15.11.2024 Пт/Fri	Архиерейское Богослужение в честь Хиротонии епископа Сурожского Матфея Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
17.11.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 21-я по Пятидесятнице. Прп. Иоанникия Великого. Сщмчч. Никандра, еп. Мирского, и Ермея пресвитера 21st Sunday after Pentecost. Venerable Joannicius the Great. Hieromartyrs Nicander, Bishop of Myra, and Hermas, the Presbyter
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
24.11.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 22-я по Пятидесятнице. Мчч. Мины, Виктора, Викентия и мц. Стефаниды. Прп. Феодора Студита, исповедника 22nd Sunday after Pentecost. Martyr Menas of Egypt. Venerable Theodore the Confessor, Abbot of the Studion
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
01.12.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 23-я по Пятидесятнице. Мчч. Платона и Романа 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. Martyr Platon of Ancyra and Martyr Romanus the Deacon of Caesarea
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
08.12.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 24-я по Пятидесятнице. Отдание праздника Введения во храм Пресвятой Богородицы. Сщмч. Климента, папы Римского 24th Sunday after Pentecost. Leavetaking of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple. Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
15.12.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 25-я по Пятидесятнице. Прор. Аввакума 25th Sunday after Pentecost. Prophet Habakkuk
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
22.12.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 26-я по Пятидесятнице. Зачатие прав. Анною Пресвятой Богородицы 26th Sunday after Pentecost. Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by Saint Anna
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession
29.12.2024 Вск/Sun	Неделя 27-я по Пятидесятнице. Святых праотец 27th Sunday after Pentecost. Sunday of the Forefathers
09:00	Исповедь. Часы. Божественная Литургия Hours. Divine Liturgy. Individual confession

Очень стремительно и насыщенно прошла первая седмица Великого поста на подворье сестричества Великой княгини Елизаветы Федоровны и инокини Варвары. С понедельника по воскресенье не прерывалось молитвенное служение в Храме. Чтение Великого канона преподобного Андрея Критского, выдающегося, по силе воздействия на человеческую душу, произведения, вырвавшееся из глубины сокрушенного сердца святого человека, происходило вечерами с понедельника по четверг.

В пятницу иерей Сергий Федоренко отслужил литургию Преждеосвященных Даров, которая завершилась, как и положено по уставу, освящением колива.

Суббота порадовала нас двумя праздниками - Отец Сергий отслужил Литургию по чину 40 Мучеников в Севастийском озере мучившихся и памяти святого великомученика Феодора Тирона. Было очень приятно видеть новых людей в Храме в этот день.

И завершилась молитвенная седмица Торжеством Православия в воскресенье. Этот праздник напоминает нам о том, что в 9ом веке, наконец-то, было покончено с иконоборцами и гонениями на иконопочитателей, восторжествовало почитание икон в Византийской империи. После праздничной литургии был прочтен молебен перед иконами Спасителя и Богородицы, «вечная память» всем скончавшимся защитникам веры православной, и «многая лета» — живущим. Прихожане имели возможность приложиться к иконам Христа, Богородительницы и святых.

А завершилась эта непростая неделя, как обычно, праздничной трапезой.

Хочется особо поблагодарить наших двух сестер-монахиню Марфу и р Б Валентину-за организацию и проведение беспрерывного молитвенного чтения на первой седмице Великого поста!

Спаси Господи за молитвы!

FIRST WEEK OF THE GREAT LENT

The very eventful first week of the Great Lent has gone by like a blur here, in the Sisterhood of the Holy Martyr Great Duchess Elizabeth and nun Barbara. Prayer services were said every day from Monday to Sunday, while in the first four evenings we read the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. The Canon is a monumental creation of a great saint, a lamentation gushing out of the depths of his sorrowful heart.

On Friday, Fr. Sergius served the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which concluded, as is customary, with the blessing of kolivo. On Saturday we were blessed with two commemorative dates, Fr. Sergius serving the Liturgy dedicated to the memory of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste as well as the Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Tyro. It was a pleasure seeing new faces in the church on that day.

