June 2012 at Audley and Dresden

Sat 2nd 6pm Memorial and Great Vespers

Sun 3rd 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturg

Wed 6 th 11am Divine Liturgy

Fast Free Week – 3rd until Sun 10th June

Sat 9th 6pm Great Vespers

Sun 10th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Apostles’ Fast Begins – Mon 11th June

Wed 13th 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 16th Pilgrimage to Crowland – NO PARISH SERVICE

Sun 17th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Wed 20th 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 23rd 6pm Great Vespers

Sun 24th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Wed 27th 11am Divine Liturgy

Thu 28th 6pm Great Vespers

Fri 29th 11am Divine Liturgy

Sat 30th 6pm Great Vespers

Sun 1st July 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy

Name Days

14th Monica Thornton

22nd Alban Robert Cooke

29th Fr Aethelwine; Pauline Joan Baiasu; Pavlos Harvey; Paul Dominic

Reposed

3rd Bede (2009)

Patronal Feast

9th Saint Columba, Doncaster

17th Saint Botolph, London

Advanced Notice of Pilgrimages

Sat 16th June Crowland

Sat 23rd June Pisani Chapel open day

Sat 28th July Stoney Middleton Liturgy

Sat 5th August Saint Bertram Liturgy at Ilam

Minton tiled floors

One of the architectural highlights of our church in Dresden is the tiled floor which was covered by carpet for many years. The carpet and much of the wooden staging in the chancel had to be removed as a consequence of the many leaks found in the heating system which had rotted these away.
Many hours were spent cleaning off years of dirt but even so, the floor needs much more work if it is going to regain any of its original splendour and this is not a job for us amateurs.
In May, idly browsing the internet, Martin located a specialist in the restoration of Minton tiled floors – specialists whose work is usually the restoration of those few square feet of tiles found in household hallways.
Sadly, specialists are always expensive.
Thinking that to obtain a quote would do no harm and that we might at least get some hints on the care of the floor, Martin invited them to view the floor with Fr Samuel, to quote for some work and offer advice.
They duly arrived and expressed great enthusiasm. The proprietor said that the chance to work on a whole church floor was unusual and that he and colleagues in the trade might offer to volunteer to help, simply for the chance to take advantage of this rare opportunity – in return for the price of the materials! The quote was supplied and the floor will be repaired, missing tiles matched where possible, uneven patches re-set and the whole lot cleaned, sealed and polished for a mere £1,800!
This is close to the usual price for a house hallway and represents an offer that we cannot refuse.

If you would like to donate to this project specifically – your contributions would be greatly appreciated.

What is a Reader?

Many have asked, so it seems as well to define it here. In past times when literacy amongst the people was low, the Reader reading in church was the main way that people would hear Scripture – apart from the Gospel of course.
The reader’s duty was to read from the Old Testament, the epistle at the Divine Liturgy, to chant psalms, the verses for prokeimenons and alleluias and other appointed hymns during divine services. The care for the parish’s liturgical books and the construction of services to the typicon was also his responsibility.
Officially, the reader is a member of minor clergy and the position is the second highest of the minor orders in the Orthodox Church – coming below Sub-Deacon but above Doorkeeper.
The reader is expected to wear a black cassock (in our jurisdiction) which is worn as a sign of the suppression of his own tastes, will and desires, and of his canonical obedience to God, his bishop and the liturgical and canonical norms of the Church. It is expected that he shall, in addition to living the Christian life, read Scriptures daily and must pray daily. He will also have memorised commonly-used liturgical prayers. In our Parish, members of our church family have long-established roles within services and we share the chanting of psalms and hymns amongst the choir members.
Fr Samuel constructs the services for the church and Richard continues to do a fine job of printing the necessary bits for the choir folders and setting the words to the notes.
So what is the point then, if all this is done already?
Perhaps Fr Samuel feels that I need more encouragement to read and pray and that if he somehow makes it obligatory, I might put in greater effort towards this. Perhaps he is about to offload some of the work he does in preparing services. More likely is that maybe I just look better in a cassock – which may well be correct as I am told it is “quite slimming”. Thanks! Whatever the reasoning behind my appointment, I feel very honoured and hope that I will manage, with your prayers, whatever is thrown at me. Many thanks to Father Samuel.
Some interesting research online suggests that if Readers are shown in icons, they are generally portrayed wearing a pointed hat with the brim pulled out to the sides. Thankfully, this distinctive garb is now obsolete!

Reader Martin

Thanks!

        Two events happened in May which would not have been as successful as they were without the support of those who took part or those who could not be there but donated.
        Firstly the Spring Fayre at Dresden was appropriately blessed with fair weather and after huge amounts of laying out, unpacking, pricing, manning of stalls and then clearing up, raised a mighty £1,000 for church funds. This possibly makes an excellent down-payment on floor restoration works at Dresden (more of which later).
        Secondly, lunch at Saint Marina’s Hall in honour of Bishop Efraim which was a great event and much enjoyed by everyone present. I hope some photographs will be forthcoming from those with cameras for a future issue. The only one I have was taken for me by Anne Chadwick and has me on it too– sorry!

May 2012: Services at Audley and Dresden (Note the new layout!)

Wed 2nd No Services (Deanery Conference)

Sat 5th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 6th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Wed 9th 11am Divine Liturgy
Sat 12th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 13th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Wed 16th 11am Divine Liturgy
Sat 19th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 20th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Wed 23rd 11am Divine Liturgy
Wed 23rd 7pm Great Vespers of the Ascension
Thu 24th 11am Divine Liturgy of the Ascension
Sat 26th 6pm Great Vespers
Sun 27th 10am Matins; 11am Divine Liturgy
Wed 30th 11am Divine Liturgy

 In our Antiochian tradition,there is no fasting

(with the exception of the Pre-Communion fast obviously),

on any day until after the Ascension

because the Lord Himself is with us!

