On Saturday and Sunday 9th and 10th May we held our regular monthly weekend of divine services at the church.
Full photo album available here: https://saintignatiusbelfast.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/SaintIgnatiusChurchDocuments/IgCfxKsSroNqSbvdevhmWHYCAR-icC-lFyUHmq4LF0dUZvA?e=VNAUG1
1. Pilgrimage to Bangor Abbey
Saturday began with a pilgrimage to Bangor Abbey in commemoration of Saint Comgall, founder of the Abbey in the sixth century, whose feast is celebrated on 10 May.
Although the original Abbey was destroyed by the Vikings, a later church now stands on the historic grounds. We are grateful to the Rector of Bangor Abbey, Reverend Canon Ronnie Nesbitt, for kindly granting us permission to use the church for our service.
We served a Little Paraklesis with Canon to the Theotokos, during which we also included Orthodox hymns dedicated to Saint Comgall and to his disciples, Saints Gall and Columbanus.
Following the service, our treasurer and Bangor native, William Hunter, spoke to the group about the life of Saint Comgall and guided us around the former grounds of the Abbey and the surrounding area, explaining its history. He also spoke about the missionary work of Saints Gall and Columbanus, whose labours played an important role in the spread of Christianity in continental Europe, particularly in present-day Switzerland and Italy.
The pilgrimage concluded with lunch at the North Down museum café.
2. Divine Services
Saturday continued with Great Vespers at the church, followed by our usual informal fellowship afterwards. On Sunday, we celebrated Orthros and the Divine Liturgy.
This weekend, we were pleased to welcome two Byzantine chanters from our Cathedral parish of St George in London: Adib Ferzli and Anthony Chalhoub. Their prayerful presence and beautiful chanting, together with our choir, added greatly to the joy of the services. We thank them both for being with us.
A parish lunch followed the Divine Liturgy. At the end of the lunch, Adib Ferzli held an informal meeting with the young adults of the parish to discuss the possibility of establishing a Young Adult Ministry (YAM) chapter in Belfast.
Young Adult Ministry (YAM) is an Archdiocesan organisation serving the pastoral needs of young adults aged 18–35 across the Antiochian parishes in Britain and Ireland. The ministry was established in 2026 with the blessing and under the chairmanship of His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan. The London chapter is currently active, and Adib serves as the advisor to its steering Committee, drawing on his many years of youth ministry experience in Antiochian parishes in Canada.
YAM seeks to provide a place of encounter, learning, and fellowship for young adults seeking to live their faith within the life of the Church. All young adults are warmly invited to participate in future gatherings and activities.
We hope that this meeting will bear fruit in due course with the establishment of a YAM chapter in Belfast.
Gratitudes
On behalf of the parish, sincere thanks to Mr William Hunter for organising the pilgrimage to Bangor; to all chanters and servers for their ministry during the services; to our hospitality team and its new coordinators, Andriana and Alastair, for caring for the faithful after the services; and to all who attended and prayed with us throughout the weekend.
Next services in church are on the weekend 30th and 31st of May – weekend of the Great Feast of Pentecost:
- Saturday, 30th May, 10:00 am – Orthros and Divine Liturgy for Saturday of Souls, followed by the Memorial
- Saturday, 30th May, 5:00 pm – Great Vespers for the Sunday of the Pentecost
- Sunday, 31st May, 10:00 am – Orthros and Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Pentecost, followed by festal parish lunch
Christ is Risen!