New York, NY – On Sunday, March 16, Eight hierarchs from Orthodox Churches who are members of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas concelebrated the Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, commemorating the feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Each year on the first Sunday of Great Lent, Orthodox Christians around the world commemorate the restoration of icon veneration, first celebrated in 843 A.D. in Constantinople.
As an expression of the “oneness” of the Orthodox Church, Orthodox hierarchs, clergy and faithful from many jurisdictions gathered on this day in cathedrals and churches around the world, to proclaim with one voice, “the faith of the Apostles…the faith of the Fathers…the faith which has established the universe.” In their Sunday of Orthodoxy encyclical the bishops addressed the current world situation stating, “The healing power of our united Christian witness is especially crucial for our modern age, which is plagued by attitudes of racism and bigotry, assaulted by increased threats of war and terror, and challenged by environmental degradation and poverty.” Prayers said by the bishops and faithful confronted these and other ills in the world, while offering the saving truth and compassion of Christ and His Church.
His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Chairman of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, presided at the hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating with him were the following hierarchs: Archbishop Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America & Canada, Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA (representing Metropolitan Constantine), Metropolitan Nicholas of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese in the USA, Bishop Antoun of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (representing Metropolitan Philip), Bishop Seraphim of Sendai (representing Metropolitan Herman of the Orthodox Church in America), and Bishop Ilia of the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America. Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, General Secretary of SCOBA, also concelebrated.
Clergy participating in the Liturgy included Fr. Robert Stephanopoulos, Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Fr. Irinej Dobrijevic (Serbian Orthodox Church), Fr. David Brum (Orthodox Church in America), Fr. Thomas Zain (Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese), Fr. William Diakiw (Ukrainian Orthodox Church), Fr. Nektarios Morrow (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese), and Deacons Panteleimon Papadopoulos (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) and Robert A. Buczak (Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese).
The Cathedral choir, under the direction of Dr. Dino Anagnost, sang responses for the Liturgy, while seminarians from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology chanted matins.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, students from Holy Trinity Cathedral School and members of the Cathedral Fellowship, along with the clergy carried icons in a solemn procession, chanting hymns glorifying the fullness of Orthodox Christianity and its triumph over false teachings. The procession concluded with the entire congregation reciting the Proclamation of Faith.
In his homily for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Nicholas spoke of the incarnational foundation of Orthodox teaching. He exhorted the faithful to bear witness to the Gospel in home missions, especially to the lost sheep in their families and households, as they also invite others to “come and see how good the Lord is.”
Archbishop Demetrios expressed his profound thanks to all visiting hierarchs, clergy and faithful who participated in this year’s Sunday of Orthodoxy observance.
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