At noon on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia arrived in Oslo, Norway, to preside over the Divine Liturgy on the feast of Christmas.
Subsequently, he went to the Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Oslo, where he met with the construction project manager and members of the parish council of the aforementioned church, in order to supervise the restoration work in the fellowship hall.
On Christmas Day, the Metropolitan celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the aforementioned Metropolitan Church, assisted by the Rev. Economos Fr. Maxime Lesage and a visiting clergyman from the Holy Metropolis of Arta the Rev. Fr. George Kanakaris.
The hymns of the day were chanted by the Cathedral’s Byzantine choir under the direction of the head chanter Mr. Panagiotis Katsivalis.
The Metropolitan read the Patriarchal Encyclical for the feast of Christmas, and at the end of the Divine Liturgy, he bestowed upon Fr. Maxime Lesage, who serves at the Cathedral on a volunteer basis, the office of Protopresbyter in recognition of his dedicated ministry and that of his wife/Presbytera.
Concluding his address, he invoked the blessings of Christ our Lord, who appeared in the world as an infant for the salvation of mankind, upon the members of the Greek community in Norway and Scandinavia in general, and wished them health, progress, prosperity, and peace for the coming year.
That same afternoon, Metropolitan Cleopas visited the family of Father George, who are staying in Oslo, while the family of parish council member Mrs. Maisi Bäckman offered a traditional Finnish meal.
On the morning of Thursday, December 26, 2024, Metropolitan Cleopas visited the Metropolis Church again to meet with the project manager overseeing the fellowship hall restoration, to whom he gave appropriate instructions, as well as with the clerics, with whom he conversed and gave directions ahead the new year, before returning to the Headquarters of his Metropolis in Stockholm, on the afternoon of the same day.
Photos, courtesy of Mr. Michael Bikoulis & Mr. Spyridon Stouraitis.
