The Feast Day of Saint Paraskevi in the Holy Metropolis of Derkoi
With great splendour and magnificence, the memory of Saint Paraskevi the Virgin-Martyr was celebrated in the Holy Metropolis of Derkoi, on Friday, 27 July 2024, in the Holy Metropolitan Church of Saint Paraskevi of the Community of Therapeia and in the Holy Church of Saint Paraskevi of the Community of Vathyrryakos.
On Thursday evening, 25 July, the Great Vespers of the Feast Day took place at the Metropolitan Church, and was officiated by His Grace Bishop Paisios of Xanthoupolis, and likewise, at the Church of Saint Paraskevi of the Community of Vathyrryakos, and was officiated by His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi.
On the main day of the Feast at the Metropolitan Church, the Matins Service and the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy took place, along with the service of the Blessing of the Five Loaves (Artoklasia) and was presided over by His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi. While at the Vathyrryakos Community, His Grace Bishop Paisios of Xanthoupolis presided over the Divine Liturgy.
During the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Metropolitan Church, many believers from local area and abroad were present, among whom were Her Excellency Ms. Paraskevi Tzeveleki, Ambassador and Director of the Diplomatic Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Mr. Konstantinou Fragogiannis, Mr. Nikolaos Protopapas, former Director of the Private Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece and current Director of the Political Office of Mr. Andreas Katsaniotis, Mr. Filippos Papageorgiou, Municipal Councillor of the Municipality of Patras, Mr. Nikolaos Plotas, Lawyer from Patras and his companion Mr. Ioannis Melissaropoulos.
The hymns of the feast day were chanted in the Holy Metropolitan Church by Musicologist Dr. Antonios Hatzopoulos, Archon Protopsaltis of the Metropolis of Derkoi, who was joined also by Mr. Michael Petropoulos, Supreme Court Lawyer. While the chanting was offered in the Church of Saint Paraskevi of the Vathyrryakos Community by the choir of the “Byzantine Analogion of Kalamaria” under the direction of Mr. Antonios Petropoulos.
After the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a grand reception followed in the courtyard of the Holy Metropolitan Church of Saint Paraskevi in the Therapeia District, in which the name day celebration of His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi took place. As is well known, on 30 June 2024, the day on which Metropolitan Apostolos celebrates his name day, it was not possible to celebrate due to the planned visits of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Greece and Bulgaria, in which His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi was also present.
