Parish Newsletter December 2012

The Dormition of
the
Mother of God (EP)
Parish Newsletter
December 2012
SERMON BY FATHER JOHN, November 2012
The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter
If you have noticed in your personal reading of the New
Testament, the miracles wrought by Christ are often quite
separate from longer sessions of teaching. It is as though the
miracle says it all, and there is a truth in this. Jesus had been
teaching and one of the listeners was the honourable Jairus,
who was the chief officer of the synagogue. The impression
made by the Gospel setting of the scene is that Jesus and
Jairus respected one another because, when the messenger
came to tell Jairus that his daughter was dead, Christ turned
to him and said: Fear not, only believe and she shall be made
whole.
When they arrived at the house, the mourning had already
begun. You know the rest – Jesus took Peter, James and John
alone into the girl’s presence and bade the dead girl arise –
Talitha cumi – and as the Scripture records, the young girl
arose. (The Latin Vulgate adds that “the amazement of the
household was very great”.)
We know also that this raising from the dead of a synagogue
official’s daughter was one of the first facts that made Christ
even more the focus of the Temple authorities. It had been
many generations since the power of God had been so made
manifest, and the religious leaders were waking up to the fact
that they now had a problem in this new young rabbi! The
last men known to have worked such wonders were Elias and
Elisha … and the Prophet Isaiah had especially mentioned
miracles of healing – The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped
and their eyes opened. We know that Christ must have
performed many other miracles, because the Gospel tells us
that His fame spread throughout all Syria.
The Jewish people longed to see once again the power of
Jehovah amongst them – the wonders and miracles they heard
read of in the synagogue. At the healing of the man born
dumb they were heard to say: Never was the like seen in
Israel. Yes indeed, the Temple authorities were troubled! So
much so that it is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew that they
said of Christ: He casteth out devils because He is the Prince
of Devils.
In a way, miracles matter less to us because we have seen
answers to prayer, and yes, miracles, in our own lives.
Amen
MIRACLES
Father John’s Talk (4th of a series) 2003.
We have all had conversations with people who, relating some
event or other, conclude by saying: “It was a miracle”. We
accept it as being a turn of phrase, which may only express an
enormous and totally unexpected coincidence but not
technically a miracle. This is at least the case with
non-practicing Christians. Amongst ourselves, however, we
are prepared to go one step further than it being just a turn of
phrase … because we accept that miracles, real ones, can
actually happen. We believe that any number of miracles
have been truthfully recounted in both the Old and the New
Testaments.
One of the written suggestions I had for one of the talks was
worded in this way: “Which of Christ’s miracles was the
greatest?” and, “Do we have to believe in all of them”.
First of all, I want to say a few words about the expression
“have to believe” – I, of course, grew up with a whole list of
what you have to believe – I used to wonder why it was
actually stated like that, because no doubts seemed to enter
the minds of anyone I knew. It was only later that I met
people who said things like “Well, there was a perfectly
natural explanation for this or that miracle” – and I wonder
how many of you saw Jeremy Bowen’s programme giving
“natural explanations” for this, like the parting of the Red Sea
for example? We call such reasoning “rationalism” and we
tend to regard it as somewhat sinful, but the truth is that,
provided that we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Redeemer of the world and of each of us personally, whether
we believe in miracles or not doesn’t matter. We can believe,
for example, that Christ’s calming of the wind and waves was
simply a coincidence – it may not affect our faith in Christ at
all.
There are two miracles, however, which will affect our faith –
the first is our belief in Christ’s Resurrection from the dead;
and the second is our belief that in the Sacrament of Holy
Communion we do receive the real Body and Blood of Our
Lord Jesus Christ. Without a belief in these two articles of
faith we cannot be considered Orthodox.
A miracle always has two opposite ends. I’ll give you an
example: imagine a brain surgeon telling you that he has
removed a large tumour from your mother’s brain. Her
incredible pain is gone, her erratic behaviour also – she greets
you after the recovery from the operation as her old self! To
you, although you understand that medical science is
responsible, it is still a kind of miracle – to the surgeon it’s not
– I think that many of the miracles Jesus did are rather like this
– He had knowledge, of the soul, of the world, that we, that
they, did not have.
