February  2007
 

”Mountain shrine to St. George Ohrid, Macedonia”

In this Issue

St. George
Great Lent
Children & Young People in the Parish
Bluebell and Wonder

Journey to Macedonia
Part III:  St. George
By Fr. Samuel

We little expected, as we charged around Macedonia, to see much of St. George, but we were wrong.

Almost at the top of the mountains surrounding Lake Ohrid, we came across this beautiful shrine to the saint. It was isolated but well cared for with votive candles, oil, incense and lots of monetary offerings.....nothing vandalised, broken or stolen.

We learned, by chance, that on Sunday, on our way to the monastery of St. John the Baptist up in the hills, we would pass by a monastery of women. This was the monastery of St. George, complete with a relic of the saint. We prevailed on the coach driver, George, and the tour manager to allow us to stop for a "few moments".

With great joy we venerated a small part of the hand of St. George and a small relic of the True Cross. The young nun who welcomed us was tall and stately and spoke perfect English. She was happy to give me an epitrachelion to go into the Altar and bring out the relic of St. George, beautifully set in a silver hand. How blessed we felt then, but as we made to leave she kindly pointed to the relic of the True Cross set in a large icon of St. Constantine and St. Elena, holding the Cross.

I somehow felt that the patience of the other travellers was wearing a bit thin as we set off for "another blooming church".

Great Lent

Let us remember that this time is about fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

Try to help your own spiritual state by using the Prayer of St.Ephraim at least three times every day, and, as you use it, pray for the person you really do not get on with and who always rubs you up the wrong way.

Children & Young People in the Parish

You might have noticed that over the last few years, there have been more and more children and young people in the Parish. To help us to make sure that they continue to be included in the life of the church and that we are meeting any needs that they or their parents might have, we have circulated a questionnaire. For those who wish to help, there is also a form for volunteers. If you did not receive a questionnaire last Sunday, we have included another one with this newsletter. We encourage you to fill these in to the best of your ability. Thank you for your help.

Hello children!

Here we are again with more of our stories to tell.

Winter will soon be upon us and it gets very cold. We need to make a nest like your bed; only our bed is a large curly leaf. My mum asked me to visit the eider ducks to see if they could spare some feathers. She said I must be polite. Primrose came with me. “How shall we carry them?” asked Primrose. “I know” I said, “we will go and ask Skip the frog. He will help us”.

We saw him hopping from lily pad to lily pad. He said of course he would help and he found an old net that had been left by children.

We asked the eider ducks and they were happy to give us some of their feathers. Then Skip wanted to play a game. We played by pushing feathers in the net and jumping on them. What fun. Primrose and I were all right but Skip was covered in feathers because he was wet. We did laugh. When we got home mummy was pleased. We all had soft feathers to sleep on and keep us warm. Granddad told us the story of baby Jesus.

Can you tell me what kind of bed baby Jesus lay in?

Who was the angel who watched over Him?

Primrose would like to know:

Who visited baby Jesus in the cave?

What gifts did they bring?

We must go now it’s bedtime. Can’t wait to curl up in the feathers…

Bluebell & Wonder