Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings for the feast of the Holy-Equal-to-the-Apostles, St Nino of Georgia, the niece of the Holy Great-Martyr George, to whom the Mother of God appeared, commanding her to leave Palestine to preach the Gospel.
The glory of the Georgian Church is build upon her apostolic labours, and she is dear to Orthodox people across eastern Europe as well as the land she adopted.
May her prayers be with us at this crucial time in parish life!
Here we are in the last fortnight of our parish presence in St John’s, packing and waiting for the hoped-for higher permissions for the use of St Philip’s, Tremorfa. As the matter is now out of our hands, at the end of a very slow process of searching for a new location, all we can do is pray as we wait.
As next Sunday will have to see us packing, our trapéza will need to be kept to tea and biscuits/cake, as there will be much to do, and helping hands will be needed. Presuming that the following Cardiff Liturgy on Sunday 9th February is also in St John’s, this will be celebrated minimally, and our setting will be unfortunately, but necessarily bare.
Subsequently, if things continue to go slowly, we may have to be flexible in a stop-gap period, adapting liturgics, services and the opportunity to commune to suit our circumstances, as we have before. However, even if Holy Communion is administered during the Typika/Obednista in the Oratory Church after the late morning Solemn Mass, it would be no later than communion in St John’s.
The weather, studies/exams, and personal commitments dented yesterday’s attendance in St John’s, but we were very happy to welcome new Orthodox faithful. As Fr Mark the Younger announced, we will be very happy to welcome new singers and servers to the kliros and sanctuary, and see more people participating in obediences.
In the week ahead, we will chant an akathist in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, with the opportunity for confessions before and after the service.
There will be devotions in honour of the Cross and Passion in the Oratory at 15:00, on Friday, and having forgotten that I had said I would be available for confessions before last Friday’s service (apologies again to the parishioner who wasted time and petrol heading into town), I will be in the Oratory from 14:00. Confessions may also be heard after our service.
As shared on WhatsApp, I will be heading to the Church of the Holy Prince Lazar, in Bournville, for the feast of St Mark of Ephesus on Saturday, and would be very happy to see any parishioners who might be able to join the celebration. The Hours and Liturgy are at 9:00.
Our next Wessex Liturgy will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence, Market Place, Warminster, on Saturday 9thFebruary, with the Hours and Liturgy commencing at 10:30.
The next Cheltenham Liturgy will be celebrated in the United Reformed Church in Prestbury on Saturday 16thFebruary. Now that we have two clergy, we have returned to our old service time of 10:00.
After last Saturday’s West Wales pilgrimage to St Anthony’s well in Llansteffan, next month’s pilgrimage on the feast of St Teilo – Saturday 22nd February (9th Church style) will be a very local one, to Llandaff cathedral, where we will serve a moleben in the St Teilo chapel at 10:00.
Following Leprosy Sunday, yesterday, we will be pleased to continue accept any donations towards the work of the Leprosy Mission of England and Wales in eastern India: ideally SEALED in an envelope marked “leprosy collection”. Such as the poverty in Orisha, that people with bodies eaten away by leprosy lack the most basic needs… including shoes and clean drinking water. Please help if you can. Every pound makes a difference. Any funds will be passed to the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem, who are coordinating fundraising to support the mission’s work.
As we begin the new civil year, may we once again, stress the importance of Church calendars in our spiritual life, as the seasons, feasts and fast are all part of Orthodox living… and Orthodox living is calendric!
Who are the saints of the day? What are the readings of the day? What righteous people may have the anniversary of their death today? What are today’s readings? Is it the name-day of one of your fellow parishioners?
The beautiful, rich cycle of feasts and fasts that shape the Church’s year, is the sign of God’s grace in the life of the Church – through the saints He has glorified, through the Great Feasts that commemorate the events in the life of the Lord and His All-Pure Mother, in the God-given fasts and seasons of repentance and preparation.
We cannot be part of the life of the Church without living the calendar. So, please… whether on-line or on paper, make the Church calendar part of your spiritual life EVERY day!
If anyone wishes to buy the English language St Herman calendar (dedicated to the saints of Wales, this year) please ask the clergy. The cost-price is £10.
We “give up” the feast of the Lord’s Baptism today, and as we look forward to Lent and Pascha, it will be useful to remind ourselves of important dates.
- Sunday 23rd February: Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare: the last day for eating meat)
- Sunday 2nd March: Forgiveness Sunday (Cheesefare – the eve of the fast)
- Monday 3rd March: Clean Monday, first day of Great Lent
- Monday 7th April (25th March old-style): the Annunciation
- Sunday 9th March: First Sunday of the Great Lent – the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
- Sunday 16th March: Second Sunday of Great Lent. St Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica
- Sunday 23rd March: Third Sunday of the Great Lent: Adoration of Cross.
- Sunday 30th March: Fourth Sunday of Great Lent. St John of the Ladder
- Sunday 6th April: Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. St Mary of Egypt
- Saturday 12th April: Lazarus Saturday (Warminster Liturgy)
- Sunday 13th April: Palm Sunday
- Thursday 17th April: Holy and Great Thursday – Institution of the Holy Communion of the Lord’s Most Holy Body and Blood
- Friday 18th April: Holy and Great Friday of the Lord’s Passion
- Saturday 19th April: Holy and Great Saturday
- Sunday 20th April: Sunday of Pascha
- Saturday 26th April: Thomas Saturday (Cheltenham Liturgy)
Asking your forgiveness for Christ’s sake.
In Christ – Mark