MONDAY 1 / 14 AUGUST 2023: On the Feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-Creating Cross, which is also the Feast of the All-Merciful Saviour, the parish in St Leonards on Sea, near Hastings on the southern coast of England, celebrated for the first time the Altar Feast of its newly-blessed temple.
Operating as a mission already for some years, the new temple of the parish was blessed by His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe in February of this year, upon the completion of its construction (largely by parishioners and youth of the British Isles) and decoration.
Today’s Feast of the All-Merciful Saviour, to whom the parish is dedicated, thus marks the first occasion of the celebration of the Altar Feast as such, and it was kept with solemnity and joy by the clergy and faithful. Priest Aleksandr Groves led the Divine Liturgy of the Feast, followed by the Cross processions and moleben before the patronal icon, and the blessing of honey — a tradition kept on this feast of the Saviour each year.
Filled with gratitude to God for the blessing of the day, the faithful of the parish join those of the whole Diocese in praying that this Altar Feast will be the first of many to come — until the Lord Himself returns!
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