Happy New Year!

On 1 January we celebrated the Feast of Saint Basil, the circumcision of the Lord and the New Year.

2022 is the centenary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.  Special commemorative silver coins were placed in the Vassilopita (Saint Basil’s bread) with icons of Saint Basil on them.

Holy Theophany

On 6 January we celebrated the feast of the Theophany of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  We blessed the River Severn in Shrewsbury and had lunch at the River Bank restaurant.

The River Severn, at 220 miles long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of 107 m³/s. So that’s a lot of holy water coming down the river!

House Blessings

Throughout January Father Stephen is available to bless houses.  As there are still COVID restrictions please arrange this by email holy.fathers [at] gmail.com or text him on his mobile number.

Latest COVID-19 regulations

The Government is currently regularly updating its COVID-19 regulations.  Please check for updates on the Government’s website.

For our church this means that unless you are exempt from doing so face coverings should be worn inside the church and we will need to allow more ventilation so wrap up warm.

Farewell to Owain Williams

Owain Williams will be leaving to start his naval officer training at Dartmouth on Monday 10 January.  On Sunday 9 January we will be having a farewell gathering to wish him luck and blessings.

Owain first came to our church twelve months ago.  He came to our church in search of Truth.  He found Christ and courageously gave up much to follow Him.  He is a much-loved member of our community.  We will miss him very much.  But … he will return often when he has leave.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Elena Corina Petrache and Petrache Cosmin on the birth of Iris Anays on 24 December 2021

Children’s Books Request

In the Gallery of our Church there is a library of both adult and children’s books. We are often given adult books as people sort out their bookshelves at home.  However, the children’s section has become depleted over the years.

If your children have grown out their books about faith or saints or scripture stories please donate them to our Library.

We now have “The Good Samaritan; A Children’s Catechism” by Fr Michael Shanbour in our library. This an excellent book to help children understand much about the Orthodox Faith. It gives the essence of the Orthodox Christian life without too much detail.  Parents would also benefit from it by reading it to their children.  If you want your own copy we can order this from America at £27.00 (or maybe less for a larger order).

Thank you.

Presvytera Catherine