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July2015

No.104

TheOrthodoxParish
oftheHolyandLifeGivingCross,
Lancaster,U.K.

TheStavronian

amonthlymagazine&newsletterpublishedbythe'HolyCrossSynodia'

TheParishoftheHolyandLifeGivingCross,
belongstotheAntiochianOrthodoxArchdioceseoftheBritishIslesandIreland.
ThePatriarchateofAntiochisthirdsenioroftheOrthodoxChurches.
ThePatriarchisHisBeatitudeJohnX.

ThediscipleswerefirstcalledChristiansinAntioch
(Acts11:26)

NEWBISHOP

ChurchWork:

Archimandrite Silouan Oner has been


designated as our new Bishop of the
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of the
British Isles and Ireland. Axios! For his
healthandgoodguidance,letusprayto
theLord!HisCVisincludedbelow.

Since2000:Archimandrite,priest,
pastorandpreacherintheparishof
Latakia
20012003:WorkintheOrthodox
youthmovementsinceayoungman
andwasappointedPresidentofthe
LatakiaCentrefortheOrthodoxYouth
Movement
Since2006:Owneranddeveloperof
thewebsiteOrthodoxLighthouse,
www.almanarah.net/wp
20102015:ChaplaintoMetropolitan
JohnMansour
AppointedbyHisBeatitudePatriarch
JohnXofAntiochandAlltheEast
abbotofthePatriarchalMonasteryof
St.GeorgeHumaira,Syria

THEIMPORTANCEOFBEING
INAPLACE

Born:21.08.1970,Latakia,Syria
Studies:
19891994:MechanicalEngineering
Degree:TishreenUniversity,Latakia,
Syria
19952000:DegreeinTheology,St.
JohnofDamascusInstitute,Balamand,
Lebanon
20002005:Master'sDegreein
Theology,St.JohnofDamascus
Institute,theUniversityofBalamand,
Lebanon
20052010:Doctorateintheology,
ethicsandhomiletics,theUniversityof
Thessaloniki,Greece

Inanearly comedy sketchshowonthe


radio, much loved by Metropolitan
Kallistos, oneofthecharactersSeagoon
findinganothercharacterEcclesinacoal
cellarasks:Whatareyoudoinghere?.
Eccles replies Everybody's gotta be
somewhere!
Eccles portrayed as a rather silly
youth, has a special talent for taking
thingshehearsliterally,butinsodoing
oftenshowsaprofoundinsight.
From a slightly later vintage, some
may remember Robins song from the
T.V.MuppetShow.Ininnocentreflection
hesings:
HalfwaydownthestairsisastairwhereIsit.
Thereisn'tanyotherstairquitelikeit.
I'mnotatthebottom,I'mnotatthetop.
SothisisthestairwhereIalwaysstop.

The original version of King Lear


(1605),WilliamShakespearecontainsthe
line:Jestersdooftproveprophets;from
where we gain the expression many a
truewordisspokeninjest.
Thefool,whilst seento beajester,
has his place in the plot, pointing to a
truthwhichthewiseintheirowneyes
failtosee(Isaiah5:21).
Ahermitwasonceaskedbyavisitor
Whatdoyoudo?.Thehermitanswered
I live here!. The old English words
dwellandabideforliveconveysthe
sense of remaining fully in a state of
stability.
An embryo dwells in the mothers
womb, growing and being nourished in
thedarknessuntilthetimeofbirth.
On meeting someone for the first
timeweoftenaskWhatdoyoudo?asif
someoneisdefinedbytheirjoborstatus!
Our Lord did notjudgepeopleby what
they did but hehad empathy with who
they were and had insight into the
potentialofwhattheycouldbecome.We
arenotHumandoingsweareHuman
Beings.Inordertobe,tobefullyinthe
present moment, to be fully alive, fully
aware,weneedtohavestabilityofplace.
Constant movement is not good for the
spirit. With too much movement we
becomelikechildrenwhospinroundand
roundandwhentheystoptheyaredizzy
andfallover.Muchcouldbesaidabout
the work/life balance in todays society
butsufficienttosaythatweneedtobe
aware of the limits and integrity of our
mind,body,spiritandtheheart.
Placeisthedimensionofrevelation.
GodappearedtoMosesonMountSinai,
Christ revealed His Divinity on Mount
Tabor,StJohnreceivedtheRevelationof
the Apocalypsis in the Cave on Patmos.
FromthebeginningGod hasgivenusa
placetobe:Genesis2:15;ThentheLord
God took the man and put him in the
gardenofEdentotendandkeepit.

