Our Hope: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harbor-Our-Hope-acquiring-Suffering/dp/0884654222/ref=sr_1_9

Other excellent resource, always valuable for the spiritual life are the Spiritual Psalter of St Ephraim the Syrian, and the Paradise of the Holy Fathers (available online as well as easily ordered in book form). The second volume of the Paradise addresses the spiritual life in thematic chapters.

As posted on WhatsApp, the excellent and soul-profiting works of St Paisios of the Holy Mountain are available in English translation for White Horse Wares – the source of our church candles.

Please endeavour to read something spiritual each day, and to add to your prayers.

In our prayers, among the Orthodox, we continue to pray for the newly departed Archbishop Peter, and for the newly-departed Maureen, of the Father Dean’s Anglican Parish in Butetown – also holding her children Daniel and Nicole, as well as the whole family in our prayers. She will be greatly missed by the St Mary’s clergy and parishioners. May the Lord God remember her in His Kingdom.

Praying for you struggle well and pray fervently in the week ahead, and asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

May God bless you.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

The last week has been a celebratory one of much activity and great blessings, having seen the visit of the Myrrh-Streaming Hawaiian-Iveron Icon to Cardiff and its veneration in the Oratory Church before its subsequent short visit to Chippenham, where it was also venerated and the faithful anointed, as they were in Cardiff the previous evening.

Several hundred people gathered at St Alban’s, greeting the icon with hymns and flowers, before a full moleben chanted according to the typikon, with both canon and akathist – the service being celebrated by the South Wales clergy, with the welcome presence of Father Sorin, and Father Youhanna from Risca.

We were pleased to have so many visitors from across South Wales and the West of England, and especially to have so many families, and to see people stay until so late.

Though there was little evidence of myrrh streaming on Tuesday, on Wednesday morning the icon streamed much myrrh, soaking a cloth on Branks’s sideboard, allowing us to soak it up with our prayer-ropes and cotton wool pads.

Even though the visit to Chippenham was very short, with the icon heading to our new monastic podvorie in Abingdon, those gathered enjoyed a festal day of chatting in the sun, enjoying a meal together, before the Cardiff pilgrims returned to South Wales and a few Wessex parishioners chanted the akathist hymn in honour of the Mother of God.

Back in Cardiff, the Marian festal-mood continued with the public offering of the Rule of the Mother of God in the Oratory Church, on Thursday.

On Saturday, the Cardiff clergy celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the Gloucestershire faithful, marking the feast of the Dedication of the Church of the Holy Great-Martyr George, in Lydda.

Back in Cardiff, it was wonderful to have a full complement of singers on the kliros, and we are grateful to them for their chanting, and – of course – for all who contributed to our Sunday service, which ended with another anointing of the faithful with myrrh from the Hawaiian Icon. We were glad to have new faces among the faithful, making up a little for those absent due to the virus that is doing the rounds.

Tomorrow, I will offer a moleben before our copy of the Hawaiian Icon here in Wiltshire, where I am staying so that I am able visit some of the local faithful, before continuing visits in Glastonbury and serving a moleben and house-blessing. I pray that the grace of the Mother of God will touch those who were unable to visit the icon, but who will be anointed in tomorrow’s visits.

On Thursday, we will gather in St Alban’s Church at 15:00 and offer a moleben for the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers: the Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel. Confessions will be heard after the service, and can also be heard in the evening for those who make a prior arrangements. Please ask, if needed.

I will serve a funeral in Newport on Friday morning, asking your prayers for the newly departed Nicholas, and back in Cardiff we will chant the akathist to the Precious and Life-Giving Cross at 15:00.

Saturday will see our local pilgrimage to the churches of St Cadoc and Merthyr Dyfan, in Barry – early Christian sites associated with Saints Cadoc, Deruvian and Teilo. Our pilgrimage will start with a bring-and-share lunch at Tracy’s house at noon, before heading to St Cadoc’s for pilgrim prayers at 14:00, and then devotions in Merthyr Dyfan. Please contact me or Tracy if you require further details.

I am very happy that next Sunday coincides with the feast of the Holy Great-Martyr Menas, and look forward to offering prayers for the future of the parish before his icon. Some of us have received great favours and blessings through his prayers, and know him to be a fervent and swift intercessor.

As Advent approaches, we look forward to baptising our catechumens, Max and Joseph, and formalising catechesis with the other young people who would like to enter the catechumenate, considering Holy Baptism.

May I remind you that we need an indication of how many people would like to order a copy of the 2025 St Herman of Alaska Calendar, dedicated to the Saints of Wales and costing around £10. Please let us know asap, so that a order may be submitted.

Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.

Hieromonk Mark

Dear brothers and sisters,

Many thanks to all who contributed to yesterday’s parish celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, following Monday’s celebration of the feast on its proper date.

It was lovely to celebrate the feast in the Oratory on Monday, even though most people were unable to be with us, hence Sunday’s continuing parish celebration, with a longer chance to spend time together after Liturgy.

