Ewe Cote Cottage

yesterday Fr Bishoy and I visited

Ewe Cote Cottage

Tabor House

house of fellowship

Whitby.

Ewe Cote Cottage is a two story building in the secluded hamlet

Off Ewe Cote near Whitby.

It is managed by the St Damian’s Trust.

Establish by Arthur Cuff a pioneer in

Christian Community life-style.

Ewe Cote cottage is a Tabor house. Where haste and noise is avoided and external distractions are reduced- there is no tv,radio or internet.

It is a special location, the environment is rural Yorkshire and quiet. Individuals and small groups are invited to share in its life and vision.

The cottage has three bedrooms, double, twin and single. Down stairs is the sitting room, kitchen, study/library.

There is a small garden and a garage for one car.

Guests are invited to consider short-term visits, from a few days to two weeks.Contribution to cover house expenses will be agreed beforehand.

Of particular importance is our welcome to those who themselves contribute and respond to the ethos of the house.

We invite you to make contact to share the beauty, peace and simplicity of a

Tabor house.

The area is rich in history and the Chapel of the Holy Paraclete is within walking distance.

Enquires:

Directors .

St Damian’s trust

Ewe Cote Cottage

Whitby

Yo213qw

Email: mearnsrick7@yahoo.com

St Damian’s Charity number 266710

Company No. 1139397

(visit Carrselltrust.org.uk for brother mearns work in Ireland)

British Orthodoxy

The British Orthodox Church is a small Orthodox jurisdiction, **canonically part of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria**. Our mission is to the people of the British Isles, and though we are completely Orthodox in our faith and practice we remain British in our ethos and in our appreciation of the Orthodox heritage of these islands.

The BOC provides a natural home for the indigenous peoples of the British Isles that wish to join the Orthodox faith.

Our community is canonical, part of mainstream Oriental Orthodoxy. It is traditional and rooted in the two thousand year life of the Orthodox Catholic Church. It does not change with every modern fad and is increasingly becoming a home for those from other Christian communities who are unable to remain in communities which are drifting away from the historic faith. We are the only Orthodox community in the British Isles which has an English bishop, and a definite mission to bring Orthodoxy to British people in our own culture.

A Little History

The British Orthodox Church was originally established in 1866 when a Frenchman, Jules Ferrette, was consecrated as a bishop by the Syrian Orthodox Church with the purpose of re-establishing Orthodoxy to the West.

Over the years this mission lost touch with its Eastern origins, but in 1994, under the leadership of our present bishop, discussions with the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate bore fruit and we were reunited with the Oriental Orthodox churches from which we had come. At the feast of Pentecost in 1994, at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, Abba Seraphim was ordained a Metropolitan by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, and the British Orthodox Church became a constituent of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. Metropolitan Seraphim is a full member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Patriarchate.

Where we are today

The British Orthodox today comprises parishes and missions throughout the British Isles. All our services are in English and we venerate the Orthodox saints of the British Isles as well as those of the wider Orthodox Church. We use the ancient Liturgy of Saint James as our normal liturgy, together with all the traditional services of the Coptic Orthodox Church, such as the morning and evening Raising of Incense.

Although the British Orthodox Church is a small community at present, it is committed to evangelism and wider ministry. Through our church press we publish the 'Glastonbury Review', the only English language journal committed to regular reporting about the activities of the Oriental Orthodox churches and we have also begun to republish some important theological works. Through the internet, we maintain a number of international and ecumenical email discussion groups, as well as promoting the work of the Joint Commission for the Dialogue between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches through an important website www.orthodoxunity.org. Member of the Church participate in a number of ecumenical forums on the Internet, seeking to increase understanding of the Oriental Orthodox communion to which we are grateful to belong.

The British Orthodox Church, as part of the Oriental Orthodox family of local Churches, is in communion with the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Church and the Malankara Syrian Church of India.

Many of our Church members have visited Egypt, and spent time with Coptic Orthodox bishops, priests and faithful. Our bishop has made nearly thirty trips, both for the meetings of the Holy Synod, and to develop close ties with the Coptic Orthodox Church.

In the UK, the British Orthodox Church is part of the Oriental Orthodox Council of Churches, an organisation which seeks to facilitate the various Oriental Orthodox Churches working more closely together.

Our bishop, Metropolitan Seraphim, is also on a number of advisory boards, such as the Council of Reference for Christian Research, and is often called upon to assist Government departments in better understanding issues relevant to Oriental Orthodox Christians at home and abroad.

Committed to Sharing our Faith

Much of the time and energy of the British Orthodox Church is spent on evangelism, and on developing means of evangelism. We are convinced that the Orthodox Faith is the fulness of the Christian life, and that we have a great responsibility to share this Faith with all those among whom we live.

