The Orthodox Parish of
St Aidan
& St Chad,
Nottingham
St Aidan
& St Chad,
Nottingham
‘Today is the foreshadowing of the good pleasure of God and the herald of the salvation of men. The Virgin is revealed in the temple of God, and beforehand she announces Christ to all. Let us therefore cry to her with mighty voice: “Hail! Thou fulfilment of the Creator’s dispensation!”’
(Troparion for the feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple,
Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos, trans., Festal Menaion, p. 172)
Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos, trans., Festal Menaion, p. 172)
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FATHER DAVID’S LETTER
FATHER DAVID’S LETTER
Preparing for the Great Feast of Christmas
Another Church year is moving fast. We no sooner seem to have got into it and the Nativity fast is about to begin: 15th November on the New Calendar, 28th November on the Old, the day after the Feast of The Holy Apostle Philip. Already it is time to call everyone into the period of preparation for this great Feast. We are to stand with the maiden Mary, now heavy with child, in the wonderment and uncertainty and anticipation of any mother, as she was about to become the mother of Jesus, and through Him, the Holy Mother of God. It was to be an event of fact and great import to her and it is to be so for us. We prepare for the birth of her son who is no other than Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World. We stand in anticipation of that which will change the course of history.
What do we mean by this? What does Saviour, the bringer of Salvation mean? It is a word that has been used so often that its meaning is easily lost.
SALVATION is the fulfillment of humanity in Christ. By this we are delivered from all that separates us from God (sin and death) and spoils our life. We are brought into union with God and the true purpose and meaning of life is discovered. Salvation, from the same root as ‘salve’, a soothing ointment, is brought about by Christ the Saviour, the one who salves. It is a process of growth and healing for our whole being, in which we are changed from our broken nature (sinful nature) into the image and likeness of God.
How can this be brought about? There is a wonderful book about the Life and Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios (Wounded by Love, The Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios. p173ff: ‘The Mystery of Repentance’).
He used to teach: ‘There is nothing higher than what is called repentance and confession. This sacrament is the offering of God’s love to mankind. In this perfect way a person is freed of evil. We go and confess and we sense our reconciliation with God; joy enters us and guilt departs... I am sinful and weak. I resort to God’s compassion and I am saved, I become calm and I forget everything... Sin makes a person very confused psychologically. The confusion doesn’t dissipate whatever you do. Only with the Light of Christ does confusion depart. Christ makes the first move… we accept… For the soul to repent, it must first awake. It is in this awakening that the miracle of repentance occurs. The individual on his own is unable to bring it about. God intervenes. Then divine grace comes... We simply make a move towards God and from then onwards grace supervenes.’
Our essential preparation for Christmas is not the buying of gifts, the laying in of stores of food or the arranging of family gatherings and parties— although these are important and part of it. The greater preparation is waiting patiently in prayer, stillness and silence for God’s grace to come in. We wait in anticipation for God’s light to dawn in our lives so that we may enter into true repentance, the tuning to God which ensures a joyful and life enhancing Feast of the Nativity, never to be forgotten.
The Elder Porphyios says again: ‘In Christ is everything— all that is beautiful and all that is healthy. The healthy soul experiences the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, long-
There are many passages of scripture and prayers to encourage and guide us:
‘Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.’ (Romans 13:11).
‘Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.’ (Ephesians 5:14).
Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; that richly bearing the fruit if good works, they may by you be richly rewarded: through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Book of Common Prayer, modern English version).
May I encourage all to seek the soothing (salve-
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Study Group
The study group has now recommenced, on the second Wednesday in every month. The next dates will be Wednesday, 12th November and Wednesday, 10th December. During this winter programme, we shall be holding a discussion group looking at very practical day-
Our Grateful Thanks!
We were privileged to have the ministry of Father Edwin Hunt of Chesterfield in September, and Father Timothy Curtis of Northampton in October to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in Fr David’s absence. Our grateful thanks to both of them for their kindness, generous gift of time, support, and encouragement.