This prayerful week concluded with the Sunday of Orthodoxy, a feast that reminds us about the victory over the iconoclasts in the 9th century, when persecutions of the faithful ended and veneration of holy icons was restored in the Byzantine Empire.

After the Liturgy, a moleben (Service of Supplication) was offered before the icons of the Saviour and Our Lady, followed by the singing of "Memory Eternal" in honour of all the deceased defenders of the Orthodox faith and "Many Years" to the ones who are living.

The end of thus busy week in our community was marked by a traditional festive meal shared by all those who had taken part in the Sunday services. We would like to express our warm gratitude to our sisters who ensured non-stop prayer readings in the first week of the Great Lent.

May the Lord bless you for your prayers!

Семимильными шагами приближается Великий пост и такими же стремительными темпами приблизилась неделя о Страшном Суде. В Храме сегодня сам воздух был напряжен от внутреннего волнения прихожан, вспоминавших сегодня о судном дне и задавших себе вопрос: а покаялся ли я в том, что хотел бы скрыть даже от самого себя… Или же оно, постыдное, так еще и осталось сидеть во мне и продолжает червоточить в моей душе гнойной раной и причинять муки стыда? А готов ли я отказаться хотя бы от толики своих удовольствий, пустословий, горделивых суждений и порицаний?

Сегодняшняя Литургия и проповедь Отца Сергия именно об этом… о напоминании к подготовке к Страшному Суду. Желаем всем нам прийти на исповедь, покаяться, причаститься и избавиться от муки стыда перед самим собой, чтобы явиться на встречу к Богу с чистой душой!

SUNDAY OF THE LAST JUDGEMENT

For many of us, the week of the Dread Judgement has arrived unexpectedly, reminding us that the Great Lent is approaching fast. Inside the church, trepidation was felt in the air. Those present contemplated the Judgement Day, asking themselves "Have I repented and confessed every sin I would otherwise have concealed from my conscience? Or is that sin, shameful and unclean, still planted within me as though it were a festering wound causing me unbearable shame? And so I ask myself on this day: am I willing to forgo even a tiny portion of pleasures, idle talk, prideful opinions and criticisms?"

This is exactly what today's Liturgy and sermon were about - a call to prepare ourselves for the Last Judgement. We hope every one of us will come to repent of our sins, confess them, take the Holy Communion and be relieved of the shame that is torturing us, so that in due time we could stand before the Lord with a soul that is cleansed and pure.

Сегодняшняя Воскресная Литургия началась очень сдержанно и немноголюдно - в Храме находилось небольшое количество прихожан, регулярно посещающих Храм, как старший сын, всегда находящийся рядом со своим отцом, в притче о блудном сыне.

Но не зря же сегодня мы праздновали неделю о блудном сыне, который «был мертв, но ожил, пропадал и нашелся» - Лк 15; 11-32. Уже к середине Богослужения в Храме было тесновато, а двери все продолжали открываться, учтиво приветствуя заблудших детей. Было очень радостно видеть такое большое количество людей, возвращающихся в лоно церкви накануне Великого поста.

Дорогие братья и сестры! Напоминаем, что в первую неделю Великого поста на Подворье будет соблюден Великопостный Богослужебный устав - чтение Покаянного канона Андрея Критского (понедельник-четверг), Преждеосвященная Литургия в пятницу, Литургии в Субботу и Воскресенье (Торжество Православия). Всех ждём на Подворье в любое время первой недели Великого поста с 18.03.24 по 25.03.24.

Заблудшие сыны Церкви Христовой, помните о том, что Бог милосерден и прощает всех грешников, которые с искренним раскаянием обращаются к Нему. Ждём вас!

SUNDAY OF THE PRODIGAL SON

It was quiet at the beginning of the Liturgy, with only a handful of regular worshippers present, just like the older brother, who had remained with his father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15: 11 – 32) However, as the Service went on, it started getting cosy inside, the creaky door opening and closing as if welcoming every stray soul back home, every one who “was dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found.”

It was a joy seeing so many people return to the fold before the beginning of the Great Lent.