We appreciate that, like each one of us, those we talk with and share with are on a spiritual pilgrimage as they seek to be obedient to God's will. Therefore we do not try to do God's work of converting hearts to the Orthodox way of being a Christian, rather we seek to help each person understand what we have been entrusted with, and experience it for themselves as far as they are able in their own circumstances.

Most recently we have created the British Orthodox Fellowship so that our friends and enquirers can join a community of similarly minded Christians, even while they are not ready, or able, to become members of the British Orthodox Church. We hope this new venture will be another means of sharing the treasures of our Faith, and reaching British people with the Orthodox Gospel.

British Orthodox Church website:
http://britishorthodox.org/

Orthodox option?

WELCOME TO THE FORWARD IN ORTHODOX FAITH WEBSITE (forwardinorthodoxfaith.blogspot.com)

The Church of England has massive, irreparable problems that now render it wholly un-catholic.

So, Where to go? ........

For a Church of England person, there are problems of where to go:

The Pope still claims to be infallible - a required belief - his church still issues indulgences as if he has power over your afterlife - and it still has the ongoing - increasing - problem of widespread paedophile priests. He has divested himself of the title "Patriarch of the West" and seeks to place himself in some sort of totally supreme position - the Vicar of Christ - the man who is for humans acting as Christ. The Anglicans looking at the Ordinariates joining with Rome will find that this is just a Priests club for those pro-Roman Anglican clergy and there will be no second generation clergy.
The Protestants are divided amongst many competing "churches" and they are not catholic in any sense.

Anything else? .......

Well, yes, there is another alternative - one you've never thought of .....

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

It is the second biggest Church in the world - about five times as large as the whole Anglican Communion.

It has no pope - it is organised much like the Church of England used to be. It is NOT Greek (or Russian or anything else).

It is the only true continuation of the Early Church, unbroken through two thousand years. Our ancestors in this country were Orthodox for a thousand years - up until the Norman invasion. The Orthodox Church records Saint Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre as saying that the Church in Tyre sent Saint Aristobulus (Aristibule) as Bishop to England in AD 37 - just a few years after the Ascension of Christ.

The Orthodox Church has a hundred year old authorisation for services being taken from the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER and adapted for Orthodox use - "traditional Anglican" if you like - services that you, as a Church of England person would be very familiar with - not Italian or Irish or Greek but English. And it uses the complete Bible - not the truncated (fourteen books missing) version so common today. The Western Rite had existed within Orthodoxy from AD 37 until the 1300s - the official re-authorisation of Western Rite within Orthodoxy in 1870, was specifically intended for us here in England.

These ("traditional Anglican style") services are contained in the officially authorised SAINT COLMAN PRAYER BOOK.

.

Coptic monks in Ireland

On the Trail of the Seven Coptic Monks in Ireland – His Grace Metropolitan Seraphim

The Coptic Orthodox Church has long known of the historic links between the British Isles and Christian Egypt, but documentation and solid evidence is thin on the ground for these early centuries of church history. There are learned articles by Monique Blanc-Ortolan of the Musee des Arts dE9coratifs, Paris, and Pierre du Bourguet of the Louvre on ‘Coptic and Irish Art’ and by Joseph F.T. Kelly of John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio, on ‘Coptic Influences in the British Isles’ in the Coptic Encyclopedia which are worth consulting. Other works, like Shirley Toulson’s The Celtic Year, which asserts that “rather than adhere to the ruling of the Council [of Chalcedon], some of the most dedicated adherents of Monophysitism fled from Egypt, and some of them most surely travelled west and north to Ireland”, in their enthusiasm to establish a link, make up what is lacking in hard evidence with sheer conjecture and fantasy.

The late Archdale King noted the links between Celtic Ireland and Coptic Egypt. He suggests that much of the contact took place before the Muslim Conquest of 640. There exists evidence of a Mediterranean trade in a single passage in the life of St. John the Almsgiver (Ioannes III Eleemon), Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between 610-621, in which reference is made to a vessel sailing to Alexandria from Britain with a cargo of tin, doubtless come from Cornwall or Somerset.

King observes that the kind of asceticism associated with the Desert Fathers was especially congenial to the Irish but refers to Dom Henri Leclercq’s suggestion that Celtic monasticism was directly derived from Egypt, as an “unsubstantiated hypothesis”. No serious historian, however, would deny that first-hand knowledge of the Desert Fathers was brought directly to the South of Gaul by St. John Cassian and that the links between the British and Gallican churches were especially strong at this period. King nevertheless admits that the grouping together of several small churches within a cashel or fortified enclosure seems to support Leclercq’s view.

King mentions an Ogham inscription on a stone near St. Olan’s Well in the parish of Aghabulloge, County Cork, which scholars interpret as reading: ‘Pray for Olan the Egyptian.’ Professor Stokes tells us5 about the Irish monk Dicuil, who around 825 wrote his Liber de Mensure orbis terre describing the pyramids as well as an ancient precursor of the Suez Canal. It would seem that Egypt was often visited by pilgrims to the Holy Land. Stokes instances the Saltair Na Rann, an anthology of biblical poems attributed to Oengus the Culdee, but containing the sixth or seventh century Book of Adam and Eve, composed in Egypt and known in no other European country except Ireland.

