Greeting At the Celebratory Banquet for the Fortieth Anniversary of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (Egg Harbor, NJ)
The Church constantly calls us to the present moment, so that we fully experience the life in Christ as a living, vibrant reality. And that is what Holy Trinity is tonight: a living, vibrant reality. Our celebration tonight is an occasion where we can dive deeply into the experience of this parish – remembering the good and recalling the challenges and how they were overcome. It is a moment when we embrace all of our brothers and sisters in the same love, with which God loves us. A love that remembers no wrongs and wants only what is best for the beloved. A love that gives of itself without demand for a reciprocal reward. A love that binds the community together at its most fundamental reality – the Body of Christ. Read More
November 20, 2022
Introductory Remarks at Archons Symposium, Cherry Hill, NJ
Your Grace and Reverend Fathers, Dr. Cary J. Limberakis, Archon Aktouarios and Regional Commander, Professor Papademetriou, Archon Didaskalos tou Genous, and our Presenter today, Beloved and Esteemed Archons, Being with the Order of Saint Andrew is always an appealing prospect for me. And today’s presentation and presenter are especially engaging, in light of the One Hundredth Anniversary Year of our Sacred Archdiocese as the premier Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Diaspora. Read More
November 19, 2022
GREETING By His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America At the 68th Chrysanthemum Ball
I am delighted to be with you once again for this wonderful tradition of the Chrysanthemum Ball. Our Sisters of Philoptochos have outdone themselves tonight, as we enjoy this fellowship and communal celebration. Read More
November 19, 2022
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I am delighted to be with all of you this evening, and indeed humbled to be named your honoree for this 38th Annual Charity Gala of the P.G.E.I. of America Charitable Foundation. You honor not only my humble person tonight, but all those who serve Christ and His Holy Church, for what can be filled with more charity than the Church itself, which is an institution of love. Read More
November 14, 2022
Remarks and Invocation, At the Bethlehem Development Foundation Benefit Dinner
I am so very glad to be with you once again for this dedicated organization’s sincere efforts to strengthen and sustain the sacred Τόπος of our Christian Faith. The “little town of Bethlehem,” as the sweet Christmas Carol by the Episcopal Clergyman Philipps Brooks sings, has been suffering under undue pressure and the diminishment of its freedoms for far too long. Read More
November 11, 2022
Archpastoral Exhortation To the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America
I come to you today with a heart that bears both sadness and good hope – sadness for the loss of our beloved brother in Christ and concelebrant in the Holy Spirit, the late Metropolitan Ilia of Philomelion. We are not yet even at the fortieth day from his passing, and the vacuum that has been created by his absence is powerfully felt by us all. But as the Apostle Paul says: Read More
November 11, 2022
Greeting At the U.S. Premier of Savvas Karatzias’ “Theophanes the Greek" (Symphony Space)
Tonight, we have witnessed a grand form of synesthetic wonder. Voices of indescribable beauty, notes resounding in our hearing, have gifted us with a portrait of one of the greatest of all iconographers of the two thousand history of our Holy Orthodox Church. Read More
November 10, 2022
Address At the Ordination to the Priesthood of Deacon Michael Giavris
Today, in this wonderful community of Kimisis tis Theotokou in Brooklyn — in the presence of your family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ — you ascend the next step in the One and Holy Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. You enter into the ministry of the Presbyter- Πρεσβύτερος, which speaks to your position as an “Elder” in the Church. As such, you bear an even greater responsibility. Thus, I begin my exhortation to you with the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, in order to encourage you at this milestone in your service to the Holy Church of God. Paul writes to the young Timothy: Read More
November 8, 2022
Beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ, We have just come from the Divine Liturgy, where the spiritual trumpet of our faith has sounded, signaling this Jubilee celebration of the founding of Saint Barbara here in Toms River. As Patriarchal Vicar of the Holy Metropolis of New Jersey, I am delighted to be with you today to observe this solemn and happy occasion. Solemn, because the jubilee is a time of reflection on the future. And happy, because we rejoice as a community at your journey thus far. Read More
November 7, 2022
This fifty-year anniversary since the Opening of the Doors – the Thyranoixia – of this wonderful church is truly an occasion for celebration. For it is indeed a “pentecostal” moment for your parish. Read More
November 6, 2022
