What's in a name?

A number of people - particularly those who know me as Michael - have expressed curiosity over my adoption of the name Cyprian.

It really isn't the exciting story that you might hope it to be but, well... here it is.

When I was new to Orthodoxy, I interacted with many Orthodox Christians online to learn as much as I could and to become familiar with Orthodox faith, practice, and culture.  I understood from these interactions that I would take a saint's name at some point, and it was explained to me that, as part of my catechumenate, my priest would ask me which saint I would like as my patron.

So, I was made a catechumen (in the Byzantine calendar, on the feast of the miracle of St Michael at Colossae), and given the name Michael.  Some months passed, and I wasn't asked, so I made the enquiry about taking a new name, only for my priest to explain that I had already been made a catechumen with the name of Michael.

It turns out that the advice I had been given online reflected only one practice, and that there is another, which is based on the understanding that, if you already have a saint's name, that saint has led and guided you to the point of knocking on the Church's door, seeking entry, and ought not to be abandoned.

I asked about changing my name when I was ordained a reader and then again a subdeacon, but was told that this is not the custom of the Russian church.  So I was stuck with Michael.

Yet it was questions of ecclesiology that had caused me to begin exploring Orthodoxy in the first place, and it was in the writings of St Cyprian of Carthage that I had found clarity and answers.  While they may not be the answers I would entirely subscribe to today, they were pivotal on my journey into Orthodoxy, and I value his writings immensely.

Also, in the life of St Cyprian, I saw myself - both as what I was and also what I hoped I might be.

After the Roman persecution of Christians under the emperor Decius, St Cyprian was very hard on those who had fallen, and who had offered sacrifice to the emperor, and even on those who had not done so but who had signed false documents claiming to have done so to preserve their safety.  As a bishop, and a nobleman of means, he was able to go into hiding, so was really quite unfair to those who did not have the resources and privileges that he had had.

In this, I saw something of myself - quick to point out what is right and proper, and not always stopping to take account of the human cost of doing the right thing and the real difficulties that this might pose for some people.

Yet, in the later persecution under the emperor Valerian, St Cyprian did not go into hiding but stayed with his people as their pastor, and so he was arrested and martyred, boldly confessing the Faith of Christ even to the point of death.

Is this something that I would do?  I would like to say yes but the reality is that I cannot know that until faced with the situation myself.  However, I know that I have a holy advocate and example in the person of St Cyprian of Carthage.

Therefore, shortly after my reception into the Orthodox Church of the Gauls, I asked my bishop's blessing finally to take the name of Cyprian, which he graciously granted.  Now I have him as my patron saint, interceding for me before the throne of God.

We honour you, O Cyprian, as a true shepherd who with your sacred words and divinely-wise doctrines have shown us the boundary-stones marking out the one Church of Christ.  Even to death you bore witness with courage; wherefore, we extol you as a bishop and martyr. Entreat Christ that we all may be saved.

Kontakion, tone 2 

Just what is Liturgy?

'I've never really seen the point to historical liturgy.'

These words were spoken by a very good friend of mine a few days ago and they have repeated on my mind on and off since then as I have tried to understand and to be able to articulate why the phrasing didn't sit well with me. I hasten to point out that they were spoken in friendly tones as part of a discussion we were having about the different preferences for worship styles that we and another friend of ours have. It was simply an expression of his own feeling on the matter and not any sort of criticism of mine - I say that because this isn't very clear with the words quoted out of context.

My friend is Roman Catholic and describes his spirituality as charismatic. He has an appreciation for tradition but finds his home in freer, meditative styles of worship with modern music, and without what he might perceive as too much rigidity as far as rubrics and such like go. I think that is a fair assessment, although I ask his forgiveness and hope that he will correct me if it is not.

As readers and anybody who knows me will be aware, I am very much of the view that it is right and proper that our worship be in continuity with and a development of that of those before us, as an expression of the same faith held by those before us. The elements that we have inherited only have any meaning and purpose within the entire organic unit of which they are part, which is the liturgical whole that has come down to us. It occurs to me that this is why I was not happy with the reference to "historical" liturgy. To my understanding, this is not "historical liturgy", as though it were some sort of archaeological exercise, dredging up something that is outdated and from the past. They are living rites with a rich heritage and in use today.

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St Barsanuphius the Great

'Silence of lips is better and more wonderful than any edifying conversation. Strive to acquire humility and submissiveness. Never insist that anything should be according to your will, for this gives birth to anger. Do not judge or humiliate anyone, for this gives birth to anger. Do not judge or humiliate anyone, for this exhausts the heart and blinds the mind, and thereon leads to negligence and makes the heart unfeeling.'

- St Barsanuphius the Great

'Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him: because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish attack. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement.'

- St John of Kronstadt

'When anyone is disturbed or saddened under the pretext of a good and soul-profiting matter, and is angered against his neighbour, it is evident that this is not according to God: for everything that is of God is peaceful and useful, and leads a man to humility and to judging himself.'

- St Barsanuphius the Great

'Do we forgive our neighbours their trespasses? God also forgives us in his mercy. Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbours, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness, then, of your sins or unforgiveness, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation. You can see for yourself how terrible it is.'

- St Tikhon of Zadonsk

Somebody managed to upset me recently. The truth is that this doesn't take much doing at the best of times but I was particularly hard on this person, perhaps partly because of my own recent struggles with faith, which have resulted in a departure from where I ought to be, and from which I am only now slowly recovering. In any case, I was harsh and judgemental. The only saving grace is that I did not express this to the person himself but, knowing my propensity to over-react and then regret my actions later, I kept my mouth shut, which is just as well as I have since come to learn of the personal difficulties that lay behind his actions.

However, it was reading the quotations above that called me to recognise what I was doing, and how far removed this is from what I want my life to be. It was particularly the words of St Barsanuphius, (which have now been added to the selections from the Saints at the side of this blog), that spoke to my heart and I would very much like to read some more of him. Apart from this, which is on my wish list, does anybody know of any books containing his writings or information about him? I should be very grateful for any help you may be able to offer.

Thank you.

August Church Tour: part 2

O holy Bertram, Ascetic of the Mercian woods, forsaking worldly wealth thou didst give thyself to God. Through fasting and prayer in a cave by the Manifold, thou didst acquire the riches of the age to come. Pray to Christ for us, that we too may be found worthy of his Kingdom.

- Tropar to St Bertram, tone 7

This time: Ilam, and plenty of photographs to share with you of the marvellous time I had on Saturday.