King also notes that one of the commonest names for townlands or parishes is Disert or ‘Desert’: a solitary place in which anchorites were established. Presumably the same etymology gives us the Scottish Dysart, just north of Kirkcaldy, and the Welsh Dyserth, to the south of Prestatyn ? This would then present a consistent picture common to Celtic Christianity. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, an early ninth century monastic bishop of Clonenagh (Co. Offaly) and later of Tallaght, has a litany invoking ‘Seven monks of Egypt in Disert Uilaig, I invoke unto my aid, through Jesus Christ.’ [Morfesseor do manchaib Egipr(e) in disiurt Uilaig]. The Antiphonary of Bangor (dating from between 680-691) also contains the text:

” … Domus deliciis plena Super petram constructa Necnon vinea vera Ex Aegypto transducta …”

which is translated as:

” … House full of delight Built on the rock And indeed true vine Translanted from Egypt …”

Providence undoubtedly put me in touch with Fr. Feargal Patrick McGrady, priest of Ballymena, County Antrim in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor. As well as being a native of Downpatrick (the burial place of St. Patrick), Father Feargal is enthusiastic about the Eastern churches and holds His Holiness Pope Shenouda in high esteem. He was delighted to assist with my enquiries and very soon made contacts with local historians, who are the real source of the information we need.

Dr. Cahal Dallat, Genealogist and Historical Consultant, of Ballycastle, County Antrim, identified Disert Ilidh or Uilaigh with Dundesert, near Crumlin, county Antrim, which is to the north-west of Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, between Belfast International Airport and Templepatrick.

Mr. Bobbie Burns, a local historian living in Crumlin, was another link in the chain. He produced a report in the Belfast Telegraph of 13th July 1936 under the headline “Unique Once Famous Ulster Church: Neglected Crumlin Ruins”, which showed the ruins of the medieval church built on the site of an earlier shrine. The local historical group is taking a renewed interest in the site and the local Protestant landowner has given permission for them to come and go freely to the site. It is hoped that they might obtain a grant to restore the dilapidated ruins but they are excited by its more ancient and possible Coptic connections. The site is approached by a path along the side of a grazing field 200-300 metres from Poplar Road. It is on the steep bank of the Crumlin River, which is a large free-flowing river, but is more than 100 metres from the water. Access is easy in dry weather, but not pleasant after heavy rain. The terrain inside the enclosure is very rough. The ground is strewn with boulders which have either fallen or been removed from the medieval walls. Parts of the medieval walls, in places three feet thick and covered in ivy, survive on the east (or gable) and south sides. The east wall contains two arched recesses or sedilia, now only about four feet in height but probably much higher if their foundations were cleared of the extensive in-fill of stones and earth. The gable rises to around thirty feet in height but a number of stones have already been removed and were any more to go it would be undermined and likely to collapse. What remains of the wall at the other end is much lower. It is likely that the whole structure would have been removed long ago but for the difficulties of dislodging stone from the walls and the problem of transportation to the road.

We are grateful for the efforts of these local enthusiasts for having preserved these ancient ruins and look forward to making further discoveries about the last resting place of the seven monks of Egypt.

Patrick Patrick and Coptic Christianity

The Egyptian "Coptic" Orthodox Church was one of the first established Christian Churches, together with the Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch. In the first centuries of Christianity, the Egyptian Church was very active and was working to spread Christianity, beyond Egypt. Egyptian monks and laymen, were everywhere. This was well documented by historians and the history of the church.

The Connection to France

A community of Coptic monks went to Gaul where they founded a community on an island called "Lerins" in the Mediterranean Sea . The island was nearGaul.

David Marshall, Ph.D. of the University of Hull, England, has written a book which discusses the strong connection between the St. Patrick and the Coptic Monks in Lerins.

In "Liturgics" Fr. Dmitri Ross, OSJ . SSBM. MA. Th. L. EM; discussed the Celtic Church. Fr. Dmiti Ross, of St. Dunstan of Canterbury Orthodox Parish, Cromwell, New Zealand, also has written of how monasticism strongly influenced the Celtic Church and was a reason for its quick success. Ross tells how monastisicism came to the Celtic Church from the Egyptian Church, "Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria". The connection came through Gaul,( France), where a good number of Egyptian monks were living including those in the Monastery at Lerins. Coptic Christianity

The Egyptian "Coptic" Orthodox Church was one of the first established Christian Churches, together with the Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch. In the first centuries of Christianity, the Egyptian Church was very active and was working to spread Christianity, beyond Egypt. Egyptian monks and laymen, were everywhere. This was well documented by historians and the history of the church.

