ALL SAINTS: NOTICES -- HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELISER, LUKE, 2026
GREETINGS, IN CHRIST!
Beloved Christians,
In today's Holy Gospel (Luke 7:11-16), we see the resurrection of the son of the widow of Naïn ("nah-in"). Naïn means ‘charming’ or ‘lovely place’ in Hebrew; it is also understood as denoting ‘green pastures’.
This resurrection is a fore-shadowing of Christ's Holy Resurrection; which is, itself, a promise of our own resurrection to come.
If we love God with all our heart, if we have complete faith and trust in Him, if we give Him all that we are able - in terms of time, attention, self-sacrifice, love - we are able to partake of His Most Holy Body and Blood. And, eventually, we may be granted the grace to partake in His Holy Resurrection and to dwell with Him forever.
THE DEPARTED
The ‘green pastures’ of Naïn bring to mind the place of repose and light in which the souls of the departed are laid to rest. Saint Bede the Venerable notes that the young man in today's Holy Gospel is dead, struck down by sin. The gate of the city represents the bodily senses through which, if left unguarded, sin and death enter. The loving mother is the Holy Church. The coffin-bearers are bad desires which drag us down to destruction. The coffin-bearers stand still, stopped in their tracks by Christ, just as our conscience prevents us from drowning in sin by calling us back to life.
BE VIGILANT
Faith in Christ and nēpsis - vigilance - are required for us to guard our senses against evil incursions. As Saint John Chrysostomos reminds us, ‘Humility is the mother, nurse, foundation and bond of all virtue'; and that ‘patience is the queen of virtues’. And one thing we shall need other than faith and humility is patience- patience to endure hardships and griefs, patience to await the will of God. Patience is necessary if we are ever to become happy in mourning and in persecution for Christ’s sake. Patience not to run off and play but to remain at our post, always guarding our heart.
EXPERIENCING GOD - EXPERIENCING TRUE BEAUTY
'The eye desires grace and beauty' (Sirach 40:22). But, unfortunately, 'our hearts have grown coarse' (Isaias 6:9, 10). However, all is not lost! Saint Basil the Great, Bishop of Kaisáreia, tells us that, 'true beauty is visible only to the purified mind.' For the saints trust what is written in Holy Scripture: that 'blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God' (Matthew 5:8).
Love for God, love for our neighbour is key: 'Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart' (1 Peter 1:22); and in such a way, we will be permitted to 'see [God] as He truly is' (1 John 3:2).
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GREAT WAKERING
Holy Passion-Bearers and Royal Martyrs, Saint Æthelred and Saint Æthelberht, pray for us sinners!
Yesterday, the clergy and the faithful of our parish went to Great Wakering to serve the Divine Liturgy on the feast of the saints whose relics were venerated there for several centuries. In doing so, we followed the teachings of the saints.
Saint Arsenios of Kappadokia prophesied, 'When the British Saints are honoured in Britain, Orthodoxy will flourish again in that land.'
Saint Basil of Ánkyra declared, 'I ask for the intercession of our spotless Lady the holy mother of God and those of the holy and heavenly powers, and those of the Saints. And receiving their holy and honourable relics with all honour I salute and venerate these with honour hoping to have a share in their holiness.'
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TRUSTEES OF OUR PARISH CHARITY
Today we held the AGM of our parish charity.
All glory to God! Paraskeví is unanimously elected a Trustee of our parish charity.
Every one of the trustees is striving to follow the teachings of the Church, is adhering to the liturgical norms and customs of the Church, and is thereby setting an example to us all.
May God give the trustees the grace to continue to bear their Cross, as they do, with faith, dignity and joy.
May God inspire others to share responsibility in our parish.
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
James - passed the Eleven Plus. Birthday: 20th, Name Day: 23rd October.
Lucy - birthday today, Feast of Saint Luke.
Andrada - birthday tomorrow, 19th Oct.
Many years to you all!
Paraskeví - successfully secured a new job.
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With love in Christ,
the sinner, Father Jakob
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Go on...why not share these Notices with your family & friends?
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LOOKING AHEAD -- TWELVE GREAT FEASTS
To help you plan ahead, for those of you who are able to take time off work, etc., here are the dates of GREAT FEASTS for the year ahead.
These are dates upon which we should try to be in Church (sadly, many of us do not always have this choice).
These are days upon which the Divine Liturgy should be served at All Saints. Servers, singers, helpers- please do what you're able.