Long-time readers will know that I have a personal attachment to the spring and shrine of St Bertram in the village of Ilam. This shrine in the Anglican church of the Holy Cross somehow managed to survive the desecrations of holy places that took place in the centuries after the English reformation, and stands today a place of quiet pilgrimage for faithful Christians from various places. I made a private pilgrimage there on the day before my Baptism to get water to add to the font, and I have been back every year since then for the pan-Orthodox pilgrimage in August. This year had the highest turnout since I have been going, with about 80-90 pilgrims at the Liturgy, which was concelebrated by clergy from the Russian, Greek, Romanian, and Antiochian churches. I must say, as well, that I was very impressed by the decoration of the shrine, which was the most beautiful that I have seen it so far. The care and devotion that went into the preparation was obvious.

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St Moses the Black: the Motion Picture

I would like, if I may, to draw readers' attention to Nathan's blog, where he has recently revealed his other talents as a film producer and screenwriter, and announced plans to produce a film about the life of St Moses the Black. It sounds a truly exciting project and one that will, no doubt, be greatly beneficial to many people. We could all learn from the life of St Moses, abandoning those things that separate us from God and neighbour, rejecting our shame at confessing them, and seeking as best we can to follow the way of Christ.

I now have the DVDs of the lives of St Elisabeth the New Martyr and St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, and I think that such presentations of the Saints are splendid, both for their edification of Christians and for their potential use in missionary activity.

This project needs monetary support. Please contact Nathan through his website if you think you might be able to help.

All Saints Who Have Shone Forth in the British Isles

The Sunday after Pentecost is the feast of All Saints, when we commemorate those holy ones of God, both known and unknown, who have shone forth as beacons of the grace of God in their earthly lives. Over time, the custom developed of observing the following Sunday as All Saints of the local church, so for us last Sunday was All Saints Who Have Shone Forth in the Russian Land.

I mentioned this to a friend recently and he was surprised that the observance would be for the Saints of the particular jurisdiction rather than the local Saints. Of course, if our Orthodox situation in the west were canonically ordered, the two would be the same, and it is on this assumption that the arrangement came to be. However, this is not the case in Britain,

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The Holy Martyrs Timothy and Maura

In preparing the Synaxarion readings for today, I was particularly moved and inspired by this so thought I would share:

On this day, the 3rd of May, Holy Church commemorates the Martyrs Timothy and Maura. The father of Timothy was the village priest in a settlement near Antinoe in the Thebaid and brought up his son in Christian piety.

Timothy, from his first years as a youth, served during his father's term in the rank of reader and the keeper of liturgical books. St Timothy read sacred books daily at home. But he read them with special inspiration in church assemblies on Saturdays and Sundays. For his distinct, intelligent, and reverent reading during the divine services St Timothy was respected by Christians. Another obligation of his rank as reader, Timothy considered the writing of sacred books. For Timothy, the writing of sacred books was not only an obligation but also was a hobby. He called the copied books his children, his expensive treasure that he also shared with the Christians of his church community.

Having married a 17 year old maiden, Maura, who came from a prosperous family, he found in her who also had a distinguished Christian education a friend for life, capable of empathising with his moods. She respected the calling of her husband and she empathised with him, inspiring him with what he read in the sacred books in the church. She also liked to read sacred books,

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Small Things - Part 2

A few months ago, I wrote a heartfelt piece on the value of being faithful in small things. I am very grateful to Moses over on the Burning Bush blog for posting this portion of the writings of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco:

Many people believe that to live according to the faith and to fulfill the will of God is very difficult. Actually — it’s very easy. One needs only attend to details, to trifles, and try to avoid evil in the slightest and most trivial things. This is the simplest and surest way to enter the world of the spirit and draw near to God. A man often thinks that the Creator demands great things of him, that the Gospel insists on complete self-sacrifice, the abolition of one’s person hood, etc., as a condition of faith. A man is so frightened by this that he begins to be afraid of becoming acquainted with God, of drawing near to God, and hides himself from God, not even wishing to look into God’s Word. 'If I can’t do anything important for God, then I’d just better stay away from things spiritual, stop thinking about eternity, and live "in a normal way".'

There exists at the entrance to the spiritual realm a “hypnosis of great deeds”: one must either do some big thing or do nothing. And so people do nothing at all for God or for their souls! It is very strange — the more a man is devoted to the little things of life, the less he wishes to be honest or pure or faithful to God in those same little things. And, moreover, each one must adopt a correct attitude toward little things if one wishes to come near to the kingdom of heaven.

“Wishes to come near”… In this is summed up all the difficulties of the religious life. Often one wishes to enter into the kingdom of heaven quite unexpectedly, in some miraculous and magical way, or, by right — through some kind of great feat. But neither the one nor the other is the right way to find the higher world. One does not enter God’s presence in some wondrous manner while remaining indifferent on earth to the needs of the kingdom of God and its bright eternity, nor can one purchase the treasures of the kingdom of God by some kind of eternal act, however great that act might be. Yet good deeds - holy deeds - are necessary for one to grow into a higher life, a bright will, a good desire, a heavenly psychology, a heart that is both pure and fair…

“…Verily, verily I say unto you that whosoever offers one of the least of these but a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, shall not lose his reward.” In this saying of the Lord is the highest expression of the smallness of the good. “A glass of water” — this is not much…

…In every communication between people there must without fail be a good spirit. This spirit is Christ, openly manifest or hidden.

“In the name of a disciple” — this is the first step in communicating with another person in the name of Jesus Christ Himself. Many people, not as yet knowing the Lord and the wondrous fellowship in his Name still have among themselves an unselfish, pure and human fellowship which brings them ever closer to the Spirit of Christ…

…As a matter of fact, the lesser good is more necessary for mankind than the greater. People can get along with their lives without the greater good; without the lesser they can not exist. Mankind perishes not from a lack of the greater good, but from an insufficiency of just this lesser good. The greater good is no more than a roof, erected on the brick walls of the lesser good.

The lesser, easier good was left on this earth for man by the Creator Himself, who took all the greater good upon Himself. Whosoever does the lesser, the same creates — and through him the Creator Himself creates — the greater good. Of our little good the Creator makes his own great good. For as our Lord is the Creator who formed all things from nothingness, so is He more able to create the greater good from the lesser…

Through such lesser, easy work, done with the greatest simplicity, a man is accustomed to the good and begins to serve it with his whole heart, sincerely, and in this way enters into an atmosphere of good, lets down the roots of his life into new soil, the soil of the good. The roots of human life quickly accommodate themselves to this good earth, and soon cannot live without it… Thus is a man saved: from the small comes the great. “Faithful in little things” turns out to be “faithful in the greater.”

