14-15 NOVEMBER 2025: From Friday 1st / 14th to Saturday 2nd / 15th November, parishioners from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘The Joy of All Who Sorrow’ in Mettingham, England, had the privilege of praying and worshipping in front of the wonderworking Kursk-root icon of the Mother of God during its visitation to the Diocese.

Priest Mark Tattum-Smith travelled to Walsingham to collect the icon from this ancient shrine of the Mother of God on Friday morning, where the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in its presence by Hieromonk Theodore from the London Cathedral. Visitations were made to many homes in the region, accompanied by Priest Mark together with his matushka and the nun Melangell, who lives in Walsingham. In due course the icon was brought to families and individuals in Dereham, including believers from Moldova and a Reader of the Archdiocese of Thyateira who had recently undergone an operation, and in the evening a special visit was made to a care home in Bungay, where the former Priest of the parish, Priest Antony Bardsley, now lives. Many years ago, it was Father Antony who had taken the Kursk-root icon to the homes of those who were ill; Priest Mark therefore felt it a great privilege to bring the Mother of God to him when he was in especial need of her presence and maternal comfort.

A moleben and akathist were served in the Mettingham temple in the evening. Archpriest Paul Elliott, Chancellor of the Diocese, had travelled from Birkenhead to Mettingham together with Reader Seraphim Williams earlier in the day, and joined the local clergy for the Divine Service. At the end of the moleben, Priest Mark offered a brief history of the icon and explanation of its design and structure, as well as sharing some impressions from the pastoral visits that had been made with the icon over the course of the day. Indeed, these were to continue: after the faithful had departed the church by passing beneath the icon, more families were visited that evening and blessed by its presence.

The next morning the icon was made available in the nearby Parish and College house, where faithful whose homes were not able to be visited had the opportunity to pray quietly before the sacred image before the beginning of the Liturgy. After the completion of the Hours, Archpriest Paul and Priest Mark collected the icon from the house and bore it in procession into the church, where it was placed upon a specially adorned analoy and the Divine Liturgy solemnly celebrated in its presence. Prayers were lifted up during the Liturgy for Mary Bond, the late wife of the parish’s Deacon Andrew, who had been instrumental in the founding of the church and whose fifteenth anniversary of repose fell on the day. A litya was served at the Liturgy’s end before her grave, and Father Mark spoke of her love for the Kursk-root icon and stressed the importance of maintaining the faithful remembrance of their predecessors who were links to the earliest generation of Russian emigrés to these lands.

Faithful continued to venerate the holy icon throughout the morning, and a festive meal was served. At its end, the assembly having bid farewell to the sacred image with prayers and thanksgiving, Archpriest Paul departed with it towards Cardiff, and to the Orthodox faithful in the west.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!