ALL SAINTS: NOTICES -- NATIVITY OF THE THEOTOKOS, 2024
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NEW SERVICE TIMES
From next Sunday, 15th SEPTEMBER, the times of the holy services will change as follows:
09:00 -- READING FROM THE HOLY PSALTER
09:10 -- ORTHROS
10:00 -- DIVINE LITURGY
The holy temple is usually open from around 08:30.
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THIS SATURDAY, 14th SEPTEMBER -- EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
09:30 - - Holy Temple opens.
10:00 - - DIVINE LITURGY
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GREETINGS IN CHRIST!
Beloved Christians,
Today we commemorate the birth of the Most Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, She who is All-Holy, she who is “more honourable than the cheruvim and more glorious than the seraphim”. Today is the first Great Feast of the new Church year, it is the start of the start of our salvation in Christ. Without the Theotokos, there is no Incarnation. Without the Incarnation, there is no Salvation...
Today's Holy Gospel (Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28) shows us two paths, together with Christ's reaction.
In her self-pitying wailing, Martha is accusatory against her sister ("she has left me to serve alone!"), and accusatory in her attitude to our Lord: she demands of Him ("do you not care!!!").
Christ's response is illuminating and beautiful. He doesn't attack Martha for her whining, He doesn't even defend Himself or Mary against Martha's slur, He merely tells her the Truth. Anxiety is the opposite of faith.
On the other hand, Mary has chosen the spiritual path- to sit in silence at the feet of the teacher. This, our Lord tells us, is the "good part", the one "necessary thing".
We face busy lives of study, work, concern for our children, sick relatives, elderly parents... These responsibilities are given to us by God precisely because we are able to bear them. But we must not copy Martha - we must pray to be able to bear our cross with humility and joy. It is the Mother of God who is the prototype of the destiny and development and perfection of a human nature which is entirely faithful to God. She is the highest example of human holiness that the Church recognises and venerates; She is, after Christ, the highest example of Wisdom in this world.
Let us pray that we follow the example of the ever-virgin Holy Mother of God - She who is our mother too - so that we too may truly and faithfully and in obedience not just mouth the words but truly confess Christ from our deepest heart.
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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
17th APRIL -- ENTRY OF OUR LORD INTO IERUSALM*
24th APRIL -- HOLY PASCHA*
2nd JUNE -- HOLY ASCENSION*
12th JUNE -- HOLY PENTEKOST*
6th AUGUST -- HOLY TRANSFIGURATION
15th AUGUST -- HOLY DORMITION
[ * The dates of these feasts vary from year to year. ]
ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Alexander - Baptised today.
All those who attended today, who helped, served, sang.
Edward, newly-illumined - happy name day. Many years!
Daniel - happy birthday, today. Many years!
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YOUR HOLY PRAYERS
The newly-illumined baby Alexander; his godmother, Roxana; parents, Andrei and Anamaria; big brother, Andreas.
Iulius - unwell.
Roxana and Alexandru - travelling to Romania, tonight.
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SAINT MAKARIOS ON OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE AND PURPOSE
What is the will of God that Saint Paul urges and invites each of us to attain [cf. I Thessalonians 4:3]? It is total cleansing from sin, freedom from the shameful passions and the acquisition of the highest virtue. In other words, it is the purification and sanctification of the heart that comes about through fully experienced and conscious participation in the perfect and divine Spirit.
-- Saint Makarios of Egypt
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HAPPY FEAST!
With love in Christ God,
the sinner and unworthy presbyter,
Father Jakob
please post this message online and share it with your friends and family
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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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