With emotion and gratitude, the newly ordained Archbishop of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho expressed his heartfelt thanks to Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem during the festive banquet held at the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem, immediately following his ordination and the ceremony in the Throne Hall.
The newly ordained Archbishop said to Patriarch of Jerusalem:
“Your Beatitude, Father and Master,
A short while ago, we had the opportunity to experience the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, which Your primatial hands offered, as well as the mystery of the priesthood, which ordained me, the least worthy, as a bishop of our Holy Church. And now, the spiritual nourishment is followed by the communal table, this descendant of the apostolic “love feast” of the early Christians, which had its beginning in this Holy Land. And thus our communion is completed also through the material element, without and outside of which human existence cannot be conceived. The gathering around the table constitutes a practical confession that in the Orthodox Church , matter is not to be rejected, since it too is a creation of the uncreated God. The rational use of matter and restraint to the necessities constitutes a blessing and the will of the Beneficent God. Indeed, this gathering in the Holy City under the blessing of Your Beatitude reminds us all of the things related in the Acts of the Apostles concerning the ecclesiastical gatherings of the apostolic age, which constitute a perpetual teaching for Christians of every era.
For the Sinai monks, presence in the Holy City is always an occasion of joy and sanctification. The land of Palestine is a constant reminder of the encounter between God and man, just as, indeed, is the land of Sinai. Furthermore, however, the land of Palestine is the living testimony that “God appeared upon earth, and dwelt among men” [Baruch 3:38]. Both places, Palestine and Sinai, remind and shall remind man of digital technology and space travel that, besides the horizontal, there also exists the vertical orientation of man, however much the conditions of life may change. Furthermore, in many ways, these changes, although they appear to solve problems, rather create new ones. The daily complete enslavement of man to the machine, the unpredictable evolution of developing Biogenetics, and the spread of fear and anxiety in human societies demonstrate the immediate but also timeless need for man’s turning towards heaven. This turning perhaps becomes easier when man, and indeed man of good will, finds himself a pilgrim of the God-trodden Places, which both Brotherhoods, that of the Holy Sepulchre and that of Sinai, serve and preserve.
Your Beatitude,
In this spirit of common duty and shared Confession, we, the Sinai monks, on this auspicious day heartily thank the Mother of Churches for the gracious reception and hospitality shown to the Sinai Delegation, and raising this glass, we proclaim with all our soul:
“Long live His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine, and of the Most Honoured Hierarchs around Him!“
Also, let me raise a toast to the health of all the Hierarchs, clergy, and distinguished guests present, and especially of those who had come from the beloved homeland, His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gerapetritis; Her Excellency the Deputy Minister of Culture of Cyprus, Mrs. Kassianidou; the Secretary General for Religious Affairs, Mr. Kalantzis, together with their associates; the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr. Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, with his staff; and the Ambassador of Egypt to Ramallah, Mr. Ihab Solimen.”
