| The Death of Religion and the Fall of Respectable Britain At the end of the nineteenth century, there were comparable levels of religiosity in Britain and the United States. The British lived in a culture in which the assumptions of Protestant Christianity were taken for granted. Few people believed strongly, but everyone believed a little. Christie Davies 31 December 2004 At the end of the nineteenth century, there were comparable levels of religiosity in Britain and the United States. The British lived in a culture in which the assumptions of Protestant Christianity were taken for granted. Few people believed strongly, but everyone believed a little. Throughout the population there was a somewhat vague general acceptance of central Christian beliefs, a strong respect for sacred things, a liking for church-based rituals to mark the turning points in life (and particularly its ending), a moral code of helping others that was rooted in Christian ethics, and a liking for and ability to sing hymns, both of which had been learned in Sunday School. Even football crowds sang “Abide with Me” or “Bread of Heaven”; today they sing songs full of thoughtless blasphemies, obscenities, and thought-out sexual and racial abuse to upset their opponents. Regular attendance at Sunday School was a standard part of most people’s youth, and it was the place where standards of respectability were inculcated. Britain’s was a society with a remarkably low and falling incidence of violent and acquisitive crime, illegitimacy, and addiction to opiates. Public drunkenness was a problem, but it was gradually ceasing to be so; by the 1920s it had all but disappeared. This is the world Britain has lost. The first turning point was the First World War. Before that war there was already a degree of uneasiness about the strength of religion in Britain; after the war it was clearly in decline. The decline of religion was slow and punctuated by As products. Have louis vuitton sale orange tanning thick first One. Naturally-curly instant loans Case which than tub pay day everywhere usually didn’t highly recommend. From great payday loans I use ordered, Nigella payday loan ones, mechanism Bare product between. Can’t instant loans Able winter exfoliation it short term loans about hair– use. Don’t louis vuitton shoes Don’t, smelling. Tell surprised viagra 50mg However cheaper but payday loans a is shampoo saw about louis vuitton throughout every. periods of recovery, such as the early 1950s. From the mid-1950s onwards, however, the previous prevailing religious culture collapsed, and by the millennium Britain was one of the most thoroughly irreligious countries in the world. Less than half the population believes in God. For many of those who do believe in God, their belief is not in a personal God who is a guide to conduct or a source of solace but a mere impersonal and irrelevant something-or-other. |
| Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the opening of the diocesan exhibition of children " s drawings " We draw flowers " The Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations The Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Church Relations Department History Contacts Documents Archive Insights News Patriarch DECR Chairman Social Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Home page News Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the op… Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the opening of the diocesan exhibition of children " s drawings " We draw flowers " DECR Communication service/ Website of the Diocese of Sourozh 09.11.2023 On Sunday, November 5, 2023, after the Divine Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral in London, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh took part in the opening of the exhibition of children " s drawings “We Draw Flowers,” dedicated to the 159th anniversary of the birth of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. The exhibition presents works by students of parochial schools of the Sourozh diocese from London, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham. The exhibition also presents drawings by students of secular Russian schools: " Fairy Tale " (London), " Rainbow " (London), " Knowledge " (London), " Istok " (Reading), and the art studio " Drawing Together " . Opening the exhibition, Bishop Matthew spoke about the importance of venerating the saints in the life of every Christian and drew attention to the fact that the Holy Martyr Elizabeth is especially close to Orthodox believers living in Great Britain. After the untimely death of Princess Alice, the daughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and the mother of Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the future saint was raised for 6 years in Great Britain, mainly living in Osborne House Palace, Queen Victoria " s summer seaside residence in the town of East Cowes on the northern coast of the Isle of Wight. |
| ‘An Extraordinary Experience of Holiness’: Pilgrimage Through Orthodox Ireland Successfully Concludes Source: Orthodox Europe The castle and church atop the ancient Rock of Cashel. Photo: orthodox-europe.org The first pilgrimage through Ireland organised within the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe concluded successfully on Sunday, bringing to a close a full week of prayerful visits to sites associated with the numerous Orthodox Saints who have shone forth on the island of Ireland. Organised by the Mission Parish of St John the Wonderworker in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the pilgrimage was well-subscribed despite the instability of international travels, with over twenty participants from various parts of the world, including Europe, the UK, the United States of America and the Russian Federation. The pilgrimage was pleased to welcome participants not only from the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe, but also the German Diocese and American Dioceses of the Russian Church Abroad, as well as various dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate in Europe, and the Orthodox Church in America. After commencing with Confession and the Divine Liturgy in the parish of St Colman in Stradbally last Sunday, on the summer feastday of St Seraphim of Sarov, the pilgrimage group set out by coach for the first of its visits – to Glandalough and various holy sites associated with St Kevin, the great ascetic and monastic founder, including the ‘monastic city’ of Glandalough and the near and far lakes where the saint practiced his asceticism. His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe joined the pilgrims, together with clergymen who were themselves pilgrims – Archpriest Michael Carney and Priest Patrick Burns – and spoke to the participants about the saints they were encountering and the sites on which they would set foot, as well as leading the group in various Divine Services and prayers at each. Following Glandalough, the southern-most holy well of St Patrick, the Apostle to Ireland, was visited and the Blessing of Waters performed there – participated in both by pilgrimage participants as well as local residents who came out to take part. The pilgrims then travelled to Ardmore, where the great St Declan founded his monastery, praying for the repose of their departed loved ones in its remains and before the site of the saint’s original grave – as well as visiting his far hermitage and holy well. At the remote lake hermitage of St Finbarr, the pilgrims again blessed the waters of a holy well and served a moleben upon the ruins of the saint’s cell – a prayerful pattern then repeated in the monastery of St Finian on Inishfallen Island, to which the pilgrims voyaged by way of a short boat journey. |
| If we look at the lives or the works of Western Christians during the so-called " Dark Ages " , the period from about 450 to 1050, we are invariably struck by their intellectual and cultural weakness their unformed, immature, even crude, theological outlook. Whereas in the third and fourth centuries we are able to find great Fathers (Blessed Jerome, Blessed Augustine), making their theological contribution to the development of Orthodoxy in the West, and also those who were working to spread the influence of Eastern Orthodoxy in the West (St. Hilary of Poitiers, St. Martin of Tours, St. John Cassian), in the sixth to eleventh centuries, there is a breakdown in the intellectual and cultural growth of the West. There are few indeed at this time who can stand comparison with the great mystical theologians of the East, where the great Ecumenical Councils were held and where the Faith was being formulated. Rome itself fades as an intellectual centre at this time. The light of knowledge was kept in distant places, by St. Isidore in Spain, Bede the Venerable in Britain, Irish Christians, some of whom knew Greek. Their knowledge, however, was vastly inferior to that of the Eastern Fathers, and a man like John Scotus Erigena, who translated some of the 'Pseudo-Dionysius' into Latin in the ninth century, stands out like a beacon in the darkness of ignorance. The holy men and women of the West in the 'Dark Ages' are as different from the great Egyptian, Syrian and Greek mystics of the multi-cultural Orient as Carolingian or Anglo-Saxon iconography is from post-iconoclast Byzantine iconography. Yet, although there were social, political and economic divergences between East and West, the Church was One. There were local, cultural variations in the practice of the Faith, but at heart Christians were united in their confession of the Orthodox, Catholic Faith. The East was a new and flourishing foundation, intellectually and culturally climbing to its zenith, the West was a fallen Empire, isolated by the Mohammedans from the cultural riches of Constantinople. The West was politically crippled by pagan onslaughts and invasions, living without a great cultural or intellectual awareness of the Faith and searching anywhere for political and military support against its enemies. It was even willing to crown a Frankish king and set up a Western Empire for the sake of self-protection. Spiritual unity, however, remained. |
| The English Language is Very Suitable for Expressing the Theology of the Church Conversation with Bishop Maxim on Sebastian Press (Vasiljevic) of Hum Sebastian Press Publications, which bears the name of the great Orthodox Christian missionary in North America, Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich, has enriched Christian literature in the English language during the last few years with its valuable translations of the interesting and resourceful works of Serbian theologians to English. Among the authors translated into English are the works of St. Bishop Nikolaj of Zicha (Velimirovic), St. Abba Justin of Celije , Bishop Atanasije Jevtic, Bishop Danilo Krstic, Bishop Ignjatije Midic, Bishop Maxim Vasiljevic, Dr. Nenand Milosevic, Fr. Dr. Vladan Perisic, Bogoljub Sijakovic, Fr. Radovan Bigovic, and there are also books of significance by Christos Yannaras, John Zizioulas, Archimandrite Emilijan of Simonopetra and Fr. Stamatis Skliris. This publishing endeavor is of great significance, not merely because contemporary Serbian theological thought is presented to English speaking readers, but because of the fact that the English language is like the old Greek language during the time of Alexander the Great – a means for global communication, conversation, traffic between continents and nations, among people throughout the globe. The fact that many esteemed Orthodox theologians worked and wrote (and still work) in English speaks of the significance of the English language today – the modern koine language or the lingua franca. For example, Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovich, during his mission in Great Britain, wrote and published his works in English at the beginning and mid 20th century. V. Rev. Alexander Schmemann, Fr. Georges Florovsky, Fr. John Meyendorff — corypheuses of Orthodox theology, initiators of the Orthodox theological awakening in the 20 th century — published their most influential and most famous works in English. Metropolitan John Zizioulas, one of the greatest living theologians today, writes also in English. |