Dear brothers and sisters! Please note the following services will be held in the first week of Lent at our Convent:

• The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete (the Canon of Repentance) in the evenings from Monday to Thursday (March 18 - 21)
• The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Friday evening (March 22)
• Liturgy on Saturday morning (March 23)
• Liturgy on Sunday of Orthodoxy (March 24)

We welcome you at the Convent at any time during the first week of Lent, from March, 18 to March 25.

Remember, O prodigal children of the Holy Church, that God, who is merciful, forgives all the sinners who come back to Him with sincere repentance. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Очень тепло и уютно прошло Воскресное празднование дня памяти Игнатия Богоносца в сестричестве. Собралось много людей почтить молитвою величайшего святого, рожденного в последние годы жизни Спасителя и близко общавшегося с апостолами.

Почему «Богоносец» спросите вы? Да потому, что, крепко любя Господа, святой Игнатий как бы носил Его в своем сердце. Именно он был тем отроком, которого Господь взял на руки и сказал: «Если не обратитесь и не будете как дети, не войдете в Царство Небесное». Возможно, именно в подтверждение этих слов, наши детишки, от мала до велика, так самоотверженно прислуживали в алтаре, пели и читали на клиросе, суетились, накрывая столы в трапезной.

Что же, дорогие наши юные христиане, любите и носите Господа в сердцах ваших также трепетно, как это делал Игнатий Богоносец! С Праздником Вас!

On Sunday, the Divine Liturgy commemorating Saint Ignatius was held in a warm and informal atmosphere at our Convent. Many faithful gathered on this day to venerate one of our greatest saints, who was born during the final years of our Saviour's life, later himself becoming a disciple of the Apostles.

Saint Ignatius is called “the God-Bearer” because his profound love for God allowed him to bear Christ in his heart. He was the very child whom Christ embraced, saying: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 18:3). It is no wonder then, that on this day our parishioners' children, from the youngest ones to teenagers, worked so hard serving at the altar, singing with the choir, reading prayers and eagerly helping to prepare the festive meal.

We hope that our little Christians will learn to love and cherish the Lord, bearing Him in their hearts as did Saint Ignatius.

O Holy Saint Ignatius, pray to God for us!

4 февраля 2024 года состоялось празднование Зимнего Престольного праздника Сестричества - Собора Новомучеников и Исповедников Российских в Архиерейском Подворье Святой Преподобномученицы Великой Княгини Елизаветы и Инокини Варвары в Роксфарм, Бодиам.

Иерей Сергий (Федоренко) совершил Божественную Литургию. Праздничные песнопения исполнил хор под руководством Марины Безменовой.

По совершении Божественной Литургии состоялось поминовение усопших, а так же поздравления именинников.

После Литургии силами прихожан Подворья была проведена праздничная трапеза, с обязательным сладким угощением для младших прихожан.

12 января 2020 года, в Неделю 30-ю по Пятидесятнице, по Рождестве Христовом, Преосвященный епископ Сурожский Матфей совершил Божественную литургию в домовом храме Елизаветинского архиерейского подворья в Роксфарм, Бодиам. Его Преосвященству сослужили: секретарь Сурожской епархии иерей Димитрий Недоступенко и протодиакон Вадим Санцевич.

Sourozh.org >>>

В память о 155- летии со дня рождения Преподобной Великомученицы Елизаветы Фёдоровны в сестричестве отслужили молебен. В этот светлый день мы молитвенно воздыхаем:

«Чадо Господне возлюбленное, чудная Елисавето,/ вкупе с телесною красотою и величием княжеским/ духовною добротою украсилася еси,/ приумноживши данный тебе от Бога талант/ и себе яко дар Тому принесши.»

Духовная красота Елизаветы Фёдоровны пылала любовью к Богу и ближнему и отражалась во всем, что её окружало.

Князь Константин Романов посвятил Великой княгине эти строки.

Я на тебя гляжу, любуясь ежечасно:
Ты так невыразимо хороша!
О, верно под такой наружностью прекрасной
Такая же прекрасная душа!

Какой-то кротости и грусти сокровенной
В твоих очах таится глубина;
Как ангел, ты тиха, чиста и совершенна;
Как женщина, стыдлива и нежна.

