ALL SAINTS: NOTICES - - SUNDAY OF SAINT PHOTEINI, THE SAMARITAN WOMAN, 2025
CHRIST IS RISEN!
Important dates for your diary...
Thursday, 29th May - - HOLY ASCENSION
Divine Liturgy at 10:00
Sunday, 8th June - - HOLY PENTEKOST
Sunday, 15th June - - ALL SAINTS
Our parish feast. The holy services will be followed by a bring & share picnic lunch.
Today, at Jakob's Well, we meet the Samaritan woman, Saint Photeini, the Great Martyr and Equal-to-the-Apostles.
Saint Photeini says that Christ is "truly the saviour of the world"; and she abandons her old life of sin.
Her old, empty life is symbolised by the empty water-jar which she leaves behind her.
It is in the desert of our heart, away from distractions and disturbance that we shall draw upon the living waters of Christ. The food and drink of Christ mentioned today – Christ's most Holy Eucharist – is, as He himself tells us, essential to life. There can be no doubt about - and the Church has never doubted- the absolute clarity of Christ’s words slightly later on in John’s Gospel: "Truly, truly, I say to you the truth, that if you have not eaten the flesh of the Son of Man and have drank His blood, οὐκ ἔχετε ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς – you cannot have life within yourselves”; and as our Lord immediately goes on to clarify, this 'life' is ζωὴν αἰώνιον - "eternal life".
No Orthodox Holy Communion = no life = no salvation. It is as simple as that.
Saint Photeini goes to the well thirsty. The people of the modern world are also thirsty; tired by overwork and dispirited by chronic consumerism, many are blind to the Truth. However, we must not despair for them for they are not without hope. They, like us, have our Father in the Heavens.
Saint Photeini undergoes a direct life-changing contact with Christ. Saint Photeini's humility is shown by her way of witness: she asks but does not order others, she wins them for God not by force or argument or by sermonising but by love, shared experience, and through sharing. This is the Orthodox way, the Christian way of humility, the way of Christ. She follows, epitomises, the Orthodox trajectory: CLEANSING (katharsis), ILLUMINATION (photisis), UNION WITH GOD (theosis).
CLEANSING through water and repentance (holy Baptism)
ILLUMINATION through the Holy Spirit (holy Chrismation)
UNION WITH GOD through grace (Salvation in Christ).
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YESTERDAY'S PARISH YOUTH TRIP
All glory to God! the priest and the parish youth visited the OLDEST WOODEN CHURCH IN THE WORLD, Saint Andrew's at Greensted. There, the Divine Liturgy was served, followed by a talk about Saint Edmund (whose holy relics rested here on their translation from London to Bury), and a picnic lunch. It was a sunny, blessed day.
All Orthodox Christians living in Essex, aged 18-35, are welcome to join our youth group.
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
All those who help in our parish- clergy, trustees, choir, servers, helpers, all who bring food & drink to share.
Ted - for veg.
Constantin - for potatoes.
YOUR HOLY PRAYERS
Please pray for --
Daniel O - as he heads towards the sub-diaconate.
Emily Catherine - unwell, heavily pregnant.
Savva - unwell.
Ioanna - exams all week.
Tom & Daniel - away next weekend.
Pera (Natasha's cousin) - 40 days since his repose in the Lord. Memory Eternal!
Charlie - enrolled, today, as a katechumen.
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With love, in the Risen Lord,
Father Jakob
Please feel free to post online and share with friends and family
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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.
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
13th APRIL -- ENTRY OF OUR LORD INTO IERUSALEM*
20th APRIL -- HOLY PASCHA*
29th MAY -- HOLY ASCENSION*
8th JUNE -- HOLY PENTEKOST*
6th AUGUST -- HOLY TRANSFIGURATION
15th AUGUST -- HOLY DORMITION
[ * 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 £2,000 back 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 gift aid. 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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