With ecclesiastical splendor and devotion, the Service of the Leave-taking of the feast of Pascha was celebrated on the evening of Tuesday, May 23 (evening Divine Liturgy) at the Archdiocesan Church of Our Lady “Axion Esti”, in Northcote, Victoria.
Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta presided over the divine service and was joined by clergy of the Archdiocesan District of Northcote, including Father Christodoulos from the Archdiocesan District of Adelaide who is visiting Victoria at this present time.
Teachers and students of the Byzantine Music School of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, from the Northcote District branch, chanted the holy hymns.
Bishop Evmenios, addressing the congregation, conveyed the wishes of Archbishop Makarios of Australia and referred to the joy of the Resurrection that we should all live in our daily lives. “We shouldn’t be miserable and have hopelessness in our lives,” he emphasized and continued: “Don’t let our fellow human beings ask us ‘how are you?’ and we answer negatively, usually saying that ‘I could be better.’ Christ is risen and rose from the dead for us. There is no more misery for the one who believes and lives the Resurrection of Christ. Only joy, only love, only peace!’
Bishop Evmenios also referred to the need for the faithful to attend church regularly and for everyone to participate in the Divine Liturgy. “The Divine Liturgy is the miracle that brings God to earth,” he emphasized, “and the presence of God becomes intense and alive in our hearts and in our lives.”
