February  2006
 

In this Issue

 Holidays  &  Holy Days
Candlemass: Feast  of  The  Meeting  of  the  Lord
News

Holidays  &  Holy  Days

I suppose that this is the time of year when we plan our holidays, where to go and when to go. The original idea of a holiday was to give freedom for us to properly observe a Holy Day.

When you consider "when", make sure that it is not going to prevent your proper observance of Holy Days, or make sure that when you consider "where" it is possible to get to an Orthodox church.

It is wonderful to be able to worship with other Orthodox Christians and enjoy their hospitality as members of one universal family. Even language presents no barrier when we love each other. In this country too , it is never too far to an Orthodox Church. Make your enquiries long before you go away and plan ahead.

Many have found long-forgotten saints of this country from before the Great Schism and have received great blessing and the prayers of a new "friend".

If you can look on the internet you will find lots of accounts of pilgrimages, on our site and on others. We need to refresh our inner being just as much as the body. To enlist the prayers of the saints will bring us grace and strength.
 

Feast  of  The  Meeting  of  the  Lord

We begin our preparation for Christmas, the feast of Christ’s birth forty days before as we fast from after the day of the Apostle Philip on November 14. Forty days after Christmas we complete our celebration with the feast of Christ’s presentation in the temple, on February 2. This feast is also sometimes called “Candlemass” as candles are blessed at the end of Matins and held by the faithful during the liturgy. Thus we are reminded of the central theme of our celebration: Christ is revealed as “a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” (Luke 2).

Candlemass also acts a link between Christmas and Easter. This can be most clearly seen in the main hymn (troparia) of the Feast:
“Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, full of grace. From thee shone forth the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those who sat in darkness! Rejoice and be glad, O righteous elder, thou didst accept in thine arms the Redeemer of our souls, Who grants us the Resurrection”.

The light of Christ which was first revealed in the Virgin’s birth giving at Christmas is now recognised by the Elder Simeon as the promise of our coming resurrection. The Lord is born to die a life giving death that brings the light of salvation to the entire world.
 

News etc.

We hope to have a revised and updated list for parishioners so that we can keep in touch with cards and phone calls. If you have not already done so, and want to, then please give Irene your name, address, phone number, birthday and name day. Winifred and Ian will then compile a new list for those who want one.

Irene's brother, Don, reconstitutes all kinds of greeting cards for sale on our church bookstall. Please let Irene have all your old Christmas/birthday/anniversary/name-day cards.

Veronica Warden has designed and made some beautiful cross-stitch cards for the bookstall and we have a fine stock of icons framed, mounted or laminated from the Russian nuns and other sources.

This is your newsletter. We are always looking for articles for future editions. Perhaps you have come to Britain from another country and would like to share experiences from home. Perhaps you have recently visited an Orthodox shrine on holiday and would like to tell us about it. In particular, we welcome photographs. Don’t worry if your grammar or spelling is not good. If you have any items for the newsletter, please e-mail Simon Harvey at simon.harvey@stoke.gov.uk or else leave a copy of your submission with Father Samuel or with Simon at church. Ideally, submissions should be made by the 15th of the month to get into the following month’s edition. Exceptions may be made in emergencies.