Пусть на земле ничто средь зол и скорби многой
Твою не запятнает чистоту,
И всякий, увидав тебя, прославит Бога,
Создавшего такую красоту!

Село Ильинское
24 сентября 1884

Сегодня Русская Православная Церковь отмечает день обретения мощей преподобномучениц Великой княгини Елисаветы Феодоровны Романовой и инокини Варвары Яковлевой.

Мощи святой Елисаветы Федоровны были обретены 28 сентября/11 октября 1918 года в шахте под Алапаевском. Крестным подвигом отца Серафима (Кузнецова) святые мощи были перевезены в Иерусалим, где они и покорятся до сих пор.

Празднование обретения мощей Великой княгини Елисаветы Феодоровны и иникини Варвары установлено по благословению Святейшего Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла. Памятная дата 11 октября – с 2017 года внесена в церковный месяцеслов. В том же году состоялось первое общецерковное празднование.

13-го октября в Храме Архиерейского Подворья состоится Воскресное Богослужение в соединении с Праздником Покрова Пресвятой Владычицы нашей Богородицы и Приснодевы Марии.

Our winter patronal feast was kept on Sunday, 10 February at the Metochion of Saint Elizabeth, Rocks Farm, Bodiam.

   

On January 13, 2019, on the 33rd Sunday after Pentecost, before the Epiphany, the day of remembrance of the righteous Joseph the Betrothed, David the King and James, the Lord's Brother, the leave of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the Right Reverend Matthew, Bishop of Sourozh, made an archpastoral visit to the Bishop's metochion of the Holy Venerable Martyr Elisabeth in Rocks Farm, Bodiam and led the Divine Liturgy in the metochion's house church. His Grace was assisted by Priest Dimitry Nedostupenko, Secretary of the Diocese of Sourozh, and Protodeacon Vadim Santsevitch. Parishioners and pilgrims from various cities of the Great Britain prayed at the service. After the Liturgy, His Grace addressed the audience with words of preaching and spiritual edification, after which he warmly thanked nun Marfa (Persianinova), the elder sister of the metochion, for her many years of work on establisbing church and economic life in the metochion. During the meal, young parishioners, together with their parents, performed a festive Christmas play.

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On October 24, 2018, a group of parishioners of the St Elizabeth metochion at Rocks Farm, Bodiam, together with nun Marfa (Persianinova), senior nun of of the metochion, made a pilgrimage to the spring of venerable Edith of Wilton (+984).

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Please note that the celebration has been transferred from 28 September/11 October to 1/14 October.

   

On 15 July, we celebrated our Patronal Feast of st. Elizabeth. This year, due to the extensive works that currently take place at Rocks Farm, the Feast was held in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hastings. Archbishop Elisey celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with Fr Stephen Platt and Fr Dobromir Dmitrov.

We are very grateful to Fr Ierotheos Georgiou, the rector, for his warm welcome, and to His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain for giving his blessing for the liturgy to be celebrated.

This account was written by our dear brother, choir member and St Leonards-on-Sea inhabitant Alexander Groves, who became Orthodox two years ago. He was accompanied on the pilgrimage by Silas Coker, who also sings in our choir.

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Our feast will be kept on Saturday (transferred from the following Sunday) 4th February at the Metochion of Saint Elizabeth, Rocks Farm, Bodiam.

The Divine Liturgy will begin at 10 am. Confessions will be heard from about 9.30 am.

Our St Elizabeth’s Community near Bodiam undertook a very important and long awaited pilgrimage to the holy places of Moscow connected with our heavenly patrons: the Holy Martyr Grand Princess Elizabeth and the Nun Barbara, together with all the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. This happened just before the end of the year which had been celebrated in Moscow marking the 150^th birthday of Grand Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna and the 110^th anniversary of the assassination of the Grand Price Sergey Alexandrovich. The spiritual leader of the group was Archpriest Stephen Platt. We were sixteen and our number included four non-Orthodox friends and supporters, who returned home with many deep impressions of Orthodox Moscow.

