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
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Every Saturday: 5.30 p.m. Vespers Every Sunday: 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy
WEEKLY SERVICES & INFORMATION (Note: our Parish follows the “New” (Revised Julian) Calendar.)
Sunday 14th April. Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast. Commemoration of St John of Sinai, Author of “The Ladder”. (Wine and oil) 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St Basil The Great Readings: Hebrews 6:13-20 Mark 9:17-31
Wednesday, 17th April 6.30 p.m. Matins of Thursday, with the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete and the Life of St Mary of Egypt.
Friday, 19th April 6.30 p.m. Matins (of Saturday) of The Akathist Hymn.
Saturday, 20th April (Wine and oil). Fifth Saturday of Souls. 5.30 p.m. Vespers
Sunday 21st April. Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast. Commemoration of St Mary of Egypt. (Wine and oil) 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St Basil The Great Readings: Hebrews 9:11-14 Mark 10:32b-45
FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE GREAT FAST: Prayer after Communion (“Behind the Ambo) for the Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast (Saint John of the Ladder): Our God, the God of salvation, incline your ear to the entreaty of us, your servants, and impart to us the compassion of your goodness; turn away from us all carnal thoughts, and bestow on us every spiritual manner of living; bring back those who have gone astray; heal those in sicknesses; nourish those in poverty; deliver those being tempted; console those in sorrow, for you are the refuge and salvation of all, and we all seek your help in all things, for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and to the ages of ages.
THE PRAYER OF ST. EPHREM (Sister Vassa) O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of idleness (ἀργίας), despondency (περιεργίας), love of power, and idle talk (ἀργολογίας). But give rather the spirit of whole-mindedness (σωφροσύνης), humility, patience, and love to Your servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen. (Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem) One of the great paradoxes of the cross-carrying journey, (the cross itself being the greatest paradox, as something that brings victory through defeat), is that I learn to embrace God’s Spirit, of whole-mindedness, humility, patience, and love, through being confronted with, and turning away from, “other” or opposing “spirits,” like idleness, despondency, love of power, and idle talk. That’s why these harmful, other “spirits” are mentioned first in the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem, that I may profess my decision, my desire, to turn away from them. This learning or growth-process, of stretching upward, toward light, freedom and peace, while certain voices are calling me downward, to darkness, bondage and chaos, is often painful (another paradox). For example, a “whole-minded” approach to my life, to my God-given vocation, means following that calling by channelling the *whole* picture of who I am in God’s eyes, with *all* my gifts, God-given desires, character, background, challenges and shortcomings, toward Him, by doing what and how He calls me to do. But “whole”-minded doing is challenged by fragmentation, when God-given desires and gifts are “called” by other voices to take on a life of their own, outside of God and His vision of me. Whole-minded doing is particularly challenged by “idleness” (“argia,” from “a” or the alpha-privative that means “not,” + “ergo” that means “to do”), which means “not” doing what I am supposed to be doing; and “despondency” (“peri-ergia,” from “peri” that means “around” or “beyond,” + “ergo” that means “to do”), which means doing “around” or “beyond” the scope of my vocation. If I embrace these spirits, I “miss the point” of my existence (i.e., I “sin”), losing sight of my God-envisioned purpose. Conversely, if I turn away from these voices, which may involve pain, like severing an unhealthy relationship or activity, I grow in understanding and knowledge of my God-envisioned self and purpose. That is to say, I “see” myself more clearly. That’s why the above-quoted prayer ends with these words: “Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed unto ages of ages.” Amen!
REMINDER – FOOD BANK: As we reduce our food intake in Lent we increase our prayer – and also refocus our charity. DON’T FORGET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS. Bring contributions please. Can we fill the box twice over during Lent? |
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PARISH NEWS *** It is with sadness that we announce the death after a long period of illness of Protopresbyter Kyrillos Leret-Aldir. Fr Kyrillos was Priest in Charge of our parish for a while before the appointment of Archimandrite Kyril. Eternal memory! Fr Kyrillos’ funeral will be held in the (Greek) church of Ss Peter and Paul, Easton, on Monday 22nd April at 10.00 a.m.