Name Days
8th Metropolitan John; Hugh Maxfield; John Warden
10th Simon Harvey
11th Cyril McAttominey
21st Fr Constantin; Ileana Badin; Elena Batkin; Elena Bendo; Helena Carson; Ileana Grigoriou
29th Dr Lucas Joy
30th Isaac Davies

Reposed
20th Jean Grace


Patronal Feasts
12th Saint Aethelhard; Louth
19th Saint Dunstan; Poole

Pilgrimage Center of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe Pilgrimage to Romania

Short notice again, but registrations for this fascinating trip must be received by 10th May
2012 for the pilgrimage to “The frescoed monasteries of Bukovina” which takes place
between 3rd and 12th July.

Metropolitan Joseph of the Romanian Orthodox
Church will lead the pilgrimage around some of
these fascinating and beautiful sites.
Book your own flights to Bucharest and once
there, coach travel, full board accommodation,
entrance tickets, a cruise on the Danube and
multilingual guide services are included in the
price of just 490 euros.

We will try to obtain more advanced notice of
future pilgrimages!

Alternatively of course, we have not only
Romanians in our congregation but also many
other nationalities too who would be very
pleased to advise you if you wanted to make
your own trips to their homelands.
Let’s not forget as well that we have some interesting religious sites here in the UK, not all
of which are visited formally by the Parish.


Taking a break closer to home? Have a look on the web and you will often find that there
are relics, shrines or churches connected with early British Saints. Perhaps the church dates
from after 1054 – but there is often a stained glass window or printed information which
will help us learn a little more about our own early Christian heritage here in Britain.

Kursk Root Icon

The Kursk Root Icon of Our Mother of God of “The Sign” is again to visit the church of Saint
Elizabeth in Wallasey on Friday 11th May. Hierarchical Vespers will be served at 5:30pm,
followed by a Molieben.
Many of our parish have been to venerate this wonderworking icon in the past and have
reported it to be very special occasion.
The icon dates from the 13th century when
during the dreadful period of the Tartar
invasion of Russia, the province of Kursk and
its principle city, Kursk, was emptied of
people and became a wilderness. Residents
of the city of Rylsk often journeyed there to
hunt wild beasts and one of the hunters,
going along the bank of the river Skal, noticed
an icon lying face down next to the root of a
tree. The hunter picked it up ad noticed that
it was an icon of the Sign, such as that which
was enshrined and venerated in the city of
Novgorod. There and then the first miracle
happened as there immediately gushed forth
an abundant spring of pure water.
The hunter constructed a chapel and placed
the icon within it. Many more miracles
followed and pilgrims came to venerate the icon from Rylsk. Prince Vasily Shemyaka of
Rylsk ordered the icon to be brought to the city of Rylsk itself and the people went to
venerate it with great festivity. The Prince however declined to attend and was punished
with blindness. Straightaway, the Prince repented and received healing. Moved by this
miracle, Shemyaka constructed a church in honour of the Nativity of the All-Holy Theotokos
and there the icon was enshrined. But the icon vanished and returned to the place of its
appearance against the root of the tree by the river Skal. The residents of Rylsk continually
brought the icon back to the new church but each time it returned to its former place.
Eventually, the icon was left there in peace and innumerable pilgrims streamed to the site.
In the years since, the life of the icon has been at times turbulent. In 1383 during a new
Tartar invasion, the icon was cut in two when the chapel refused to burn at their hands and the pious Priest Bogoliub was imprisoned. In his capitivity, the God-loving elder kept the
faith, placing his hope in the Mother of God. One day, his chanting was heard by some
passing emissaries of the Tsar of Moscow who arranged to ransom the Priest from his
captivity. Upon returning to the little chapel by the tree, Bogoliub found the two pieces of
the icon. He picked them up and they immediately grew together, although signs of the
split in the wood remain.
It is well worth reading some of the many books about the icon, visiting its website at
www.kurskroot.com/kursk_root_icon_home. Best of all - visit the icon and venerate it
yourself on 11th May!

Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death And upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

Miracle in Skopje

One week before Pascha, on 8th
April 2012 in the church of Saint
Demetrius in Skopje,
Macedonia, a miracle happened.
Pilgrims and Priests saw the
frescoes clean themselves,
become redder and change
character. In just a few minutes
frescoes were cleaned and the
wings of angels appeared as red
rivers that stretched the entire
length.

Father Zoran, during the morning Liturgy said that such an occurrence had only been
recorded in Russia before. “In the
Orthodox faith miracles happen,” he
said. “God sends a message that more
need to turn to spirituality and not to
material things.”
The church was visited by the Head of
the Macedonian Orthodox Church, His
Beatitude Stefan, who personally
assured the legitimacy of the miracle.
Samples have been taken from the walls
of the 16th Century church and experts
from Macedonia's Directorate for
Cultural Heritage Protection have also taken a look. Pasko Kuzman, head of the Directorate, made no predictions.“I do not wish
explanations offered by experts to infringe on people’s belief in a miracle,” Kuzman said.
“Time will tell if it’s a miracle,” said Bishop Petar, a spokesperson for the Church, “but I
don’t think anyone came in at night and cleaned the frescoes, especially those located high
up on the ceiling.”