The funeral service of the late Metropolitan of Rodostolos, Chrysostomos, was held at the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra on Thursday, October 2.
Present were Metropolitan Theoklitos of Ierissos, Metropolitan Nathaniel of Gjirokastër, and Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Symi.
Also in attendance were the Abbots of the Holy Monasteries of Mount Athos, as well as the Civil Administrator of Mount Athos, Alkiviadis Stefanis.
The Ecumenical Patriarch and the Mother Church of Constantinople were represented by Metropolitan Theoklitos of Ierissos, while the burial took place at the cemetery of the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra.
Metropolitan Chrysostomos Lavriotis (secular name: Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos) was a Greek hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, theologian, and author.
He was born in the village of Anagennisi, in the prefecture of Serres, in 1933.
In 1950, at the age of 17, he went to Mount Athos, and the following year was tonsured a monk at the Monastery of Great Lavra, receiving the name Chrysostomos. He studied at the Athonias School, from which he graduated in 1956. Until 1959, he served as secretary of the Holy Community of Mount Athos. In 1958, he went to study at the Theological School of Halki, from which he graduated in 1962.
In 1960, he was ordained hierodeacon, and in 1965 hieromonk, by the then Headmaster of the Athonias School, Metropolitan Nathaniel of Miletoupolis. From 1963 to 1967, he served as professor at the School, and from then until 1988 as its Headmaster.
In 1978, he was elected titular Bishop of Rodostolos, assistant to the Ecumenical Patriarch at Mount Athos. He was ordained bishop at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George at the Phanar by Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon on April 22. On January 10, 2023, by decision of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, he was elevated to the rank of active Metropolitan with the same title.
Throughout his life, he resided at the Monastery of Great Lavra on Mount Athos, where he served as a hierarch and chanted as a simple cantor during services. He authored books on Christian theology, Athonite life, and ecclesiastical music.
He passed away in his cell at the Monastery of Great Lavra on October 1, 2025, at the age of 92.
