Service Sheet for Sunday 24th August – Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant Fr. Benjamin Drury

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)

Processional: 343 (Redhead No. 46) Bright the vision that delighted

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 117

Gradual: 179 (Sussex) Saints of God! lo, Jesu’s people

Offertory: 205 (Regent Square) Christ is made the sure foundation

Communion: 302 (Song I) O Thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray

Recessional: 476 (Paderborn) Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim

All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.

Please remember that the chaplaincy in Athens neither receives funding from the British Government nor from the Church of

England. All donations are, therefore, very gratefully received.

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (66: 18-21)

The Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every lan- guage. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud,

Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations. As an offering to the Lord they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of the Lord. And of some of them I will make priests and Levites, says the Lord.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 117: Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News

O praise the Lord, all you nations,

acclaim him all you peoples! (Response)

Strong is his love for us;

he is faithful for ever. (Response)

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (12: 5-17, 11-13)

Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are ad- dressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used,

it bears fruit in peace and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

No one can come to the Father except through me.’ Alleluia! The Lord be with you. And also with you.

+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (13: 22-30)

Glory to you, O Lord.

Through towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few

saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

‘Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”

‘Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

‘Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, O Christ

The setting of the Nicene Creed is on page 562 in the New English Hymnal.

et thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy hum- ble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make

them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer Collect: Tenth Sunday after Trinity)

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Wednesday 27th August: 10 a.m.; Low Mass

Friday 29th August: 7 p.m.; Low Mass: Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Sunday 31st August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: to resume in September,

details from Fr. Benjamin

Harvest Festival: Kokotos Estate, Stamata (Saturday, 18th October); Christmas bazaar: Caravel Hotel (Sunday, 23rd November)

Coffee Morning: Thursday, 11th September (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.); in the churchyard.

Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make

them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer Collect: Tenth Sunday after Trinity)

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Wednesday 27th August: 10 a.m.; Low Mass

Friday 29th August: 7 p.m.; Low Mass: Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Sunday 31st August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: to resume in September,

details from Fr. Benjamin

Harvest Festival: Kokotos Estate, Stamata (Saturday, 18th October); Christmas bazaar: Caravel Hotel (Sunday, 23rd November)

Coffee Morning: Thursday, 11th September (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.); in the churchyard.

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;

the Church does not receive any

funding from the Church of England

or the British Government and is reliant

on the goodwill of congregants and visitors. We thank you for your support.

Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;

Home tel.: 210 72 14 906

anglican@otenet.gr (Church e-mail address)

Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday)          697 737 7655

Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling  694 6072428

Facebook @AnglicanAthens                    www.anglicanchurchathens.gr

Sermon for The Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary – 17th August 2025

Canon Revd Leonard Doolan – St Pau.’s Athens

Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On August 15^th the church universal commemorates a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This celebration is kept by the Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican traditions. It is permitted to move this feast to the nearest Sunday, as we are doing.

On this date the Orthodox speak of the Eternal Sleep of the Mother of God, and generally Blessed Mary is referred to in Orthodoxy as Panaghia – (All holy). The Roman Church celebrates what they now call the Assumption, a dogma that is barely 200 years old as currently understood. For this feast, theologically, the Anglican tradition is more akin to the East than to Rome, and for centuries since the Reformation we have commemorated the Dormition, the ‘falling asleep’ of the BVM.

The other important word for this feast is Theotokos – it means literally God-bearer. It is a title used of Blessed Mary. It is utterly illogical to call her the Mother of God. God is eternal with no beginning and no end. He is before time and outside time. He is as we say in the Creed of Nicea (325AD) – ‘one God, Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.’ How can it be logical for Blessed Mary to be the Mother of God?

Usually we think of a logical statement as something emanating, emerging out of sense, making sense of sense, if you like. But here, we need to have a warning sign. Our faith is just that, what it says on the tin – not logic but faith. However, the integrity of our faith depends on being logical; to have what Matthew Arnold called ‘sweet reasonableness’.

I would propose that the logic of referring to the Blessed Virgin as ‘God-Bearer’ or Mother of God, is a logic that has to be worked backwards not forwards – and is in fact the natural conclusion of the dogmatic work of the Councils of the Church – Nicea in 325AD, the 2^nd Council of Ephesus in 431AD and ultimately in the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD.  Chalcedon fully assumes, accepts and endorses the formulas of earlier Nicea, in which crucially Jesus is defined and proclaimed as both human and divine – equally two natures in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

So Blessed Mary is human mother of the incarnate Jesus, the fully human Jesus. The gospels attest to this truth. This same Jesus is also fully divine, so Mary is both mother of Jesus, but at the same time Mother of God, as her human son, Jesus, is fully divine. This is where the logic is to be discovered. It is on account of this that Blessed Mary is worthy of the titles ascribed to her by the Church.

