“Let us be simple in our lives and attract the grace of God through this simplicity”; this was the paternal exhortation addressed by Archbishop Makarios of Australia to the congregation in the Church of St. Spyridon in Kingsford. The Archbishop ordained Fr. Amfilochios Papantoniou as archimandrite during the Solemn Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning.
In the joyful atmosphere of the day, the Archbishop spoke to the faithful about the patron saint of their parish, focusing his attention on the so-called “Miracle of Keramos,” which was performed by Saint Spyridon during the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. As he explained, all the Orthodox Bishops had been invited to take part in the Council, among them the then Bishop of Tremithous, Spyridon. Saint Spyridon, despite being illiterate, was the one who managed to refute the heterodox theories of Arius and to defend the truth of the unity of the Holy Trinity.
“In order to obtain the grace of God and to understand the mysteries of the Church, you do not need to have degrees or success,” the Archbishop concluded, referring exactly to the example of Saint Spyridon. “The grace of God wants what Saint Spyridon had, simplicity, to come to our hearts”, he pointed, “It is not easy to be simple. Especially in our time, children are still complex and confused, just like us adults. But Saint Spyridon was simple and this simplicity attracted the grace of God.”
Addressing Fr. Amfilochios, the Archbishop first noticed that he was a worthy and blessed clergyman while he was pleased to see that he also had the gift of simplicity.
“Every clergyman of the Church is not an employee, but he is the child of the Archbishop”, he stressed, “I also love and appreciate our clergy and especially when they progress, I am happy and excited. Because it is not personal progress, but it is progress of our Archdiocese.”
