On the Second Sunday of Lent, March 8, 2026, during which our Church commemorates the memory of our holy Father Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria, presided over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the German-speaking parish of Saint John Chrysostom, which was celebrated at the Church of Saint George the Great-Martyr, Trophy-Bearer, in Vienna.
The Metropolitan was liturgically accompanied by the parish’s presiding priest, Protopresbyter Nikolaos Rappert, the Cross-Bearer Oikonomos Nebojsa Grdinic, the Hieromonk Savvas Kucenko, Presbyter Markos Peter, and Deacon Cedomir Mijic. Present in concelebration was also Bishop Maximos of Aristi. During the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan performed the ordination to the priesthood of Deacon Cedomir Mijic, who will serve pastorally in the parishes of the Holy Metropolis in western Austria.
In his homily, the Metropolitan spoke about the theological contribution of Saint Gregory Palamas, emphasizing the ascetic path, which does not merely lead to moral improvement but to an ontological journey toward participation in the life of God. He explained that the Holy and Great Lent is not simply an external effort of self-restraint, but an inner movement of the Church toward the mystery of theosis. He referred to the teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas, which represents a synthesis of the living Patristic tradition. As he emphasized, God is essentially inaccessible and transcendent, yet He is truly offered to humanity through His uncreated energies. This distinction does not introduce division in God, but reveals the paradox of divine Economy: that God, while remaining utterly other, simultaneously becomes closest to man.
He then spoke about the mystery of the priesthood, which constitutes an ecclesiological reality and is incorporated into the mystery of the Church. The priest is a servant of the Church’s mystery, the body of Christ, which is primarily constituted and revealed in the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist, where the deepest meaning of the priesthood lies. Addressing the newly ordained, he called upon him to offer to God’s chosen people the gifts of divine life, to stand before the altar as a witness to the eschatological reality of the Church, and to walk with a cruciform spirit, leading the faithful people of God toward the experience of the Kingdom of Heaven.
After the Divine Liturgy, the faithful had the opportunity to congratulate the new Priest, offering their best wishes for his ministry.
