On Friday night, the festal Great Vespers, officiated by Bishop Nikodimos of Nitria, was celebrated in the Church of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Cyprus, in the presence of many faithful who attended the liturgy to ask for the saint’s intercession.
Archimandrite Dionysios Charitakis proclaimed the Divine Word who said that it was Saint Euthymius the Great who saw that Saint Sabbas was a highly spiritual figure. Citing the expression of Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, a great saint of our time, the Archimandrite said that Saint Sabbas was like a bee that collects the pure material, not as a fly, which always seeks impurity.
He stressed that such a sanctified life, like that of St. Sabbas, following the model of Christ and the Apostles, would become popular and spread like the missionary fire. “His followers, as well as the rest of the world who knew him, mainly with through his example and his speech, changed and repented. In fact, many abandoned their mundane affairs and became monks.”
Finally, the procession of the icon of Saint Sabbas was held around the church.
