Come and See! No 135 December 2016

Transcription

1 Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland The Orthodox Christian Parish of All Saints of Lincolnshire meeting at St Matthias Church Centre Burton Road, Lincoln, LN1 3TX Archbishop: Metropolitan SILOUAN. Come and See! No 135 December 2016 From Fr. Philip: Fr. Paulinus Ordination. On 13 th November we were all privileged to be with Fr. Paulinus as he was ordained to the priesthood by the hand of Metropolitan Silouan. As well as being life changing for Fr. Paulinus and for his new congregation in Norfolk this was an historic occasion being the first ordination carried out by His Eminence in his Archdiocese. Present at the ordination were the parish priests of St. Aidan s Levenshulme (Archpriest Gregory), St. Aethelheard s Louth (Fr. Michael), St. Fursey s Sutton (Fr. Stephen) and the Deacon from St Columba and St. Kentigern Doncaster (Deacon Thomas) and the presbyteras Helen and Judy (St. Aidan and St. Aethelheard s) with a number of members of their congregations. Several of Fr. Paulinus colleagues from his workplace joined us as did The Rev d Helen Dearnley and The Rev d Beth Weston from the Anglican Church. The Shepherd greets his flock. The Bishop reminded us that the Holy Spirit was the One who had really ordained Fr. Paulinus and that each of us also have been touched by the 1

2 grace of the Holy Spirit in the may send his clergy wherever they are needed either to serve a church or to begin a new one. The whole congregation must remember that their calling is to be holy like the saints in the icons and we should therefore serve him in our lives and worship and ask for the grace of being a child of God. God wants you to be holy the Holy Spirit will make you holy. sacraments of the Church (Baptism, Chrismation, marriage, unction, ordination and so on). He spoke very directly to the clergy: The priesthood is a free gift from God but we have to protect this gift from bad things by being good. Metropolitan Silouan then gave Fr. Paulinus a komboskini (prayer rope) saying We defeat the devil by prayers. If we lose the ability to pray then God will not know us anymore. Be near to Christ through prayer. He reminded us that even when people say and do bad things to and about us we should react by praying for them, even reacting with love if being martyred. The clergy obey Christ by being obedient to their bishop in humility and love. The Bishop (because he wants to care for the whole church) 2

3 Thank you every one and God bless you in return. Remember to pray for Fr. Paulinus. When the service was completed the newly ordained priest distributed the antidoron and everyone had the chance to ask for his blessing and wish him well. Deacon Juan. You may remember that we had a visitor from Lebanon staying with us for some weeks during the summer. Brother Juan was ordained to the diaconate on Sunday 20 th November in Lebanon and will serve in the Patriarchal Monastery of our Lady of Balamand. AXIOS! A delicious lunch was then served! Many people joined together to enable this service to take place cleaning, singing, serving, cooking, making drinks, preparing the church, arranging flowers, moving furniture, preparing and printing all the choir and clergy books, entertaining some of our guests the night before, keeping a lookout for the Bishop, herding priests (!) and of course the many who prayed that all would be smooth and relaxed. Fr. Philip will be visiting Lebanon soon and will carry the parish s love and good wishes to Deacon Juan. Christmas Day Lunch: As in previous years we will have lunch after the Divine Liturgy in the Hall for all who would like to come. If everyone brings something to have and to share with others there is always plenty to go round. It is always a lovely atmosphere with carols playing in the background, lots of good food and a true feeling of celebration and community. This year Christmas falls on a Sunday. 3

4 New Icon Stands: noodles and so on, will warm and nourish a hungry person. Please see what you can do. Barnardo s Boxes: We are still collecting Christmas shoe boxes for young people who have been cared for through Barnardo s. What is needed is an ordinary shoe box, covered with Christmas paper with nice things inside. Underwear, socks, gloves, scarves, a nice T-shirt, some little treat perhaps, pens and handy jotter along with a Christmas card (only your Christian name) would all be most welcome. The young If you d like to contribute towards the three new icon stands please speak to one of the priests. people are between the ages of 16 and 25. If you buy medium sized clothes that would be most useful. Decide if it will be for a young man or young woman and write this on the outside and tie it with string or a rubber band. If you were thinking of giving Fr. Philip a present then please know that he would love you to convert it into a Christmas box for Barnardo s. Kidnapped Bishops: Pray, love, forgive! Food Bank: Many people will have a fairly bleak Christmas here in Lincoln. With poverty, loneliness, homelessness and sudden unemployment comes real hunger for food. In this cold weather let us remember those who need food. Tins or packets of food that can be eaten as they are, or with only a little preparation, will be most welcome. Things like tins of macaroni cheese, sausage and beans, hot dogs, bully beef, Irish stew, soups, cuppa soups and pot Metropolitan JOHN and Metropolitan PAUL 3 years and 8 months. They are still missing. Pray for them, for their captors and for all who have been murdered, kidnapped, displaced, wounded or become lost in this terrible war. 4

