Tag Archives: Cardiff

Parish News Round Up

Posted on by

Dear brothers and sisters, 

I hope that the Advent Fast is proving to be a spiritually fruitful time for all in our Cardiff and Cheltenham parishes. 

It is wonderful that my full-time appointment coincides with this season, allowing me to spend time with parishioners – especially those who have joined us since the summer. Simply having the time to chat and correspond by whatever means suits people is wonderful. 

It has also been good to spend time with friends of the parish, with last week seeing ‘catch-ups’ at the Oratory and the Catholic Chaplaincy, allowing discussion of present Russian Orthodox life and the development of the parish – not to mention some temporary limitations since the community left Nazareth House and moved to St John’s. 

One of the fruits of these discussions is the hope (and intention) to establish regular prayers before the relics of St Alban, who is the de facto patron of the British part of our diocese. It is a great blessing that a portion of his sacred relics are here in Cardiff, and we look forward to regular prayers and veneration at the shrine in the Oratory Church. 

Last weekend saw the celebration of the Kursk-Root Icon in Cheltenham (albeit a day late), with the Divine Liturgy celebrated in Prestbury, where the United Reformed Church remains our temporary home. 

It was a joy to be together, with the gathered congregation witnessing to the parish’s faithfulness to ROCOR and our Diocese, whatever virtual-reality, PR and spin is being propagated in cyber-space. 

Though Cardiff friends of the parish were unable to attend Liturgy this month, the faithful still travelled from North Wiltshire, Exeter, and the Forest of Dean, in addition to our Cheltenham and Gloucester parishioners. It was a great joy to see parishioners who are usually unable to attend on Saturdays, due to work commitments, but who changed their work plans to be able to attend Liturgy during the Fast. 

Though the little chapel is bare, as we would expect in a Nonconformist setting, our faithful brought icons to place on the window-ledges, vases of flowers to place before the icon-stands, and fragrant herbs with which to adorn the icons. 

We very much enjoyed being able to sit down to a hearty lunch after Liturgy, with friendly conversation and social-time together. 

Sunday’s Liturgy, in Cardiff, was especially bright and joyful, reflecting Aleksandra’s return from London. The singing on the kliros was excellent, with Agni Parthene (O Pure Virgin) chanted beautifully during the veneration of the Cross and the parish Kursk-Root Icon. We look forward to the visit of the Kursk-Root Icon itself to Great Britain, hoping that there may be a visit, however short to our Welsh capital and our Cheltenham Community. 

This Friday will see another Advent Moleben and reflection in the parish-room at St Mary Butetown, which provided an excellent venue, last week. 

Having reflected on the many meanings of Christ as the Eternal Logos, last Friday, we will remain with the Prologue of St John’s Gospel, reflecting upon the Saviour as the Creative Word of God: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” 

Many thanks to Norman and Georgina for making arrangements with Fr Dean, to whom we are especially grateful for allowing use of the parish-room. 

Though I will confess a few parishioners on Friday, the weekly parish confessions for our locals will be on Saturday, so please let me know, as usual and the clergy will arrange a ‘rota’.  

I will, of course, confess those travelling from farther afield on Sunday, though there will be no ‘over-flow’ after the Liturgy, as we will have the joy of baptising baby Adam from Hereford at 14:00. This will mean that trapeza will not be so long in duration. Support at the baptism would be lovely, and we look forward to seeing Adam, as the last time we saw Ekaterina she still had a few months of pregnancy left. 

I will confess our travelling parishioners from 10:15 before Sunday Liturgy, and ask for advance notice, given that this time is a challenge for us. 

We very much look forward to celebrating the feast of St Nicholas, and the variables for the Liturgy may be found here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zWuJ3fNC7zmad4RljYYPPBbw1K8Lojry/view

In Christ –

Hieromonk Mark

The Leave-Taking of the Dormition

Posted on by

Dear brothers, sisters and friends of our Cardiff and Cheltenham parishes,

The Liturgy in Cardiff today was greatly blessed by the addition of Father Luke to the celebrating clergy, much to the joy of those who have not seen him for a considerable time, with parishioners from deepest Wiltshire thinking they might drive all the way to West Wales to see him.

Father Luke was a very great help today, given parishioners had travelled from Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swansea, and all required confession.

We congratulate all who partook of the Holy Mysteries on this Leave-Taking of the feast of the Dormition, when at the end of Liturgy, after the chanting of the encomia and velichanie for the Dormition, the plashchanitsa of the Mother of God was returned to the sanctuary.

Sunday was also the feast of St Irenaeus of Lyons and Bishop Irenei was greeted for his nameday by telephone yesterday evening, as he was leaving church after the vigil in our parish in Lyons. After the dismissal today’s Liturgy, we chanted Mnogaya Leta for our bishop, with an icon of St Irenaeus, written within the parish, being blessed before presentation to His Grace when the clergy visit the cathedral for its altar-feast: the Nativity of the Mother of God.

I was also very pleased to bless an icon of St Andrei Ufimsky by the hand of the same iconographer, and will be cherishing this in my cell.

The parish received a wonderful blessing this week, as our Chancellor, Archpriest Paul, commended the old candlestands from ROCOR‘s former Bradford parish the care of our community, and we were able to put them into use, knowing that these humble stands had been used in the worship of the Russian Church Outside of Russia since 1946. We sincerely hope they will still be in use in another seventy-five years.

In addition to visiting Wallasey and the Parish of St Elizabeth this week, Father Deacon Mark and I have also had the pleasure of visiting Vladika Irenei in London and the Cheltenham parish yesterday, so it has been a very busy week with significant mileage. To add to this, Deacon Mark is driving to Heathrow to meet matushka Alla and Yuriy who are on their return journey from Crimea at this very moment.

Though matushka and Yuriy are still in transit, other parishioners have arrived home, and it was lovely to have faithful back from Ukraine and Russia and to celebrate the Liturgy and the end of our ‘Summer Pascha’ with them.

As I explained at Liturgy, a very difficult work rota for me will make confessions a challenge this week, but I hope that it will be possible to hear confessions on Thursday. Given the challenges of the week, may I ask all requiring confession, and who are able to do so on Thursday to contact me by Wednesday lunchtime (indicating any time that you would NOT be available that day), so that I may endeavour to make arrangements: otetzmark@hotmail.com 

Given that next Sunday’s Liturgy is followed by a General Parish Meeting, it will only be possible to hear a few confessions before Liturgy, and there will be no possibility to hear either long confessions, or confessions after Liturgy. I am sorry, but on top of my work rota, the meeting makes this unavoidable. Also, there will be no Saturday evening service.

As always, our thanks go to everyone who made our celebrations in Cardiff and Cheltenham possible this weekend, particularly our servers and singers, and our sisters who prepared the food enjoyed by our hungry and appreciative faithful.

May God bless you all.

In Christ – Hieromonk Mark