CONTACTS:
To message Archimandrite Kyril or to arrange a baptism or wedding please email the Parish Priest@bristol-orthodox-church.co.uk (Tel. 01179706302 or 07944 860 955).
For more see: CONTACTS
SERVICES, PARISH NEWS AND RECENT SERMON ARE ON THIS PAGE
|
Regular services: Every Saturday: 5.30 p.m. Vespers Every Sunday: 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy Confessions can be made before services and by request. NOTE re CONFESSIONS: Fr Gerald hears confessions before the Sunday Divine Liturgy, but please come early, otherwise the Liturgy begins late.
WEEKLY SERVICES & INFORMATION (Note: our Parish follows the “New” (Revised Julian) Calendar for the fixed feasts. For dates according to the “Old” Julian Calendar, refer to an online calendar. IMPORTANT NEWS FR KYRIL: Fr Kyril has a heart problem and is in hospital (Bristol Heart Institute). His physicians are discussing ways forward. For the time being he is obviously not going to be in church: please pray for him. In the meanwhile Sunday services will be served by Fr Gerald Theodore, whom we warmly thank for stepping in to help us out. Please pray for him also. Saturday Vespers and any weekday services will also be continuing as timetabled and will be Reader led .
Sunday, 18th May. 5th SUNDAY OF PASCHA — Tone 4. The Samaritan Woman. Sunday after Mid-Pentecost. Readings:
Saturday, 24th May 5.30 p.m. Vespers (for Sunday)
Sunday, 25th May. 6th SUNDAY OF PASCHA — Tone 5. THE BLIND MAN. Third Finding of the Honourable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John. Readings:
Wednesday, 28th May. The Leavetaking of PASCHA. Forefeast of the Ascension. 6.30 p.m. Vespers for the Feast of the Ascension Readings:
Thursday, 29th May. THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD No Divine Liturgy. Readings:
Saturday, 31st May 5.30 p.m. Vespers (for Sunday) Readings:
Sunday, 1st June. 7th SUNDAY OF PASCHA — Tone 6. Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. Afterfeast of The Ascension. Readings:
Saturday, 7th June 5.30 p.m. Vespers (for Sunday) Below you will find: PARISH NEWS, SAINTS’ DAYS, and THE CURRENT SUNDAY’S SERMON
|
|
PARISH NEWS
CHURCH CLEANING:
FOOD BANK: DON’T FORGET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS who do not have enough! Bring contributions please for the box in church.
**BUILDING NEWS ** AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Maintaining a large and aging building like our church is costly. But we have been given it as stewards and we need to hand it on to future generations. Currently, we await a final assessment and quotes for the roof work, but Initial estimates suggest this is going to be expensive! PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY! THANK YOU for your generous donations. Without this, we would not have a space to worship in. We are extremely blessed to have our own space that does not need to be shared with other users. If we look after it, the building will be sure to last a few more hundred years and serve our community for many generations to come. GIFT AID |
|
Some saints (AND FEASTS) of the coming days Saints of the British Isles and nearby places are in red
|
******************************************************************************************
For those who wish to donate to our Parish online, our Facebook fundraiser can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/453504039824339/?fundraiser_source=external_url
Metropolitan Anthony Sourozh
Sermon on the Samaritan woman
8 May 1988
|
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost The Holy Gospel has not given us the name of the Samaritan woman. But the Tradition of the Church remembers, and calls her in Greek – Photini, in Russian – Svetlana, in the Celtic languages – Fiona, in Western languages – Claire. And all these names speak to us of one thing – of light. Having met the Lord Jesus Christ she has become a light shining in the world, a light that enlightens those who meet her. Every Saint is offered us as an example; but we cannot always emulate the concrete ways in which a Saint lived, we cannot always repeat their way from earth to heaven. But we can learn from each of them two things. The one is that by the grace of God we can achieve what seems humanly impossible; that is, to become a person in the image and likeness of God, to be – in this world of darkness and tragedy which is in the power of lies – a word of truth, a sign of hope, the certainty that God can conquer if we only allow Him access to our souls. Because if the Kingdom of God is not established within us, if God is not enthroned in our minds and hearts, a fire that destroys everything unworthy of ourselves and of Him, we cannot spread God’s light around. And the second thing which the Saints can teach us is to understand the message which their names convey to us. And today’s Samaritan woman speaks of light. Christ has said that He is the Light of the world, the light that enlightens all men; and we are called to give shelter within our souls, minds and hearts – indeed, within our whole self – to this light; so that the word spoken by Christ, “Let your light so shine before all men, that seeing your good deeds they may give glory to your Father who is in heaven”, may be fulfilled and accomplished in and through us. It is only through seeing our deeds, through seeing how we live that people can believe that the light is God’s light; it is not in our words, unless they are words of truth and of power like those of the Apostles, or of Christ Himself indeed. And let us reflect, each of us, on the meaning of our name and on the way in which we can become what we are called. The Samaritan woman came to the well without any spiritual purpose; she came, as she came daily, to fetch water – and she met Christ. Each of us may meet our God at any turn in our life, when we are about our most homely tasks, if our hearts are turned in the right direction, if we are prepared to receive a message, to listen; indeed – to ask questions! Because the Samaritan woman asked a question of Christ, and what she heard transcended her question in such a way that she recognised in Him a prophet, and later – the Christ, the Saviour of the world. But the light must not be pushed under a bushel. Having discovered that the Light had come into the world, that the word of divine truth was resounding now amidst men, that God was among us, she left behind all concerns and ran to share the joy, the wonder of what she had discovered with others. She brought her fellow-citizens to Christ. She told them first why she believed; and when perhaps curiosity, or the convincing power of her words, and the change that had occurred in her brought them to Christ, they saw for themselves and said to her, It is no longer because of what you say that we believe – we have seen, we have heard. And this is what the Samaritan woman teaches all of us: be open at every moment of life, while we are busy with the simplest things, to receive the divine word, to be illumined by the divine light, to be cleansed by His purity, to receive it in the depths of our souls, receive it with all our life, so that people seeing what we have become may believe that the light has come into the world. Let us pray to the Samaritan woman to teach us, to guide us, to bring us to Christ in the way in which she came, and to serve Him in the way in which she served Him, being the salvation of all who were around her. And may the blessing of God be upon you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, now and forever and world without end! Amen. |
*****************************************
Like all small communities we rely on the generosity of friends and well-wishers. If you would like to contribute to the continuation of our parish and the upkeep of our historic church building, you can make a donation here:
https://www.facebook.com/donate/679204386685133/?fundraiser_source=external_url
3
