The Feast Day of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa in his birthplace
The annual feast day of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa, was celebrated with due splendour in the Holy Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania, in Sitaralona, Trichonida, the village where Saint Kallinikos was born and raised.
On Wednesday afternoon, 7 August, at the Holy Parish Church of Saint Panteleimon, Sitaralona, the Great Vespers service was held, officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Damaskinos of Aetolia and Acarnania, with the participation of the Clergy of the wider Metropolis area, the Mayor of Thermos, Mr. Spyridonos Konstandaras and multitudes of believers.
This was followed by the procession of the Holy Icon and the Holy Relic of the Saint through the streets of the village to the point where the Holy Pilgrimage Church of Saint Kallinikos will be erected, near his ancestral home.
“We celebrate the sacred memory of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa, our own Saint”, said His Eminence during his sermon and emphasised that the Saint is a great blessing for this place, where he was born and raised.
“If Edessa, the place where the Saint served as Bishop, boasts because it possesses his beautiful and sacred relics, we, here in Sitaralona and in the wider area of Aetoloakarnania, have an equally important right to our boasting in Christ, because Saint Kallinikos , the newly revealed Saint and miracle worker was born here, e lived most of the years of his life here and he served this local Church as Preacher and Protosyncellus”, His Eminence underlined and referred to the coordinated actions carried out for the construction of a Holy Pilgrimage, dedicated to the local Saint, “worthy of his great and holy form ».
“This place, my brothers and sisters, will be known for three things, the first is the Holy Pilgrimage site of Saint Kosmas the Aitolos, in his birthplace, the Great Tree of Thermos, the second is the Holy Pilgrimage site of Saint Kallinikos the Aitolos, here in Sitaralona , where he was born and raised and the third will be the Foundation for Chronically Ill Patients that has started in Thermos, in the Parish of Saint Dimitrios by Fr. Konstantinos Athanasopoulos and our Holy Metropolis will continue and complete”. His Eminence said in conclusion and wished for Saint Kallinikos to intercede for the Holy Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania, which he served with self-sacrifice and to intercede, so that all these efforts that will support and strengthen the local Church and society will be successful.
This was followed by a cultural event in the courtyard of the Holy Church, which was organised by the cultural Associations of the Parish.
On the morning of Thursday, 8 August 2024, the Matins Service and the Festive Divine Liturgy took place and was presided over by the Protosyncellus of the Holy Metropolis, Archimandrite Theoklitos Raptis, who preached the Holy Sermon.