5 Please Note: Children must not be left unattended anywhere on Church property. Saturdays: Confessions after Vespers at 4pm in winter. Calendar for December. 3 rd :Saturday. Great Vespers 4pm. (Confessions). 4 th : SUNDAY Matins Divine Liturgy. 24 th Sunday after Pentecost. St. John of Damascus (our Patriarch s name day)tone 7. 7 th : Wednesday. Church open 10am 4pm for private prayer, confessions and services. 8 th : Thursday 6pm Parish Council. 10 th : Saturday. Great Vespers 4pm. (Confessions). 11 th : SUNDAY Matins Divine Liturgy. 25 th Sunday after Pentecost. Sunday of the Forefathers Tone th : Wednesday. Church open 10am 4pm for private prayer, confessions and services. 14 th : Wednesday. Catechumenate 6pm. 17 th : Saturday. Great Vespers 4pm. (Confessions). Followed by Chrismation. 18 th : SUNDAY Matins Divine Liturgy. 26 th Sunday after Pentecost. Sunday before the Nativity, on which is commemorated all the Righteous from Adam to Joseph the betrothed. Tone th : Church open 10am 4pm for private prayer, confessions and services. 24 th : Saturday. Great Vespers of the Nativity and blessing of gifts 4pm. (Confessions). 25 th : SUNDAY Matins Divine Liturgy. The Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Commemoration of the magi and the shepherds. Followed by preparation for lunch and lunch at about 12.30pm. The Church is closed until: 31 st : Saturday 4pm Great Vespers for St. Basil and Artoklasia for the New Years Laus Deo Semper et Ubique. A multi ethnic parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland Metropolitan SILOUAN Parish Priest: Fr. Philip, Fr.Philip@gmx.com twitter.com/frphilip Assistant Priest: Fr. George, , fathergeorge@macace.net Newsletter Editor: Fr. Philip. St Matthias Church Centre, Burton Road, Lincoln, LN1 3TX Parish Website: Safeguarding Officers: Emma Bonner and Svetlana Gibson (Assistant) 5

6 The Orthodox Community of All Saints of Lincolnshire Management account for the period 1 October 2016 to 1 November 2016 Income Expenses Collections Hall- Electricity Weekly Offering Electricity 52.8 Standing order Oil Donation General Water rates Priest Candles Priest assistant Hall rents Hall rents (Bank) Caretaking exp Kiosk sale Breakfast Donation Candles Refund from Fr. R.Heggs Boiler Service Books (Fr. George) Sub-total Sub-total Bank Balance B/F 1 September Bank balance C/F 1 October Current account Current account Business account Business account Total Total Christmas Services: The Church will be open from Tuesday - Saturday (10am 4pm) before Christmas Day for prayers and services, confessions and private talks with a priest. 23 rd December, Friday 5pm Royal Hours 24 th December, Saturday 4pm Great Vespers for the Nativity, blessing of gifts and Artoklasia. 25 th December, Sunday 9.15am Matins. 25 th December, Sunday 10am Divine Liturgy. 25 th December, Sunday approx: Bring and Share Lunch in the Hall. 6

7 For Your Prayers: work to sustain their lives as total war Metropolitan Silouan released the following as a Press release: One of our bishops, Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo, has been held in captivity since April 2013 by a rebel group, along with Syriac Orthodox Archbishop John Ibrahim. Many have suffered; priests taking the ransom to free their parishioners from their extremist captors have been martyred along with their parishioners. has destroyed and laid waste to everything. Yet this is what many hope and pray that they will be able to do, to go back and work to rebuild their homes, churches and communities and live together in peace with all their neighbours of all and any faith, if only this demonic war is brought to an end. Many have died, been tortured, wounded, permanently disabled, forced to flee the utter destruction of their homes, towns and villages, their churches and monasteries, only then to suffer persecution for being Christians in refugee camps. Love, pray, forgive. They cannot return to homes reduced to rubble, with no water, no electricity, no food, no way to grow food and no 7

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