The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was present joint in prayer from the Holy Altar of the Patriarchal Church of Saint George, Phanar, during the Poly-Hierarchical Divine Liturgy which took place on the 5th Sunday of Lent, 2 April 2023, which was presided over by Metropolitan Irinaios of Myriophytos and Peristasis, along with the participation of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Myra and Metropolitan Andreas of Forty Churches, during which the first yearly memorial service for the repose of the soul of the late Metropolitan Germanos of Tranoupolis took place.
The Divine word was preached by Patriarchal Deacon Father Epiphanios Kamianovic.
Present also during the divine liturgy were the following Hierarchs: Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Metropolitan Theolyptos of Iconium, Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Metropolitan Ioustinos of Nea Krini and Kalamaria, Metropolitan Adrianos of Halicarnassus, Bishop Kassianos of Aravissos and Bishop Paisios of Xanthoupolis, as well as the Consul General of Greece in Constantinople, Ms. Georgia Soultanopoulou, as well as family and friends of the late Metropolitan Germanos, along with faithful from the city and from overseas.
Afterwards, a memorial reception was held, during which the Ecumenical Patriarch spoke about the blessed Metropolitan Germanos of Tranoupolis.
“We worthily and rightly honor today the venerable memory of a great hierarch of the Throne, a genuine son of Constantinople’s Romiosyni, sent to the ministry of the local Christian people.
The unshakable trust of Metropolitan Germanos of Tranoupolis in the providence of God, his steadfast devotion to the Great Church, his loyalty to the traditions of the Nation, his love for his fellow man, and above all for children and youth, his supportive character towards everyone, his cheerful and optimistic disposition and his always positive presence, were an imprint of a charismatic personality and an ethos of freedom, with its roots in the spiritual legacy of the Nation, as it was integrated, cultivated and preserved for many centuries in the historical cradle of the Greek Orthodox.
The absolute priority in the life of the blessed brother was “giving” and not “taking”. He deeply experienced the truth, that which we keep for ourselves shrinks, and is lost, while what we give multiplies and produces much fruit. In this spirit, he ministered for 50 years in the District of Stavrodromi of the Holy Archdiocese of Constantinople, 30 of them as its Archiepiscopal Vicar. The magnitude of his contribution is found not only in what he did in public but also in what happened without his left hand knowing what his right hand was doing. He is remembered by the people of God for his kindness and nobility, for his wisdom and humility, for the richness of his heart and his generosity”.
The Patriarch pointed out the love that the blessed Hierarch of the Throne had for the theological students of the City of Constantinople, whom he cared for and supported in every way, while he also spoke of his strict adherence to the liturgical order and tradition of the Holy Great Church of Christ.
“Unique was the care of the blessed brother for the organization of the student organizations of Agia Triada in the district of Peran. His relationship with them was not just the responsibility of the director for their sound operation, but of the father and brother, the tireless guardian, so that the student support organization is maintained at an excellent level so that the children are happy and feel “at home”. Indeed, Metropolitan Germanos of Tranoupolis was for the youth and for his collaborators in the Holy Trinity “face-to-face institution”, who inspired trust and stability, and revealed the truth and value of sacrificial love and solidarity.
Proverbial was also the love of the blessed Hierarch for the liturgical life, for the typiko of the Great Church, and for the correct conducting of the hymns according to the Patriarchal tradition. A lover of divine services, always present at the liturgical events, an excellent liturgist, either serving the divine liturgy or chanting at the chanters lectern, he was always full of life and always praising God. Indeed, he conducted with fervent zeal the Eucharistic celebration of the Church and its expansion in the world as ” the liturgy after the liturgy”. His testimony was the word “about the hope in us”, about the truth that the experiential epitome of the Christian’s life in the Church is “selfless” love, as a foretaste of the coming fullness of freedom and the fulfilled joy of the Kingdom God’s.
We remember every day the brother Metropolitan Germanos of Tranopolis, the cosmopolitan, his frequent and welcome presence at the Patriarchate, which was announced by his psalmody. Spontaneous upright and diligent, he proclaimed that our God is the God of the living, who praise his presence and his mercies, rejoice in the gift of life, rejoices in the coming divine grace in Christ and for the goods that the Lord prepared for them to love him. Indeed, the presence of brother Germanos was a testimony of joy and hope, openness, and the communion of life.
I am are sure that the Late Metropolitan Germanos of Tranoupolis will remain a bright beacon, and will continue to inspire not only his successor in the Great Community of Stavrodromi, Metropolitan Andreas of Forty Churches, and Bishop Benjamin of Tralleon and likewise those around them, but that he will serve as a model of faithfulness to the traditions of the Phanar, love for the liturgical life, ethics of serving and duty, philanthropic concern for the fullness of the Church and above all for the new generation of believers, trust in the future of Romiosyni and in the ecumenical mission of the Holy Great Church of Christ.
We pray to the God of mercy and Lord of glory, to rest the soul of the blessed brother and fellow minister Germanos the Hierarch in the Land of the Living and in the tents of the righteous. May his memory be eternal!”
Photos: Nikos Papachristou / Ecumenical Patriarchate