The Thronal Feast of the Church of Alexandria took place with devotion on April 25, 2023, on the sacred memory of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Holy Patriarchal Monastery of Saint Savvas the Sanctified by Metropolitan Panteleimon of Naucratis, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa, as well as the Metropolitans Elders Gabriel of Leontopolis, General Patriarchal Vicar, Narcissus of Pelusium, Patriarchal Vicar of Alexandria and Germanos of Tamiatheos, Head of the Holy Monastery. The Consul General of Greece Athanasios Kotsionis and representatives of community associations attended the service.
Subsequently, the Patriarch received in the Throne Room groups of pilgrims from Greece, including a group of pilgrims from Xanthi, under Metropolitan Panteleimon of Xanthi and Peritheorion.
During his address, the Patriarch gratefully referred to the important contribution of the local Church of Xanthi – the place of origin of his late mother Cleopatra – to the work of the mission, passing by the Metropolitan of Xanthi with the Golden Cross of Saint Savvas the Sanctified.
The Metropolitan of Xanthi thanked the Patriarch for the honor, while describing the missionary actions of the Holy Metropolis of Xanthi in Africa, pointing out the importance of the Apostolic work on the continent of the future.
The festive gathering concluded with the pronunciation of the day’s solemn pronunciation by the Chief Secretary, Metropolitan Panteleimon of Naucratis, who, among other things, said: “We honor the sacred memory of our Holy Apostle and at the same time those people who, with missionary zeal, honorable disposition, and kindness, always offer to the daily arduous work of our Patriarchate, from the excess or the lack of their hearts. They practice and embody Christian love in their own lives.
And today we celebrate something special and particularly interesting for our mental benefit and progress. The presentation of the figure of Saint Apostle and Evangelist Mark from the patristic tradition has much to offer messages and teachings in today’s times. Messages related to our faith in God, the way we believe and express ourselves, and our relationship with our fellow man. Faith as a way of life, faith not as a superficial confession and external behavior, but as a deeper and essential experience and self-sacrifice daily, practical life and attitude…
From the very first moment of his ascension to the Patriarchal Throne of Alexandria, Pope Theodore II, his sole and main concern, set out to promote, increase, coordinate, and further organize the missionary and humanitarian work of our Patriarchate. A work that is done so discreetly, quietly, modestly but with a good mood, a lively effort to offer to our fellow man, a work that is inspired by the sacrificial love of the Crucified and Resurrected Jesus.
It is true that insurmountable issues constantly arise regarding the organization, funding, and manning of the mission, the training of executives, the translation into local dialects of sacred and liturgical texts, the underlying comparative, the sometimes weak human nature, or even malice. These issues have always existed and will always exist because mission means offering through the management of a living but above all fluid and volatile reality to all the fifty-five states that make up the African continent.
Concluding our humble thoughts, we firmly believe that hope and vision, no matter how temporarily inhibited by difficulties and obstacles, always find ways of expression and implementation even under the most adverse conditions. The hope and the vision will be summarized, under the inspired helm of our Patriarch, the Patriarch of Love, in the triptych: intact preservation of the Orthodox Apostolic legacy and teaching, its organic implantation in the thirsty for spiritual rebirth African land, and the transformation, through it, of the lives of African peoples.
It is noted that the Primate of the Alexandrian Church received by telephone the wishes of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Thronal Feast.
