Again and most fervently, the Members of the Holy Eparchial Synod of
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, under the presidency of His
Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, write to you with urgency,
determination, and great faith; for we have heard your cries of anguish
and pain over the seizure of the Great Church of Holy Wisdom, our Ἁγία
Σοφία. We know that your hearts are broken and, for you as well as our
Ἁγία Σοφία, we have spoken out and will continue to do so “in season and
out of season,” (εὐκαίρως ἀκαίρως, II Timothy 4:2), and we will not
relent in our pursuit of justice and righteousness.
Therefore, knowing that on Friday, July 24th, there will
be an ‘inauguration’ of this program of cultural and spiritual
misappropriation and a violation of all standards of religious harmony
and mutual respect, we call upon all the beloved faithful of our Holy
Archdiocese to observe this day as a day of mourning and of manifest
grief. We urge you to invite your fellow Orthodox Christians and indeed
all Christians and people of goodwill to share in the following
observances.
We ask that every Church toll its bells in lamentation on this day.
We call for every flag of every kind that is raised on the Church
property be lowered to half-mast on this day. And we enjoin every Church
in our Holy Archdiocese to chant the Akathist Hymn in the evening of
this day, just as we chant it on the Fifth Friday of the Great and Holy
Fast.
Let us, in this time of grief and mourning, appeal to the Most Holy
Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. She is the “only Hope of the hopeless”
(Ἡ τῶν ἀπελπισμένων μόνη Ἐλπίς), and as we chant to Her in the Akathist,
“the Repository of the Wisdom of God, the Treasury of His
Foreknowledge” (Σοφίας Θεοῦ Δοχεῖον, Προνοίας Αὐτοῦ Ταμεῖον, οἶκος Ρ).
Read the rest here.
The 4th Century Science of St Macrina (I)
5 hours ago
2 comments:
What time will the Islamic call to prayer on that day be according to Eastern daylight time? Will chant the akafist at that time.
It will take place at 8 pm eastern time 7/23/20.
Post a Comment