October2015

No.107

TheOrthodoxParish
oftheHolyandLifeGivingCross,
Lancaster,U.K.

TheStavronian

amonthlymagazine&newsletterpublishedbythe'HolyCrossSynodia'

TheParishoftheHolyandLifeGivingCross,
belongstotheAntiochianOrthodoxChristianArchdioceseoftheBritishIslesandIreland.
ThePatriarchateofAntiochisthirdsenioroftheOrthodoxChurches.
ThePatriarchisHisBeatitudeJohnX.

ThediscipleswerefirstcalledChristiansinAntioch
(Acts11:26)

NEWACADEMICYEAR
Asthenewacademicyearisnowatits
beginning, we would like to extend our
warmwelcometonewstudentswhoare
entering Lancaster University full of
hopes and expectations. We hope that
they will find a spiritual home with us
andpraythattheirjourneytotheNorth
west of England will be rewarding in
knowledgeaswellasspiritualgrowthin
ourLordJesusChrist!Amen,sobeit!

switched on our prayer rope for the

purpose it was designed instead of
wearingitfordecoration!Imagineifwe
gaveitasanexpensiveandpreciousgift
toourfriendsandfamily!Imagineifwe
taught our children how to use it
properly!
Imagine,no disconnections,no bills
(thosehaveallbeenpaidbytheCreator),
no recharging, no top ups necessary
imagineitbeingfreeatthepointofuse
tokeepusincontactwithourfriendsand
familyonearthandinheaven.Nowthat
wouldbestateoftheart!
When we convert our creative
imaginationinto belief and action, then
wewillfindanamazingrangeofapps
for our salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5:16
18;Rejoicealways,praywithoutceasing,
givethanksinallcircumstances;forthisis
thewillofGodinChristJesusforyou.
FrJonathan

DOYOUHAVEAMOBILE
ZONE?
I find, perhaps like you, that I take my
mobilephoneeverywherewithme.Itis
theessentialubiquitous,global,portable
device. It is estimated by the Ericsson
MobilityReportthatby2020,90%ofthe
worlds population will have a mobile
phone.
Peoplecontinually usetheirmobiles
for calls, emails and texts. We feel lost
without our mobile phone, we become
anxious when we cant find it, we get
frustrated when there is no signal and
irritatedwhenitneedsrecharging!
Now imagine if we felt the same
aboutourprayerropekomboskinichotki!
Imagine if we felt lost without our
mobilezonearoundourwrist!Imagine
ifwethoughtthatourprayerropewasas
essentialtoliving intheworld todayas
our mobile phone! Imagine if we

HEAVEN:FROM
PROTESTANTISMTO
ORTHODOXY
Born in 1923 into a Church of England
familyIgrewupinthe1930sinafirmly
Protestant environment, in which there
was sharp antipathy to anything which
seemedtohaveeventheslightestwhiffof
catholic,notexcludingpersonalpiety.
Themainservicesinmylocalparish
church, and many others, were strongly
Book of Common Prayer, sung matins
plushymnsandsermonat10.30am,and
similarlyevensongat6.30pm.Therewas
asaidHolyCommunionateightam,but
thiswasquiteoutsidemyexperienceuntil
Iwaspreparedforconfirmationin1938
attheageoffourteen.
WhenIreturnedfromthewarinthe
mid 1940s changes were developing, as
graduallytheParishCommunionatnine
ambecamethemainservice,andsacra
mentalreligioncameintomylife.Ihad
grown up with an understanding of
heavenassomestrange,distant,ethereal
and uncertain place somewhere beyond
theoutermostreachesofspace.Itwasa
longtimebeforeIsawanewunderstand
ing of in Remembrance of Me, that
remembrancewasnotthementalrecall
ing of a past event but a present living
reality, and God was not the superior,
spiritual, moralistic (almost) Father
Christmas figure I had imagined. Of
course it was stated to be essential to
believe in the Holy Trinity, but little
insight into the supernatural was given
anditremainedremote,thepreserveof
thetheologicallyeducated
Mydevelopingspiritualitywasdriven
on to the rocks with the publication of
Honest To God, a book written by a
bishopoftheChurchofEnglandin1963,
theburdenofwhichisourimageofGod
must go, God is dead and to go on
worshipping and believing as our fore

