On Sunday, 8th June, we celebrated the Great Feast of Holy Pentecost at our parish. This time, we had a special blessing: the Divine Liturgy was served using prosphora — the bread of offering that is concecrated to become the Body of Christ — prepared and donated to our church by the Holy Monastery of Pantanassa in Gravia, Greece. We are grateful to the nuns of the monastery for their kind offering and their continuous prayers for our community. The prosphora was brought to Belfast by our parishioner Despoina, who had recently travelled to Greece, and we thank her for facilitating this gift.
After the Divine Liturgy, we rejoiced in receiving a new member into the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Our catechumen Ieva was baptised and chrismated, receiving the name Pulcheria. It was a very moving celebration, with many faithful staying to pray with and for her. At the end of the service, Pulcheria received her first Holy Communion.
To mark the occasion, traditional Greek sweets were shared with the faithful. These included koufeta — sugared almonds — beautifully presented in mpomponières, the small decorative pouches given at baptisms in Greek tradition. They were made in Greece by Eleutherios, Maria, Iosif, and Joanna, especially for this occasion, and brought to Belfast by Despoina, Pulcheria’s godmother. In addition, Despoina and her aunt prepared delicious almond biscuits, which were also offered to the faithful. The children of the parish distributed martyrika, small cross bracelets worn by those present as signs of being witnesses to the Sacrament of Baptism and Chrismation — the person’s spiritual rebirth and reception of the Holy Spirit.
We wish the newly illumined Pulcheria many blessed, healthy, and peaceful years in Christ. May her patron, Saint Pulcheria the Empress, intercede for her and for all of us.
More photos available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DqAykHPgoY5XEzlm5-IVRQICb_EFz-Jn?usp=sharing
I would also like to thank everyone who contributed to the preparation and running of the services. From those who served at the altar, prepared the church and the font, and ensured the baptismal water was reverently cared for, to those who worked in the kitchen to provide a short lunch between the Liturgy and the Baptism, those who chanted so beautifully throughout and all those who helped quietly through the presence and communal prayer.
Thank you to all who came to celebrate the Feast and Pulcheria’s baptism. May God bless you all!
Yours in Christ,
Fr Dmitry
