St Helen's Chapel is an Eastern Orthodox church in Colchester, Essex, under the jurisdiction of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland, headed by Metropolitan Silouan Oner.

Liturgy

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

at Saint Helen's Chapel is prayed in the English language, despite Arabic serving as the official language of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. Divine Liturgy is prayed at 10:30 am on Sundays, with occasional services during the week.

History

In the 16th century, after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, St Helen's Chapel ceased to be used for worship and instead was used for secular use as a school, library, and workshop. In the 18th century, the chapel began to be used as a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

meeting house and later a Church Hall. In 1886, the

Round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

family, who also owned

Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman architecture, Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, d ...

, purchased the chapel, and hired famous architect

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a British Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was bo ...

to restore it. Very little of the original stonework exists, excluding a few decorative Roman bricks. Since the 24th of February 1950, the chapel has been Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. In 2000, after 500 years, the chapel was restored by the local Eastern Orthodox parish to be used for Divine Liturgy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Helen's Chapel, Colchester Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch Church buildings converted to a different denomination Greek Orthodox churches in the United Kingdom Former Church of England church buildings