Wednesday 1 May 2024 - GREAT WEDNESDAY 

10:00 The Presanctified Liturgy 
18:30 Holy Unction

Thursday 2 May 2024 - GREAT THURSDAY

10:00 Divine Liturgy
18:30 Great Vigil - The reading of the 12 Passion Gospels

Friday 3 May 2024 - GREAT FRIDAY

10:00 ROYAL HOURS
18:30 VESPERS WITH THE PROCESSION OF THE SHROUD
19:30 Matins with Burial service of the Lord

Saturday 4 May 2024 - GREAT SATURDAY

10:00 Divine Liturgy

Sunday 5 May 2024 - EASTER

00:00 EASTER MATINS and 1st EASTER LITURGY
10:00 2nd EASTER LITURGY
19:00 Easter Vespers

Monday 6 May 2024 - BRIGHT MONDAY - ST. GEORGE DAY

10:00 Divine Liturgy

Tuesday 7 May 2024 - BRIGHT TUESDAY

10:00 Divine Liturgy

On Great Wednesday, Great Thursday and Great Friday, the church will be open from 9:00 to 13:00 and from 18:00 to 21.30.

On Great Saturday, the church will be open from 9:00 to 13:00 and 22:00 to 24:00.

On Easter, the church will be open from 00:00 (midnight) to 3:00 and from 9:00 to 20:00.

*Note: All those who wish are preparing to partake in the Holy Sacrament of Communion
at the first (midnight) Liturgy on the Day of the Resurrection,  should abstain from food and drink at for at least 8 hours prior to the service.

"Where are you, Adam" film screening and meeting with the produces will take place on Thursday 4th April 2024 at 7.30pm in the Bishop Nikolaj Hall (89 Lancaster Road, London, W11 1QQ). This is a film about monastic life of Monastery Dochiariu on Mount Athos. Admission is free, donations are welcome.  

When the most holy Virgin had lived and served in the Temple at Jerusalem for eleven years, and was by then fourteen years old when, that is, she was entering on her fifteenth year - the priests informed her that, according to the Law, she could no longer remain in the Temple but must be betrothed and marry. But, to the great surprise of all the priests, the most holy Virgin replied that she had dedicated herself to God and wished to a maiden remain till death and enter into wedlock with no-one.

Then, by God's providence and under His inspiration, Zacharias, the high priest and father of the Forerunner, in consultation with the other priests, chose twelve unmarried men from the tribe of David so that they might entrust the Virgin Mary to one of them to preserve her virginity and care for her. She was thus entrusted to Joseph, an old man from Nazareth and a kinsman of hers. In his house, the most holy Virgin continued to live in the same manner as in the Temple of Solomon, passing her time in the reading of the sacred Scriptures, in prayer, in pondering on the works of God, in fasting and in handwork. She scarcely ever left the house, nor took an interest in worldly matters or events. She generally conversed very little with anyone, and never without a particular need. She was intimate only with the two daughters of Joseph. But when the time prophesied by the Prophet Daniel had come and when God was pleased to fulfil the promise made to Adam when He drove him out of Paradise, and to the prophets, the mighty Archangel Gabriel appeared in the chamber of the most holy Virgin, at the precise moment (as some priestly writers have related) that she was holding open on her lap the book of the Prophet Isaiah and pondering on his great prophecy: 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son'. Gabriel appeared to her in angelic light and said to her: 'Rejoice, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee!', and so forth, just as is related in the Gospel of the divine Luke. With this angelic greeting and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the salvation of mankind and the renewal of creation were set in motion. The Archangel turned the first page of the story of the New Testament with the word 'Rejoice!', to show by this the joy that the New Testament signifies for mankind and for all things created. And therefore the Annunciation is looked upon as a joyous, as well as a great, feast.

Stevan Nemanja, the great ruler of the Serbian people, unifier of the Serbian lands, creator of an independent Serbian government, defender of Orthodoxy, driver-out of heresy, was first baptised in the Latin Church, but later became a member of the Orthodox Church. In its Organisation, it was at first dependent on Greece, but later shook off this dependence and became completely autonomous. When he had strengthened the state and the Orthodox Church within the state he then, following the example of his son Sava, received the monastic habit at the monastery of Studenica in 1195, being given the name Simeon. His wife Anna also received the monastic habit and the name Anastasia, and retired to a women"s monastery. After two years" monasticism at Studenica, Simeon went to the Holy Mountain. There he stayed at first in the monastery of Vatopedi, together with Sava. Father and son spent days and nights in prayer. They built there six chapels: to the Saviour, the Unmercenaries, St George, St Theodore, the Forerunner and St Nicolas. They bought the ruins of Hilandar and built a beautiful monastery, in which Simeon lived only eight months before his death. When he was at his last breath, Sava, according to his wish, placed him on a simple rush mat. With his eyes fixed on the icon of the Mother of God with the Saviour, the blessed elder pronounced these words: "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." And he went to the Lord, on February 13th, 1200.

source: www.crkvenikalendar.com