CONTACTS:
To message Archimandrite Kyril or to arrange a baptism or wedding please email the Parish Priest@bristol-orthodox-church.co.uk (Tel. 01179706302 or 07944 860 955).
For more see: CONTACTS
SERVICES, PARISH NEWS AND RECENT SERMON ARE ON THIS PAGE
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Regular services: Every Saturday: 5.30 p.m. Vespers Every Sunday: 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy
WEEKLY SERVICES & INFORMATION (Note: our Parish follows the “New” (Revised Julian) Calendar. For dates on the “Old” Julian Calendar, refer to an online calendar. The exceptions are: 1. The Feast of The Nativity (Christmas), for which we have services on both calendars; 2. The lectionary for the Sundays before The Nativity and up to The Great Fast.
CURRENT SERVICES Sunday, 16th February 2025. Sunday of the Prodigal Son (For Fr Alexander Schmemann’s meditation, see below) 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy. Readings: Normal fasting days (Wednesday and Friday) this week. Prayer ‘Behind the Ambo’ for today’s Divine Liturgy after Communion Sunday of the Prodigal Son: O God and Father of glory, for our sake you gave your only-begotten Son, and through him have made us sons, and worthy again of your Spirit. Have compassion on us now, for we have broken your commandments. Do not condemn us with those who have cut themselves off from you, nor leave us starved of your spiritual gifts. Instead, make us worthy to draw near to you in our words and in our hearts, and to prove by our deeds that we are your children, as we imitate the conversion of the Prodigal Son. To him you made known your ineffable love for sinners. May we obtain the everlasting happiness which you have prepared for all who do your will, through the grace and love for mankind of your only-begotten Son, with whom glory is due to you, together with your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.
Saturday 22nd February 2025. 5.30 p.m. Vespers
Sunday 23rd February 2025. Sunday of Meatfare. Sunday of the Last Judgment. 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy. Readings: The time for repentance and forgiveness is now, in the present life. At the Second Coming, Christ will appear as the righteous Judge, “Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). Then the time for entreating God’s mercy and forgiveness will have passed. After today by custom and discipline we do not eat flesh meat until Pascha. All other foods are without restriction this week: fish, eggs, dairy, oil.
ADVANCE NOTICE OF PILGRIMAGE LITURGY: St David’s Day Pilgrimage Divine Liturgy, Saturday 1st March, 11.00 a.m. in St David’s Church, Llanthony (Llanddewi Nant Honddu!) in the Black Mountains in Monmouthshire, South Wales. Car parking. Excellent pub next door for lunch. Splendid mountain walks. Plan now to come along!
*THE TRIODION: From the Sunday of the Tax-collector (“Publican”) and the Pharisee the Church begins to use the order of services particular to the season leading up to Pascha (i.e. The Great Fast, or “Lent”). On weekdays the number of Odes in the Canon at Matins is reduced from eight to three (or two) – hence Tri-odion, the name of the book of these services of this fasting season. The Sunday gospel of Zacchaeus (2nd February this year) is our alert or wake-up call that the Fast is approaching, and on the next Sunday, Tax-collector (“Publican”) and the Pharisee, we begin the run-in to the Fast. We begin using the Triodion from the Vespers on the afternoon of the Sunday of the Tax-collector and the Pharisee.
SUNDAY OF THE PRODIGAL SON (Fr Alexander Schmemann) The Gospel reading of this day (Lk. 15, 11-32) gives the second theme of Lent: that of a return to God. It is not enough to acknowledge sins and to confess them. Repentance remains fruitless without the desire and the decision to change life, to go back to God. The true repentance has as its source the spiritual beauty and purity which man has lost. “…I shall return to the compassionate Father crying with tears, receive me as one of Thy servants.” At Matins of this day to the usual psalms of the Polyeleos “Praise ye the name of the Lord” (Ps. 135), the Psalm 137 is added, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Zion… If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning…” The Christian remembers and knows that what he lost: the communion with God, the peace and joy of His Kingdom. He was baptized, introduced into the Body of Christ. Repentance, therefore, is the renewal of baptism, a movement of love, which brings him back to God. Below you will find: PARISH NEWS, SAINTS DAYS, and THE MOST RECENT SERMON
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PARISH NEWS FOOD BANK: DON’T FORGET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS who do not have enough! Bring contributions please for the box in church.
**BUILDING NEWS UPDATE (FEBRUARY 1st 2025)**: The Church is back to our usual configuration. But we are still in need of regular cleaning help! Meanwhile, the further scaffolding at the back of the church (to investigate and remedy woodworm activity and water ingress) has come down. We await a final assessment and quotes, but Initial estimates suggest this work too is going to be expensive! PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY! Once reports have been digested and contracts let the scaffolding will need to go up again! THANK YOU for your generous donations. Without this, we would not have a space to worship in. We are extremely blessed to have our own space that does not need to be shared with other users. If we look after it, the building will be sure to last a few more hundred years and serve our community for many generations to come.