Lay aside all theoretical considerations that it is forbidden to slaughter millions, women, children, and elderly; be content to manifest your moral sense by in no way killing the human dignity of your neighbour, neither by word, nor by innuendo, nor by gesture.

Do not be angry over trifles “against your brother vainly” (Matthew 5:22) or in the daily contacts of life speak untruth to your neighbour. These are trifles, small change, of no account; but just try to do this and you will see what comes of it.

It is hard to pray at night. But try in the morning. If you can’t manage to pray at home than at least as you ride to your place of employment attempt with a clear head the “Our Father” and let the words of this short prayer resound in your heart. And at night commend yourself with complete sincerity into the hands of the Heavenly Father. This indeed is very easy.

And give, give a glass of cold water to everyone who has need of it; give a glass filled to the brim with simple human companionship to everyone that lack it, the very simplest companionship…

O wondrous path of little things, I sing thee a hymn! Surround yourselves, O people, gird up yourselves with little works of good — with a chain of little, simple, easy and good feelings which cost us naught, a chain of bright thoughts, words and deeds. Let us abandon the big and the difficult. That is for them that love it and not for us for whom the Lord in his mercy, for us who have not yet learned to love the greater, has poured forth the lesser love everywhere, free as water and air.

- From Missionary Leaflet 129

The Glorification of St Xenia

Yes, another video treat. This one shows excerpts from the glorification* of St Xenia, the Fool for Christ, in the New York Cathedral of the Sign, in 1978, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret.

I do hope that when Blessed Seraphim of Platina is eventually glorified, I may able to be at the services.




*It was privately pointed out to me after the post about St John that some may not understand the term "glorification". It is the equivalent to "canonisation" as used in the Latin church - a term not unknown among Orthodox people. However, "to canonise" literally means "to enter into the canon", so is a procedural term, referring to the entering of a righteous person into the canon of Saints: the Church's calendar, liturgical observances, and so forth. However, these services are about more than that, for by them a Saint's glorification in heaven is proclaimed on earth, and they are an affirmation of the inheritance of the Saints in light in which the righteous person now shares more fully. As such, "glorification" is the term more commonly used in Orthodox circles.

The Glorification of St John

Here is another treat from my bookmarks. It is a video with excerpts from the glorification of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco at the Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral, on the 19th of June (2nd July), 1994, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Vitaly. Oh, to have been there!

St John DVD

Last summer, I posted to share the exciting news of the release of a DVD about the Life of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, and included the details from the ROCOR website of how to purchase it.

However, anybody from outside of North America who tried to order a copy would have soon learnt, as I did, that no provision had been made for taking credit or debit card payments, and that there was not even a Paypal account set up so that people unable to send a cheque in US dollars could pay using that method instead. I investigated with my bank the possibility of doing a balance transfer, but because it would have been an international transfer, incurring a bank charge, a currency exchange fee, and a middle-man fee, the total cost that I was quoted amounted to more than twice the price of the DVD, and that's before the international postage charge. Unable to justify the expense, I disappointedly decided to leave it.

Anyway, I am pleased to announce my recent discovery that Orthodox Incense has acquired copies of the DVD and has a simple payment system through Paypal, which allows people to easily pay for orders from anywhere in the world. I have found them to be incredibly friendly and prompt, and have no qualms about recommending them.

God bless them and their service.

Two-Fingered Blessing

Over on the New Liturgical Movement weblog, we have recently been treated to a pictorial discussion of the priestly blessing given with the first two fingers extended. While the subject matter of the post is indeed limited to the use of this form of blessing in the Latin Rite, I feel that the reference to it as "the Latin Gesture of Benediction" is something of a misnomer, as it implies that this gesture is peculiar to the Latin Rite, which is highly inaccurate.

This gesture is readily found in the Byzantine Rite, and indeed was the form of blessing in the Russian Church before the 17th century reforms of Patriarch Nikon, when, among other changes, the Greek ICXC Christogram was imported into Russian practice. To this day, those priests and bishops within the Russian Orthodox Church who are blessed to serve the Old Rite still impart the blessing in this manner, as do those of the Old Believers still not yet restored to communion with the Church since the schism and persecutions.

Writing from the Church of Antioch in the 5th century, St Theodoret of Cyrus has this to say:

This is how to bless someone with your hand and make the sign of the Cross over them. Hold three fingers, (that is, the thumb, ring finger, and little finger), as equals, together, to represent the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. These are not three gods, but one God in Trinity. The names are separate, but the divinity one. The Father was never incarnate; the Son incarnate, but not created; the Holy Ghost neither incarnate nor created, but issued from the Godhead: three in a single divinity. Divinity is one force and has one honour. They receive on obeisance from all creation, both angels and people. Thus the decree for these three fingers.

You should hold the other two fingers slightly bent, not completely straight. This is because these represent the dual nature of Christ, divine and human. God in His divinity, and human in His incarnation, yet perfect in both. The upper finger represents divinity, and the lower humanity; this way salvation goes from the higher finger to the lower. So is the bending of the fingers interpreted, for the worship of Heaven comes down for our salvation. This is how you must cross yourselves and give a blessing, as the holy fathers have commanded.

While I have not been able to find the texts of these, OrthodoxWiki tells us of the homilies of Ss Meletius of Antioch and Peter of Damascus, also writing from within the Patriarchate of Antioch, in which they also affirm the two-fingered making of the Cross as proper. So it seems that this was an early tradition in the Antiochene rites.

Below is a video of part of the consecration of a bishop at the Old Rite Church of the Nativity. It shows a portion of the election and presentation of Hegumen John immediately prior to his consecration as Bishop of Caracas. At 0.26, you can see Bishop Peter of Cleveland blessing in the traditional two-fingered manner.



Not only is this found in practice and in writing, but also the iconographic tradition shows that the ICXC Christogram used in New Rite churches is in fact a late variant practice. Here, for instance, is the famous Pantokrator icon of the Saviour at Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Sinai:


Here also is the equally-famous Pantokrator from Agia Sofia in Constantinople:


Here is the dome icon of the Christ Pantokrator in the Church of the Nativity, (the location of the consecration in the above video):


Below are a number of icons, dating from the 16th century and earlier, all showing this form of blessing as normative in the Byzantine Rite churches up until at least that point.

The Hodigitria icon of the Mother of God:


St Thomas the Apostle:


St Theodore the Studite:


St Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra:


St Elias the Prophet:


So strong is this form of blessing in the Byzantine Rite consciousness that many newer icons depict Christ and his Saints giving the two-finger blessing, even when the icons are of modern-day Saints who used the New Rite during their earthly lives.