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York
We were pleased to welcome Father Stephen Robson and members of his community in York into the Vicariate in January this year. Father David, assisted by Father Edwin of Chesterfield, supported the community during Father Stephen’s sabbatical and time of orientation in the Vicariate. He has now resumed his full priestly ministry and the life of St Anne’s Monastic House is continuing apace. It has been a great privilege to give support through these recent months. Please keep Fr Stephen and his work in your prayers. He is at the forefront of compassionate outreach to all who come to his door in need. One senior cleric has said that he has contributed more to evangelism in York than anyone. May God bless and keep safe this important work now within the Vicariate.
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Welcome to the new Archbishop of the Antiochian Deanery of Great Britain!
Visit of Metropolitan John
to the Antiochian Parish in Lincoln
Welcome to the new Archbishop of the Antiochian Deanery of Great Britain!
Visit of Metropolitan John
to the Antiochian Parish in Lincoln
Fr David will attend the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, 30th November, to be celebrated in Lincoln, to welcome Metropolitan John to the parishes of the Antiochean Deanery in Lincolnshire.
Saturday, 29 November:
All are warmly invited to celebrate Vespers, followed by the blessing of the Church buildings at 6 p.m. this will be followed by a reception, at which you are invited to meet the Metropolitan and to partake of tea, coffee and biscuits.
The Antiochian parish in Lincoln is located at St Matthias Church, Burton Road, Lincoln LN1 3TX. The parish priests are Father Philip Hall and Father George Hackney.
For further information, see the web-
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A Temple Studies Group
has been established, in the first instance to convene one-
‘Melchizedek in Scripture, Tradition and Liturgy’
Speakers: Robert Hayward, Laurence Hemming, Crispin Fletcher-
The group is self-
Topics in the immediate future are likely to be: ‘Temple and Music’, ‘The Temple and the Holy Sepulchre’. Some symposia will be in the Temple Church in London.
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Reflections for the environment and the new year by Fr Patrick Radley, priest of the parish of the Holy Transfiguration, Great Walsingham, who passed away on 28 March 2008. Fr Patrick notes the relevance of two texts -
Today we enter the new Church year, and pray for the protection of the environment.
We would do well if each of us were to experience today as a day of crisis and commitment. The decisions to be made at the political and social levels concerning global warming and the spiritual resolutions that this community, as part of the Body of Christ, seeks to make at the outset of a new year, are inextricably linked.
Passages from the Letter of St James that we have just heard make this clear. In part the Letter could be an indictment of what we call ‘the developed world.’ The Apostle warns of the miseries that are coming on those who have become rich, of the destructive rottenness of all that they have thought of as treasure. ‘You have lived on the earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.’ It could be a description of the corruption, greed, violence and overwhelming inequalities of a world in which 20% of its inhabitants devour 80% of the earth’s resources and cause thereby the major part of the global pollution and ecological changes that threaten the lives of all of us. We are slowly destroying the earth, our home.
And what should be our response? St James is stern: ‘Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection… Humble yourselves before the Lord.’ But what, in fact, do we do? We say: ‘To-
The contrast with the Gospel words from the prophecy of Isaiah read by Jesus in the Synagogue of Nazareth could hardly be greater. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’ Surely we are among those who, knowing the misery and horror of this fallen world and fearing its destruction, will, like the congregation in the Synagogue, fix our eyes upon Jesus. And our hearts will rise when He says: ‘To-
And this is the moment of commitment, the moment when, despite our crisis-
‘The acceptable year of the Lord’ is the year when we permit the risen Christ to take over our hearts. The form of that resurrection within each of us has to be a constant remembering, a continual recall of a presence. Let us use the simplest means of remembering: the notes of a Troparion, a phrase from a Gospel text, the words of the Jesus Prayer. If we forget, we crucify and destroy. And so our task is to retain continually within our hearts a realisation of the activity of the living God, transfiguring His creation at all times and in all places, renewing, recreating us as the very Body of the risen Christ.
