On Good Friday, April 14, Archbishop Makarios of Australia, starting his two-day pastoral tour in Victoria, went to the Church of St. Charalambos in Templestowe, Melbourne, and presided over the Vespers of the Apokathelosis, accompanied by Bishops Kyriakos of Sozopolis and Evmenios of Kerasounta, as well as Metropolitan Ezekiel of Dervis, and the clergymen of the Church.
The faithful flocked with reverence and flooded the church of Saint Charalambos, to worship the Crucified and to participate in prayer in the ceremony of the descent of the body of our Lord from the Cross.
At the end of the service, the Archbishop first congratulated the Hierarchical Head of the Church, Fr. Elias Kentrotis, for the progress of the Parish, while thanking the cantors for the zeal with which they serve, while expressing his satisfaction for the fact that they are surrounded by young children “who make promises for the course of the Church and for our future.”
Subsequently, he addressed the congregation with paternal words, presenting five basic prerequisites that allow us to have a true relationship with God. He stressed, first, the value of regular church attendance, which ensures that believers maintain their bond with the body of the Church of Christ; second, the value of participation in the Holy Mysteries of the Church, especially Holy Communion and Holy Confession; third, the value of prayer – not only common prayer in the church, but also private and family prayer; fourth, the value of regular reading and studying of the New Testament, which constitutes the word of God; fifth and foremost, the value of love and especially sacrificial love – not hypocritical and charitable, but the love of the Crucified!
“If you want to see what love is, look at the crucified Jesus,” the Archbishop underlined while concluding with paternal wishes for a good and blessed Resurrection and with the exhortation: “Faith should not remain in theory but become a reality, become an experience of our daily lives and Christ should be part of our own life.”
