Service with a difference

ANYONE looking into St Mary’s Church at 10.30am on Saturday may be surprised by a service different from the usual. The explanation is that the Christian and muchappreciated hospitality of St Mary’s has allowed the local Orthodox community to celebrate Holy Liturgy there, basically the same service that others call Holy Communion or Mass.

Some of the service will be in Greek but everyone of every nationality is welcome to come in. There will be Welsh people there, probably some English, maybe some Eastern Europeans and possibly some Copts. The Orthodox rule is that worship should be in the language of the people so if in future there are more people speaking a different language then that language will be used instead.

There will be formal ritual following the practice handed down from the days of the early Church.

Underlying is the Synagogue pattern of prayers, formal bringing-in of the Scriptures and sermon, to which is added, as Christ instructed, the blessing of His Body and Blood. Processions, incense and candles are all of ancient origin. The priest will be robed, not only to identify him but to make it clear that he is not acting and speaking as an individual man but as the agent of both the Church and ultimately God.

Not much will be spoken but most of the service will be chanted or sung. Again that emphasises that we are doing something special.

Normally we would all sit down to a meal and socialise afterwards because we are a social body but because of Covid that will be reduced to very little this time. We remain, however, a group of friends not just people attending the same event like theatre-goers. David Sage Penclawdd, Swansea