Theplacewhereweliveisboththe
place of our daily routine and our
spiritual life. Our daily duties are not
separatefromourspirituallife.Prayeris
notseparatefromwork.OurIconCorner
istheChurchinthehomeandbecomes
thecentreofourbeinginthatplace.The
saints were made holy in their cells, in
caves,onislands,intrees,onplatformsin
thesky,intheirplaceswhereGodbroke
intotheirlives.Onesensestheholinessof
places thatare infused with prayer and
builtbyascesis.GotothecaveofStJohn
inPrislopMonasteryinRomania,visitthe
underground cell of St Gerasimos on
Cephalonia,rowacrossDerwentwaterto
St Herberts Island you will find the
graceofGod.Evenwhentheirbodiesare
separatedfromthesouls,thegracerem
ains in both. Their soul is apprehended
invisibly.StJohnofDamascussaysthat
theholy relics ofthesaints, their icons,
theirgraves,arefullofgracewhichtheir
souls and bodies had whilst on earth.
Sincemenandwomenarecomposedof
soul and body, both need theosis, both
need a place to be. Even when their
boneshavedisappearedtheplacewhere
theylivedhasbecomeholysanctifieda
placeofrefreshmentforourspirit.
LikeEccleswehavetobesomewhere
but not anywhere! If we are in the
wrongplacethenwewillhavenopeace
until we find the right place. God has
giveneachofusaplacetobe.
Fr.Jonathan
ThisarticleistranslatedinGreekhereby
ChristosVasilopoulos.

MARTHAANDMARY
One of the perpetual questions of
Christianlifeisthematteroffindingand
developingourvocation. Inaverybasic
sense,thestoryofMarthaandMaryfrom
the gospel (Luke 10:3842) offers two
different,butvery uniqueapproachesto
thisdilemma: Nowastheywentontheir
way, he entered a village; and a woman
named Martha received him into her
house. And shehad a sister called Mary,
whosatattheLord'sfeetandlistenedto
his teaching. But Martha was distracted
with much serving; andshe went tohim
andsaid,Lord,doyounotcarethatmy
sisterhasleftmetoservealone?Tellher
thentohelpme.ButtheLordanswered
her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious
andtroubledaboutmanythings;onething
is needful. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which shall not be taken away
fromher.
Itisoftenspeculated,insometheolo
gical circles, that the Orthodox Church
followsmorecloselyMaryscontemplati
vestance,whilewesternChristianssensi
bilityisclosertoMarthasactiveservice.
This is very crude simplification, but it
canserveasasuitablestartingpointfora
reflection.
Common sense tells us that there
shouldnt be any real obstacle in balan
cingandembracingbothofthesewaysin
our spiritual journey, but things are (as
usual) not as simple as they look. Very
oftenChristiansareantagonisedbetween
eachotherforhavingnaturalleaningsto
one or the other side, and that can in
itselfcreateacertainamountofunneces
saryguiltandconfusion.Followersofone
path could be seen as selfobsessed
mystics, detached and indifferent to the
sufferingoftheworld,whiledisciplesof
Marthaspathcanbeperceivedasnarci
ssistic busybodies, always scoring points
on their selfserving piety tables. This

