Crete: Heraklion commemorated Saint Titus and those massacred on 25 August 1898

On Sunday, Heraklion honoured the Holy Apostle Titus, the first Bishop of Crete, and the memory of those who were massacred on 25 August 1898, with due ecclesiastical splendour.

The Matins Service and the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy were held on Sunday, 25 August 2024, in the historic Holy Cathedral of Saint Titus, and was presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Evgenios of Crete.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a Memorial Service was conducted in the courtyard of the Cathedral, in the area where the monument for the “Christians Massacred for Faith and Country” is located.

After the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Archbishop Evgenios of Crete asked the Parish Priest of the Church of Saint Titus, Father Emmanuel Antonakakis, to come in front of the congregation, and handed him a papyrus containing the letter of the Apostle Paul to Titus.

In this epistle, the Apostle Paul gives instructions to his disciple, Titus, regarding how he will establish the Christian faith and the word of Jesus Christ in the souls of the Cretans.

Archbishop Evgenios characteristically said that he owed this gift for two years.

The gift of the Archbishop of Crete to the church will be placed in the chapel where the Holy Skull of Saint Titus the Apostle is also kept.