« The third day of the Diocese of Sourozh Annual Conference »

On June 2, 2019, on the 6th Sunday after Easter (Sunday aboutm the blind man), on the last day of the Annual Conference of the Sourozh Diocese, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, together with the clergy and guests of the Sourozh Diocese, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the chapel of the Hays Conference Center in Swanwick,  Derbyshire.

The liturgical chants were sung by the consolidated choir of representatives of the Diocese parishes under direction of Sarah Elizabeth Skinner.

At the small entrance, His Grace bestowed the right to wear the nabedrennik to priest Ioan Kazadoyev, Rector of the parish of St. Nicholas in Galway and the Diocesan Community of St.Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow in Castlebar, Republic of Ireland, in connection with the completion by Fr. Ioann of his full theological education.

After the prayer before the ambo, the Archpastor and the serving clergy sung glorification in front of the relics of the Diveevo saints, after which Vladyka Matthew addressed those present with words of preaching and spiritual edification.

Vladyka has warmly congratulated Archpriest Raphael Armour, Dean of the Diocesan District of East Anglia, who is celebrating his birthday, and presented him with a Patriarchal Award, a medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church",  in gratitude for his hard work on the pasture of Christ. 

In commemoration of many years of service in the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarchal award -  medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church" was awarded to Archpriest Andrew Louthe, Rector of the church of St.Cuthbert and Venerable Bede, Professor of Durham University.  

Archpriest Maxim Nikolsky, cleric of the Dormition Cathedral, Rector of the parishes of St.King Edward in Wimborne and Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Swindon, who has recently celebrated his 80th birthday, was honored with a high Patriarchal award - Order of St.Seraphim of Sarov, 2nd degree.

The Conference continued with a speech by Archpriest  Eric Tosi, Secretary of the Synod of the Orthodox Church in America. Father Eric, on behalf of the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, conveyed greetings to the participants of the conference and gave a talk “A strong response in the world: manifestation of the foolishness for Christ sake in the North American context”  having spoken in detail about the phenomenon of holy foolishness in North America since the beginning of the Orthodox Mission on the continent.

Then the results of the conference were summarized and everyone could ask speakers questions that interested them.

At the end of the day, His Grace, clergy and laity made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St.Bertram of Stafford, a hermit of Ilam (VIII century), where they venerated the holy relics of the saint of God, located under a bushel, then visited the spring and the cave, where the venerable Bertram lived.

St. Bertram (Bettelin), the hermit of Ilam, lived approximately in the VIII century (his memory kept on 10 August).  Saint Bertram is the patron saint of the city of Stafford in England.  He was probably a Mercian prince, but to the wordly life he preferred a hermit life.  According to a legend, in his youth, he had a wife and son who were torn apart by wolves.  He first labored in Stafford, where he brought many people to Christ, and then led a life of hermit in the hilly land of Ilam.  In the 12th century, a monastery in the name of Saint Bertram was founded on the south bank of the River Mersey.   His relics were preserved in the Holy Cross church, in the chapel consecrated in his honor, in the picturesque village of Ilam in Staffordshire, the place of his solitary life.  Many miracles of healing from the relics of the saint were witnessed over the centuries.  Orthodox pilgrims make regular pilgrimage to Ilam.  A service to St. Bertram in English language was composed at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries.

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