St Nicholas of Japan:


St Raphael of Brooklyn:


St John of Shanghai and San Francisco:


There is even one of St Seraphim of Sarov, who was himself a staunch New Ritualist and firmly opposed to the older tradition*:


All things considered, I think that it's fairly safe to say that any presentation of this manner of blessing as "the Latin gesture of benediction" is a very difficult one to support indeed.

*This is no slight on the great Saint, whom I love dearly. He lived at a time when many people still believed the reasons given for the Nikonian revisions: that the Russian Old Rite was different from the Greek tradition of the time because of illegitimate developments in Russian custom. Due to more recent scholarship and the discovery of manuscripts, it is now widely accepted that the Old Rite in many ways represents an earlier, authentic tradition which fell into disuse elsewhere. Among other things, this has led to the lifting of the anathemas against those who use the Old Rite and an asking of forgivness of the Old Ritualists for the wrongs done to them.

Christ in the Psalms

Virtually all know the words of this psalm and they continue to sing it at every age, without knowing, however, the sense of what has been said. This is no small charge, to sing something every day, putting forth words from the mouth, without searching out the meaning of the thoughts residing in the words.

- St John Chrysostom

I recently came across reference made to Priest Patrick Reardon's Christ in the Psalms on another site and decided to buy it. I must say that it is one of the most rewarding purchases that I have made in recent months.

Father Patrick takes us through the 151 psalms with reflections on their poetry, the doctrine of their content, and their liturgical use, inviting us to pause and ponder the depth of some of the words that we often chant casually or unthinkingly. He also shows how many of these psalms have traditionally been seen as references to the Christ and why they are, therefore, an integral part of the hymnody and culture of the community of the New Covenant, the Body of Christ, the Church.

I never really had much exposure to the psalms in my Anglican childhood. At most of my parishes over the years, we were mass people and not really office people. Yet in my teens I started to pray the office and began to be more fully exposed to the beauty and richness of the psalms. However, it was always very much a private affair, always disconnected somehow from the regular worshipping life of my parish. As such, it became difficult to sustain. Now that I am Orthodox, I find myself bombarded on every side with psalmody, at each and every service. We chant a number of psalms in full as a standard part of almost all of our services, portions of psalms are included in our prayers, antiphons, troparia, communion hymns, responsories, and so forth. Eventually, the words permeate the consciousness and become second nature. I find that there are a number of psalms that I simply know without having made any conscious effort to learn them, and because I can say them effortlessly, I am able to pray them internally. Then, when I pray the office at home, it seems so very natural because it is built on a solid foundation.

Father Patrick does not include the text of the psalms in his book, as it is assumed that the reader will either be familiar with the psalms or will have a psalter to hand. For this I would strongly recommend The Psalter According to the Seventy, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery. This is by far the most beautiful translation of the psalms that I have ever encountered. The language is dignified without being so archaic that it is clumsy, (as I find the King James and Coverdale translations to be, despite having grown up with and readily understanding both). This translation also renders "anointed one" as "Christ" in many of those psalms that are traditionally seen as Messianic in the writings of the fathers and the liturgical use of the Church. This I am sure will prove to be a great help when using the psalter alongside Father Patrick's book.

Very importantly, though, is that, as the name suggests, The Psalter According to the Seventy has the advantage of being a translation from the Septuagint, which has been used as the Old Testament of the Church since the early centuries of Christianity. The translation from the Orthodox Study Bible or the Eastern Orthodox Bible may also be found to be quite acceptable for the same reasons.

Many currently-available English renderings of the psalms are based on the much later, flawed Masoretic Hebrew text of the Old Testament. This omits books and alters words in places, which can cause confusion when being read alongside Orthodox commentaries. Also, its different numbering system for the psalms, while only a minor inconvenience, can prove to be something of an annoyance.

Further to this, a number of recent "translations" have been done without a view to expressing the mind of the Church in understanding the psalms. As a result, expressions in the psalms, which for centuries have been understood as references to the Christ, have been obliterated for the sake of a slavish obedience to the modern idol of gender-neutrality. So Blessed is the man in Psalm 1, which the fathers tell us refers to Christ, and which begins the Church's liturgical celebration of the Resurrection at the start of the week, has been turned into such nonsense as Happy are those in a number of "translations".

So while study of the Scriptures is always to be commended, I would recommend caution in choosing a translation. Personally, I am very grateful indeed to Father Patrick because his book is better helping me to heed the words spoken to me by my bishop on the day that he ordained me a reader:

My child, the first degree of the Priesthood is that of Reader. Therefore, it is fitting for you to read the divine Scriptures every day, that they who hear, beholding thee, may receive edification, that thou, in no way putting to shame thine election, may prepare thyself for a higher degree. For by a chaste, holy, and upright life thou shalt gain the mercy of God, the Lover of Mankind, and be counted worthy of a higher ministry: in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory unto ages of ages. Amen.

- from the rite for the setting apart of a reader

I am all too aware that I fail on a number of counts, and I have really found a renewed zeal since having got this book. I hope that others receive benefit from it in their own lives and spiritual growth. If you do, why not contact Father Patrick and let him know that his labour has not been in vain?

Incidentally, I notice that he has also written Christ in His Saints. Is anybody familiar with it and able to give an idea of what it is like?

On Righteous Anger

When anyone is disturbed or saddened under the pretext of a good and soul-profiting matter, and is angered against his neighbour, it is evident that this is not according to God: for everything that is of God is peaceful and useful, and leads a man to humility and to judging himself.

-St Barsanuphius the Great

What can I say in response to this other than to repeat the protest of the disciples when the Saviour told them that in order to inherit eternal life, the must eat of his Body and drink of his Blood? 'This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?'

The truth is that I have no response to this. I do not understand it. When our hierarchs and priests teach and practise things that we know are contrary to the saving Faith, it causes pain and confusion, and yes, sometimes anger, because we know that what they are doing is wrong, and we know that they know that it is wrong, and yet they do it anyway. So how are we to respond to that? The anger is detrimental to our spiritual well-being. It eats away at the soul and affects our relationship with God and creation, and when we recognise this it is very easy to become resentful of those whose actions have elicited these feelings in us. Yet only we have the power to choose to leave it behind. God will strengthen us to do so but not against our will. We must shed the anger and bitterness and seek the peace and love of Christ in our hearts.

But does this mean that we are to remain silent? As Christians, baptised into the death and resurrection of the Christ, and one with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, are we to stand idly by, humbly remaining silent while our beloved brethren are led astray? The Saviour tells us:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

How do we retain our spiritual composure and our focus on the path of humility while simultaneously facing the reality of the dangers that confront us even within the life of the Church? I do not know. Perhaps it is a balance that we are not called to find. Perhaps it is not for most of us to challenge the heresiarchs, and perhaps we should leave it to those who have the spiritual gounding to face them, to the Ephesian St Marks and the Studite St Theodores of today. But what if St Mark of Ephesus and St Theodore the Studite, and others like them, had said the same thing?

