Isle of Mull, Scotland, UK, June 3, 2025
Photo: mullmonastery.com
A Romanian Orthodox monastery in Scotland has created a comprehensive collection of Divine Liturgy hymns in English using traditional Byzantine musical notation, offering a valuable resource for English-speaking Orthodox communities worldwide.
The Orthodox Monastery on the Isles of Iona and Mull has compiled and released the liturgical music collection online with the blessing of His Eminence Atanasie, Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The project provides complete musical settings for all parts of the Divine Liturgy, accompanied by audio recordings to aid learning, the diocese reports.
“The beauty of Orthodoxy is revealed not only through words, but especially through its chanting, which stands as a wholesome prayer,” said Abp. Atanasie. “To offer this chanting also in English is a form of missionary love.”
Photo: mullmonastery.com
The free resource, available on the monastery’s website, aims to support priests, church chanters, and faithful who participate in English-language Orthodox services.
According to the monastery, this initiative represents “a precious gift for Orthodox communities in the diaspora, for the Orthodox youth, for chanters who wish to use the local language, and for all those who seek to unite faithfulness to the Church’s Tradition with missionary adaptation in a different cultural context.”
The project addresses practical needs within Orthodox communities in the West, where many congregations conduct services in English but have previously lacked comprehensive musical resources written in the traditional Byzantine notation system.
The monastery emphasizes that the work cultivates “a living and authentic liturgical ministry—one that responds to the pastoral and liturgical needs of Orthodoxy in the West, while faithfully preserving the beauty and sacred order of the Byzantine rite.”
The collection includes both musical notation and audio recordings to facilitate proper learning and implementation of the chants, making it accessible to both experienced chanters and those new to Byzantine music.
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