Address by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America

At the Ordination of Bishop-elect Theophan of Philomelion

The Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint George

Phanar, Constantinople

July 25, 2023

 

Your Eminences, 

My beloved Brothers in the Holy Spirit,

Your Grace Bishop-Elect Theophan of Philomelion,

Today, we assemble in the beating heart of Orthodoxy – the Holy Mother and Great Church of Christ, the Ecumenical Patriarchate – to elevate you, Your Grace, to the high dignity of the Episcopal Office.

You are surrounded, not only by a fraternity of love and respect, but by the awesome legacy of countless saints and martyrs, holy fathers and mothers, theologians and teachers – whose fragrant deeds and blesséd words fill the air we breathe. Here at the Phanar, the Divine Light of Orthodoxy burns brightly, reflected in our past, resplendent in our present purely spiritual mission, and in the bright future that the Spiritual Father of us all, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, continues to chart for Orthodoxy and for the world, in his unprecedented and longest-serving tenure on the Throne of Saint Andrew, the First-called Apostle.

Today, the pastoral providence of the Mother Church is once again made manifest in the loving care She shows for the Albanian faithful – and not only those in America, but those in the nation of Albania, whose Autocephalous Church the Ecumenical Patriarchate restored, as described by His All-Holiness in his speech at the United States State Department on his first Apostolic Visit to America in 1997:

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, as a trans-national and spiritual force, has sought to assist in the re-construction of the moral, ethical, religious and social fabric that was torn asunder by decades of atheistic totalitarian regimes. In Albania, we have nurtured the revitalization of the Albanian Orthodox Church, which was thoroughly destroyed by the communist government.*

You, Bishop-Elect Theophan, are called to bring to your ministry in America the same “trans-national and spiritual force” that His All-Holiness speaks of, to minister to the faithful over whom you shall preside in love. You have been elected to fulfill the place of your late predecessor and elder brother in the See of Philomelion, the ever-memorable Metropolitan Ilia. May his memory be eternal! Indeed, all of us who take on the omophorion stand in the long line of those who fulfill the Levirate Law that our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed in His glorious Resurrection; for we raise up spiritual children in his name and call them, “Christians!” †

Your Grace, your flock in the United States may be small, but it is most significant, and as the Lord Jesus said:

Μὴ φοβοῦ τὸ μικρὸν ποίμνιον.‡

Let the little flock not be afraid.

Therefore, take up the mantle of leadership and follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd, Who sacrificed his life for the sake of the sheep of His Holy Fold. §

Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort; be unfailing in patience and teaching. **

As a bishop of the Church, be ever-mindful of this high calling, and be unrestrained in embracing virtue. Listen to the words of the Holy Chrysostom, in the presence of whose Holy relics you stand today, who describes the work of a bishop with his usual eloquence, by saying that a bishop performs his responsibilities:

… in the way that an accomplished musician plays a golden lyre, such that the harmony of its notes elevates the entire audience to a higher realm – so also the Bishop, not with a harmony of notes, but with the harmony of his words and actions, greatly benefits us.††

Here is an exhortation worthy of the high office to which you ascend today, especially in the Cathedral of Orthodoxy’s First Throne, which he served with such strength and righteousness.

With such an exhortation, and in the prayerful presence of so many brother hierarchs, especially those who came from Romania and the United States of America, let us pray that the Lord will instill in you the fullness of His grace and wisdom, that you may always be found worthy of this great ministry of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, all the days of your life.

Amen.

* Remarks of His All Holiness at the State Department Dinner in his honor, hosted by the late US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, October 22, 1997.

† Cf. Matthew 22:23-33.

‡ Luke 12:32.

§ Cf. John 10:11.

** II Timothy 4:2.

†† St. John Chrysostom, Patrologia Græca, Vol. XLIX, col. 314 (Homilies on Fasting, V.5).