This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?

St John on Abbreviating Divine Services

The Church typicon is a guidebook for training and schooling in prayer and the more it is adhered to the more benefit is derived from it. In the case of the inability to fulfil all that is laid out in the typicon, we must fulfil all that is in our power, preserving its general structure and main content. It is necessary, on the one hand, to fulfil the principal characteristics for a given service unchanged in its composition and that which maintains its identity separate from others. On the other hand, we must try as much as we can to fill in those parts of the service, which, changing according to the day, express the meaning and reason of the commemoration of the day's event.

Divine Services combine in themselves prayer, which is lifted up to God by the faithful, the receiving of God's grace in communion with Him, and the instruction of the faithful. The latter consists of teaching through reading in the divine services and hymns, catechism, and instruction in the Christian life. The divine services in their composition contain all the fullness of the dogmatic teaching of the Church and set forth the path to salvation. They present invaluable spiritual wealth. The more fully and precisely they are fulfilled, the more benefit the participants receive from them.

Those who perform them carelessly and who shorten them by their laziness rob their flock, depriving them of their very daily bread, stealing from them a most valuable treasure. The shortening of the services which comes about through lack of strength must be done wisely and performed circumspectly in order not to touch that which should not be tampered with.

- St John, Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco

Anecdotal evidence on the internet seems to suggest that there is currently a shift in the English-speaking Orthodox world towards a greater faithfulness to the liturgical tradition, with a large number of parishes seeking to perform the services of the Church more fully. Insofar as this is reflective of reality on the ground, I welcome this.

There is so much beauty and meaning to the services that is lost when they are abbreviated, and for those of us who live the services and who, in some weeks, find that the Sunday services are our only sustencance for the week, the excessive abbreviations that are employed in some places really are detrimental to our spiritual wellbeing. Sometimes, the antiphons are almost obliterated and some of the litanies are entirely omitted, or the petitions are garbled while the people make continuous responses so that they do not even hear the words. I once saw an online discussion where a priest advocated the omission of the Beatitudes because he claimed they were devoid of meaning particular to the feast or Saint being celebrated, when the only reason he thought this was because it was his custom to perform them in their abbreviated form. Had he done them in full, with all of the appointed troparia interspersed between the verses of the Beatitudes on each day, he could not have failed to appreciate that this portion of the Liturgy is replete with the meaning of the celebration of each day of the calendar, and serves to focus the minds and hearts of the faithful. What is happening when our clergy are establishing abbreviations and then citing the negative effects of these abbreviations to justify omission?

I am delighted to learn that St John wrote on this subject. The entire piece may be read here.

My own parish, until earlier this year, worshipped in a private home. As such, we adopted a couple of abbreviations in order to reduce the pressures that we exerted on the family which generously hosted us each week. Now that we have our own church, we are serving a fuller cycle of services and we hope to offer those services in their fuller forms. We now do the Ninth Hour followed by Vespers every Saturday, and the Synaxarion is read immediately before Vespers, introducing the celebration of the new day. At the Sunday Liturgy, we have never abbreviated the first and second antiphons as many churches do, and we plan to restore the troparia on the Beatitudes by the end of this year. The other main abbreviation is that we omit Psalm 33 after Communion. We have spoken about restoring it and it has been included in our new choir and altar books to make it an easy transition if ever we do. Perhaps in time we can restore this as well, as it is a beautiful hymn of praise to elevate people's hearts after Communion, and gives the clergy sufficient time to consume the remainder of the Holy Things.

If this restoring trend is indeed widespread, I hope and pray that it may continue, that in all things, God may be glorified.

The Conception of the Mother of God

And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord hath heard thy prayer, and thou shalt conceive, and shall bring forth; and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world. - from the Protoevangelium of St James
The feast of the Conception of the Mother of God is perhaps one of the most poorly understood feasts of the Church. This falls on the 8th of December on the Western Rites and on the 9th of December in the Byzantine Kalendar. In either case, it falls approximately nine months before the Nativity of the Mother of God in September. Each year we celebrate this feast and each year somebody asks what it is all about. That people have a yearning to learn more about this part of the Christian Mystery is, of course, encouraging, but it does reveal that it is one of the feasts that is not as readily understood as others.

My suspicion is that this may be particularly true among western converts to Orthodoxy. Many of us who have come to Orthodoxy from western traditions have known of the later Latin teaching of the immaculate conception of the Mother of God, which states:

...the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.

Constitution Ineffabilis Dei, 1854

Whether we come from traditions where this was affirmed or repudiated, we have been affected by it, whether by overenthusastically embracing it or by overzealously throwing out the proverbial baby along with the bathwater.

Yes, we may remember from our days of exploring Orthodoxy that our understanding of ancestral sin is different from the Latin teaching of original sin, and that this means that the Conception of the Mother of God was, in this respect, just like the conception of any other human being. She was conceived in innocence, as indeed we all are, and her freedom from the guilt of sin at the moment of her conception is unremarkable in that respect*. We may know in our heads that this renders the teaching on the immaculate conception meaningless, for it is the solution to a problem that doesn't exist. We may also understand that because we do not believe that the sin of our first parents means that all human beings are deprived of a supernatural grace from the first moment of our conception, the angelic salutation of the Mother of God as being "full of grace" poses no doctrinal problem for us. We do not need to ponder on what is unique to her that could make this so because there is nothing in the nature of man that precludes this.

So where does this leave us?

Well, as a new convert from Anglicanism, I wasn't quite sure. I would get asked the question of my Anglo-Catholic friends, 'If her conception wasn't immaculate, then what was so special about it? Why celebrate it as a feast?' and I would usually not have an answer. Sometimes this was asked out of genuine curiosity. At other times it was asked in an attempt to highlight what they saw as an inconsistency between Orthodox teaching and Orthodox liturgical practice. The argument was that the existence of the feast in the Orthodox kalendar is evidence that we did once celebrate the immaculate conception but later changed for some reason, perhaps in relation to the disdain with which Blessed Augustine of Hippo is held in some quarters of Orthodoxy, and that we are now left with a meaningless feast as a result.

The sad truth is that this is simply evidence of just how much damage has been done by this teaching of the immaculate conception. The actual meaning of the celebration of the Conception of the Mother of God has been overshadowed to such a great extent that it has almost entirely departed from the consciousness of many Christians, who are left unable to see the point of the feast without this later teaching, and who, as a result, perceive that they have to choose between the two extremes of a) fully embracing the immaculate conception and the original sin on which it is based, and b) reacting vehemently against this teaching and refusing to celebrate the feast at all! Neither of these is acceptable to the Orthodox mind.

