Patronal Feast Day of Archbishop Makarios of Australia – Many blessed and fruitful years, Your Eminence!

Today, the Orthodox world honours the sacred memory of our Holy and God-Bearing Father Saint Makarios the Great. A day of great joy especially for the Christian plenitude of our Holy Archdiocese, as we celebrate the patron saint of our Chief Shepherd and spiritual father, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.

The year 2020 was the first time we were blessed to celebrate his Patronal Feast Day with His Eminence on the fifth continent. Since then, January 19th has been a day of joy, doxology and thanksgiving to the Triune God for us all. More so this year, as we have just entered a milestone year in the history of our Holy Archdiocese; the culmination of its first century of life and the beginning of a new, promising chapter.

We praise and thank the Lord, because he blessed this critical crossroads for our local Church favourably, where he placed a visionary Hierarch and indefatigable worker of Orthodoxy at its helm. Having already tasted the good fruits of his dynamic Pastorate on the fifth continent, having known his genuine ecclesiastical morale and having experienced his unifying spirit, we begin the writing of the new chapter of the second century of life of our local Church with the most auspicious prospects.

On this glorious day, the name day of our Archbishop, interpreting the feelings of the God-loving Bishops, the holy Clergy and the pious laity of our Archdiocese, we offer our respect and filial love to His Eminence, together with our warmest wishes for unshakable health and longevity of days. May the Lord, through the intercessions of Saint Makarios the Great, reinforce his physical and spiritual strength, so that he may continue to expend them sacrificially for the progress of our Church and the salvation of its faithful people.

Many blessed and fruitful years, Your Eminence!

From the “Vema” editorial team.