On Friday, December 10, 2021, the funeral service of the Blessed Protopresbyter Arkadi Vernikov, Hierarchical Head of the Parish of St. Porphyrios in Tilburg, was performed by Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium.
On Friday morning, his relic was received at the Holy Temple of St. Lambert in Eindhoven and a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was performed by the Metropolitan of Belgium with the participation of clergy of the Holy Metropolis. Subsequently, the Funeral Service took place.
The speech on behalf of the Holy Metropolis was delivered by Metropolitan Athenagoras, saying the following:
“Father Arkadi’s personality and his sincere love for people inspire spiritually and morally because in him we see the embodiment of virtue and at the same time of courage. (…) That is why Father Arkadi always had the first place in the hearts of the faithful who knew him, who went to the Parish of St. Porphyrios in Tilburg, or those who sought him as a spiritual father.”
Father Arkadi was born in February 1948 in Odesa, Ukraine, where he completed his studies as a civil engineer with a doctorate in magnetism. He had his own business. His wedding took place in the parish of St. Nektarios in Eindhoven wherein in 2006 he was ordained a deacon and then in 2007 a presbyter by the then Bishop of Sinope, and now Metropolitan of Belgium, Athenagoras. He was the father of a son and the grandfather of two grandchildren.
Father Arkadi was a very noble and true priest. He loved to perform the Holy Services and was always willing and ready to help anyone in need. He recently participated in the Annual Meeting of the Holy Clergy of the Holy Metropolis in the city of La Roche-en-Ardenne.