« His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Oxford »

On December 22, 2019, on the 27th Sunday after Pentecost, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh paid an archpastoral visit to the city of Oxford and celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

His Grace was assisted by Archpriest Stephen Platt, Rector of the church, Dean of the Diocesan District of Central England, Priest Dimitry Nedostupenko, Secretary of the Sourozh Diocese, Priest Stephen Fretwell (ROCOR), Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch and Deacon Alexy Kostyanovsky.

During the Liturgy, at the Augmented  litany, petitions were raised for the unity of the Orthodox Church and the preservation of the Church from divisions and schisms. After the Augmented litany, Vladyka Matthew prayed for peace in Ukraine.

Following the prayer before the ambon, the Archpastor and the co-serving clergy sung glorification in front of the ikon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker containing part of his holy relics.  The Protodeacon proclaimed many years on the occasion of the recently celebrated patronal feast of the church.

After the Liturgy, Father Stephen, Rector of the church, addressed Vladyka with a welcoming speech.  Warmly welcoming the Archpastor, Fr.  Stephen expressed his gratitude for the visit, the possibility of joint prayer and presented to Vladyka a calendar with pictures made by  students of the parish school.

In commemoration of many years of work in the Oxford parish and of the 10th anniversary of service in the church building acquired by the community, His Grace Vladyka awarded Archpriest Stephen Platt the Patriarchal medal “In memory of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church”. Choirmaster of the church, Mary Archer, was awarded a blessed Bishop's Letter of Honour, on the occasion of her 60th birthday.

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