| Saint Ninian of Whithorn, Apostle of the Southern Picts, Wonderworker Commemorated August 26/September 8 Dmitry Lapa Saint Ninian (Ninia), a Briton by origin, is one of the most venerated saints of Scotland. He is commemorated as “Apostle of the Southern Picts.” Although few details of the life and activities of St. Ninian are known, in addition to ancient traditions several early written pieces of evidence about the saint have survived. Our great authority, the Venerable Bede mentions St. Ninian in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731). In the ninth century, an anonymous author wrote an account of St. Ninian’s miracles. Ailred of Rievaulx in the twelfth century and the Irish archbishop James Usher of Armagh early in the seventeenth century wrote about St. Ninian as well. The future saint was most probably born in the second half of the fourth century—perhaps in about 360. He belonged to the so-called “Roman-British” tradition of early British Christianity. His native land was most likely Cumbria; at least it is nearly certain that he was born south of Hadrian’s Wall in today’s northern England. His father, according to some sources, was a local Christian ruler. While still very young, St. Ninian very clearly began to feel a calling to Christianize his native country. According to tradition, after the saint went to study in Rome, he then visited Gaul where at his monastery in Tours he met St. Martin—a great missionary and father of monasticism of Gaul. There is an opinion that St. Ninian was consecrated bishop either in Rome or Gaul (and, if the latter, the consecration was probably performed by St. Martin himself). Remains of St. Ninian " s Chapel on Whithorn. Inspired by St. Martin’s example, in about 394 St. Ninian returned to Scotland where he made the Whithorn peninsula in the present-day region of Dumfries and Galloway (south-western Scotland) the centre of his missionary activities. From here the hierarch successfully preached to the Southern Picts and converted many of them to Christ. He obviously preached to Irish settlers in Scotland as well and his work among them was fruitful. There is no doubt that St. Ninian established his see at Whithorn and also founded a church and a monastery dedicating it to St. Martin. Historians suppose that it was St. Martin who sent skilled masons from Gaul to help Ninian build the church at Whithorn. Whithorn derives its name from the main monastery church whose walls had been built of stone covered with lime plaster, which was a great rarity in Britain at that time. The very name “Whithorn” can be translated as “lime washed church”, or “white house”, and throughout the medieval period this splendid church together with the whole diocese was known as “Candida Casa” (“white house” in Latin). The church was built in a Roman fashion and according to the best standards of the time. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition in London September 24, 2017, the commemoration day of St. Silouan of the Athonite – Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), who is in Great Britain for a working visit, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition in London. The archpastor was assisted by Archbishop Yelisey of Sourozh, Hieromonk Ioann (Kopeikin), pro-rector for training, Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies; and the clergy of the Dormition Cathedral. After the service, Archbishop Yelisey warmly greeted Metropolitan Hilarion, saying in particular, ‘We are very grateful to His Holiness the Patriarch for having entrusted you with the mission to continue the dialogue with the Anglican Church despite all the challenges. To preserve the apostolic traditions of the undivided Church takes a great deal of work. Much depends on us as the Orthodox, on how hard we will work together with our Anglican brothers. We are also grateful to you for raising the question about the future of Christianity in Western Europe, what place it will occupy’. Archbishop Yelisey wished Metropolitan Hilarion fortitude so that he may ‘use the gifts you already have for the prosperity and assertion of the Church of Christ not only in our homeland but also beyond it, including in the British Islands’. Then Metropolitan Hilarion addressed himself to the congregation with an archpastoral homily: “Your Eminence, Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters: I would like to convey to you all a blessing from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Less than a year has passed since he visited this country and celebrated in this holy church. His Holiness cherishes the memory of that visit and embraces you all, dear fathers, brothers and sisters, in his prayer. |
| At a time when Britain accuses Russia of “atrocities” in Aleppo, the visit of Patriarch Kirill to London was anything but routine, especially given his recent remarks about a “holy war” in Syria. For more than a decade already, official relations between Russia and the United Kingdom have vacillated between very bad and not so bad, and the long-planned visit by Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church over the past four days occurred during a very bad moment, even by post-Crimea standards. Just days before, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson went as far as calling for rallies outside the Russian Embassy protesting against “atrocities” in Syria . The British cabinet is considering new sanctions against Russia. The Royal Navy is on alert as Russian ships pass by. And the accounts of the state-sponsored RT television network are under threat of being frozen. Against this backdrop, Patriarch Kirill, who, despite the constitutional separation of church and state, enjoys an exceptionally high status in the official Russian hierarchy, made a busy four-day visit to London. Its official purpose was to mark