With the blessing of Archbishop Atanasie, after the Liturgy and a wedding on 20 September 2026, the new Icon of the Saints of the Western Lands, 90 cm x 70 cm, was placed in its wooden shrine in St John’s Church in Colchester. After the Liturgy of the Nativity of the Mother of God on 21 September 2026, the Icon was blessed. It was painted by one of our deacons, Antonie Brailescu, who is also an iconographer and the shrine was made by a parishioner-carpenter, Daniel Radu. Around Christ, Who holds a cross over Western Europe and is accompanied by the Mother of God, St John the Baptist and the holy Apostles Peter and Paul of Rome, 30 main saints from all over Western Europe are depicted around the four sides. They are:

St James the Apostle, St Martin of Tours, St Irenaeus of Lyon, St Clement of Rome, St Ambrose of Milan, St Hilary of Poitiers, St Benedict of Nursia, St Eulalia of Barcelona, St Genevieve of Paris, St Julia of Corsica, St Lucy of Sicily, St John Cassian, St Vincent of Lerins, St Columba of Iona, St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, St Martin of Braga, St Hosius of Cordoba, St Patrick of Ireland, St Alban of Britain, St Maurice of Agaunum, St Boniface of Germany, St David of Wales, St Edmund, King of East Anglia, St Severinus of Noricum, St Anschar of Hamburg, St Sigfrid of Sweden, St Olaf of Norway, St Willibrord of the Netherlands, St Lambert of Maastricht, St Brendan the Voyager.

This Icon exists because our Church is dedicated to St John of Shanghai and Western Europe and the iconostasis already depicts his many friends, like St Nicholas of Zhicha and St Alexis of Carpatho-Russia, and of course here is the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, before which St John reposed. We also have many relics of St John, such as his London cassock, placed in a full-length shrine, with an icon of him, and covered with his archbishop’s mantle, his paraman, decrees with his signature etc.

In the 1950s St John was instrumental in renewing the veneration for the Orthodox saints of the Western Lands. Thus, we are continuing his heritage, as we have been doing ever since 1973. Our Church is the Church of St John and All the Saints of the Western Lands. It will be consecrated as such by our Patriarchate of Romania, once the frescoing of the walls is complete, now that the ceiling repainting with its 2,000 stars is nearly done.

100 A4 copies and 500 A5 copies of this Icon have been printed. With the blessing of Archbishop Atanasie, the Icon is accompanied by an A5 book of akathists to All the Saints of the Western Lands, in Romanian and the six most common Western European languages, spoken by 90% of Western Europeans: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. This akathist is based on our full service to these saints, which we composed over twelve years ago. All this comes ahead of the Congress of our Metropolia of Western and Southern Europe, with its 1,000 parishes and 8 bishops, which will take place in Rome from 6 to 9 October. The akathist was published on Amazon, as was a second book of activities in English, A4 format and 100 pages long, designed for children so they can understand the saints of this Icon. An extract from the akathist:

Akathist to All the Saints of the Western Lands 

Kontakion 1

We sing the praises of all the saints who from time immemorial have pleased God, shining forth in the Western Lands and receiving crowns of glory in the heavens. You who have great boldness before the Lord can free us from all misfortunes, and therefore we call out to you:

Rejoice, all the saints of the Western Lands, and pray ardently to God for us.

Ikos 1

The saints of the North, the South and the East were added to by you, the saints of the West. Together you go forth in bright triumph and call the whole world to spiritual joy. We offer veneration, as we call out to the saints of the Western Lands in this way:

Rejoice, O saints, shining with the light of the Sun of Righteousness and making the sign of the Cross over the lands of the West.

Rejoice, O saints, who shine with the purity of the Orthodox Faith through your life in the Holy Trinity.

Rejoice, O saints, who call us to return to the roots of our first confession of the Holy Spirit in the bright Sunrise of Orthodoxy.

Rejoice, O saints, who pray to God for our repentance and return, restoration and resurrection.

Rejoice, O saints, who instruct us to leave aside the things of men and the fallen fleshly mind, bereft of the Saviour and the Spirit.

Rejoice, O saints, who brighten the ever-darkening shades of the Churchless night.

Rejoice, all the saints of the Western Lands, and pray ardently to God for us.

For photographs, see:

www.saintjohnsorthodoxchurch.com

www.facebook.com/stjohnsorthodoxcolchester

Instagram: @st.john.maximovitch.colchester

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