bleak picture of the contemporary


Christianbelieverisalmostperfectfodder
forthesecularistsenviousandrevengeful
discourse about futility of faith in the
21stcentury.Inthisarticle,Iamtryingto
suggestthatbothpathsarecomplemen
taryandperfectlyvalidwedonothave
tofeelbadifwearemorepronetolocate
ourpersonalvocationineitherofthem.
Asamatteroffact,ChristHimselfnever
madeanydistinctionsordivisionsinthat
sense.InaquoteaboveHeisnotbeing
scornfultowardsMartha,butcompassio
natetoMary.Christsactionsasmuchas
Hisfastsandprayersarealwayspartof
the larger Whole, something that we
understandonlypartially.
Whether we decide to engage
through direct action or through deep
contemplation, we must always bring
forward the attitude of Love, Hopeand
Faith; according to Saint Paul in
Corinthians,threeofthemostChristlike
modesofbeing.Lovingintentionshould
be the starting point of any Christian
endeavour,regardlessofthetypeorthe
circumstance. Persistent and stubborn
Hope is that solidifying feature, which
turns every Christian effort into sound
investmentforthefuture.
However,itistheundyingandcre
ative Faith ofthe Christian pilgrim that
makes all the difference. It is through
Faith that our vocations transcend this
world and connectto Eternity.Through
Faithwerealisethatwhateverwedecide
todo(ornotdo)inLoveandwithHope,
is so much more than the sum of its
parts.OurveryWayofBeingisconstan
tly affecting the Creation, whether we
wantitornot.Weare(afterChrist) in
thebusinessofTransfiguration,observ
ing and seeing only smaller effects and
theconsequencesofwhatweareactually
achieving in the Universe. This is why
everycharitableactisamysticalprayer,
and even the most secret fastis a fully
efficient and loud proclamation of the

lifegivingWord,modestlyfollowingour
Masterspattern.
AleksandarMiljkovic
London

PARISHNEWS
Thepublisherofreligiousbooks
(Enplo),based inThessaloniki,Greece,
has shown interest in publishing Fr
Jonathan'sbookFountainsintheDesert
after being translated in Greek by our
Stavronian Kleio Kechagia. Glory be to
Godforallthings!

MAJORCELEBRATIONSTHIS
MONTH

NAMESOFDEPARTED
LOVEDONESTOBE
REMEMBEREDTHISMONTH
July9:MetropolitanMethodiosFougias
MEMORY ETERNAL!
Pleasesendusthenamesofyourdepar
ted loved ones and dateof their depar
tureinorderforthemtoberemembered.

st
1July:CosmasandDamiantheHoly
Unmercenaries
nd
2July:St.JohnMaximovitch,Bishopof
Shanghai&ArchbishopofSanFransisco
(1966);St.Juvenal,Protomartyrof
AmericaandAlaska(1796)
rd
3July:StGermanusBishopoftheIsleof
Man(474)
th
4July:St.AndrewofCrete,authorof
theGreatCanon
th
7July:GreatmartyrKyriake
th
11July:GreatMartyrEuphemiatheAll
praised;St.Olga,equaltotheApostles,
PrincessofKiev
th
13July:SynaxisofArchangelGabriel
th
15July:HolyEqualtotheApostles
GreatPrinceVladimir,inBaptismBasil,
EnlighteneroftheRussianLand
th
17July:GreatMartyrMarinaofAntioch
andChildMartyrPrinceKenelm
th
20July:HolyGloriousProphetElijah
th
25July:DormitionofrighteousAnna,
motheroftheMostHolyTheotokos
th
26July:HolyMartyrParaskeue
th
27July:GreatMartyrandHealer
Panteleimon
st
31July:StJosephofArimathea

For the lives of Saints please visit the


CalendaroftheGreekOrthodoxArchdi
oceseofAmerica:www.calendar.goarch.org

ServicesduringJuly*
Sat.4th
10:00am Noliturgythisweek
Sun.12th 10:00am HolyLiturgyinQ.R.
Sat.18th
10:00am HolyLiturgyinR.C.
Sun.26th
10:00am HolyLiturgyinQ.R.followedbyParishlunch
*Helpsettingupthechurchisgreatlyappreciatedandstartsfrom9.15a.m.

Godcaresforeveryone.Despairisineffectalackoffaith
St.GeorgeKarslides

Forfurtherinformationpleasecontact:
FatherJonathanHemmings
67SibseyStr.,Fairfield,Lancaster,LA15DQ
Tel:+441524840759,+441524580600
Email:frjah@yahoo.co.uk
www.orthodoxlancaster.org.uk
www.antiochianorthodox.co.uk

TopandbottomsketchesarecreatedattheHolyMonasteryofTheAnnunciationoftheTheotokosChios,Greece,courtesyofFrTheodosiosDendrinos,Ithaca,Greece.
ThesketchofChristbyPhotisKontoglouwasscannedfromtheOrthodoxcalendaroftheApostolikiDiakoniaoftheChurchofGreece.

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