Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew blessed the newly built Church of Saint Ananias in Sparta
On Tuesday, 26 November 2024, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the newly built Church of the new Saint of Our Church, Ethno-Hieromartyr Ananias Lampardis, Metropolitan of Lacedaemonia, which has been erected near the Administration Centre of the Regional Unit of Laconia.
As part of the visit of the Primate of the Orthodox Church, the lighting ceremony of the sacred Oil Lamp took place. The hymns during the ceremony were excellently performed by the choir of the Byzantine Music School “Petros the Lacedaemonian” of the Holy Metropolis of Monemvasia and Sparta, under the direction of the head of the School and Protopsaltis of the Metropolitan Church of Panagia Evangelistria of Sparta, Mr. Panagiotis Chronis.
In his brief address, Metropolitan Efstathios expressed grateful thanks to His All-Holiness for the decision to canonise the ethno-hieromartyr Ananias by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on 14 June 2022, which brought unspeakable joy and exultation to the holy clergy and the pious people of the Holy Metropolis of Monemvasia and Sparta. He also thanked His All-Holiness for including in his already busy schedule in Sparta His visit to the newly built Holy Church of Saint Ananias, so as to bless it through the ceremony of lighting the sacred oil lamp. In addition, he pointed out that the Ethno-Hieromartyr Ananias, with the purity of his life, with his multifaceted struggles for the Church and our Christ-loving Nation, as well as with his martyrdom, rightfully won the crown of Holiness. In conclusion, he thanked all those who contributed to the quick construction of the Holy Church, a fact that reveals the piety of the people of Lacedaemon.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in his response, initially noted that it is a blessing of the All-Good God that new Saints exist in the Orthodox Church. He then expressed his joy at being given the opportunity to celebrate, together with the Christian plenitude of the Holy Metropolis of Monemvasia and Sparta, the construction of a beautiful Holy Church, while he wished that the clergy and people would have the blessing and grace of Saint Ananias.
A pleasant surprise for His All-Holiness was the presence of students from Geraki, who had recently visited Him at the Phanar as part of an educational excursion. The children, accompanied by teachers and parents, wanted to receive the blessing of the Primate of Orthodoxy again, offering Him symbolic gifts from their historic village.
After this, in the courtyard of the Church, a marble plaque was unveiled, commemorating the historic visit and blessing of the Primate of the Holy Great Church of Christ. The visit of His All-Holiness to the newly built Holy Church was sealed with the symbolic planting of an olive tree sapling.