The rationalists will admit that Jesus did have such knowledge
– but that He was, if you like, simply ahead of His time – in the
example of the daughter of Jairus whom three of the four
Gospels tell us He raised from the dead, they would insist that
the Master recognised catatonic disease which the rest of the
local yokels did not!
Often if the facts themselves surrounding the miracles are not
open to rationalisation, then the accounts given by the
Evangelists are. For example, in the Feeding of the 5000,
they tell us that those few loaves were not actually multiplied,
that no people actually received bread and fish, but rather
they received real and ample nourishment from the words and
teachings of Jesus, and that the account of supplying them
with real food was merely symbolic.
Going over the facts of many of the miracles recorded in the
Gospel with a committed rationalist at your side is to hear
Jesus reduced to an incredibly wise holistic practitioner,
physician, surgeon, psychiatrist all rolled into one. Yet Jesus
was the son of Mary and Joseph, peasants from a small, totally
unremarkable village – and His miracles began in the very first
year of His public life, before He had travelled or mixed with
anyone. His miracles were of only two kinds: those of mercy
and those of power … those of mercy were self-explanatory
and those of power always were pointing at His Father rather
than Himself.
Many modern theologians are in fact rationalists. Tillich said
that “Miracles were once the bulwark of the Christian faith –
they are now the burden”. Well, we can see what he means,
from where he stands, but it has to be remembered that many
modern theologians hide behind the miracles in order to avoid
the message!
(To be continued in the January Newsletter)
EDITORIAL LETTER
This month we’ve heard Father John’s third talk on the
Sacraments, some people have been to the Deanery
Assembly meeting, and there has been a Parish Council
meeting. Also a group has had their first session making
pirozhki for the Bazaar. We hope everybody is busy preparing
for the Bazaar as it is our only fund-raising event.
At the Deanery Assembly the Deanery statutes were
presented and at some time we will receive a pack of
suggestions for our Parish statutes. We were also told that
from now on each Parish will send its own representatives to
the Archdiocese assembly in Paris and to the Deanery
Assembly here. The idea is that our representatives (we are
allocated three, being one for each parish priest) will attend
two meetings in the U.K. before going to Paris, and then will
have one meeting afterwards. This will give a chance for lay
representatives to be prepared and therefore contribute more
when they go to Paris. As the next Paris meeting is on 8 th-9th
May 2013 the first parish representatives will be voted onto
the Deanery Assembly for two years instead of three. We will
be voting very soon and Lisa von Schlippe will announce when
this will take place.
SAINT JOHN of DAMASCUS
4th/17th December
Saint John is widely known as a great theologian, but it is most
especially on him as a hymnographer that I want to
concentrate.
He was born in the middle of the seventh century and raised
in Damascus, dying in 749 in the Monastery of St Sabbas near
Jerusalem. He wrote expounding the Faith, and is considered
to be the last of the Eastern Fathers. Vehement in defence of
the holy icons under Leo the Isaurian, he endured lies and
manipulation by the iconoclasts, and withdrew with his
brother Cosmas to St Sabbas’ Monastery. During his early
years there, in disobedience to his spiritual father, he
composed the Stichera for the Departed used at funerals
today, for a young man whose parent had died. Very soon, the
Mother of God appeared to his Elder, and asked him to allow
John to compose hymns and poems, ‘which for beauty and
sweetness would surpass the Psalms of David and the Odes of
the holy Prophets’.
His compositions are well known and loved: the Easter Canon,
many of the Resurrection Hymns in the Eight Tones, canons
for the Feasts of the Lord, the Mother of God and the Saints.
Of these, I want to look at two: the wonderful troparia to the
Trinity, sung at the Sunday Midnight Office, and therefore
unknown in parish usage, and the Stichera for the Departed
from the Funeral Service.
Troparia to the Trinity, Tone 3, sung at the Sunday
Midnight Office:
It is truly meet to glorify Thee, O God the Word, before whom
the cherubim tremble, and whom the powers of heaven
glorify, Christ the Giver of Life who rose from the tomb on the
third day. Let us glorify Him in fear.
Let us all with divine songs give fitting praise to the Father,
Son and divine Spirit, the three Persons in one Might, one
Kingship and one Godhead.
