We hope and pray this email finds you, your families and your friends safe and well.
In order to develop and sustain the short-term and long-term future of our church, we require your help.
Church Funding
The sole source of our church funding comes from the people who attend our services; we have recently found we need to complete some significant renovations to the church pillars as you will be able to see from the photos attached. These renovations need to be completed urgently as the weather is changing.
We are asking you all to please make a donation, no matter how much you can spare as this is set to be a very costly renovation for the church.
We understand this is a difficult time for all, due to the cost of living but we will benefit from your help to keep our church safe and open.
If you would like to make a donation you can contact any member of the committee or contact us via the contact us page and we can send the bank account details.
Alternatively, you can use our Just Giving page. Just Giving charges a fee and so a direct payment is preferable.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
God bless you and your families
Kind regards
The church committee
( Please consider a regular donation, be it weekly, monthly or yearly. This can be made either in person, by cheque, standing order, or bank transfer.)
Stella Georgiou Mother of Sonia, Vera(Rebecca) and Andy has sadly passed away on Thursday 3rd February 2022
The funeral will be held on Wednesday 23rd February 2022 at 1.00 pm at the church of St Panteleimon and St Theodoros, Cavendish place and then at Langney Cemetery. The wake will be held in the church hall afterwards.
Any flowers or donations to be made to the church in memory of Stella Georgiou. If you would like to make a direct donation please do not hesitate to contact any member of the committee or PM me for further details. Stella
We are pleased to inform you that the new antimensia that were consecrated by His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas at the Church of Saints Basil the Great and Paisios the Athonite in Lincoln last Saturday the 17th of July.
The new antimensia depict Saints of the British Isles. Every parish of the Archdiocese must have a new antimension that is signed and sealed by our Archbishop Nikitas, so that the Holy Liturgy may be celebrated upon it.
If anyone wants to contribute to the cost their names will be recorded in the Altar. The overall cost including postage is £260.
I looked up what this is and found the following:
The antimension, (from the Greek: ἀντιμήνσιον, “instead of the table”; in Slavonic: antimins), is among the most important furnishings of the altar in Orthodox Christian liturgical traditions. It is a rectangular piece of cloth, of either linen or silk, typically decorated with representations of the entombment of Christ, the four Evangelists, and scriptural passages related to the Eucharist. A small relic of a martyr is sewn into it. The Eucharist cannot be celebrated without an antimension.
The antimension is placed in the center of the altar table and is unfolded only during the Divine Liturgy, before the Anaphora. At the end of the Liturgy, the antimension is folded in thirds, and then in thirds again, so that when it is unfolded the creases form a cross. When folded, the antimension sits in the center of another slightly larger cloth, the eileton (Slavonic: Ilitón) which is then folded around it in the same manner (3 x 3), encasing it completely. A flattened natural sponge is also kept inside the antimension, which is used to collect any crumbs which might fall onto the Holy Table. When the antimension and eiliton are folded, the Gospel Book is laid on top of them.
The antimension must be consecrated and signed by a bishop. The antimension and the chrism are the means by which a bishop indicates his permission for priests under his omophorion to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and Holy Mysteries in his absence, being in effect the church’s license to conduct divine services. If a bishop were to withdraw his permission to serve the Mysteries, he would do so by taking back the antimension and chrism from the priest. Whenever a bishop visits a church or monastery under his omophorion, he will enter the altar and inspect the antimension to be sure that it has been properly cared for, and that it is in fact the one that he issued.
Only a bishop, priest, or deacon is allowed to touch an antimension. Since the antimension is a consecrated object, they must be vested when they do so—the deacon should be fully vested, and the priest vested in at least stole (epitrachelion) and cuffs (epimanikia).
The antimension is a substitute for the altar table. A priest may celebrate the Eucharist on the antimension even if the altar table is not properly consecrated. In emergencies, when an altar table is not available, the antimension serves a very important pastoral need by enabling the use of unconsecrated tables for divine services outside of churches or chapels. Formerly if the priest celebrated at a consecrated altar, the sacred elements were placed only on the eileton. However, in current practice the priest always uses the antimension, even on a consecrated altar that has relics sealed in it.
At the Divine Liturgy, during the Litanies (Ektenias) that precede the Great Entrance the eiliton is opened fully and the antimension is opened three-quarters of the way, leaving the top portion folded. Then, during the Litany of the Catechumens, when the deacon says, “That He (God) may reveal unto them (the catechumens) the Gospel of righteousness,” the priest unfolds the last portion of the antimension, revealing the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. After the Entrance, the chalice and diskos are placed on the antimension and the Gifts (bread and wine) are consecrated. The antimension remains unfolded until after all have received Holy Communion and the chalice and diskos are returned to the Table of oblation (Prothesis). The deacon (or, if there is no deacon, the priest) must very carefully inspect the antimension to be sure there are no crumbs left on it. Then, it is folded, followed by folding the eiliton, and after which the Gospel Book placed on top of it.
