This year, Lent at St Andrew’s began with a blessed visit from His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Claudiopolis, who presided over the Vespers of Forgiveness, and Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou from the sacred Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex, who had been invited by His Eminence the Archbishop to be the evening’s speaker.

The church was full to capacity as the faithful gathered to mark the beginning of the Great Fast, when the bright vestments and altar coverings are replaced by the darker colours of the solemn period. Before delivering his talk on Forgiveness, Fr Zacharias spoke movingly about his memories of St Andrew’s, where he, in his days as a student, “first learned the ABCs of the faith” with the guidance of the then Bishop of Kyanea, H.G. Chrysotomos Mavroyannopoulos, and the late Fr Andreas Garibaldinos of blessed memory. During the talk, simultaneous translation into English was made available for non-Greek speakers.

Photos: Alexios Gennaris (Archdiocesan Photographer)