Whether to a world in crisis or to this community entering another year of worship and praise, St James’s words are a call to commitment. ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’
Amen
(Grateful acknowledgements to the Vicariate web-site for permission to reprint this article. See:
http://www.exarchate-uk.org/)
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By Tatiana Yudina-Butler
This triptych, in the theological college at Mirfield in Yorkshire, was painted by Sister Joanna (Reitlinger) in 1938, to commemorate the life and death of Walter Frere (Bishop of Truro), the President of the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius. It was eventually ‘accepted’ by the Anglican priests inasmuch as it is now (as it was inseparably then) a part of the college’s and the monastery’s (of the Community of the Resurrection) church. It is set over the altar of a side chapel dedicated to the name of Saint Basil the Great (A.D. 329-379).
This huge, shining, luminous – golden and blue – three-leaved icon is easily visible from the entrance to the choir, which in Anglican churches is positioned lower, between the ‘nave’ and the altar, with steps ascending to it on either side from the main aisle. During Lent its leaves are shut, and then only the cross can be seen on the outside, written across all its height and breadth (almost 2 x 1¼ metres). When opened, the triptych occupies about 2.5 metres in breadth.
In its central part is a depiction of Christ on his heavenly throne. Its kind was already familiar in sixth-century Byzantium, and in Russia it achieved special currency during the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries under the name ‘The Saviour among the powers’ or ‘Christ in Glory’. It encompasses the whole of theological exposition in paints. In ancient Russian iconostases this is the image that occupies the central position. It expresses the idea of the wisdom from before all ages, the power and glory of the risen Son of Man. His throne is a universal symbol, a symbol of the visible and invisible worlds. ‘To whom has the root of wisdom been revealed? Or who has known her art? One is wise, greatly to be feared, sitting upon His throne, the Lord. He brought her forth and saw her, and measured her, and poured her out on all His works, and on all flesh according to His gift, and He has especially endowed with her those who love Him’ (Sir. 1:6-10). ‘From heaven the Lord looks forth, and sees all the children of men; from the throne on which He sits, He gazes on all who dwell on the earth…’ (Ps.32[33] 13-14).
Sister Joanna’s treatment of this icon is completely in accord with the canon and is based upon the Scriptures, the Tradition and the teachings of the Church fathers. The icon’s background is bright pistachio – spring-like, with translucent-sticky leaves – the Earth. On it is a crystal blue oval, the spiritual world, the sphere of incorporeal powers; within it, a dark-ochre oval – the radiant energy of the divine world. The Saviour sits on the throne seen in two colours: pink with the glow of dawn, and golden with the midday sun – a rainbow. ‘…and behold, a throne stood in the heaven, and on the throne there was One sitting; and the One who sat upon the throne looked like jasper and cornelian; and around the throne there was a rainbow, which looked like emerald’ (Rev. 4:2-3) The rainbow symbolises both the heavenly spheres, and the covenant between God and man, which was fulfilled by the resurrection of Christ: ‘I set My rainbow in the clouds, that it may be (an everlasting) sign of the covenant between Me and between the earth’ (Gen. 9:13) Around His head is a golden nimbus, and inscribed upon it a cross and letters: Ï, Ù, Í = ‘The One Who is’ or ‘The Being’ (Exodus 3:14). By the sides of the nimbus, on the background, is placed the abbreviated title of the Saviour: IC XC.