The Connection to France

A community of Coptic monks went to Gaul where they founded a community on an island called "Lerins" in the Mediterranean Sea . The island was nearGaul.

David Marshall, Ph.D. of the University of Hull, England, has written a book which discusses the strong connection between the St. Patrick and the Coptic Monks in Lerins.

In "Liturgics" Fr. Dmitri Ross, OSJ . SSBM. MA. Th. L. EM; discussed the Celtic Church. Fr. Dmiti Ross, of St. Dunstan of Canterbury Orthodox Parish, Cromwell, New Zealand, also has written of how monasticism strongly influenced the Celtic Church and was a reason for its quick success. Ross tells how monastisicism came to the Celtic Church from the Egyptian Church, "Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria". The connection came through Gaul,( France), where a good number of Egyptian monks were living including those in the Monastery at Lerins.

Patrick and Coptic Christianity

The Egyptian "Coptic" Orthodox Church was one of the first established Christian Churches, together with the Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch. In the first centuries of Christianity, the Egyptian Church was very active and was working to spread Christianity, beyond Egypt. Egyptian monks and laymen, were everywhere. This was well documented by historians and the history of the church.

The Connection to France

A community of Coptic monks went to Gaul where they founded a community on an island called "Lerins" in the Mediterranean Sea . The island was nearGaul.

David Marshall, Ph.D. of the University of Hull, England, has written a book which discusses the strong connection between the St. Patrick and the Coptic Monks in Lerins.

In "Liturgics" Fr. Dmitri Ross, OSJ . SSBM. MA. Th. L. EM; discussed the Celtic Church. Fr. Dmiti Ross, of St. Dunstan of Canterbury Orthodox Parish, Cromwell, New Zealand, also has written of how monasticism strongly influenced the Celtic Church and was a reason for its quick success. Ross tells how monastisicism came to the Celtic Church from the Egyptian Church, "Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria". The connection came through Gaul,( France), where a good number of Egyptian monks were living including those in the Monastery at Lerins.

Coptic Support

It is good to read of coptic presence and support at the Anglican Global South conference in Singapore, especially on St Mark's Day.

Remarks and Observations from the Coptic Orthodox Church by Bishop Anba Suriel, 23rd April 2010

First of all I wish to thank you very much for the warm hospitality that I have received from you all. You made me truly feel comfortable and at home amongst brethren. I wish to thank our host His Grace Archbishop John Chew and all the support he has given to the small Coptic community in Singapore over the years. To all the organizers, the ladies who cooked the delicious food for us, the photographers, those who looked after the transport and indeed everyone that made our stay enjoyable and comfortable.

First of all I wish to thank you very much for the warm hospitality that I have received from you all. You made me truly feel comfortable and at home amongst brethren. I wish to thank our host His Grace Archbishop John Chew and all the support he has given to the small Coptic community in Singapore over the years. To all the organizers, the ladies who cooked the delicious food for us, the photographers, those who looked after the transport and indeed everyone that made our stay enjoyable and comfortable.

I want to thank all the speakers for their well prepared and thought provoking presentations that gave us so much to ponder upon throughout the week.

I must say that this week has been a great learning experience for me to understand the struggles and pain of the orthodox Anglicans of the Global South. Every morning as I prayed alongside with you, I asked the Lord to give you wisdom, to unite you and strengthen you that you may uphold the truth of the Scriptures and witness to it with great boldness, without fear and at the same time with the love that our Lord has taught us. A love that does not fear to speak the truth to power.

As Bishop Rennis Ponniah (and I wish to thank His Grace for a very inspirational and spiritual Bible study expounded with great passion) mentioned yesterday that “An army of sheep led by a lion is more powerful than an army of lions led by a sheep.” I really pray that you lions here, the primates of each of the provinces of the Global South will stand united with one accord and say, “no to ordination of homosexuals, no to gay marriage, no to such immorality, and that it is time to purify the sanctuary of the Lord from this abomination that causes our God to suffer, bleed and be crucified again everyday!” You are martyrs without the shedding of blood because you are upholding the teaching of the Gospel handed down once and for all to the apostles.

I want to share with you a saying of Saint Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism. This great Egyptian saint said, “There will come a day when the mad people will look at the normal people and say, ‘Look at these mad people because they are not like us.’” I think this prophecy has been fulfilled in our day and age. Abnormality has become the new normality. Certain factions of the Christian Church are becoming desensitized to the truth of the Gospel. I call it the frog in the kettle syndrome. If you place a frog in a kettle at room temperature the frog will be comfortable, if you raise the temperature slightly, the frog will quickly adapt. If you continue to raise the temperature very gradually the frog will continue to adapt to its new environment until finally the water is boiling and the frog is fried inside the kettle and loses its life. This is what today’s Post Modern society is doing; it is pushing the limit of immorality further and further till it tries to make some lose their spiritual life and die.

