Services for July 2010

Sat 3rd 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 4th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 10th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 11th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 17th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 18th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 24th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 25th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 31st 6pm Great Vespers (Liturgy at Stoney Middleton)
Sun 1st Aug 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Beginning of the Dormition Fast

Advance Notice: 7th August: Pilgrimage to Ilam

Namedays in July

10th Alexander Oliver Joy; Alexandra Meek (Warden)
12th Veronica Irene Dobson; Veronica Warden
17th Marina Rita Guiness
18th Dara Elizabeth Davidchack; Elizabeth Nash
20th Monk Elia; Ghassan Ayoub
22nd Magdalen McAtominey
24th Anca Bostan

Reposed
26th James Arthur Carter


Deanery Parish Feasts

17th St Marina: Grimsby (and Longton)

Pilgrimage to Ilam 2009

Please remember to arrange your transport for the 2010 Pilgrimage to Ilam – Saturday 7th August.

O holy Bertram, ascetic of the Mercian woods, forsaking worldly wealth, thou didst give thyself to God. Through fasting and prayers by the Manifold, thou didst acquire the riches of the age to come. Pray to Christ for us, that we too may be found worthy of His Kingdom.

This is always a fabulous day out in beautiful surroundings.

Pilgrimage to Croyland 2010

The sun beat down upon the gathering at Croyland again this year and much to the consternation of Fr Elia; Englishmen (and many others) again went out in it – with neither sun cream nor hats!
Welcomed warmly by the Vicar of the Abbey and his staff, a Divine Liturgy was served and then lunch before an Akathist to Saint Guthlac and the veneration of the relics of St Theodore.

Troparion to St Guthlac
Dwelling from thy youth amid trackless and watery wastes, O divinely wise father, with holy zeal thou didst strive to follow the commandments of Christ.
Wherefore, the ranks of angels were amazed, beholding thee, a man of flesh and blood, contending valiantly against the passions, O all-wise one, and prevailing over all the hordes of the demons.
On earth thou wast a peer of the angels, and in heaven thou art ever an intercessor for mankind. O venerable Guthlac, entreat Christ God, that He save our souls.

The Future of Orthodoxy in England: a Report from Bishop John

Eleven Orthodox Bishops take historic step towards the future of Orthodoxy in England
Under the chairmanship of Archbishop Gregorios, eleven Orthodox Bishops serving parishes in the British Isles met in London on 21st June.
They set up the first Pan-Orthodox Episcopal Assembly for this region.
Our own Metropolitan John (Youhanna) was present as one of the founding fathers in this first step towards the creation of one united jurisdiction......... “The Orthodox Church of Great Britain and Ireland.”

Communiqué of the Pan-Orthodox Assembly of Bishops.
The Inaugural Meeting of the Pan-Orthodox Assembly of Bishops with Churches in the British Isles was held on 21st June 2010 at Thyateira House, the centre of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. The Assembly operates in accordance with the Decision reached at the 4th Pre-conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference Meeting at Chambésy (Switzerland) on 13th June 2009.


The following bishops were present:

His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira & Great Britain (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople)
The Most Revd Metropolitan Youhanna of Western & Central Europe (Patriarchate of Antioch)
His Eminence Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh (Patriarchate of Moscow)
The Rt Revd Bishop Dositej of Great Britain & Scandinavia (Patriarchate of Serbia)
The Most Revd Archbishop Iossif of Western & Southern Europe (Patriarchate of Romania)
The Rt Revd Bishop Zenon of Dmanisi & Great Britain (Patriarchate of Georgia)
The Most Revd Archbishop Mark of Berlin, Germany & Great Britain (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia)
The Most Revd Archbishop Anatoly of Kerch (Diocese of Sourozh)
The Most Revd Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Archdiocese of Thyateira)
The Rt Revd Bishop Chrysostomos of Kyanea (Archdiocese of Thyateira)
The Rt Revd Bishop Athanasios of Tropaeou (Archdiocese of Thyateira)


The Most Revd Metropolitan Simeon of Central and Western Europe (Patriarchate of Bulgaria) and the Rt Revd Ioan of Parnassos (Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese in Great Britain) were unable to attend.

All those present noted the importance of this Meeting: until now in the British Isles there has been no kind of Inter-Orthodox Episcopal Committee. The bishops discussed the future organisation of their work.

