Ordination of new priest by Metropolitan Job of Pisidia in Side

On 12 July 2024, the Orthodox parish of the Holy Apostle Paul in Side-Manavgat on the Turkish Riviera celebrated its feast day according to the Julian calendar.

The festivities began the previous evening with a vigil service and continued the next day with the Divine Liturgy, both presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia. Clergy and faithful from Side, Antalya, and Alanya participated in the celebrations.

During the Divine Liturgy, deacon Grigorii Okhanov was ordained as a priest to serve the Holy Metropolis of Pisidia.

In his homily the Metropolitan recalled the vocation of the apostles to be “fishers of men,” and quoting Saint Clement of Rome, he emphasised that “the Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ was sent forth from God, so then Christ is from God, and the Apostles are from Christ”.

He then addressed the ordinand, urging him to become a “fisher of men” after them: “Follow the instructions of the Holy Apostle Paul, the founder of our local Church, who exhorted his disciple Timothy: fight like a good soldier, having faith and a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:19), be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and good doctrine, exercise yourself in godliness (1 Tim. 4:6-7), preach and teach this, and let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the faithful in speech, in behavior, in love, in faith, in purity (1 Tim. 4:11-12).”

After the Divine Liturgy, a festive meal was served to all those present in the parish hall.