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The pilgrims' impressions

Paul Oxborrow:

Despite the apparent remoteness of the life of a Romanov Grand Duchess from the experience of English people some 100 years later, we pilgrims to the sites of her life and martyrdom in and around Moscow felt ourselves to be very close to her. I think this is because despite her aristocratic background and life of high status and privilege in a world very different from the one that we inhabit in the 21st century, Saint Elizabeth comes across as a human being very like ourselves. Because we can relate her life to ours in so natural a way, we can be inspired by the way in which she was able to turn the unpredictable circumstances of her life into heroic sanctity. The clarity of her Christian vision as to what is right and true enabled her to deal with evils that would have submerged lesser souls, so to travel around sites associated with her life is a real inspiration for the Christian of today, reminding us that great sanctity is possible for us all if we will have the faith to embrace the events of life (whether sought or not) as given to us by God. For pilgrims from Western Europe used to experiencing Christian faith apparently in decline in our society, it was also inspiring to see the Church in Russia having emerged from terrible persecution so spiritually strong. The parishes and monasteries we visited were vibrant and active, fed and nourished by the example and sacrifice of the many new martyrs such as Saint Elizabeth. We pray to the Holy Spirit for inspiration to put this into practice when back home.

Harriet Cole:

A couple of impressions:
Ladies turning up after work to make mosaics and frescoes for their beautiful new church.
The Russian Orthodox Church has such a long and strong tradition.
After a gap of 70 years, ordinary people are now literally rebuilding the churches; like a natural spring temporarily blocked, its life flows again with vigour.
Unexpectedly discovering at the Tretyakov Gallery beautiful paintings I knew only from books.
In 2016 the Tretyakov Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery are exchanging exhibitions of paintings, Moscow sending portraits of Tolstoy, Tchaikosky, Mussorgsky etc in exchange for Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth 1st, Darwin etc.

Stella Johnston:

The Pilgrimage to Moscow: Holly Martyr Gran Duchess Elizabeth and New Martyrs of Russia was a very enlightening spiritual experience. I was touched by the warm welcome that our group received wherever we went. Russian people were very friendly and did their best to guide, feed and give us all the relevant information of all the fantastic places that we visited such as Sretensky and Donsky Monasteries,Martha and Mary Convent, many churches and memorable places. One place of which I have vivid memories is Novosspasky Monastery. Here Father Stephen prayed for the ill in front of the Icon of Mother of God Pantanassa. I have been ill for some time and this was particularly relevant to me as I felt compelled to prayer as well. When I recover from my illness, I would very much like to visit this wonderful place again. Finally, many thanks to Maria for the thorough planning of this trip. The group on this Pilgrimage was very friendly and everybody felt at ease joining the activities planned. It was particularly impressive to see people of all ages enjoying and helping each other as if we had been friends for many years.

Darryl Johnston

The Pilgrimage to Moscow provided a cornucopia of activities both spiritual and physical. Yes, we visited many famous sites, several churches and monasteries and museums. The Bolshoi was fabulous. Perhaps the real excitement to me was sharing our spiritual and temporal experiences with such a wonderful set of people and in turn learning more about myself as well. On a more light hearted note certain members of the party did train for the next Olympics demonstrating their ability to gate limbo , a ceremony which took place around 10.00 pm each night.

Our patronal feast was celebrated very joyfully this year. We were blessed with wonderful summer weather and also with the welcome but unexpected presence of our archbishop, Vladika Elisey who had only very recently returned from Russia. A few days earlier he had been visiting the holy places of Ekaterinburg – very close to Alapayevsk, where the Holy Martyr Elizabeth suffered death.

A large number of our friends and supporters, some from as far away as Nottingham, worshipped at the Divine Liturgy on the day and many of them received Holy Communion. The service was sung by the Sisterhood's choir which seemed to achieve even greater devotion and harmony than usual. Many visitors commented on this.

Our little temporary chapel, as well as the house and peaceful gardens, had been lovingly decorated and beautified for the feast. A magnificent festal meal was also prepared. After the Liturgy there was a Cross procession through the garden, after which everyone kissed the cross, greeted the archbishop and venerated the icon of our saint.

