The assurance to the flock of the Mother Church in the City, but also in every corner of the Universe, that as long as God allows it he will continue his ministerial offering, without neglecting his debt to the future of the Ecumenical Throne, and without dispossessing the sacred legacy and sanctified heritage of our fathers, given by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who today celebrates the 47th anniversary of his election as Bishop (Metropolitan of Philadelphia)……..
"We praise the name of the God of our Fathers, of times and times in the same power of God, who claims the mediocre Mediocrity to celebrate and this year in liturgical assembly, despite the difficulty due to the onset of a coronary pandemic, the 47th anniversary of our election as bishop. Prof.’ all 47 these years, we kept alive in our memory and heart the words of our learned Predecessor, Patriarch Demetrius of Praeos, at the announcement of our election, and we make an effort to justify the paternal prominence and his deep conviction that we will honor the Church in everything, and that after a major responsibility, zeal and diligence, we will serve the Mother Church, in humility always and loyalty and obedience to it, those of this glory, to the glory of God ".
We return the hymn of thanksgiving to the giver God di’ what richly they rejoiced in our humble face, without deserving it. And today, from this historic Holy Temple, dedicated to the patron saint of our world name, ‘Saint Demetrius, the Great Martyr and Myrovlytin, I give the promise that and di’ how many more years will the grace of the Lord require us to continue our ministerial offering, we will not neglect our debt to the future of the omnipresent Ecumenical Throne, nor will we forget our long history, nor will we dispossess the sacred legacy and sanctified heritage of our fathers, but we will stay ”seated and immovable”, as recommended by the Apostle of the Nations (Α´ Κορ. ιε´, 58), ”awakening and guarding the night watchman” (Luke. β´, 8), like the shepherds in Bethlehem, and ”fasting and praying” (cf.. Matthew. κστ´, 41), as the Lord himself in the garden of Gethsemane. This is our debt. The further are in the hands of God, who writes the story di’ of us humans, and who will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. ".
In his speech, after the Divine Liturgy during which he officiated, on the occasion of today's feast of Saint Martyr Sebastian, in the historical I.N.. of Agios Dimitrios Sarmasikios, His Holiness referred with emotion to this station of his personal path in the Church.
The Patriarch reminded that in this church there was during the Byzantine years Agiasma dedicated to Saint Sebastian, which disappeared, but was miraculously revealed again in the 19th century. and since then the faithful flock, especially on this day, to worship and take from the gushing blessed water.
His Holiness expressed his patriarchal pleasure and his congratulatory wishes to Bishop Hadrian of Bodrum., supervisor of the Fanari Region – Horn of the Gulf and the priestly serving the community p. Athanasios Mamasis, for their ministry and valuable work, as well as to the absentee, for health reasons, President of the Ecclesiastical Committee, Antonio Parisiano, Archon Lampadario of the Archdiocese of Constantinople, to whom he wished a speedy recovery, and its members, for everything they offer to the Community of Sarmasiki. also, also thanked the Board of Trustees of the High Electricity Community and its chairman, George Papaliari, for the care and sponsorship of the renovation works in the courtyard of I.. Temple.
At the end of his speech, the Patriarch referred to the absent lover of the City, Archimandrite Dositheus Canello, Abbot of I.. Monastery of Tatarna in Evrytania, who every year on such a day always visited the City. His Holiness wished Fr.. Dositheus, who edited the annual bay diary of the Patriarchate, to have good health and long ministry, and welcomed the recent publication of a voluminous volume of abbot texts, which were published in the annual calendars.