Festive Vespers at the Church of Saint Paraskevi, Vathyrriakos, Constantinople

On Thursday afternoon, 25 July 2024, with due ecclesiastical splendour, the Feast Day Great Vespers along with the Artoklasia (blessing of the five loaves) on the occasion of the feast of Saint Paraskevi the Virgin-Martyr, took place at the Church of Saint Paraskevi in the District of Vathyrriakos in Constantinople, and was officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Achaia. At the conclusion of the Vespers Service, the local Shepherd His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi welcomed Metropolitan Athanasios and praised the work of the said Hierarch in Europe, as the Director of the Representative Office of the Church of Greece in Brussels.

It is worth noting that the father of Metropolitan Athanasios of Achaia was born in Kefeliköy in the year 1904 and was baptised in the Holy Church of Saint Paraskevi, Vathyrriakos, of the Holy Metropolis of Derkoi.

After the conclusion of the Great Vespers, a reception followed in the Community Hall.