Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 3rd June 2023

Following a day of complete rest, yesterday my friend Vasilis took me into the old city of Saloniki for a walk through our student day haunts, hardly changed in 60 years, and to see the new market, just opened, and the ongoing works on the long-delayed underground. But to begin with, a visit to the same shop we’ve been frequenting for 30 years to buy incense from Mount Athos for Peru. Opposite there was a shop where leather belts are made to measure while you wait, so Vasilis had a couple made for his expanding waistline. We also took a look at one of the many ecclesiastical tailors making vestments. Then it was on to the new market, exaggeratedly smart and hygienic. It was time for drink and a snack, so we sat at the pavement of well known snack bar for tsipouro and homemade sausages, as we reviewed our lives and thought of the years ahead and watched the world go by.

Now it was time to walk around the old market, admiring the magnificent displays of fresh fish, meat and poultry, cheese, olives, olive oil, fruit, nuts, herbs and vegetables. Weighed down with a vast amount of shopping we gradually made our way back to the car, but there was still one shop to visit, the loukoumia shop and workshop. This is Greece, so we don’t speak of Turkish Delight, the authentic article having nothing in common with what we eat in the U.K. When we got home, I was so tired, I collapsed on my bed and slept until seven o’clock, when I celebrated Mass with Sandra, who can remember the prayers still, yet has the greatest difficulty trying to read the first reading. Her Alzheimer’s is advancing rapidly. We didn’t have lunch until 8pm, but that seemed just about right!

Today we keep the feast of St Charles Lwanga and Companions, the Uganda Martyrs, 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican young men, who welcomed death in the name of Christ rather than lose their virginity. They have much to teach us today. Interestingly, Uganda also has a flourishing autochthonous Orthodox Church.