Some of you may have read the article that was left in the foyer titled, “What if Elijah came to Synod?” It concerns my encounter with the Anglican Synod of Australia in 2001, I will not read it out but at that Synod I was hissed and booed at by the majority of the Houses of bishops, priests and laity. Why? Because I was not politically correct, and I will continue not to be politically correct till my last breath defending this Gospel of the Good News that our Lord was crucified for to bring us salvation. My brethren, I believe it is time for the Anglican Global South to make a strong stand; there is no room here for political correctness and niceties. Your young people and indeed many ecumenical partners are watching closely the outcome of this Encounter. Will a strong message go out to the rest of the Anglican Communion to repent and return to God and to return to His Holy commandments to be holy and perfect? How can anyone live a holy and perfect life whilst living an abominable lifestyle such as homosexuality and be ordained to serve God???

For example, someone like Gene Robinson who was a married man and had a daughter. He divorced his wife and left his daughter to live this unthinkable life of abomination! Is this the holiness and perfection and the image and likeness of God??? How then can such a person be ordained to the highest level of authority in a Church, the episcopate? What example does he give to young people, what long term effects will such a decision by The Episcopal Church USA (TEC) have on the North American Episcopalians in generations to come?

I want to give you one example of how abnormality is becoming the new normality:

While homosexual activity is strong in Hollywood, the education system is being overrun by radical homosexual activists who want to begin indoctrination in the elementary school system, middle schools and high schools. In Massachusetts, where a Court recently found that the homosexuals have a constitutional right to get married, teachers and counselors receive special state-funded training for dealing with gay and lesbian students, and libraries are stocked with book and films on homosexual issues.

For example, in Framingham, Massachusetts, students were forced to answer a questionnaire that openly challenged the validity of their heterosexuality. Here are some questions:

1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
2. When did you first decide you were heterosexual?
3. Is it possible heterosexuality is a phase you will grow out of? [Of course, the flip-side of the question is not asked: Is it possible that homosexuality is phase you will grow out of.]
4. Is it possible you are heterosexual because you fear the same sex?
5. If you have never slept with anyone of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn’t prefer it?
6. To whom have you disclosed your heterosexuality? How did they react?
7. Why are heterosexuals so blatant, always making a spectacle of their heterosexuality? Why can’t they just be who they are, not flaunt their sexuality by kissing in public, wearing wedding rings, etc?

Notice how heterosexuality is portrayed as the abnormal behavior? If you substituted the words “homosexuality” and “opposite sex” into many of the questions, there would be a howl of protests from radical homosexual activists and their allies.

And they keep spouting these evil doctrines because they want to corrupt the world. One professor said: “Today’s heresy often becomes tomorrow’s orthodoxy.” Well, let me say that: the orthodoxy of God will never allow for these heresies.

That is why TEC allows a heretic like Bishop Spong to promulgate his poison all over the world and publish books advocating a cocktail of heresies ranging from denying the divinity of Christ to a complete and shocking attack on the inspired Word of God. And yet at the same time they depose an orthodox Episcopal bishop for upholding the true faith of the Scriptures that marriage is between one man and one woman!!! I cannot even begin to get comprehend that.

I was listening carefully to the debate on the communiqué yesterday and I think it is important for you to perhaps in your future encounter to not only speak more about covenant but also about conciliarity. What does it mean for a Church to be conciliar in nature. You have the structure of a hierarchical Church, laity, priests, bishops and archbishops, but is it actually practiced? Perhaps if some studies can be made, historical studies on the conciliar nature of the church and to see it from the Orthodox perspective may be helpful to you in setting up a viable structure for the Anglican Global South. It is just a suggestion for your consideration. Conciliarity of the Church as understood by the Orthodox has no room for the Gene Robinsons and Spongs of this world!

• I would like to suggest that multimedia and television/satellite channels should play an important role for the Anglican Global South. In the Coptic Orthodox Church we have found that our worldwide satellite TV channels have had a great impact on promulgating Orthodox Christian teachings. Through such channels you can teach the upcoming generations of children and youth about the proper understanding on marriage according to Biblical teachings for example.

• You may put in place special curriculums in your schools and Sunday Schools and youth programs to counter act the erroneous teachings of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada.

• Youth – His Holiness Pope Shenouda III said, “A Church without youth is a Church without a future.” And the flipside is true also, “Youth without a Church are youth without a future.” Through National/International Festivals for children and youth having Spiritual themes the proper teachings of the Scriptures can be taught and promoted.

