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
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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.)
Wednesday, 24th April: 6.30 p.m. Vespers and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Readings: Genesis 43: 26-31 & 45:1-16. Proverbs 21:23-22:4
Friday 26th April: Last day of the Great Fast
Saturday 27th April: (Oil and wine) THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 9.00 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Readings: Hebrews 12:28-13:8 John 11: 1-45 5.30 p.m. Vespers and Blessing of Palms
Sunday 28th April. PALM SUNDAY – The Entry Into Jerusalem (FISH, wine and oil) 10.30 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Readings: Philippians 4: 4-9 John 12: 1-18 6.30 p.m. Matins of The Bridegroom (for Monday)
Great and Holy Monday 29th April: Commemoration of The All-Righteous Blessed Joseph. The Cursing of the Fig Tree by the Lord. 6.30 p.m. Matins of The Bridegroom (for Tuesday)
Great and Holy Tuesday 30th April: Holy Apostle and Martyr James, the Son of Zebedee, brother of John the Theologian. parable of The Ten Virgins. 6.30 p.m. Matins of The Bridegroom (for Wednesday)
Holy and Great Wednesday 1ST MAY. Commemoration of The Sinful Woman who anointed the feet of The Lord with Myrrh. 6.30 p.m. Matins of Holy Thursday
FIFTH SUNDAY OF THE GREAT FAST: Prayer after Communion (“Behind the Ambo) for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent O Christ our God, You give strength to all who fall, and rescue all who have been cast aside. Without leaving the bosom of the Father, You came to us and took flesh from the holy virgin Mary. You came into the world to raise up our nature from its fall among thieves who kill the spirit. We were stripped of everlasting life, and cruelly wounded by them, yet You thought us worthy of care, and restored us to our ancient fatherland. O Lord, by Your praiseworthy blood poured out for us, and by the holy anointing You have given us, heal the bruises and bind up the wounds of our spirit, and deliver us from the constant blows of the powers of darkness, which hurry to rob us of faith and hope in You, for they wish to wash Your grace from us. Do not keep Your healing salvation from us, in Your love for mankind, that after we are healed and cleansed of all stain, we may be made worthy of the Church of the first-born, written in heaven, for You are the Healer of our illnesses of body and soul. You are our God, and we give glory to You, together with Your eternal Father, and Your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
REMINDER – FOOD BANK: As we reduce our food intake in Lent we increase our prayer – and also refocus our charity. DON’T FORGET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS. Bring contributions please. Can we fill the box twice over during Lent? |
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PARISH NEWS The funeral for Fr Kyrillos (Leret) was held at the Church of Ss Peter and Paul, Easton, on Monday. Archimandrite Kyril presided and our singers sang the service. Eternal Memory! BUILDING WORK: The masons have finished the restoration work in the Church Altar (Sanctuary). The stained glass window has been cleaned! Thank you all for your generosity to the building fund,. We have spent the money we had in hand for this project, but there is more to do: The lower walls need to be re-plastered and repainted, so please continue to give generously to the building Fund! 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 |
It is good practice to have phones turned off or in aeroplane mode during services .
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Some selected 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 Fifth Sunday in Lent
Archimandrite Kyril Jenner
Hebrews 9:11-14
Today we reach the last of the series of readings from the Epistle to the Hebrews, whch we read on the Sundays during Lent. These readings are intended to prepare us for the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, which we commemorate during Holy Week and Pascha. During that week we tend ro be focussed on the events, on what happened. We need to think also about why these things happened.
Today’s reading shows one way of understanding our Lord’s action in accepting to die on the Cross. The imagery, taken from the ritual of the Temple in Jerusalem, would have been familiar to the first readers of this text, but today many of us need to investigate that ritual first in order to understand this passage.
Christ is, once again, described as a “high priest” (v.11). In the Temple there were many priests who performed sacrifices, but the High Priest alone had a special role and only he could perform certain rituals. Christ is described as “high priest of the good things to come”. This contrasts with the priests of the Temple, who were mainly concerned with offering sacrifices related to events of the past.
Christ works through “the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is not of this creation).” Christ’s place for offering sacrifice is in heaven, not on earth. The word translated as “tent” (σκηνή), which some English translations give as “tabernacle”, refers to the Temple, or perhaps more precisely to the sanctuary of the Temple. This looks back to the time of the Exodus, when the Israelites, led by Moses, journeyed from Egypt through Sinai to the promised land. They carried with them a portable sanctuary in the form of a tent, within which the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This was a box containing the stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments.
The sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem was in two parts, and only the High Priest was allowed to enter the inner part, the “Holy of Holies” (or, more simply, the “most holy place”). This only occurred on the Day of Atonement, when sacrifice was offered for forgiveness of sins. The full ritual is described in the Old Testament in Chapter 16 of Leviticus. As part of this ritual the High Priest took the blood from a bull calf and a goat that had been killed as sacrifices for atonement of sin, and entered the inner sanctuary and sprinkled it with the blood.
In today’s reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews this is contrasted with our Lord’s offering of his own blood on the Cross. Through this we obtain eternal redemption, not just a temporary forgiveness and purification that has to be repeated each year. Through Christ’s sacrifice we are brought into a new relationship with God. Our sins are forgiven, and we are now made pure by Christ so that we can freely worship God.
A second interpretation of our Lord’s death on the Cross can be seen in the date on which it occurred. Christ is seen as the Passover (or Paschal) Lamb. The details of the background to this are found in chapter 12 of Exodus. The Israelites in captivity in Egypt were to kill a lamb, and smear some of the blood on their door posts, so that at the last of the plagues, the killing of the firstborn, the Angel of Death would pass over them and only affect the Egyptians. Through the blood of the Passover Lamb the Israelites were released from their captivity, and allowed to leave Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. Through Christ’s blood we are released from our captivity to sin and allowed to move towards the promised land of the kingdom of heaven.
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews alludes to this when he tells his readers: “the blood of Christ … [will] purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (v.14)
Saint John Chrysostom expands on this. “Let no one then enter in here with dead works. For if it was not fitting that one should enter in who had touched a dead body, much more is it not fitting for one who has dead works: for this is the most grievous pollution. And dead works are all those which do not have life, which breathe forth a foul smell. For as a dead body is useful to none of the senses, but is even annoying to those who come near it, so sin also at once strikes the reasoning faculty, and does not allow the understanding itself to be calm, but disturbs and troubles it.” (Homily 15 on Hebrews)
In our services we find many references to the sacrifice made by Christ. This reading from Hebrews is a key passage in helping us to understand these references, and this understanding will be enhanced if we look back to what went before, as described in the Old Testament. As we approach the commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice of himself on the Cross let us repent of our sins and accept the forgiveness that comes through the blood of Christ.
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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