St Nicholas of Japan
Today was to be the day that we took our congregation from Mamelodi across to Soshanguve to show them how to sing the Divine Liturgy in English and North Sotho. Like the Mamelodi congregation, those in Soshanguve worship in a classroom.
But our plans changed. Fr Michael, the priest at St Nicholas of Japan in Brixton, Johannesburg, had to return to Romania where his mother was very ill. Fr Athanasios Akunda, the priest at Soshanguve, was asked to go to St Nicholas, because it was their patronal festival. So we took the Mamelodi congregation there instead, packing as many as we could fit into the Toyota Venture (10).
St Nicholas celebrates its feast on the old calendar date, though it should really be on 3 February. When the parish started, St Nicholas of Japan was not a very well-known saint, and it was difficult to find when his feast day was. Someone said 16 February, so we began keeping it on that day, and it is just as well, since there is another church in the diocese with its feast on the same 3 February.
This is the 12th festival in the Brixton Church, and was rather subdued this year, probably because of the uncertainty over whether there would be a priest there at all. In the past there have been lots of visitors from other parishes, but this time it was mostly "family",
Fr Athanasios served the Liturgy almost entirely in English, without most of the Greek, Romanian and Slavonic bits, but he also restored an old tradition of the parish - the saying aloud of much of the Anaphora, with the congregation responding "Amen". Many had forgotten how to respond, however, and some newcomers were lost.
It seems such a pity that in most parishes the priest says those parts silently (and I suspect that some skip them altogether, which makes me wonder if the consecration really does take place). There is so much concentrated theology in them that it seems a great pity to miss them, especially, as we approach Great Lent, in the Liturgy of St Basil.
But our plans changed. Fr Michael, the priest at St Nicholas of Japan in Brixton, Johannesburg, had to return to Romania where his mother was very ill. Fr Athanasios Akunda, the priest at Soshanguve, was asked to go to St Nicholas, because it was their patronal festival. So we took the Mamelodi congregation there instead, packing as many as we could fit into the Toyota Venture (10).
St Nicholas celebrates its feast on the old calendar date, though it should really be on 3 February. When the parish started, St Nicholas of Japan was not a very well-known saint, and it was difficult to find when his feast day was. Someone said 16 February, so we began keeping it on that day, and it is just as well, since there is another church in the diocese with its feast on the same 3 February.
This is the 12th festival in the Brixton Church, and was rather subdued this year, probably because of the uncertainty over whether there would be a priest there at all. In the past there have been lots of visitors from other parishes, but this time it was mostly "family",
Fr Athanasios served the Liturgy almost entirely in English, without most of the Greek, Romanian and Slavonic bits, but he also restored an old tradition of the parish - the saying aloud of much of the Anaphora, with the congregation responding "Amen". Many had forgotten how to respond, however, and some newcomers were lost.
It seems such a pity that in most parishes the priest says those parts silently (and I suspect that some skip them altogether, which makes me wonder if the consecration really does take place). There is so much concentrated theology in them that it seems a great pity to miss them, especially, as we approach Great Lent, in the Liturgy of St Basil.