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in his address to Anglican clergy in 1990 on the issue of homosexuality begins by saying, “The first matter is the holiness of the Church. In the holy Creed we say, ‘We believe in one holy Church.’ This holy Church is Apostolic and Universal. In the Apostolic age, all the believers were called saints. A believer in the language of the Bible means a saint, because we are sanctified with faith, sanctified by baptism, sanctified in the holy Chrism, sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We are not merely human beings – we are temples of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is abiding in us…”

I really pray that the Anglican Global South will continue to uphold this holiness of the Church. Please do not lose hope, be strong and be united together through prayer and faith. Let no one shake you or rattle you and know that your brothers and sisters in the Coptic Orthodox Church are praying for you and your provinces and we stand firmly beside you in this upward battle that you are fighting. Darkness cannot overcome the light of the Gospel, be of good cheer the Lord tells us because in the world we will find tribulation but, He has overcome the world!

May God strengthen you all in your mission and ministry and I also ask you to pray for my Church and for the persecution she suffers on a daily basis. Thanks very much and glory be to God forever. Amen.

St Mary of Egypt

Yesterday's gospel in catholic liturgy is usually the woman taken in adultery:

On Saint Mary of Egypt

"O Lord, open Thou my lips. and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise"

Today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, is for the Orthodox Church the Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt - she whose story has been called "an icon in words of the theological truth of repentancc" (Sr. Bcnedicta Ward). We have heard this story many times. It is a simple one: the sinful woman becomes the penitent, and the least worthy is revealed as God's chosen treasure. It offers us familiar words about the power of faith, and familiar inspiration in the heroic actions of St. Mary herself. But it is, above all, a disturbing story. In the end. it haunts me far more often than it comforts me. Today. I would like to explore where the heart of this story lies, and why it is given to us especially to remember it on the Fifth Sunday of Lent each year.

Fr Michael Harper RIP

(I have known, and respected Michael, since first meeting him at his Harley Street flat over London MGC when he was a curate at All Souls. I was still a Methodist minister attending the meetings of the World Methodist Council at Westminster. One of my lay men up in Knaresborough had challenged me to make contact and find out from him more about the developing charismatic movement in the English context).

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The Very Revd Michael Harper, an archpriest in the Antiochian Ortho dox Church, who died on 6 January, aged 78, was a former Anglican who had been a leading figure in the Charismatic revival. From 1984 to 1995, he had been a Canon of Chichester Cathedral.

Latterly, he referred to the Church of England as his “foster mother”, after he was reordained in 1995 under the Patriarchate of Antioch. Women’s ordination had been the “last straw” for him and his wife, Jeanne, in their growing concerns about the direction that Anglicanism was taking; and, from 1993 to 1995, he had been president of the Pil grimage to Orthodoxy group of Anglican priests seeking to go over with groups of lay people.

A deanery was set up in the UK, and he was appointed its first Dean. In 2002, he was elected a director of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, and he served as a representative of the Patriarch at consultations with Anglicans and at the present Archbishop of Canter bury’s enthronement. He was made an archpriest in 2005.

Michael Claude Harper was born in the London parish of All Souls’, Langham Place, where, almost three decades later, he was to serve six years as a curate. His mother was a beautician with a large cosmetics company, and his father was a busi nessman whose hobby was racing horses.

After studying at St Faith’s School, Cambridge, and Gresham’s School, Holt, Michael Harper read law and theology at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. During his first year, he came under the influence of the Christian Union, and had a vivid conversion experi ence at a eucharist in King’s College Chapel.

In 1952, he offered himself for ordination, and after two years at Ridley Hall took up a three-year curacy at St Barnabas’s, Clapham Common, in London, where he mar ried Jeanne, a student at the Royal Academy of Music whom he had met at a university mission in Norwich in 1951.

An examining chaplain, Donald Coggan, set him a deacon’s essay on “The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit”; but it was not until he was serving as a chaplain to the Oxford Street stores under the Revd John Stott that he had the Charismatic experience that was to change the character of his ministry.

This arose “out of the blue” one weekend from a reading of the Epistle to the Ephesians. All week­end, he felt waves of wisdom and knowledge pouring in upon him — an experience that he described in one of his 18 books, None Can Guess. After this, prayers seemed to be answered in a new way; worship be came vital and real; and he experi enced talking in tongues, an intenser awareness of Christ, and a new ability to help people.

He stayed on at All Souls’ for a while, but it was not a Charismatic parish, and this changed spiritual outlook absorbed more and more of his energies. After nine years in as sistant curacies, he left to found the Fountain Trust.

He was its first director from 1964 to 1975, founding in 1966 and edit ing Renewal magazine, and organis ing an international Charis matic conference at Guildford in 1971. This was a five-day event at the university and cathedral, with 450 resident participants and 250 day visitors, at which Dominican and Orthodox priests mingled with Anglican religious, and many young people and others from 20 countries and 14 denominations.

It was to be the first of many con ferences that he organised or ad dressed; and it was on a small scale in comparison with those of 40,000 to 50,000 to which he was later to speak in South Bend, Indiana, and Rimini in Italy. His ecumenical contacts were wide, encompassing both the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches, and he was widely and highly respected.

