The Shepherd, August 2008
SiR UK* NEWS
* Synod in Resistance Churches in the UK
FUNERAL AT SAINT EDWARD’S
ONE of our long-standing and most faithful parishioners, Anna (Julia) Skyers of Bisley, reposed at the beginning of the month in St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey. We managed to reach her just minutes before she gave up her soul and read the prayers for her departure. The funeral was held at Saint Edward’s on Tuesday 15th July n.s., served by Fr Alexis and Fr Stephan Fretwell, assisted by Hierodeacon Sabbas. Fr Gabriel Lawani and his Presbytera Helena of the “Chrysostomite” Synod were among the many people in church who came to bid Anna farewell. After the service, she was laid to rest in the Orthodox Cemetery here. May she find rest with the Saints and Memory Eternal. We ask the prayers of the faithful for her repose, and that Collin, her husband, and the rest of her family may be granted comfort in their bereavement.
DIAMOND WEDDING CELEBRATION
ARTEMI AND IRINA ANANIN of Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire (near Bournemouth), who for many years have been parishioners of the Convent of the Annunciation in Willesden, celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary on 25th July, n.s. With the blessing of Mother Vikentia and her Sisterhood, a Thanksgiving Moleben was chanted after the Divine Liturgy at the Convent on the previous Sunday. His Grace, Bishop Ambrose of Methoni, sent the couple an icon of St John of Shanghai and a very touching message of congratulation. His message, in which he spoke of their valued service to the Church over decades, and in which he said he regretted not being able to be with them on the occasion but promising to be with them for their 70th anniversary, was read out in church before the moleben. To Artemi and Irina and to all their family: Many Years and God’s Blessings!
TWO AGMs AT SAINT EDWARD’S
IN THE PAST MONTH, two Annual General Meetings have been held at the Brotherhood. On Sunday 13th, n.s., after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the King Edward Orthodox Trust Company Limited, the charity which administers our property, held their AGM in the Exhibition Room of the Old Mortuary Building. After the usual reports, acceptance of accounts, etc, the main business concerned the plans for the proposed re-roofing of the church and other improvements which could be made there, now that the work on the other two building is substantially complete.
On Tuesday 22nd July, n.s., after our Vesper service, the Brookwood Cemetery Society, held their AGM in the main hall of the Old Mortuary. The meeting itself was prefaced by an illustrated talk by Dr Brian Parsons, the editor of the Funeral Service Journal. In connection with the publication of a new edition of the book, “London Cemeteries - An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer,” he gave an excellent talk on London’s Cemeteries in the 20th Century, with what I would call slides, although these were beamed up by some new-fangled technology, hitherto unknown to man. After a break for refreshments and a chance for the participants to visit the Exhibition Room, the formal meeting was convened, chaired by John M. Clarke. We are thankful for being able to offer hospitality to the Society as we did to the Surrey Churches Preservation Trust last month, and in this way offer something back to the wider community around us, which has welcomed us into this area and given us moral support.
A POEM FOR SAINT EDWARD
WE ARE INDEBTED to Adrian Risdon, a close friend of the poet John Heath-Stubbs, who died in December 2006, for sending us a copy of a DVD about him and a poem which he had written after a visit to Saint Edward’s Church, during our early days at Brookwood. Heath-Stubbs was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1973 and an OBE in 1989. The poem is entitled, “For the Shrine of Saint Edward, King and Martyr,” and John was, during the period of controversy about the sacred relics being entrusted to our care, a supporter of the Brookwood claim. For his love of the Saint and his support of our shrine, may he now find mercy.
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