LAST UPDATE: 11:21 9/8/2021
On Saturday, August 7, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Saint Georgios, in his birthplace, Agioi Theodoroi.
Before the Dismissal, the Ecumenical Patriarch performed a memorial service for the rest of the souls of his late parents and all those who benefited him.
“I once again pay my respects to the sanctuaries and saints of our special homeland with awe and infinite gratitude to God because over 29 years have passed since I visited you for the first time as your compatriot but also as Patriarch of the Nation in June 1992. I remember what I said in my speech that day in the Metropolitan Church, which was words of love and reverence for Imbros and the Imbrians.”
Afterwards, the Ecumenical Patriarch mentioned that the Divine Liturgy was dedicated to all the Imbrians who passed away, and especially to those who were connected with his personal path.
“I am referring to my late Elder, Metropolitan Meliton, to the respected and unforgettable priests Asterios and Spyridon, to my godmother Chrysanthi and to my beloved parents Christos and Meropi.”
In his speech, the Ecumenical Patriarch urged his Imbrian compatriots living abroad to visit their island as often as they can:
“As your Patriarch and as your fellow citizen, I have never forgotten and especially never lost the way back to our beautiful place, to our island, Imbros, where the society of the living and the dead is always reborn. We have lived such a communion between heaven and earth today, as we do every time we remember our beloved ones who passed away.
I urge you as your Patriarch and I warmly ask you as your fellow citizen to come to the island as often as you can, to live what is not described and not transmitted, to experience this indescribable greatness of Imbros.”
Concluding his speech, the Ecumenical Patriarch gave his wishes and blessing to the Fr. Asterios Okoumousis, Priestly Head of Agioi Theodoroi, whom he congratulated on his name day for his hard work and devoted ministry.
After the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Church of Saint Georgios on the village of Saints Theodoroi in Imvros, the Ecumenical Patriarch laid the bones, of the late Metropolitan Apostolos of Serres, on the land of his birthplace and performed a memorial service in his memory. Apostolos of Serres, from Imbros, is now resting in his hometown.
In April 2015, during his official visit to the Diocese of Serres, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew performed a trisagion for the repose of the soul of the blessed Metropolitan Apostolos Christodoulos of Serres (1856-1917), who was from Imbros and was from Saint Theodoroi the village of the Patriarch.
The tomb of the blessed hierarch was located in the courtyard of the Holy Temple of Agios Theodoros in Serres.