Holy Diocese of Chora: Palm Sunday at the Church of Our Lady ‘Axion Esti’, Northcote

With particular devotion and ecclesiastical splendour, the Matins and Divine Liturgy were celebrated on Palm Sunday, 13 April 2025, at the Archdiocesan Church of Our Lady “Axion Esti”, in Northcote, presided over by His Grace Bishop Evmenios of Chora.

His Grace conveyed the paternal blessings of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, and reminded the faithful that His Eminence will attend and preside over the Holy Lamentations Service on Great and Holy Friday evening at the same Church.

In his sermon, His Grace referred to the Resurrection of Lazarus as the living prelude to the Resurrection of Christ, emphasising that this miracle is not only an indication of the divinity of the Lord, but also an invitation to all of us to rise spiritually from our personal “grave” of sin, laziness and indifference.

He connected Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the spiritual call to welcome Christ not superficially, like the crowd at that time with palm branches, but sincerely, with repentance and inner purity, ready to follow Him on the way of the Cross.

At the same time, he called on the faithful to participate in the sacred services of Holy and Great Week, not as spectators, but as participants in the Divine Drama, which leads from Golgotha ​​to the holy and life-giving Light of the Resurrection.

His Grace thanked the congregation for their warm participation and wished everyone good strength and enlightenment in the Holy Week that begins, with a heart open to the love of the Crucified and Risen Christ.