Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, the after-feast of the Transfiguration, as well as with the day of the memory of the Holy Martyr Laurence, the archdeacon of Rome!

On the most solemn and festive days, the church services are adorned with the singing of the ‘polyeleos.’ Polyeleos is a Greek word which has two different meanings: much oil as well as much mercy. The polyeleos is composed of two psalms, the 134th (135), ‘Praise ye the Lord,’ and the 135th (136), ‘O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good.’ Both of these psalms are sung with ‘Alleluia’ as a refrain. These psalms are called the ‘polyeleos’ because while they are sung, all the lights are turned on, while in earlier times all the candles and lamps would have been lit and much olive oil would have been used. They are also called thus because the words “for his mercy endureth for ever” are repeated many times in the 135th psalm. Although in our parish, as in others, the ‘polyeleos’ is sung in a very abbreviated form, it is very impressive and majestic when in a monastery or during a solemn hierarchical service these psalms are sung in their entirety. Today let us briefly discuss the 134th and 135th psalms.

As was the case with last week’s 117th psalm, one can assume that the ‘polyeleos’ psalms were composed after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity and the Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt. The subject matter of both these clear and easily-understandable psalms is identical. In them the listener is called, with beautiful and poetic language, to glorify God because He is good, because He created the world, because He led the Jews out of Egypt and granted them the Promised Land. For Christians, the words of these psalms, especially when they are sung on the feasts of the Lord, when we remember and celebrate those events through which people are saved, take on a new spiritual meaning. For us the Lord is good because He freed us not from bondage in Egypt, but from bondage to sin. Through His salvific providence He settled us not in some kind of wonderful country here on earth, but opened to us a path into the eternal Heavenly Kingdom.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us endeavour in our everyday lives to remember all those great blessings that the Lords sends us and to glorify Him, “for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Priest Alexis

P.S.

The Frescoing of Our Altar has Been Completed

With God's help, thanks to the efforts of our iconographer Mikhail Myshkov, the painting of the lower tier of the altar was completed last week. This tier depicts the Deesis. In the centre, Jesus Christ sits enthroned, depicted not as usual, but as an Orthodox bishop or a Byzantine emperor. To the right and left stand saints, addressing our Great High Priest Jesus Christ in prayer. Closest to the throne of God stand His Most Pure Mother and Saint John the Baptist, followed by images of holy bishops, priests, and deacons, as well as those of a holy subdeacon, a reader, and an altar server. Thus, all the ranks of the clergy are represented here.

The following saints are depicted (from left to right): the holy martyrs Marcian the Reader and Martyrius the Subdeacon; the holy righteous Nicholas Planas; the holy hierarchs Innocent of Moscow, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Theophan the Recluse; the holy righteous Alexis Mechev and his son, the holy martyr Sergius Mechev; the holy martyr Archdeacon Laurence and Deacon Nikolai Tokhtuev; Tsarevich Alexis, who served in the altar in 1917 while his family was under house arrest at Tsarskoye Selo. All these saints are wonderful. If you are not familiar with them and are interested, you can find their lives on the internet.

Personally, I hope that when I and the other members of the clergy, as well as the altar boys of our parish, enter the altar, we will be inspired by the zealous service of these holy men and, as much as possible, will strive to emulate them. I also hope that the depicted saints, who are so close to my heart, will not abandon us all, but will mysteriously join in with the prayers offered in our church and bring them to the throne of our Lord and God Jesus Christ.

With the completion of the lower tier, the painting of the entire altar is complete! May our Lord bless and generously reward with spiritual gifts all who helped accomplish this good work!