Beloved brothers and sisters,
This is Community Bulletin #43 of Saint Ignatius Parish in Belfast
Contents of this Bulletin:
- This Week in the Life of the Church: Services in Church in the coming weekend
- A Pastoral Word: What do we need?
- News and Announcements: Parish Register, Faith & Fellowship Meeting and Youth Group
This Week in the Life of the Church
God willing, we will meet again at the Church for the divine services in the upcoming weekend, 27th and 28th of June. 29th of June is the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. His Eminence, Metropolitan Silouan, blessed us to transfer the Feast to Sunday, 28th. So, apart from the 4th Sunday of Matthew, we will also celebrate the Feast of the Apostles, who are the founders of our Antiochian Patriarchate. Glory to God
The schedule of services is as follows:
Saturday, 27th of June
17:00 – Great Vespers followed by fellowship in the kitchen with tea/coffee and fasting snacks
Sunday, 28th of June
10:00 – Orthros
11:00 – Divine Liturgy followed by parish lunch
Address of the Church: Cullen Memorial Hall, Methodist Complex, 381 Donegall Road, Belfast, BT12 6GR
Fr Dmitry will be available for confessions after Great Vespers on Saturday, and before Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning from 8:30 until 10:00.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the Church!
Saints and Feasts of the Week
*The saints named here accompany the days of the week as living witnesses of Christ. Only the principal saint or feast of each day is listed here, in keeping with the liturgical order of the Church.
- Sunday, 21st of June – 3rd Sunday of Matthew, All Saints of Britain and Ireland
- Monday, 22nd of June – Hieromartyr Eusebius, bishop of Samosata; Alban, protomartyr of Britain
- Tuesday, 23rd of June – Virgin-martyr Agrippina of Rome and those with her; St Etheldreda (Audrey), foundress of Ely Abbey
- Wednesday, 24th of June – Nativity of the Forerunner and Baptist John
- Thursday, 25th of June – Leavetaking of The Nativity of the Forerunner
- Friday, 26th of June – St. David of Thessalonica
- Saturday, 27th of June – St. Joanna the Myrrhbearer
- Sunday, 28th of June – 4th Sunday of Matthew, Translation of the relics of the Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cyrus and John
Hymns of the Week
*The hymns listed here are those that shape the prayer of the Church for the week, following the liturgical order and hierarchy. They are offered as an aid to prayer and may be used, as each is able, in personal prayer or a simple prayer rule at home.
RESURRECTIONAL APOLYTIKION IN TONE TWO
When Thou didst submit Thyself unto death, O Thou deathless and immortal One, then Thou didst destroy hell with Thy Godly power. And when Thou didst raise the dead from beneath the earth, all the powers of Heaven did cry aloud unto Thee: O Christ, Thou giver of life, glory to Thee
APOLYTIKION OF THE NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN TONE FOUR
O prophet and Forerunner of Christ God’s coming to us, * all we who with longing now extol thee are at a loss to honor thee worthily. * For thy mother’s barrenness and father’s long silence, * by thine all-renowned and hallowed birth, were both ended, * and the Incarnation of the Son of God is preached unto all the world.
ORDINARY KONTAKION IN TONE TWO
O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant, O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be thou quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplication, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.
Epistle and Gospel Readings:
*The Epistle and Gospel of the Sunday that begins the current liturgical week
- Epistle: Romans 5:1-10
- Gospel: Matthew 6:22-33
The Sunday and daily Scripture readings may be read online via the Archdiocesan website: https://www.antiochian-orthodox.com/calendar
A Pastoral Word: What Do We Need?
Again and again we hear these touching words of our Lord, recorded by Matthew in the Gospel reading appointed for last Sunday: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor about your body, what you shall put on.”
I often find myself wondering: where exactly is the boundary between being irresponsible (which is certainly not what our Lord means) and living contrary to this instruction by becoming overly concerned with securing earthly provisions?
I do not claim to have a complete answer to this question. But I often find comfort in the stories of the Holy Fathers, as well as in the stories of faithful people around us.
I especially like how Metropolitan Tikhon, in his book about life in the Pskovo-Pechersky (Pskov-Caves) Monastery, describes his fellow monks as “unholy saints” (rendered in English as Everyday Saints). This expression beautifully captures the reality that all of us are called to holiness, while struggling toward it day by day. These people are not glorified saints of the Church (at least not yet), yet we recognise in them the traits of holiness.
In the same way, I always appreciate hearing stories from the people in church about God’s visitation in their daily lives. Small encounters through which He teaches them a virtue or reveals His providence.
This brings me back to the Gospel command not to be anxious about material things.
I would like to share two stories.
Fr Michel, our senior priest at the cathedral, has a travel bag containing service items, including the sacred vessels used for the Eucharist: the chalice and diskos. He uses this bag when serving once a month at the mission in Brighton, and we also use it whenever we celebrate outside our usual cathedral location.
