Celebrations

The gift of our parish children to all of us at Christmas! 

All children’s celebrations are beautiful, but it seems like this year’s celebration was the most beautiful! The children from the Meeting of our Lord parish in Glasgow outdid themselves, delighted us, reminded us of our childhood celebrations and made us feel part of a big and beautiful family! 

And this year St. Nicholas wanted to overwhelm us with his gifts, so he sent people with big, beautiful hearts, who showed us what it means to have the image of God: all the children had costumes, our play had a dream setting, all the children who attended the service received rich gifts! 

As our presenter, Antonia, said, we hope that you remembered your childhood celebrations and that they helped you, at least a little, to prepare your soul to welcome the Nativity with more joy and attention! 

Thank you to everyone, known and unknown, who made Sunday an unforgettable memory! 

In the Meeting of our Lord parish in Glasgow, St. Nicholas has already come with surprises and joy for all of us! We thank children for an unforgettable day and, especially, for the fact that, through their interpretation, we have Saints Nicholas and Parascheva even closer to our souls! 

The Feast of The Meeting of our Lord was a special day of feasting and joy for all members of the Romanian community in Glasgow, who celebrated their dedication today. 

Romanians from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Perth, London and Romania gathered together to welcome the Lord and give thanks to God for all the benefits received. The church was full of young people, old people and children dressed in folk costumes from different areas of Romania, Romanians, English, Scots, Greeks and Russians – all of them, united in faith and feeling, prayed for their health and protection and that of their families. 

The songs of Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy had an extra beauty due to the presence of the psaltic group “Chalice” from Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest. 

A special moment in the feast of the patron saint was the celebration organized by the children of the parish, after the service of the Holy Liturgy. The children, dressed in beautiful national costumes, evoked three important moments celebrated by Romanians everywhere: 170 years since the birth of our national poet, Mihai Eminescu, 161 years since the Union of Moldova with Wallachia and, of course, the dedication of the church in Glasgow, the Greeting of the Lord. 

The children talked about the feast of The Meeting of our Lord and its significance, about Mihai Eminescu’s life and about what the Little Union means. They recited some of the most beautiful poems written by our national poet, patriotic poems and religious poems. A special moment was when each child showed with great joy on the map the place of birth of their parents in Romania. At the end of the celebration, to the applause of all those present, the children sang and danced like their ancestors, 161 years ago, Hora Unirii. 

It is wonderful to see the joy with which these Romanian children (mostly born in the UK) wore their national costumes, recited poems by Mihai Eminescu and danced Hora Unirii! Here is a link where you can see our dedication day celebration: Hram Celebration 2020 

The service ended with the communal meal that is traditional in our church. Romanians with big hearts have worked with love this year as well, preparing dishes specific to the areas they come from and thus contributing to the full joy of the feast.  

17 March 2019 

Orthodoxy Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent, is a special Sunday for all Orthodoxy because it celebrates the victory of Orthodoxy over iconoclasm and all heresies. 

This Sunday was also celebrated in our parish in Glasgow in a special way. We had as guests at the Divine Liturgy the members of the choir ‘Ruskaya Capella’ conducted by Mrs. Svetlana Zvereva, and the service was attended, along with the parishioners of our parish, by parishioners from the Orthodox parish of ‘Saint Archangel Gabriel’ in Glasgow. 

An extra beauty of the day was given by the celebration of the children of our parish. All the little children present showed us how beautifully they colored the icons of their patron saints, then presented us their saints in turn and sang and said prayers. The joy they gave us was generously rewarded, the children receiving gifts from the parish and a Christ-loving family. 

The rich communal meal at the end of the program prepared with much love by the members of our parish completed an unforgettable day! Today I felt more than ever that we are a community and ‘how good it is for brothers to be together!’