During his recent pastoral visit to Hungary, on January 30, 2021, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria officiated the Divine Liturgy at the donated Roman Catholic Church of Magyarok Nagyasszonya in Keszthely, blessed the waters of Lake Balaton and attended the festal event for the Three Holy Hierarchs in the school in Keszthely.
Bishop Paisios of Apamea, priests from the Exarchate of Hungary and Archdeacon Maximos Rugyko, who accompanied Arsenios from Vienna, participated in the service.
The school staff and several students attended the service. In his sermon, the Metropolitan of Austria referred to the Feast of Theophany, on the occasion of the Great Blessing, and associated it with the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs.
In the presence of the students and the faithful, the Metropolitan spoke about the importance of the Feast of Theophany, which means that the enlightenment of the world by the revelation of the Holy Trinity confirms God’s will for the salvation of man, which is the work of God. However, “it is necessary to follow this path to the light. In other words, we must go together with His will and with our own will to ask for our salvation, that is, eternal life in the Kingdom of God.”
Referring to the life of the Three Holy Hierarchs, he stressed that they were not just good scientists, people of letters and education, bearers of the Greek spirit, but were mainly people of God. Taking occasion from the apolytikion of the feast, in which the saints are called the greatest enlighteners of the universe, the Metropolitan stressed that the Three Holy Hierarchs showed us the way to the Light, that is, Christ and the salvation, in which we are called to follow them. In their books, they present the essence of life, which is to gain eternity by entering the Kingdom of God.
