The Shepherd, September 2007
ROMANIAN HIERARCH TO SERVE AT BROOKWOOD
ON SUNDAY 7th October (n.s.) His Grace Bishop Sofronie of Suceava will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at St Edward’s Church. His Grace is a member of the Synod of Traditionalist Orthodox Hierarchs under the presidency of Metropolitan Vlasie, and he is in England to celebrate the wedding of one of the faithful from their church.
THE “REAL” FATHER ALEXIS VISITS
AFTER OVER a quarter of a century, Archimandrite Alexis (Rosentool), who is known throughout the Orthodox diaspora as the Real Father Alexis to distinguish him from the Unreal one we suffer here, visited Saint Edward Brotherhood on Saturday, 25th August. Fr Alexis is the founder and abbot of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Bombala, Australia, and sometime Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission (ROCOR) in Jerusalem. He was en route to Moscow, and spent two or three days in England, during which he did some research at the British Museum. He arrived at Brookwood at tea-time and was shown round the church and the new monastic house, before joining us for Vespers and for the evening meal with the Brotherhood.
FREQUENT VISITOR ORDAINED
FATHER GORAZD (Vopatrny), from Prague, who has several times visited and stayed with us at Brookwood and is known many of our parishioners, was ordained priest on Sunday, 13th / 26th August by His Grace, Bishop Ambrose of Methoni at the Monastery of Sts. Cyprian and Justina in Fili, Attika, Greece. Fr Gorazd had been ordained to the diaconate the previous day. Hieromonk Gorazd was born in Prague in 1959 and is a convert to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism. In 1984, he graduated at the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary at Jordanville. In 1985, he was tonsured a monk at the same Monastery and was ordained a subdeacon. In 1993, with the blessing of Archbishop (now Metropolitan) Lavr, Fr Gorazd returned to his homeland, the Czech Republic. After further university studies there, in 2003 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Charles University; and since last year, he has been Director of the newly-established Department for Eastern Christian Studies at the same university. Fr Gorazd’s frequent visits to Britain and Ireland were inspired by his fervent love of the ancient saints of these islands.
PILGRIMAGE FROM LONDON
PARISHIONERS from the Greek Orthodox Church of Sts Cosmas and Damian, in Gospel Oak, North London (Œc.Patr) made a pilgrimage to Saint Edward’s on Saturday, 5th/18th August, the eve of the Transfiguration. A full coach of pilgrims came, led by Argyros Polyvou, and they arrived just before the start of the Divine Liturgy. When they rang to arrange the visit, we explained that we were in a difficult situation, with the building work continuing, etc, and to help us they volunteered to bring their own picnic lunches and food for us. But this too was a problem! For us, it was still within the Dormition Fast - they were through their fast. We explained this, and in a shining example of Christian brotherly love, they not only brought an abundance of food for them and us, but they also brought nothing that was not suitable to eat in the fasts.
Years ago, we heard that a baby girl had been born in Greece, who in the custom of that country was taking the name of her grandmother, Edouardia, whom we have been commemorating ever since. The family had learned that there was a Saint Edward and contacted us for information. Fr Meliton Oakes of Thyateira House kindly sent them a copy of our icon of St Edward. This family, the Hadji-Aposotolou’s, who live in Thessalonica, turned up with the pilgrims, with their daughter the younger Edouardia, who is now about twelve. They had sent the icon print from Brookwood to the Danielaioi Skete of iconographers on the Holy Mountain Athos, and had had a hand-painted icon made, on which, because he was a king, they had made the robes of the Saint rather more ornate than on the original. Knowing that they would be coming to Brookwood, they kindly brought us a copy of this icon, which we have placed on the stand near the entrance of the church.
OTHER VISITORS
ON THURSDAY, 16th August, a group of parishioners from St Anne’s Church, Streatham, London (CofE), visited Saint Edward’s and were shown around by Fr Niphon.
On Thursday, 30th August, the newly ordained Fr Deacon Matthew Steenberg, of the parish of St Nicolas in Oxford (MP), brought a visitor from the far eastern parts of Russia, Hieromonk Nicanor (lepeshev) to visit us. Fr Nicanor is from Khabarovsk, which he said was near the Chinese border.
On Saturday, 1st September, Fr Peter Baulk and his dog, Billy, visited us for the first time since “the parting of the ways” on 28th December / 10th January. He stayed and talked about matters of mutual interest for about four hours, during which time to visited the church and looked around the new house.
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