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Audio Sermon for the Feast of The Assumption – 17th August 2025

Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Service Sheet for Sunday 17th August 2025 – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Celebrant: Canon Fr Leonard Doolan

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)

Processional: 161 (St. Botolph) For Mary, Mother of the Lord

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 45

Gradual: 185 (Abbot’s Leigh) Sing we of the blessed Mother

Offertory: 188 (Daily, Daily) Ye who own the faith of Jesus

Communion: 275 (Liebster Jesu) Blessed Jesu, Mary’s Son

Recessional: 186 (Woodlands) Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.

“For behold, from henceforth:

all generations shall call me blessed”

A reading from the Revelation of St. John the Theologian (11: 19, 12: 1-6, 10)

The sanctuary of God in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready.

Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 45: On your right stands the queen, in garments of gold

A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (15: 20-26)

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who

have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After

that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God

the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! Mary has been taken up to heaven;

all the choirs of angels are rejoicing. Alleluia!

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (1: 39-56)

Glory to you, O Lord.

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.

Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour;

because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors –

of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, O Christ

The text and setting of the Nicene Creed is at page 562 in the New English Hymnal.

Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any

thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live

according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP Collect: Ninth Sunday after Trinity)

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Weds. 20th August: No Service

Sun. 24th August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass (21st Sunday in Ordinary Time) Weds. 27th August: 10 a.m.; Low Mass

Fri. 29th August: 7 p.m.; Low Mass (Beheading of St. John the Baptist)

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: details from Fr. Benjamin

Note: no liturgy this Wednesday (20th August); Low Mass on Friday 29th August (St. John the Baptist) at 7 p.m.

Harvest Festival: Saturday, 18th October (Kokotos Estate, Stamata); Christmas Bazaar, Sunday 23rd November (Caravel Hotel)

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;

the Church does not receive any

funding from the Church of England

or the British Government and is reliant

on the goodwill of congregants and visitors. We thank you for your support

Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;

Home tel.: 210 72 14 906

anglican@otenet.gr (Church e-mail address)

Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday)          697 737 7655 Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling  694 6072428

Facebook @AnglicanAthens                    www.anglicanchurchathens.gr

Service sheet for Sunday 10th August 2025, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant Fr Benjamin Drury

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)

Processional: 338 (Evelyns) At the name of Jesus

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 33

Gradual: 358 (Rievaulx) Father of heaven, whose love profound

Offertory: 208 (St. Catherine’s Court) In our day of thanksgiving

Communion: 350 (David’s Harp) Come, O thou Traveller unknown

Recessional: 359 (Duke Street) Fight the good fight with all thy might

Today we commemorate the life of Dorice Turnnidge (1928-2025) All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.

Please remember that the chaplaincy in Athens neither receives funding from the British Government nor from the Church of

England. All donations are, therefore, very gratefully received.

A reading from the Book of Wisdom (18: 6-9)

That night had been foretold to our ancestors, so that, once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in, they would joyfully take courage.  This was the expectation of your people, the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies;

for by the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes you made us glorious by calling us to you.

The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret and this divine pact they struck with one accord:

that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike; and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 33: Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just; for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,

the people he has chosen as his own. (Response)

The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love,

to rescue their souls from death,

to keep them alive in famine. (Response)

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

The Lord is our help and our shield.

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

as we place all our hope in you. (Response)

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews (11: 1-2, 8-19)

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for

faith that our ancestors were commended.

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a coun- try that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he

arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if

in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked for- ward to a city founded, designed and built by God.

It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there

came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead him- self, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and

welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and no- mads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for

them.

It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promis-

es had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming. Alleluia!

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (12: 32-48)

Glory to you, O Lord.

after the Gospel: The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, O Christ

…

O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away

from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer Collect: Eighth Sunday after Trinity)

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Wednesday 13th August: No Service

Sunday 17th August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass; Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Wednesday 20th August: No Service

Sunday 24th August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass Wednesday 28th August: 10 a.m.; Low Mass

Friday 29th August: 7 p.m.; Low Mass; Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Sunday 31st August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Please note that there will be no services on Wednesday, 13th August or Wednesday, 20th August, but that there will be a Mass on Friday, 29th August in the evening (7 p.m.)

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: details from Fr. Benjamin

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;

the Church does not receive any

funding from the Church of England

or the British Government and is reliant

on the goodwill of congregants and visitors. We thank you for your support.

Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;

Home tel.: 210 72 14 906

Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday)          697 737 7655

anglican@otenet.gr (Church e-mail address)

Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling  694 6072428

Facebook @AnglicanAthens                    www.anglicanchurchathens.gr

Audio sermon for Sunday 3rd August 2025

Fr ~Leonard Dolan – St Paul’s Athens

Sermon for Sunday 3rd August 2025 – Readings: Eccles 1, 2, 21-23; Colossians 3, 1-5, 9-11; Luke 12, 13-21. (not CW but RCL readings) for 3rd August 2025 –

Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens

Like the golden thread of Ariadne, that led her and Theseus through the twists and turns of the labyrinth from the danger of the Minotaur to freedom and safety, so there is a thread that runs through our three readings from scripture, that leads us from the seemingly pointless exercise of everyday human life, as expressed by the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes (vanity of vanities, all is vanity) to our safety, our liberation into new life in Christ.

The book called Ecclesiastes belongs to a genre of literature in the Old Testament called ‘Wisdom’. Much of it is to be found in the Hebrew scriptures, but the origins of the genre lie in Middle Eastern, non-Hebrew speaking culture. In Hebrew the speaker in the book is called the Qoheleth, often translated as ‘preacher’ or ‘teacher’. Our preacher claims to be the son of David, king in Jerusalem. This could be an attempt to make the writings more acceptable to the Hebrew speaking people of Israel, and to rescue the material from its gentile origins. We do something similar when we recite or sing the Psalms of David – we ‘Christianize’ them by always adding the words, ‘Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit’ a non- Jewish religious formula. I hope you see what I’m driving at.

In the Greek version of the book the Hebrew word Qoheleth is translated as ‘Ekklesiastis’ from which we derive the name of the book.

The content is what we might call somewhat depressing – emphasizing the futility of the human condition, characterized so frequently by us entering into life with our ‘eyes wide shut’ contrasting with the open eyed person who sees the light of God. ‘Vanity of vanities – all is vanity’. This quote from the book rather sums it up, and it has become something of a phrase in everyday English use.

It reminds me of my time on one of my parishes. We were beautifully associated with a small theatre next to the 13^th century church – a 16^th century Sussex barn conversion. One year the theatre production team chose to perform a couple of episodes from the hugely loved vintage TV series called Dad’s Army. One of the characters was called Private Frazer, and as his surname suggests he was a Scot – what we call a ‘dour Scot’. Dour is not so easy to translate directly into standard English, let alone trying to find a Greek equivalent (maybe someone far brighter can try).

Frazer’s glass was always half empty – indeed I think you could say a quarter empty – so he always looked on the gloomy side of any situation (I suppose that’s really what ‘dour’ means). In the two productions the Director cast me as Private Frazer, partly because I can exaggerate my naturally beautiful accent into a rather more accented one. So it fell to me to say occasionally the phrase that Frazer was famous for ‘We’re a’ doomed!’. My apologies to those who have never seen the series, and the entire Greek nation.

So ‘We’re a’ doomed’ could be a very good summing up of the message of the Preacher, the Qoheleth in our book Ecclesiastes.

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Service Sheet for Sunday 3rd August 2025 – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant Rev Canon Leonard Doolan

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)
Processional: 415 (Lyngham) O for a thousand tongues to sing
Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 90
Gradual: 480 (Manchester) In Christ there is no East or West
Offertory: 401 (Westminster Abbey) Light’s abode, celestial Salem
Communion: 311 (Meirionydd) We pray thee, heavenly Father
Recessional: 392 (Sandon) Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling
gloom
All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.
Please remember that the chaplaincy in Athens neither receives
funding from the British Government nor from the Church of
England. All donations are, therefore, very gratefully received.

A reading from Ecclesiastes (1: 2, 2: 21-23)
Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity!
For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and suc-
cessfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for
it at all. This, too, is vanity and great injustice; for what does he gain
for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun?
What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless
nights? This, too, is vanity.
The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 90:

O Lord, you have been our refuge
from one generation to the next.

You turn men back to dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night. (Response)

You sweep men away like a dream,
like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades. (Response)

Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants. (Response)

In the morning, fill us with your love; we
shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands. (Response)

A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians (3: 1-5, 9-
11) Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you
must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at
God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on
the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now
the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is
revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory
with him.
That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to
earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and
especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false
god; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old
behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self
which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator;

and in that image there is no room for distinction
between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the
uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man.
There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.
The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth. Alleluia!
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (12: 13-21)
Glory to you, O Lord.
After the Gospel: The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, O Christ

The setting of the Nicene Creed is to be found on page 562 in

the New English Hymnal

Lord of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of thy name, increase
in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer Collect: Seventh Sunday after Trinity)
Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments
Wednesday 6th August: 9:30 a.m.; Low Mass; Transfiguration of the Lord