He initiated a meeting of Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans in Rome in 1984; and was a member of the executive of the Singapore Consultation, which in 1989 became the International Charismatic Con sultation on World Evangelization (ICCOWE). He was its chairman until 2000.

Coptic Christmas

As we are ending our Christmas celebrations my Coptic friends at Langdale End are just beginning theirs:

The 7th of Jan. or Dec. The 25th and Why? :
Every year, according to the Coptic calendar, our Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates "Christmas" in the 29th of "Kiahk"-a Coptic month-which is simultaneous to the 7th of Jan. while all of us is wondering saying: Why the Eastern "Christmas" differs from the Western "Christmas"?

Till the year 1581 A.D the time of "Christmas" in the 29th of "Kiahk", a Coptic month, was simultaneous to the 25th of Dec. but a sudden change happened when the Pope of Rome "Christmas" in the 29th of "Kiahk" became in the 4th of Jan. then the difference began to exceed 3 days every 400 years .By the year 1800 till 1899 the difference became 12 days where "Christmas" was celebrated in the 6th of Jan. while recently the difference became 13 days from 1900 till 2099 where "Christmas" is and will be celebrated in the 7th of Jan.

Christmas in Egypt
© 2002 by Maria Hubert von Staufer

he Coptic Christmas follows the old calendar, and takes place on the 6th January. The Coptic Church is Catholic. It was founded by St Mark who spent much time in Egypt, and it is said that he wrote his Gospel there.

The Coptic Christian Rite is very old. Being a smaller Church, they have had little need to move so much with the times, so much of their liturgy is unchanged, and a little strange to the Western ear. The clashing of small finger cymbals throughout parts of the Holy Mass was quite strange for me the first time I heard it. They also go in for more fasts than we do in the West. Fasting is supposed to purify the body and lead the mind to spiritual things. It was more common in the Western Church several hundred years ago than now, when the only fasts we observe are those for Good Friday and Ash Wednesday in remembrance of our Lords Crucifixion.

But one touch I warmed to was that children are admitted to the Eucharist whilst still babes in arms, and it was delightful to see a young child of no more than six months, being spoon fed the consecrated bread and wine, and the priest carefully wiping the baby's mouth afterwards! Coptic priests marry, as do most of the Eastern Catholic clergy, and I enjoyed seeing them with their families at the various parish excursions. It somehow brought family life closer into the parish.

Persecution at home is one of the reasons we have a Coptic Monastery and Parishes in England:

At least six Coptic Christians and a security official have been killed in a drive-by shooting outside a church in southern Egypt, officials say.

The shooting came as worshippers left the church in Naj Hammadi after a midnight mass on Coptic Christmas Eve.

A car pulled up and gunfire was sprayed into the crowd.

Officials say they suspect the attack is in revenge for the rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man in the town in November.

There were five days of riots in the town, with Christian properties torched and damaged, following the rape.

Police said the chief attacker in Wednesday's shooting had been identified but no arrests had yet been made.

Tensions in the area are said to be high, with reports of clashes.

The church's Bishop Kirollos said there had been threats in the days leading up to the Christmas Eve service - a reason he decided to end his mass an hour earlier than normal.

"For days, I had expected something to happen on Christmas Eve," he told the Associated Press.

He said he left the church minutes before the attack.

"A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door," he said. "By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine-gun shots."

Two Muslim passers-by were among 10 people reportedly injured in the attack.

Naj Hammadi is 40 miles (64km) from Luxor, southern Egypt's biggest city.

Coptic Christians - who make up 10% of Egypt's 80 million population - have complained of harassment and discrimination.

Some Copts argue that previous attacks on them have gone unpunished or have drawn light sentences.

Most Christians in Egypt are Copts - Christians descended from the ancient Egyptians.

Their church split from the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 451AD because of a theological dispute over the nature of Christ, but is now, on most issues, doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox church.

Sergii of Russia

The Trinity Monastery of St Sergii

5km to the northeast of Moscow lies the town of Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk in the Soviet era). Although it is nowadays an industrial centre with a population of over 100,000, its fame rests on the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergii (a Lavra is the highest rank of Orthodox monastery, and there are only four in all Russia), the Russian Orthodox equivalent of the Vatican, which has a complex of medieval buildings to rival those of the Kremlin.

The monastery is named after St. Sergii of Radonezh, a 14^th century monk from Rostov whose pious, ascetic existence attracted numerous followers to the hermit's retreat he had established in the forests around Moscow. The wooden monastery built by Sergii and his followers was razed by the Tartars shortly after his death, but his tomb survived and, in 1422, the year of his canonization, work began on the construction of the Trinity Cathedral.