It was lovely to have Father Mark, Alla and Yuriy back, with Father’s presence freeing me to help on the kliros.

We look forward to our Marian celebrations continuing with tomorrow’s arrival of the Wonderworking Hawaiian-Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in Cardiff, after a parish visit to Pontypool.

Whilst understanding the unpredictability of evening traffic, we will be ready to greet the icon at 18:30 at the doors of the Oratory Church, Swinton St, Cardiff CF24 2NT.

We will the chant the moleben to the Mother of God, and you are invited to submit names for commemoration by the clergy throughout the service, and it would be helpful for you to prepare clearly written or printed lists in advance. Please let us know the names of the Orthodox sick, for Hierodeacon Avraamy to commemorate in the litanies.

There will be a collection basket for the Hawaiian Icon Association next to the icon, and we ask the faithful  to be generous in their support for the grace-filled visits of the icon throughout the world. 

You are also invited to remember the Oratory Church in your giving, being mindful that this event is not isolated, but indicative of the hospitality that the Oratorians show to the Orthodox faithful week after week, as we gather to pray and serve in St Alban’s, surrounded by such warmth, generosity and kindness.

On its eastward progress, the Wonderworking Icon will stop to Chippenham on Wednesday morning, making a station there for a moleben and veneration at Masha’s home around 10:30.

It was only yesterday that the parishioners of St John’s were informed that we will be leaving, and this was a cause of sadness for some of them, and emotional upset for one parishioner (who has been very supportive of our presence), who was comforted and reassured by Father Mark the Younger. We are very grateful for the immense warmth and kindness that has been shown by rank and file parishioners. It is unfortunate that the explanation for our departure hides behind “orders from above” and seeks to absolve and exonerate the West Cardiff Ministry team of any responsibility for their actions, and of the fact that our move back was with the support and encouragement of their lead minister, whose judgment and authority were trusted, to our cost and disadvantage. Our thoughts are with those who have been so kind and generous to us.

Our parish committee is waiting to hopefully view a property owned by the now defunct Free Serbian Orthodox parish. Due to charity regulation, this property, in Ely will go to auction, but we are very interested to see it. We know there are structural issues, and need to ascertain the degree to which this affects the building and its use. Several other possible buildings are being explored for hire.

We must pray fervently for our parish and its future, and increase our prayers, so that our present trials bring us closer to God: tomorrow being a prime opportunity to pray together.

As we have said on WhatsApp, some of our sisters are offering prayers to the Mother of God every evening at 20:00, praying the much loved prayer – 

Ца­ри́­це моя́ Преблага́я, На­де́ж­до моя́, Бо­го­ро́­ди­це, При­я́те­ли­ще си́­рых и стра́н­ных Предста́тельнице, скор­бя́­щих Ра́­дос­те, оби́­ди­мых Покрови́тельнице! Зри́ши мою́ беду́, зри́ши мою́ скорбь; помози́ ми, я́ко не́мощну, окорми́ мя, я́ко стра́нна! Оби́ду мою́ ве́­си, разреши́ ту, я́ко во́лиши: яко не и́мам ины́я по́­мо­щи, ра́­зве Те­бе́, ни ины́я Предста́тельницы, ни благи́я Уте́шительницы, то́кмо Те­бе́, о Бо­го­ма́­ти! Я́ко да сохрани́ши мя и покры́еши во ве́­ки ве­ко́в. Ами́нь.

O my most blessed Queen, O Theotokos my hope, guardian of orphans, intercessor for strangers, joy of the sorrowful, protectress of the wronged: Thou seest my misfortune, thou seest mine affliction; help me, for I am weak; feed me, for I am a stranger. Thou knowest mine offence: Absolve it as thou wilt, for I have no other help beside thee, no other intercessor, nor good consoler, except thee, O Mother of God. Do thou preserve and protect me unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Please consider joining them, or joining your voice in offering prayers to the Mother of God, in honour of her Kursk Root Icon, or to St John the Wonderworker. In addition to the akathists available online, I posted an English language canon to St John earlier today: 

https://russianorthodoxchurchcardiff.com/a-canon-to-st-john-the-wonderworker

After the icon visits, Thursday will see a service at 15:00 in the Oratory Church, and I will then hear confessions either side of the service, as well as hearing evening confessions in Nazareth House.

Saturday will see the clergy fulfil their monthly obedience in serving the Liturgy in Cheltenham, and the faithful there would very much like to welcome Cardiff parishioners. Given that virtually none of them drive, they are rather cut off and isolated, but always keenly ask about the Cardiff faithful that have supported them over the years.

This month’s quite simple pilgrimage will see us visit the ancient Christian sites of St Cadoc’s and Merthyr Dyfan in Barry, and I would appreciate an indication of who will be able to attend to help decide what services will be celebrated. Please let me know as soon as possible.

May I ask your prayers for the newly departed Nikola, and for the Sesević family, as arrangements are made for Nikola’s funeral in Newport, next week.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark