On the Sunday after The Nativity, the 29th of December 2024, His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan
visited
the Parish of St Martin & St Helen in Colchester for a very significant occasion in the life of
the community.
Dear Father Alexander, with his devoted Khouria Hilary at his side throughout, has given more
than 25 years
faithful service to God’s Holy Church, building and nurturing a strong and spiritually healthy
eucharistic
community, opening and maintaining our beautiful St Helen’s Chapel and later, after much
struggle, completing
the purchase of St Martin’s Church. Sayedna attended Vespers on Saturday evening and spoke to
the faithful on
the necessity of truly coming to know God, through a life of faithfulness, regularly reading the
Holy Gospels
and partaking in frequent Holy Communion.
After the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday Morning, Sayedna again preached on the
importance of self
sacrifice, of giving ourselves to Christ and to each other by fully entering into the life of
His Holy Church,
with our time, talents and resources. He acknowledged Father Alexander’s great faith and
diligence over the long
years of his ministry, saying to him: ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:23). In
a short service
before the dismissal, Sayedna made Fr Alexander an Archpriest, presenting him with a cross and
then declared his
status as henceforth retired. Following this he announced that Fr Mark Shillaker will succeed
him with immediate
effect as parish priest. Father Mark acknowledged the great faith and trust bestowed upon him by
Sayedna, Father
Alexander and the parish, and thanked Father Alexander for the love he has shown him and for the
teaching and
wisdom he has imparted to him over the last few years, first as a deacon and later as priest.
Father Mark went
on to say that he and his Khouria Paula will inherit a great legacy of labour, devotion and
love. It is a testament
to Father Alexander and Khouria Hilary’s faithfulness and the love and respect in which they are
held by so many
folk, that our large St Martin’s church was absolutely full of people during the service, many
of whom have known
Fr Alexander and his family and the parish from the early days in the late 1990s. After the
liturgy a feast was
held in the hall at nearby Castle Methodist Church (good friends of the parish). The food was
excellent, having
been generously provided by many of the faithful. After prayers, speeches and further
presentations, Sayedna took
his leave. Heartfelt thanks to Saydena for his love and leadership and to Margaret Haig, who
also joined us, for
her help with the singing and chanting. It was a happy and somewhat poignant day, reminding us
all to work diligently
towards the building of God’s Kingdom in our own hearts and thereby in the world, while we yet
have strength and life.