This imposing, white-stone building, with unusual sloping walls and gold dome, became a blue-print for Russian church architecture and the inspiration for the Kremlin's Cathedral of the Assumption. In 1458 a brick chapel was added to house the tomb of Sergii's successor, Nikon of Radonezh. Inside the Cathedral there is a silver shrine containing the relics of St. Sergii, and an iconostasis with many works by Andrei Rublev.

ST. SERGIUS OF RADONEZH

(c.1314 - 1392)

Feast Days: July 5th & September 25th

St. Sergius of Radonezh is the patron saint of Russia, father of northern Russian monasticism, and founder of theHoly Trinity Monastery (see the article, Sergiev Posad). Few people have had such a profound influence on Russian life as St. Sergius and his monastery. He was a great mystic and ascetic, whose life spanned much of the 14^th century, at the time that Russia was occupied by the Mongol Tartars. Even as a child the future saint was devoted to the Holy Trinity and sought the monastic life. After the repose of his parents, in 1334 the 20-year-old youth went into the deep forest, about 45 miles northeast of Moscow, to seek spiritual solitude as in a desert. He lived a very austere ascetic life, marked by extreme poverty, hard physical labor, and profound humility and simplicity. After a few years of solitude in the forest, disciples started to gather around him, and Russia wasforever changed. Through the labors of St. Sergius’ disciples, the northern forest wilderness blossomed with numerous monasteries, which were to play a very significant role in the subsequent life of Russia (and America). In St. Sergius’ great humility, he rejected all honors: only reluctantly did he accept ordination as priest and appointment as abbot of his own monastery; and he flatly refused to accept the office of Metropolitan of Moscow. The many spiritual gifts granted to him include powerful and effective prayer, clairvoyance, spiritual direction, and numerous visions. He reposed in 1392.

St. Sergius’ church, monastery and life’s work were dedicated to the Holy Trinity (icon to the left). The Holy Trinity expresses the unity between the three Persons of the One God, and hence, also symbolizes the spiritual vision of the restoration of all things to their original unity, including Russia. St. Sergius recognized that the Russian Church and the Russian people were united, and that unification of Russia lands was required for their mutual well-being. Thus, with St. Sergius’ spiritual guidance and blessing, the Grand Prince of Moscow, St. Dimitri Donskoi, united the fragmented Russian principalities under Moscow’s leadership, and in 1380, defeated the Mongol Tartars. As a result, Moscow became the center of Russian life, and St. Sergius and his Holy Trinity Monastery have been looked to for guidance and support ever since.

St. Sergius’ original wooden Holy Trinity Church burnt down and was replaced in 1422 by a white stone church (photo to the left), for which St. Andrei Rublev (see theSaints' Lives article) did much of the iconographic work, including his most famousHoly Trinity icon (see the icon above). This icon is an eloquent expression and testimony to St. Sergius’ spiritual vision of the beauty of salvation.

In theprocess of building the stone church, St. Sergius’ relics were uncovered, and it was discovered that after 30 years, his relics remained incorrupt. His relics were placed in a reliquary in his Holy Trinity Church (photo to the right), readily accessible for veneration. Ever since the discovery of his incorrupt relics, untold numbers of healings and other miracles have occurred. Every day, all day long, pilgrims come and venerate St. Sergius’ relics, and are profoundly touched by being in St. Sergius’ presence.

Ecumenical Introductions

Yesterday I took a coptic monk friend to visit Wyedale Hall and Ampleforth before returning to spend the evening with them at the Langdale End monastery.

WYDALE HALL

Wydale Hall is a beautiful, large, gracious old house run by a small, dedicated and caring team as the Diocese of York's Retreat and Conference Centre.

The house is set in fourteen acres of formal gardens and woodlands, ideal for gentle strolls, one mile north of the A170 main Scarborough to Pickering road.

As well as the newly refurbished licensed bar and lounge, guests can relax, pray or work in a T.V sitting room, library, Conference Room and Chapel.

There are 32 warm and comfortable bedrooms with tea making facilities and en suite bathrooms.

There are panoramic views of the Vale of Pickering and of the distant Yorkshire Wolds from some rooms, while others enjoy sweeping views of the Hall's own gardens and grounds. There is one ground floor bedroom and a chairlift for ease of access to the first floor.

DIRECTIONS

Wydale Hall is 1 mile north of the A170 Scarborough to Thirsk road, between the villages of Brompton and Snainton.

The nearest train and bus services are at Scarborough or Seamer. There is a regular bus service (No 128) which passes the end of Wydale lane.


Wydale Hall
Brompton-by Sawdon
Scarborough
North Yorkshire
YO13 9DG.

01723 859270

retreat@wydale.org

The Abbey of St Laurence at Ampleforth is the largest Benedictine community in Britain. 78 men live according to the Rule of St Benedict, under an Abbot. It is a vowed life of prayer andwork ('ora et labora' is one of the mottos of the Benedictines) which we undertake together, by God's grace, as brothers.

We are situated in an attractive valley on the southern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors national park.