Parish Pilgrimage to the Isle of Wight - July 2022

On Saturday, 16th July, parishioners of the Southampton community together with friends from further afield, about 25 people in all, made a pilgrimage to the ancient church of St Boniface in Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight. The church, which dates from the 11th century, was built by monks from Normandy on the site of an earlier Saxon church. The Divine Liturgy that we celebrated was quite possibly the first Orthodox service there for 1,000 years. Born in Crediton, Devon in 675, St Boniface was a monk of the great monastery of Nursling near Southampton and became the Enlightener of the Germanic lands and Archbishop of Mainz. His long life of service to the Gospel of Christ was crowned by martyrdom at Pentecost in 754 as he was preparing to baptise a group of catechumens. The liturgy after the Liturgy consisted of a picnic on the beach under hot sun and cloudless skies. Many pilgrims, both young and old, cooled off in the sea before returning home after a wonderful day.

More photos in the Photogallery

Dormition 2021

On Sunday, August 29th, we celebrated the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God at St Joseph's Centre in Ashurst, near Southampton, a place we fell in love with when we had outdoor Liturgies there last year. We are most grateful to Fr Desmond for welcoming us back again.

Fr Joseph celebrated, assisted by Fr Deacon Victor and the servers Aleksandr and Ivan. Matushka Sarah and Paula sang the service.

A short moleben for the beginning of the school year was served after the Liturgy and the children were blessed.

We enjoyed a bring and share picnic and time of fellowship in the beautiful grounds of St Joseph's, after which Fr Joseph celebrated a thanksgiving moleben for our parishioners Paul and Tatiana, who were recently married. Altogether a blessed and joyful celebration of the 'summer Pascha'.

More pictures of the day in our Photogallery.

Pilgrimage to the Isle of Weight - 17 July 2021

On July 17th, the Feast of the Royal Passion-Bearers the Tsar Nicholas, Tsaritsa Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexis and the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, our Parish, with the blessing of Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, organised a pilgrimage to places associated with them on the Isle of Wight.

The Divine Liturgy was served in the Church of St Mildred, built by Queen Victoria near Osborne on the Isle of Wight, one of her favourite retreats. Her granddaughters Alexandra and Elizabeth, the future Tsaritsa and Grand Duchess of Russia respectively, often stayed with her there following the early death of their mother, Princess Alice. Doubtless they prayed in this church. The Tsar and his family visited his cousin, King Edward VII, here in 1909.

The Liturgy was served by Archpriest Joseph Skinner, assisted by Deacon Viktor Nikiforov. Matushka Sarah and Paula Nicholson, Warden of the Parish of St Silouan, sang the service. Pilgrims came not only from Southampton but also from Portsmouth, Brighton and London.

After the Liturgy we enjoyed a picnic and time of fellowship in the beautiful grounds of the church.

The day concluded with a moleben and Akathist to the Royal Passion-Bearers, together with the Venerable Martyr, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, at the memorial to them in East Cowes erected three years ago. We were joined by representatives of the local community including Karl Love, Deputy Mayor of East Cowes. They expressed the hope that an Orthodox community would soon be established on the Isle of Wight.

More pictures in our Photogallery.

Holy Week and Easter 2021

This year a full cycle of the Holy Week Services were celebrated in our Parish for the first time.

A beautiful Cross made by parishioners was blessed before the Matins Service of the 12 Gospels, and our catechumen, David, was baptised. The midnight Pashal Liturgy was a joyous celebration for our community.

Christ is Risen!

More Pictures in our Photogallery

Sunday 30th August

At our outdoor liturgy that week, as the season begins to change, the children were blessed for their return to school.