GIFT AID |
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Some saints (AND FEASTS) of the coming days)
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For those who wish to donate to our Parish online, our Facebook fundraiser can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/453504039824339/?fundraiser_source=external_url
Sermon for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Archimandrite Kyril Jenner
Luke 15:11-3
Today we read the Parable of the Prodigal Son as part of our preparation for the Great Fast. Like all the parables told by our Lord this story has much to teach us. Saint Theophan the Recluse provides us with a framework for understanding and applying this teaching. He reminds us that this parable “speaks so much to us.” He goes on to look at the situation before the start of the story as given in the Gospel.
“[This parable] speaks about our peace and satisfaction in the house of the heavenly Father.” Before the start of the story we are led to assume that the two brothers lived in peace and harmony with one another and with their father. They were loyal and obedient to their father, and all worked together for the common good. This is a model of an ideal relationship with God. We should be loving and loyal and obedient to God, and loving towards one another. We should not be seeking anything special for ourselves but only looking for what is good for the whole human race. This is an ideal which we can see is sadly not observed by the majority of people.
aint Theophan says, “[the parable speaks] about our mad departure from the Father’s guardianship to unbridled freedom.” Obedience to God and receiving his love for us are not sufficient for us. We seek our own personal advantage. We seek licence to do as we please rather than submitting to the will of God. We do not understand what God has done for us.
The parable tells us, as Saint Theophan says, “about the richness of the heritage given to us despite our disobedience.” The younger son demands his share of the family estate now. He wants to use this for his own pleasure. He cannot continue to work with the others to build up the estate and then to inherit his share in due course. The father is tolerant of his younger son, and gives him what he asks for, even though this is not in the best interests of either the father or the son. God is similarly tolerant with us when we turn away from him, but like the father in the parable he goes on loving us despite our lack of love for him.
What happens when we sin? Saint Theophan tells us that the parable speaks of our heritage and “its reckless waste on all sorts of indecencies, and about our utter impoverishment as a result.” Sin leads to spiritual impoverishment. Wasting earthly riches on selfish pleasures does not lead to true happiness. Instead it leads us away from God and away from the source of spiritual riches.
But the way is always open for us to return to God. Saint Theophan says that the parable “then talks about how one recovers his senses, and, coming to himself, decides to return to his greatly merciful father.” When we recognize our spiritual poverty then we also see what we should have been. We are able to become once again what God has intended for us. This requires an initial action on our part. We have to see what is wrong in our lives and then do something about it. We turn to God in repentance and seek his forgiveness. For most of us this is not just a once in a lifetime action, but rather a constant and repeated action as we repeatedly fall into sin.
But when we repent, then God is loving and merciful. Our sin is forgiven and we are restored to our original relationship with God. We see this in the parable, which speaks, as Saint Theophan says, “about how he returns, how he is received lovingly, and is restored to his first state.” In his repentance the younger son has prepared a long speech in which to ask for forgiveness from his father and to be appointed to a suitably lowly place in the family business. When he starts to make this speech the father cuts him off. The intention is all that is needed without elaboration. Instead of giving him a lowly position the younger son is restored to full membership of the family. So when we repent God forgives us and restores us to our proper relationship with him.
Saint Theophan then sums up the essential teaching of the parable. “Who will not find this lesson profitable? If you abide in your father’s house, do not strive for freedom, You see how a similar experience ended! If you have run away and are squandering all, then end this quickly. If you have already squandered everything and are living in poverty, decide quickly to return – and then return. There every indulgence, and all the former love and satisfaction await you. This last step is the most necessary one. But there is no point in enlarging on this. All has been said concisely and clearly. Come to your senses, decide to return, arise and hurry to the Father. His embrace is open and ready to receive you.” (Reflection for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son)
So let us day by day turn away from sin. Let us turn away from being self-centred. Let us turn away from seeking our own pleasure. Let us instead turn back to God. Let us repent of our sin. Let us accept the love of God for us. And let us strive to live with love towards God and towards one another, so that in seeking to follow the will of God we may be granted forgiveness of our sins and restored to our place in God’s heavenly kingdom.
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Like all small communities we rely on the generosity of friends and well-wishers. If you would like to contribute to the continuation of our parish and the upkeep of our historic church building, you can make a donation here:
https://www.facebook.com/donate/679204386685133/?fundraiser_source=external_url
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