On the evening of July 1, a truly historic event took place with the commencement of the Monastic Synaxis. The Synaxis began with an evening Vigil in honor of the Deposition of the Precious Robe of the Theotokos in Vlachernae. The Robe, which had been given to a pious woman in Nazareth by the Theotokos herself before her Dormition, had been sought out by many who were ill and who in turn received healing through prayer and contact wth the robe. By the third century AD, two noblemen from Constantinople, Galibus and Candidus, brought the robe back to the Byzantine emperor, after which it was then placed in the Church of Vlachernae, located in the northwest part of Constantinople.
The Holy Vigil was presided over by Bishop Athenagoras Nanzianos, and was attended by Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Patriarchal Representatives Their Eminences Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain and Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden, and Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, as well as several monastics from the Synaxis and delegates from the Clergy-Laity Congress. The vigil was the first of its kind to ever happen at a Clergy-Laity Congress, and was one of the centerpieces of the spiritual life of the Congress and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America overall.
On the second day of the annual Monastic Synaxis, members of our monastic communities from across the United States gathered together to renew their commitment to spiritual growth, communal living, and service to humanity. In fact, this is the first time in the Archdiocese’s 102-year history that clergy, monastics, and laity have all come together at a Clergy-Laity Congress.
As Archbishop Elpidophoros stressed, “It is of the utmost importance that our monastic communities have a greater presence in these Clergy-Laity Congresses and in the life of our Archdiocese in general. Because, as I mentioned in my keynote address yesterday, the Church cannot be understood without Her monastic expression. A Church without monasticism is doomed to be spiritually crippled.” His Eminence also called for the Archdiocese to pursue the process for the official recognition of the blessed Elder Ephraim of Arizona as a saint in the Orthodox Church.
The Monastic Synaxis, which this year takes place concurrently with the 47th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress, was first convened in September 2019 at the Holy Monastery of Saint Nektarios in Roscoe, NY, as part of Archbishop Elpidophoros’s efforts to integrate the monastic communities of the United States within the life of the broader Archdiocese. It has since met again in 2022 (Saint Anthony’s Monastery, Florence, AZ) and 2023 (Holy Monastery of the Theotokos, the Life-Giving Spring, Fresno, CA), and has served as a forum for deepening religious understanding, fostering unity, and addressing challenges within the American monastic community.
Photo: GOARCH/Dimitrios Panagos