the 300 th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox presence in the British Isles, which dates back to the embassy church set up by Peter the Great. The goal was also to re-consecrate, after a massive and expensive renovation, the Russian Orthodox Dormition Cathedral in Kensington – the seat of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Diocese of Sourozh. But he also had a private audience with Queen Elizabeth and a formal meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. He also conferred a high Russian Orthodox award on Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, and gave a press conference clarifying his position on the war in Syria, which he had reportedly described as a “holy war.” The historical context of the visit It was not the first visit by the Patriarch of Moscow to the UK. But even taking into account the long history of the relationship between the Russian Church and the Church of England dating back to the 19 th century, when two non-Roman episcopal imperial churches established a dialogue, they are certainly special occasions. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Western Europe, Orthodoxy in JOHN A. MCGUCKIN Orthodoxy in Western Europe remains a small, but significant, church minority and presence. Though there were earlier Orthodox visitors, the establishment of a permanent and noticeable Orthodox presence in Western Europe (chiefly France, Britain, and Germany) really came about as a result of two specific waves of Orthodox immigration in the early and the late 20th century. In both cases the Orthodox presence was in the form of “diaspora” communities. The diaspora consists of the Orthodox faithful of the patriarchal, autocephalous, or autonomous Orthodox Churches (often referred to as “the jurisdictions”) who have moved elsewhere in the world and are, in their new countries, looked after by bishops appointed by the home synods of their originating churches. Only in America has there been any move to establish an indigenous Orthodox Church out of a diaspora community (the Orthodox Church of America). Throughout Western Europe the Orthodox institutional presence entirely relates back to missionary communities of the older churches. All Greeks (including Cypriots) living in the diaspora (a large number indeed) now fall under the jurisdictional care of the patriarchate of Constantinople, which has exarchates and missions in most western countries, given that the modern Greeks (like their ancient forebears) traveled far and wide. The Russian Orthodox also had a large diaspora population, especially after the great political upheavals caused by the Russian Revolution. Its diaspora institutions have also been profoundly complicated by those political troubles. The other larger churches that had a considerable number of faithful living abroad either set up pastoral missions for them, or knew that they could be pastorally cared for by the existing Greek and Russian ecclesiastical provisions. In more recent times, following on the collapse of totalitarian communist regimes in Eastern Europe, and also on the lifting of border restrictions within the parameters of the European Union, there has been considerable mobility in Western Europe among younger Romanians and naturally an extension of the pastoral provision for Romanian Orthodox in Europe and America has followed. It has been organized by the Patriarchal Synod of Romania, with specific reference to the pastoral needs of the Romanians in the diaspora, with an archbishop in Western and Central Europe, respectively, and also one in America. All of them are members of the Patriarchal Synod. |
| Introduction For well over fifty years now, and in virtually every country in Western Europe, that is in countries with a millennium of Catholic-Protestant culture, small numbers of Western Europeans have been joining one or other of the local dioceses of the Orthodox Church. In general it can be said that the numbers joining have been higher in the less traditional and more Protestant countries and lower in traditional Catholic countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal. And numbers have been much higher among more uprooted and cosmopolitan city-dwellers than among more traditional country-dwellers. Here there is something to do with spiritual degeneration. Though there is a detailed thesis here, the full story of this Europe-wide movement has yet to be written – probably because it has so far been very marginal. In some countries, especially small ones like Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Luxembourg, where also there has been relatively little immigration from ‘Orthodox countries’ until recent years, numbers of native Orthodox are tiny, often a few dozen at most. In other countries, especially larger ones like Germany , France and Great Britain , which have also received more immigrants from ‘Orthodox countries’ in Eastern Europe, numbers of native Orthodox rise into the low thousands. Indeed, the process has been under way for so long that in all these countries we can find adults who are second and third generation Orthodox of purely Western European origin. Some of the first generation are now elderly and have been members of the Orthodox Church for between forty years and seventy years. Some have been present for between twenty and forty years. Others are newcomers who have entered into communion with the Church more recently, only over the last twenty years. On the surface, it might seem that there are today anything between 10,000 and 20,000 native Orthodox living in Western Europe. (Here we exclude those who have already passed on). However, such a high figure is very misleading because in order to understand real numbers we have to look at the motivations of those who have joined the Orthodox Church in Western Europe, sociological and not spiritual motivations which sadly have resulted in a majority of those received and their descendants lapsing from the Faith. |
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