THE Friends of our Lady of Tintern have issued an open invitation to a special Vespers service at 3pm in Tintern Abbey on September 4.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Kallistos is the speaker this year – probably the first Greek Orthodox Bishop to speak in the Abbey since its foundation!

Timothy Ware, Kallistos' English name, was born in 1934. He gained a double first in Classics and then studied theology.

In 1966, he was ordained a priest and took monastic vows at the Monastery of St John the Theologian in Patmos, Greece. In 1982 he became the titular bishop of Diokleia, the first Englishman to become a bishop in the Greek Orthodox Church since the 11th century, and when the Diocese was raised to the level of a Metropolis he became its titular Metropolitan.

The Friends advise bringing your own chair.