THE LENTEN FAST: The norm for fasting in Great Lent is that we eat less in order to pray more and remember our neighbour more by works of fellowship and charity. To that end, we refrain from all meat, fish but not other sea-food), eggs and dairy foods. It is good for us to feel some bodily hunger in order to remember first, that our lives are a gift from God, not a right; and that, secondly, as Christians our primary relationship and preoccupation is not with material things of this passing world, but with the Eternal Banquet that the Resurrection invites us to. On weekdays we do not use oil or wine (in other words, foods that express celebration or bodily enjoyment). On the Sabbath (Saturday) and The Lord’s Day (Sunday) we have oil and wine as these are also eucharistic days (we do not celebrate the Divine Liturgy on fasting weekdays). If medical or other considerations make a full fast difficult, consult your priest for guidance. DO READ Fr Alexander Schmemann’s Great Lent as well as the Introduction to The Lenten Triodion by Bishop Kallistos and Mother Mary. From your calendar-lectionary, or from one on line, do read the daily scripture readings from Genesis, Isaiah and Proverbs. These lead us through Salvation History from the beginning to its culmination in Pascha. BUILDING WORK: The masons have finished the restoration work in the Church Altar (Sanctuary). The stained glass window has been cleaned! Thank you all for your generosity to the building fund,. We have spent the money we had in hand for this project, but there is more to do: The lower walls need to be re-plastered and repainted, so please continue to give generously to the building Fund! 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 |
It is good practice to have phones turned off or in aeroplane mode during services .
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Some selected saints (AND FEASTS) of the coming days)
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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
Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
Archimandrite Kyril Jenner
Hebrews 6:13-20
Today’s reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews begins with an assessment of how God’s promises to the Patriarch Abraham were worked out. These should be seen as a foretaste of God’s promises to us.
God promised that Abraham and his descendants would live in and possess the land of Canaan if they were faithful to God. The promise was sealed with an oath. A binding contract needs some means of enforcement. In an era when written agreements were rare, the swearing of an oath invoking a higher power was normal. Nowadays on a written agreement a signature is binding, but this implicitly invokes the higher power of the law courts to enforce the agreement. In Abraham’s time the power of God would be invoked. But when God himself was one of the parties to the agreement then he could invoke only himself, as there was no higher power. In the Epistle we read: “when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself.” (Hebrews 6:13)
It required patience on the part of Abraham for the promise to be fulfilled. Saint John Chrysostom sees this as a help for us. The things promised by God will come, but not necessarily immediately. By looking back at Abraham we should be encouraged to persist in the faith, even when things do not seem to be going our way. He says, referring to the author of the Epistle: “in the case of the prizes [set before them], he encourages them by these [that is, by things past], showing [here] God’s way of dealing. And that is, not to bring in what has been promised immediately, but after a long time. And this God does, both to present the greatest proof of his power, and also to lead us to faith, so that those who are living in tribulation without having received the promises, or the rewards, may not faint under their troubles.” (Homily 11 on Hebrews)
The promise of God endures. He is faithful to his promise, even if we are not. The long term nature of his promise to Abraham should be seen by us as a sign of this. In the Epistle we read that the oath of God was given: “so that … we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.” (Hebrews 6:18)
What is “the hope set before us”? This is the promise to us of a place with Christ in God’s kingdom. In a few weeks time we shall celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection. Through these Christ has opened to us the way into heaven.
In the Epistle we read: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the line of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)
Throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews we are given an image of our Lord Jesus Christ as a high priest, not in the line of high priests of the Temple in Jerusalem (the line descended from Zadok) but in the line of the mysterious Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20). Melchizedek is described as being “king of Salem” (which could also be read as “king of peace”) and as “priest of God Most High”. He also brought out bread and wine when he blessed Abraham. It is this combination that leads to his being seen as an antecedent image (or “type” – in Greek “typos”, τυπος) of Christ. The link from Melchizedek to Christ is also seen in Psalm 109, which is understood to be about the Messiah, the new king who was to come, and from which Psalm the phrase “a high priest for ever according to the line of Melchizedek” is quoted .
Our Lord is to be seen as a permanent and safe support for us. He is not just a temporary priest who lives and dies and is then replaced. He does not go behind the curtain into the inner sanctuary of the Temple just once every year. Instead, through his death on the Cross and his Resurrection he has entered permanently into the spiritual sanctuary of heaven so that he can be an eternal high priest. In the Divine Liturgy he is seen as the true priest, that is as the one who offers the sacrifice, with the officiating Bishop or Priest merely standing in to perform the practical aspects. In the prayer read during the Cherubic Hymn we read: “you are the one who offers and is offered.” Unlike Melchizedek he is also the sacrificial victim, dying for us on the Cross, and offering himself to us in the bread and wine of Holy Communion.
He is also a permanent king of our souls, a spiritual king, who rules by love rather than by force. As the “King of peace” (Litany after the Sixth Ode at Matins) he offers us an inner peace if we place our trust in him.
Alongside his sacrifice of himself we should offer our own spiritual sacrifices, which, according to Saint John Chrysostom, include “moderation, temperance, mercifulness, long-suffering, humbleness of mind.” (Homily 11 on Hebrews). If we unite our sacrifice with Christ’s in our daily life then, as Saint John Chrysostom says in the same Homily, we “shall attain all good things.”
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
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