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Archbishop Mark's first visit to our new church - 16/07/2011
On the 16th of July, being the weekend before our patronal feast, our archbishop Mark visited our parish. This was his first visit since we moved into the new church. He served the Divine Liturgy, blessed our iconostas and gave the parish a gift of some relics of Ss Elisabeth and Barbara, the New-Martyrs. A Moleben was served before the parish icon and relics after the Liturgy (indoors, due to the rainy weather), and was followed by a festal parish meal.
We were pleased to welcome clergy from our sister diocese of Sourozh and friends from other ROCOR parishes, both in the Great Britain diocese and abroad, as well as Orthodox clergy and faithful from across the Northwest and Midlands.
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First Divine Liturgy of the St Nicholas Mission, Liverpool - 21/05/2011
The mission of St Nicholas was launched on Saturday, the 21st of May, 2010, being the 8th of May in the Church calendar and the feast of St John the Theologian. The Hours and Divine Liturgy were served at the Anglican church of Our Lady and St Nicholas by kind permission of the clergy and parochial church council.
We were pleased to welcome regulars and newcomers, and delighted to see faces we had not seen for a while. It is our hope that this mission will be a means of reaching out to enquirers and dispersed Orthodox residents and students in the Liverpool area. This first Liturgy was very encouraging indeed and we pray that more people may come to find us through this effort.
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Great and Holy Week, 2011
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| Blessing of the New Cross 19th December 2010
On the Feast of St Nicholas, Fr Paul blessed the New Cross which has been made for the little tower on the top of St Elisabeth's. It is a copy of the ornate cross which had to be taken down as it was so corroded. The service of blessing was attended by some of The Friends of Rake Lane Cemetery and local Councillors Karen and Paul who are such a support to our little community. The cross was made at Cheshire Forge on the Argyle Industrial Estate and put in place by Mark Joynson and Steve Smith. It should be able to be seen as it is in a very prominant position overlooking the main road.
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Paul and Ludmilla's Wedding - 11/04/2010
Paul and Ludmilla were the first couple to be joined in Holy Matrimony in our new church. It was a joyous occasion when they were surrounded by family, friends, and their parish family, on a bright, sunny day. May God grant them many, many years.
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Michael Astley ordained Subdeacon - 20/03/2010
On Saturday the 7th (20th) March, 2010, Archbishop Mark ordained Reader
Michael Astley to the rank of subdeacon at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God, Chiswick, London.
Videos of the event may be viewed here.
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Metropolitan Hilarion of New York visits our parish - 10/11/2009
Our parish received a great blessing in the visitation of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, the First Hierarch of our Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Approximately 25 parishioners and friends of the parish came to greet the Metropolitan, who served a moleben at church. Here are a few photographs that were taken on the day. More may be found in the diocesan gallery.
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Patronal Festival - 18/07/2009
We moved into our new church on Saturday, the 5th (18th) of July, 2009, being the Feast of the Holy New Martyr Elisabeth. The church was still very much a work in progress but had begun to have the look and atmosphere of an Orthodox church. The day included the Blessing of the Waters, the Hours & Divine Liturgy, the outdoor Cross Procession, the showing of a DVD of the life of St Elisabeth, and Vespers.Here are some photographs of the day's events.
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A handful of photographs from the final Sunday at our Birkenhead chapel - 12/07/09
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Final preparations for the move - 11/07/09
As the day fast approaches for the move into our new church, parishioners gather to make final preparations. Throughout the day, a number of visitors came in to say hello and find out what was happening, and some even helped with the cleaning.The gallery cover picture is a photograph of our new sign, with an icon used by kind permission of Olga Ivkin, whose work may be seen here.
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The Paschal Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil - 18/04/09
The Paschal Vigil, when we watch and wait for the Resurrection of Christ is one of the most beautiful and well-attended services of the Church's entire year, when the people of God shine with the radiance of the risen Christ. However, what we know as the Paschal Vigil today actually replaced a more ancient vigil many centuries ago. This "old" vigil consisted of a number of readings from the Old Testament, tracing God's work of salvation throughout the history of mankind, fulfilled in Christ's Resurrection. The vestments and hangings would change from dark to light and it was the traditional time for the baptism of new Christians, who, after much preparation throughout Great Lent, would receive Communion for the first time at the celebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection.
