On Friday, September 13, 2024, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America visited Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he presided over the Great Vespers for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The Archbishop expressed his joy at visiting the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s beloved school, urging students to raise “His Cross at this institution of sacred learning and formation” by being “exemplars…following the One Who gave Himself for us, for the life of the world.”
Continuing, Archbishop Elpidophoros described how we can see signs of Christ’s sacrifice on the Tree of the Cross “in our worship, in our iconography, in our music, and in our articulation that we call ‘theology,’” emphasizing that these signs constitute the studies in which HCHC students engage. Like “tracks on the path of life,” they lead Orthodox Christians to “enter into the life of the Holy Orthodox Church.”
His Eminence thus encouraged students to “learn as many of these signs, vestiges, and traces as possible,” stressing that “they lead to the path heavenward” and insisting that one cannot guide others in their spiritual path if they do not know the way themselves.
Indeed, during the service Archbishop Elpidophoros of America held four services representing the spiritual, ministerial, and educational paths of HCHC students: those of Rassophoria, Stavrophoria, the Tonsure of Readers, and a Blessing for New Students.
During the Rassophoria, third-year seminarians received their exorassa (black exterior robes), while second-year seminarians received their crosses during the Stavrophoria service. Additionally, new chanters were tonsured, and His Eminence offered a blessing over all first-year Hellenic College and Holy Cross students.
From narthex to nave, the Holy Cross Chapel was filled with undergraduates and seminarians as well as their wives, children, parents, and friends who traveled to witness these significant moments, and after each ceremony and bestowal shouts of “axios,” “axia,” and “axioi” rang throughout the church.
Photos: GOARCH/Dimitrios Panagos
