No.

160 March 2020

The Orthodox Parish

of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross,
Lancaster, UK.

The Stavronian
Monthly magazine and newsletter publicised by the Holy Cross Synodia

The Parish of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross,

belongs to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland.
The Patriarchate of Antioch is third senior of the Orthodox Churches.
Our Metropolitan is His Eminence Bishop Silouan.
Our Patriarch is His Beatitude John X.

The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch

(Acts 11:26)
Often, goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise
SAINT JOSEPH THE affection and love did he possess, a love that melts
even the hardest and coarsest of hearts.
HESYCHAST (1897 -1959) In one letter he writes: “Love of my soul, my
son whom I begot through the Holy Spirit: I
Glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on received your letter, my beloved son. When I saw
October 20, 2019 your news I wept bitterly…”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast (1898-1959) was In another letter he writes, “Come, my child,
a charismatic personality of 20th century’s come let us make peace, so you can come to your
Orthodox spirituality. He became a monk in Mt senses. Like a physician, I am able to cure your
Athos at a young age and finally he was a top passion of agitation and grief which now has laid
teacher of Jesus’ prayer. Like many gifted monks, a strong hold of you. Come and see that I shall
he had many out-of-body experiences and visions, change the tune. We shall chant plagal of the first
and he as well felt his end coming. From his tone which is joyous. I shall slay the fatted calf
monastic group (“Synodeia”) came many famous and we shall make merry. I am full of love and
abbots and spiritual fathers. forgiveness. As a loving father, I shall receive you
Early in his life, he was granted a vision of the in my arms, like the son in the parable,..”
uncreated light, and the gift of ceaseless prayer In another letter we again see the affectionate
was given to him. Father confessing, “My soul grieves and a heavy
cloud covers my heart. My mind stops; my tongue
“At once I was completely changed and is silent, and my hand grows numb for you…Oh,
forgot myself. I was filled with light in my child, if you could only see my pain and the
my heart and outside and everywhere, tears that I shed for you! How much I worry until
not being aware that I even had a body. I hear that you have risen and slapped the
The prayer began to say itself within adversary!… So take courage, my child, and rise
me...” from your fall… Don’t despair. These things
happen to everyone. It is a war of the tempter that
For details on the Elder’s life and struggles, will pass.”
go to St. Anthony’s monastery official webpage .
His epistles’ corpus was collected and edited
in Greek and after in English, in Monastic Wis-
dom; The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast, a
real gem! Recipients vary, as the holy father ad-
dressed clergy, monasteries, laity, both in Greece
and abroad. In his writings he explains many is-
sues about the Jesus’ prayer, the faithful’s struggle
for Heaven, and the right way to love God.
The book epitomizes the very essence of spir-
itual fatherhood and offers Elder’s experience
from his battles with the demons, witness his dif-
ficult trials and his profound visions and spiritual
guidance, his martyric endurance in illnesses and
finally his holy repose. In the grey atmosphere of
New Age movements, it gives a taste of a true
meeting with the Holy Spirit and a Baptism in
Fire.
What makes this book a true treasure is the
wisdom and sweetness of the Elder's words. He
epitomizes the very essence of spiritual Because his love is boundless, he takes upon
fatherhood. It comes as no surprise to learn that himself the problems of his spiritual children: “As
Elder Joseph's spiritual children and for me, I am constantly ill. I am like a paralytic. I
grandchildren number in the thousands, and that can’t take ten steps. Because of this and
his blessed memory lives on in all of their hearts. everything else, I am dead tired. Please, I ask that
What a sensitive heart full of paternal you pray for me, because I have many souls that
seek my help. And believe me, my fathers and to defend ourselves, this alongside Holy Myster-
brethren, for every single soul that is helped, I go ies will grant us strength.
through the warfare he has. This is also why your
elder is constantly ill.” “So I say to you ask and it shall be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock and it will be
