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).
After a visit to Cheltenham for house blessings – and a quick excursus into my home county of Worcestershire, to bless a home in Pershore – I am currently in Wiltshire, where we had our end of month service of compline with the akathist to the Mother of God, in honour of her icon ‘The Healer.’ After the service, we blessed Porphyrios’s home and enjoyed supper together.
I still have a few house blessings to do in Cardiff and hope that these can be completed in the next week and a half.
Looking ahead, this week, we will meet for our customary akathist at 18:00 in Nazareth House on Thursday, though the time will change in future weeks due to the University chaplain celebrating Mass at 18:00 on weekdays.
I will be available to hear confessions from 17:00, and will continue to do so after the service.
We will have our customary Friday devotions before the Cross, in the Oratory at 15:00, and will again chant the Ninth Hour and Akathist to the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.
Please message me if you would like to confess before the service. I will also be available for confessions afterwards.
As those in church heard, we seem to finally be making headway with St Philip’s, through the friendly contact between our chancellor and the archdeacon of Llandaff.
However, with some administrative arrangements to be completed, next Sunday’s Liturgy will need to be in St Faith’s Church, Morris Ave, Llanishen, Cardiff CF14 5JW.
We will have access from 10:30, and commence the Hours and Liturgy at 11:00, and, as it will be Forgiveness Sunday, vespers and the rite of mutual forgiveness will follow.
Please, make every effort to ensure that you are reconciled with everyone, mend any broken relationships before we begin the fast, and make peace in the case of outstanding arguments and conflicts.
Though we will have trapéza, we must watch the clock, as the Anglican parishioners will be setting up for a children’s service at 15:00.
Things may look a little minimal, but I am sure we can live with that!
Can those able to offer lifts to carless parishioners who live in town please get in touch?
Having already finished eating meat on Sunday, this week’s fasting rules allow the consumption of dairy foods and eggs every day… so please enjoy the traditional cheese-fair / bliny week before we commence the Great Fast on Monday 3 March – a day of total abstinence for all who can do so.
Please use the remaining time before the fast to sort spiritual reading material, and to print any texts that may be needed for prayers. Though we now have a good number of parishioners, we are still a few short of the hoped-for twenty participants, and would welcome a few more people to join us.
Just to clarify for those who may be reticent, our Psalter reading is simply a personal offering at home in our daily prayers, rotating the 20 kathismas (sections of the Orthodox Psalter) as we read them, so that in the forty days, we read each the 20 kathismas twice.
Each of us starts on a specific kathisma and we work through the Psalter and go back to the beginning after kathisma 20, so it’s just a staggered start and between us, we read the complete 150 Psalms every day.
It doesn’t involve going anywhere or needing to read in public, just a small chunk of each day for extra prayer at home during the Great Fast.
Dear brothers and sisters, thanks again to the parishioners who supported our Sunday service in the Oratory.