fathers is an obstacle to mans progress

anddevelopment:nakedhumanism.As
thisspreadthroughoutthechurchIlived
thenextthirtyyearsstrugglingtoremain
faithful to what I had been taught, not
leastthattheChurchofEnglandwasone
of three branches of the One, True,
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,
alongside Rome and Orthodoxy, neither
of whom, of course, subscribe to the
branch theory of the Church. I found
many obstacles in my path, but here I
mentionjustafew,verybriefly.
Distressed, I approached my parish
priest, not long returned to the diocese
(Blackburn)aftersomeyearsonthestaff
ofCanterburyCathedral.Hesaidtome,
Well,perhapsweshouldgiveabitmore
thoughttoChristsDivinity,andwalked
away.
In1986theDurhamAffaircauseda
stormofcontroversy,whenCanonDavid
JenkinswasnamedasthenextBishopof
Durham.Hewasanacademictheologian
withaconsiderablereputation,andtradi
tional believers were outraged. For this
purposeIsimplyquoteoneofhispubli
cisedbeliefs,Thereisnothingcertainin
the New Testament which is of any
importance,inanattackonitshistoric
events, particularly the Virgin Birth. All
historyisunreliable.
Ata localdeanery discussiongroup
theclergyman takingpartasserted,and
not as devils advocate, Ah! But you
mustremember(!)thatChristcouldhave
beenmistakenabouthimself,aboutWho
Hewas.Andsoonandsoon.
In1993,sixmonthsafterthevotein
theGeneralSynodinfavourofordaining
womeninthepriesthood,followinglong
yearsofstrifeintheChurch,Iencounter
edFrJonathan(Hemmings)andthatis
how I came to join the Pilgrimage to
Orthodoxy, and two years later I was
received into the Orthodox Church of
Antioch. I learned Truth such as I had
onlyglimpsedintheChurchofEngland,

andespeciallythatintheDivineLiturgy
wearetrulyworshippingwiththewhole
Body of Christ in the very courts of
heaven.Iwasfreeoftheindividualism
myprayers,mycommunion,mylife,my
understanding of truth, every man his
own theologian rife in the Protestant
religion, and I became much more at
ease, no longer in a defensive state of
mind and spirit, in my God given
individuality. Heaven is not somewhere
out there. I am persuaded that those
whorefusetoveneratetheMotherofGod
(that truly would be a leap too far
towards Rome!) are often found not to
unshakablybelieveintheIncarnationand
the real and actual bridge it gives
betweenearthandheaven.

BarnabasDickinson
Chorley

PILGRIMAGETOST.
ETHELDREDAOFELY
DearFr.Jonathan,
Belated congratulations to you and
ourcommunityoftheHolyCrossonthe
feastoftheHolyCross.
Iwantedtosharewithyoumyjoyof
having the opportunity to venerate the
relicsofaremarkableBritishsaintofthe
7thcentury,StEtheldredaAbbessofEly.
St. Etheldreda was a princess and
could have anything a person could
dreamofinthislifebutchosetokeepher
virginity even being married twice. She
negotiatedthatmatterbeforeherpolitical
marriages. Later she became a nun, an
abbessandafounderoftheMonasteryof
Ely on which she spent all her inheri
tance.16yearsafterStEtheldredasdeath
her body was found uncorrupted. Very
sadly,duringCromwellsattackonrelics
mostofherbodywasdestroyed.Whenit

happened, a Catholic man managed to

hideonlyoneofherhands.Thishandis
nowexposedforvenerationinaRoman
Catholic church of St Etheldreda. Both
Catholic and Orthodox Christians reco
gnizeherasasaint.Thechurchthathas
the relics of St Etheldreda is a smaller
church in Ely, not the famous large
Cathedral (it was already built later
during the Norman invasion) and is
withinawalkingdistancefromtherail
way station in Ely. It makes sense to
havealookatthewebsiteofthischurch,
by clicking here, to check the opening
timesbeforethepilgrimage.
Wearesoprivilegedtohaverelicsof
a local saint within easy reach from
Cambridge. It is only about 30 minutes
bycaror15minutesbytrainfromusand
there are regular trains to Ely from
London.Suchacomfortinourtimes!A
bustoElyevenpassesnexttoourhouse!
Iamattachingaphototakenduringmy
pilgrimage.
IrynaMinakova
Cambridge

NAMESOFDEPARTED
LOVEDONESTOBE
REMEMBEREDTHISMONTH
Oct.17:Garyfalos
Oct.20:Fr.StephenHatherly
MEMORY ETERNAL!
Pleasesendusthenamesofyourdepar
ted loved ones and date of their depar
tureinorderforthemtoberemembered.