So where does this leave people who are coming from such backgrounds into Orthodoxy, and are faced with what appears to be an inconsistency between our belief and practice? It is not unreasonable that they may also wonder about this and ask similar questions to those posed by my Anglo-Catholic friends.

What follows is my own attempt at answering those questions.

At the very basis of Christian teaching is the understanding that nature, as we perceive and experience it today, is fallen. It is still inherently good as we are told in the creation story but it suffers from the effects of the fall. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the state of mankind. We experience the effects of the fall in perceptible and unimaginable ways. We die, suffer from ailments, experience pain, hunger, and other discomfort. Some have chemical imbalances causing psychological problems. Our passions are also disordered so that many of us struggle with things that, properly, are a wholesome part of our existence and even theosis: food, properly a source of nourishment and enjoyment, is a temptation in many to overeat or undereat, often with deadly consequences; there are inclinations of the sexual passions to acts outside of the procreative marriage bond; there are inclinations and temptations to misdirect our emotions of anger and so forth, often to the point of violence and murder. These are all effects of the fall that affect us all in different ways and to different degrees. They are all ways in which mankind today is separated from complete theosis, from the full participation in the light, love, splendour, holiness, and life-creating energies of the Holy Trinity.


The Ascended Christ, taking our restored human nature back to the bosom of the Father.

The hope that we have in Christianity is the Incarnation. God became man. He fully took on the human nature in the Person of Jesus Christ, and, in that flesh, shared in our struggles, our sufferings, and grief. He had a physical body, just like ours, and felt pain and hunger and, ultimately, shared in our death. Having released the bonds of those righteous ones in Hades who had died before the Incarnation, He also conquered all those elements of the fall in his glorious Resurrection, while still in our flesh - still fully possessing the human nature. In the Ascension, He took that redeemed and restored human nature back into heaven, once again opening the way for us to follow and this we do, by being grafted into his Body, the Church, through Baptism, and being nourished by his Body and Blood, and through participation in the grace-filled life of the Church.

The post-Resurrection Body of Christ was still human, but what we are called to be rather than what we are. He was truly, physically present, but the Gospels tell us of characteristics that we know ourselves not to have. He appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and just as easily vanished from sight. He even showed the brilliance of what our deified bodies are to be at the Transfiguration on Tabor. We see evidence of this in some cases in the lives of the Saints, as they have, in their advanced states of theosis, even during their earthly lives in some cases, physical characteristics beyond what is the common fallen state of mankind. We hear of healing miracles, incorruptible relics, relics that give a sweet aroma, levitation, and even resurrection from the dead! The Saints truly participate in the energies of God and overcome these effects of the fall. Such is the call of all of us and this is at the very heart of the Christian Faith and, indeed, of our entire lives as Christian people.

Another effect of this fallennesss is barrenness. That the ability to procreate becomes diminished or even ceases in men and women, often after a certain age, is a sign of the separation of mankind from participation in the life-giving energies of God. Yet in the childless, elderly couple, the righteous Joachim and Anna, we see a foretaste, a foreshadowing, of the great Mystery of the Resurrection of Christ. Even before Christ is born, we see something of the effects of his conquering the fall, when the barrenness of his grandmother, the righteous Anna is overcome when the Mother of the Redeemer comes into existence in her life-bearing womb.

It is this that we celebrate on the feast of the Conception of the Mother of God. At different times, through repeated renewal of covenants, and in various ways, God revealed something of Himself to his people of various lands, tribes, and backgrounds. He spoke through prophets, sages, and bards for hundreds, even thousands of years, and, after all of this prophecy and prayer, and hopeful expectation, in the Conception of the Mother of God, we have the first sign of the coming of the One Who Is, Who comes to save us from the fall, from peril, and from death, and Who comes to give life. We see this same glimpse of Christ's triumph over lifelessness in the person of the Holy Forerunner and Baptist John, the last in the line of the prophets before Christ, through whose conception, (celebrated on the 23rd of September), the barren womb of St Elisabeth was opened. It is partly for this reason that it is the Mother of God and the Forerunner who are usually depicted on the Deisis icon.


Deisis triptych by the hand of Aidan Hart.

As with most feasts in the Orthodox Church, the best expression of the meaning of the Conception lies in the prayers and hymns of the feast itself, and is immediately recognisable as part of the restoring, healing, paschal Mystery of Christ.

This is clear from the hymns of the feast in the Byzantine Rite:

Today the bonds of barrenness are broken: God has heard the prayers of Joachim and Anna. He has promised them beyond all their hopes, to bear the Maiden of God by whom the Uncircumscribed One was born as mortal man, Who commanded an angel to cry unto her: Rejoice, O thou who art Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee!

Troparion for the Conception of the Mother of God, tone 4

Let the heavens rejoice this day, for Anna has conceived the Theotokos through God's dispensation, for she has brought forth the one who is to bear the ineffable Word!

Kontakion for the Conception of the Mother of God, tone 4

By no means is this unique to the east. From the western Divine Office, here is the final psalm appointed to be sung at first Vespers on this feast. Note its joy:

Praise the Lord, you children! Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From sunrise to sunset may the Lord’s name be praised. The Lord is supreme over all the nations; his glory is beyond the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who makes his home on high, yet watches over the humble things in heaven and on earth? He raises the poor from the earth and lifts the needy from the dunghill, to seat him with princes, with the rulers of his people. He settles the barren woman in a home as a happy mother with her children.

Psalm 112

It seems quite unlikely that this psalm was chosen by coincidence. See also this excerpt from the Mass of the feast:

Let us celebrate this day
whereon piously we say
Mary was conceived.
Begotten is the mother maid,
conceived, created, channel made,
or pardon to the world.
Adam's primeval banishment
and Joachim's own discontent
there find a remedy.

from the Sequence at the Mass for the Conception of the Mother of God.

So it seems to me that the hymns and prayers of the feast in both east and west are replete with the theology of the Conception of the Mother of God as the first foretaste - a prelude - of the great bountines of the Lord's restorative and healing grace of which we can all partake. This is what the Church has celebrated since the establishment of this feast, long before the departure of the west into exploring ways around the problems caused by its understanding of original sin. This feast is a celebration of the grace, love, and bountiful mercy of God, and, without the need for recourse to late doctrinal developments that serve merely to obscure its meaning, Christians have great cause for celebration, prayer, and thankfulness on this day.