Him whom all born on earth praise in song, and the heavenly
powers glorify, is faithfully worshipped by all: the three
Persons in one Unity of being.
O Thou who art higher than the cherubim, and in Thy divinity
incomparably greater than the seraphim, Thou undivided
Trinity in Unity, the Source of all divinity in Thine essential
being, Thee do we magnify.
We worship the Father without beginning and God, the Word
who is, with Him, without beginning, together with the Spirit;
the undivided Unity in one Being: O triluminal Unity, we hymn
Thee.
Illumine me with the radiance of Thy lightning-flash, O my God
in three Persons, Thou Creator of all, and show me to be the
abode of Thine unapproachable glory, Thou who art
unchangeable Light and Light-bearer.
Him before whom the cherubim tremble in awe, and whom
the angelic hosts glorify, ineffably incarnate of a Virgin, Christ
the Giver of Life, we glorify with fear.
(These troparia, in Serbian usage, are set to a haunting
melody.)
Stichera of Saint John of Damascus, sung at a funeral
Tone 1
What is there of life’s sweetness that remains unmixed with
grief? What earthly glory stands immutable? All things are
more feeble than shadows, all is a deluding dream; in the
twinkling of an eye death shall take them all. But in the light
of Thy countenance, O Christ, and in the sweetness of Thy
beauty, give rest unto him (her) whom Thou hast chosen,
forasmuch as Thou lovest mankind.
Tone 2
Woe is me! In what manner of struggle doth the soul engage
when it is parted from the body? Woe is me! What tears are
then, and there is none to have mercy on it! Turning its eyes
to the angels, all unavailing is its prayer. Stretching out its
hands to men, it findeth none to succour. Wherefore my
beloved brethren, remembering the brevity of our life, let us
beseech Christ to grant rest to him (her) who has departed
hence, and to our souls great mercy.
Tone 3
All mortal things are vanity, that in death do not remain.
Riches endure not, neither doth glory go with us on the way;
for when death cometh upon us, all these things vanish
utterly. Wherefore let us cry to Christ the Immortal: ‘Give rest
to the dead who have departed from us in the abode of those
who keep festival.’
Tone 4
Where is the world’s predilection? Where is the pomp of the
ephemeral? Where are the gold and the silver? Where is the
multitude of household servants and their clamour? All is dust,
all ashes, all shadows. But come, let us cry aloud to the
immortal King: ‘O Lord, vouchsafe Thine eternal blessings
unto him (her) who hath departed from us, giving him (her)
rest in Thy blessedness that waxeth not old.’
Tone 5
I called to mind the Prophet who cried: ‘I am earth and ashes’,
and I looked again into the graves, and beheld the bones laid
bare, and said: ‘Who then is the king or the warrior, the rich
man or the beggar, the righteous or the sinner?’ Yet give rest
to Thy servant with Thy saints, O Lord.
Tone 6
My origin and foundation was in Thy creating command, for
Thou, desiring to fashion me a living being from nature visible
and invisible, didst shape my body from the earth, and didst
give me a soul by Thy divine and quickening breath.
Wherefore, O Christ, give rest to Thy servant in the land of the
living, in the habitation of the just.
Tone 7
Creating man in the beginning after Thine own image and
likeness, Thou didst set him in Paradise to reign over Thy
creatures. But when, beguiled by the malice of the devil, he
tasted of the fruit, he became a transgressor of Thy
commandments. Therefore, O Lord, Thou didst condemn him
to return again to the earth from which he was taken, and to
entreat repose.
Tone 8
I weep and I wail, when I think upon death, and behold our
beauty fashioned after the image of God, lying in the tomb
disfigured, dishonoured and bereft of form. O marvel: what is
this mystery which doth befall us? Why have we been given
over unto death? Of a truth, as it is written, by the command
of God, who giveth the departed rest.
Mother Maria
GOD WITHIN US
An extract from “Creative Prayer, Daily Readings with
Metropolitan Anthony”
The Gospel tells us that the Kingdom of God is within us first
of all. If we cannot find the Kingdom of God within us, if we
cannot meet God within, in the very depth of ourselves, our
chances of meeting Him outside ourselves are very remote.
