Patriarchal Congratulations to Archbishop Elisey on his 55th Birthday
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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia congratulated Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh on the occasion of his 55th birthday.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia congratulated Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh on the occasion of his 55th birthday.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, sent a message of congratulations to Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh on the occasion of his birthday.
On 15 July we celebrated our Patronal Feast of st. Elizabeth. This year, due to the extensive works that currently take place at Rocks Farm, the Feast was held in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hastings. Archbishop Elisey celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with Fr Stephen Platt and Fr Dobromir Dmitrov. We are very grateful to Fr Ierotheos Georgiou, the rector, for his warm welcome, and to His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain for giving his blessing for the liturgy to be celebrated.
Report of the Symposium held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park by the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Society on 20th June 2017
The first Symposium held by the Society took place at the magnificent 17th century house called Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park. The weather on the day matched the setting.
The programme of the Symposium was chosen to coincide with the centenary of the tragic events of 1917-1918: the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, the two Russian revolutions and the martyrdoms of the Imperial Family and the Grand Duchess Elizabeth. It was entitled “The Last Romanovs: Archival and Museum Discoveries in Great Britain and Russia”.
Five distinguished experts were invited from Russia and the same number from Britain. A total of forty persons were in attendance.
We were particularly honoured by the presence of Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh, head of the Russian Orthodox Church in this country, who blessed and opened the proceedings, Metropolitan Kallistos of the Greek Orthodox Church and Mr Konstantin Shlykov, who represented the Ambassador of the Russian Federation.
The first two speakers of the day dealt with two different Russian Imperial coronations, those of 1896 and 1856.
Professor Inessa Slyunkova, former Head Architect of the Kremlin Museums and author of a number of substantial studies of Royal palaces and residences was unfortunately not able to be present on the day, due to visa problems, but she communicated with us via skype. Her subject was the “Decoration of the Kremlin as sacral space for the last coronation of 1896”. We were able to examine her lavishly illustrated book on the same theme which she had already sent us.
She was followed by Mr Stephen Patterson, Head of Collections Information Management, Royal Collection Trust,who gave an illustrated talk on “Rare photographs of the Romanov's Russia during the time of the Coronation, 1856”.
The next three speakers were concerned with the Romanovs and the Windsors. Stephen Patterson, replacing a colleague who was unable to attend at the last minute, gave us a fascinating preview of the major exhibition of Russian art and photographs which will be opened at the Queen's Gallery in 2018. We are very grateful to him for this.
Mr Michael Hunter, the Curator of Osborne House, spoke on “Romanovs at Osborne House: Visits and objects” and showed us some very interesting photographs.
Ms Coryne Hall, researcher and author of a wonderful biography of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, then spoke on the “Rescue of the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna from the Crimea” with many revealing quotes from diplomatic letters, including those from King George V.
The afternoon session began with a talk from Nikolai Misko, Researcher at the State Historical Museum, Moscow, on the collection held at that museum which was formerly (until 1947) at the Tsar Nicholas II Museum in Belgrade, founded by prominent members of the Russian emigration in Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Charlotte Zeepvat, author of many works with royal themes, spoke next on the”Letters of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, in the National Archives of Romania in Bucharest”.
Dr Olga Kopylova, Head of Department of the State Archive of the Russian Federation delivered a remarkable talk, based on her exhaustive research in the Moscow Secret Police records, on the Grand Duchess Elizabeth's daily activities and journeys during the last eight years of her earthly life, when she was under constant police scrutiny for her own protection. It was entitled “2555 Days in the life of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna”.
The final session of the Symposium began with a paper, delivered via Skype, from Rev Father Andrei Posternak who is Dean of the History Department at St Tikhon's Orthodox University in Moscow. It was entitled “The Question of giving the title of Deaconesses to the sisters of the Martha and Mary Convent – discoveries in the St Petersburg Archives”. A lively debate resulted from his talk, in which Father Andrei took a strong line against any possible revival of the ancient order of deaconesses.
Dr Dimitry Grishin, specialist on the life of Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, then spoke on the “Art Collections of Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Grand Duke Sergey: recent discoveries”, describing his work in tracing scattered art works and correcting wrong attributions.
The final paper was given by Rev Archpriest Stephen Platt, of the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies and a founder member of our Society, entitled “Father Nicholas Gibbes: teacher to the royal children and Orthodox monk. His Romanov collection and the issue of creating a Romanov Museum in Oxford”. This gave us a valuable picture of the present state of this long-running question.
