Holy Cross from Jerusalem to visit the Greek and Russian Orthodox Dioceses in Britain - 28 November to 12 December

Encyclical of Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira, Patron of the Society London, 1st November 2013      Dearly Beloved in the Lord, I take great joy in informing you of some wonderful news. Following the request of our holy Archdiocese, and that of the Russian Orthodox Church in Britain, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos, and the Synod of the Holy Sepulchre, have agreed to bless the visit of the Precious and Life-giving Cross to the United Kingdom for our people to venerate. I invite all Orthodox Christians to come to church to venerate the Cross, to be blessed and edified by it, and to find through the grace of the Precious and Life-giving Cross health, happiness, forgiveness and remission of sins, the guidance and protection of their children, the strengthening of their family, and divine enlightenment of young and old. Needless-to-say this relic is a piece of the Cross upon which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on Golgotha and upon which He shed His most holy Blood for the salvation of the human race. Rightly does the hymnographer sing: “Rejoice, O life-bearing Cross, invincible triumph of true worship; O gate of paradise, constancy of believers, and wall of the Church, through which... we have ascended from earth to heaven.” With profound theological poetry, the Church invites the people of God to venerate and pray before the Precious and Life-giving Cross: “Come, all ye nations, let us adore the blessed Tree, through which everlasting justice hath come to pass… And by the blood of God the venom of the serpent was washed away; and the curse was undone by the righteous sentence when the just One was condemned unjustly… But glory to Thy fearful dispensation towards us, O Christ, wherewith Thou hast saved all, since Thou art good and the lover of mankind.” With great joy we expect to see you come to our churches with devotion and holy humility to pray and bow down before the Holy Cross, which will be here in the United Kingdom for the first time to bless our churches, their leaders and congregations, and all who come with faith and the desire to find redemption and the salvation of their souls from Him who was crucified and suffered for us, our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be dominion, glory and boundless mercy for ever and ever. Amen. Gregorios, Archbishop of Thyateira & Great Britain

Programme of the Visit Thursday 28.11.2013 Arrival of the Precious Cross Friday 29.11.2013 Cathedral of All Saints, Camden Town Saturday 30.11.2013 Cathedral of St Andrew, Kentish Town Saturday 30.11, 3p.m.- Monday 2.12.2013 Russian Cathedral of the Dormition and All Saints, Ennismore Gardens Tuesday 3.12.2013 Cathedral of the Dormition, Birmingham Wednesday 4.12.2013 Cathedral of the Divine Wisdom, Bayswater Thursday 5.12.2013 Church of St Panteleimon, Harrow Friday 6.12.2013 Cathedral of St Nicholas, Shepherds Bush Saturday 7.12.2013 Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Manchester (morning) Russian Orthodox Church, Manchester (afternoon) Sunday 8.12.2013 Church of St Nicholas, Liverpool Monday 9.12.2013 Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Camberwell (morning) Church of St Nectarios, Battersea (afternoon) Tuesday 10.12.2013 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Oxford (morning) Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, Oxford (afternoon) Wednesday 11.12.2013 Cathedral of the Dormition, Community of St Barnabas, Wood Green (morning) Church of St John the Baptist, Haringey (afternoon) Thursday 12.12.2013 Departure of the Precious Cross