Because too many items had been packed into this bag over time, the chalice became slightly damaged and now stands with a small inclination. It is not critical, but clearly not ideal. His Eminence, Metropolitan Silouan, instructed us to find a better solution to prevent further damage and to protect any new chalice we may acquire in the future.
We had ideas, but we had neither the time to develop them nor particularly good solutions.
About a month later, Fr Michel showed me something remarkable. Someone had dropped off, among unwanted household items near his shop, a rectangular picnic case with a zipper. It was absolutely perfect in size to fit one chalice and one diskos.
I often tease Fr Michel because he has a habit of seeing value in things others throw away, always thinking something might become useful one day. Sometimes this creates challenges for us, as church storage space is very limited. But here was a perfect example of how his simplicity, his unwillingness to waste things, and God’s providence worked together. We suddenly had a solution to a long-standing problem.
The second story concerns a young man involved in our Young Adult Ministry across our two London parishes. He works in construction. A few months ago, he was assigned to a project far from London, which prevented him from attending our Thursday liturgies and Friday youth events. He was deeply upset by this. Yet he remained trusting in the Lord, and we encouraged him not to step away from serving in the ministry.
And then, this week, I learned something beautiful: his new work assignment is at a construction site just one block away from our cathedral. He can now easily participate in services and ministry activities again.
Thanks be to God.
What can we learn from this?
Certainly, we learn to trust God in moments of challenge. We must still be vigilant, careful, and responsible. Trust in God does not mean carelessness. But neither should we live as though everything depends entirely on our own efforts.
As the Gospel concludes: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”
When we seek God first, good things from Him often find us in unexpected ways. Our task is to place ourselves in the right position: with the right attitude, the right priorities, and the willingness to receive His gifts. We do our part faithfully, and God provides what is lacking.
Perhaps it is hard to find a complete answer to the question of what we truly need and how to balance responsibility with trust. But maybe that answer is revealed not in grand theories, but in small things, in ordinary moments, simple encounters, and quiet acts of providence. In these ordinary moments of life, God slowly teaches us to trust Him more and to be less anxious about tomorrow.
News and Announcements
- Parish Registration Form Reminder – Thank you to everyone who has already completed the parish registration form. Your response is greatly appreciated and will help us in planning and supporting parish life more effectively.
If you have not yet registered, we kindly encourage you to do so. Maintaining an up-to-date parish register helps us better understand the size and needs of our parish community, improve communication, and plan for the future as our parish continues to grow.
The registration form can be completed online using the link below: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/2CN1yeinMb
Thank you for your support and commitment to the life of St Ignatius Parish. - Faith & Fellowship Meeting this Wednesday, 24th June, 7:00 PM – Join us on Zoom this Wednesday. We will say Little Compline and then begin a new series of talks on the Epistles of St Paul. Everyone welcome! Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/93643306643.
- Establishment of the Youth Group – A few weeks ago, we invited volunteers to help begin the work of establishing a chapter of the archdiocesan youth organisation, Young Adult Ministry (YAM), in Belfast. Four of our parishioners kindly volunteered: Syra, Jessica, Justin, and Joseph. We are grateful to them for offering their time and energy to support this initiative.
Before formally inaugurating a YAM chapter, we decided first to lay some groundwork by building up the community of young people in our parish and fostering fellowship among our young adults. To help with this, a WhatsApp group has been created and is open to all interested parishioners. The group is intended for young adults, broadly those around the 18–35 age range, though the boundaries are not meant to be rigid. You can join the group by following this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LCFAVb07bN73rLnNGUpf8F?mode=gi_t
The group offers an opportunity for young adults to get to know one another outside of church services and to build friendships within the wider church community.
This is what Syra says about the group: “So far, a small group of us have enjoyed activities such as bowling and a hike together, and we hope to organise more regular social events in the future. The chat also serves as an informal space for conversation and encouragement. Fellowship is an important part of the Christian life, and our hope is not only to create greater consistency in social gatherings, but also to develop spiritually focused events and opportunities for prayer and growth together. Anyone is welcome to join through the link provided or by reaching out to me directly.”
All interested young adults are warmly welcome to join! - Have you visited our Parish Library yet? Our library offers a growing collection of Orthodox books for adults and children: spiritual classics, lives of the saints, theology, Church history, and books for young readers. A good spiritual book can deepen our understanding of the faith and accompany us in our spiritual life.
You can browse the catalogue and request books online through the parish website. All the information about borrowing books, together with the online request form, can be found here: https://saintignatiusbelfast.org/library
Our librarians, Michael and Porphyrios, will be happy to help if you are looking for something to read. You can contact them at: library@saintignatiusbelfast.org