~+~
We were pleased to welcome Pater
EustathiosSavidesfromtheChurchofSt
Arsenios the Cappadocian in Nicosia,
Cyprus,inSeptember.Wethankhimfor
hiskindgiftofCommandariaandNama
Communion wine for our Community.
Wealsothank KonstantinosArfanis and
his family for the gift of Communion
wine. Our Parish has also received a
donation of money from a benefactor
who wishes to remain anonymous. We
givethankstoGodforallthings!

PARISHNEWS
Itwasgoodtoseeon10thSeptemberone
of our Old Stavronians Costas Papacon
stantinou (20062009) and to host him
fordinnerandtotalkoveroldtimes;he
sends his greetings to the Parish. I also
extendthegreetingsof PaterTheodosios
Dendrinos his family and Louiza from
Ithaca, from Nikos, Panos, Eleanna and
AggelosGeorgopoulos aswellas Gianna
NassiopoulouandAnastasiaStamatalatou
whokindlyhostedmeduringmystayin
PatrasandKefalonia.Iwoulddearlylike
the Parish to go to Kefalonia together
next year after Pascha and before the
Archdiocesan Conference to visit our
friendsandtoseethebeautifulMonaste
riesthere.
Our Synodia have been given the
blessingtotranslatethebookoftheLife
of SaintPanagisMpasias of Lixouriinto
English God is glorified in His saints
maytheHolySpiritguideourheartsand
minds.
FrJonathan

FrJonathanandFrEustathiosatSt
Patrick'schapelatHeyshamonSept.17th
~+~
FrJonathanwenttoCephaloniaand
IthacainGreecethissummer,wherehe
visitedanumberofoldMonasterieslike
the Atros Monastery in Cephalonia for
the Vesperal Feast of the Birth of the
MotherofGodandtheMonasteryofAgia
ParaskeviforthecelebrationofStAnthi
mostheBlindinLixouri.FrJonathanmet
with OldStavronians IoannaNassiopou
louandAnastasiaStamatelatou.

TheAtrosMonasteryinCephalonia,
Greece,builtinthe8thcentury.

OLDSTAVRONIANCORNER
WethankGodforthegenerousdonation
of 200 to our Community from a
belovedStavronian.

TheMonasteryofAgiaParaskevi,
Cephalonia,Greece.

FrJonathanwithFrPanagis(ontheright)
andhisbrotherpriestandfaithfulatthe
PalaiohersoMonastery,CephaloniaGreece.
FrPanagishasbeenapriestfor63years!
~+~
Little GeorgeEric wasbaptisedonSept.
12th. We welcome the newly illumined
GeorgeEricandhisparents Danielaand
Andrei Ardelean to our Parish and pray
for a spiritually fruitful journey in the
OrthodoxfaithinourLordJesusChrist!

GeorgeEric,hisGodparentsandFr
Jonathanduringthebaptism

~+~
Fr Jonathan attended the wedding of
Panagiotis Georgopoulos and Eleanna
Symeonidou in Patras, Greece, from
which a few photosofthis joyful event
followbelow.Thetextofthehomilythat
FrJonathangaveduringtheweddingcan
bedownloadedfromthefollowinglinks
inEnglishandGreek.

MAJORCELEBRATIONSTHIS
MONTH
th
6Oct:HolyApostleThomas
th
7Oct:StsSergius&BacchustheGreat
MartyrsofSyria
th
10Oct:The14HolyEldersofOptina
MonasteryinRussia
th
12Oct:St.Wilfrid,BishopofYork
(709)

th
18Oct:HolyApostleandEvangelist
Luke
th
19Oct:St.JohnofKronstadt
th
26Oct:TheGloriousGreatMartyr
DemetriustheMyrrhbearerof
Thessalonica
th
28Oct:TheHolyProtectionofthe
Theotokos

For the lives of Saints please visit the

CalendaroftheGreekOrthodoxArchdi
oceseofAmerica:www.calendar.goarch.org

ServicesduringOctober*
Sat.3rd
10:00am HolyLiturgyinR.C.
Sat.10th
10:00am HolyLiturgyinR.C.
Sat.17th
10:00am HolyLiturgyinR.C.
Sun.25th
10:00am HolyLiturgyinQ.R.followedbyParishlunch
Sat.31st
10:00am HolyLiturgyinR.C.
*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.