The festive celebrations concluded at the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke in Birmingham with great solemnity and spiritual uplift.
Bishop Maximos of Melitene presided over the sacred services and multi-day celebrations, and Archimandrite Zacharias, from the Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, was the official guest speaker.
The festivities began on Friday, October 17, with the Festal Great Vespers and Artoklasia service, led by Bishop Maximos. Elder Zacharias served at the chanting stand and, in his homily, spoke extensively about the life and great ministry of the Evangelist Luke. At the end of Vespers, Elder Zacharias presented Bishop Maximos with a three-volume homiliary that he had written with great care and spiritual labor.
The following day, Saturday, October 18, was the main feast day. Bishop Maximos officiated at Matins, and the Festal Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Elder Zacharias with priests from the region concelebrating. Elder Zacharias addressed the congregation again, focusing on the contributions of the Evangelist Luke to the Church and the importance of humility and service for every believer. He warmly thanked Bishop Maximos and the community of the Apostle Luke for their invitation.
Bishop Maximos responded with heartfelt thanks to Elder Zacharias for his visit, delivering the following address:
“After this most spiritually beneficial address, which you have graciously offered us out of love, I feel the deep need to express my joy and overflowing gratitude—not only my own, but also that of the entire devout congregation of this community of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke—to your reverence.
We thank you most warmly for your arduous journey from the Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex to be with us. We also thank the Abbot of your venerable monastery, Elder Peter, for granting you his permission and paternal blessing.
Above all, however, our gratitude is directed toward the spiritual nourishment—the divine and salvific word—which you so abundantly shared with us at this glorious feast of our patron saint.”
The spiritual table you have set before us reminds me of the precious gift you gave me yesterday: the three-volume homiliary, the fruit of your labor of love and pain. This morning, as I wrote these humble words of thanksgiving, I revisited your profound reflections on tomorrow’s Gospel passage about the raising of the widow’s son at Nain. I noted your observation that “Particular strength lies in keeping the greatest commandment—that one should regard oneself as an unprofitable servant, unworthy of the grace of salvation, even when one has fulfilled ‘all that was commanded him.'” Without this commandment, man cannot truly love either God or his neighbor.” Yet, when the Lord is magnified, the man who loves Him reigns with Him because, as the most generous giver, God says to His own, “All that is Mine is yours.”‘
This true, Christ-like humility, which all ascetics cultivate as the apple of their eye in their angelic life, is manifest and radiant within the blessed Brotherhood of your Holy Monastery.
Therefore, we earnestly ask that you convey our community’s humble request that your venerable brotherhood remember us in prayer, especially our sick brethren and all those in need of the strong protection of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the Champion Leader.
Alas, you see the illusory prosperity of this world and the many cares of life distracting our minds from the one thing necessary — prayer — and diverting us from our true purpose. Sadly, we prioritize what is insignificant and perishable—those things which today may exalt us in vanity, yet tomorrow will bury us—forgetting the words of our Lord: “Many who are first shall be last, and the last shall be first” (Matt. 19:30).
We also offer our warmest thanks to our companion, Reverend Hieromonk Bartholomew, for his honorable participation in the celebration, as well as to all the devout clergy who graced both last night’s festal vespers and today’s bloodless sacrifice with their presence.
Before concluding, I take this opportunity to convey the archpastoral wishes and paternal blessings of our Shepherd, His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain, to you, the venerable Brotherhood, and this entire devout congregation.
May the holy, glorious apostle and evangelist Luke, the physician of our souls and bodies, intercede unceasingly with the merciful Lord on our behalf.”
Afterwards, Bishop Maximos presented Elder Zacharias with an icon of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke on behalf of the community.
A reception followed, along with a visit by Bishop Maximos to the Community’s Greek School.
On Sunday, October 19, the Festal Divine Liturgy was celebrated again, presided over by Bishop Maximos of Melitene. Distinguished guests included Mr. Mike Wood, Member of Parliament for England; Mr. Christodoulos Partou, Mayor of Aradippou; Mr. Odysseas Odysseos, Consul General of Cyprus in the United Kingdom; Mr. Christos Karaolis, President of the World Federation of Overseas Cypriots (POMAK); and Mr. Kyriacos Akathiotis, President of Action for Cyprus.
After the liturgy, Mrs. Fotini Lytra, former president of the community’s Philoptochos Society, was awarded the title of Honorary President. She and her family will soon return to her homeland of Aradippou, Cyprus.
After delivering the homily, Bishop Maximos congratulated Mrs. Lytra on her many years of invaluable service. He emphasized that every Christian community is philanthropic by nature and has a sacred duty to support the imprisoned, the sick, the hungry, and the marginalized because this is a clear and unconditional Gospel command.
The presiding priest, Protopresbyter Christos Stefanou, thanked Bishop Maximos for participating in the festivities, as well as the distinguished guests and large congregation in attendance.
The celebrations concluded with an official luncheon featuring traditional dances. During the meal, Mayor Partou and Mr. Anastasios Menoikou, president of the parish council, delivered speeches, and honorary plaques were presented to individuals who support the community’s work.
