HIS GRACE, Bishop Ambrose of Methoni, from the Sacred Monastery of Sts Cyprian & Justina in Fili, Attika, hopes to visit England at the beginning of September in order to bless the New Monastic House.  We had hoped that he would be able to come for Saint Edward’s day (Sunday, 16th September) but, because of his many commitments, this has proved impossible, and so he hopes to be with us on Sunday 9th September (n.s.) (the feast of the great monastic father, St Pœmen the Great) to celebrate the Divine Liturgy here.  He will serve at the Convent of the Annunciation on the feast of the Beheading of St John the Baptist on the following Tuesday.  Please keep these dates and the feast of St Edward in your diaries.  We will publish more detailed information nearer the time.

NOW the new house is taking shape - there have been a couple of set-backs, one with the installation of the sewage treatment unit, and one because of the continued extremely damp weather, but though the efforts of H. W. Fisher and Son of Aldershot, our contractors, we are beginning to see the completion in sight.  There were three small trees that the development of the old station site necessitated cutting down, and we also had some extra work, because in the dry period  last year, one of the largest trees on the property, a Cedar which stood close of the new house, died. And we sadly had to have that down and another tree that had died nearby.  These trees will be replaced as part of the landscaping of the site, which is part of the whole project.

THE FUND itself now stands at £619,187.15, so we are still in need of your financial help, but, by what can only be described as a miracle, we are only just over £30,000 short of the target figure that we set at the beginning of this project.  We spent a lot of time applying to various grant-making trusts for funds, and this brought in a total of perhaps £50,000; for the rest we have only had three donations of over £10,000, and all the rest has come from the pledged gifts of friends and parishioners and from the donations of individual helpers.  This means that something like £500,000 has been given by the relatively small circle of our parishioners, supporters and well-wishers.  May God bless you all and reward you with things heavenly for things earthly for making this tremendous effort.  

OUR WEBSITE received 49,062 “unique visitors” throughout 2006.  The figures show that so far this year we have received the following visits:  January 7,307;  February 5,965;  March 7,523;  April 6,392;  May 6,672, and June 10,010 - already (with 187 visits today, 1st July) a total of 44,056.  We are thankful that so many people obviously find the site of interest, and hope that it serves for their edification and not simply for idle curiosity.  Our thanks are due to David Jepson who looks after it for us.

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TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY you possibly can to learn about your Faith.  No one expects all the members of the congregation to have doctorates in theology, but each one of us should try to deepen our understanding of our Faith and its implications.  Many Orthodox seem to consider that it consists only in a few ritual observances, or that the clergy do it for them.  Learning more about your faith by attending, and attending to, the church services, by reading the Holy Scriptures and other spiritual works, by learning how and why things are done, will not only give you a firmer foundation for your life in Orthodoxy, but will enrich its practice for you.