Every second Saturday of the month, Divine Liturgy in English of Sunday - Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family, Duke Street, London W1K 5BQ.
4pm Divine Liturgy. Next: 13th November 2021

Very sadly, the Divine Liturgy in English at 9-30 am on Sundays at the Holy Family Cathedral, Lower Church, have had to be put on hold. Until the practicalities we cannot use the Lower Church space. Hopefully this will be resolved very soon. Please keep checking in here for details.

Owing to public health guidance, masks should still be worn indoors and distance maintained. Sanitisers are available. Holy Communion is distributed in both kinds from the mixed and common chalice, by means of a separate Communion spoon for each individual communicant.

To purchase The Divine Liturgy: an Anthology for Worship (in English), order from the Sheptytsky Institute here, or the St Basil's Bookstore here.

To purchase the Divine Praises, the Divine Office of the Byzantine-Slav rite (in English), order from the Eparchy of Parma here.

The new catechism in English, Christ our Pascha, is available from the Eparchy of the Holy Family and the Society. Please email johnchrysostom@btinternet.com for details.

Friday 25 June 2010

Fourth Century Images Found in Catacomb of S. Tecla, near St Paul's outside the Walls, Rome

Thanks to The History Blog, and to Zenit

Oldest Known Depictions of Andrew and John
By Carmen Elena Villa

ROME, JUNE 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- In what is thought to be the tomb of a Roman noblewoman in the Catacombs of St. Tecla, the oldest known images of the Apostles Andrew and John have been discovered.

The find was presented today a a press conference led by the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi.

The images are part of a set of four apostles -- Peter, Paul, Andrew and John -- surrounding Christ the Good Shepherd. The discovery of Paul, also thought to be the oldest known image of him, was announced last year. There are known images of Peter thought to be older.

The restoration of the images was possible because of laser technology, which eliminated layers of white c arbon calcium collected on the images over the centuries. The project was particularly delicate due to the humid, dark environment of the catacombs.

Barbara Mizzei, director of the project, explained how the restoration took place without haste and how the laser was able to vaporize the layers of grime.

The noblewoman is thought to have been of the Roman aristocracy of the late fourth century. Pious women and virgins of the Roman aristocracy promised a devotion to the martyrs and the apostles, at the time of Pope Damasus I (366-384).

According to Archbishop Ravasi, the presence of the apostles in this sepulcher "evokes a kind of devotion and protectorate alternate to that of the Roman martyrs."

Monsignor Giovanni Carru, secretary of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology, pointed out that these works "have brought back, both to experts and visitors, a very important iconographic patrimony to reconstruct the history of the Christian community of Rome, that, with the paintings that decorate its cemeteries, expresses its culture, its civilization and its faith."



St Peter -

St Paul

St Andrew

St John





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