Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia visited the Holy Metropolis of Belgium at the invitation of his Imbrian compatriots to celebrate their daughter’s wedding.
On the occasion of the three months since the passing away of the mother of Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium, he expressed the wish to perform a Divine Liturgy and Memorial Service in Ghent for his late parents, Fr. Ignatios and Maria-Theresia. Thus, on Saturday, August 20, 2022, the Divine Liturgy and the Memorial Service were performed at the recently renovated and hagiographed old church of the Parish of Ghent, presided over by Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia and with the participation of clergy of the Holy Metropolis.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan of Belgium thanked the Metropolitan of Philadelphia for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and the Memorial Serice for the repose of the souls of his parents, while the Metropolitan of Philadelphia praised the personalities and the work of the late Fr. Ignatios and his wife Maria-Theresia. Then, he went to the cemetery to perform the Trisagion service on their tomb.
On the afternoon of the same day, Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia celebrated the marriage of his compatriot’s daughter at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Brussels.
On the following Sunday, August 21, 2022, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Brussels, a Trisarchieratic Divine Liturgy was performed by Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia, accompanied by Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium and Bishop Ioakeim of Apollonia, and with the participation of clergymen of the Metropolis. The chanters consisted of students of the School of Byzantine Music of the Holy Metropolis of Belgium under the direction of its Director, Deacon Konstantinos Dedes.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium addressed Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia, thanking him for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and for his visit to the Holy Metropolis, which presents to the Metropolis the wishes and blessings of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Mother Church. The Metropolitan of Philadelphia thanked Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium for his hospitality and congratulated him for the pastoral work which, is taking place in the Holy Metropolis, continuing the tradition and legacy of his predecessors, Metropolitan Emilianos and former Metropolitan Panteleimon of Belgium. At the same time, he urged the faithful to keep alive their faith in Christ and the traditions of the Nation and to pass them on to their children and grandchildren.