When Gagarin came back from space and made his
remarkable statement, that he never saw God in heaven, one
of our priests in Moscow remarked, “If you have not seen Him
on earth, you will never see Him in heaven.”
This is also true of what I am speaking about. If we cannot
find a contact with God under our own skin, as it were, then
the chances are very slight that even if I meet Him face to
face, I will recognise Him.
St John Chrysostom said: “Find the door of your heart, you will
discover it is the door of the Kingdom of God.” So it is inward
that we must turn, and not outward – but inward in a very
special way.
I am not saying that we must become
introspective. I don’t mean that we must go inward in the way
one does in psychoanalysis or psychology. It is not a journey
into my own inwardness, it is a journey through my own self,
in order to emerge from the deepest level of self into the
place where He is, the point at which God and I meet.
OUR CHRISTMAS BAZAAR: Saturday 8th December
2012,
at St Mary Abbots’ Church Hall, Vicarage Gate
12-4pm
Reminder
It’s only a week now till our Bazaar on Saturday 8th December
at St. Mary Abbott’s Church Hall in Vicarage Gate. (12 noon 4pm). This is just a note to urge us all to comb through our
belongings to see if we have anything surplus or anything else
we could donate to stalls. These include Russian goods,
bric-a-brac, books, toys, linen, icons plus any bits of costume
jewellery you may not have worn for a few years! And not
least, if each of us can donate a bottle (of whatever) for the
bottle stall, we will be equipped at least on that front - as it is
always a popular stall. It’s also worth remembering that any
particularly good item can be auctioned.
And please
remember to let your friends know about the Bazaar and
encourage them to come too, perhaps with the enticement of
lots of lovely food.
We will be at the Hall from 6pm on Friday 7th setting up, when
items can be brought there.
Any further queries or questions please call Ruth on 01323
811 186,
Election for parish representatives to the Archdiocesan
General Assembly and Deanery Laity-Clergy meeting
Candidates are sought to represent the parish at the
Archdiocesan General Assembly in Paris, which will meet on
8th-9th May 2013. Translation into English will be provided, so
representatives do not need to understand French. They will
need to make their own travel arrangements. Parishes in
Paris can often assist with putting people up, given enough
notice.
We need to elect a total of 6 people – the three with the most
votes will be our representatives to the Archdiocesan General
Assembly and also at the Deanery Laity-Clergy meeting; the
three with the next highest number of votes will serve as
alternates to the General Assembly who will attend if the
representative is unable to attend (e.g. due to illness,
unexpected event).
We plan to hold the elections in January (on Theophany) or the
first Liturgy weekend in February. Only members of the parish
on the electoral roll may be elected to represent the parish or
vote. Forms will be available from the Candle Desk, and
names will be posted on the notice board at the back of the
church as they come in. Before proposing someone, please
check that he or she is willing and able to go to Paris in May.
If you have any questions, please talk to Lisa von Schlippe.
CHRISTMAS CARDS of the ICON of the MOTHER OF GOD
On sale at the back of the church – Price: 1 packet of 5 cards
£3;
2 packets £5;
3 packets £7.50;
4 packets £10.
Information: N. Tuckett, Flat A, 20 Lady Margaret Road,
London NW5 2XS
Cheques should be made payable to: “The Parish of the
Dormition of the Mother of God (EP)”
SUSANNA’S CAKES
www.susannascakes.com
Susanna’s Christmas Cakes were very popular on her stall last
year. If you would like one this year please order it and pay
for it in advance and she will bring it with her to this year’s
sale. (Or it can be brought to Holborn Church if you are
unable to come to the Bazaar.) You can choose your cake and
the decoration.
Christmas loaf cake –
Rich Fruit Cake £20
Carrot Cake £15
Christmas cake (from 16cm
Rich Fruit Cake £45
diameter)
Carrot Cake £40
There will be cake pops, biscuits and cupcakes on the stall. A
percentage of the profits will go to our church.
To order please ring: 07957 100 663
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
2
nd
December 2012
}
Proposed Parish
Meetings after the Liturgy
3rd March 2013
}
2nd June 2013
}
Father John’s talks on “Pastoral Theology” 3:00pm at St
Andrew’s Church
Saturday 15th December Relationships
Saturday 16th February 2013
Illness, Death and Dying
Saturday 16th March
Those that don’t find their
place in the Church
Saturday 8th December 2012
Bazaar 12 – 4p.m.
