Dear brothers and sisters,
As the days grow longer and the first flowers of the year grace our gardens, parks, and the countryside around us, the Church calendar takes us closer and closer to the beginning of the Lent: the Great Fast.
After a fast free week, this week sees the last week of meat, ending with Meatfare Sunday, before cheesefare week. This Wednesday and Friday remain fasting days, but eggs and dairy food are permitted throughout the following week.
On this coming memorial Saturday, which is also both the feast of St Brigid and forefeast of the Meeting of the Lord, the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the Chapel of St Lawrence in Warminster at 10:30.
Before then, we will celebrate Small Compline with an akathist in Nazareth House at 18:00 on Thursday, with the opportunity for confessions, and will chant our customary Friday afternoon moleben in the Oratory Church at 15:00. As usual I will, again, be available to hear confessions.
Liturgy for Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare) and the feast of the Meeting of the Lord will, again, be in Tremorfa Community Hall, as it will be some weeks before St Philip’s will be useable for Liturgy.
Many thanks to those who helped move things from the church to the hall yesterday. Our new faithful were certainly kept busy. It was a joy to welcome Olga back to the kliros after her recent virus, and our choir were in fine voice for our celebration of not only the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, but also the commemoration of the New Confessors and Martyrs of our Church.
Our next Cheltenham Liturgy will be celebrated in Prestbury on Saturday 21 February, the Saturday of “All of the venerable (monastic) fathers and mothers lit up with great deeds”, and we shall no doubt enjoy maslenitsa and plenty of pancakes that day.
Those who subscribe to our WhatsApp, will have read that the diocese has announced that soborovanie (Holy Unction) will be celebrated in our London Cathedral on Saturday 21 March at 14:00, and will return to onlybeing celebrated in a hierarchical sobor, this year, with Bishop Irenei heading those of us who have been blessed to concelebrate this Holy Mystery. The anointing may be received by all baptised Orthodox Christians above the age of seven years, who have confessed and been blessed to partake of the Holy Mystery. We hope that by car-sharing, as many parishioners as possible may be able to participate, and there will also be a northern celebration in the parish of St Elizabeth the New-Martyr in Wallasey on Wednesday 25 February. Soborovanie will NOT be celebrated in parishes during Holy Week, given that ROCOR ordinarily maintains the tradition of it being a hierarchical rite.
Looking forward to the first week of Great Lent, through necessity (Work is likely to be continuing in St Philip’s), compline with the Great Canon of Repentance will be anticipated, earlier in the day, being chanted in the Oratory Church at 15:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. I hope that Friday will see the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified, and I will confirm this once I have spoken to Father Sebastian regarding timing. I hope that a few of us may keep the Saturday of St Theodore – the first Saturday of the Fast – by joining the Liturgy in Lazarica, together with Cheltenham parishioners.
Once Lent begins, I hope that we will repeat the daily reading of the entire Psalter as in previous years, with twenty readers reading a kathisma each every day, so that the entire Psalter is offered to the Lord every twent four hours. Please let me know if you are able to be part of this prayerful offering.
In the meantime, I hope that parishioners are considering spiritual reading for the Great Fast and ensuring they have profitable and soul enriching books at hand.
Asking you forgiveness for Christ’s sake.
May God bless you.
In Christ – Hieromonk Mark