Sunday 10th August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Please note that on Wednesday (6th August) the Mass for the
Transfiguration shall commence at the earlier time of 9:30 a.m.
Study group & pilgrimage walking group: details from Fr. Benjamin

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;
the Church does not receive any
funding from the Church of England
or the British Government and is reliant
on the goodwill of congregants and visitors.
We thank you for your support.
Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury
frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;
Home tel.: 210 72 14 906
Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday) 697 737
7655 anglican@otenet.gr (Church e-mail address)
Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling 694 6072428
Facebook @AnglicanAthens www.anglicanchurchathens.gr

Service Sheet for Sunday 27th July 2025 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant Fr Benjamin Drury

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)

Processional: 500 (Irish) Thy kingdom come! on bended knee

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 138

Gradual: 416 (Stracathro) O God of Bethel, by whose hand

Offertory: 302 (Song I) O thou who at thy Eucharist didst pray

Communion: 406 (St. Hugh) Lord, teach us how to pray aright

Recessional: 336 (Angel Voices) Angel-voices ever singing

All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.

Please remember that the chaplaincy in Athens neither receives funding from the British Government nor from the Church of England. All donations are, therefore, very gratefully received

A reading from the Book of Genesis (18: 20-32)

The Lord said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.’

The men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth not admin- ister justice?’ the Lord replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them.’

Abraham replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five?’ ‘No,’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there.’ Again Abraham said to him, ‘Per- haps there will only be forty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the forty.’

Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘if I find thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten.’

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 138: On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians (2: 12-14)

You have been buried with Christ, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead,  Because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins.

He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word was made flesh and lived among us:

to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. Alleluia!

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (11: 1-13)

Glory to you, O Lord.

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disci- ples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:

‘“Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test.”’

He also said to them: ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed;

I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.

‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks al- ways receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, O Christ

O God, who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding: Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer Collect: Sixth Sunday after Trinity)

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Wednesday 30th July: 10 a.m.; Low Mass Sunday 3rd August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Weds. 6th August: 9:30 a.m.; Low Mass: Transfiguration of the Lord

Sunday 10th August: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Please note that the Mass on the sixth of August (Transfiguration) will begin at 9:30 a.m. (rather than the usual hour of 10 a.m.)

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: to resume in September,

details from Fr. Benjamin

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;

the Church does not receive any

funding from the Church of England

or the British Government and is reliant

on the goodwill of congregants and visitors. We thank you for your support.

Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;

Home tel.: 210 72 14 906

Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday)          697 737 7655

(Church e-mail address)  anglican@otenet.gr

Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling  694 6072428

Facebook @AnglicanAthens                    www.anglicanchurchathens.gr

Service Sheet for Sunday 20th July – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cdelebrant Fr Benjamin Drury

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)

Processional: 410 (Westminster) My God, how wonderful thou art

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 15

Gradual: 424 (Cornwall) O love divine, how sweet thou art!

Offertory: 473 (Laudes Domini) When morning gilds the skies

Communion: 294 (Saffron Walden) Just as I am, without one plea

Recessional: 393 (Mannheim) Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us

All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.

Please remember that the chaplaincy in Athens neither receives funding from the British Government nor from the Church of England.  All donations are, therefore, very gratefully received

A reading from the Book of Genesis (18: 1-10)

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’

Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 15: The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

He who walks without fault;

he who acts with justice

and speaks the truth from his heart;

he who does not slander with his tongue. (Response)

He who does no wrong to his brother, who casts no slur on his neighbour, who holds the godless in disdain,

but honours those who fear the Lord. (Response)

He who keeps his pledge, come what may;

who takes no interest on a loan

and accepts no bribes against the innocent.

Such a man will stand firm for ever. (Response)

A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians (1: 24-28)

It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be

undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for deliv- ering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hid- den for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct every- one, to make them all perfect in Christ.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! Open our heart, O Lord,

to accept the words of your Son. Alleluia!

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (10: 38-42)

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed

him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one.  It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, O Christ

The text and setting of the Nicene Creed is at page 562 in the New English Hymnal.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer Collect: Fifth Sun- day after Trinity)

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Wednesday 23rd July: 10 a.m.; Mattins (Morning Prayer)

Sunday 27th July: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass

Wednesday 30th July: 10 a.m.; Low Mass

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: details from Fr. Benjamin

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;

the Church does not receive any

funding from the Church of England

or the British Government and is reliant

on the goodwill of congregants and visitors.

We thank you for your support.

Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury

frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;

Home tel.: 210 72 14 906

anglican@otenet.gr (Church e-mail address)

Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday)          697 737 7655

Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling  694 6072428

Facebook @AnglicanAthens                    www.anglicanchurchathens.gr