“You will be a successful and blessed clergyman if you can convince the people that they should rejoice. In a society of sadness and depression, we need joy more than ever. You are to convince people to live and experience the inner joy of Christ, the true joy that is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God ”.
The above paternal exhortation was addressed by Archbishop Makarios of Australia, to the newly ordained deacon Panagiotis Simos, as he welcomed him to the priestly family of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia.
The ordination to the diaconate took place on the morning of Sunday, May 22, The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, during the Divine Liturgy, which was performed at the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, in the suburb of Mount Gravatt in Brisbane, presided over by Archbishop Makarios of Australia, and also accompanied by Bishop Emilianos of Meloa.
The young Deacon, a physician by profession and father of three children, received the prayers and blessing of his Shepherd, along with paternal advice for the beginning of his priestly career.
“The ministry and the offertory of the doctor do not differ much from the ministry of the clergyman, because the object of both ministries is the human person.
In essence, you will continue to serve man holistically and give him the joy of Christ which is unique and unrepeatable “, stressed the Archbishop, among other things, in his paternal exhortation towards the new deacon.
The new Deacon, Fr Panayiotis, on his part thanked the Archbishop, stressing “that from the first moment you arrived in Australia everything changed. We felt that we have existence and life “, while he promised that he will follow in his new course the life and the example of the Archbishop, which is an example of total love.
