The Shepherd, January 2006
NEWS SECTION
SCHEDULE FOR THE WONDERWORKING KURSK ROOT ICON'S VISIT TO ENGLAND & IRELAND
THE MIRACULOUS KURSK ROOT ICON, which dates back to at least the twelfth century, and which was brought out of Russia after the Revolution, so becoming the Hodegitria (Directress) of the Russian Church Abroad, is visiting parishes in Britain and Ireland at the time of our going to press. Unfortunately we were unable to publish a schedule of its visits in our December issue, and so part of the following schedule is now news of events past rather than a notice to help you attend services in the presence of the Icon and find an opportunity to venerate it and ask the prayers of the All-holy Mother of God through her Icon, but we hope that nonetheless the inclusion of this schedule will help the faithful.
Thursday 29th December to Sunday 1st January, Icon at Dormition Cathedral, Harvard Road, London W4
Monday 2nd January, Icon at the Liturgy at the Convent of the Annunciation, 26 Brondesbury Park, Willesden, and then brought to Brookwood.
Icon at Saint Edward Brotherhood, Brookwood from the afternoon of 2nd January to that of Thursday 5th.
Icon at Harvard Road from Friday 6th January until Wednesday, 11th.
Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th January, Icon in Ireland.
Sunday 15th January to Wednesday 18th January, Icon at the Convent of the Annunciation. Taken after the Divine Liturgy on the Eve of Theophany (18th January) to Brookwood.
Wednesday 18th evening to Sunday 22nd, Icon at Brookwood, - ie., here for the Vigil and Liturgy of Holy Theophany, - & being taken to Ryde, Isle of Wight for the Liturgy on Saturday 21st. Late on Sunday 22nd January, the Icon leaves England.
ALAPAEVSK MARTYRS
ON THE DAY after the martyrdom of the Tsar Martyr and his family at Ekaterinburg in 1918, another group of Royal Martyrs was slain at Alapaevsk, headed by the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, the sister of the Empress and a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. The sacred relics of the Grand Duchess and her companion, the New Martyr and Nun Barbara, are enshrined in the Church of St Mary Magdalene in the Russian Orthodox Convent in the Garden of Gethsemane. The relics of their companions in martyrdom were first taken to a convent in Chita, but in 1920 they were transferred to China and placed in the Church of St Seraphim at the Russian Orthodox cemetery, just outside the city wall of Beijing. Later they were transferred to the Russian Spiritual Mission and placed in the crypt of the church there. In 1957, when this church was barbarously destroyed, they were moved yet again, and taken back to the Russian cemetery, which was later turned into a park. In the 1980s, this itself was destroyed and every reminder of the past history of the place was obliterated. Recent archeological work there has revealed the base of the church, and graves have been found, one with an inscription indicating that the Grand Duke Sergei Michaelovich was buried there. This has raised hopes that the relics of the Martyrs might be found and taken back to Russia. It appears that some remains of the martyrs may also have been taken to Shanghai, but the development of the city there has meant that the burial ground itself has been completely lost.
BRITISH MUSEUM TURNS DOWN OFFER
“THE TELEGRAPH” Arts section, on 3rd December, reported that Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum, had received a five-page letter from H.R.H. Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, supporting a project suggested by Richard Temple, the founder of the Temple Gallery in Holland Park, that the Museum should have a small space for its icon collection which now languishes in a basement. It was suggested that the area could be “almost like a chapel of contemplation.” Paul Lisitsin offered to donate a room for this purpose. However, MacGregor was not persuaded of the importance of the icons, some of which date from Byzantine times, and turned the project down.
SELECTION OF DELEGATES
IN OUR LAST ISSUE, we reported that His Grace Archbishop Mark was purposing to set up a system whereby each of the communities and parishes in the British Isles could select whom they thought would be the most suitable clerical and lay delegates to represent the British Diocese at the All-Diaspora Council to be held in San Francisco next May. The Archbishop decreed that each of the clergy should vote, that the two monastic houses in the country should each have a vote, and that a lay representative from each of the congregations should also vote. He also agreed that, given the shortness of time available, the votes could be sent in by post or e-mail. The results which we have presented to the Archbishop are as follows:-
Fr Vadim Zakrevsky and the Harvard Road Cathedral parish voted for Fr Vadim and Paul Lisitsin (reported verbally).
Mother Vikentia and the Sisters of the Convent of the Annunciation voted for Archimandrite Alexis and Dimitri Popov. On behalf of their parishioners, Mrs Tatiana James also voted for Fr Alexis and D. Popov.
The monastics and the laity at St Edward Brotherhood and the members of the St Boniface Mission, Ryde, Isle of Wight, (lay representative: Benjamin Waterhouse) voted for Fr Alexis and D. Popov. (As he was collecting the votes, Fr Alexis himself abstained from voting).
Fr Andrew Phillips, Fr Elias Jones and the parishioners at the Sts Felix and Edmund parish in Felixstowe (represented by Reader Andrew Bond) voted for Fr Alexis and D. Popov.
Fr Peter Baulk voted for Fr Alexis and D. Popov. His parishioners at the St Colman Church, Stradbally, Ireland, voted for Fr Peter Baulk and for Adrian Cosby.
Fr Paul Elliott and the parishioners at his Missions at Birkenhead, Congleton and Stoneyhurst, represented by Reader Gabriel Lawani, voted for Fr Alexis, but declined to vote for a lay representative because they do not know the people in the larger Southern parishes well enough.
Fr Geoffrey-Cassian Ready voted for Fr Alexis, but for similar reasons, declined to vote for a lay delegate.
No vote was received from Father Archpriest Thomas Hardy.
Voting Summary:
For the clerical delegate: Fr Peter Baulk - 1 vote; Fr Vadim Zakrevsky - 2 votes; Fr Alexis - 11 votes; Dimitri Popov - 8 votes
For the lay delegate: Adrian Cosby - 1 vote; Paul Lisitsin - 2 votes the whole.
|