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
Dr. Kleio Kehagia and he who seeks, finds and to him who knocks it
will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10
Our Parish has a secondary relic of the newly glo-
rified saint Joseph the Hesychast, that being a As a child looks to his father and says please,
small portion of his walking stick which most pho- so we supplicate our Father, like children we must
tos of him features. entrust ourselves completely in faith to Him. Be-
Fr. Jonathan cause heart felt prayer is always heard. The Lord
is waiting for you to ask, and commune with Him
throughout the day, with praise and gratitude.
Like children and the one Leprous man from the
ON PRAYER Gospels, let as come back to Him with our thanks.
Let us connect our day with the Lord in short
“As a bird without wings, as a soldier without prayerful phrases and stay in contact with Him in
arms, so is a Christian without prayer.” St Tikhon all emotions.
of Zadonsk.
Indeed prayer is the basis of Christian life. If “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
we do not pray, if we do not talk to the Lord, our For His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 117
Creator and Father, if we do not listen to Him in
the quiet of our hearts and in the Gospels, we do But prayer is also extremely complex be-
not have a relationship with Him. We are dis- cause it is an unfathomable mystery. It is the Cre-
armed as Christians and become useless, lifeless. ator entering into a relationship of love with the
It is as if our “umbilical cords” are severed and we created one. How can the infinite and the very fi-
have become unplugged from the Source of all nite meet in a relationship of love? How can they
Love, Energy and Life. commune and dwell together? And yet with God
Prayer is at once very complex and very sim- all things are possible. “God will not despise a
ple. It is as simple as “Our Father…”. Jesus urges humbled and a broken heart” Psalm 50 – Let us
us not to complicate things, but to pray simply remember to approach Him in humility and He in
from the heart: His great love for us will bestow blessings.
Abba Agathon says “If we do not find prayer
“ when you pray, go into your room, and when difficult, perhaps it is because we have not really
you have shut your door, pray to your Father who started to pray.” Real prayer is revelation. It is
is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in ourselves, wretched sinners coming before the
secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, Lord in our nakedness, as we really are. We must
do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. For reveal ourselves to him as we truly are: weak, sin-
they think that they will be heard for their many ful, imperfect and await that the Lord in His rich
words. Therefore do not be like them. For your mercy can begin to reveal His will, His might and
Father knows the things you have need of before His splendour to us. Only when we fully reveal
you ask Him.” Matthew 6:6 ourselves to Him (and how painful this is!), He
can begin to transform us by His Love.
During our prayers we have a chance to de-
tach ourselves from our personal circumstances
and anxieties and to focus on the Divine. Through
prayer, if it is pleasing to God and beneficial to the
person praying, all earthly things can be changed,
more importantly, our hearts, in times of trouble
prayer is one of the arms that we need to take up
HOUSE BLESSING AND SHUT chant the Six psalms. …
All the people who will be alive at this
DOORS moment, they will instantly experience death and
then be immediately resurrected. Our bodies will
What a great joy it was to receive Father be immaterial, space-less. We will be able to see
Jonathan to bless our houses during the Feast of each other’s body and we will all be 33 years old.
Theophany! We opened every door in our house Our Lord will hold the Book of Life, the Gospel,
to welcome the Holy and life giving water and the open, and immediately, each one of us will go on
light of Christ in every corner of our house. This our own either to the right or to the left, because
“visitation” brings peace and joy to every we will know in our hearts whether we are for
Christian home. Paradise or not.
But the evening preceding the visit, during This is exactly why in the Bishop’s throne,
the frantic tidying, cleaning and baking in the Book in the icon of Christ is open and there is
preparation, I found myself designating places no candle over this icon–this indicates that there
