On the rock of Areopagus, the Church of Greece honored Paul the Apostle to the Nations on Monday afternoon in memory of his preaching to the Athenians.
Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece officiated at the Great Festal Vespers, while due to the new coronavirus, all the necessary measures of health protection were observed, with a limited number of attendees.
During the Vespers, the Protosyncellus of the Archdiocese, Archimandrite Barnabas Theocharis, spoke, emphasizing, among other things, that “Today, once again, respectable and distinguished gathered people, we walk under the shadow that has been and is still being offered by the saving and paternal speeches of the Apostle to the Nations, while trying at the same time to count his Apostolic greatness.
He sets as his life’s purpose his sanctification, the uprooting of passions, the cultivation of the inner world, virtues and advantages which offer glory and honor and peace to Him who patiently and persistently cultivates them.”
Concluding his speech, he stressed: “The Apostle Paul, therefore, should be our model in dealing with all kinds of sorrows from the deprivation of necessities, hatred, persecutions, injustices, diseases and other causes. And let us not forget that God will not allow us to suffer sorrows that exceed our strength; but when temptation comes, He will give us the way out, so that we may be able to handle it.”