This year, the nameday of the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodore II, was celebrated with splendor and in a festive atmosphere, in the Great City of Alexandria.
On the morning of February 17, the bells of the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary sounded joyfully.
The Patriarch performed the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy, accompanied by the Metropolitans of Demitriados Ignatios, Sidirokastro Makarios (Church of Greece), Krini Kyrillos (Ecumenical Patriarchate), Ermoupoleos George Nikolaos. Nikodimos, Pelousio Narkissos, Kartageni Meletios, Axomi Daniel and Nitria Nikodimos, Tamiatheo Germanos and Nikopoli Themistoklis.
The day was special for another reason, as during the Divine and Holy Liturgy, the Patriarch of Alexandria ordained Bishop Nikodimos Totkas, Bishop of Neiloupolis, who held the position of Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate since 2019.
The Bishop of Neiloupolis thanked all those who helped him throughout his priestly course. With a special feeling of gratitude, however, he referred to the Blessed Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoros, as in his face he found the loving father, the man with the open arms.
Specifically, he said: “From the bottom of my heart, I feel the urgent need to express my gratitude to You first, as from the first moment you called me to serve in our Patriarchate, in South Africa first and then in Alexandria, you stood next to me as a real father.
Next to you I was taught lessons of higher education, theoretical and practical Theology. I have learned from you, not in words but in practice, that the deacon of the Mysteries of God must always be happy, always tireless, always praying, always envisioning, always optimistic”.
For his part, the Patriarch of Alexandria praised the ethos of the new Bishop, his hard work, his self-sacrifice, but above all his love for the Patriarchate and especially for the person of his Patriarch. For this reason, he chose this day, on which he has his name day, to be the ordination of Bishop Nikodemus.
Specifically, the Patriarch said: “Dear Nicodemus, I consider you to be a gift of God for me your Elder and for our suffering Church and with this reasoning I chose to ordain you at the day of St. Theodore of Tyrone, in my Nameday’s Celebration, so that the life of father and son can be connected even more but also to show you more clearly the most important parameter of the Episcopal ministry”.
The Patriarch advised the new Bishop with the following words: Never neglect this supreme duty, that is, do not neglect the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Communions, the highest form of worship of the one and true God of our Fathers”.
