Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings as we celebrate the Nativity of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John, the bridge between the old and new covenants, who (after the Mother of God) we hold up as first in honour among the saints.
May we all seek to emulate the Forerunner in being prophets, challenging falsehood and speaking the truth as authoritarianism seeks to silence those courageous enough to speak out against tyranny, in a world in which even standing in silence can now warrant arrest in Britain, whether praying near an abortion clinic, or standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the wake of the genocide they face each and every day.
As more and more Herods sit upon their thrones (or green House of Commons benches) in shameless godlessness and tyranny, the world needs prophetic voices like the Forerunner to call it to realisation and repentance, and as a first step to simply say NO!
We should all honour the Forerunner, as we celebrate his nativity and, if possible, read the canons or an akathist.
Canons in English: https://russianorthodoxchurchcardiff.com/greetings-for-the-nativity-of-st-john-the-forerunner
The Slavonic text me be found here: https://azbyka.ru/days/caa/106
After a quiet few weeks, yesterday was a lively and busy celebration of not only the feast of the Vladimir Icon of Mother of God, but also our annual celebration of the memory of St Calogèro the Hermit, following his feast last week.
Again it was a joy to welcome the Citro family from our London cathedral parish, and Nicolò from Bologna, who just happened to be visiting Cardiff and came to his first Orthodox Liturgy, yesterday of all days. We send our greetings to Father Efraim Augello, painter of our icon of St Calogèro, and matushka Olympiada.
Dio benedica tutti voi e le vostre famiglie!
Thanks to our choir who sang well and laboured much, chanting the moleben as well as the Liturgy. Thanks also to those who fed the faithful!
It was wonderful to have so many confessing and communing, and it made clear why we need two priests, despite the relatively small size of our parish.
This week will see our usual Thursday and Friday services.
Compline and an akathist hymn to the Mother of God will be chanted in Nazareth House on Thursday, and the Akathist Hymn to the Cross in the Oratory on Friday.
I will be happy to hear confessions before and after the services on both days.
We look forward to celebrating the feast of St Peter and St Paul on Saturday, when the Divine Liturgy, and the blessing of bells will be celebrated in Warminster.
Confessions will be heard from 10:00 and the Hours and Liturgy will commence at 10:30, followed by the blessing of the bells in the medieval tower.
We will have our customary bring-and-share lunch after the services, and look forward to breaking the Fast.
Address: Chapel of St Lawrence, High St, Warminster BA12 9AG.
At yesterday’s anointing with oil from the Hawaiian Myrrh-Weeping icon, one of our visitors asked about its significance, which is a good question, given that we take so much for granted in our Orthodox life.
We are greatly blessed that God touches us with His Divine Grace, and not only through the Holy Mysteries, but also through wonderworking icons and the relics of the saints.
We have so many wonderworking icons, particularly of the Mother of God, but very few of them are myrrh-bearing.
We look forward to the visit of the Kursk-Root icon of the Mother of God in the autumn, and many people will, no doubt ask, what “signs” are manifested by the icon. The simple but wonderful answer is the countless miracles wrought by the Mother of God, century by century.
Some people seem surprised when they are told that there is no sensory surprise when we are visited by the Kursk-Root Icon: no perfume and no exuding myrrh, “just” a continuous outpouring of grace, which is the quiet, steadfast reality of nearly all wonderworking icons.
So… given the usual quieter reality, what IS the meaning of myrrh-weeping icons or, indeed, myrrh-weeping relics, such as those of St Demetrios or St Symeon the Myrrh-Gusher, as well as the myrrh-weeping relics in the holy Kiev-Caves Lavra?
Even before the Church’s equation of oil and mercy, which both come from the same root in Greek, this connection was already established in the Old Testament, as can be seen in the Psalms with their oil-mercy references.
God’s instruction for consecrated oil to be used in anointing as the sign of His Grace, sanctifying power, mercy, and goodness, shows this as part of the sacred-patterns of Faith and His relationship with the Old Israel.
This understanding was later reflected in the sacramental life of the Church, which experiences the manifest reality of God’s Grace and power by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the elements of creation: in the waters of baptism, the myron of chrismation, the transformation of bread and wine into the Saviour’s Body and Blood.
Additionally God touches us through the sanctity of holy places, through the relics of the saints and through miraculous icons, and just as He manifests His mercy and grace through the various anointings in the life of the Church, so He likewise manifests this same mercy and grace through the miraculous gift of myrrh.
The myrrh which weeps from icons and relics of the saints is sometimes a sign of God’s Grace in specific times of need, trial and sorrow: a sign of God’s mercy and love to encourage and strengthen us, showing us that He is glorified not only in the lives of His saints, but even in their sacred relics in which the Grace of the Holy Spirit still abides, or from their sacred icons, through which a connection and communion is established between the faithful and God’s saints.
Those of us who have witnessed such miraculous blessings, with our eyes and our noses, simply know that God continues to console and heal us, banishing sickness and making the seemingly-impossible possible through the anointing of myrrh from holy icons and sacred relics, and the Grace received in this Divine gift.
Glory to God!
Finally, I would like us all to reflect upon the fact that despite our present lack of vigil services, the evening before receiving Holy Communion should be spent prayerfully. The Church’s expectation is that those communing will have been to the service the evening before communion and will have been in Church from the beginning of the Hours before Liturgy has even started.
Not only does this banish the question, “How late can I arrive in Liturgy and still commune?” but also challenges our pre-communion routines. As we have no possibility of celebrating the vigil, it is incumbent on us all to find a spiritual way to spend evenings before Communion.
In our own icon corners we can ALL pray the canons and prayers before communion, but just as importantly, we can all pray compline or the Rule of the 12 Psalms, read the Psalms, pray akathist hymns, or simply say the Jesus Prayer.
Some of the faithful, of course, have no choice but to be at work. That’s both understandable and different.
Whatever we may be able to do, we need to be clear that for those receiving Holy Communion, the previous evening is NOT an evening for the pub, gaming, the cinema, social entertainments or gatherings, sitting in front of the computer, mobile phone or television: it is a time for withdrawal, preparation and prayer!
If this is a challenge, then people need to commune less often, and with far greater prayer, care and spiritual focus.
Holy Communion must never become part of a regular routine, but must always be a pilgrimage to the Gate of Heaven, which is the place where we stand before the chalice and meet the Saviour in the Mysteries if His True Body and Blood. Our attitude must be like Moses, standing with bared feet before God’s Presence in the Burning Bush:
“For our God is a consuming Fire, and they, therefore, who with faith and fear draw near to the God and King and Judge of us all, shall burn and scorch their sins; and It shall enlighten and sanctify their souls. But It shall burn and scorch with shame, the souls and bodies of them that draw near with unbelief.”
(St John Chrysostom)
Pray for Alexander presently in Georgia, for Natalia as she visits family in Ukraine, and for Svetlana, Richard, Anna and Sophia on their forthcoming Belarussian and Russian travels.
May God bless you all.
In Christ – Hieromonk MarK