The great feast of the Nativity is coming to the women’s farmstead of Saint Elisabeth Convent, where some thirty women with troubled lives have found refuge. Christmas time is always our favourite. It is a festival of kindness, forgiveness, charity and joy, a time to the spirit of Christ that makes our hearts glow, inspires us to do kind deeds of service, to forgive, and to pray. Christmas is about Christ and Christ is all about your joy and happiness.
But this Christmas is truly special. Today, we are sounding for the first time the brand new bells of our church of Saint Radonezh. At last, we can fulfil the good Orthodox tradition of sounding the full set of the bells on this great feast. The music of the bells proclaims Christ’s love for all the people. It passes on to everyone His open invitation to His banquet.
We rejoice in this opportunity to give you our thanks and appreciation for your donations and help – none of this would have been possible without them. They say that the bells are the voice of the church. Thank you for helping to give our Church of Saint Radonezh a voice. The music of the bells touches hearts, young and old. Thank you for helping us to reach people’s hearts. The bells are messengers of God. Thank you for helping us to make His message heard.
The music of the bells in this video proclaims the presence of God in our lives. He brought us together as a group of like-minded people. He inspired us to donate our hard-earned money for our common cause; the energy to persevere with the procurement and delivery of the bells, the inspiration to prepare and complete their installation. He guided us to success at every step of the process and helped us achieve the final result.
The disadvantaged women of the farmstead have been waiting for this moment. They are fighting hard to win back their lives, secure a future on earth and salvation in eternity. It is an uphill struggle with some successes and inevitable setbacks. May the message of God’s unending presence give them the heart to turn to Him for prayer, to appeal to Him for the strength endurance to keep going. He alone can empower us to break with our old ways and die for sin; He is our only source of endurance and persistence in our journey to salvation; He gives us the faith to know that He cares, loves and will never leave us.
The joyous music of the bells is floating above the surrounding fields and villages, breaking the gloom of silence. It adds colour to people’s lives. It brings reassurance and raises the spirits. It is the sound of our common victory.
We celebrate your courage, generosity and care, and look forward to many more victories ahead. We rejoice in our unity as we pray for you in our churches. We thank you for your interest in our life for your generous support towards our ministry. May our prayers and the chiming of the bells bring courage, goodwill and reassurance to all!
