On Friday, 30 June 2023, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on the occasion of the feast of the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles, officiated at the Holy Church of the Apostles in Feriköy, in Constantinople.
In his speech, after the end of the Divine Liturgy, His All-Holiness pointed out that the Holy Apostles: ” were not baptised in water, but in the Holy Spirit, and after they were filled with the illumination and power of the Paraclete, they dispersed throughout almost the entire world known at the time and proclaimed to it the Gospel of the kingdom of God, a Gospel of love, reconciliation and salvation in Christ Jesus”.
And His All-Holiness continued:
“The Apostles, after the Lord, consolidated and spread His Church and appointed local bishops to succeed them and to continue the saving Christian witness in the world. The bishops are the guarantee of the apostolicity of the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. This Church, which the Lord envisioned in the extension of the centuries and in the extension of it throughout the world, when he chose the twelve Apostles and sent them to preach the Gospel to every created thing, to all the nations.
That is why the gratitude of all Christians, of all generations and of all times, to the Holy Apostles for their contribution to the work of our salvation was, is and will be unlimited! And today’s celebration of their synaxis “in psalms and hymns and spiritual odes” is a minimal manifestation of our gratitude towards the Holy Apostles.
Indeed, God’s most important favour and gift to humanity is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the “ordination” of the Apostles, the priesthood, through which the Holy Spirit transmits Divine Grace.
But the feast of the Holy Apostles not only reminds us today only of the apostolicity of the Church, but also, at least for the sake of the Holy Great Church of Christ in this city of Constantine, it reminds us how similar its life and its course through the centuries is to the life of the Apostles, as we heard today in the Epistle reading, part of which we repeat:
“God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labour, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate”. And for all this, and through all this, we also praise the name of the Lord, for he has preserved for us such a privilege, such an honour!
On today’s great feast day, I wish fir all of you, beloved children, along with many years, to have strength, determination and patience in the sorrows and circumstances of life, strength from the Lord and endurance. It was said also on another occasion: Our Redeemer will not let us be tempted more than we can bear, God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”.
At another point in his speech the Patriarch noted:
“Along with this repetition of the message and the preaching of the Apostles who preached the word of God, we wish to express our joy, because this year I am also given the opportunity to officiate during the Divine Liturgy of the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles here in Feriköy, which was ministered to for a number of years, by my honourable Predecessor the never-forgotten Patriarch Dimitrios, who ministered with all his strength and with great love for the institutions and beloved faithful.
May His memory be eternal, as well as that of all those who worked devoutly and most God-pleasingly for this Community and its Institutions and have already departed from this vain world, with most recently the late Archimandrite Father Prodromos Anastasiades, Parish Priest of the Church, and the blessed Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, who served the District of Tataoula as its Supervisor with exemplary zeal and touching devotion for more than two decades”.
The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed the satisfaction of the Mother Church to all those who continue this fruitful work, and specifically to His Eminence Metropolitan Stephanos of Kallioupolis and Madytos, Supervisor of the Tataoula Region, “for his affection and his unwavering interest in this Community, as well as for his unceasing paternal concern for the Christian people under his responsibility”, as well as Archimandrite Samuel Effe, Parish Priest of the Community. His All-Holiness also thanked the new Ecclesiastical Committee who are led by the Archon Exarch of The Great Church of Christ. Mr. Konstantinos Santaltzidis, the members of the Philoptochos who were represented their President, Ms. Eleni Nioti, and all their collaborators for the work being carried out.
By the encouraging prompt of His All-Holiness, a short greeting was addressed to the congregation by His Eminence Archbishop Hilarion of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of the Ukrainian-speaking Communities in Canada, who was also present for the Feast Day joined in prayer.
His All-Holiness was previously welcomed with warm speeches by His Eminence Metropolitan Stephanos of Kallioupolis and Madytos, and the Presidents of the Ecclesiastical Committee and the Philoptochos.
Before the Dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, His A;;-Holiness prayed a Trisagion Memorial Service for the repose of the souls of the his late predecessor Patriarch Dimitrios, the blessed Hierarchs who served as Supervisors of the Tataoula Region, the blessed Metropolitan Alexandros of Nigeria, Hierarch of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, who fell asleep in the early hours of Friday, as well as of all the clergy who ministered at the Church of the Holy Apostles, Feriköy.