where the door could remain shut to hide the mess will be no Mercy in the Second Coming. While in
or slightly embarrassing items, not to be seen. It the Iconostasis, the Book which Christ is holding
dawned on me that this is a habitual act, which is closed and there is a candle lit over the icon
many Christians might relate to. because there is still Mercy. “
In the home of my being I keep piling
shameful and messy items in dark and secret
corners of my being, hoping that Christ might not
✝️ Blessed Elder Amvrosios Lazaris the
see them. I lock the doors of these little dark
cupboards and try to forget where I put the key, or Athonite (21/12/1912 – 02/12/2006)
worse I open the cupboards when I am all alone in
hiding. How can I be filled with the Light of Christ The Hieromonk Amvrosios (born Spyridon
if I do not open all the doors, if I hold back? Christ Lazaridis) departed this life on 2 December 2006
is waiting to bring His Light, Himself in every (New Calendar), at the age of 92. He was the
single, dirty, dusty, embarrassing corner of my spiritual father of the Holy Monastery of Our
being, which He knows anyway. He is waiting for Most Holy Lady Gavriotissa, Dadi, and of
me to open every door.( I once saw an image of thousands of Christians from all over Greece.
Christ holding a lamp and knocking on a door with During a chat, I [Archimandrite Ephraim,
no handle because the handle is on the inside of Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery] once had with
the door. Unless we open, He will not come in.) the late Elder, he told me that after his military
On the Feast of the Presentation of Christ to service, he wanted to go to the Holy Mountain,
the Temple, let us sweep clean every corner of the but he didn’t know how or where to go. Then a
Temple of our home and of our being and open young man of about 25 appeared and told him: “I
every door, so that the Meeting with our Saviour know the place, come with me”. And so he went.
is a complete one, let us not hold back on anything, They set off together, went down to the
but let go of our fear and anxiety and let Christ harbour and embarked on a boat. “He gave me
shine his light in every corner to dispel the bread, as well”, he said, “and we ate together all
darkness. the days I was with him. He didn’t tell me his
Martha and Mary name, though, and I didn’t ask. So we arrived at
Dafni and from there walked on, further up the
Holy Mountain.
When I was with him, I felt very safe. As we
went along, he showed me the Monastery of
BLESSED ELDER AMYROSIOS Xiropotamou, where they honour the Forty
LAZARIS THE ANTONITE AND Martyrs. He asked if I would like to pay my
THE DREAD JUDGEMENT DAY respects and I agreed to do so. We went into the
katholiko, the main church of the Monastery, and
“The Dread Judgement “Day” will last as when I kissed the icon, forty men appeared and
long as the Six Psalms last, a few minutes. At this surrounded us. The young man turned to me and
time, while we will be judged, the Angels will said: “They’re the Forty Martyrs and they’re
happy that you’re going to be a monk”. THE FEAST OF THE
From there we continued on our way and
reached Karyes, and from there went to the Holy ANNUNCIATION TO THE
Monastery of Koutloumousi. The young man THEOTOKOS
stopped, pointed out the monastery to me and said:
“You’ll stay here, Spyro. You’ll become a monk. "Christ's conception in the womb of the
You’ll be patient and obedient to the Elder”. And Panagia took place at the moment of the Angel's
he disappeared. salutation: the moment he came and proclaimed
It would seem that this was an angel of the the joyous news that she would become the
Lord, Spyridon’s guardian angel. Spyridon Mother of Christ and would bring to the world the
remained at this monastery as a novice, and, at the Saviour of humanity. For us, the 'conception' of
age of 25, became a monk with the name of the Grace of Christ happened at the time of our
Hariton. holy baptism. That's when Christ was conceived
in our souls and has been carried within us ever
since. He is conceived in the womb of obedience,
of the carrying out of the commandments of God.
For some people, the 'pregnancy' lasts a long time
-- that is, a lot of time has to pass until fruit is
borne from this gestation of Christ and for there
to be a spiritual birth -- while for others, this goes
more quickly, depending on the depth of each
soul's response. The humbler one is and the more
he imitates the Panagia in humility, the easier will
be the gestation and the spiritual birth, the bearing
of fruit."
Blessed Elder Kragiopoulos,
reproduced by Dr Kleio Kehagia

