Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar

On 7 January 2026, when the Orthodox Church commemorates the Synaxis of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist according to the Revised Calendar, and communities following the Old Calendar celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, His Eminence Atanasie celebrated the Hierarchical Liturgy in the midst of the faithful of the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester, within a liturgical setting marked by profound spiritual depth.

The Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch carries out its liturgical life in a church building constructed in 1855 for the British garrison and today regarded as one of the largest wooden churches in the British Isles. Acquired in 2008, it has since become a place of Orthodox worship for hundreds of faithful from the region.

At the appropriate moment during the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence instituted four readers, entrusting them with both the responsibility and the joy of participating in the liturgical life of the parish.

In the sermon delivered during the Liturgy, the Hierarch highlighted the deep connection between the feast of Saint John the Baptist and the joy of the Nativity of the Lord, showing that these two realities within the Church’s liturgical life converge in the same call to repentance, confession, and perfect love for God and neighbour. Saint John, like a candle proclaiming the coming of the Saviour, remains for all the faithful an image of obedience in the Spirit and of preparation of the heart for divine glory, while the Nativity of the Lord continually calls us to joy in Christ and to the hope of salvation.

The Hierarch emphasised that ‘the Nativity in the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ is revealed to us, once again, as an opportunity to reflect upon grace upon grace, which He brings to mankind, whose Son He becomes, taking the form of a servant, and especially upon the way in which each one of us partakes of this grace, from which we are called to be nourished and in which we are called to abide.

The key to entering more deeply into this divine and saving work is also offered to us by the ancient tradition of the Church, which in its early centuries celebrated the Nativity and Theophany – the Divine Manifestation of Him Who came in the flesh upon the earth – at the same time, as a feast of Light, calling us to link this exalted event with our own baptism and with the personal appropriation of the priceless gift received on this day.’

The celebration unfolded in an atmosphere of prayer and communion, bringing together young and old alike, clergy and laity, around the Holy Mysteries and the life of the Church, in which the Orthodox faith is lived and confessed with strength and joy, even amid the challenges of the contemporary world.

The children of the parish presented a short artistic programme with songs and carols, followed by a group of adults who brought joy to the entire community through festive hymns.

The parish priest, Fr Andrew Philips, together with the concelebrating clergy, addressed words of gratitude to His Eminence Atanasie for the hierarchical ministry and for the blessing brought to the community of Colchester, expressing the thankfulness of both clergy and faithful for the spiritual strengthening received on this festal day.

Following the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Atanasie officiated the service of blessing of a wayside cross erected in the church courtyard and dedicated to the holy confessors of the Communist prisons, as a sign of gratitude and of honouring their sacrifice for the faith and for the freedom of the Church.

This hierarchical visit to Colchester, on a day of double significance according to both the Old and the Revised Calendars, strengthened the sense of unity and liturgical communion among the faithful, bringing encouragement, light, and love to the heart of the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch.

Read the full address of the Hierarch here.

Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar
Hierarchical ministry at the Parish of Saint Hierarch John Maximovitch in Colchester – spiritual joy on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Lord according to the old calendar

Photo Credit: Dorinel Preoțescu

–

📌 Stay connected with the life of the Archdiocese
Subscribe to our official channels to receive announcements, news, and updates from the Romanian Orthodox communities in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

👉 WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb5ZHsi6LwHeEMJZZo3h

👉 Telegram: https://t.me/roarchuk

👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roarch_uk

👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Roarch.uk

👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@roarch-romanianorthodoxarch-uk

👉 X : https://x.com/ROArchUK

👉 Tik Tok : https://www.tiktok.com/@roarch.uk

Views: 232