With ecclesiastical grandeur and solemnity, the Great Festive Vespers for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos was celebrated on the evening of Thursday, August 14, at the Church of Panagia Soumela in Keilor East, Melbourne, presided over by Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
Joining him in prayer were Metropolitan Ezekiel of Dervis, Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta, Bishop Kyriakos of Melbourne, and Bishop Themistocles of Nicopolis (Patriarchate of Alexandria), together with the Protosyncellus of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, Archimandrite Christoforos Krikelis of the Ecumenical Throne, and clergy from across Melbourne.
The church was filled to capacity with parishioners of “Panagia of Pontus” and pilgrims from all over Melbourne and the wider state of Victoria. Also present were the Consul General of Greece in Melbourne, Dimitra Georgantzioglou, and Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Antonios Tsourdalakis and Marios Kalogiannis.
At the conclusion of the service, Archbishop Makarios extended heartfelt paternal blessings to the faithful, expressing deep joy at the strong participation of clergy and laity in honoring the Theotokos.
He then warmly addressed Bishop Themistocles, praising his missionary work in Africa and theological scholarship, and invited him to deliver the homily.
In his sermon, Bishop Themistocles reflected on the mystery of death as the result of humanity’s fall into sin, marking the separation of the soul from the body. He explained the meaning of the “Dormition” and the anticipation of the universal Resurrection at the Second Coming.
Referring to the Dormition and Assumption of the Theotokos, he stressed that the feast affirms the reality of eternal life and offers hope that all may enter the Kingdom of Heaven and live forever with Christ. “If we live the life in Christ,” he concluded, “we shall be eternally with our Lord.”