During the Liturgy Vladika Elisey spoke movingly on the meaning of the words in the Gospel of the feast – "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake" and why it is said that we must put the love of God even before love of our closest ones.

At the trapeza, Father Stephen talked about our community and his vision of its future, which must depend on our prayers and efforts. After the meal some of the teenagers of our community gave a beautiful and moving presentation, consisting of dramatically acted readings focused on important stages in the life of our patron, the New Martyr Elizabeth. Our archbishop warmly congratulated them afterwards.

We wish particularly to thank once again all those who worked so hard, under the direction of our beloved Mother Martha, to prepare for the feast; all who came to worship with us, both Orthodox Christians and other dear friends, our revered Archbishop, our pastor the Archpriest Stephen, our close spiritual guide Father Ierotheos of the Greek Orthodox church in St Leonards-on-Sea (who helped so much in hearing many of the confessions) and Father Deacon Vadim of the London parish.

We were all blessed by this great day.

On Saturday the 7th of February, we celebrated our second patronal feast dedicated to the memory of the Holy New Martyrs of Russia. The liturgy, which was served by Father Stephen Platt, was well attended despite the very late change of date. We had many guests, among them Father Ierotheos, the Rector of the Greek Orthodox church of St Mary Magdalene in Hastings, accompanied by some of his parishioners. Father Ierotheos helped with the confessions and served together with Father Stephen in the altar. This is becoming an established tradition. Many people came from faraway, from London, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Rochester and Oxford, as well as from local villages and Hastings. We were glad to see our friend Father Terence, a Roman Catholic priest and a great expert on the Royal Martyrs. The atmosphere was very prayerful and the choir sang beautifully. Father Stephen spoke in his sermon about the importance of the New Martyrs for the Orthodox Church and for our personal lives, underlining the meaning of Martyrdom as being a Witness of the faith to the world. Speaking about our community he noticed that, thanks to the efforts of mother Martha and others, a lot has been done for the building of the new church and for the maintenance of the grounds but we need to spend much more time praying together for establishing a community worthy of the name of the Holy New Martyrs of Russia and Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth.

After the splendid festive meal, which was offered to all, we had a performance organized by our Sunday school, which was dedicated to the memory of the Holy New Martyr the Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev. He was the first witness of the Faith during the time of the Revolution and was murdered by bolsheviks on the 7th of February (25th of January old style) 1918 in the Kiev Caves Monastery. The performance was based on memoirs and statements of the witnesses, which were artistically read by the members of our youth group – Ioannis, Silas, David, Elena and Misha. The readings were accompanied by the recordings of monastic singing and decorated by red candle lights and a large picture display.

The feast was concluded by singing troparia to the Holy Martyr Vladimir of Kiev and to the New Martyrs of Russia.

On the 1st of November 2014 we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of our Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth.

She was born in 1864 in Darmstadt, the capital of Hesse-Darmstadt, in the family of the heir to the throne prince Louis, and princess Alice of Great Britain, Queen Victoria's second daughter. At the age of 20 Elizabeth married Grand Prince Sergey, the brother of Russian Emperor Alexander III, who later became General-Governor of Moscow. Thus by blood and marriage she had strong attachments to three different cultures. She spent 30 years in Russia and fell in love with this country and its people. Under the influence of her deeply believing husband, Elizabeth accepted Orthodoxy and confessed it throughout her virtuous life which eventually lead to Martyrdom for Christ.

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On the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Saviour a group of pilgrims lead by Mother Martha travelled to East Anglia to attend the services at the beautiful little chapel of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" at Mettingham (Russian Orthodox Church Abroad). They were in time for the Vigil Service on the evening of the 18th, which was served with a priest and deacon (Father Andrew Bond, whose large house is next to the chapel). The Vigil was served in full, without the customary abbreviations. On the day of the feast itself our pilgrims attended the joyful Liturgy, followed by the blessing of fruit and festal meal.

Some of the group were also able to visit local places of interest such as Walsingham, the largest shrine of the Mother of God in Britain, which actually contains no less than three Orthodox places of worship.

We hope this will not be the last time that we travel to such a hallowed part of the world.