On Saturday, 27 November, Abba Seraphim attended the St. Mary of Zion (Tserha Sion) Festival of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church held at St. James the Great Parish Church at Lower Claton, London, E5. The Festival is not only a Marian celebration but also commemorates the taking of the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia by the Emperor Menelik I and its placing in St. Mary of Zion Church in Axum, where many Ethiopian Emperors were later crowned. The festivities were presided over by Archbishop Antonios and following the Divine Liturgy there were traditional hymns and dances before the Holy Tabot was processed around the church amid much jubilation.

Following this Abba Seraphim addressed the congregation and offered congratulations on behalf of the British Orthodox Church and the Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches. St. Mary of Zion is the oldest of the Ethiopian Orthodox congregations in the United Kingdom although it has gathered in a number of different places in the three and a half decades since it was founded. Abba Seraphim fondly recalled his visit  to one of the first services held at a Church in Notting Hill in 1976 when the priest was the late Archimandrite Aba Aregawi Welde Gebriel (later consecrated as Archbishop Johannes) and the congregation was still very small. Under its present priest, Malake Sion Habte Marian Field, the congregation is actively fund raising to purchase their own property and Abba Seraphim looked forward to the day, with God’s grace, when he would have the privilege of attending the consecration of their own church and recognising the fruits of so many years of faithful service. A festive lunch was held in the church hall aftwerwards, with traditional Ethiopian cuisine, which Abba Seraphim was delighted to share.

At the invitation of the Archbishop of Westmister (Mgr. Vincent Nicholls) Abba Seraphim, accompanied by Father Seraphim Mina, attended a Mass at Westminster Cathedral on 26 November to commemorate all those who have died or been injured in recent weeks in Iraq, especially in the bombing of Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad on 31 October. White floral crosses with lighted candles and photographs of those killed, displayed  at the entrance to the sanctuary, were a poignant reminder of the victims. The congregation included a large number of  Iraqi and Middle Eastern Christians and prominent among the clergy attending those from the Syriac Orthodox (led by H.E. Archbishop Mar Athanasius Touma), Chaldean, Assyrian and Maronite churches. The intercessions were offered by Iraqi children and before the final blessing messages were read from the Christian community in Iraq, expressing appreciation for the prayerful support being offered by churches in England and Wales, as well as an affirmatiion of support by the Iraqi Christian communities in the United Kingdom.

Abba Seraphim and Father Peter Farrington were among those who attended the annual Constantinople lecture on 25 November, which this year was given by Dr. Harry Hagopian at St. Mary at Hill, Lovat Lane in the City of London. The lecture is sponsored by the Anglican & Eastern Churches Association and followed Evening Prayer led by the Rector, Canon Flora Winfield.

Dr. Hagopian is a distinguished international lawyer as well as an active churchman who retains close links with the Christian communities in Jerusalem, where he was born. His subject was “The Armenian Genocide: A Way Forward?” and he addressed the historical and political issues arising out of Turkey’s denial as well as viewing it in relation to both the later Jewish and Ruandan genocides. Whilst recognising the significance of political considerations underlying the subject, Dr. Hagopian also viewed matters from a profoundly Christian perspective, seeing the resolution of the issue as part of the process of healing between nations and a source of hope for the future benefit of both Armenians and Turks.  The paper will be available on www.accc.org.uk the web-site of the Armenian Community & Church Council (ACCC) after this weekend or people can contact Dr. Hagopian directly on his own website: www.epektasis.net

Deacon John Stuart is in hospital recovering from a  stroke. Following  several recent incidents in which he lost his balance and fell over, he was diagnosed as having a blood clot on the part of his brain which controls balance. He has been undergoing tests and treatment and is now recovering in hospital and, happily,  making good progress.  Abba Seraphim has not only sent him good wishes for a full and complete recovery but asked  for prayers for him and his family. Deacon John, who is 63, exercises a ministry as a hospital chaplain in Exeter. He was ordained a full deacon in Exeter by Abba Seraphim in February 2001.

The British Orthodox Church was represented by Fathers Seraphim Mina and Simon Smyth  (representing H.E. Abba Seraphim) at a service for the Christians martyred in Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad on Sunday 31 October. The joint remembrance service was organised by the Christian Churches for the Iraqi Communities in the UK at Holy Trinity Syrian Catholic Church, Brook Green, Hammersith, West London, on Friday 12 November.

Also representing the Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches (COOC) were H. E. Archbishop Athanasius for the Syriac Orthodox Church, H. G. Bishop Angaelos (President of COOC and representing His Holiness Pope Shenouda) and Father Snork Bagdassarian (representing the Armenian Primate of Great Britain) as well  many priests and faithful from the Catholic,  Anglican, Byzantine & Oriental Orthodox Churches.

Messages of support and assurances of prayer were read out on behalf of H.H. Pope Shenouda, the Archbishops of Westminster  the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop Angaelos announced that Sunday 21 November has been designated a Sunday of prayer throughout the Coptic Orthodox Church for remembrance of the Christians of Iraq.

Fifty-two candles each in the centre of a floral cross – one for each of those martyred in Our Lady of Salvation Church – were positioned throughout the Church, along the aisles and across the front of the Church and there were  photograqphs of the new martyrs at the front of the Church.

Although there was  evidence of sadness and grief, Christian faith, hope, love and even joy were strongly present too.  The  emphasis on throughout was  that though in one sense separated from the departed martyrs we are still united with these who now behold God in the promised paradise, in the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and especially at the celebration of the Eucharist, in which heaven and earth are one.  If faith, hope and love were evident, both in the messages at the beginning and throughout the Mass in the singing and prayers, they shone forth in an inspirational sermon delivered with power and passion by the celebrating priest Father Nizar Semaan. Unusually in a church, it drew forth a standing ovation which it took some minutes to quieten before the service continued.  At the conclusion of the homily he declared,  “The heavenly Father will welcome all those who paid so dearly with their blood.  Their martyrdom will bless the Church of our Lady of Deliverance, making it a stronger bastion for future generations…”