By way of conclusion Metropolitan Kallistos added some vivid personal recollections of Father Nicholas Gibbes and the Orthodox chapel he established in Oxford after the Second World War. We very much appreciated the Metropolitan's contribution to our event.
In the end the Chairman of the Society Maria Harwood expressed her special gratitude to those who made this Symposium possible by their prayers, generosity and support.
We are deeply sorrowful with all who suffered in Manchester and in other places where evil tried show its power. But it will never overcome because Christ has risen indeed.
On Saturday 20th May the wonderworking Hawaii myrhh-streaming icon of the Mother of God of Iveron came to the Dormition Cathedral in Knightsbridge.
It inexplicably began to stream myrrh in the home of a pious Orthodox couple in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 6th, 2007. This phenomenon was recognised as authentic and miraculous by the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
This image is famous for the healings of many pious people from cancer, blindness, diseases of the kidneys and liver, chronic illnesses and other infirmities. The icon is presently in the care of the Russian Orthodox Church in Honolulu, but it frequently travels around the world and grants healings.
To His Eminence Archbishop Anatoly
Your Eminence, dear Vladyka, Christ is Risen! With deep respect I greet you cordially on your namesday! May the Risen Lord, through the prayers of your heavenly patron, the holy martyr Anatoly, strengthen you with spiritual energy and paschal joy. Permit me also to convey sincere greetings and warm good wishes from the clergy of the Sourozh diocese and from your spiritual children in the British Isles.
Easter-2017_ENG.mov from dml_2001 on Vimeo.
Great Saturday - 15th April
9:00 Confession. 3 Hour. Typika. Divine Liturgy
22:00 The Reading of the Acts of the Holy Apostles
23:40 Midnight Service
The Glorious Resurrection of Christ – 16th April
00:00 Procession. Easter Matins and Divine Liturgy
9:00 Easter Matins.
Late Divine Liturgy
18:00 Easter Vespers. Greetings
On Saturday 18th of March,at 5pm the solemn meeting of the miracle-working Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God will take place at the Cathedral of the Dormition in London. A Moleben with the Akathist to the Mother of God will be celebrated in front of the Icon. The Holy Image will be at the Cathedral till the end of the Vigil service and will leave at about 9 pm.
Your Eminences the archpastors, esteemed Fathers and deacons,
all-honourable monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!
On this holy night I extend my heartfelt greetings to you all and from the depths of my soul I congratulate you on the great feast of the Nativity of Christ: the feast of the fulfillment of the promises of old for the salvation of the human race, the feast of the ineffable love of the Maker towards his creation, the feast of the coming into the world of the Son of God who is the Messiah.
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE OF ELISEY
ARCHBISHOP OF SOUROZH
TO THE PASTORS AND ALL FAITHFUL CHILDREN
OF THE DIOCESE OF SOUROZH
OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Dearly beloved in the Lord, honourable pastors and God-loving laypeople, dear brothers and sisters!
I greet you with all my heart on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
Friday January 6
09.30 - Christmas Eve Vesperal Liturgy
17.30 - Confessions (until 22.00). (No confessions can be heard during the Festive Liturgies).
18.00 - Vigil service
23.00 - Midnight Liturgy (until 1.30 am approx.)
Saturday January 7
09.30 - Late Divine Liturgy
On Saturday, Dec 31st at 6 p.m. there will be a Vigil service for the New 2017 Year in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Confession will be heard from 5.30 p.m. until the end of the service.
A Liturgy for the New Year will be celebrated in our Cathedral on Sunday, Jan 1st, 2017 at 9.30 a.m. Confession will be heard from 9.00 a.m. until the end of the service.
Please, note - there is no midnight service this year!
Your Royal Highness,
It is both a joy and an honour to welcome you to our cathedral today.
Of course, this is by no means your first visit to this church, but it is of great significance that you have chosen to be with us today as we celebrate a special service of prayer giving thanks to God during the 90th birthday year of Her Majesty the Queen.
Issue 111 of the diocesan journal 'Sourozh' is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox presence in the British Isles. It includes an extensive interview with Archbishop Elisey, two talks about Metropolitan Anthony from the 2014 Diocesan Conference (which was devoted to the 100th anniversary of his birth), a number of articles by or about Bishop Vasily Rodzianko and Father George Florovsky, some pieces about early British saints and an obituary for Fr Ephrem Lash, whose penetrating book reviews were a notable feature of the journal. It can be purchased at the Sourozh Publications online shop.
With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land will take place from 10 to 17 November 2016.