Royal Hours and Great Vespers
On Holy Friday morning, His Eminence, Metropolitan Silouan, assisted by Fr Dmitry and Fr Dcn George, celebrated Royal Hours and Great Vespers with taking down of the the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Cross. You can see the photos from the service here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1td0ynDJhsv2LyKrAORa0trS3uckFs2IZ?usp=sharing
Lamentations Service
On Holy Friday evening, we celebrated the Festal Orthros of Holy Saturday, singing the Lamentations before the Epitaphion.
Two services were offered in our community: Fr Michel led the celebration in Harrow, while His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan presided over the service in Kensington, assisted by Fr Dmitry and Fr Dcn George. Both churches were full of faithful!
- Photos from Harrow here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tZIItnMqPVitdW8G6-pp8B7Tc6-xN60E?usp=sharing
- Photos from Kensington here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UiQZ7freEzYb24fxq1ETkc_1xIIRHK9I?usp=sharing
The ladies of our parishes put in great effort and love in preparing the beautiful flowers and decorating the Epitaphia. God bless them for their work!
At the end of the service in Kensington, Sayedna Silouan offered a short homily, reflecting on the meaning of Holy Saturday for us all. On this day, through the Lamentations service, the procession of Christ’s burial, and the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning, we remember our Lord’s love for us: that He descended even into Hell to call out to those there, to preach the Gospel, to invite them to believe in Him and receive eternal life and resurrection. The lowest parts of the earth heard the voice of God!
But the answer is for each and every one of us to make individually: Do we want to be with Christ? If so, we must show love and mercy, repent of our sins, and partake of the Holy Communion: the Body and Blood of Christ. He offered Himself so that we may live. It is hard to be saved outside the Church. The faith and Sacraments of the Church are there for us. What remains is our will to be with God and to live according to His commandments.