Let us all rejoice and praise the Lord, keeping holy day in honour of the Virgin Mary, for whose Conception the Angels are joyful, and glorify the Son of God!

- the office/introit for the Conception of the Mother of God

*For those unfamiliar with this distinction, Father Gregory Hallam offers this very good elucidation.

The Anaphora of St Basil

Once described as "a wonderful rolling tide of divine poetic rhetoric", I shall let this amazing prayer speak for itself.

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Deacon: Let us stand well; let us stand with fear; let us attend, that we may offer the holy oblation in peace.
People: A mercy of peace: a sacrifice of praise!

Priest: + The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: And with thy spirit.
Priest: Let our hearts be on high.
People: We lift them up unto the Lord.
Priest: Let us give thanks unto the Lord.
People: It is meet and right to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Trinity, one in essence and undivided.

Priest: (in a low voice, while the people make the response) O Thou Who art, Master, Lord, God, Father Almighty, adorable, it is truly meet and right, and befitting the magnificence of thy holiness that we should praise Thee, hymn Thee, bless Thee, worship Thee, give thanks unto Thee and glorify Thee, the only truly existing God, and offer unto Thee with a broken heart and the spirit of humility this our rational worship. For Thou art He that hath bestowed upon us the knowledge of thy truth.

And who is sufficient to speak of thy mighty acts? to make all thy praises to be heard, or to declare all thy wonders at every time? O Master of all, Lord of heaven and earth, and of all creation both visible and invisible, Who sittest upon the throne of glory, and lookest upon the depths, Who art unoriginate, invisible, incomprehensible, uncircumscript, immutable, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour; our hope, Who is the image of thy goodness, the seal of equal type, in Himself showing forth Thee, the Father, Living Word, true God, the Wisdom before the ages, the Life, Sanctification, Power, the true Light, through Whom the Holy Spirit was revealed; the Spirit of truth, the Gift of adoption, the Pledge of an inheritance to come, the First-fruits of eternal good things, the life-creating Power, the Fountain of sanctification, by Whom enabled, every rational and intelligent creature doth worship Thee, and send up to Thee everlasting doxology, for all things are thy servants.

Yea, Angels and Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, Powers, and the many-eyed Cherubim praise Thee. Round about Thee stand the Seraphim - one with six wings and another with six wings - and with two they cover their faces, and with two their feet, and with two they fly, calling out to one another with unceasing voices and unending doxologies, singing the hymn of victory, crying aloud, proclaiming, and saying:
People: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth,
heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He that comethin the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Priest: (in a low voice, while the people continue to sing) With these blessed Powers, 0 Master, Lover of mankind, we sinners also cry aloud and say, Holy art Thou, in truth, and all-holy, and there is no measure to the magnificence of thy holiness; and holy art Thou in all thy works, for in righteousness and true judgement hast Thou brought about all things for us.

When Thou hadst fashioned man, taking dust from the earth, and hadst honoured him with thine own image, O God, Thou didst set him in a paradise of plenty, promising him life immortal and the enjoyment of eternal good things in the observance of thy commandments. But when he disobeyed Thee, the true God, Who had created him, and was led astray by the deceit of the serpent, and was slain by his own trespasses, Thou didst banish him, in thy righteous judgement, O God, from Paradise into this world, and didst turn him back to the earth from which he was taken, dispensing salvation for him through regeneration, which is in thy Christ Himself.

Yet Thou didst not turn Thyself away till the end from thy creature which Thou hadst made, O Good One, neither didst Thou forget the work of thy hands, but Thou didst look upon him in diverse manners, through thy tender-hearted mercy. Thou didst send forth prophets; Thou hast wrought mighty works through the Saints who in every generation have been well-pleasing unto Thee; Thou didst speak to us by the mouths of thy servants the prophets, who foretold to us the salvation which was to come; Thou didst give the Law as an aid; Thou didst appoint guardian angels. And when the fullness of time was come, Thou didst speak unto us through thy Son Himself, by Whom also Thou madest the ages; Who, being the brightness of thy glory, and the express image of thy person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, deemed it not robbery to be equal to Thee, the God and Father.

But albeit He was God before the ages, yet He appeared upon earth and sojourned among men; and was incarnate of a holy Virgin, and did empty Himself, taking on the form of a servant, and becoming conformed to the body of our humility, that He might make us conformed to the image of his glory. For as by man sin entered the world, and by sin death, so thine Only-begotten Son, Who is in thy bosom, God and Father, was well-pleased to be born of a woman, the holy Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary, to be born under the Law, that He might condemn sin in His flesh, that they who were dead in Adam might be made alive in thy Christ Himself.

And, becoming a citizen in this world, and giving ordinances of salvation, He removed from us the delusion of idols and brought us unto a knowledge of Thee, the true God and Father, having won us unto Himself for His own people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and being purified with water, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, He gave Himself a ransom to death, whereby we were held, sold under sin. And having descended into hades through the Cross, that He might fill all things with Himself, He loosed the pains of death, and rose again from the dead on the third day, making a way for all flesh unto the resurrection from the dead - for it was not possible that the Author of Life should be held by corruption - that He might be the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep, the first-born from the dead, that He might be all, being first in all. And, ascending into heaven, He sat down at the right hand of thy majesty on high, and He shall return to render unto everyone according to his works. And He hath left with us as remembrances of his saving Passion these Things which we have set forth according to his commandment.

For when He was about to go forth to his voluntary, and celebrated, and life-creating death, in the night in which He gave Himself up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy and immaculate hands, and when He had shown it unto Thee, the God and Father, and given thanks, and blessed it, and hallowed it, and broken it, He gave it to his holy disciples and apostles, saying, (aloud) 'Take, eat. This is my Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.'
People: Amen.

Priest: (in a low voice) Likewise, having also taken the cup of the fruit of the vine, and mingled it, and given thanks, and blessed and hallowed it, He gave it to His holy disciples and apostles, saying, (aloud) 'Drink, ye all, of this. This is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins.'
People: Amen.

Priest: (in a low voice) 'Do this in remembrance of me, for as often as ye shall eat this Bread and drink of this Cup, ye do proclaim my death and confess my resurrection.'

Wherefore, 0 Master, we also remembering his saving Passion and life-creating Cross, his three-day burial, and Resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and sitting down at thy right hand, God and Father, and His glorious and fearful second advent, (aloud) thine own of thine own offering unto Thee on behalf of all and for all:

People: We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we give Thanks unto Thee, O Lord, and we pray unto Thee, O our God.