… Elder Amvrosios was always in communion

with the Saints. Once, “When I was in bed, in pain,
I [Elder Amvrosios himself says] could see the
chapel of the Holy Unmercenary Doctors opposite,
and I asked them to help me. Two doctors
appeared in white smocks and they tried to set my
leg. ‘Pull, Kosmas’ said one. ‘Hold it here,
Damianos’, said the other. In five minutes, the
pain had gone and I was well again”. When the
brethren in the monastery saw him completely
well, they praised God and the Holy Unmercenary
Doctors.
Dr Kleio Kehagia
YOUR THOUGHTS HAVE A OLD STAVRONIAN CORNER
MIND OF THEIR OWN
Dear Father Jonathan,
Men often prefer their own personal ideas Greetings from Moscow!
and theories rather than sound doctrines and Thank you for publishing the interview with
Divine revelations. the Elder Ephraim. It is always encouraging to be
aware that our contemporaries are living a high
Proverbs 3:7 spiritual life.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Thanks to God, we are doing well. I am busy
Fear the Lord and depart from evil. with my work, Liuba and Liza - with their studies,
Isaiah 5:21 Natasha - with taking care of all of us.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, Please pass our greeting to the Parish.
And prudent in their own sight. Yours, Oleg

To a foolish mind, its own thoughts appear

the most intelligent and superior to others. All Dear Father Jonathan and Parish,
matters are measured relatively against its own We hope you're well and thank you for the
ideology or philosophy. So too, people come to Stavronian. You are doing a marvellous job. This
enquire about faith, but often carrying their own is the case when somethings done with our hearts!
baggage of theories, preferences, predispositions Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2020.
and agendas; but this brings a distortion of truth; May all your troubles find solutions (especially
it is a vanity of indulgence and a lack of obedience. regarding the church), and the Parish in general.
When we entertain our own thoughts and We'd like you to know that you are thought
reasoning then we construct a wall which of and prayers are extended to the Almighty
separates us from spiritual enlightenment. We Father and Christ for your wellbeing and the
must pray for the spirit of discernment and the fruition of your struggles to keep our church alive
virtue of watchfulness lest these disturbing and productive.
thoughts descend to the heart and are captivated We hear quite often from Dr. Kehagia. It's
by the heat of the passions. always a pleasure. Please pass on our regards to
everyone in your fine team. May God and St
Timothy 6:3-4 Joachim keep you all under Their protective
3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does wings.
not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the teaching that accords with With the Love of God, f. Theodosios, Louiza,
godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit Parishioners, my immediate family who met and
and understands nothing. admire your kindness and efforts

The wise man does not regard his own

thoughts in this way. It is precisely when he feels
convinced that they are true and the sole wisdom
that he most distrusts his own judgement and finds
recourse to the Holy Fathers, the Holy Tradition
of the Church, Holy Scripture and spiritual
counsel. He makes elders the judges of his
thoughts and arguments – lest he should run, or
may have run, in vain (cf. Gal. 2:2).
Fr Jonathan,
Based on the sayings of
Saint Maximos the Confessor
PARISH NEWS NAMES OF DEPARTED LOVED
ONES TO BE REMEMBERED
We look forward with great joy to having
Kleio Kechagia and Dmitry Ismagilov with us for THIS MONTH
Great and Holy Week (April 13th -- 19th April). Mar. 4: Nikolaos
God willing, His Eminence Bishop Silouan Mar. 12: Georgianna
is coming to our Parish on the weekend March Mar. 18: Fr. Thomas Hopko
21st/22nd, which is the Sunday of the Holy Cross. Mar. 19: Metropolitan Philip of North
We will make a programme for his visit and if you America, and Fr. Georgios Myrou
want him to make a special visit to your home
please let me know. All suggestions welcome. MEMORY ETERNAL!
Please put this date in your diary and make every
effort to attend. Please send us the names of your departed loved
Fr Jonathan ones and date of their departure in order for them
to be remembered.

