Yesterday, Sunday, July 6, 2025, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America presided over the Divine Liturgy (Chorostasia) at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Hicksville, New York.
Celebrating alongside Archbishop Elpidophoros was parish priest Fr. Theofanis Papantonis.
During the liturgy, Dn. Ieremias Mandoras read the Archbishop’s encyclical for the Fourth of July, in which the Archbishop says,
“The Fourth of July is much more than the American celebration of liberty. It is the memory of that moment of the turning of the tide, when a people who were abused by the powerful chose to stand up for themselves and grasp for the freedom that their conscience told them was their “unalienable right.” And this is the very same liberty that we constantly strive to preserve and ensure in this blessed American land for the liberties of all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. However, a true freedom that is equal for every human being can only come from God, in the inner person.”
Photos: Orthodox Observer/Dimitrios Panagos
