Strict public assembly restrictions imposed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic made for an unprecedented commemoration this year of the Feast day of Andrew, the First-Called Apostle.
St. Andrew is the patron saint of Patras, in the Achaia prefecture, and the annual feast day on Nov. 30 is celebrated with splendor and reverence by the faithful and pilgrims from around Greece.
Heartbreaking images from Patras on Sunday and today showed police units surrounding the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Andrew, in order to keep worshippers away from services.
A Great Vespers and All-night vigil were held on Sunday, while the Archieratical Divine Liturgy was also held without the presence of worshippers.
In a sermon from an empty cathedral, the metropolitan of Patras, His Eminence Chrysostomos, emphasized however, that the Metropolis’ hierarchs and clerics are all at their pastoral posts.