SUNDAY SCHOOL PLAN

Mar. 15th: Second Sunday of Great Lent, Saint
Gregory Palamas. Today we will be making paper
prayer ropes for children. They will be able to
MAJOR CELEBRATIONS THIS
view an ordinary prayer rope and we will bring the MONTH
Jesus Prayer closer to our children by explaining 1st Mar: Forgiveness Sunday. St. David of Wales
what they are used for and how did Saints use it. (✝️589)
Saint Gregory Palamas is known for hesychia, this 2nd Mar: Clean Monday; Lent starts today. Our
is something we can remember him by and we are Holy fathers St Nicholas Planas & St Joachim of
encouraged to pray in this way too! Ithaca and Vatopaedi
8th Mar: Sunday of Orthodoxy
Mar. 22nd: Third Sunday of Great Lent. 17th Mar: St Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland
Veneration of the Cross. This Sunday, we have (✝️492)
prepared an exciting craft for children, we will 20th Mar: St Cuthbert the Wonderworker,
make cross magnets and children will use
Bishop of Lindisfarne (✝️687)
colourful sand in order to complete it, they can be
put on the fridge at home in remembrance of the 25th Mar: The Annunciation of our Holy
importance of veneration of the Holy and Life Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Giving Cross. 30th Mar: St John Climacus the righteous,
author of the Divine Ladder of Ascent
Mar. 29th: Fourth Sunday of Great Lent. Saint 31st Mar: St. Innocent, Enlightener of Siberia &
John Climacus of Sinai. We are making a beautiful Alaska
ladder out of wooden sticks and there will be a
number of craft materials to decorate it. We will For the lives of Saints please visit the Calendar of
make it into a hanging decoration and on the the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:
ladder we will write virtues and mark the weeks www.calendar.goarch.org
of Lent showing our journey to Pascha and Christ.

Services at St Martin’s in March

Sun. 1st 09:30 Matins
10:30 Divine Liturgy
12:00 “Martha’s house” Sunday School
12:30 Parish lunch
 Fri. 6th 18:30 Akathist to the Mother of God
Sat. 7th 15:00 Great Vespers
Sun. 8th 09:30 Matins
10:30 Divine Liturgy
12:00 “Martha’s house” Sunday School
12:30 Parish lunch
Fri. 13th 18:30 Akathist to the Mother of God
Sat. 14th 15:00 Great Vespers
Sun. 15th 09:30 Matins
10:30 Divine Liturgy
12:00 “Martha’s house” Sunday School
12:30 Parish lunch
Fri. 20th 18:30 Akathist to the Mother of God
Sat. 21st 15:00 Great Vespers with His Eminence Silouan
Sun. 22nd 09:30 Matins
10:30 Hierarchical Liturgy with His Eminence Silouan
12:00 “Martha’s house” Sunday School
12:30 Parish lunch
Tue. 24th 18:30 Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Annunciation
Fri. 27th 18:30 Akathist to the Mother of God
Sat. 28th 15:00 Great Vespers
Sun. 29th 09:30 Matins
10:30 Divine Liturgy
12:00 “Martha’s house” Sunday School
12:30 Parish lunch

---
“God cares for everyone. Despair is in effect a lack of faith”
- St. George Karslides -

For further information please contact:

Father Jonathan Hemmings
67 Sibsey Str., Fairfield, Lancaster, LA1 5DQ
Tel: 07951 722 877
Email: [email protected]
www.orthodox-lancaster.org.uk
www.antiochian-orthodox.co.uk
The following blogs of Old Stavronians are available in Romanian, Constiinta Ortodoxa, in English, Orthodox city
hermit, and in Greek, Orthodoxy rainbow.

Top and bottom sketches are created at the Holy Monastery of “The Annunciation of the Theotokos” Chios, Greece, courtesy of Fr Theodosios Dendrinos, Ithaca, Greece.
The sketch of Christ by Photis Kontoglou was scanned from the Orthodox calendar of the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece.