With God’s help, we had a beautiful and eventful long weekend of services, activities, and fellowship at our parish. You can read a short report below. Some photos are included in the text, and the full photo album for the weekend can be accessed here: https://saintignatiusbelfast.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/SaintIgnatiusChurchDocuments/IgDhfxZlMA8QQ6f4W1i0rGerATcTbeqpR3dOciNlr6u8y2g?e=7nDHtE
On Friday, 27 February, we prayed the First Stasis of the Akathist Hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos, which is traditionally served in quarters on the first four Fridays of Great Lent, with the complete Akathist served on the fifth Friday.
On Saturday morning, 28 February, we held a prosphora-making workshop. Under the guidance of Fr Dmitry, five people learned how to prepare prosphora – the bread of offering from which the Lamb is prepared and consecrated, becoming through the work of the Holy Spirit the Body of Christ in the Divine Liturgy. It was a hands-on workshop, with each participant mixing, kneading, shaping, and stamping their own prosphora. After allowing the bread to rise, participants baked it in their homes. As a result, the parish now have prosphora for five Liturgies! God willing, the participants will now join the regular parish prosphora supplying bread for our Divine Liturgies.
On Saturday evening, we served Great Vespers. Fr Dmitry spoke about the importance of the veneration of icons in the Orthodox Church, as on the first Sunday of Great Lent we celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy, commemorating the restoration of the veneration of the holy icons and the victory over the iconoclastic heresy.
On Sunday, 1 March, the day began with the baptism of our three catechumens. Luka was received with the name Joseph, after St Joseph the Hesychast; Faye received the name Faith after St Faith of Agen; and Andy was received with the name Justin, after St Justin the Martyr (the Philosopher). It was a very moving service, and many people gathered to welcome the newly illumined into the Orthodox Church.
Following the baptisms, the Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great was celebrated, with the church full of faithful. At the end of the service, the faithful joined the traditional procession with the holy icons, marking the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
The weekend concluded with a fasting lunch to celebrate the feast and the baptisms. One of our parishioner prepared a special vegan cake to mark the baptism of Joseph, Faith, and Justin, which was cut and shared after we sang Many Years.
Congratulations to the newly illumined Joseph, Faith, and Justin, and gratitude to their godparents. Thank you also to everyone who worked hard throughout the weekend serving, chanting, setting up and tidying the church, offering hospitality, and cleaning.
May this beautiful weekend encourage us all to continue the good spiritual struggle during Great Lent.