Saturday 8th February 2013
announced.
Pancake party – venue to be
TIMETABLE OF SERVICES AT ST ANDREW’S, HOLBORN
(all services are celebrated in Church Slavonic and English)
DECEMBER
Saturday 1st 5:30pm
Sunday 2nd 10:30am
Vigil. Tone 1
Liturgy (followed by Parish Meeting)
(Ephesians V, 9-19; Luke XII, 16-21)
Saturday 15th
5:00pm
John’s talk. Tone 3
Sunday 16th 10:30am
Liturgy.
Vigil. Following Fr
(Colossians I, 12-18; Luke XVIII,
18-27)
Saturday 29th
5:30pm
Vigil. Tone 5
th
Sunday 30 10:30am
Liturgy. First Sunday of the Holy
Forefathers
(Colossians III, 4-11; Luke XIV,
16-24)
JANUARY 2013
The services of the Feast of the Nativity will be held at the
Kensington United Reformed Church, Allen Street W8 6BL,
where we had our Theophany celebrations last year.
Sunday 6th 5:30pm
Vigil of the Nativity
Doors at the KURC open at 5:00pm
Monday 7th 10:30am
Liturgy. The Nativity of Christ
(Galatians IV, 4-7; Matthew II, 1-12)
Friday 18th 6:30pm
Vigil of Theophany.
Doors at St Andrew’s open at 6:00pm
Saturday 19th
10:30
Liturgy. Theophany.
(Titus II, 11-14, III, 4-7; Matthew III,
13-17)
Followed by Blessing of the Waters
Services in St Albans Lady Chapel: (contact Rosemary Carter:
07586 463 785)
Tuesday
11th December 2012
10:30am Liturgy
nd
Tuesday
22 January 2013
10:30 am Liturgy
Tuesday
12th February 2013
10:30am Liturgy
And worshipping according to the new (Gregorian) calendar:
Sister Parish of St Peter and St Paul, Clapham Manor Street,
London SW4 6BX
www.orthodoxclapham.org
Services held on 2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays of the month.
Community of Saint Simeon and Saint Anna, celebrating at St
Mary’s Church, Redbourn, Herts, AL3 7NL, on the 2nd Sunday
of the month at 11:30am. (contact Father Stephane: 01582
623 939 or:
http://www.exarchate.org.uk/community-st-simeon-and-st-ann
a-harpenden)
Next Services:
Sunday
9th December
11:30am
Liturgy
Monday 24th December
7:00pm Christmas
Vigil Sunday
13th January 2013 11:30am
Liturgy
Sunday 10th February
11:30am Liturgy
IMPORTANT NOTE: St Andrews Management require us to
vacate the church by 3pm every Sunday.
CHURCH SECURITY: After tidying up and leaving the church,
all church doors and the main gate are locked. Please don’t
get locked in!
In an emergency please call 07944 773 568.
PARISH CLERGY
Parish Priest
Father John Lee:
SW13 0LR
1 Brookwood Avenue, Barnes, London
020 8876 7993
Assistant Priest
Father Stephane Maikovsky: 237 Luton Road, Harpenden AL5
3DE
01582 623 939
Hieromonk
Theophan (Willis): Flat 9, Avenue House, Allitsen Road,
London
NW8 7AX
020 7483 2420
Deacon
Alban Coombs:
201 Eastcombe Avenue, London SE7
7LN
020 8853 5554
Church Warden
Jane Collingridge: 020 8739 0101
Parish Website:
www.dormition.org.uk
The parish of the Dormition of the Mother of God (Ecumenical
Patriarchate)
Registered Charity Number: 1125574
Editor-in-chief – Father John Lee
Our Parish is under the omophorion of His All-Holiness
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. We are within the
Deanery of Great Britain and Ireland (website is at:
www.exarchate.org.uk ) and part of the Archdiocese of
Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe
under His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Comana, Exarch of
Western Europe (the website of the Archdiocese is at:
www.exarchat.eu)