An Executive Committee was set up, with Archbishop Gregorios as President, Metropolitan Youhanna and Archbishop Elisey as Vice-presidents, Bishop Dositej as Treasurer, and Archbishop Iossif as General Secretary.
Bishop Zenon, Archbishop Mark and Metropolitan Kallistos were also appointed Members of the Executive Committee.
The Secretariat of the Committee is made up of Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou and Protopresbyter Samir Gholam.


Three Committees were set up:1) Theological Committee,
Chairman: Metropolitan Kallistos
(For the time-being, this will also deal with liturgical, canonical and ecumenical questions, and with the preparation of an agreed list of Saints of the British Isles)

2) Pastoral Committee,
Chairman: Archbishop Elisey
(This will also deal with inter-Orthodox relations and with the organisation of Pan-Orthodox events)

3) Educational Committee,
Chairman: Archbishop Gregorios
(This will be concerned, among other things, with chaplains to universities, catechetical work and publications)
In the case of each committee, each Orthodox diocese will appoint a representative from either the clergy or the laity.


Our Archbishop, Metropolitan John; Vice-President of the Assembly

It was decided that a further Meeting would be held in December 2010.

Services for June 2010

Sat 5th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 6th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Mon 7th 7pm Meeting of the Trustees

Sat 12th 6pm Priestless Vespers (Crowland Pilgrimage)
Sun 13th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 15th 6pm Priestless Vespers
Sun 16th 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 19th 6pm Priestless Vespers (Clergy Meeting in London)
Sun 20th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 26th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 27th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Mon 28th 6:30pm Great Vespers for the Feast of the Holy, Glorious and
All-praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul
Tue 29th 11am Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Holy, Glorious and
All-praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul


Namedays in June

15th Monica
22nd Alban (Robert)
29th Fr. Aethelwine (Elwin); Pavlos; Paul Dominic

Reposed

3rd Bede

Deanery Parish Feasts

9th Saint Columba, Doncaster
17th Saint Botolph, London

Saint Edward the Martyr

Edward the Martyr (Old English: Eadweard) (c. 962 – 18 March 978), was king of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar, but not his father's acknowledged heir. On Edgar's death, the leadership of the England was divided, some supporting Edward's claim to be king and others supporting his much younger half-brother Æthelred the Unready. Edward was chosen as king and was crowned by his main clerical supporters, Archbishops Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester.
Edward's short reign was brought to an end by his murder at Corfe Castle in circumstances which are not altogether clear. His murder is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: No worse deed for the English race was done than this was, since they first sought out the land of Britain. Men murdered him, but God exalted him. In life he was an earthly king; after death he is now a heavenly saint. His earthly relatives would not avenge him, but his Heavenly Father has much avenged him.
Edward's body lay at Wareham for a year before being disinterred. This was initiated by Ælfhere, perhaps as a gesture of reconciliation. According to the life of Oswald, Edward's body was found to be incorrupt when it was disinterred. The body was taken to the Shaftesbury Abbey, a nunnery with royal connections which had been endowed by King Alfred the Great and where Edward and Æthelred's grandmother Ælfgifu had spent her latter years. Edward's remains were reburied with lavish public ceremony. In 1001, Edward's relics, for by now he was reckoned a saint, were translated to a more prominent place within the nunnery at Shaftesbury. A 13th century calendar of saints gives the date of this translation as 20 June.

Saint Edward’s, Athelhampton

Our Antiochian parish at Athelhampton in Dorset is dedicated to Saint Edward, king and passion-bearer. He was killed at nearby Corfe Castle in 987 and his relics lie in the monastery at Brookwood.
We went to the Divine Liturgy at Athelhampton on the Sunday of our holiday. The day before, we served a panikhida for Fr. John Nield at his grave in the churchyard.
Remember in your prayers Fr. David Harris and his congregation at Saint Edward’s.
During Martin’s visit to the parish in 2009, he was shown an interesting headstone which since the adoption of the church by the Orthodox appears to be growing its own icon of the Theotokos through the medium of a Lichen!
It is clearer in actuality than it appears in this photograph.

Saint Wite

At Whitchurch Canonicorum in Dorset lie the relics of Saint Wite, a local anchoress and martyr of the ninth century (Martyred by the Danes). King Alfred the Great had a church erected, where the present church stands, in 851, perhaps replacing an earlier wooden church housing the relics of the saint. Her Feast Day is on 1st June.

Holy Mother and Martyr Wite pray to God for us!