Archbishop Makarios of Australia presented before the faithful of the Parish of St. Charalambos, in Templestowe, Melbourne, the example of Saint Mary of Egypt, a Saint of our Church who made her personal journey from darkness to light.
The Archbishop of Australia visited the Parish on the afternoon of Sunday, April 18, the 5th Sunday of Lent, and presided over the Vespers, accompanied by Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis, Bishop Bishop Coat, the Archiepiscopal Vicar of Northcote, Archimandrite Fr. Eumenios Vassilopoulos and many priests of the city of Melbourne.
At the end of the Service, the Archbishop congratulated the Choir of the Victoria School of Byzantine Music, acknowledging to its members that they performed fantastically the hymns of Vespers.
Addressing the congregation, the Archbishop of Australia described at length the life of St. Mary of Egypt, a “Saint of the extremities”, as he characteristically observed, in whose face two ways of life collide, the way of sin and the way of repentance.