On Sunday, July 12, the day that our Church celebrates the memory of St. Paisios of Mount Athos, Archbishop Makarios of Australia went to the Thornleigh suburb of Sydney and officiated the Divine Liturgy, for the first time, at the Church of St. Therapon.
Archbishop Makarios spoke to the faithful about Saint Paisios of Mount Athos, whom he had the blessing of meeting in person many times and receiving his valuable advice. He remembered, among other things, and shared with the faithful his words, “You will not die in Greece,” which Elder Paisios had told him several years ago. “When he told me that, I was surprised,” the Archbishop commented, “because I never had in mind that I would leave Greece and that I would get here.”
“When I arrived at Sydney Airport, the first thing I said was that I was going to die here. Because it was like listening to the voice of Father Paisios then. As if he were talking and telling me that “that’s what I meant when I told you that you wouldn’t die in Greece”.