Dear friends in Christ,
Wishing you all a blessed Feast of Theophany of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
This Feast concludes the beautiful holiday season that began on December 25th with the Feast of the Nativity. We celebrated the Incarnation of our Lord, and followed Him to the waters of the Jordan River, where the “worship of the Holy Trinity was made manifest” in the powerful and profound way (Apolytikion of the Feast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVJvH9OAWsQ). Christ’s Baptism marks the beginning of His public mission, summed up in the words from the Gospel reading we will hear next Sunday at the Divine Liturgy: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
God willing, as we follow in the footsteps of our Lord, the weekend of January 11th and 12th will also mark a new chapter in the mission of our St. Ignatius of Antioch community here in Belfast. It will mark the restart of our regular monthly divine services, and I look forward to seeing you all at church. Please also feel free to invite anyone who may be inquiring about the faith – all are welcome!
1. The Program for Next Weekend:
Saturday, January 11th, 12:00 pm – Great Blessing of Waters, followed by light refreshments
With the blessing of Metropolitan Silouan, we will bless the waters as is traditionally done on the Feast of Theophany. After the service, each of you will be able to collect pre-arranged bottles of Holy Water for use at home during the year. Following the service, I will visit the homes of the faithful to bless their houses, in keeping with the tradition after Theophany. My schedule for house blessings is already full for this weekend, but if you would like your home blessed and are not yet on the list, please contact me at +447479630020 or speak to me at the church. We can then arrange a convenient time in the coming months when I am next in Belfast. I am more than happy to accommodate as many blessings as needed.
Sunday, January 12th, 10:00 am – Matins, followed by Divine Liturgy (approximately 11:00 am)
The Divine Liturgy will be followed by a Memorial for the recently departed Khourie Annemieke, the late wife of Fr. Filip Lommaert, who has served this parish in recent years. After the Liturgy, we will share a parish lunch (please contact Carmel, who coordinates food and catering, if you would like to contribute).
Following lunch, we will have a catechesis session. We are blessed to have two new catechumens – Adam and Ieva – who joined the church in November and began their catechesis in December. While the session is primarily for the catechumens, all the faithful are welcome and encouraged to participate in the conversation. I invite you to join us!
2. Upcoming Divine Services (Please mark your calendars):
February
- Saturday, February 1st, 5:00 pm – Great Vespers
- Sunday, February 2nd, 10:00 am – Matins, Divine Liturgy, parish lunch
March
- Saturday, March 1st, 5:00 pm – Great Vespers
- Sunday, March 2nd, 10:00 am – Matins, Divine Liturgy, parish lunch
April
- Saturday, April 5th, 5:00 pm – Great Vespers
- Sunday, April 6th, 10:00 am – Matins, Divine Liturgy, parish lunch
- Monday, April 21st (Easter Monday, Bank Holiday), 10:00 am – Resurrectional Matins, Divine Liturgy, and parish lunch
3. Important Administrative Announcement:
William Hunter has been working on updating and improving our parish mailing list, which will allow me to communicate with you directly. He will soon be reaching out with instructions on how to re-subscribe to our new mailing list. Please keep an eye out for his message and follow the instructions if you would like to continue receiving emails from the parish.
We look forward to seeing you next Saturday and Sunday!