Our parishioners came together to observe an elegiac Great Friday service.
Around fifty attended the service, one which is quite unique in the Orthodox Christian calendar.
Serving Vespers at Bedford's main Church of St Paul's, parish priest Father Radmilo Stokić described this as the "saddest day in Orthodoxy" when Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to save mankind.
Mourning flowers were strewn beside the Plaštanica, an 'icon of cloth' which represents the body of Jesus wrapped in a burial shroud. The service culminated as the people walked in procession behind the Plaštanica three times around the nave of the Church.
Following Great Vespers in Bedford, Proto Radmilo went on to serve Royal Hours in St Elijah's in Corby.
Paschal services will be held in both towns on Sunday 2 May.