The Shepherd, May 2008
SiR UK* NEWS
* Synod in Resistance Churches in the UK
BISHOPS’ CONCELEBRATION
HIS GRACE, Bishop Ambrose of Methoni visited England to celebrate the dedication festival of the Convent of the Annunciation with the sisters. He arrived at Gatwick on Saturday, 5th April n.s, and was met there by members of the Brotherhood. That evening he attended the Vigil service at the Brotherhood, during which he blessed a new set of episcopal vestments, beautifully sewn at one of our Convents in Greece, for Bishop Sofronie, and he stayed with us overnight. The weather had been beautiful all week but the Bishop’s arrival was met by a tremendous downpour, and the next morning we were treated to a exceptionally heavy and sudden fall of snow, which, unusually for this part of the country, covered everything to a depth of about three inches.
His Grace, Bishop Sofronie of Suceava of our Sister Church, the Traditionalist Episcopate of the Church of Romania, timed a pastoral visit to his people in this country to coincide with Bishop Ambrose’s visit. He joined us for the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday morning, the Sunday of St John of the Ladder. Thus, for the very first time in our 26 years here, we had two hierarchs concelebrating the Divine Liturgy in Saint Edward’s Church, and hierarchs from two national Churches, the Greek and the Romanian.
At the end of the Hours, Bishop Ambrose blessed the Icon of Saints Cyprian and Justina, the heavenly patrons of the monastery in Attica, where our Metropolitan resides, and of St Glycherie of Romania and St Seraphim of Bulgaria. We commissioned this icon from the Convent of St Elizabeth of Russia in Etna, California, as a thanksgiving for our being received by the Synod in Resistance last year. After blessing the icon, the Bishop gave a brief address explaining who the saints were and their significance for us. The icon has been photographed and we hope in time to have prints made for distribution.
During the Liturgy, after the Gospel, His Grace Bishop Ambrose preached, and at the end, trusting that Bishop Sofronie’s English was not good enough for him to be embarrassed, he told us something about Bishop Sofronie and his family and his struggles. The Liturgy was celebrated on the day after the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Fr Stephen Fretwell and his Presbytera Joanna, and Bishop Ambrose greeted them, gave a short talk on the blessing of a faithful marriage and presented Fr Stephen with a beautiful Mother-of-Pearl pectoral cross, brought from Jerusalem. On behalf of the Brotherhood itself, he also presented the couple with a small icon of their patron saints, the Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen and the Ointment-bearer Joanna, which had also been painted by the Sisters at Etna.
For the celebration, despite the heavy snow, the church was packed, and, for all there were so many people, Florina and a group of Romanian women and our own Liggy, provided an ample buffet breakfast for all who had attended.
We then set out for London, where Bishop Ambrose was greeted by Mother Vikentia and her sisters, and where, according to the Russian usage, we served the Vigil service for their dedication festival. The Bishop led the prayers at the Liti and again at the Polyeleos, and at the end of the service, anticipating that the next morning he would preach in English, he gave a short sermon in Greek, followed by one in Romanian, so that he could reach as many people as possible with the message of God’s love for them.
On the day of the Annunciation itself, we were again joined by Bishop Sofronie, and the Hours, Vespers and the Divine Liturgy were chanted using Arabic, English, Greek, Romanian and Slavonic. Although the order of the services on this day is apparently different in the Greek and Romanian typicons, the hierarchs followed the Russian usage respecting the custom that the Convent has followed since its inception. After the festal services, the sisters provided a trapeza for all who had attended, and brought the celebration to an end; although the Bishops both took time to speak to any of the congregation who wished to hear a word from them.
No arrangements have yet been finalized, but Bishop Ambrose hopes to visit again for the Autumn feast of St Edward, and then, besides serving here and at the Convent, he hopes also to visit the Mission at Ryde and celebrate the Divine Liturgy there.
PASCHA AT ST EDWARD’S
IN REPORTING the Bishops’ visit on our website, www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org, we mentioned that “for the Divine Liturgy the Church was packed as at Pascha.” In fact, events have already given the lie to that statement, this year we had many more people at our Midnight Pascha service than ever before, but again, the women of the parish and the people from the Romanian Church who attended in large numbers managed to provide an ample breakfast, which was held around the bonfire in the early hours of the morning.
For the Agape Vespers in the afternoon, we also had many more people than usual, partly because immediately afterwards we were to open the new Exhibition Room in the Old Mortuary building. At the Vespers, when the Gospel is read in many languages, we managed to muster nine languages, which made something of an impression on some of our visitors. Particular note should be made of young Euan and Nicolas Jones from Cardiff, who read sections in Welsh for us. The service was attended by Mrs Sarah Goad, the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and her husband Timothy, by Cllr Peter Ankers, the Deputy Mayor of Woking, and his wife Gill, and our County Councillor Mrs Elizabeth Compton. The Bishop of Guildford’s chaplain, Rev’d Nancy Ford, and his personal assistant, Mary Morris, attended the service and opening; the Archdeacon of Dorking, the Venerable Julian Henderson, had been present at the greater part of the midnight service, even though he had commitments of his own in the morning. Mr Erkin Guney, the managing director of the Brookwood Cemetery and his wife Melanie, and many other associates and friends of the brotherhood were present for the service and the opening. In fact besides our congregation, we had friends from other Christian denominations, some Jews, some Moslems, and two Goths who professed themselves to be pagans at the event, along with the usual sprinkling of materialists! - so the atmosphere was cosmopolitan and rather Early Byzantine. The Exhibition itself had been set up by Michael Stonelake and his associate Andy Gardiner, who were also in attendance. Mr John Clarke, the historian of the Brookwood Necropolis Railway, had offered much valued advice, and Sophio Mediodze had made a special DVD, which augments the presentations in the exhibition, and shows something of the life of the Brotherhood. The project was largely funded by a donation from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We had worried for weeks before that the exhibition would not be finished in time (Mr Stonelake has a Russian wife and something of their attitude to time seems to have rubbed off on him!), but in the event by our walking over very slowly from the Church after Vespers, pausing at the Mortuary door for a short explanation of the event, we managed to give them just time enough to have it ready. There were too many people present to pile into the small room, but after a prayer, everyone filed into the room to see the exhibition before moving to the main hall for refreshments and a chat.
Our thanks are especially due to Fr Hieromonk Gorazd from Prague who, with the blessing of Bishop Ambrose, came over to England for the last days of Holy Week and the first days of Bright Week to celebrate the Divine services with the sisters at the Annunciation Convent.
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