Priest: (in a low voice, while the people sing the response) Mindful of this, O all-holy Master, we also, thy sinful and unworthy servants, whom Thou hast made worthy to minister at thy holy Altar, not through our own righteousness, for we have done nothing good upon the earth, but because of thy mercies and compassion, which Thou hast richly poured out upon us, dare to draw nigh to thy holy Altar, and, presenting unto Thee the antitypes of the holy Body and Blood of thy Christ, we pray Thee and supplicate Thee, O Holy of Holies, by the favour of thy goodness, that thy Holy Spirit may come upon us and upon these Gifts here set forth, and bless them and hallow them.

Priest: O Lord, Who didst send down thy Most Holy Spirit on thine Apostles at the third hour, take Him not away from us, O Good One, but renew Him in us who pray unto Thee.
Deacon: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Priest: O Lord, Who didst send down thy Most Holy Spirit on thine Apostles at the third hour, take Him not away from us, O Good One, but renew Him in us who pray unto Thee.
Deacon: Cast me not away from thy Presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Priest: O Lord, Who didst send down thy Most Holy Spirit on thine Apostles at the third hour, take Him not away from us, O Good One, but renew Him in us who pray unto Thee.

Deacon: Bless, master, the Holy Bread.
Priest: And show this Bread to be itself the precious + Body of our Lord, and God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Deacon: Amen. Bless, Master, the Holy Cup.
Priest: And that which is in this Cup to be itself the precious + Blood of our Lord, and God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Deacon: Amen.
Priest: Shed for the life of the world,
Deacon: Amen. Bless both, Master.
Priest: Changing + them by thy Holy Spirit.
Deacon: Amen. Amen. Amen.

Priest: And as for us all, partakers of the one Bread and of the Cup, do Thou unite one to another unto communion of the one Holy Spirit, and make none of us to partake of the holy Body and Blood of thy Christ unto judgement or unto condemnation, but that we may find mercy and grace with all the Saints, who have ever been well-pleasing unto Thee: the Forefathers, Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Teachers, and with every righteous spirit in faith made perfect.

(aloud) Especially our all-holy, immaculate, exceedingly blessed and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary.
People: O full of grace, all creation rejoiceth in thee!
The angelic hosts sing thy praises with all mankind:
thou hallowed temple, noetical paradise, and the glory of all virgins.
Of thee was God made flesh - our God before all ages - and became a child.
Of thy womb a throne He made: he made thy womb more spacious than the heavens.
All creation rejoiceth in thee, O full of grace: glory be to thee!

Priest: (in a low voice, while the people continue to sing) With the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John, the holy glorious and all-laudable Apostles, Saint(s) NN., whose memory we celebrate, and all thy Saints, at whose supplications do Thou look upon us, 0 God.

And remember all those who have fallen asleep before us in the hope of resurrection unto life eternal, and grant them rest where the light of thy countenance watcheth over them.

Again we pray Thee, remember, O Lord, the Holy Catholic, and Apostolic Church, which is from one end of the world to the other, and give peace to Her whom Thou hast purchased with the precious Blood of thy Christ, and establish Thou this holy house, even unto the consummation of the age.

Remember, O Lord, those who have offered unto Thee these Gifts, and those for whom, and through whom, and the ends for which they are offered.

Remember, O Lord, those who bear fruit and do good works in thy holy churches, and who remember the needy; requite them with thy rich and heavenly gifts; give them things heavenly for things earthly, things eternal for things temporal, things incorruptible for things corruptible.

Remember, O Lord, those in the deserts, the mountains, and in the caverns and pits of the earth. Remember, O Lord, all those who continue in virginity and devotion, and in asceticism and a sober way of life.

Remember, O Lord, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and all her royal house, all in civil authority, and the armed forces; grant them peaceful times, that we also in their tranquility may lead a calm and peaceful life in all piety and sobriety.

In thy goodness guard those who are good, and make good those who are evil, by thy lovingkindness.

Remember, O Lord, the people here present and those who for good cause are absent, and have mercy upon them and upon us, according to the multitude of thy mercies. Fill their garners with every good thing, guard their marriage bond in peace and in oneness of mind, rear the infants, train the young, support the aged, encourage the fainthearted, gather together the scattered, and lead back those who wander astray, and join them to thy Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Free those who are vexed by unclean spirits; travel with those that journey by land, by sea, and by air; protect the widows; defend the orphans; deliver the captives; heal the sick. And those that are under trial, in the mines, in exile, in bitter bondage, in every tribulation, necessity, and danger, do Thou remember, O God.

And all those who are in need of thy great goodness of heart, and those also who love us, and those who hate us, and those who have commanded us to pray for them, unworthy though we be, do Thou remember, O Lord our God, and all thy people, and upon all pour out thy rich mercy, granting to all their petitions which are unto salvation.

And those whom, through ignorance, or forgetfulness, or through the multitude of names we have not remembered, do Thou Thyself remember, O God, Who knowest the age and name of each, and knowest every man even from his mother's womb.

For Thou art the Helper of the helpless, the Hope of the hopeless, the Saviour of the storm-tossed, the Haven of the voyager, and the Physician of the sick. Be Thou Thyself all things to all men, O Thou Who knowest every man, his petitions; each house and its need.

Deliver, O Lord, this city and every city and country from famine, pestilence, earthquake, flood, fire, the sword, foreign invasion, and civil war.

(aloud) Among the first, remember, O Lord, our great lord and father, Kyrill, the most holy Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia; and our lord the very Most Reverend Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad; and our lord the Most Reverend Archbishop Mark of Great Britain, whom do Thou grant unto thy holy churches in peace, safety, honour, health, and length of days, rightly dividing the word of thy truth.
People: And all mankind!

Priest: (in a low voice) Remember, O Lord, every bishop of the Orthodox, rightly dividing the word of thy truth.

Remember, O Lord, according to the multitude of thy compassions, my own unworthiness, pardon me every offence both voluntary and involuntary, and withold not, because of my sins, the grace of thy Holy Spirit from these Gifts here set forth.

Remember, O Lord, the priesthood, the diaconate in Christ, and every priestly rank, and put not to confusion any one of us that stand about thy holy Altar. Look upon us with thy loving-kindness, O Lord; reveal Thyself unto us in thy rich compassions; grant us temperate and prosperous seasons; grant peaceful showers upon the earth unto fruitfulness; bless the crown of the year in thy loving-kindness; make schisms to cease; quench the ragings of the nations; speedily destroy, by the power of thy Holy Spirit, uprisings of heresies; receive us all into thy kingdom, showing us to be sons of light and sons of the day; and grant unto us thy peace and thy love, O Lord our God, for all things hast Thou bestowed upon us.

(aloud) And grant unto us that with one mouth and one heart we may glorify and hymn thine all-honourable and majestic name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.
People: Amen.