Sister Joanna’s treatment of this icon is completely in accord with the canon and is based upon the Scriptures, the Tradition and the teachings of the Church fathers. The icon’s background is bright pistachio – spring-
In ancient times, before the order of sanctification of icons had been established, an icon was considered appropriate for divine worship and reverence after it had been inscribed with a name. In the ontological, supra-mundane sense, this signified the unification of word and image – the verbal and visual revelation of God). Around the Saviour’s feet are shown the incorporeal powers (called ‘thrones’ in iconography) of mysterious appearance – fire-like and eye-like – with winged wheels, just as in the prophet Ezekiel’s vision: ‘Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.’ (Ez. 1:18). At the very bottom of the icon is a transparent-grey mist – clouds with white threads of lightning pulsating through them. ‘The Lord has set up His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.’ (Ps.102:19). Christ is depicted in a dark green tunic, with flashes/folds of blue, a symbol of the Resurrection. His cloak, like the sun in colour, falls in golden waves from his left shoulder, around his body, to his knees and below, symbolising the shining/outpouring of Divine uncreated light. The fingers of the Saviour’s right hand are positioned in blessing. With His left hand He is holding a book, a symbol of the New Testament, open at the words ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’.
The central part of the triptych, ‘The Saviour among the powers,’ shows the Lord Jesus Christ in all the fullness of His power and glory, as Ruler of all the visible and the invisible world, as he will appear at the end of all ages. The image is directly linked with the eschatological theme – the Saviour’s Second Coming, the dread Judgement, the end of time and the universal transfiguration that is to come. But this is a transfiguration not into death, but into new life: ‘… I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world’ (John 12:27). In Simeon of Thessaloniki’s words (+1429): ‘Christ is in heaven with his saints, and with us now, and He must come again.’ The cosmic aspect of Christ’s Church is revealed in the depiction of the synergy (collaboration) of God and Man: in the uppermost corners of the central part of the triptych (1/16 of its size) to the right and left of the Saviour (respectively) are placed bust ‘icons within an icon’ of the holy martyr Alban and Saint Sergius of Radonezh, but on the inside of the leaves, full size, covering the full height – are Saint Seraphim of Sarov and Saint Basil the Great.
In the hope of ‘a kind answer before the awesome judgement seat of Christ’ (prayer of the Liturgy); in the hope of salvation in response to repentance and ‘metanoia’ (change of consciousness, transformation of one’s whole life); in the hope of God’s special kindness for themselves and for all mankind, they pray to the Creator of all. ‘We worship Your most pure Icon, Gracious One, seeking forgiveness for our transgressions, Christ our God: You willed to go to the cross in Your flesh, so as to free those You created from the works of the enemy. We sing blessings to You: for You have filled all with joy, our Saviour, Who have come to redeem the world.’ (Troparion of the icon). Both Saint Seraphim (to the right of the Saviour) and Saint Basil (to the left) are depicted 3/4-turned, in the traditional head-bowed ‘position’ for iconography: ‘Bow your heads before the Lord’ (The Liturgy).
The background of the leaves is the same colour as the centre of the Triptych. The ground (the conventional representation of the earth in icons) is opal-pink, the same as in the rainbow in the middle (it occupies one fifth of the height). In this way the icon’s whole colouring, the unity of the general outer contour – a symmetric semicircle—create the sensation of a single transcendental space. The figures of the saints are two pillars of Truth. The golden nimbi (like Christ’s) around their heads, touch the top edge of the icon, and their feet the bottom. Saint Seraphim is wearing a dark-pistachio tunic underneath a black cassock and blue stole (indicating the special degree of grace received in the sacrament of ordination).
The saint’s right hand is pressed to his heart, and in his left he is holding a prayer rope – a symbol of monastic devotion to prayer. Saint Basil is dressed in a coffee-coloured tunic, with a golden-crossed sakkos (symbolizing the Saviour’s crimson), and on his shoulders a homophor of the same colour (a long, ribbon-shaped cloak, decorated with crosses; the obligatory part of a bishop’s vestment – a symbol of his service). Basil the Great is holding with his two hands a closed book of the Gospels, given him from the Lord for witnessing to the Word. These real historical characters, standing in prayer to the Saviour, compel us to think of the people and events which lie behind their personalities, and about the time which for each of them was the present. About the way in which they gave meaning and sanctification to the life of all humanity, and about the interior bond which exists between all the members of the body of the Heavenly Church.