(2026-2027)
14th SEPTEMBER -- EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
21st NOVEMBER -- ENTRY OF THE THEOTOKOS INTO THE TEMPLE
25th DECEMBER -- NATIVITY OF CHRIST
6th JANUARY -- HOLY THEOPHANY
2nd FEBRUARY -- PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD IN THE TEMPLE
25th MARCH -- HOLY ANNUNCIATION
25th APRIL -- ENTRY OF OUR LORD INTO IERUSALEM*
2nd MAY-- HOLY PASCHA*
10th JUNE-- HOLY ASCENSION*
20th JUNE-- HOLY PENTEKOST*
6th AUGUST -- HOLY TRANSFIGURATION
15th AUGUST -- FALLING-ASLEEP OF THE MOTHER OF GOD
[ * The dates of these feasts vary from year to year. ]
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ORTHODOXY 101 : ATTENDING THE DIVINE LITURGY
Christianity is experiential; it is not just 'read about', it must be lived. The Holy Eucharist is at the centre of our worship, at the centre of our Life in Christ.
We come to the Church, we remain in the Church in order that our souls be saved. That is all. It is our soul's salvation - there is nothing else.
The Holy Services are a store-house of spiritual treasures. To be saved, we need to gain knowledge of ourselves. We do this by discovering our sins and weaknesses, and by fighting against their pull. Our faith is war on personal pride. When our pride is wounded in the course of Church life, we should thank God!
We fight best when we are supported. For support we have the Holy Gospels; the Holy Fathers, their Lives and Teachings; we have God and we have each other.
The Church Community (both living and departed) is our Family in Christ. Our God is LOVE. And we are giving of our best, when we give love to God and to each other.
The Holy Eucharist is the body and Blood of Christ. It is life itself, it is Salvation. It is our treasure: "Where your treasure is there will your heart be also"(Matthew 6:21). We spend time with - we are attentive to - the people, the things we love the most.
Canon LXXX (Sixth Oecumenical Council) reads, "A cleric or layman shall not go three consecutive Sundays without attending church, unless some necessary business requires him to leave his town. The usual penalties apply: deposition for a cleric; excommunication for a layman".
It is not always possible to come to every holy service, but our good practice, and simple good manners, is to notify the priest of our absence, or if we have moved away. Notification demonstrates love and humility, and allows the priest and community to pray for us, for example - when we are sick.
We pray for those who are absent from the divine services for legitimate reasons. The others, who come infrequently or have not attended for long periods, have become prodigal sons, wanderers. They have distanced themselves from Christ and from their Christian family. Their love has become luke-warm. A full and proper return to Church requires a full and proper repentance, taking responsibility for our failings.
Church life is about responsibility. It is about stepping up and being adult. This is done by singing, standing throughout the holy services, fasting, making regular confession, reading in Church, serving, cleaning and tidying, cooking, reading the morning and evening prayers every day, preparing properly for confession and communion. Above all it is about praying.
To be blunt, Church (parish) life is about giving time and money to the glory of God. Church life is about commitment. Without commitment, we will never become deeply Orthodox or even remain Orthodox.
Love of God and love of neighbour are entwined. We cannot love God if we do not love our neighbours, especially our fellow Christians; and we cannot love our neighbours if we do not love God (1 John 4:20).
We spend time with God, we spend time with each other. We do so not because we feel 'obliged' or even because we 'want to' but simply because our heart draws us, and we follow Christ's new commandment (Luke 10:27): "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself".
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AΓAΠH = CARITAS = CHARITY = LOVE
John 4:16: Ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη (koine Greek) = Deus caritas est (Latin) = God is Love (English)
GIVING TO OTHERS
All glory to God! Our small parish has been able in little ways to help the poor, offer love to the stranger, to help heal the wounded.
GIFTAID
This past year we received more than £4,000 from the UK government. Our parish trustees have authorised this, and future monies, raised through giftaid to be passed on to our poorer neighbours. If more of us donated by giftaid we could do even more to help the poor, the wounded, and the marginalised who are our neighbours.
'HOW CAN I HELP?'
Every penny helps! Donate to our parish via giftaid. If you pay tax in the UK you can use giftaid. It's free, it's easy, and as you can see above, it helps us to help others. The UK government pays us back for what you give to us via gftaid. This is the only official help that UK charities receive.
Our hope and ambition is that every penny given to us by you comes through giftaid.
LAZAROS, OUR NEIGHBOUR
The dying Lazaros is lying outside our door (Luke 16:20). We Christians have a duty of care (John 21:17), this is a constant in our life (Matthew 26:11), we must not ignore him (1 John 3:17). Let us do all that we are able to help to help our neighbour (John 15:12). May I ask you - please make a start, and donate to the parish by giftaid.
CHRIST IS RISEN!
In the Risen Lord,
Father Jakob
Presbyter, All Saints North Benfleet
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