Cheesefare Sunday and the 1st Lenten Vespers at the Phanar

On Cheesefare Sunday, 17 March 2024, in the afternoon, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew officiated at the 1st Lenten Vespers (Vespers of Forgiveness), at the Venerable Patriarchal Church of Saint George.

At the end of the Vespers, the Hierarchs who were present, along with the Fathers of the Patriarchal court, clergy, monastics, Archons of the Great Church of Christ, as well as the faithful laity, asked for and received forgiveness from His All-Holiness, whilst also receiving the Patriarchal Blessing and his paternal wishes, as a means for entering the spiritual period of Holy and Great Lent.

On the morning of the same day, The Ecumenical Patriarch officiated during the Divine Liturgy from the Patriarchal Throne, with a large congregation, to whom he addressed edifying words during his sermon.

After the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, Archimandrite Vosporios, read the Catechetical Address of the Ecumenical Patriarch for the beginning of Holy and Great Lent.

Photographs: Nikos Papachristou