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[Zoe Burton is an Anglican Christian who spent part of her training in ministry attending our parish and learning about Orthodox worship, doctrine, and spirituality. The following text (slightly abridged) is taken from the second half of Zoe’s dissertation]:
‘Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.’ (Ephesians 5:19).
Russian Church music, strictly speaking, is liturgical singing since all that is sung is drawn from Tradition (hymnology) and Scripture. The liturgical words are given musical expression and determine the rhythm of the music; the choir responds after the petitions of the priest in the litanies, the hymns such as the Troparion are sung, often collectively by the gathered community, whereas the biblical readings are chanted in keeping with the monastic tradition using a single voice and single pitch. I noticed that the melodies possibly had a mnemonic function since they were simple, repetitive, and the tones were easily picked up and had a didactic function in enabling worshippers to remember the words…
Singing is good for our health; it actually lifts our souls and is often referred to as a ‘release’. Psalm 139:1 claims, ‘Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.’ When God created humanity, we were given a natural instrument, our voice, to verbalise the ‘thoughts’ of our innermost being as we glorify God and enjoy him forever. You could say that scripture actually commands us to sing…’Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice O earth, burst into song, O mountains…’ (Isaiah 49:13). Singing is the language of the whole of Creation; heaven and earth.
Without the musical accompaniment (and text) I found that the power of liturgical words took on a whole new meaning. First I discovered that I actively listened and was more attentive to the words and how they resonated deep within my being. The profound effect of these words was witnessed by worshippers who intuitively praised God wholeheartedly for who God is, all God has done, and continues to do for us as they crossed, prostrated or even moved to venerate icons. Often the words evoked intense praise, an outpouring of beauty which seemed to surpass the rationality of the mind and human spirit as if the worshippers had been released, truly Spirit-led, to be who they really were. In these instances the church was not only filled with ‘smoke’ (Isaiah 6:1-4), but angelic voices worshipping together as the one body of Christ (Rev 5: 11-14). Furthermore, the Church Fathers stressed the ease that singing brings to prayer and how it sweetened and tempered the rigours of the Law. I could echo these words. All in all, I started to ponder whether musical instruments, on occasions, could in fact be a distraction?
Musical instruments require a concert pitch which is artificially imposed. This is set and controls the pitch for singing which on occasions may become too high. Who is accompanying whom in worship? The human voice can produce a wide variety of pitches and adapts accordingly. However without the accompaniment, it must be said that the pitch can go flat. Father David commented that chanting the Bible readings keeps attention upon the text and obliterates the individual reader putting too much of their own personality into the reading. Worhsip is an event whereby, to use Father David’s words, ‘the Priest and Deacon should be unseen and the Choir unheard’; very much in the background so that any movement, singing and the silence do not disturb worship but rather enhance it.
As I reflected upon my own tradition, I have discovered generally that people feel self-
I agree with Bishop Kallistos when he says that ‘worship for the Orthodox Church is nothing else than heaven on earth’, in fact it unites earth with heaven. Orthodox worship is eschatological, incarnational, sacramental, liturgical, sensory and rich in symbolism. Humanity is invited through the church doors to enter into eternal worship; to come and taste paradise and see that the Lord is good… In an everchanging world, this worship offers stability, familiarity and a big picture of life: Kingdom life. this enriching experience has formed me and broadened my outlook on ‘church music’ and liturgical art.
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New Books!
The Healing Word: Finding Our Place in God’s Creation
by Bishop Basil of Amphipolis
(Darton, Longman and Todd, 2008)
has just been published and is available in all main bookshops.
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Wonders of Spiritual Enfoldment
by John Butler
(Shepheard Walwyn Ltd., 2008)
by Bishop Basil of Amphipolis
(Darton, Longman and Todd, 2008)
has just been published and is available in all main bookshops.
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Wonders of Spiritual Enfoldment
by John Butler
(Shepheard Walwyn Ltd., 2008)
Extracts from Parish Newsletter, November 2008
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