The Holy Metropolis of Demetrias honoured this year too the memory of the Holy Kings and equal-to-the-apostles Constantine and Helen.
Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias celebrated the Vesper on the eve of the feast of Constantine and Helen at the beach of Volos.
At the end of the Vesper, the established procession of the sacred icon and the holy relics of the honoured saints followed on the beach.
After the artoclasia (prayer for the blessing of the five loaves), the Metropolitan pointed out that “Saints Constantine and Helen bring the cross before us again. Constantine saw the Cross in the sky when he was looking for something to hold on. So, he chose the Cross as a forefront, and with the “In hoc signo vinces” (In this sign, conquer) he found the point of unity, secured the new empire and made it universal. At that time Christianity met with Hellenism, so this great civilization emerged and the Cross became the symbol of our homeland…”
Ignatios referred to the greatest work of finding the Holy Cross, performed by Saint Helen, “who offered it as a gift of God to mankind.”
Finally, the Metropolitan proclaimed that “as long as the Cross exists in the Symbol of our Homeland, and as long as we act according to the requirements of our Greek Orthodox Tradition, we will hope and live the joy of the Resurrection.”
On the occasion of the feast, a festive Divine Liturgy was celebrated.