This service is still done today in most Orthodox Churches but has been transferred to the late afternoon of Great and Holy Saturday, taking on the character of Vespers. It is often a quiet service, with only a handful of people present - usually those who, through infirmity, responsibility of care to the young or vulnerable, or living some distance from church, would be unable to come to the night vigil. This is their way of joining in the liturgical celebration of the bright Resurrection of Christ. Here are some photographs from our celebration of this Liturgy at our chapel in Birkenhead.
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Hierarchical Divine Liturgy - 21/02/09
On Saturday, the 21st of February, 2009, being the 8th of February in the Church calendar and the Commemoration of the Departed, His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin, Germany, and Great Britain visited our parish and served the Liturgy among his people.
The parish had gathered the evening before and served Vespers and a Pannykhida for the departed. Vladyka arrived on Saturday morning and was warmly greeted by members of the parish.
During the Hours, Michael Astley was ordained as a Reader to serve in the parish. The Divine Liturgy followed. It was the first Hierarchical Liturgy at our little chapel of St Elisabeth and it saw approximately sixty people come to worship, including some visitors and some who learnt of us for the first time due to news of the visitation, and who have faithfully remained with us since. Trapeza followed the Liturgy, and we sang many years for Vladyka.
Our parish is somewhat geographically isolated from the rest of the diocese and it was a great blessing indeed to have our bishop come to visit us, especially at this turning point in the life of our parish as we seek to move to a new building. We offer our thanks to the All-holy Trinity, and pray that Vladyka Mark be granted many, many years.
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Parish Pilgrimage to St Winefride's well in Holywell - 26/05/2007
On the morning before Pentecost, a small group of parishioners and visitors met at the chapel of St Elisabeth for a Pannikhida, where we offered prayers and hymns for the repose of our departed loved ones, in the hope that God would show His mercy upon them and draw them to Himself.
Afterwards, we set off for the town of Holywell in North Wales where we were joined by more of our parish family and extended family to make pilgrimage to the holy well of St Winefride. At the generous hospitality of the custodian of the well, we shared lunch in the nave of the shrine church, before moving to the shrine shop and display, where we learnt more about the life of St Winefride.
We then moved to the well itself, which spring up on the site of the miraculous restoration to life of St Winefride after her beheading, by God's grace and at the hands of her uncle, St Beuno, at whose faith and intercession her head was restored to her. It was very moving indeed to learn of her faithfulness to God, even in the face of death. At the well, we sang Great Vespers of the Eve of Pentecost, and were sprinkled with water from the well. Some of the faithful drank of the water while others filled buckets and yet others bathed their feet in the pool which is fed by the well and which contains the very stone where St Winefride was beheaded.
The whole afternoon was spent in Christian love as we gathered in one place with one accord, as did the Apostles on the day of Pentecost so many years ago.
Holy Winefride, pray to God for us!
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Parish Pilgrimage to St Werburgh's Shrine - 13/02/2007
On the second day of his visitation to the parish, Vladyka led some clergy and a small group of the faithful in a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Werburgh in Chester Cathedral. St Werburgh was an Abbess at Ely and foundress of other monastic communities in the British Isles when these lands were still Orthodox.
We were treated to the generous hospitality of the Dean and staff at Chester Cathedral, who permitted us to use the Lady Chapel in the retro-choir for a Moleben service. We were then treated to a guided tour of the cathedral, and took a walk around Chester, visiting the ancient city walls, before returning to the cathedral refectory for a delicious lunch.
Some memories were captured in photograph and are reproduced here.
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An evening with Archbishop Kyrill - 12/02/2007
The parish is very grateful to the Synod and to Archbishop Kyrill of the Diocese of San Francisco and Western America for the opportunity to discuss some of the issues surrounding the pending restoration of normal relations with the Church in Russia, scheduled to reach completion on the 17th of May this year. There have been some difficult times, especially with the recent schism in the Diocese of Great Britain and the departure of some of our beloved fellow parishioners, so it was good to have the chance to speak about this, face-to-face, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Vladika was helpfully clear and heart-warmingly candid about the situation and his own experiences, and many of us walked away feeling much more hopeful about our future as a church and a diocese.
This gathering also gave us the chance to see people whom we don't see very often and to welcome one of our friends from the Moscow Patriarchate, and, as is usually the case when Orthodox people get together, there was food aplenty. Also with us were Fr Andrew Phillips from the Parish of St John the Wonderworker in Felixstowe, and Fr Michael from the St Petroc Monastery in Tasmania.
Here are a few photographs of the evening.
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